Up, Up, & Away!

At the very start of this February, one of the oldest and last living Tuskegee Airmen, Harry Thaddeus Stewart, Jr., died. His 2019 related stories of his time in the all-Black Air Force unit. Although he realized his dream of flight during World War II among these troops, racism impacted his career, especially the desire to be a civilian pilot.

The Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Alabama celebrates the stories of these troops and the journey to flight, repeated stances for equality, resistance, and persistence of the Black airmen during World War II. Their work included banding together in direct defiance of orders which continued to segregate the U.S. Armed Forces during World War II.

Tuskegee is a place with several Black History sites that tell varied and deep stories of the long history of inequality in the United States, as well as major efforts to overcome hatred and excel in the face of bigotry.