Soaring Wings has arrived (thanks again Karen) and once again we're seeing the value of the meticulous timeline we've been constructing.
President Elliot writes to George Putnam asking what plans Amelia has "beyond academic matters." (Butler, page 317) Butler quotes no other part of the letter and includes no citation but she credits Putnam's reaction to it to Soaring Wings page 272.
Here the relevant passage from Soaring Wings:
"Since the autumn of 1935 she had been pursuing the pleasant association with Purdue University. In the summer of 1936 President Elliot of Purdue asked me what I thought there was in the field of research and education that interested AE most beyond academic matters. I told him she was hankering for a bigger and better plane, not only one in which she could go far places farther and faster and more safely, but to use as a laboratory for research in aviation education and for technical experimentation.
And so in April, 1936, after canvassing the possibilities and securing the co-operation of friends of Purdue, Dr. Elliott was able to announce that a fund of $50,000 had been subscribed, to be known as the Amelia Earhart Fund for Aeronautical Research, and that a Lockheed Electra would be purchased and tuned over to her."
Let's deconstruct what Putnam wrote.
"Since the autumn of 1935 she had been pursuing the pleasant association with Purdue University."
Elliott made the offer of a consulting position on May 18, 1935. Thanks to the Dallas Morning News article found by Karen Hoy, we know that by June 10, 1935 the word was out that AE had accepted the offer. So Amelia's association with Purdue dates from June, not the autumn, of 1935. However, she didn't actually start at Purdue until November 7, 1935 so perhaps that is what Putnam is referring to.
"In the summer of 1936 President Elliot of Purdue asked me what I thought there was in the field of research and education that interested AE most beyond academic matters."
This has to be a typo. By the summer of 1936 the Electra was already built and delivered. Did Putnam mean to say the summer of 1935?
"I told him she was hankering for a bigger and better plane, not only one in which she could go far places farther and faster and more safely, but to use as a laboratory for research in aviation education and for technical experimentation."
Putnam seems to be referring to the undated document in the Purdue collection titled "Amelia Earhart Project" (facsimile transcript attached). There are clues in the document that may help us date it.
"The wide-spread attention given Amelia Earhart’s association with Purdue has identified her with the University." So this was written long enough after the initial agreement that there has been wide-spread attention given Amelia Earhart’s association with Purdue.
"The plane in which Miss Earhart flew the Atlantic solo is now on permanent exhibition at the Franklin Institute, Philadelphia." When did the Atlantic Vega go on display at the Franklin Institute?
"The plane used on her Pacific, Mexican, and other records flights, has been transformed into a passenger carrier."
In a letter to her mother on July 28, 1935 AE mentioned that her ship was "still undergoing repairs, that is repainting and reupholstering and when it is finished i will put it with Paul's fleet for charter." So apparently Putnam's reply dates from some time after July 28.
Back to Soaring Wings.
"And so in April, 1936, after canvassing the possibilities and securing the co-operation of friends of Purdue, Dr. Elliott was able to announce that a fund of $50,000 had been subscribed, to be known as the Amelia Earhart Fund for Aeronautical Research, and that a Lockheed Electra would be purchased and tuned over to her."
It's true that the announcement was made in April 1936 but the Electra was ordered on March 20 and the agreement that Purdue would buy an airplane for AE was done at a dinner which seems to have happened in November 1935 while AE was at Purdue.(Butler, page 318)
So we're still left with the questions:
When did Elliott write the fateful "beyond academic matters" letter?
When did Putnam reply with the Amelia Earhart Project" proposal?
