On June 11, 1927, Charles Lindbergh received the first Distinguished Flying Cross ever awarded. Since 1927, aviators honored with this medal have included World War II pilots President George H. W. Bush, Senator George McGovern, and astronaut Virgil “Gus” Grissom, who flew one hundred missions during the Korean War.

Lindbergh’s nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic on May 20-21, 1927, made aeronautical history. The stunt-flyer-turned-airmail-pilot’s flight was underwritten by a group of St. Louis businessmen. Flying his monoplane, Spirit of St. Louis, Lindbergh captured the $25,000 prize offered for the first flight between New York and Paris.

“Lucky Lindy’s” arrival in Paris after thirty-three-and-one-half hours in the air was celebrated on both sides of the Atlantic. At the award ceremony in Washington, D.C., President Calvin Coolidge remarked:

On a morning just three weeks ago yesterday, this wholesome, earnest, fearless, courageous product of America rose into the air from Long Island in a monoplane christened “The Spirit of St. Louis” in honor of his home and that of his supporters. It was no haphazard adventure. After months of most careful preparation, supported by a valiant character, driven by an unconquerable will and inspired by the imagination and the spirit of his Viking ancestors, this reserve officer set wing across the dangerous stretches of the North Atlantic. He was alone. His destination was Paris. Thirty-three hours and thirty minutes later, in the evening of the second day, he landed at his destination on the French flying field at Le Bourget. He had traveled over 3,600 miles and established a new and remarkable record. The execution of his project was a perfect exhibition of art.

Calvin Coolidge. “Address…Bestowing Upon Colonel Charles A. Lindbergh the Distinguished Flying Cross,” Washington, D.C., June 11, 1927. [Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office: 1927]. Everett Sanders Papers. Manuscript Division

Coolidge went on to commend Lindbergh’s “absence of self-acclaim, [his] refusal to become commercialized, which has marked the conduct of this sincere and genuine exemplar of fine and noble virtues.”

From Washington, Lindbergh traveled to New York City where he was honored with a ticker tape parade. Over the next several months Lindbergh and the Spirit of St. Louis visited eighty-two cities in forty-eight states. Hailed as a national hero, Lindbergh became an influential spokesperson for the emerging aviation industry.

Following his record-breaking flight, Lindbergh married Anne Spencer Morrow in 1929; she became a well-known author. Their life together was marked in its early years by the avid attention of the public and the press and by the notorious kidnapping and murder of their son, Charles Augustus Jr. in 1932.

Later in his life, Lindbergh was a consultant to commercial airline companies and became a wildlife conservationist. He worked for both the U.S. Department of Defense and the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics. His Pulitzer Prize-winning book, The Spirit of St. Louis(1953), describes his historic flight. Charles Lindbergh died on August 26, 1974.

On June 11, 1963, Vivian Malone and James Hood stood up against Governor George Wallace and a large group of Alabama state troopers to enroll at the University of Alabama. Earlier, in 1956, Autherine Lucy made history as the first African American student to be accepted and enrolled at the University for graduate study in library science. Unfortunately, she was expelled 3 days later due to threats and violence on campus.

James Hood graduated from Carver High School in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Hood was a student at the Clark College and helped organize Gadsden’s Citizen Committee, an affiliate of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).

Vivian Malone graduated from Central High School in Mobile, Alabama. While attending Alabama A & M UniversityExternal, Malone applied to the University of Alabama and was rejected. She appealed against her case. Malone was then accepted; however, she was not able to enroll because of the state’s opposition to federal interference.

The University rejected both applicants’ admission due to their race. Following extended legal proceedings, District Court Judge Harlan Grooms authorized Hood and Malone to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963. The court determined that the University’s policy of denying admission to African Americans violated the U.S. Supreme Court decision in Brown v. Board of Education.

Accompanied by U.S. Deputy Attorney General Nicholas Katzenbach, Malone and Hood tried to enroll at the University. Governor Wallace, with state troopers, blocked the entrance to Foster Auditorium to prevent the students from enrolling. Later that day, Malone, Hood, and Deputy Attorney General Katzenbach returned with the Alabama National Guard, which was federalized by President John F. Kennedy. Conceding to the federal order and show of force, Governor Wallace evacuated the campus in protest still claiming the necessity of segregation. Malone and Hood enrolled for classes with no additional violence.

On August 11, 1963, Hood left the University of Alabama after threats and violence plagued his dorm. Hood returned to the University to graduate with a Doctor of Philosophy degree in interdisciplinary studies in 1997.

On May 30, 1965, Vivian Malone graduated from the University of Alabama with a Bachelor’s Degree in business administration with honors, becoming the first African American to graduate from this University.