Sheridan womans Historic 1931 Drive From Berlin to Moscow Foreshadowed Lifetime of Adventure
SHERIDAN, WYOMING – A daring 1931 automobile journey from Berlin to Moscow by a young Sheridan woman, Joan Platt, wasn’t a singular act of bravery but the opening chapter of a life defined by adventure, travel, and pioneering spirit. Newly resurfaced details reveal Platt’s remarkable life, from her early travels to her connections with aviation icons like Amelia Earhart, and a final, poignant return to her Wyoming roots decades after leaving.
At 20 years old,Joan Platt accompanied her parents on an unprecedented overland trip from Berlin to moscow,a feat documented by Helen Platt and reported in period newspapers. The journey occurred during a period of limited travel between the West and the Soviet Union, making the expedition especially noteworthy. Upon returning, Stanley Richardson, Joan’s father, reportedly suffered from asthma and declining health.
The family’s life took several turns in the following years. Joan’s mother sold the ranch and relocated to Washington, D.C. Stanley Richardson accepted a position with NBC in London, while Joan and her mother remained in the nation’s capital. During World War II, Joan was occasionally featured in Washington, D.C.social pages, but the wartime separation contributed to the dissolution of her marriage, culminating in a divorce in 1946.
Following the divorce, stanley richardson found work with Voice of America. Joan Platt resumed her maiden name until marrying Col. Stewart Warren towle Jr., a decorated Army Air Corps pilot in 1951.
The adventurous spirit inherited from her mother continued to define Joan’s life.Helen Platt embarked on extensive global travels in the 1960s,frequently enough accompanied by the Towles,before her death in May 1968. Her ashes were returned to Sheridan for burial.
Joan Platt Towle also eventually returned home. Five years after her death in March 1985, her ashes were brought back to Sheridan, having been kept by Col. Towle until his passing. Their son,Charles Towle,and a friend of Joan’s,arranged for her final return in August 1990.
The return was marked by a symbolic act: a flight over the family ranch near Story, Wyoming, piloted by Fay Gillis Wells, a pioneering aviator and co-founder of the “99s” – an organization of women aviators – alongside Amelia Earhart. Wells and Joan Platt had frist met in Russia when their fathers worked as engineers.
“Joannie was adventuresome, always doing things like that,” Wells told The Sheridan Press on August 20, 1990, recalling Joan’s youthful daring in undertaking the Berlin-to-moscow drive 59 years prior.
