Amelia earhart: Who was she? By
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Article by Earhart as Aviation Editor of Cosmopolitan Magazine, 1929
Earhart at the 1929 National Air Races in Cleveland Earhart’s first attempt at competitive air racing was in 1929 during the first Santa Monica-to-Cleveland Women’s Air Derby, later nicknamed the “Powder Puff Derby” by humorist Will Rogers. A telling incident occurred during the race, at the last intermediate stop before the finish in Cleveland. Earhart and her friend Ruth Nichols were tied for first place and Nichols was to take off right before Earhart. However Nichols’ aircraft hit a tractor at the end of the runway and flipped over. Earhart, instead of immediately taking off, ran to the wrecked aircraft and dragged her friend out. It was only when she was sure that Nichols was uninjured that Earhart take off for Cleveland, but due to the time lost, she finished third. Earhart’s courageous act was typical of her selflessness, and, just as typically, she rarely referred to the incident in later years. Earhart was a militant enough advocate for women’s rights that in 1934 when legendary screen actress Mary Pickford was invited to open the Bendix Air Races in Cleveland, from which women were banned from participation, Earhart refused to fly her there for the occasion. 
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