Lindbergh's Spirit of St. Louis was installed in the North Hall of the Smithsonian Institution's Arts & Industries Building on May 13, 1928.  It was suspended just above the exhibit cases and its popularity with the public brought new attention to aeronautical collection from Smithsonian leadership. Paul Garber, who collected the aircraft and most of the early aeronautical collectton, recalled years later that acquiring the Spirit of St. Louis was "the turning point," and it "gave a much greater breadth to the subject of aeronautics" within the Smithsonian Institution.

Featured in National Air and Space Museum: An Autobiography