Named for Amelia Mary Earhart (1897–1937), a distinguished pioneer in the field of aviation. She was the first woman to fly across the Atlantic, the first person to fly across the Pacific Ocean from Honolulu to California, the first to solo from Mexico City to New York and the first woman to receive the Distinguished Flying Cross. She was an organizer of the National Glider Association, first president of the Ninety-Nines and a charter member of Zonta International, a women’s professional organization. Earhart perished in a second attempt to fly around the world, when her plane was lost at sea near Howland Island in the Pacific. (M 24916) _ _.