Page 5 - Robeson Living

He went on to say, “they ignored the doubting and dis- The white silk parachute that covered the monument was
couragements of an unbelieving world and demonstrated removed as a sailor released 15 carrier pigeons and the na-
for the first time that man, like the birds of the air, could tional anthem was played.
construct wings and soar for miles over and above the
earth.” After the unveiling of the first monument work then began
to select a design for a larger monument to be built. Mc-
Orville Wright was not the only person of note from the Lean returned on December 17, 1932 to witness the un-
aviation world attending that day standing near the mon- veiling of the large granite monument that dominates the
ument was female pilot, Amelia Earhart. Also, Senator sandy dunes.
Hiram Bingham, president of the National Aeronautics
Association and a World War I aviator, who had been the Pouring rain kept the crowd to about 1,000 who came to
proposer of the bill for a Wright memorial in the US Sen- view the new monument. The inscription reads:
ate. There were also 200 delegates of the International
Civil Aeronautics Conference, including Lord Thompson In commemoration of the conquest of the air by the
former head of the British Air Forces. Many members of brothers Wilber and Orville Wright conceived by ge-
the Wright Brothers family with representatives from 40 nius achieved by dauntless resolution and unconquer-
nations were among the other 3,000 on hand that day. able faith.

McLean went on to speak of about how the Wrights blazed Ida Van Smith was born in Lumberton, NC in 1917 to The-
the way for the great accomplishments of Col. Charles odore Deland and Martha Jane Larkin. Ida along with her
A. Lindbergh, Clarence Chamberlain and Earhart. He older sister and brother were raised in a very supportive
stressed North Carolina citizens’ appreciation of choos- and religious home.
ing our state to be the site of the early experiments, which
placed the name of Kill Devil Hill and Kitty Hawk on the By the time she was three and less than two decades since
tongue of every airplane enthusiast. He addressed Orville the Wright Brothers’ flight at Kitty Hawk, NC she was fas-
Wright: cinated by airplanes. In the early 1920s Ida would sit upon
her father’s shoulders and watch as pilots visiting Lum-
“We thank you and welcome you, and at the same time we berton would perform stunts such as tail spins, looping the
indulge the hope that you will be spared to return twen- loop as well as having an assistant doing wing-walking
ty-five years from this date to see us celebrate the fiftieth stunts.
anniversary of your marvelous work. I verily believe that
by that time transportation by air will have advanced to Growing up she would tell her father over and over again I
such a digress that it will have become the safest and most want to learn to fly. His reply was that “no one was going to
comfortable method of rapid transit.” teach a black girl in Robeson County how to fly.” He want-
ed to make her dreams come true so when she was in high

Grounds gather for the 25th anniversary
on December 17, 1928

Robeson Living ~ Summer 2018 Page 5