Although there is no documentation that Amelia Earhart ever visited Cranbrook, records of one of her visits to Michigan are housed in the Cranbrook Archives. The photographs and telegram illustrated here are from the Gliders, Inc. Records and help tell not only the story of Amelia Earhart, but also that of glider aviation in Oakland County, Michigan.
Telegram, 12 Feb 1929. Gliders, Inc. Records, Cranbrook Archives.
The first glider plane was designed in 1852, but it was not until September 1928 that Gliders, Inc. became the first company in the United States that exclusively manufactured motorless aircraft. Gliders, Inc. was founded by William E. Scripps, the younger brother of Cranbrook’s Ellen Scripps Booth. The factory, located in Lake Orion, Michigan, produced first and second class gliders, and the “Detroit Gull” became the glider of choice for many gliding clubs across the country. Gliders, Inc. was also called upon to do much of the early glider pilot training – over 800 men and women in 1929.
Major Reed Landis, Amelia Earhart, Nina Downing Scripps, William Scripps, Don Walker, and Frank Blunk at Willow Run, Feb 1929. Photo by Detroit News. Cranbrook Archives.
In December 1928, Scripps invited Amelia Earhart to his estate, then known as Wildwoods. Earhart accepted and in February 1929, took her first glider ride at the “Scripps Field” in a Gliders, Inc. Primary Training Glider.
Amelia Earhart flying the primary training glider, Feb 1929. Photo by Detroit News. Cranbrook Archives.
Additional female aviation facts:
In November of 1929, Earhart and 25 other women gathered at Curtiss Airport in New York to establish The Ninety-Nines, Inc. – an aviation organization for any woman who held a pilot’s license. Earhart was the first president.
Maxine Dunlap of San Francisco was the first woman to earn a glider license in 1929. Hers was a third-class glider license. Anne Lindbergh followed in 1930 with a flight that earned her third-class, second-class, and first-class licenses. She was the first woman in the US to earn a first-class glider license. Check back next week for a post about Lindbergh’s connection to Cranbrook, and yes, she DID visit here!
– Leslie S. Edwards, Head Archivist
More Forrest Gumpian tales! (I never ceased to be amazed by the connections.)
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I believe it was William Scripps who went into the car manufacturing with James Booth. We give James the credit for the V-8 engine but I think it was William who came up with it. Nothing is said about the Scripps family except for Ellen’s father in our script. Rhoda
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Amelia visited my father at our farm in Lake Orion .. I gave many of our photos to Cranbrook . My father is in the photo with her with his dog in front. To my knowledge she never visited Cranbrook . She wanted to fly gliders with my father .
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Hi Melissa – if you have any more documetns about Amelia’s time with your fahter, that would be awesome to have copies of! The caption of the photo likes your father and Nina. Gliders, Inc. is a fascinating story. LSE
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Excuse all of my typos!
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I gave those photos to Cranbrook years ago.. nice to see them I do not think photo was taken at airport it was taken at the farm in Lake Orion. Nina would not have gone to Willow Run.. and Dad would not have taken his big dog
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Dad started the glider company not WE Scripps …he funded it most likely
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Facinating stuff there! Keep it coming Leslie!
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Very interesting! I love hearing about stuff like this… you should definitely send it to the news or something i’m sure they would love to have something like that to share and a lot of people would love to hear about it also. I wonder what happened after that
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Nice article – just a minor correction to offer – Miss Maxine Dunlap of San Francisco was the first woman to earn a glider license in 1929. Hers was a third-class glider license. Anne Lindbergh followed in 1930 with a flight that earned her third-class, second-class, and first-class licenses. She was the first woman in the US to earn a first-class glider license.
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