REPORT OF THE SECRETARY 13 



been begun at the close of the fiscal year, it will be described in 

 my next report, together with such other cooperative projects as may 

 be undertaken during the coming year under the congi-essional appro- 

 priation for that purpose. 



PRESENTATION OF THE LANGLEY MEDAL TO COL. CHARLES A. LIND- 

 BERGH AND THE DEPOSIT OF THE " SPIRIT OF ST. LOUIS " IN THE 

 NATIONAL MUSEUM 



In my last report, announcement was made of the award on June 

 11, 1927, of the Langley medal to Col. Charles A. Lindbergh for his 

 nonstop flight from New York to Paris. 



The actual presentation of the gold medal to Colonel Lindbergh 

 took place in the Smithsonian Building on December 8, 1927, at the 

 annual meeting of the Board of Regents. In presenting the medal 

 Chief Justice Taf t, chancellor of the Institution, said in part : 



Colonel Lindbergh: 



The Langley medal was established in memory of the third secretary of the. 

 Smithsonian Institution, Samuel Pierpont Langley. During the last 15 years 

 of his life Doctor Langley's primary interest was in making possible man's 

 flight. In this research he conducted active experiments in the lift and drift 

 of planes, and the properties of curved surfaces, constructed large steam-driven 

 models as early as 1896, which flew long distances, and finally he attempted to 

 construct a man-carrying machine, which was wrecked in the two trials which 

 it had during his lifetime. * * * Following the advice of an eminent com- 

 mittee of award, the medal is now presented to you, sir, in recognition of your 

 daring nonstop flight from New York to Paris of May 20 and 21, 1927. I have 

 the honor and pleasure of presenting the medal to you on behalf of the Regents 

 of the Smithsonian Institution. 



Permit me to add that the whole bearing and tendency of your life prior to, 

 during, and since your memorable flight, as the light of publicity is more and 

 more thrown upon it, has greatly enhanced the pleasure which my colleagues 

 and I take in presenting you this award. May your future work go far to 

 establish the dream of your desire, the wide and useful promotion of the sub- 

 ject of commercial aviation. 



In accepting the medal. Colonel Lindbergh said : 



First, I want to express my appreciation of this honor which you have just 

 given me, and also to thank you as the board of the Smithsonian Institution for 

 the interest you have taken in aeronautics. At a conference in St. Louis among 

 those interested in these fields it was decided that when the Spirit of St. Louis 

 was taken from service it would be offered to the Smithsonian Institution for 

 permanent exhibition here. 



The /Spirit of St. Louis was piloted on its last flight from St. Louis 

 to Washington by Colonel Lindbergh on April 30, 1928, and turned 

 over to the Institution. It was placed on public exhibition in the Arts 

 and Industries Building of the National Museum on May 13, 1928, 

 where it faces the main entrance in a pose strongly suggesting actual 

 flight, and immediately became the mecca for thousands of visitors 



