African American Pioneers in Aviation

At

Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum

From May 12 through August 5, the Evergreen Aviation Museum in McMinnville, Oregon will host a Smithsonian exhibition examining African American contributions in aviation. “Presented by the Smithsonian’s National Air and Space Museum, “Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight” examines the contributions of some of the most important African American aviators from the past and present who helped make the dream of careers in flight and space exploration possible,” as reported by Katie Stringer.

http://airandspace.si.edu/blackwings/hstory/index.html has the following photos.

Bessie Coleman 1922

Per airandspace.si.edu, “Bessie Coleman, the first black American to become a licensed pilot, went to France for her pilot training.”  After receiving her license in 1922, Coleman’s career was cut short in a tragic aircraft accident at 33.

Aviator, William J. Powell, led an ambitious program to promote aviation in the African American community and said this was made possible due to Bessie Coleman.

Linkwood Williams 1943

Although numerous black pilots made continental flights across the United State in the 1930s, there were many obstacles to flight, including segregated facilities, with hostile attitudes at airports and not getting service at some airports. Finally in 1939, U. S. Congress approved the Civilian Pilot Training Program, which paid for flight training of predominately black colleges in this program.

To see more about these pilots and the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American pilots in a military division in World War II, visit http://airandspace.si.edu/blackwings/hstory/story01a.html.

Organized by the Smithsonian Institution Traveling Exhibition Service, this national tour was made possible by the generous support of the Metlife Foundation.

“For high res photos of the exhibit, please visit: ftp://server21.sterling.net, username: lanepr-2, password: LanePR2, filename: Black Wings.

The exhibition is based on the book Black Wings: Courageous Stories of African Americans in Aviation and Space History (HarperCollins, 2008) written by exhibition curator Von Hardesty of the National Air and Space Museum,” per Stringer.

Free of cost to visitors, the Black Wings exhibit will be located in the lobby of the Evergreen Theater.

At A Glance:

Evergreen Aviation & Space Museum
490 NE Captain Michael King Smith Way
Contact the Events Department at events@sprucegoose.org or
503-434-4185 to book your visit today

9 a.m. to 5 p.m.

For prices, go to

http://www.evergreenmuseum.org/plan-a-visit/hours-and-admission/