People, Locations, Episodes

Lawrence Everett Dickson, Tuskegee Pilot born

*Lawrence Everett Dickson was born on this date in 1920. He was a Black soldier and Tuskegee Airman pilot.   He was a native of South Carolina, taught himself how to play the guitar, and spent two years studying chemistry at the City College of New York. Phyllis and Lawrence Dickson were married in November 1941. She was […]

Joseph Gomer, Tuskegee Airman born

*Joseph Gomer was born on this date in 1920. He was an African American businessman and former WW II Tuskegee Airman fighter pilot.

Wendell O. Pruitt, Military Pilot born.

*Wendell O. Pruitt was born on this date in 1920. He was a Black military pilot. Wendell Oliver Pruitt grew up in St. Louis, Missouri, as the youngest of ten children to Elijah and Melanie Pruitt. He attended Sumner High School and Lincoln University, becoming an Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity member. Already a licensed pilot, […]

Walter Morris, Paratrooper born

*Walter Morris was born on this date in 1921. He was an African American Paratrooper and Brick Mason Supervisor.

Joseph D. Elsberry, Military Pilot born.

*Joseph D. Elsberry was born on this date in 1921. He was a Black U.S. Army Air Force officer and fighter pilot. Joseph Dubois Elsberry was born in Langston, Oklahoma. Elsberry was the youngest child and only son of Joseph Dean Elsberry, a teacher and civic leader, and Beulah Earle Meeks Elsberry, also a teacher. […]

William Morgan, Dentist, and Tuskegee Airman born

*William Morgan was born on this date in 1921. He was an African American dentist and Tuskegee Airman.

William Bethel Morgan Jr. was from Wyano, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County), a small coal mining community. His father was William Bethel Morgan, Sr., a coal miner, and his mother was Susie Harris Morgan a farmer. When he was just 8, in 1929, Morgan’s father died in a Wyano coal mining accident. Young Morgan and his mother moved onto a farm in Yukon, Pennsylvania as the only black family in town.

Clarence Beavers, Military Officer born

*Clarence Beavers was born on this date in 1921. He was a Black United States Army sergeant and paratrooper.   Clarence Hylan Beavers was born in Harlem, New York, and was the 15th of 16 children to parents who fled the South before he was born to escape racism. His maternal grandfather was an escaped slave who served in the […]

Rosco Brown, Tuskegee Airman born

*Rosco Brown was born on this date in 1922. He was an African American educator and military hero in WW II.

Samuel L. Gravely Jr., Naval Officer born

Samuel Lee Gravely, Jr., an African American Navy admiral, was born on this date in 1922.

Ken Wofford, Tuskegee Airman born

*Kenneth Wofford Sr. was born on this date in 1922. He was an African American administrator and former Tuskegee Airman.

Clarence Lester, Military Pilot born.

*Clarence Lester was born on this date in 1923. He was a Black fighter pilot who served during World War II. Clarence D. “Lucky” Lester was born in Richmond, Virginia. Raised in Chicago, Illinois, Lester attended West Virginia State College, where he was a star football player and a fraternity brother of Kappa Alpha Psi, […]

Joshua Dunbar, Civil War Soldier born

*Joshua Dunbar’s birth is celebrated on this date in 1823. He was a Black plasterer and soldier. Joshua Dunbar was born enslaved in Garrard County, Kentucky. Historians know little about his early life; he trained as a plasterer while enslaved. His master allowed him to work away from his home plantation and keep some of […]

Harry Stewart Jr., Military Pilot born.

*Harry Stewart Jr. was born on this date in 1924. He was a Black soldier and fighter pilot. Harry Thaddeus Stewart Jr. was born in Newport News, Virginia. When he was two years old, after living near Langley Field Air Force Base between Hampton and Newport News, Virginia, Stewart and his family moved to Queens […]

Wilson O. Brooks, Teacher born

*This date in 1925 celebrates the birth of Wilson O. Brooks, a Black Canadian officer, teacher, and civil rights advocate. Born in Windsor, Ontario, he was the son of Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Brooks. He enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in April of 1943 and trained at No. 5 Bombing and Gunnery School […]

Samuel Kelly, Soldier, and Administrator born

*Samuel Kelly was born on this date in 1926. He was a Black soldier and educator. Samuel Eugene Kelly was born in Greenwich, Connecticut, to James Handy Kelly, a minister, and Essie Matilda Allen-Kelly, a homemaker. Educated at Greenwich public schools, Kelly dropped out of high school in 1943 and joined the United States Army […]