Charles Lindbergh, born on February 4th, 1902, made history in his aviation career as the first man to fly solo across the Atlantic. “Lucky Lindy” soon became an American icon – flying his Spirit of St. Louis to all fifty states to promote air travel and advising airlines. The Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum Library is the proud home to many unique items that represent Lindbergh’s legacy, both in aviation and American history.
Tag: Bella C. Landauer Collection
This post was written by Amy Lauder, summer intern in Discovery Services.
Sheet music was the primary way that popular music was circulated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, before radio and the record industry took over. The Bella C. Landauer Collection of Aeronautical Sheet Music at the Smithsonian Libraries contains many pieces of music from this era, all having something to do with air travel. There was great progress in air travel technology at the same time that sheet music was most popular, so this is a unique way to learn about the history of air travel. There are pieces of music commemorating historic flights, popular songs that show people’s excitement about air travel, and many images of hot air balloons, blimps, zeppelins, and many kinds of airplanes. Part of my task of cataloging the music in this collection has been to describe the images so that researchers can access that information.
Intrigued by the “Song of the Wright Brothers” sheet music cover seen in last week’s National Aviation Day post? Read on for more information about the collection in this post by summer intern, Karen Anton.
I am Karen Anton, the National Air and Space Museum (NASM) Sheet Music Cataloging intern for the Smithsonian Institution Libraries. I travelled from Bloomington, IN where I am pursuing a Master of Library Science (MLS) degree with a Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarianship Specialization at the Indiana University School of Library and Information Science and a PhD in Musicology at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music. While at the Smithsonian this summer, I will be learning from Lowell Ashley, principal cataloger at the Smithsonian Institution Libraries.