Why a Booktrail?
1940s: Black men were not encouraged as airmen during the Second World War
You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen
What you need to know before your trail
I WANT YOU! says the poster of Uncle Sam. But if you’re a young black man in 1940, he doesn’t want you in the cockpit of a war plane. Yet you are determined not to let that stop your dream of flying
Travel Guide
Travel BookTrail style to Tuskagee
If you wanted to be an airman in the army, there was a great civilian pilot training program at Tuskegee Institute. This prepared many men and women for the tasks they would be expected to carry out during WW2 on the front line of Europe.
This was the iconic place where many at the time learned the complex tasks in the fields of engineering and mechanics, how to communicate in code, how to read a map.
The Tuskegee Airmen had to fight battles on two fronts.They wanted to serve their country but a major enemy was right there at home – the face of racism. Soldiers now not to stray far from the base for fear of being attacked or even lynched.
Full integration in theUS army did not happen until 1948, a move ordered by President Harry Truman
Booktrail Boarding Pass: You Can Fly: The Tuskegee Airmen
Destination : New Orleans Author/Guide: Carole Boston Weatherford Departure Time: 1940s
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