Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site commemorates the heroic actions of the Tuskegee Airmen, African American aviators who fought in World War II (1939-1945). The site, at Moton Field in Tuskegee, Alabama, was established in 1998 and opened in 2008. It includes historic buildings, museums, and interpretive programs.
African Americans were not allowed to fly in the United States armed forces before 1941, but the Army Air Corps began admitting Black men into flight training that year. The Tuskegee Airmen included the first African American combat aviators to serve in the U.S. military. Their training began at Moton Field at Tuskegee Institute (now Tuskegee University), a college for Black students in rural Alabama. Besides pilots, the Tuskegee Airmen included navigators, bombardiers, maintenance and support staff, instructors, and other personnel.
Moton Field, built between 1940 and 1942, served as the only primary training facility for African American airman candidates at the time. Trainees received the first portion of their instruction at Moton Field, then transferred to Tuskegee Army Air Base, a full-scale, segregated U.S. military base. The Moton Field facility included two aircraft hangars, a control tower, storage and office buildings, living quarters, and other structures. Tuskegee Institute and the Army Air Corps controlled, staffed, and supplied the facility.
Many of the Tuskegee Airmen became decorated war heroes. Their achievements helped persuade the U.S. government to end racial discrimination in the armed forces.
