During the winter of 1931-32, Amelia Earhart worked with her husband, George Putnam (known as “GP”), on her plan to become the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic. After a long wait for the weather to clear, Earhart received a call advising her to fly quickly to Newfoundland, the first leg of her trans-Atlantic flight.
One of her biographers, Paul Briand, wrote in “Daughter of the Sky,” “Amelia raced home from New York to Rye, slipped into jodhpurs, a plaid shirt, windbreaker and a blue-and-brown scarf. She stopped at the window overlooking her garden. The dogwood trees were in full flower, white and pink in the sun. She turned, picked up her leather flying suit and the folder of maps, and fled out of the room and down the stairs.”
On May 20, 1932, she took off from Harbor Grace, Newfoundland, headed to Europe. During her flight, which lasted nearly 15 hours, she contended with strong northerly winds, icy conditions, and mechanical problems, before she landed in a pasture north of Londonderry, in Northern Ireland.
At her New York homecoming celebration on June 20, 1932, thousands waited to see her. Mayor James Walker rode with her up Broadway amid confetti and tickertape to City Hall, where she was presented with a gold medal. The next day, accompanied by GP, she left for Washington to receive the National Geographic Society’s gold medal from President Hoover and the Distinguished Flying Cross, awarded to her by Congress. Back in Rye, Earhart was honored at a large gathering on the village green. Marcia Dalphin recalled the scene in her book, “Fifty Years of Rye,” describing the world-famous flier as “a slight gallant figure with wind-blown hair, waving to the children and modestly accepting the tribute paid her.” The public celebration was followed by a testimonial dinner for her at the Westchester Country Club.
Following the success of her historic solo flight across the Atlantic, Earhart set off on another round of promotional tours with GP before returning home to Rye to finish her second book, “For the Fun of It.” When she was not writing, she reportedly enjoyed swimming at the Manursing Island Club and horseback riding.
A major turning point came in 1934 when Earhart decided to make a flight from Hawaii to California. In his book “Soaring Wings,” GP wrote: “One evening in the autumn of 1934, she sat in golden crepe pajamas … round the fireplace at Rye reading the newspaper. As I came in from the train, she looked up in the way of a person thinking out loud and said, ‘I want to fly the Pacific soon.’ ”
Then, in the early morning of Nov. 27, 1934, a fire broke out in their Rye home, causing extensive damage. At the time, Earhart was on the West Coast preparing for the flight and Putnam was staying at their apartment in New York City. In less than an hour, one wing of the Spanish mission–style structure had been destroyed.
By the time the home was rebuilt and modernized, Earhart and GP had moved their principal residence to California. Yet, their time together in Rye is still recalled by the sign marking “Amelia Earhart Lane” near the Harrison end of Locust Avenue.
On June 1, 1937, Earhart and Fred Noonan, her navigator, set out from Oakland, Calif., on their eastbound transcontinental flight in a twin-engine Lockheed Electra plane. Less than a month later they reached New Guinea, having flown 22,000 miles and with 7,000 more to go before they reached Oakland. But on the next leg of their journey they mysteriously disappeared.