Lawmakers gathered at the Capitol’s National Monument Gallery to dedicate and unveil the statue in honor of Amelia Earhart, one of the world’s most famous aviators and first woman. flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean, in Washington, Wednesday.
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Lawmakers gathered at the Capitol’s National Monument Gallery to dedicate and unveil the statue in honor of Amelia Earhart, one of the world’s most famous aviators and first woman. flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean, in Washington, Wednesday.
J. Scott Applewhite / AP
There’s a New Women’s Representative in Washington, DC
A statue of Amelia Earhart – the pioneer aviator who became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean – was unveiled at National Statuary Hall inside the US Capitol on Wednesday.
Earhart became an overnight celebrity in 1928 – a sort of pop/reality star in vogue – after becoming the first woman to complete any transatlantic flight.
On her maiden voyage, she was primarily a passenger, accompanied by a pilot and a mechanic. Public obsession with her reached frenzy four years after Earhart made the journey himself, becoming the first female pilot to make the trip. Three years later, she became the first woman to fly inland from the Hawaiian Islands.
Tape parades were held in her honor, and she was so popular that crowds would surround her when she appeared in public. They would get her iconic leather goggles and helmet to get a sliver of her gravity-defying magic.
The inauguration of the statue at the Capitol didn’t sound like that kind of excitement – but it was fun nonetheless. The Kansas Air National Guard honor guard played the national anthem, people crossed their right arms over their hearts in a pledge of allegiance, and the gathered crowd cheered and applauded as the black cloak has been removed considerably.
American Aviatrix Amelia Earhart photographed as she arrived in Southampton, England, after her transatlantic flight on board the ship “Friendship” from Burry Point, Wales, June 26, 1928. A leather helmet worn by Amelia Earhart on a 1928 transatlantic flight and then lost in a crowd of fans in Cleveland, sold at auction for $825,000, Heritage Auctions said.
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American Aviatrix Amelia Earhart photographed as she arrived in Southampton, England, after her transatlantic flight on board the ship “Friendship” from Burry Point, Wales, June 26, 1928. A leather helmet worn by Amelia Earhart on a 1928 transatlantic flight and then lost in a crowd of fans in Cleveland, sold at auction for $825,000, Heritage Auctions said.
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The statue is one of two representing Kansas in the Capitol’s Monuments Collection. Each state is given a pair to represent them. Earhart, who was born in Atchison, Kansas, is replacing Senator John James Ingalls of Kansas. That makes her the 11th woman in the collection.
Earlier this month, a marble statue of the civil rights leader Mary McLeod Bethune was added, representing Florida. Bethune was the first Negro to represent a state in the collection.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly talked about what she hopes Earhart’s addition will mean for future visitors.
“Amelia is a dreamer. Her dreams have gone far beyond the shore [the Missouri] “Let it be an inspiration to everyone, especially our young girls, for generations to come,” Kelly said. Let them stare at this work of art and think that they, like Amelia, can dream an impossible dream. ”
The famous plane pilot’s bronze casting looks like what one might expect: She wore a leather bomber jacket, her short hair pulled up in a bun – as if the wind were blowing through it. – and she has a puffy collar and a scarf around her neck.
The sculpture was made over two decades, and actually took seven years to make. It was crafted by artist brothers George and Mark Lundeen from Colorado. Both won a contest to capture the spirit of pilot pioneer, ABC affiliate WJLA report.
Earhart’s place in American history as a pioneer is undisputed. Not only did she break aviation records, breaking glass ceilings in the sky, she was also a best-selling author, a poet, an army nurse, and a social worker. She is an advocate for making space for women in science and closing the gender gap in all aspects of American life.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi quote from John Gillespie Magee’s poem about Earhart, “High Flight”, at the ceremony.
Pelosi added, “When girls and boys come to the Capitol and see Amelia, they’ll visit here and look higher, knowing they can reach for the sky. And when they see this statue, when it’s quiet here in the Capitol, they’ll hear the sound of wings.”
The statue’s appearance at the Capitol comes just weeks after the 85th anniversary of Earhart’s mysterious disappearance during his arduous journey around the world in 1937. (Three days after the 125th anniversary celebration. her date of birth).
Some theory a lot about what happened to Earhart, who was 39 years old at the time she disappeared with navigator Fred Noonan. Despite numerous searches, scientists were unable to locate the wreckage of the Lockheed Electra 10E the pair were flying.
In 2018, an anthropologist affiliated with the University of Tennessee Center for Forensic Anthropology said new analysis suggests that the bones found on Nikumaroro Island in 1940 did indeed belong to the adventurous aviatrix. Unfortunately, the actual bone itself is long gone.
