Museum of Flight program with noted author/historian looks at the life of Amelia Earhart
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 SEATTLE, Jan. 21, 2009--Dr. Tom D. Crouch, the Smithsonian Institution's National Air and Space Museum Senior Curator of the Division of Aeronautics, recalls the life of Amelia Earhart during a Jan. 30 program beginning at 2 p.m. The program is one in a series of Earhart-related events presented in conjunction with the Museum's temporary exhibit, In Search of Amelia Earhart. A question and answer session and book signing follows the program. The presentation is in the William M. Allen Theater, and is free with admission to the Museum. Tom D. Crouch is a well known historian and biographer who has written and edited over a dozen books, including "The Bishop's Boys: A Life of Wilbur and Orville Wright," "Wings: A History of Aviation from Kites to the Space Age," and "A Dream of Wings: Americans and the Airplane 1875-1905." Since 1974, he has served both the National Air and Space Museum and the National Museum of American History in a variety of curatorial and administrative posts. He holds a B.A. from Ohio University, and M.A. from Miami University, and a Ph.D. from the Ohio State University. All of his degrees are in history. Crouch also holds the honorary degree of Doctor of Humane Letters, conferred by the Wright State University. Crouch has won several major awards for historical writing, including prizes offered by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics and the Aviation/Space Writers Association, a Christopher Award, and the AIAA Gardner-Lasser Aerospace History Literature Prize for 2005. In 2000, President Clinton appointed Crouch to the chairmanship of the First Flight Centennial Federal Advisory Board. Free Feb. 4 screening of "Amelia" at The Museum of Flight Feb. 4 at 6:30 p.m. the Museum will present the feature film, "Amelia," starring Hilary Swank. The screening is free, with seating on a first-come, first-served basis in the William M. Allen Theater. The showing is courtesy Twentieth Century Fox Home Entertainment. Feb. 4 is Wells Fargo First Free Thursday at the Museum, with admission to the Museum free 5 - 9 p.m. In Search of Amelia Earhart exhibit at The Museum of FlightThe Museum of Flight brings together resources from around the country for its new exhibit about the remarkable life and times of the famous American pilot, Amelia Earhart. In Search of Amelia Earhart is one of the most comprehensive exhibits about Earhart in the country. Her story is told through original photographs, newspapers, newsreel footage and Earhart's personal belongings including the uniform she used as a young nurse, and the flying suit she wore on her solo trans-Atlantic flight in 1932. Also on display--for the first time in public--is the only known surviving piece of the Lockheed Electra aircraft which Earhart flew on her attempted flight around the world in 1937. Special Earhart-related programs and events will take place at the Museum throughout the run of the exhibit. Please check the Museum website for up-to-date listings. In Search of Amelia Earhart will run until May, 2010. For more information and photos, please see: http://www.museumofflight.org/amelia Image: Amelia Earhart sitting above the cockpit of a Pitcairn autogiro. The Museum of Flight. |
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### The non-profit Museum of Flight is one of the largest independent air and space museums in the world. The Museum's collection includes more than 150 historically significant air- and spacecraft, as well as the William E. Boeing Red Barn® -- the original manufacturing facility of the Boeing Co. The J. Elroy McCaw Personal Courage Wing displays 28 World War I and World War II aircraft from the United States and other countries including Germany, Russia, and Japan. Over 30 aircraft representing the first century of aviation are displayed in the all-glass T.A. Wilson Great Gallery. The evolution of space flight and a look into the future are presented in the exhibit, Space: Exploring the New Frontier. The Airpark includes outdoor displays including the first jet Air Force One, a supersonic Concorde airliner and the prototype Boeing 747 jumbo jet. Interactive displays in The Flight Zone provide educational and entertaining activities for young children. The Museum's aeronautical library and archival holdings are the largest on the West Coast. More than 140,000 students are served annually by the Museum's on-site and outreach educational programs--the most extensive museum-based youth aviation and space education program in the country. The Museum is the only air and space museum in Washington State that is both nationally accredited with the American Association of Museums and a Smithsonian affiliate. The Museum of Flight is located at 9404 E. Marginal Way S., Seattle, Exit 158 off Interstate 5 on Boeing Field half-way between downtown Seattle and Sea-Tac Airport. The Museum is open daily from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $15 for adults, $13 for seniors 65 and older, $10 for active military, $8 for youth 5 to 17, and free for children under 5. Group rates are available. Admission on the first Thursday of the month is free from 5 to 9 p.m. courtesy of Wells Fargo. For general Museum information, please call 206-764-5720 or visit www.museumofflight.org |
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SEATTLE, Jan. 21, 2009