Inside the circle.

Statue

A bronze sculpture group depicting Lindbergh, who grew up on a farm near Little Falls, Minn., as a boy dreaming of flying and as a man seeing that dream become reality. The sculpture was made in honor of his 1927 transatlantic flight. It was presented by the people of Minnesota to the people of Paris and France on May 19, 1987. An identical statue exists in a park located on John Ireland Boulevard, Saint Paul, Minnesota.

When 25-year-old Charles A. Lindbergh set down his monoplane, The Spirit of St. Louis, at Le Bourget Aerodrome in Paris on May 21, 1927, he instantly became the leading hero of a decade of American heroes and celebrities. Lindbergh had not expected any welcome in France, but word of his arrival spread through Paris, and twenty-five thousand people surrounded the plane even before he stopped taxiing. The frenzy continued when Lindbergh returned to the United States on June 11, 1927, where President Calvin Coolidge and his wife welcomed him at a Washington Monument stand specially built for the occasion.

Sources of information: historymatters.gmu.edu, www.vanderkrogt.net

Source of photos: Claude Dannau, Pyperpote / www.aerosteles.net

On the base of the statue:

CHARLES A. LINDBERGH-LE GARÇON ET L'HOMME

PAR LE SCULPTEUR PAUL T. GRANLUND

______________________________

CHARLES A. LINDBERGH-THE BOY AND THE MAN

BY SCULPTOR PAUL T. GRANLUND

On the plaque in front of the statue:

Statue de

Charles LINDBERGH

Le Garcon et l'Homme

de Paul T. GRANLUND

________________

Collection Musee De l'Air et de l'Espace

English translation:

Statue of

Charles LINDBERGH

The Boy and the Man

by Paul T. GRANLUND

________________

Air and Space Museum Collection