p. 27, Wilber Wright and Orville Wright, Orville seated in Wright air- plane with Albert B. Lambert before takeoff, Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio, 1910 (ppprs 00667); Copyright © 2015 Truman State University Press, Kirksville, Missouri, 63501 All rights reserved tsup.truman.edu Cover art: Detail of Wilbur Wright and Orville Wright, Orville seated in Wright air- plane with Albert B. Lambert before takeoff, Simms Station, Dayton, Ohio, 1910 (ppprs 00667); airplane, 1917 (hec-09326), airplane, 1918 (cph-3a27532), airplane, 1918 (cph- 3b38582), all from Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division. Cover design: Teresa Wheeler Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Lynch, Christopher, 1966- author. Albert Bond Lambert : aviation pioneer / Christopher Lynch. pages cm.—(Notable Missourians) Summary: “In the early twentieth century, Albert Lambert promoted St. Louis as a center for the new aviation industry. In 1923, he opened the St. Louis Flying Field, which later developed into Lambert-St. Louis International Airport”—Provided by publisher. Audience: Ages 10-12. Audience: Grades 4 to 6. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-61248-155-5 (library binding : alk. paper) — ISBN 978-1-61248-156-2 (e-book) 1. Lambert, Albert Bond, 1875-1946--Juvenile literature. 2. Businessmen—Missouri— Biography—Juvenile literature. 3. Air pilots—Missouri—Biography—Juvenile litera- ture. 4. Aeronautics—United States—History—Juvenile literature. I. Title. TL540.L267L96 2015 629.13092--dc23 2015012034 No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any format by any means without written permission from the publisher. The paper in this publication meets or exceeds the minimum requirements of the American National Standard for Information Sciences—Permanence of Paper for Printed Library Materials, ANSI Z39.48–1992. Albert Lambert.indd 2 9/15/15 2:00 PM Contents Introduction ................... 4 Chapter 1: A St. Louis Childhood . .6 Chapter 2: A Two-Time Olympian . 12 Chapter 3: Up In the Air ........ 18 Chapter 4: An Early Bird ....... .26 Chapter 5: The Spirit of St. Louis .34 Legacy: Daring Greatly ......... 44 Timeline ..................... .45 For Further Reading ........... .46 Index ........................ 48 Image Credits ................. 48 Introduction Albert Bond Lambert was from St. Louis, Missouri, but his love of aviation began an ocean away. In 1906, while he was visiting Paris, France, Albert had the opportunity to take another trip— this one was a trip up in the air. At the Gordon Bennett Balloon Race, Albert went up in a hot air balloon. 4 Albert Lambert.indd 4 9/8/15 2:49 PM This thrilling ride would make Albert Lambert a lifelong promoter of aviation, not just hot air balloons, but also airplanes. Albert helped promote St. Louis as a center for aviation, and started the airport that later became Lambert-St. Louis International Airport. Twenty years after his balloon ride, Albert helped raise money to build an airplane that symbolized his efforts to help aviation, both in St. Louis and around the world. The plane was named the Spirit of St. Louis. And when an airmail pilot named Charles A. Lindbergh took off from New York on May 20, 1927, for a solo flight across the Atlantic, it was appropriate that the airplane landed in Paris, the city where Albert Bond Lambert first fell in love with flying. 5 Albert Lambert.indd 5 9/8/15 2:49 PM Chapter 1 A St. Louis Childhood Albert Bond Lambert was born on December 6, 1875, in St. Louis, the second son of Lily Winn Lambert and Jordan Wheat Lambert. St. Louis was old when America was young. As early as the 800s, there was a Native American settlement where St. Louis is today. When French explorers and traders arrived in the 1600s, they too made settlements in the St. Louis area. In 1764, French traders founded the modern city of St. Louis along the Mississippi 6 Albert Lambert.indd 6 9/8/15 2:49 PM River, and named the city for a thirteenth-century French king. St. Louis became part of the United States in 1803 when President Thomas Jefferson arranged to buy 828,000 square miles of land west of the Mississippi River from France. With the addition of this huge area, called the Louisiana Purchase, the young country of America more than doubled in size. Soon after, President Jefferson arranged an expedition to explore the new territory. The In 1880, when Albert was five years old, the population of the City of St. Louis was 350,518. Today, the city has a population of only about 320,000, but the greater St. Louis metropolitan area has a population of nearly 3 million and is one of the hundred largest cities in the United States. 7 Albert Lambert.indd 7 9/8/15 2:49 PM Chapter 3 Up In The Air Several months after his first balloon ride, in September 1906, Albert attended the Gordon Bennett Cup in Paris. At this international balloon race, he met the leading aviation figures of the day, including August Post from the United States, Alberto Santos- Dumont from Brazil, and many more. That year, an American ballooning team won the race. In 1907 Albert was back in St. Louis, where he helped form the Aero Club of St. Louis to promote aviation in the city. Albert didn’t do things in a small way, so right away he began pushing to have St. Louis 18 Albert Lambert.indd 18 9/8/15 2:49 PM host an international balloon race that same year. Because an American, Frank P. Lahm, had won the race in 1906, the United States would host the next race. And because of people like Albert Lambert, the 1907 Gordon Bennett Cup was held in St. Louis in October. It turned out that St. Louis was blessed by geography that made it an ideal location for ballooning. The open spaces and flat ground of the St. Louis area were perfect, and the rivers helped The first Gordon Bennett Cup balloon race was held in Paris in 1906. The goal of the contest was “to fly the farthest distance from the launch site.” In 1906 an American crew flew 641 miles in 22 hours and 15 minutes. Each Gordon Bennett Cup is held in the country of the winning team from the previous year. It was held in St. Louis in 1907 and 1910 and in Kansas City in 1911, then returned to St. Louis in 1929. 19 Albert Lambert.indd 19 9/8/15 2:49 PM Chapter 5 The Spirit of St. Louis In 1920, Albert Lambert decided that St. Louis needed a better airfield for planes. Working with the Missouri Aeronautical Society, he found a 170-acre field 11 miles northwest of St. Louis. Using his own money, Albert rented the land for six years at $2,000 a year and paid for improvements to create an airfield. He had the ground cleared and leveled, and built a hangar for the airplanes. He maintained the field and allowed anyone who wanted to fly use the field for free. 34 Albert Lambert.indd 34 9/8/15 2:49 PM The new field was called St. Louis Flying Field. The airfield was managed by William and Frank Robertson, who ran a flying school there. In 1923, the Missouri National Guard formed an airplane squadron that was headquartered at the field. William Robertson also commanded the airplane squadron. In 1923, Albert brought the International Air Races to St. Louis, and the airfield was renamed in his honor. During the Air Races, on October 4, 1923, Lambert-St. Louis Flying Field was formally dedicated. One of the people who attended the 1923 Air Races was a young pilot named Charles A. Lindbergh. In 1920, Albert Lambert arranged to lease 170 acres of farmland in St. Louis County for an airfield. He paid to have the land cleared and leveled, and to build a hangar. He offered free use of the airfield to anybody who wanted to use it. 35 Albert Lambert.indd 35 9/8/15 2:49 PM Legacy Daring Greatly Albert Lambert entered his family’s business, but he spent much of his time—and a lot of his own money— promoting St. Louis as a center for the new aviation industry. He earned his pilot’s license and helped organize aviation exhibitions in St. Louis. Albert bought the land that became Lambert- St. Louis Airport, and promoted the use of aircraft in the military. Albert’s friend Theodore Roosevelt said that the kind of person who is important is one who “actually does strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasm . who spends himself in a worthy cause,” and even if he “fails while daring greatly . his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.” Albert Lambert dared greatly and through his enthusiasm, devotion, and hard work, he showed that one person can make a big difference in their community. He traveled the world, but he loved Missouri most of all, and the airport named in his honor is a tribute to a man who helped move St. Louis into the modern age of aviation. 44 Albert Lambert.indd 44 9/8/15 2:49 PM Timeline December 6, 1875: Albert Bond Lambert is born in St. Louis. 1881: Jordan W. Lambert starts a company to make and sell Listerine. 1889: Albert’s father dies in June and his mother dies in September. 1897: Albert leaves college to become president of Lambert Pharmaceutical. 1898: Albert marries Myrtle McGrew; they travel to Europe. 1900: Albert plays golf for the U.S. Olympic team at the Paris Olympics.