The first ever cross country motorized drive in human history was undertaken by a woman see box below Even so women at the wheel of motor vehicles were a rare sight for many years particu larly if the trips were adventurous Effie Hotchkiss merely 20 years old and her mother Avis take on such a challenge in early 1915 In a Harley Davidson motorcycle side car combination they rumble across the United States from New York to San Francisco covering a 9 000 mile 14 000 kilometer distance mostly on dusty or even muddy unpaved roads that were typical in those days Not least due to these hardships the Orange County Times Press on April 23 1915 wrote about the two adventuresses that they were an interesting example of how far women could go with determination A year later the Van Buren sisters Augusta and Adeline tackle the challenge of crossing the United States The reason for their journey Gussie and Addie want to serve in the military as dispatch riders Their applications however are rejected Not acceptable the sisters find and intend to prove how well suited they are for the job Woman can if she will is Augusta s motto On July 4 1916 In dependence Day they embark on their journey on two heavy Indian Powerplus 998 cc 18 hp motorcycles In spite of being arrested on numerous occasions for wearing men s clothes they master their awesome ride albeit they won t get the coveted job as military dispatch riders after all In the 1920s Clärenore Stinnes dares an even greater adventure of sur rounding the whole world in an automo bile As on previous occasions her family raises eyebrows about the avid race driver s boyish zest for action around the world in a car are you serious You bet she is Not least thanks to benevolent support by the automotive industry Frankfurt based Adler Werke provide their latest Standard 6 production sedan 6 cylinders 45 hp 80 km h 50 mph top speed On May 25 1927 the 26 year old departs from Frankfurt accompanied by two mechanics Swedish cameraman Carl Axel Söder ström whom she will later marry plus a travel budget of 100 000 reichsmark The eastbound trip becomes increasingly strenuous Söderström I pushed the car more than I shot footage Heat in the Syrian desert ice at Lake Baikal mud in Siberia rough terrain in the Andes none of this stops Clärenore Stinnes After having driven a distance of nearly 47 000 kilometers 30 000 miles she and her team arrive in Berlin on June 24 1929 greeted by a cheering crowd THE MOTORISTS AUGUSTA VAN BUREN 1892 1959 EFFIE HOTCHKISS 1894 1966 CLÄRENORE STINNES 1901 1990 About female motorists In August 1888 Berta Benz without her husband s knowledge Carl would have never allowed it drove the Benz Patent Motor Car Number 3 from Mannheim to Pforzheim 106 km 66 mi in Germany The trip not only made her the first woman to operate an automobile but also the first person to go on a cross country automobile journey ADELINE VAN BUREN 1894 1949 in motion 37

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