Charles Lindbergh was a vicious antisemite. Why does St. Louis publicly honor him? (long read)

On Dec. 13, 1930, about 2,000 people representing the elite of St. Louis society gathered at the Bridle Spur Hunt Club in Huntleigh Village to celebrate the dedication of a newly paved highway. What was once Denny Road was re-named Lindbergh Boulevard.

The luncheon at the club included speeches from state senators, representatives, judges and mayors. It was followed by two “processions of automobiles’’ that convened at Kirkwood High School, where alumni of Kirkwood and Webster Groves High Schools played a game of football, according to the Naborhood Link News.

All that fanfare was in honor of Charles A. Lindbergh, the aviator who made history by flying solo across the Atlantic Ocean in 1927 in a plane named the “Spirit of St. Louis.” Lindbergh didn’t attend the dedication ceremonies in 1930. But his ties to the region come from his stint living here from about 1926 to mid-1927. It was in St. Louis that he nurtured relationships with a handful of wealthy aviation aficionados who ultimately provided the funding Lindbergh needed to buy the plane that would launch him into history.

Just 11 years after Lindbergh Boulevard was named, a new movement was afoot to change the name back to Denny. By 1941, the high regard Lindbergh had enjoyed for so long was besmirched by his opposition to entering World War II and by his open disdain for Jews.

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