Charles Lindbergh Scrapbook

Charles Augustus Lindbergh (1902-1974), was born in Detroit, Michigan, on February 4, 1902. He began his flying career in 1922, studying aeronautics with the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation. In 1924 he enrolled as a flying cadet in the Army Air Service at Brooks Field, Texas and in 1926 became a airmail pilot, flying the route from St. Louis to Chicago. In 1927 he obtained backing to compete for the Raymond Orteig prize of {dollar}25,000 offered for the first nonstop flight between New York and Paris. Lindbergh took off on May 20, 1927, flying alone in the Spirit of St. Louis. Thirty-three hours thirty minutes later, he landed at LeBourget Field near Paris, where over 100,000 people had gathered to give him an enthusiastic welcome. After the flight Lindbergh flew to various countries as part of a good will tour. During this time he met Anne Spencer Morrow, who he married in 1929. Beyond his accomplishments in aviation, Lindbergh also worked on the invention of an artificial heart between 1931 and 1935 with the French surgeon Alexis Carrel. Lindbergh's personal life was marked by tragedy when the Lindberghs' 20-month-old son, Charles Augustus, Jr., was kidnapped and murdered. Charles Lindbergh was to later to encounter criticism stemming from his isolationist views and membership in America First Committee before War World II. During the war he was sent to the Pacific as an advisor to the US Army and Navy. After the Allied victory, Lindbergh worked as a aviation consultant for Pan American World Airways. In 1953 he wrote the Pulitzer Prize-winning The Spirit of St. Louis. His later years were spent in conservation work.