Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., North Coast Chapter (f. 1992) is the Cleveland, Ohio, area chapter of the national organization whose sole purpose is to educate young African Americans about the challenges faced by the Tuskegee Airmen in training to become World War II fighter pilots in the United States Army Air Corps. Members give talks to area groups describing injustice and segregation in the military during the 1940s, encourage aviation training, and sponsor scholarships for various educational pursuits.
The Tuskegee Airmen were graduates of the segregated Tuskegee Army Flying School near Tuskegee, Alabama. Many of the graduates joined the four squadrons of the renowned 332nd Fighter Group where they demonstrated that black men could indeed fly fighter planes and served with distinction throughout the war.
Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., North Coast Chapter Photographs, 1944 and undated, consist of approximately forty-five positive photographic prints, in black and white and in color, and in varying sizes. The photographs cover the training necessary during the 1940s at Tuskegee, Alabama, and include photographs and portraits of Robert A. Decatur, Joseph D. Barrucker, and other members of the Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., North Coast Chapter. Included in the photographs are pictures of George Washington Carver; Henry Ford; and Frederick Douglass Patterson, President, Tuskegee Institute. Events depicted include the ninety-ninth birthday celebration of Kate Lawrence, mother of Clevelander Irwin Lawrence, who was shot down over Italy during World War II.
The collection is of value to those studying African American history, military history, aviation history, the Second World War, and the racial integration of American military forces.
The collection is arranged by photographic type, with portraits preceding views.
Processed by Catherine Yandek in 1997.
None.
[Container ___, Folder ___ ] PG 485 Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., North Coast Chapter Photographs, Western Reserve Historical Society, Cleveland, Ohio
Gifts of Robert Decatur and Joseph D. Burrucker in 1992 and Carmel Whiting in 1993.
The following terms have been used to index the description of this collection in the library's online public access catalog.