Eleanor Roosevelt's Flight With The First Black Aviators

toggle caption Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution

Seventy years ago, in March of 1941, first lady Eleanor Roosevelt hopped in the back of pilot C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson's plane at the Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama and went for a flight. OK, it wasn't quite that casual; the event was actually a pretty big deal — because Anderson was black.

toggle caption Courtesy of National Records and Archives Pictures of African Americans During World War II via Smithsonian Institution

The first lady's visit marked the initiation of the U.S. Army's African-American pilot program and the activation of the first all-African American military aviation unit: the 99th Pursuit Squadron. Later named the Fighter Squadron, it became the first squadron of black pilots to fight in World War II in the skies over Pantelleria, an island near Sicily, on June 2, 1943.

toggle caption Courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration via Smithsonian Institution

toggle caption Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution

toggle caption Courtesy of Air Force Historical Research Agency via Smithsonian Institution

These historic images are part of the Smithsonian Institution's collection and are on display at the National Air and Space Museum as part of the exhibit Black Wings: African American Pioneer Aviators.