Topic: Why Does Amelia Earhart Still Resonate in the 21st Century?

Brief Description: [It is nearly 90 years since Amelia Earhart became the first woman to make a solo transatlantic flight and nearly 85 years since her disappearance. These two anniversaries are compelling, but her legacy goes far beyond them.]

Bio: Dorothy Cochrane curates the collections of general aviation aircraft; flight materiel (specifically personal, business, and utility production aircraft); aerial cameras; and the history of general aviation and women in aviation. She holds a BA in history from Ithaca College and an MEd from Lehigh University.

Cochrane is the co-author of “The Aviation Careers of Igor Sikorsky” and is the responsible curator for the Barron Hilton Pioneers of Flight Gallery, and the General Aviation, Business Aviation, Aerobatic Aviation, and Aerial Camera exhibit stations and cases. She is also speaker coordinator for the Museum’s General Electric Aviation Lecture Series and Charles A. Lindbergh Memorial Lecture. She earned her private pilot license in 1994.

Cochrane is a member of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association and the Experimental Aircraft Association. Cochrane is currently writing a book on Anne Morrow Lindbergh. (Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum)