Tuskegee

EXHIBITIONS:

The Tuskegee Airmen

"Flight For Freedom"

The Loves Jazz & Arts Center is currently showing The Tuskegee Airmen "Flight For Freedom" Exhibiiton showcasing historic photographs taken during World War 2. Nearly 1,000 fighter pilots trained as a segregated Army Air Corps unit at the Tuskegee, Ala., air
base. President Franklin D. Roosevelt had overruled his top generals and ordered that such a program be created. Even after the black airmen were admitted, many commanders continued to believe they didn't have the intelligence, courage and patriotism to do what was being asked of them. Not allowed to train or fly with their white counterparts, the Tuskegee Airmen distinguished themselves by painting the tails of their airplanes red, which led to them becoming known as the "Red Tails."
Hundreds saw combat throughout Europe, the Mediterranean and North Africa, escorting bomber aircraft on missions and protecting them from the enemy. Dozens died in the fighting; others were
held prisoners of war.

In spite of a stellar combat record as bomber pilots, they were callously ignored by the government and national media. They were, however, cherished in the African-American community as living examples of the high performance America was missing out on by denying blacks access to jobs, training and education. Most Tuskegee Airmen never got a chance later to try their wings as commercial pilots or executives in the ballooning aviation industry because of entrenched discrimination.

Online Exhibition
Catalogues
“Islands of Spirits”
“Anonymous African American Portraits”
“Lamentations & Celebrations”

"African American Quilts from the Robert and Helen Cargo Collection,"

past exhibitions

click on the photos for more infomation