Anne Morrow Lindbergh (June 22, 1906 – February 7, 2001) was an American author and aviator. She was the first woman to receive a glider pilot license in the United States and also the first woman to be awarded the Hubbard Medal by the National Geographic Society.
Anne’s books about her travels, as well as collections of her diaries and letters, were warmly received by the public.
Born in Englewood, New Jersey, Anne came from a family with a literary background; her mother was a poet and teacher, which instilled in her and her three siblings a love for reading and writing at an early age.
Young Anne Lindbergh.
She attended Smith College and graduated with a Bachelor of Arts degree in 1928. During her time in school, she won several literary awards, including the Elizabeth Montagu Award and the Mary Augusta Jordan Prize.
In 1929, she married Charles Lindbergh, a famous aviator at the time, and that same year, she made her first solo flight. The following year, she earned her license, becoming the first American woman to obtain a first-class glider pilot license.
Charles and Anne Lindbergh in 1929.
During the 1930s, Charles and Anne together explored and charted air routes between continents, seeking potential air travel routes for commercial airlines.
They were the first to fly from Africa to South America and explored polar air routes from North America to Asia and Europe.
The Lindberghs on the Lockheed Model 8 Sirius in 1931.
Details of their travels are mentioned in Anne’s books such as: “North to the Orient” (1935, about flying to Japan and China via the Arctic); and “Listen! The Wind” (1938, about a transatlantic flight from Africa to South America).
Anne with her newborn son.
By 1934, the Lindbergh family had flown 40,000 miles (approximately 64,000 km), and this contribution earned Anne the Hubbard Medal. After their firstborn son was kidnapped and murdered, the couple moved to Europe for a time.
The Lindberghs with President John F. Kennedy at the White House in 1962.
After World War II, Anne focused on writing and produced many notable works such as: “Gift from the Sea” (1955), “North to the Orient”, “Listen! The Wind”, and others.
Anne Lindbergh’s Hubbard Medal from 1934, illustrating the 64,000 km journey she and her husband undertook.
The aviator in her later years (1975).
After her passing in 2001, several of her works received American literary awards. Anne Lindbergh was honored with numerous accolades, including induction into the National Aviation Hall of Fame (1979) and the National Women’s Hall of Fame (1996).
