Today's technology has helped rekindle a memory of the past.
A collection of old aviation photographs was e-mailed recently to Jamestown resident Steve Koehler, when a local one from Chautauqua Institution grabbed his attention.
"It fell on my lap," he said about the photograph of Amelia Earhart visiting Chautauqua Institution in 1929. Koehler said the picture "caught my eye," recognizing the name of Arthur Bestor, then-president of Chautauqua Institution and the famous aviation pioneer.
Article Photos
Pictured is a photo recently e-mailed to Steve Koehler of Jamestown featuring Dr. Bestor, Amelia Earhart and Clara Adams.
"It's one of the greatest mysteries of all time," he said about the disappearance of Mrs. Earhart during a 1937 world flight.
He said people are still discussing what happened to Mrs. Earhart, so the link to history and Chautauqua made him think twice about the e-mailed photograph.
John Schmitz, archivist and historian for Chautauqua Institution, confirmed the 1929 visit to Chautauqua by Mrs. Earhart.
"She was quite a celebrity," he said about her, adding the aviator worked for the air industry and promoting air travel for women. She was at Chautauqua Institution for a few hours, when she visited the Bestor family and spoke at the amphitheater. Despite the short visit, Schmitz said it was an important one that can help people understand the evolution of the country, along with historical roles of women, aviation and its commercialization.
"It frees oneself from (his or her) own individual experience," he said about history, adding that allows people to assess issues around them.
According to websites about her, experiences of Mrs. Earhart include being the first woman to fly non-stop coast-to-coast across the United States and to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. She also wrote books about flying, and worked for the equal rights movement. She disappeared over the Pacific Ocean during a 1937 world flight, with discoveries still being made in attempts to gain knowledge about the outcome.