Mary Meader (1916-2008)

Rachel Mary Upjohn Light Meader was born in Kalamazoo,Michigan, heir to the Upjohn Company family fortune. At a young age she became a well-known aerial photographer and traveler. After marrying her first cousin, the two set out on an adventurous honeymoon. Meader took flying lessons and learned morse code in preparation for the trip, which took place just a few months after the couple’s first child was born. Their goal was to capture areas of South America and Africa that had never been documented by aerial photographers. They took the first pictures of the Nazca lines in Peru before crossing the Atlantic to photograph areas throughout the African continent. Later in life, Meader donated significant amounts of money to a variety of Kalamazoo charities, as well as Western Michigan University and the University of Michigan.

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Amelia Earhart (1898-1937)