Our Collection

At the Institute’s core is the Gilder Lehrman Collection, one of the great archives in American history. More than 85,000 items cover five hundred years of American history, from Columbus’s 1493 letter describing the New World through the end of the twentieth century.

Mission Inn International Shrine of the Birdmen St. Francis Medal

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Gilder Lehrman Collection #: GLC09620.421 Author/Creator: Mission Inn International Shrine of the Birdmen Place Written: Riverside, California Type: Object Date: 1945 Pagination: 1 medal Height: 3.5 cm, Width: 3.5 cm Order a Copy

One St. Francis Medal owned by Robert L. Stone. The medal was carried by Stone on all of his bombing missions during World War II. During training at March Field, Bob and a fellow cadet drove to the Mission Inn in Riverside, California there was an international shrine of the birdmen. Once there they received the St. Francis medals. The medal is worn along the edges and on the rear as a result of Bob rubbing and carrying the medal on every mission and every airplane flight after returning home.

Stone, Robert L., 1921-2009

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