The new Amelia Earhart Hangar Museum, located in the pilot's hometown of Atchison, Kansas, opens this Friday, April 14.
Earhart was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, and the first woman to fly all the way to Hawaii. But she was even more than the miles she traveled.
"She was such a pioneer, you know, promoting gender diversity," says museum founder Karen Seaberg. "Amelia was a fashion designer for cosmopolitan and a book writer. She was a nurse in World War 1 and a pilot and mechanic."
One of the museums' main attractions is Muriel, a Lockheed Electra 10-E plane similar to the one Earhart flew when she disappeared across the Pacific in 1937. The plane was named after Earhart's younger sister, Grace Muriel Earhart Morrissey.
Surrounding Muriel will be 14 interactive STEM and history storytelling exhibits that allows visitors to experience Earhart's life.
Seaberg said the mission of the museum isn't just to highlight the lingering mystery of Earhart but to inspire kids and adults to chase their dreams.
"We want more women and men pilots. You and I both know that the airlines are having a little trouble right now," Seaberg says. "So we are so focused on getting kids to the museum and saying, Hey, why don't you be a pilot and mechanic."
- Karen Seaberg, founder of the Amelia Earthart Hangar Museum
- Bram Kleppner, great nephew of Amelia Earhart
The Amelia Earhart Museum will be open on Friday, April 14, with a ribbon cutting at 12 p.m. CST. Tickets can be purchased upon arrival.
