The history of women aviators is about as old as the field itself. Raymonde de Laroche is usually accepted as the first female pilot, dating to 1909 when she flew 300 meters in a one seater powered craft. She was the first licensed female pilot in France (also just the 36th overall) and was soon followed by the likes of Lydia Zvereva in Russia and Melli Beese in Germany.

In the United States, Bessie Coleman broke ground as the first licensed Native American pilot as well as the first Black woman. She had to be taught in France as she was barred admittance into any flight school in the U.S., and spent a few years in Germany and the Netherlands honing her craft. When she returned home, Coleman competed in airshows as a barnstormer, refusing to compete in any show that was segregated.

Barred from competing against men by organizations like the Aero Club in Britain, many early woman pilots became flight instructors, imparting their skills onto the younger generation. Sexist questions of their ability to fly limited these early aviators, but any doubts were put to rest when Amelia Earhart completed her solo transatlantic crossing. She had accomplished the same incredible feat that Charles Lindbergh had done and she had done it twice as fast.

Earhart went on to set many other records, but her aviation work was more than just ace piloting. From 1931 to 1933 she served as the first president of the nascent International Organization of Women Pilots, or the 99s, which supported woman pilots. She flew in the Women’s Air Derby in 1929, the first air race of its kind, spanning across the country from Santa Monica to Cleveland, Ohio.

What was it that inspired Earhart to fly? "The lure of flying," she once said, "is the lure of beauty." To be so high in the sky, alone in the night with the stars and moon at your fingertips. The way Earhart has talked about her aviation experiences goes beyond just breaking records — it was a way of life.

Along with her love of flight, Earhart also did much to elevate the progressive politics of her time. As a hospital volunteer in Toronto during World War I, the sight of maimed and injured soldiers confirmed her pacifism for the rest of her life. She attended some left-wing meetings as a young woman with her first fiancé Sam Chapman. Her outspoken independence from her husband was years ahead of her time. Both Earhart's incredible aviation accomplishments and her organization work did much to elevate women, both in the sky and on the ground.

The material in MM5 comes from Amelia Earhart's Vega 5B, the craft she used in her solo crossing across the Atlantic. The plane was purchased by the Smithsonian in 1966 and during the 70s restoration work on the craft was done to keep it looking fresh. Pieces of red fabric removed from the plane were sold to private collectors and in small displays. Over the years, we've been collecting material to include in MM5!

Preparing this specimen for the museum proved to be an exciting challenge. The red paint is nitrocellulose lacquer, which can run and bloom if it were included in an acrylic museum without a sealant. Jamie was hard at work testing the best solutions to keep the red color contained with different coats of sealing resin, a process that requires some serious concentration and detail work.

The rarity of this material means that every piece counts and we have to be very careful. In fact, we even got a new microscope just for this specimen! It even came with an HDMI cable, so we can take a look at small specimens on a big screen.