Albert Leo Stevens and Harry Nelson Atwood in 1911

Albert Leo Stevens balloon at Manhattan Wanamaker's

Albert Leo Stevens (March 9, 1877 – May 8, 1944) was a pioneering

balloonist In aeronautics, a balloon is an unpowered aerostat, which remains aloft or floats due to its buoyancy. A balloon may be free, moving with the wind, or tethered to a fixed point. It is distinct from an airship, which is a powered aerostat tha ...

Biography

He was born on March 9, in 1873 or 1877, in

Cleveland, Ohio Cleveland ( ), officially the City of Cleveland, is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located in the northeastern part of the state, it is situated along the southern shore of Lake Erie, across the U.S. ...

, of Czech parentage. He had brother Frank Stevens (1875–1958). He started making balloon ascents in 1889 at age 12, and began manufacturing balloons and

dirigible An airship or dirigible balloon is a type of aerostat or lighter-than-air aircraft that can navigate through the air under its own power. Aerostats gain their lift from a lifting gas that is less dense than the surrounding air. In early ...

s at the age of 20 in 1893. In 1895, he made his first parachute jump from a church spire in

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-p ...

, Canada. Stevens also played a key role in the development of safety features for

parachute A parachute is a device used to slow the motion of an object through an atmosphere by creating drag or, in a ram-air parachute, aerodynamic lift. A major application is to support people, for recreation or as a safety device for aviators, wh ...

s. He participated in the Gordon Bennett Cup balloon races, and flew one of the first dirigibles in the United States in 1906. He opened the first private airfield in the nation in 1909. On July 8, 1911, he ascended in a balloon from the

Wanamaker's John Wanamaker Department Store was one of the first department stores in the United States. Founded by John Wanamaker in Philadelphia, it was influential in the development of the retail industry including as the first store to use price tags. ...

store in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, heading toward

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

, but got lost in some fog and landed in

West Nyack, New York West Nyack is a hamlet and census-designated place in the town of Clarkstown, Rockland County, New York, United States. It is located north of Blauvelt, east of Nanuet, southwest of Valley Cottage, southeast of Bardonia, and west of Central Ny ...

. During World War I he was a

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

instructor. Stevens died on May 8, 1944, at age 67.

Legacy

The

A. Leo Stevens Parachute Medal The A. Leo Stevens Parachute Medal is named after the ballooning and parachute pioneer, Albert Leo Stevens. It was first awarded to Joe Crane of Mineola, New York, by Augustus Post, at the Early Birds of Aviation banquet, held in the Hotel Carte ...

was awarded from 1948 to 1959. The

National Air and Space Museum The National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, also called the Air and Space Museum, is a museum in Washington, D.C., in the United States. Established in 1946 as the National Air Museum, it opened its main building on the Na ...

houses the Leo Stevens Glass Plate Photography Collection, 1900-1915.

References

External links

*
The Otsego Farmer "Tributes Paid to A. Leo Stevens by Aerialist" May 12, 1944
{{DEFAULTSORT:Stevens, Albert Leo 1873 births 1944 deaths American balloonists Parachuting