Historical Society Promises Uplifting Program By Karen Tracy

The decade of the 1930s was one of financial pain, but also of excitement, technological development, and expansion. Amelia Earhart was at the forefront of the latter three.

Newtown Historical Society will examine Earhart’s life in a program on Monday, March 8, at 7:30 pm, in the community room of C.H. Booth Library, 25 Main Street.

The presentation will be a one-woman show of Earhart’s early life, her celebrity years, and of course, the last flight, all acted by Karen Tracy.

Amelia Earhart fell in love with aviation as a child, after viewing an air circus; the love of her life never left her. She managed to get flying lessons from Netta Snook, one of the first women aviators, and it was a steady climb from there.

Though born to a wealthy family in 1897, her life was not always a rosy one. Her father was an alcoholic, her parents eventually divorced, and her own marriage never matched her love of being up in the sky. At a time when the flapper was considered by many the height (or depth) of femininity, Earhart faced many barriers of gender discrimination. To Earhart it was all simply an obstacle to be overcome.

“Women have got to do the things men have tried. And if they should fail, their failures should be seen as challenges to other women,” the aviator once said.

Amelia Earhart flew out of sheer joy, but she was always in pursuit of some record or another. She was the first woman to cross the Atlantic by air, and the first to do it solo. She held many women’s aviation firsts, and several distance and speed records as well.

She would have a secure place in history books under any circumstances, but the transformation to a mythic figure came with the still unsolved mystery of her last flight. She set out to become the first woman to fly around the world, and the first person to do so at the equator, when she disappeared somewhere in the Pacific without contact and without leaving a trace.

Karen Tracy has been acting for more than 30 years, off-Broadway, and in regional and community theaters. Several years ago a director suggested she develop a one-woman show, and she has performed in that capacity for many historical societies, churches, and community groups, including a previous performance for Newtown Historical Society.

She now concentrates her efforts on Earhart and Mark Twain’s maid. When not treading the theatrical boards, Ms Tracy serves as vice president of retail banking for Newtown Savings Bank.

All Newtown Historical Society programs are free and open to the public. There will be a brief business meeting before the program to consider changes in the society’s bylaws. Refreshments will be served following the performance.

For further information call 203-426-5937.