The History and Development of Zonta
History
Development
of Zonta
Amelia
Earhart
History
In Buffalo, New York, USA
in January 1919, five women attending as guests a social meeting of
Kiwanis, an established all-male service club, conceived the formation
of a new service club.
This new club would be
composed of women who were recognized leaders in their businesses and
professions. The primary purposes of the club would be to standardize
and disseminate business principles and practices and to provide service
to humanity through cooperative efforts.
During the
spring and summer of 1919, clubs were organized in Buffalo, Rochester,
Binghamton, Elmira, and Syracuse, New York, USA. Under the leadership of
its Charter President, Marian de Forest, a playwright and newspaper
critic, the Buffalo club established specific guidelines for membership
and classification.
The Confederation of
Zonta Clubs was founded on November 8, 1919 in Buffalo. Mary
E. Jenkins, newspaper publisher and civic leader, was elected the first
president of the Confederation. Bylaws and a constitution were drafted
and adopted, and all that was left was to choose a name.
Zonta takes its name from the Lakota Sioux Indian word
meaning "honest and trustworthy." Zontians volunteer their
time, talents and energy to local and international service projects
that are designed to advance the status of women.
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Amelia
Earhart
One of
Zonta's favorite members, Amelia Earhart
accepted an invitation to become a member of the Zonta Club of
Boston in 1928, then later transferred her membership to the
Zonta Club of New York. She remained active in Zonta until her
disappearance in 1937. |
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A year after Amelia's disappearance, in 1938, Zonta
International established the Amelia Earhart Fellowship Awards
for women pursuing graduate degrees in aerospace-related
sciences and engineering. More than US $4 million has been
invested in this program to date, awarding 808 Fellowships to
522 women from 51 countries!
The
Early Years
America's famous aviatrix Amelia
Mary Earhart was born on July 24, 1897 at her grandparents' home
in Atchison, Kansas.
H.H. Railey had been asked by George Palmer Putnam, a New York
publisher, to find the woman to make a trans-atlantic flight. No
woman had so far flown across the Atlantic. Railey, having been
struck by Amelia's strong resemblance to Charles Lindbergh,
coined the name "Lady Lindy".
Amelia
flew a solo flight from the Atlantic to the Pacific coast in
September 1928 to attend the National Air Races.
By
early 1932 no other person had successfully flown solo across
the Atlantic since Lindbergh. Amelia would not duplicate
Lindbergh's course but would fly from Harbour Grace,
Newfoundland with the British Isles as her destination.
On
May 20, 1932, exactly 5 years after the Lindbergh flight,
Amelia's modified Lockheed Vega began the journey.
In
the autumn of 1934, Amelia announced to her husband, George,
that her next venture would be a trans-Pacific flight from
Hawaii to California...and then on to Washington D.C. Ten pilots
had already lost their lives attempting this crossing. Amelia's
flight would be the first in which a civilian plane would carry
a two-way radio telephone.
She
departed Wheeler Field on January 11, 1935 and landed in
Oakland, California to a cheering crowd of thousands.
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The Last
Flight
In 1935, Amelia began to
formulate plans for an around-the-world flight. The Lockheed
Electra 10E was chosen as the plane for the flight. The flight
would be two major firsts...she would be the first woman, and
she would travel the longest possible distance, circumnavigating
the globe at its waist.
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As
Amelia was taking off from Luke Field near Pearl Harbor she over
compensated for a dropped right wing and the plane swung to the
left out of control. The undercarriage collapsed and the
aircraft slide along the runway on its belly. Fortunately there
was no fire but a great deal of damage was done to the plane.
After
delivery of the rebuilt Electra, Amelia departed from Los
Angeles, California for Florida on May 21, 1937.
On
June 1, 1937 Amelia and her navigator Fred Noonan departed
Miami, Florida bound for California by traveling around the
world.
Amelia
reached Lae in New Guinea on June 29. At this point they had
flown 22,000 miles with 7,000 more to go...all over the Pacific.
Amelia cabled her last commissioned article to the Herald
Tribune.
Amelia
left Lae at precisely midnight on July 2 loaded with 1,000
gallons of fuel, allowing for 20-21 hours of flying.
Amelia's next position report placed her plane on course some 20
miles southwest of the Nukumanu Islands.
At
8 am, Amelia made her last radio contact with Lae. She reported
being on course for Howland Island. There is no real evidence as
to the precise track of the aircraft after Nukumanu. No one saw
or heard the plane fly over.
Several
short transmission were received from Amelia's plane at varying
signal strengths but they were unable to get a fix on her
location because they were too brief.
At
8 pm, Amelia's last voice transmission was received giving
positioning data.
It has been determined that the plane
went down some 35-100 miles off the coast of Howland Island. A
life raft was stowed on board but no trace of it has ever been
found.
President
Roosevelt authorized a search of 9 naval ships and 66 aircraft
at an estimated cost of over $4 million.
On July 18 the search
was abandoned by ships in the Howland area. George continued to
seek help in the search, but by October he too abandoned all
hope of finding them alive.
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