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This website provides information and about Alice Huyler Ramsey's cross country drive in 1909. Alice Ramsey was the first woman to drive across the United States. She departed New York City on June 9, 1909 and arrived in San Francisco on August 5, 1909. On June 9, 1999, automotive journalists Tara Baukus Mello and Sue Mead traced Alice's route to commemorate Alice Ramsey's historic drive. At their departure in New York City, Alice Ramsey's son John (who was two when Alice made her drive) and his family sent them off.
Tara and Sue's 1999 trip was used as an educational tool for elementary and middle school students (3rd through 8th grade). Three teachers, Kim Anton, Kate Hancock and Elizabeth Macri, from Willard Elementary School in the Ridgewood, New Jersey school district, where Alice lived for a short time, designed the curriculum using both the historical and 1999 trip as a base. The curriculum provides cross-curricular activities and a bibliography of literature resources. Areas covered include history, vocabulary, geography, math, problem solving, cooperative learning, science and the arts. The unit also includes biographical information about other significant contributions by women to the field of transportation and traditional classroom activities such as word searches, graphing activities and map skills.
Tara and Sue visited Willard Elementary School on June 8, 1999 to meet the students and bring the project to life. In addition, some of the students came to New York City for the kickoff event the following day.
In this website, you can find information on:
 | History: Alice Ramsey, info on her historic trip and her car |
| 1999 Trip: Tara & Sue's daily travel log with notes and photos as well as info on the cars they drove |
| Educational Curriculum: Sections on math, language arts, social studies,
science, creative problem solving, art, FAQs, bibliography for teachers to
use in the classroom |
