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Charles A. Lindbergh scrapbooks

 Collection — Multiple Containers
Identifier: V403

Scope and Contents

This collection includes four scrapbooks containing clippings of articles about Charles Lindbergh from May 1927 to August 1932 that were compiled by Miss Adele Dorothy Koehne of Indianapolis, Indiana. The bulk of the articles are from Indianapolis newspapers, but several were are also clipped from other Indiana newspapers, including from Columbus, Franklin, and Marion; from other U.S. city newspapers, including Chicago, Cleveland, New York, and San Francisco; and from several national publications, including the Christian Science Monitor, The Literary Digest, The Saturday Evening Post, and the Congressional Record. The scrapbooks also have a few postcards with Lindbergh’s image and Lindbergh’s signature is on the inside front cover of the first volume.

The four scrapbooks are organized chronologically, with volume one titled "Lindy" (May-December 1927), volume two titled "Lindy II" (December 1927-February 1929), volume three titled "Lindy--Anne" (February 1929-February 1932), and the fourth volume with no title (March-August 1932). Topics covered include Lindbergh's historic flight in May 1927, his world travels, his marriage to Anne Morrow, the Morrow family, Lindbergh's mother, he visits to Indiana, and the kidnapping of his son in 1932.

Dates

  • 1927-1932

Conditions Governing Access

This collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Legal title, copyright, and literary rights reside with Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN. All requests to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted to Rare Books and Manuscripts.

Biographical Note

Charles Augustus Lindbergh was born February 4, 1902 in Detroit, Michigan to Charles A. and Evangeline (Land) Lindbergh. He spent his early years in Little Falls, Minnesota and in Washington, D.C. while his father served in Congress from 1907 to 1917. From September 1920 to December 1921, Lindbergh studied engineering at the University of Wisconsin, then went to the Nebraska Aircraft Corporation Flight School. He took his first airplane flight as a passsenger in April 1922 and made his first solo flight in April 1923. Lindbergh graduated first in his class from the United States Air Service Flying School at Kelly Field in Texas on March 14, 1925 and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Service Reserve Corps. Following graduation, he moved to St. Louis, Missouri and became a pilot for the St. Louis to Chicago Airmail route.

In May 1927, he became the first pilot to fly solo and non-stop from New York to Paris, instantly making him famous around the world. He maried Anne Spencer Morrow, daughter of U.S. ambassador Dwight Morrow, in May 1929 and they had six children together. In 1932, their two-year old son, Charles Augustus, Jr., was kidnapped and found murdered a short time later. Likely due to Lindbergh's worldwide popularity, the case became the most famous crime of the 1930s. The sensation of the trial and threats to their son Jon forced the Lindberghs to move to Europe and they didn't return to the United States until just months before the outbreak of World War II.

Charles Lindbergh was a vocal advocate for American neutrality at the beginning of World War II, but he later went to the Pacific theatre and flew 50 combat missions as a civilian "technician" and as an "observer." He was an inventor and innovator, served as a technical adviser to Transcontinental Air Transport and Pan American World Airways, and wrote several books about his life, including The Spirit of St. Louis, for which he won a Pulitzer Prize. Lindbergh died in Hawaii at the age of 72 on August 26, 1974.

Sources:

Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. "Charles Lindbergh." Encyclopedia Britannica. Last modified August 22, 2021. Accessed January 26, 2022. https://www.britannica.com/biography/Charles-Lindbergh.

Charles Lindbergh House and Museum. "Learn: Timeline." Accessed January 26, 2022. https://www.mnhs.org/lindbergh/learn.

Extent

0.4 Cubic Feet (4 volumes)

Language of Materials

English

Arrangement

This collection is arranged chronologically.

Custodial History

This collection was received by Rare Books and Manuscripts as a donation from Adele Dorothy Koehne.

Accruals

No further additions are expected.

Related Materials

Materials relating to this collection may be found in the following collections in Rare Books and Manuscripts, Indiana State Library, Indianapolis, IN:

OBC121: Charles Lindbergh newspaper clippings

Processing Information

Collection processing completed in 1999 by Philip N. Williams. EAD finding aid created 2022/02/01 by Laura Eliason.
Title
Charles A. Lindbergh scrapbooks
Status
Completed
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin

Repository Details

Part of the Rare Books and Manuscripts Repository

Contact:
140 North Senate Avenue
Indianapolis, Indiana 46204 U.S.A.
317-232-3671