ANNE
MORROW
LINDBERGH
1906-2001
First woman in the
U.S. to earn a glider
pilot license; first
woman to receive a
National Geographic
Hubbard Medal
Anne Morrow’s first date with Charles
Lindbergh was in an airplane over Long
Island in 1928. Her suitor had just made
the first nonstop transatlantic flight
and was arguably the most famous
man in the world. Three months after
their wedding, Anne made her first solo
flight. In 1930 she was the first woman
in the U.S. to earn a first-class glider
pilot’s license.
That year Charles and Anne flew
from Los Angeles to New York in 14
hours and 23 minutes, breaking the
transcontinental speed record. Anne
was co-pilot, radio operator, naviga-
tor—and seven months pregnant. Then
they flew to Japan, where Anne set a
record for long-distance radio commu-
nication. She gained recognition as an
aviator and author, and in 1934 she was
the first woman awarded National Geo-
graphic’s Hubbard Medal, for flights
totaling 40,000 miles.
By then, the couple’s lives had
darkened. In 1932 their infant son
had been kidnapped and murdered.Then Charles became enamored of
Germany’s technological advances. He
accepted a medal from the Nazi regime
and became a vocal opponent of the
U.S. entering World War II. Anne wrote
a book in support of isolationism and
called fascism the “wave of the future.”
The once adoring public—and
Anne’s own mother—turned against
the couple. In later interviews and pub-
lished diaries, Anne regretted their
stance, which she described as being
mostly her husband’s. “My marriage
has stretched me out of my world,
changed me so it is no longer possi-
ble to change back,” she wrote. She
found redemption through writing.
In 1955 she released Gift From the Sea,
a reflection on women’s lives that was
lauded as a feminist manifesto and
topped best-seller lists.
In 1979, five years after Charles’s
death, Anne was inducted into the
National Aviation Hall of Fame. She
lived another 22 years, editing and
writing in seclusion in Connecticut.TRAILBLAZERS 131