History of the Tuskegee Airmen
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MOTON FIELD/TUSKEGEE AIRMEN SPECIAL RESOURCE STUDY OCTOBER 1998 SOUTHEAST REGIONAL OFFICE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE ATLANTA, GEORGIA Cover: Jim Butcher, The Legacy, Courtesy of the Tuskegee Airmen National Museum, Detroit, Michigan. TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF MAPS .......................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES .......................................................vii EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..................................................x Study Process .......................................................x Definition of Significance, Suitability, and Feasibility .........................x National Historic Landmarks .......................................... xi Background .......................................................xii Study Recommendations ............................................ xiii National Significance (xiii) Other Findings (xiv) Management Alternatives .............................................xv OVERVIEW: HISTORY OF THE TUSKEGEE AIRMEN .........................19 Introduction .......................................................19 I. Setting the Stage: African Americans in the Military .......................22 II. African Americans in Aviation .......................................60 III. The Tuskegee Airmen Experience, 1941-1946 ..........................84 Conclusion .......................................................130 THE RESOURCE: MOTON FIELD .........................................139 Location .........................................................139 Current Land Use and Ownership ......................................139 Cultural Resource Description ........................................139 RESOURCE SIGNIFICANCE .............................................149 Resource Significance Statement ......................................149 Findings of National Significance ......................................149 Revised National Park Service Thematic Framework .......................151 Current Status ....................................................153 Significance Evaluation ..............................................153 iii SUITABILITY AND FEASIBILITY ........................................ 159 Suitability ........................................................ 159 Feasibility ........................................................ 161 Public Interest And Support .......................................... 163 MANAGEMENT ALTERNATIVES ........................................ 165 Alternative A--Commemoration/Information: Moton Field ................... 165 Alternative B--Commemoration/Interpretation: Tuskegee Airmen & Moton Field ................................ 167 Alternative C--Living History: Tuskegee Airmen Experience ................. 169 Alternative D--Legacy: Tuskegee Airmen National Center, A Historical Continuum ....................................... 172 ENVIRONMENTAL ASSESSMENT ........................................ 175 Socioeconomic Environment: Tuskegee and Macon County, Alabama ........................... 175 Ethnographic Resources ............................................. 179 Compliance with Preservation & Environmental Laws ...................... 180 Impacts of Alternatives ............................................. 183 Common Impacts of Alternatives (183) Alternative A (184) Alternative B (185) Alternative C (187) Alternative D (189) No Action Alternative (191) Consultation and Coordination ........................................ 192 PLANNING PARTICIPANTS ............................................. 194 Study Team ...................................................... 194 Consultant Participants .............................................. 194 Bibliography ........................................................... 195 Appendix A, Management Alternatives ....................................... 202 Appendix B, Development Costs ............................................ 209 Appendix C, NPS Staffing Estimates ......................................... 211 Appendix D, Tuskegee Airmen Workshop ..................................... 213 iv Appendix E, Tuskegee Airmen Questionnaire ...................................219 Appendix F, Tuskegee Airmen Pilot Training Fields ..............................258 v LIST OF MAPS Region Map Vicinity Map Historical Base Map--Moton Field Site Historical Base Map--Moton Field Complex Alternative A--Site Development Concept Alternative A--Historic Building Treatment and Use Alternative B--Site Development Concept Alternative B--Historic Building Treatment and Use Alternative C--Site Development Concept Alternative C and D--Historic Building Treatment and Use Alternative D--Site Development Concept vi LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2. Recruitment poster urging African Americans to join the Union army .........57 Figure 3. African-American crewmen aboard a Union ship .........................57 Figure 4. African-American artillery unit in the Union army ........................57 Figure 5. African-American troops at Las Guasimas, Cuba .........................57 Figure 6. African-American longshoremen, mostly former slaves, along the James River ...57 Figure 7. African-American soldiers in World War I attached to French units ...........58 Figure 8. African-American World War I Veteran ...............................58 Figure 9. Brig. Gen. Benjamin O. Davis Sr. watches a Signal Corps crew erecting poles in World War II France, August 1944 ......................................58 Figure 10. All-black crew operates an M-8 armored car in World War II Europe ........59 Figure 11. African-American MP’s during World War II in Columbus, GA .............59 Figure 12. Crew members of the USS Mason, the first destroyer manned predominately by African Americans, World War II Boston .................................59 Figure 13. African-American WACs in World War II England ......................59 Figure 14. Ceremony welcoming Air Corps cadets, Tuskegee Institute, August 1941 .....81 Figure 15. Cadets reporting to Capt. B. O. Davis Jr., Tuskegee, 1941 ................81 Figure 16. “Chief” Anderson and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, March 1941 ...........81 Figure 17. “Chief” Anderson and pilot cadet ....................................81 Figure 18. Judge William H. Hastie, dean of Howard University Law School & Civilian Aide to the Secretary of the Interior, ca. 1941 ..................................82 Figure 19. Cadet Mess, Tompkins Hall, Tuskegee Institute, 1944 ....................82 Figure 20. World War II recruitment poster for the Army Air Corps ..................82 Figure 21. Tompkins Hall (Dining Hall), Tuskegee Institute, ca. 1943-1944 ............82 Figure 22. Cadets by Carver Museum, Tuskegee Institute .........................83 Figure 23. Cadets training at Tuskegee Institute .................................83 Figure 24. Buses transporting cadets from Tuskegee Institute to Moton Field ...........83 Figure 25. Buses transporting cadets from Moton Field to Tuskegee Institute ...........83 Figure 26. View of Moton Field, ca. 1943 ....................................132 Figure 27. Moton Field Hangar No. 1 during World War II .......................133 Figure 28. Entrance to Moton Field during World War II .........................133 Figure 29. Parachutes drying in Moton Field hangar .............................133 Figure 30. Aircraft and vehicles at Moton Field during World War II ................133 Figure 31. Construction of Moton Field hangar, ca. 1942-1943 ....................133 Figure 32. Visiting Orientation Officer lectures in the Cadet Ready Room, Moton Field, 1944 ................................................................134 Figure 33. Link Trainer instruction ..........................................134 vii Figure 34. Training planes on the ramp at Moton Field, 1944 ...................... 134 Figure 35. Dispatcher (seated) and instructor observing training exercises, Control Tower, Moton Field ...................................................... 134 Figure 36. BT-13s and PT-19s at Moton Field, 1944 ............................ 134 Figure 37. Control Tower, Moton Field, 1944 ................................. 134 Figure 38. “Keep’em Flying.” A plane crew at work on a 100-hour inspection, 1944 ... 135 Figure 39. Maintenance work inside one of Moton Field’s hangars .................. 135 Figure 40. Members of Tuskegee Institute’s Division of Aeronautics working on aircraft ............................................................... 135 Figure 41. Aircraft maintenance, Moton Field ................................. 135 Figure 42. A corner of the lunchroom at Moton Field, 1944 ....................... 135 Figure 43. Head parachute rigger lectures and demonstrates to cadets on the use and care of parachutes, 1944 .................................................. 135 Figure 44. Officer returning salutes as he passes cadets during review, Tuskegee Army Air Field, World War II ................................................ 136 Figure 45. Capt. Benjamin O. Davis Jr. stepping into an advanced trainer, Tuskegee Army Air Field, January 1942 ................................................ 136 Figure 46. Training at Tuskegee Army Air Field during World War II ............... 137 Figure 47. Armament training, Tuskegee Army Air Field during World War II ......... 137 Figure 48. Morse code instruction, Tuskegee Army Air Field, January 1942 .......... 137 Figure 49. Checking the parachute rigging, Tuskegee Army Air Field ............... 137 Figure 50. P-40 flight formation over Selfridge