Susan Ware

Still Missing: Amelia Earhart and the Search for Modern Feminism

(W.W. Norton, 1993)

The first biography to analyze Amelia Earhart as part of the history of women and American feminism, this book explores how the popular aviator helped to sustain the momentum of feminism in a period without an active women's movement. While loving adventure, Amelia Earhart also saw aviation as liberating for women. Consciously acting as a role model, Earhart used her popularity to broaden the horizons for all women, suggesting that women could live life on their own terms and overcome conventional barriers. A heroine of her era, Amelia Earhart remains a figure of inspiration for women today.