American wings : Chicago's pioneering Black aviators and the race for equality in the sky
Smith, Sherri L.2024
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A thrilling and inspiring true story of the desegregation of the skies. In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where some previous Black aviators like Bessie Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings? 'American Wings' follows a group of determined Black Americans: Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Harmon Bragg, a nurse; and Willa Brown, a teacher and social worker. Together, they created a flying club and built their own airfield on Chicago's South Side. As the U.S. hurtled toward WWII, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together and proving, in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, that successful integration was possible.
Main title:
American wings : Chicago's pioneering Black aviators and the race for equality in the sky / Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein.
Author:
Smith, Sherri L., authorWein, Elizabeth, author
Imprint:
New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons Books for Young Readers, 2024.
Collation:
384 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 23 cm
Audience:
Juvenile.
ISBN:
9780593323984 (hbk)
Dewey class:
629.130922
LC class:
TL539
Language:
English
Subject:
BRN:
3756161