Amelia Earhart faced practical and professional barriers from the start. The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum notes that she worked as a telephone company clerk and photographer to pay for lessons with instructor Neta Snook, then bought her own Kinner Airster. Early aviation offered few training paths for women; Earhart helped organize the 1929 All-Women’s Air Derby and became the first president of the Ninety-Nines to support other women pilots.
The flights that made her famous were also hazardous. On her May 1932 solo Atlantic crossing—the second person and first woman to do so nonstop—the Museum records engine flames, icing that forced her near the waves, and a landing in Northern Ireland after about 15 hours. Later record attempts remained risky; she and navigator Fred Noonan disappeared near Howland Island on July 2, 1937, during an around-the-world attempt.
Source: Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum — Amelia Earhart