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Tuskegee Airmen

WWII veteran Luther Smith flew with the all‑black Tuskegee Airmen squadron.

Segregation in the Armed Forces During the 1920s and ‘30s, the exploits of record‑setting pilots like Charles Lindbergh and Amelia Earhart had captivated the nation, and thousands of young men and women clamored to follow in their footsteps. But young African Americans who aspired to become pilots met with significant obstacles, starting with the widespread […]

Alabama

Alabama Native American History The region that became Alabama was first occupied by humans more than 10,000 years ago. When Europeans arrived in the 16th century, Native Americans had already formed into societies including the Choctaws, the Chickasaws and an association of Muskogean‑speaking tribes known as the Creeks. Smaller groups included the Alabama‑Coushattas and the […]

Black History Milestones: Timeline

In August of 1619, a journal entry recorded that “20 and odd” Angolans, kidnapped by the Portuguese, arrived in the British colony of Virginia and were then were bought by English colonists. The date and the story of the enslaved Africans have become symbolic of slavery’s roots, despite captive and free Africans likely being present […]

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Tuskegee Airmen

WWII veteran Luther Smith flew with the all‑black Tuskegee Airmen squadron.

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How Tuskegee Airmen Fought Military Segregation With Nonviolent Action

The Tuskegee Airmen are best known for proving during World War II that Black men could be elite fighter pilots. Less widely known is the instrumental role these pilots, navigators and bombardiers played during the war in fighting segregation through nonviolent direct action. Their tactics would become a cornerstone of the civil rights movement of […]

Black Heroes Throughout US Military History

American Revolution During the American Revolution, thousands of Black Americans fought—on both sides of the conflict. But unlike their white counterparts, they weren’t just fighting for the colony’s independence, or to maintain British control. Most took up arms hoping to be freed from the literal shackles of slavery. Historians estimate that between 5,000 and 8,000 […]

Why Harry Truman Ended Segregation in the US Military in 1948

When President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981 on July 26, 1948, calling for the desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces, he repudiated 170 years of officially sanctioned discrimination. Since the American Revolution, African Americans had served in the military, but almost always separately from white soldiers—and usually in menial roles. A major achievement […]

6 Renowned Tuskegee Airmen

As the first Black aviators to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps, the Tuskegee Airmen broke through a massive segregation barrier in the American military. Their success and heroism during World War II, fighting Germans in the skies over Europe, shattered pervasive stereotypes that African Americans had neither the character nor the aptitude for […]

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Black History Milestones: Timeline

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Tuskegee Airmen

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How Tuskegee Airmen Fought Military Segregation With Nonviolent Action

Black Heroes Throughout US Military History

Why Harry Truman Ended Segregation in the US Military in 1948

6 Renowned Tuskegee Airmen