Aviation Pioneers

Pilot and aircraft mechanic Umberto Ricco revitalized an aviation and aircraft mechanics training program from the 1950s for free at Dunbar Vocational High School in Chicago.

The Chief of the U.S. Army Air Corps in the 1930s made it clear he thought Black people didn’t have what it took to be pilots: “there [are] no black units in the Army Air Corps and none [are] contemplated.” Policy supported his personal opinions, but fortunately, the Black people he rejected did not agree.

Policy

In 1941, the War Department overturned race excluding policies and forced the newly formed Army Air Forces to accept blacks for the first time.

Planting Seeds

In the 1930s, most schools that trained pilots and aircraft mechanics were closed to African Americans. Passionate about aviation, committed to equitable opportunities and not to be denied, Cornelius Coffey with his wife Willa Brown and John Robinson created the Coffey School of Aeronautics which had thousands of students. They also founded the National Airmen Association to promote the idea of African Americans being trained as fighter pilots in World War II.

School Choice

A new generation of young aviators takes rise as Umberto Ricco revitalizes Coffey’s curriculum and travels the country with his mobile museum educating people about the connection between aviation and Black pilots in Chicago.