Harriet Quimby

By Kate O'Dell

Harriet Quimby, American aviator and journalist, was a true hero. She was the first American woman to get a pilot's license, the first to fly at night, and the first woman to ever fly across the English Channel. She was a daring woman, who was always in search of a new challenge. Though she had only had her pilot's license for eleven months, Harriet Quimby became one of the most famous pilots in the dawn of aviation. She was an inspiration for future women aviators – including Amelia Earhart, Jackie Cochran, and Anne Morrow Lindbergh.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Charlie O’Brien
• Release date: Dec 20, 2021
• ISBN: 9798201560935

Book preview

CHAPTER ONE

Harriet Quimby was born on May 11, 1875. It is believed that she was born in Arcadia Township, Manistee County, Michigan. Some have disputed her birthplace over the years, as she didn’t have an official birth certificate. However, a historic site marker stands on the eastern shore of Lake Michigan, just outside of Arcadia. The site marker is a commemoration of Harriet Quimby’s life, and everything that she had accomplished. In some interviews, Quimby had told reporters that she was born in Arroyo Grande, California (though she hadn’t moved to the area until she was in her early teens).

Harriet was the daughter of William, and Ursula Quimby. William Quimby had been a Union soldier during the Civil War. He received a land grant for 160 acres, in Bear Lake (which is present-day Arcadia Township). William Quimby moved to the area in 1867, along with his wife Ursula, six-year-old Jennie, and four-year-old Willie.

The Quimby family was one of the first four families who had settled in the area after the war ended. The large acreage that they moved to, didn’t have any roads, or close neighbours, or anything. They had to build everything from scratch, toiling away in the fields, hauling away downed trees and pulling up tree trunks so they could build a house on the land. Living on the land was a difficult task, as the nearest grist mill was located at Benzonia, 20 miles away. It was a full day’s journey away, and they would have to wait three or four days for the corn to be ground