WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. -- Purdue University has opened to the public a collection of love letters, flight logs and other personal memorabilia of vanished aviator Amelia Earhart.

The items that went on display March 10 are among about 500 donated by Earhart's family last spring, bringing the university's total collection to more than 5,000 items.

Sally Putnam Chapman, an Earhart biographer and granddaughter of Earhart's husband, George Palmer Putnam, kicked off the Flight Trails exhibit with a lecture that drew about 300 listeners.

Earhart was a women's career counselor and visiting instructor at Purdue from 1935-37. The plane she flew on her doomed flight in 1937 was funded by the Purdue Research Foundation.

French tourist office reassures Americans

NEW YORK -- French tourist authorities are going out of their way to reasure Americans there are no hard feelings over political differences.

"Americans have always been and will always be welcome in France," Patrick Goyet said in a statement Friday. Goyet is the director of the French Government Tourist Office, U.S.A.

He expressed concern over reports that some American visitors have had "unpleasant encounters" in France due to the "U.S. Administration's policy on Iraq."

France is opposed to American forces aimed at removing Saddam Hussein from power.

France is generally a top destination for American tourists. Some 35 million Americans have visited the country since the late 1940s.

--From wire reports