2023 Road Trip: Civil Rights Trail: Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site (5/5/2023)

Friday, May 5, 2023 (continued)
We drove onward to Tuskegee, AL.

Despite traffic delays like this series of
wide loads, we were able to get to Tuskegee
in time to visit museums (also thanks to
gaining an hour in a new time zone!)

Fort Davis Railroad Depot (1904) is one of the last remaining
structures of the Savannah-Americus-Montgomery Railroad;
the town was named after its first postmaster, Fort Madison Davis 

Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site:

The stylized historic entrance to Moton Field, where many of
the first African-American military pilots trained along with
ground support staff, all of whom were called the Tuskegee Airmen

Moton Field (1940-1942, with funds that Elaenor Roosevelt
was instrumental in procuring) gateway with a bust of
Robert Moton (Principal of Tuskegee Institute who helped
establish the school's aereonautical training program that
gave piloting experience to African-Americans)

Location of the barracks (KSS)

Hanger 1 (1941) Museum:

Stearman PT-17 biplane, on which the cadets trained

Locker of uniforms

Parachutes were the responsibilty of the only permanent
parachute rigger at Moton Field: Alice Dungey Gray

The Piper Cub was used in the Civilan Pilot Training Program
run by Tuskegee Institute

Restored War Room/Intelligence Office with ...

airplane silhouettes on the celing for identification, and ...

model ships to learn identification

Yep, an early Link Trainer, a flight simulator, that was
first created in 1929; during the WWII era they
were painted blue and yellow

Restored Maintenance Record Room

Restored Supply Room

Hanger 2 (reconstruction) with the Flight Control Tower (1944)

View from the control tower of the current municipal airport

View from the control tower toward Hanger 1

View from the control tower of the "Skyway Club" (1945),
the recreation and dining facility that provided a safe place
for the African-American officers, enlisted men, and
support staff to socialize in the segregated South

Hanger 2 Museum:

P-51 Mustang, the plane the Tsukegee Airmen used to escort
American bombers over Italy; the paint scheme earned
the African-American pilots the nickname of "Red Tails"

The term "Tuskegee Airmen" was not coined until the 1950s.

Poster, featuring Second Lieutenant
Robert W Diez, was placed in 
African-American communities (KSS)

The Double V Campaign was initiated in 1942 by the Pittsburgh Courier, a prominent African-American newspaper, declaring that "Black soldiers would fight fascism on the battlefield [Abroad] -and African-Americans would fight racial discrimination in the United States [Home]." The Tuskegee Airmen prescribed to theory of a Double Victory, which meant winning the fight against facism and racism. 

Replica flight suit of Dr Mae Jemison,
the first African-American woman to
travel into space, in 1992

Tuskegee Airman flight suit

Moton Field Bath and Locker House (1941)

A look back over the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site

In spite of their treatment at home,
they helped win the fight abroad (KSS)

Next: Tuskegee Institute National Historic Site.