Today is Wednesday, September 17, 2025
It’s a new day in paradise!
Published since 2008, !TFAM is a bi-weekly lifeline uniting readers to
ensure the legacy of Tuskegee Airmen. !TFAM provides an inside view into
the lives of Tuskegee Airmen and the people they influence.
Good dayreaders, today’s edition begins with a couple of
corrections.
- If you were having trouble opening the video about Lincoln
Ragsdale go to YouTube and type in A Tuskegee Airman at
Luke AFB. - The photo of the surviving spouses at Dooky Chase’s, there
were three men in the picture, Jerry Burton, Jerome
Stoudamire, and William Stoudamire. Their father’s name was
William Monroe Stoudamire. I typed Lawrence Stoudamire by
mistake!!
And now… A few September birthdays that we want you to know
about and remember.
September 1st – Andre Jackson. A long long time ago Andre was
chapter president of John H. Porter Chapter TAI, Delaware. Andre
galvanized that chapter into action to increase membership and
become the chapter with the most life time members!
September 3, 1929 was the date our much loved Burt Celinvi
Lowe was born in Hartford Connecticut. Burt and Lemuel Custis, the
Tuskegee Airman that saved TAI’s bacon with a very generous gift,
were close friends. Torch bearer of the Detroit chapter.
September 14th Lt. Col Charles W. Cooper, was a Red Tail Pilot and
an original Tuskegee Airman, When he was 98, he was still playing
golf.
September 15th – Gen (ret) Richard Spooner, noble spouse of the
Contessa Cora Marie Spooner (TAI National President 2004-
2006). Rich Spooner is the coolest and handsomest general that I’ve
ever met. And retired office and a gentleman. His wife is
affectionately known as the “little general” in some circles, mostly on
the west coast. Send HBD wishes to: Richard Spooner, 15447 Silvan
Glen Drive, Montclair, VA 22025-1009
September 18th is Dr. Eugene R. Richardson’s HBD. Dr. Richardson is
an original Tuskegee Airman, class 45-A. In 2016 we learned that he
was a skier, a sailor, and a real outdoorsman. He will celebrate his
birthday on the 18th, which is also the birthday of the United States Air
Force.
September 23rd is Rick Sinkfield’s HBD. Rick has served TAI as National
Public Relations officer for many years. He is one of the
organization’s most agreeable people in TAI. Rick in someone in the
know, so if you need help locating or coordinating an event, Rick
can put you in touch with the right person. His email address
is [email protected]
September 23rd was Rod Gilead’s HBD. Gone, but not forgotten, Rod
was genuinely devoted to TAI and wanted the best for the
organization.
Let me tell you a little bit about Rod’s dad, LeRoy I. He was well
known and for his intense, ardent and sometimes fiery deliveries at
the mic. LeRoy’s skills as an attorney and litigator were quite
apparent during national board meetings and at the annual
conventions. He was energetic, spirited and forceful when speaking.
At the same time, LeRoy was tactful and sensitive. He demonstrated
and taught a group of us to reach across the aisle and work
collaboratively with the opposing side. During a business meeting at
convention in the mid-2000s, many of us watched him deescalate a
heated exchange between board members, which taught us the
importance of disagreeing without being disagreeable.
September 23rd John Gay – gone but not forgotten, gave TAI and
Miami chapter many good years. Tuskegee University graduate.
September 24th Ralph Smith, aka Smitty’s Bar-B-Que Sauce, in our
hearts and memories, was a LACTAI member and co-founder of
Tuskegee Airmen Archives at the University of California at Riverside.
Update – Ralph sold his Bar-B-Que sauce company in December
2023! The sauce was delicious!
September 26th would have been Col. (ret) Maurice “Rip”
Ripley’s birthday. Rip served as Central Region president for many
years and coached many up and coming leaders. He was a
dealmaker and a peacemaker. He’s gone and definitely not
forgotten. A longtime member of the San Antonio Chapter.
September 28th Michael A. Joseph, II, Claude Govan Chapter
Historian, Torchbearer, Faithful Pursuit owner and driver. He’s the
fastest man on wheels in TAI. BTW, Michael has great memories and
stories of many Tuskegee Airmen. Send email to – [email protected]
September 29th Dr. Nancy Leftenant-Colon was an original and an
original Tuskegee Airman.
Before Tuskegee, There Was Riverside Airfield
September 16, 2025
Dan et all from Conway
Smithsonian Affiliations
=editorial&lctg=93459031
How Columbia Air Center became the first licensed Black-owned and
operated airfield
September 16, 2025
Left to right: Roland Brawner, John Pinkett Jr., Jimmie Lunceford, and John Greene Jr., c.
January 1941. Edward Fletcher Collection, DC Public Library People’s Archive.
The Tuskegee Airmen are widely recognized as pioneering African American
aviators. Aviation enthusiasts may also be familiar with Willa Brown and
Cornelius Coffey’s historic Coffey School of Aeronautics in Chicago—both
examples of excellence in the face of racial prejudice. Yet few know about
Riverside Airfield, later renamed Columbia Air Center, which deserves
recognition alongside these icons.
Riverside Airfield was the first licensed Black-owned and operated airport in
the United States. Located 25 miles southeast of Washington, D.C., in the
unincorporated community of Croom, Prince George’s County, Maryland, it is
now part of Patuxent River Park. The airfield opened in 1940, was
commandeered by the Navy from 1942 to 1944, and reopened as Columbia
Air Center until its closure in 1962.
A map of general aviation airports in the Washington, DC area, 1941. The locations of John
Pinkett and John Greene’s homes are shown to demonstrate how far Riverside Airfield was
in comparison to white-owned airports. College Park Aviation Museum
Before becoming known as the “Father of the Tuskegee Airmen,” Charles
Alfred Anderson moved to Washington, D.C., in 1938 and began teaching
African Americans to fly. He taught at Hybla Valley Airport and Beacon Field,
two neighboring airports in Fairfax County, VA, south of Alexandria. These
airports were 13 miles from central D.C., and although there were seven
airports closer to the city—including College Park Airport—none allowed
African Americans to fly. Despite the distance, many aspiring Black aviators
sought Anderson’s instruction. A group of Anderson’s students formed the
Cloud Club, the region’s first Black flying club. Comprised primarily of
businessmen and children of the Black elite in their 20s and 30s, the club
shared the costs of purchasing an airplane and flight instruction. Formed in
1939, the Cloud Club formally incorporated in May 1940.
The Cloud Club Inc’s logo shows a seaplane. There are no records of
seaplanes flying out of Riverside Airfield. However, Charles Alfred Anderson
likely taught the first Cloud Club members how to fly on a Piper Cub
seaplane. Anderson out of a seaplane at Buzzard’s Point, DC, on the
Anacostia River. Buzzard’s Point is near the modern Audi Field.
That same year, Howard University became one of seven Black institutions
permitted to participate in the national Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP),
hiring Anderson to operate their program. While cost was a major barrier to
aviation—flight training in the 1920s and 30s could exceed $1,000—the
greater obstacle was discrimination. The CPTP opened doors for African
Americans and women, offering college students flight training for $40, albeit
within a segregated and unequal system.
Howard University Civilian Pilot Training Program students at Riverside Airfield, c. 1941.
This photograph was taken by Robert McNeill, a prolific newspaper photographer. Library of
Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Robert H. McNeill Family Collection.
In the summer of 1940, Tuskegee Institute recruited Anderson from Howard
University. The Cloud Club assumed operation of Howard’s CPTP, but tensions
with the white aviation community escalated. After Anderson’s departure, the
Cloud Club was evicted from Hybla Valley Airport and relocated to
neighboring Beacon Field where the manager fabricated violations and
harassed members. As one Cloud Club member recalled, “Southern whites
simply do not want you flying from their airports.”
Anticipating further eviction and harassment, the Cloud Club left Beacon
Field to establish its own airfield. For weeks, Cloud Club members searched
the surrounding area after work—some flying overhead while others followed
by car. Progress was slow until a local Marylander suggested they investigate a
fallow field along the Patuxent River. At first, the Club members were unsure if
it was worth a visit due to its distance, but once they saw it, the club was
impressed. Future airport manager John Greene Jr. said “My goodness what a
field! What possibilities! The majority of us agreed that this was Utopia.”
An aerial image of Riverside Airfield c. 1948, when it was named Columbia Air Center. The
two buildings seen in the center of the image, a small hangar and office building, are the
only buildings original to Riverside Airfield. Courtesy of the Julianne Bethea Loan
The flat, two-mile long field was ideal for flying. Despite its location 25 miles
southeast of D.C. in Croom, MD, many members believed the distance was
worth it. Others, however, “bitterly complained that the distance from
Washington was too great and forever more would have nothing to do with the
activities of the Club.” The land was held in trust by Rebecca Fisher, a white
widow from Maryland’s Eastern Shore, who agreed to lease the 120 acres for
$30 per month.
By January 1941, Riverside Airfield was open for business, and the Cloud Club
resumed operation of Howard University’s CPTP. They earned an airport
license from the Civil Aeronautics Authority, marking it as the first licensed
Black-owned and operated airfield. The only known earlier Black-owned
airfield was Robbins Airport, near Chicago, IL. It was founded by the
Challenger Air Pilots’ Association in 1933 and operated just for 6 months
before a storm destroyed the hangar and aircraft.
Unlike other CPTPs which relied on white-owned operators or airfields, the
Black-owned corporation of Cloud Club Inc. owned and operated Riverside
Airfield as a business entity and held the lease for the land. They also
employed both Black and white flight instructors—a remarkable achievement
in 1940 that drew attention from the National Black Press, including the
Chicago Defender and Pittsburgh Courier.
One of the only known photos of the members of the Cloud Club, January 1941. Those
identified are: top row (l-r): John Pinkett Jr. (Treasurer), Jimmie Lunceford (Director of
Publicity), John Greene Jr. (Airport Manager), and Roland Brawer (Vice President); bottom
row, far right: Harold Smith, (President). College Park Aviation Museum
The Cloud Club also attracted the attention of saxophonist and band leader
Jimmie Lunceford, a renowned aviation enthusiast who would become their
most famous member. It is unknown how the Tennessee-born musician
learned about the Cloud Club, but connections to one or two of the Cloud
Club members who were either current or former U Street jazz club owners
may have played a role. Lunceford earned his private pilot’s license at
Riverside and would fly to performances to avoid segregated commercial
transportation. On one visit to Los Angeles, he showed a young Celes King III
how to fly. King later became a Tuskegee Airmen and civil rights activist,
establishing the California chapter of the Congress for Racial Equality (CORE).
John Greene (center, seated) clipped this newspaper article of the Cloud Club’s August
1941 airshow and preserved it alongside many other photos and mementos of his time as
an aviator. Greene would go on to perform a parachute jump but a change in the wind left
him stuck in a tree for over an hour. Courtesy of the Herbert Jones Jr. Family Loan.
Riverside Airfield was not only an active airport but also a social hub. While
operating Howard’s CPTP, the Cloud Club continued to offer private training,
hosted air shows, and even held a crab feast. The activity of the airfield
overwhelmed the young leaders of the Club, so they turned to their most
senior and experienced member for guidance, John W. Greene Jr. Greene, 14
years older than President John R. Pinkett Jr., had learned to fly in the 1920s,
was the first African American licensed airplane mechanic, and the second to
earn an air transport license after Anderson. Greene moved from Boston to
D.C. in 1940 to start the DC public school’s first African American vocational
aeronautics program. He immediately joined the Cloud Club as a member
and instructor. He was formally hired as Riverside Airfield’s manager in
November 1941.
Willa Brown, the famed “aviatrix” from Chicago, visited Howard University’s Civilian Pilot
Training Program at Riverside Airfield in March 1941. Club President John Pinkett Jr. spins
the propeller of the Cloud Club’s plane. Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division,
Robert H. McNeill Family Collection.
World War II abruptly halted the growing airport and Greene’s tenure as its
manager. Civilian aviation in the D.C. area was halted after the attack on Pearl
Harbor in 1941, and in February 1942 the Naval Reserve Station at Anacostia
commandeered Riverside Airfield. For the next two years, the Navy used the
airfield for drills and practice, expanded the runways from four to eight, and
built a pier on the river.
College Park Aviation Museum is a Smithsonian Affiliate and home to
Columbia Air Center’s historical artifacts and collections. After four years of
development, with the input and support of descendants and community
members, the museum is unveiling the first gallery exhibition dedicated to this
history. Columbia Air Center – Determined to Fly opens Thursday October 9,
- To specifically track the Columbia Air Center History Project,
visit Columbia Air Center | FOFF.
That’s all for now.
love you madly!
L. Sunnye Simpson
Editor and publisher
!TFAM is a publication created by L. Sunnye Simpson and is not affiliated,
in anyway, with Tuskegee Airmen Inc. Any mention of Tuskegee Airmen
Inc. is done so at the discretion of the editor.