The curiously similar stories of Charles Lindbergh and Cissy Patterson
by Donna Evers
Patterson House at 15 Dupont Circle, circa 1901. It is the present home of "The Washington Club."
In 1927, 25-year-old Charles Lindbergh stood on the balcony of 15 Dupont Circle and waved to the crowds who had mobbed the area to catch a glimpse of the most celebrated hero in America. Lindbergh was received by President Calvin Coolidge in this private residence because Washington socialite and newspaper editor, Cissy Patterson, loaned the Coolidge’s her Dupont mansion while the White House was undergoing renovations.
Though it’s not clear that Cissy Patterson and Charles Lindbergh were acquainted, their fates intersected in many interesting ways. Lindbergh’s path to fame and fortune came when a French hotelier from New York promised to pay $25,000 to the first aviators who could fly from Paris to New York or vice versa.
