The Greater Philadelphia Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, a nonprofit that focuses on sustaining the legacy of the men and women who served as Tuskegee Airmen during World War II, is hosting several ongoing exhibits designed to educate and engage the community.

These free exhibits, which have been in place since the summer of 2022, are located at Enon Tabernacle Baptist Church (2800 W. Cheltenham Ave.) and the Horsham branch of American Heritage Federal Credit Union (339 Maple Ave.). The exhibit at Enon Tabernacle in Cedarbrook is held on the third Sunday of every month from 12-1:30 p.m., while the Horsham location is open on Fridays from 12-4 p.m.

According to Mel Payne, president of the Greater Philadelphia Chapter Tuskegee Airmen, these exhibits teach a lot more than just history. The Tuskegee Airmen are an inspirational example of accomplishing your goals.

“The reason for setting up the exhibit is that people need to understand the individuals that came before them, the experiences that they went through, and, for both young people and adults, that you can achieve many things if you have what we call the four Ds. If you have the discipline, the determination, the dream, and the desire, you can accomplish anything that you want to do,” Payne said.

The organization’s mission

The Greater Philadelphia Chapter Tuskegee Airmen has a three-fold mission. First, the organization works to maintain the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen who served from 1941 to 1948. The nonprofit hopes to honor the accomplishments and perpetuate the history of the men and women of Greater Philadelphia who participated as air and ground crew during the war.

The second part of the group’s mission is to provide STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Math) programming for young people, with a special focus on aviation. Such programs include flight training, drone training, and robotics training.

Lastly, the chapter provides scholarships for young people. Many of these scholarships are named after Tuskegee Airmen such as Dr. Eugene Richardson, a fighter pilot who retired as a middle school principal in Philadelphia.

The organization has also recently added an outreach program, which looks for individuals with relatives who served during World War II to see if they were Tuskegee Airmen. Over the past three years, 18 new families have been identified.

Tuskegee Airmen exhibits

The exhibits serve to carry on the first segment of the organization’s mission — sharing the legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen.

At the exhibit, visitors can expect to see photographs and descriptions of Tuskegee Airmen, educational videos describing the different functions people performed, and memorabilia such as hats and books. There is also a timeline board, taking guests through the history of aviation, the Tuskegee Airmen, and those that came after.

Payne also believes that it’s important to remember the history of the Tuskegee Airmen’s struggles to achieve a “double victory” both at home and abroad.

“The ‘double victory’ has to do with the fighter pilots that served over in Europe and helped change the war and the outcome, as well as bomber pilots who had to fight for the right to be classified as officers, because they didn’t want African Americans or people of color to become officers back in the early 1940s,” Payne said. “It’s extremely important that people understand that these individuals overcame enormous hurdles in order to be successful and that they volunteered to put up with all of this hell in order to be successful in life.”

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Maggie Dougherty can be reached at Margaret@chestnuthilllocal.com.