Tuskegee Airmen Ernest Henderson | Road Trip

In 1941, the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the first African-American air fighting unit, began training in Tuskegee, Alabama. The pilots known as the Tuskegee Airmen included Ernest Henderson of Laurens County, South Carolina. Henderson trained other flying units during World War II, including the Black Eagles, who were formed and trained in Columbia in 1949. Henderson talks about the training.

CREDIT: Connections, ETV, 2004

Standards

• 3-5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the major developments in South Carolina in the late nineteenth and the twentieth century.
  • South Carolina experienced major economic, political, and social changes during the late nineteenth and the twentieth century. To understand the effects of these changes, the student will utilize the knowledge and skills set forth in the following ind...
    • 3-5.5 Summarize the development of economic, political, and social opportunities of African Americans in South Carolina, including the end of Jim Crow laws; the desegregation of schools (Briggs v. Elliott) and other public facilities; and efforts of Af...
• 5-3 The student will demonstrate an understanding of major domestic and foreign developments that contributed to the United States becoming a world power.
  • The Industrial Revolution, urbanization, and access to resources contributed to the United States becoming a world power in the early twentieth century. At the same time, discriminatory practices abounded. To understand the rise of the United States a...
    • 5-3.2 Explain the practice of discrimination and the passage of discriminatory laws in the United States and their impact on the rights of African Americans, including the Jim Crow laws and the ruling in Plessy v. Ferguson.
• 5-4 The student will demonstrate an understanding of American economic challenges in the 1920s and 1930s and world conflict in the 1940s.
  • Along with the rest of the world, the United States experienced a boom-and-bust period during the 1920s and 1930s. In the United States, this situation led to significant government intervention to stimulate the economy. Other countries did not follow...
    • 5-4.1 Summarize daily life in the post–World War I period of the 1920s, including improvements in the standard of living, transportation, and entertainment; the impact of the Nineteenth Amendment, the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, and ...
• 5-5 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the social, economic and political events that influenced the United States during the Cold War era.
  • The post–World War II period was dominated by a power conflict that pitted former allies against each other over economic and political differences. This Cold War affected all aspects of American life at home and abroad. To understand the impact...
    • 5-5.3 Explain the advancement of the modern Civil Rights Movement; including the desegregation of the armed forces, Brown v. Board of Education, the roles of Rosa Parks, Martin Luther King Jr., Malcolm X, the Civil Rights acts, and the Voting Rights Act.
• 8-7 The student will demonstrate an understanding of the impact on South Carolina of significant events of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries.
  • Changes that took place in the United States during the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries revitalized the economy and challenged traditional society and politics in South Carolina. To understand the response of South Carolina to these ch...
    • 8-7.2 Analyze the movement for civil rights in South Carolina, including the impact of the landmark court cases Elmore v. Rice and Briggs v. Elliot; civil rights leaders Septima Poinsette Clark, Modjeska Monteith Simkins, and Matthew J. Perry; the Sout...
• This indicator was developed to encourage inquiry into civic engagement, such as military service, public demonstrations, and political activism, to shape the identity of modern South Carolina. This indicator was also written to encourage inquiry into South Carolinians’ use of the court system and legislation to affect South Carolina’s post-World War II identity.