Lindbergh, Charles A. (Charles Augustus, 1902-1974)
Biography
Charles Lindbergh was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 4,1902. As a young man, Lindbergh was not a particularly good student, instead finding interest in mechanical objects like cars, motorcycles, and farm equiptment. When he turned eighteen, he entered the University of Wisconsin and studied mechanical enginnering. He later dropped out after his second year.
Biography
In March of 1922, Charles Lindbergh moved to Lincoln, Nebraska to work for the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation, a company that refurbished old military planes and sold them to the public. Here he learned about the mechanics of air planes and even had some oppourtunities to fly under the supervision of pilots. He even began joining some pilots on "barnstorming" trips. Barnnstorming is when a pilot flys to a town to show off his plane and sell rides in it.
Biography
After one of these barnnstorming trips, Lindbergh went to Georgia and purchased his first plane- a Curtiss Jenny. After a year of barnstorming in his own plane, he decided to join the Army Air Service. Lindbergh excelled during flight school, and graduate the top of his class. Upon graduating, Lindbergh became a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and moved to St. Louise to become an officer in the Missouri National Guard.
Biography
While in St. Louise, Charles Lindbergh took a job with Robertson Aircraft Corporation flying passengers and instructing students. In 1926 the company got a contract to fly mail between Chicago and St. Louis, and Lindbergh was made the cheif pilot.
Biography
On May 20, 1927, Lindbergh set off on what would become the first Transatlantic flight in history. By completing a flight from New York to Paris he won the Orteig prize. This was an award of $25,000 offered by a French businessman named Raymond Orteig to the first pilot who could make the flight successfully. In 1929 he married Anne Morrow, and the two had a baby boy together.
Biography
Lindbergh was never comfortable with the attention his fame from the flight brought him, and became even more so with the kidnapping and murder of his infant son in 1932. He and his wife moved to England in 1935 hoping to escape the public eye. During his time in England, Lindbergh saw the beginning of World War II. He originally opposed The United State entering the war, but after the attack on Pearl Harbor he joined the war effort. In addition to flying over fifty combat missions, Lindbergh worked as a consultant for Henry Ford in the production of B-24 bombers, and later consulting for the United Aircraft Corproation on Navy and Marine planes.
Biography
Robinson, Roger E. "Charles Augustus Lindbergh." The State Historical Society of Missouri, accessed October 12, 2015. http://shs.umsystem.edu/historicmissourians/name/l/lindbergh/.
Found in 1 Collection or Record:
Jeanne Monefeldt and Mary Paroissin correspondence and photographs
This collection contains letters, postcards, and photographs regarding the lives of the pen pals ranging from 1924 to 1985. The letters, which were regularly written mostly in French by the pen pals until Jeanne's death in 1985, document several major historic events and people, including Charles Lindbergh's visit to France and World War II. Additionally, the correspondence captures the daily lives of two women living in the 20th century.