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"Adventure is worthwhile in itself."--Amelia Earhart "I want to do it because I want to do it. Women must try to do things as men have tried. When they fail, their failure must be a challenge to others."--Amelia Earhart |
By E.B. Masloff
It was 1936 when we Americans saw for the first time a living panda. It was a time for learning about a new kind of animal, one that no had ever seen alive in captivity before. It was no surprise to me that this amazing living creature was brought to us by a woman. She has been close to my heart most my life, because I too, knew her amazing story thanks to my Grandfather, who was her photographer and friend.
Who was Ruth Harkness? Ruth was a dressmaker/designer living in New York City in the 1930s. Ruth’s long time companion William Harkness was an avid adventurer and he teamed up with F. Tangier Smith, a professional animal collector. Together the men went in search for an unknown animal at that time, the Chinese Giant Panda. She wished she could go with them, and explore ancient China and the beauty of its‘ culture and people. William, or Bill as she called him did make her his wife shortly before the trip commenced, but she was still not invited to go on this trip. Ruth did not carry the scientific credits that William did, nor did she have the years of expert experience that F. Tangier Smith had accomplished.
Conventional thinking did not hinder young Ruth; she never gave up on her dream for a panda adventure, or for a family with Bill. Not long after the men set out, Ruth was receiving letters of encouragement and detail about the plans being made, only to find out later, that her husband was in a hospital with a terminal illness, caught from the Orient and that he would die before he would ever see the animal known as a giant panda.
Reading the letter her husband wrote, Ruth decided right then and there to get on a plane and go to China to finish what her husband started - even when many tried to discourage her from going, including her late husband’s partner whom she dubbed ‘Zoology’, in honor of his animal knowledge and skill. With her only family being a cat and a maid, Ruth set out on her own path to find the panda bear she dreamed of, and she never looked back.
When Ruth arrived in China she finds her late husband in an urn, with no answers or explanations. She must uncover his luggage and cargo, to find out the many facets of his hunting style, which turned out to be quite different than hers. Ruth wanted nothing to do with big game hunters, she was not out to find and sell animals. She somehow knew, after some inner soul searching, that she would like to capture a small panda, because the thought of a large adult would be scary and too heavy for her group to carry back alive. Giant pandas were mysterious and unknown, and it was irresistibly intriguing to be on the forefront of exploring in a time when there was still this unknown creature waiting to be found. She makes a wish for an infant, something not too difficult to bring back alive. All the while she is looking through her husband’s things, and his absence from her made her heart yearn for the love they planned to discover. That was her best intuition working for her, because at that moment she would leave behind the guns and ammunition of the past, and remember one glass milk bottle and a nipple, and a few cans of milk for her future.
Ruth was a small woman, and wearing all the cumbersome attire of Bill’s would be too much for her, and the thought of carrying a gun was also not agreeable to her. She wrote in her book about it, “Tangier and Bill had been thus far with enough ammunition for what looked like an army”. Now it was all hers, and she was completely untrained in shooting or hunting. The mere idea of killing to her was repulsive, so the entire arsenal was packed up and left behind.
Besides becoming ill for a time, her time was spent planning for the long trip up the mountain. She tried to speak to as many locals as she could to learn about the terrain she was about to enter. She was told by Tangier not to enter his territory or come near his group in order not to endanger his efforts of the same. I think she took this as a challenge, and she felt that if her husband had been there he would not have put up with that, so neither did she. Ruth would hike where she chose, not where she was told to go. She knew her one lack was a real guide, someone whom she could trust with her life, and her dreams. This was about to change, and it would tip the scale in her favor, forever changing history.
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| Women Who Dared II |
 A beautiful and inspirational poster with pictures and short vignettes of "women who dared." |
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| American Experience: Around the World in 72 Days (1997) |
 PBS Home Video. Many called her "the best reporter in America," and Nellie Bly truly achieved amazing successes. She got herself committed to an institution to expose abuses of the mentally ill and actually did travel around the world in 72 days. Discover the woman behind these and many other astonishing feats -- a serious yet spunky celebrity who mastered life through her cunning and wit. |
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| The Hawaiian Archipelago |
 By Isabella Bird. Six Months Among the Palm Groves, Coral Reefs and Volcanoes of the Sandwich Islands. |
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| Women of Discovery |
 A Celebration of Intrepid Women Who Explored the World by Milbry Polk, Mary Tiegreen. Across the centuries and from many lands, women have set forth on journeys of exploration. Visionaries, adventurers, artists, and scientists, these women challenged the limitations, both physical and social, of their times and, in the face of formidable challenges, expanded the world's body of knowledge. Yet despite their extraordinary achievements, they have remained unknown and unsung for too long. |
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| Amelia Earhart : A Biography |
 By Doris L. Rich. "Rich's portrait reveals a determined, independent woman, brave enough "to go where no one had gone and to do what no one had done" . . . [and] illuminates the public and private life of a legendary flier, bringing her back to earth as a courageous woman who dreamed and dared all." (Christian Science Monitor) |