http://www.ameshistoricalsociety.org/exhibits/snook.htm
Neta (center) with her sister Vivian and her mother, Adella.
http://www.news-star.com/stories/061202/New_10.shtml
Neta Snook gave up flying at the time of her marriage to William Southern in 1921 and the subsequent birth of her son, William Curtiss Southern. A man offered me a house and lot in Manhattan Beach plus a $500 Liberty bond for my old Canuck, with the provision that I teach him to fly. In August of 1922 I stepped out of my plane and have never been in one since. The family remained in California where Neta raised miniature horses, among other things, at her ranch. Neta Snook Southern died on March 23, 1991 at the age of 95. One year later she was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame. Neta's leather flight suit, some personal items and a small replica Canuck with "Miss Neta Snook" painted on the sides were donated to the Omniplex Air and Space Museum in Oklahoma City.
Neta Snook grew up in Mount Carroll, Illinois, where the wife of their family doctor, Josephina Greeley, took an interest in her. Josephina made Neta this charming doll. When the Snooks moved to Ames in 1913, Josephina suggested that they look up her sister-in-law, Mary Greeley, the wife of her husband’s brother, Wallace. Mrs. Snook and her two daughters, Neta and Vivian, dutifully called upon Mary at the mansion at 5th and Douglas (now Adams Funeral Home).
Neta Snook and Amelia Earhart with the little 3
cylinder Kinner Airster.
http://www.news-star.com/stories/061202/New_10.shtml
She didn't just wake up one morning, able to fly a plane.
She didn't just "all-of- a-sudden" possess the groundbreaking maneuverability that she exemplified throughout her short-lived career. Someone had to have taught her, and that someone was Neta Snook, a former resident of Iowa's city of Ames.
Without Neta, there would be no 'Amelia,' and the advances in female pioneering would not be as far as they are today. Neta was born in Mt. Carroll, Illinois in 1896, a year before the woman she helped to gain world fame. As early as a toddler she enjoyed mechanical devices rather than dolls, which, by some unwritten code of law, were to be the object of every girl's affection. At a very early age, Neta built a small mechanical automobile, which proved to run. While in her teens, Neta and her family move to Ames, Iowa. She graduated from Ames High School in 1915 and attended Iowa State College (now Iowa State University) until June 1917.
http://www.news-star.com/stories/061202/New_10.shtml
Story last updated at 1:26 a.m. Wednesday, June 12, 2002
Woman who touched the skies also touched Shawnee
By PATTI MARSHALL
Not much is heard about Neta Snook Southern because in 1922, at the age of 25, she married Bill Southern, became pregnant and gave up flying. After Earhart disappeared during her famous flight in 1937, Snook began lecturing, speaking about her career in aviation as well as Earhart's. Her autobiography, "I Taught Amelia To Fly," published by Vantage Press in 1974, has been out of print for more than two decades. In 1992, one year after her death, Neta Snook Southern was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame.
A few years later, Nadine Southern moved to Shawnee to be closer to her sisters after the death of her husband, Bill, and donated Snook's leather flight suit, some personal items and a small replica Canuck with "Miss Neta Snook" painted on the sides to the Omniplex Air and Space Museum in Oklahoma City.
Aunt Nadine still lives here in Shawnee and anyone who knows her can claim that "sixth-degree connection" to a pioneer of the sky. Just be sure to remember the main link in the chain is the sweet-natured poetess who always has an interesting story to tell.
Patti Marshall freelances for The Shawnee News-Star.
