Ruth Elder in her Prize Winning Costume, Balboa, Panama, 1926

01

Artifact Overview

Ruth Elder planned to be the first woman to fly across the Atlantic. On October 11, 1927, Elder and co-pilot George Haldeman took off in their Stinson Detroiter American Girl. An oil leak forced them to ditch in the ocean some 360 miles short of land. Still, the 2,623 miles Elder covered set a new distance record for a female pilot.

Artifact Details

Artifact

Photographic print

Subject Date

1926

Location

By Request in the Benson Ford Research Center

Object ID

84.1.1629.87

Credit

From the Collections of The Henry Ford.

Material

Paper (Fiber product)

Technique

Gelatin silver process

Color

Black-and-white (Colors)

Dimensions

Height: 8.5 in
Width: 6.5 in