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American wings : Chicago's pioneering Black aviators and the race for equality in the sky / Sherri L. Smith and Elizabeth Wein.

By: Contributor(s): Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : G.P. Putnam's Sons, 2024Copyright date: ©2024Description: 376 pages : illustrations ; 24 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780593323984
  • 059332398X
Subject(s): Genre/Form:
Contents:
Prologue: a dream takes flight -- Pre-flight, Detroit, 1927 -- Ground school, 1927-1929 -- Taking off, 1929-1933 -- Climb, 1933-1934 -- Ethiopia, 1935 -- The airways part, 1936-1937 -- The Defender flyers, 1938 -- The moonshot, 1939 -- The love story of Cornelius R. Coffey, 1939-1940 -- The Tuskegee tussle, 1940-1941 -- Wings of war, 1941-1945 -- Touching down, 1946 and beyond -- Epilogue: to the stars.
Summary: "A nonfiction account of a group of determined Black Americans who created a flying club and built their own airfield on Chicago's South Side in the period between World Wars I and II"-- Provided by publisher.
Fiction notes: Click to open in new window
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Shelving location Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
YA Book YA Book Dr. James Carlson Library YA NonFiction 629.1309 S659 Available 33111011109333
YA Book YA Book Main Library YA NonFiction New 629.1309 S659 Available 33111011233265
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From the acclaimed author of Flygirl andthe bestselling author of Code Name Verity comes the thrilling and inspiring true story of the desegregation of the skies.

"This beautiful and brilliant history of not only what it means to be Black and dream of flying but to, against every odd, do so, completely blew me away." -Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner for Brown Girl Dreaming

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 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 south of Chicago. As the U.S. hurtled toward World War II, 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.

Featuring rare historical photographs, American Wings brings to light a hidden history of pioneering Black men and women who, with grit and resilience, battled powerful odds for an equal share of the sky.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 280-368) and index.

Prologue: a dream takes flight -- Pre-flight, Detroit, 1927 -- Ground school, 1927-1929 -- Taking off, 1929-1933 -- Climb, 1933-1934 -- Ethiopia, 1935 -- The airways part, 1936-1937 -- The Defender flyers, 1938 -- The moonshot, 1939 -- The love story of Cornelius R. Coffey, 1939-1940 -- The Tuskegee tussle, 1940-1941 -- Wings of war, 1941-1945 -- Touching down, 1946 and beyond -- Epilogue: to the stars.

"A nonfiction account of a group of determined Black Americans who created a flying club and built their own airfield on Chicago's South Side in the period between World Wars I and II"-- Provided by publisher.

Ages 7 years and up G.P. Putnam's Sons.

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