G L Washington and Black Aviation the CPTP

G. L. Washington and Black Aviation: the CPTP OLLI Presentation April, 2018 Dana R. Chandler, TU Archivist/Associate Professor Tuskegee University Archives

“Black Wings” • 1982 Smithsonian Institute Air and Space Museum exhibit • Entitled “Black Wings” “In those days, we had a little bit more money to throw on a party, and the one for “Black Wings” turned out to be one of the most extraordinary ones because of the people who showed up. We had a host of Tuskegee airmen. And we had some people who were very much involved in the early years of black aviation. We had black astronauts here. It was an enormous get-together. It was a real celebration. ” https: //www. airspacemag. com/history-of-flight/a-quarter-century-of-black-wings-16349987/#hb. GPj. SRFDmos. Hc. A 1. 99

Beginning of Black Aviation • Bessie Coleman was the first African American licensed to fly. • She trained in France and received her license there in 1922, as there was greater tolerance in France for black aviators than there was in the United States. • Afterward she barnstormed* for four years in the United States before dying in a 1926 crash at the age of 33. *Barnstormers were pilots who flew throughout the country selling airplane rides and performing stunts

Beginning of Black Aviation • James Herman Banning spent two years at Iowa State College before traveling to Chicago to enroll in aviation school. • Racial barriers prohibited him from getting training in Chicago, so he returned to Iowa where he trained with a retired army officer and gained his license in 1926. • He barnstormed for three years before joining the Los Angelesbased Bessie Coleman Aero Club in 1929. • Less than a year after making the first transcontinental flight by an African American (1932), Banning died at age 32 in a San Diego crash.

Beginning of Black Aviation • William J. Powell organized the Coleman Aero Club to draw blacks into aviation. • In 1934 he published the book Black Wings • Urged African Americans to "fill the air with black wings" as a way of elevating black status, thinking that by conquering this relatively new field they might gain more standing in the wider American society.

Beginning of Black Aviation • Marie Dickerson Coker was the only female pilot in the five member "Black- birds" precision and stunt flying team of Los Angeles. • This group performed throughout the early 1930 s.

Beginning of Black Aviation • Harold Hurd flew in the mid 1930 s with the Chicagobased group. • Graduated with the first group of black trainees from the Curtis-Wright Aeronautical School. • Earned his pilot's license from Chicago's Harlem Airport • Entered the U. S. Army Air Force as a sergeant major • Trained black pilots at Tuskegee Institute.

Civilian Flight Training for African Americans Established • A national aviation training effort, known as the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), was launched in 1939 • Funding from the federal government via the Civil Aeronautics Authority (CAA) • The CAA provided funding to colleges and universities to recruit students, conduct ground training, and form partnerships with local flight services for the flight training • The purpose of the CPTP was to provide introductory aviation training to thousands of college students (primarily white)

Civilian Flight Training for African Americans Established • Tuskegee Institute was one of six historically black colleges to participate in the program. • The other schools were Howard University, Hampton Institute (now Hampton University), Delaware State College (now Delaware State University), North Carolina A&T, and West Virginia State College (now West Virginia State University).

Tuskegee’s CPTP Begins • The initial application to the CAA by Tuskegee was turned down. • Required a special trip to Washington by the Director of Mechanical Industries • Tuskegee became the last school approved fort the program

Tuskegee’s CTPT Begins G. L. Washington, writing about his pitch meeting with Leslie A. Walker, Chief of the Vocational Section of the Private Flying Department, noted that the meeting was like the “type of approach I would make to a southern white man for a favor…”

Tuskegee’s CTPT Begins “Washington later found out that Walker came from Notasulga, Alabama”

G. L Washington • Tuskegee administrator George L. Washington realized that the CPTP initiative could provide the basis for finally establishing an aviation program at Tuskegee • Author and historian, Jeff Jakeman notes that Washington “Played a pivotal role by facilitating acceptance of Tuskegee's application, establishing the program, and then managing it throughout World War II. “

G. L. Washington • Washington recruited two engineering professors, B. M. Cornell and Robert G. Pitts, from nearby Alabama Polytechnic Institute (now Auburn University) to provide ground training for the first class • Tuskegee began its first CPTP class in late 1939, with 20 students: 18 men and two women

The CPTP • The flight training was conducted in Montgomery by Joseph Wren Allen, a white pilot who operated a flight service at the municipal airport • 19 of the 20 students in Tuskegee completed the flight training to become licensed private pilots • By spring 1940, Tuskegee had leased and improved a local airstrip, purchased several airplanes, hired its own instructor pilots, and was conducting CPTP training on its own.

The CPTP • On March 25, 1940, George A. Wiggs came to Tuskegee to administer the standard examination to the CPTP students at Tuskegee. • The results were excellent, with all students passing on the first attempt • Average score: 88

The CPTP • It was the first time that all students in the CPTP in a southern state had passed. • For G. L. Washington “the scores were testimony not only to the hard work and abilities of his students, but also to the quality of the instructors. ”

Initial Training at Moton Field • Through the work of G. L. Washington and others, Moton Field was built between 1940 -1942 with funding from the Julius Rosenwald Fund to provide primary flight training under a contract with the U. S. military. • Staff from Maxwell Field, Montgomery, Alabama, provided assistance in selecting and mapping the site. Architect Edward C. Miller and engineer G. L. Washington designed many of the structures. • Archie A. Alexander, an engineer and contractor, oversaw construction of the flight school facilities. Tuskegee Institute laborers and skilled workers helped finish the field so that flight training could start on time.

Moton Field at Tuskegee

Chief Anderson • The institute took advantage of an expansion of CPTP into more advanced flight training—known as the "secondary program"— by purchasing additional aircraft and hiring Charles Alfred "Chief" Anderson, as the chief instructor pilot. • A native of Pennsylvania, Anderson was the only African American at the time with a transport pilot license.

The CPTP The move into secondary training attracted African Americans, who had completed their initial CPTP courses elsewhere, to Tuskegee for additional civilian flight training.

The CPTP • CPTP courses at Tuskegee and the other black colleges substantially increased the number of civilian African American pilots nationwide • But blacks remained barred from aviation duty in the military. • With war preparations underway and the prospect of a draft looming, African American activists, led by the black press and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), had been lobbying aggressively for full participation in the nation's armed forces.

The Military • Military aviation was a critical element in this campaign. • Activists responded to whites who suggested that blacks lacked the aptitude for participation in the highly technical and prestigious air arm by pointing to the success of black students in the CPTP. • As a result of the pressure campaign, the Selective Service Act of 1940, which established the nation's first peacetime draft, prohibited racial restrictions on voluntary enlistments in any branch of the armed forces. • This provision provided a legal basis for challenging the War Department's policy of excluding blacks from aviation duty, and at least one civil rights organization, the NAACP, initiated a lawsuit to force the admission of African Americans into the U. S. Army Air Corps, the predecessor of the U. S. Army Air Forces (AAF) that was established in June 1941.

The Military • On January 16, 1941, the War Department announced that the Air Corps would organize and train a black unit— designated the 99 th Pursuit Squadron (redesignated the 99 th Fighter Squadron in May 1942)—and base it at a new military airfield to be constructed near Tuskegee.

TAAF • During the first half of 1941, the Air Corps began developing the training program for pilots and ground crews of the 99 th and building Tuskegee Army Air Field (TAAF) in Macon County. • Following standard procedures, a civilian contractor would conduct the first phase of AAF flight training—known as "primary. "

The Airmen • Because of the work of G. L. Washington and the CPTP • The military would ultimately train nearly 1, 000 pilots in single- and twin-engine aircraft from 1941 to 1946; combat training, for those individuals who qualified, mostly occurred at other bases. • Other related ground crew training, of mechanics and armorers for instance, also took place in other locations.

The Airmen Became a Source of Pride

The Outcome

The End of the CPTP? • AAF graduated its last class of pilot trainees in June 1946, and the base was closed, bringing military flying operations at Tuskegee to an end. • Shortly after it closed, TAAF was reopened as Sharpe Field, a private airport that operated until perhaps the 1960 s. By the early 1990 s, Sharpe Field was no longer active, and the site remains in private hands. • Tuskegee Institute continued civilian flying operations at Moton Field on a limited basis for several years, and the facility is still an active airport today.

G. L. Washington and Black Aviation: the CPTP OLLI Presentation April, 2018 Dana R. Chandler, TU Archivist/Associate Professor Tuskegee University Archives