1875: An Aviation Pioneer Begins His Life’s Journey in St. Louis

December 6, 1875

Albert Bond Lambert was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He led an eventful life in several decidedly different capacities, which included being a golfer in the 1900 and 1904 Summer Olympics; the president and later chairman of a pharmaceutical company founded by his father (who also helped create the mouthwash Listerine); and police commissioner of St. Louis. Lambert also carved out a notable place for himself in aviation history. 

Lambert developed a strong interest in human flight by 1906 and consequently took ballooning lessons. In 1907, he was a founding member of the Aero Club of St. Louis. This club used military titles for its members, with Lambert being designated as “major” — an appellation that would remain with him for life. Lambert became acquainted with the Wright Brothers and, in 1909, purchased his first plane from them. Orville Wright, as a matter of fact, was the one who gave Lambert flying lessons. 

In 1911, Lambert became the first resident of St. Louis to earn a pilot’s license. He served as an instructor in ballooning and parachuting in the Aviation Section of the U.S. Army Signal Corps just a few years later during World War I. In 1925, Lambert purchased a 170-acre (69.8-hectare) field northwest of St. Louis that had been used for hot-air balloon flights and the first-ever international air meet. To further develop this site, Lambert had runways and hangars installed there. 

One of Lambert’s greatest claims to fame took place in 1927, when he was among the St. Louis-based backers who helped purchase for fellow city resident Charles Lindbergh the plane – called  The Spirit of St. Louis — that the young pilot soon used for his history-making nonstop transatlantic flight between New York and Paris.

In 1928, Lambert sold the field he had both purchased and upgraded to the city of St. Louis. The airport at that site – originally named Lambert-St. Louis Municipal Airport and now called St. Louis Lambert International Airport –had the distinction of being one of the first municipal airports in the United States. (This airport is also widely referred to as either Lambert Field or — more simply stated — Lambert.)

Lambert died in his hometown on November 12, 1946, at the age of 70. “In the passing of Maj. Albert Bond Lambert, St. Louis has lost a distinguished and valuable citizen,” proclaimed Aloys P. Kaufmann, the city’s mayor, in a statement released that same night. “He was truly our leading pioneer in aviation, believing in it and seeing its great potential when most other men were scoffing.” Kaufmann further noted, “He lived to see many of his plans materialize. We who are charged with carrying on will see that the others bear fruit. We shall miss him sorely.”

Photo Credit: Public Domain

For more information on Albert Bond Lambert, please check out https://missouriencyclopedia.org/people/lambert-albert-bond