Anne Morrow Lindbergh papers

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906 Jun 22 - 2001 Feb 7), author and aviator, was born Anne Spencer Morrow in Englewood, New Jersey, the daughter of Dwight W. Morrow, an investment banker, diplomat, and United States senator and Elizabeth Reeve Cutter, an educator. She had three siblings, Elisabeth, Dwight, Jr., and Constance. She was educated at Miss Chapin's School and Smith College. During her senior year she was introduced to Charles Augustus Lindbergh in December 1927 at the American Embassy in Mexico City where her father was serving as ambassador. They were married in a secret ceremony in May 1929 at her parents’ estate in Englewood, New Jersey. She wanted to become a professional aviator and undertook an intense study of flying, radio theory, Morse code, and navigation, earning a pilot’s license and setting a transcontinental speed record with her husband in 1930 when she was seven months pregnant. Anne Lindbergh was the first woman in the United States to obtain a glider pilot's license

In July 1931, the Lindberghs took off on an extended survey flight for Pan American Airways over the Arctic Circle in Canada to Japan and China. After the tragic kidnapping and murder of her son Charles Jr., in 1932, she took some comfort in narrating her experiences as co-pilot and navigator in her first book, North to the Orient, published in 1935. The memoir went on to win the National Book Award and launch a celebrated career. After the birth of their second son, Jon, they undertook a second air survey expedition through the North Atlantic spending a happy period of time in Greenland where they mapped the mountain ranges and took air samples. They then flew south through Europe to Africa returning across the South Atlantic to Brazil and north to New York. In 1934, the National Geographic Society recognized her forty thousand miles of exploration with its prestigious Hubbard Award. She was the first woman to receive it.

To protect their son Jon from intrusive publicity, the Lindberghs moved to England in 1935 after the kidnapping and murder trial of Bruno Hauptmann. In 1938 they moved to France to be near her husband’s scientific colleague Alexis Carrel. During those years she wrote about their Atlantic expedition, first for National Geographic and in a second bestselling book, Listen! The Wind, published in 1938. In The Wave of the Future (1940), a book-length essay, she tried to interpret their non-interventionist position to the public. During World War II she was kept busy raising four children: Jon, Land, Scott, and Anne. While Charles worked on bomber development at the Ford factory, Anne found some time to study sculpting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her last child, Reeve, was born in 1946. From the late 1940s through the 1960s, Anne Lindbergh published a large number of articles and poems in literary, women’s, and general magazines on a variety of personal and international issues. She wrote about the importance of balancing personal needs, social expectations, and obligations to family and community in her most popular and enduring work, Gift from the Sea (1955). Next to the Bible it was the non-fiction best seller of the year and sold 430,000 copies. To date, well over eight million copies have been sold, and at least 30,000 copies are sold annually.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was motivated to write an essay, "The Heron and the Astronaut," after the Lindberghs attended the Apollo 8 launch from the Kennedy Space Center on December 21, 1968, the astronauts' first flight into the orbit of the moon. It was published in 1969 under the title Earth Shine, with her essay on Africa, "Immersion in Life." The Lindberghs built a modest home in Hana, Maui, Hawaii in 1969-1970. Working with the Nature Conservancy, Anne and Charles Lindbergh made substantial contributions toward the purchase of land in the Valley of the Seven Sacred Pools in Maui to extend Haleakala National Park more than 4000 acres from the inland crater to the ocean. After her husband’s death in 1974, she devoted much of her time to editing and publishing five volumes of her diaries and letters covering her life through the end of World War II.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame July 21, 1979, "for outstanding contributions to aviation by her participation in pioneering flights surveying air routes to the Orient and Europe, and as an extraordinary author encouraging public appreciation of aviation and air travel.” In the 1990s she moved from her home in Connecticut to her daughter Reeve's family farm in Vermont. Reeve Lindbergh dealt with the last seventeen months of her mother's life in the book No More Words, a sensitive and loving memoir of their time together, published in 2001. In 2012, the fourteenth book of her writings was published, Against Wind and Tide: Letters and Journals, 1947-1986, based on her papers in Manuscripts and Archives.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh (1906 Jun 22 - 2001 Feb 7), author and aviator, was born Anne Spencer Morrow in Englewood, New Jersey, the daughter of Dwight W. Morrow, an investment banker, diplomat, and United States senator and Elizabeth Reeve Cutter, an educator. She had three siblings, Elisabeth, Dwight, Jr., and Constance. She was educated at Miss Chapin's School and Smith College. During her senior year she was introduced to Charles Augustus Lindbergh in December 1927 at the American Embassy in Mexico City where her father was serving as ambassador. They were married in a secret ceremony in May 1929 at her parents’ estate in Englewood, New Jersey. She wanted to become a professional aviator and undertook an intense study of flying, radio theory, Morse code, and navigation, earning a pilot’s license and setting a transcontinental speed record with her husband in 1930 when she was seven months pregnant. Anne Lindbergh was the first woman in the United States to obtain a glider pilot's license

In July 1931, the Lindberghs took off on an extended survey flight for Pan American Airways over the Arctic Circle in Canada to Japan and China. After the tragic kidnapping and murder of her son Charles Jr., in 1932, she took some comfort in narrating her experiences as co-pilot and navigator in her first book, North to the Orient, published in 1935. The memoir went on to win the National Book Award and launch a celebrated career. After the birth of their second son, Jon, they undertook a second air survey expedition through the North Atlantic spending a happy period of time in Greenland where they mapped the mountain ranges and took air samples. They then flew south through Europe to Africa returning across the South Atlantic to Brazil and north to New York. In 1934, the National Geographic Society recognized her forty thousand miles of exploration with its prestigious Hubbard Award. She was the first woman to receive it.

To protect their son Jon from intrusive publicity, the Lindberghs moved to England in 1935 after the kidnapping and murder trial of Bruno Hauptmann. In 1938 they moved to France to be near her husband’s scientific colleague Alexis Carrel. During those years she wrote about their Atlantic expedition, first for National Geographic and in a second bestselling book, Listen! The Wind, published in 1938. In The Wave of the Future (1940), a book-length essay, she tried to interpret their non-interventionist position to the public. During World War II she was kept busy raising four children: Jon, Land, Scott, and Anne. While Charles worked on bomber development at the Ford factory, Anne found some time to study sculpting at the Cranbrook Academy of Art. Her last child, Reeve, was born in 1945. From the late 1940s through the 1960s, Anne Lindbergh published a large number of articles and poems in literary, women’s, and general magazines on a variety of personal and international issues. She wrote about the importance of balancing personal needs, social expectations, and obligations to family and community in her most popular and enduring work, Gift from the Sea (1955). Next to the Bible, it was the non-fiction best seller of the year and sold 430,000 copies. To date, well over eight million copies have been sold, and at least 30,000 copies are sold annually.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was motivated to write an essay, "The Heron and the Astronaut," after the Lindberghs attended the Apollo 8 launch from the Kennedy Space Center on December 21, 1968, the astronauts' first flight into the orbit of the moon. It was published in 1969 under the title Earth Shine, with her essay on Africa, "Immersion in Life." The Lindberghs built a modest home in Hana, Maui, Hawaii, in 1969-1970. Working with the Nature Conservancy, Anne and Charles Lindbergh made substantial contributions toward the purchase of land in the Valley of the Seven Sacred Pools in Maui to extend Haleakala National Park more than 4000 acres from the inland crater to the ocean. After her husband’s death in 1974, she devoted much of her time to editing and publishing five volumes of her diaries and letters covering her life through the end of World War II.

Anne Morrow Lindbergh was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame July 21, 1979, "for outstanding contributions to aviation by her participation in pioneering flights surveying air routes to the Orient and Europe, and as an extraordinary author encouraging public appreciation of aviation and air travel.” In the 1990s she moved from her home in Connecticut to her daughter Reeve's family farm in Vermont. Reeve Lindbergh dealt with the last seventeen months of her mother's life in the book No More Words, a sensitive and loving memoir of their time together, published in 2001. In 2012, the fourteenth book of her writings was published, Against Wind and Tide: Letters and Journals, 1947-1986, based on her papers in Manuscripts and Archives.

1906 June 22

Born in Englewood, New Jersey

1912

Entered Dwight School, Englewood, New Jersey

1919

Entered Miss Chapin's School, New York City

1924

Entered Smith College, Northampton, Massachusetts

1927 Dec 21

Met Charles Augustus Lindbergh at U.S. Embassy in Mexico City where he was guest of Ambassador Morrow

1927 Dec 28

First flight with Charles A. Lindbergh

1928 Jun

Received Elizabeth Montagu Prize and Mary Augusta Jordan Prize for original literary works

Graduated from Smith College with B.A. in English

1929 Feb 12

Engagement to Charles Augustus Lindbergh announced

1929 May 27

Married to Charles A. Lindbergh in Englewood, New Jersey

1930

Made her first solo flight

Became first woman in United States to obtain glider pilot's license

Resided in Princeton, New Jersey

1930 Apr 20

Was co-pilot and navigator on transcontinental record flight with Charles Augustus Lindbergh

1930 Jun 22

Birth of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.

1931

Obtained pilot's license

Made flight from New York to Sibera, Japan, and China

Completion of first home on 400 acre tract in Hopewell, New Jersey

1931 Oct 5

Death of Dwight W. Morrow

1932 Feb

Made radio appeals for Chinese flood relief

1932 Mar 1

Kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.

1932 May 12

Discovery of body of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.

1932 Aug 16

Birth of Jon Morrow Lindbergh

1933 Jun

Gave Hopewell estate as home for children

1933 Jul

Awarded Cross of Honor by United States Flag Association for her part in survey

Began 3,000 mile, 5 1/2 month flight with Charles A. Lindbergh to survey transatlantic air routes, including second visit to Russia

1934 Sep

Published "Flying Around the North Atlantic" in National Geographic

Received Hubbard Medal from National Geographic Society for her work as co-pilot and radio operator on survey flight

Bruno Hauptmann arrested and charged with kidnapping of Charles Augustus Lindbergh, Jr.

1935 Jan

Testified at trial of Hauptmann

1935 Jun

Received honorary M.A. from Smith College

Received threats on Jon's life

Published North to the Orient

1935 Dec 21

Resided at Weald Seven-oaks, Kent in "Long Barn" on the estate of Harold Nicolson and Vita Sackville-West

Sailed secretly to England

1936 Jul

Visited Berlin

1937

Flight to India

1937 May 12

Birth of Land Morrow Lindbergh

1937 Oct

Visited Germany

1937 Dec

Made first trip to the United States since 1935

1938

Published Listen! the Wind

1938 Jun

Moved from England to islet of Illiec near Port Blanc, France, where Alexis Carrel had summer residence

1938 Aug

Made third visit to Russia

1938 Oct

Visited Berlin

1939 Apr

Resided at Lloyd Neck, Huntington, Long Island, New York

Returned to the United States

1939 Jun

Received honorary L.L.D. degrees from the University of Rochester and Amherst College

1940

Published The Wave of the Future which advocated a policy of "reform at home rather than a crusade abroad"

1940 Jan

Published "Prayer for Peace" in Reader's Digest

1940 Oct 2

Birth of Anne Spencer Lindbergh

1940 Dec 24

Gave radio address of "Feeding Europe" (published as "The Wind of Privation or the Sun of Mercy?") for American Friends Service Committee

1941 Jun

Published "Reaffirmation" in Atlantic Monthly

1942 Jul

Moved to Bloomfield Hills, Michigan, while Charles A. Lindbergh served as aviation consultant to war industries

1942 Aug 13

Birth of Scott Morrow Lindbergh

1944

Published The Steep Ascent

Lived at Tompkins House, Westport, Connecticut

1945 Oct 2

Birth of Reeve Morrow Lindbergh

1946

Purchased house on three acre lot at Scott's Cove, Darien, Connecticut

1947 Jan

Published "My Most Unforgettable Character" in Reader's Digest -- a remembrance of Edward Sheldon, the playwright

Sent as correspondent for Reader's Digest to assess recovery efforts in Europe

1948 Jan

Published "The Flame of Europe" in Reader's Digest

1948 Feb

Published "One Starts at Zero" in Reader's Digest

1948 Apr

Published "Anywhere in Europe" in Harper's Magazine

1948 Sep

Published "Airliner to Europe" in Harper's Magazine

1948 Dec

Published "The Mother and the Child" in Harper's Bazaar

1950 Dec

Published "Our Lady of Risk" in Life

1955

Published Gift from the Sea

1955 Jan

Death of Elizabeth Cutter Morrow

1956

Published The Unicorn and Other Poems, 1935-1955

1962

Published Dearly Beloved, a novel treating various aspects of marriage

1964 May 19

Published "As I See Our First Lady," a view of Lady Bird Johnson in Look

1966 Oct 21

Published "A Safari Back to Innocence," impressions of East Africa, in Life

1967 Jan

Published "Discovery and Renewal" in Reader's Digest

1969 Feb 28

Published Earthshine, which reflected growing interest in conservation

Published "The Heron and the Astronaut" in Life

1970 Feb

Received honorary L.L.D. degree from Smith College

Addressed meeting on environmental pollution at Smith College

1970 Jul

Published "Harmony with the Life around Us" in Good Housekeeping

1971

Published Bring Me a Unicorn: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1922-1928

1973

Published Hour of Gold, Hour of Lead: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1929-1932

1974

Published Locked Rooms and Open Doors: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1933-1935

1974 Aug 26

Death of Charles Augustus Lindbergh

1976

Published The Flower and the Nettle: Diaries and Letters of Anne Morrow Lindbergh, 1936-1939

1979 Jul 21

Inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame

2001 Feb 7

Death of Anne Morrow Lindbergh