Today, July 24th, is National Amelia Earhart Day, which is also her birthday—she would have been 118. I was moved to write this post because of my appreciation for what an incredible person Amelia Earhart was and what she accomplished for generations of women who followed in her footsteps by working in traditionally male-dominated fields.
Amelia is one of those people in history that never ceases
to fascinate. She is infinite and has never
gone out of style because she still represents the battle for equality that has
continued to this day. She wanted to inspire women, so she worked at Purdue
University to offer women career counseling, joined the Women’s National Party
and supported the Equal Rights Amendment[1].
For her, this battle was more of a challenge.
In a letter to her husband before her last flight she wrote,
"Please know I am quite aware of the hazards” […]"I want to do it
because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When
they fail, their failure must be but a challenge to others."[2]
She
set the bar for us ladies back in the 1930’s and in OUR own shared honor as
women we must keep raising it!
There was a recent article
on CNN that released unseen footage of Amelia in California before her last
Circumnavigation attempt that shows her smart, confident and stunningly elegant.[3] I look up to her bravery and
mater-of-factness-- I think she is the coolest and I love having Amelia as a
role model especially in what I do for a living. One of my favorite facts that
I learned about Amelia today is that she kept a scrapbook of information about
“successful women in predominately male-oriented fields”. (1) I am by no means
the only female ‘salvager’ but I am very aware of the fact that it is still a
male dominated field. When I began
working on salvage jobs I wanted to do everything in my power to prove that I
wasn’t a “girl” about getting dirty and working manual labor. I wanted to blend in with the guys as much as
possible so people wouldn’t judge me until I realized, I am female and that’s
okay! I can accomplish the tasks in my
own way and have a different perspective on situations and I should feel proud
of that. Upon this realization I feel
very privileged to be able to do what I do.
Like Amelia said, “I want to do it because I want to do it”. 
6 comments:
You are Amelia, you are Rosie, you are Awesome! Wow. Keep it up, - k
Thanks for sharing your wonderful tribute to Amelia. You are doing a great job in furthering her lifelong pursuit and have identified a very classy, dedicated and gutsy inspiration. You appear to be well on the way to furthering Amelia's efforts. Keep up the great work! My best wishes for your continued success; God Bless.
Well-written, Grayson! Thank you for sharing your heart here and on the show. You're such an amazing role model yourself and one of the reasons I enjoy watching the show. Sure, the guys are charming and cute (well, they are), but I love seeing a smart, strong, fierce woman working side-by-side with those guys.
I admire you and adore you. You're doing a great job -- and are a delight in person.
Grayson you have written a wonderful tribute to Amelia. You are awesome on the show and I have seen you grow. You are so talented and beautiful to boot. Keep growing!
Grayson you have written a wonderful tribute to Amelia. You are awesome on the show and I have seen you grow. You are so talented and beautiful to boot. Keep growing!
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