Research Catalog
Tuskegee Airmen Trainees : Freeman Field Mutiny collection
- Title
- Tuskegee Airmen Trainees : Freeman Field Mutiny collection, 1944-1996.
- Supplementary Content
- Finding aid
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1 Item
| Status | Container | Format | Access | Call Number | Item Location |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Schomburg Center to submit a request in person. | Box 1 | Mixed material | No restrictions | Sc MG 567 Box 1 | Schomburg Center - Manuscripts & Archives |
Details
- Description
- .2 lin. ft.
- Summary
- The Tuskegee Airmen Trainees, Freeman Field Mutiny collection consists of documents relating to a case of racial discrimination that resulted in the arrest of over a hundred African American officers and their subsequent exoneration. Included are copies of Army Air Force Special Orders, restricting and arresting the airmen, their reassignment and transfer orders. Of interest is the testimony of Col. Robert R. Selway, commanding officer at Freeman Field who issued the discriminatory orders and had the officers arrested. Selway also signed the administrative reprimand of Flight Officer Frank Pivalo (1922-1995), one of the Tuskegee Airmen who figures prominently in this collection. There is also a roster of the 115th A.A.F. Base Units.
- Subjects
- African American air pilots
- Air pilots, Military > United States > History
- Pivalo, Frank, 1922-1995
- World War, 1939-1945 > Aerial operations, American
- Race discrimination > United States
- World War, 1939-1945 > African Americans
- African Americans > Legal status, laws, etc
- Freeman Field (Ind.)
- United States > Air Force > African Americans
- United States > Air Force > History > World War, 1939-1945
- African Americans > Civil rights
- United States > Army > African American troops > History > 20th century
- World War, 1939-1945 > Participation, African American
- United States > Army Air Forces > Fighter Group, 332nd
- Access (note)
- Researchers must use photocopies.
- Source (note)
- Muriel Pivalo
- Biography (note)
- The all-black 99th Pursuit Squadron was created by the U.S. Army in 1941 with the proviso that the pilots would be strictly segregated. The airfield at Tuskegee, Alabama was chosen as their training site, thus they became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.
- Processing Action (note)
- Accessioned
- Cataloged
- Call Number
- SC MG 567
- OCLC
- NYPW04-A115
- Title
- Tuskegee Airmen Trainees : Freeman Field Mutiny collection, 1944-1996.
- Access
- Researchers must use photocopies.
- Biography
- The all-black 99th Pursuit Squadron was created by the U.S. Army in 1941 with the proviso that the pilots would be strictly segregated. The airfield at Tuskegee, Alabama was chosen as their training site, thus they became known as the Tuskegee Airmen.In early 1945 the pilots were transferred to Freeman Field in Seymour, Indiana where racial tensions, which had been building, reached a climax. Black officers attempted to enter the Freeman Field Officers Club against direct orders and one hundred and three officers were arrested, charged with insubordination and ordered to face court martial. The court martial proceedings were quickly dropped; however one officer, Lt. Roger "Bill" Terry, was convicted. Fifty years later, on August 12, 1995, at the Tuskegee Airmen National Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, fifteen of the original one hundred and three officers who were arrested received official notification that their military records had been purged of any reference to the Freeman Field Mutiny. Mr. Terry's court martial conviction was reversed and his military record cleared.
- Connect to:
- Research Call Number
- SC MG 567