Lowell Steward (February 25, 1919 – December 17, 2014) was born in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the wor ...

and was a member of the

Tuskegee Airmen The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of primarily African American military pilots (fighter and bomber) and airmen who fought in World War II. They formed the 332d Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group (Medium) of the United States Army ...

who flew missions during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. For his service, he received the Distinguished Flying Cross and other medals.

Tuskegee Airmen

After Steward graduated from college and when the Army Air Corps began allowing blacks to enlist and become pilots, he enlisted in 1942. According to Steward, the US Air Force brought together black men—specifically black athletes—from throughout the US to be trained at

Tuskegee Institute Tuskegee University (Tuskegee or TU), formerly known as the Tuskegee Institute, is a private, historically black land-grant university in Tuskegee, Alabama. It was founded on Independence Day in 1881 by the state legislature. The campus was d ...

. When they were initially deployed in Europe, they were initially ignored and often called the "Spookwaffe". Their mission was to fly fighter aircraft to escort bombers. Once their reputation for providing effective air support for bombers became widely known, they started receiving special request for bomber support. Steward describe how he became a Tuskegee Airman: After receiving segregated training at the

Tuskegee Army Air Field Sharpe Field is a closed private use airport located northwest of the central business district of Tuskegee, a city in Macon County, Alabama, United States. This airport is privately owned by the Bradbury Family Partnership. Formerly known a ...

, he was sent to Italy in 1944 with the

100th Fighter Squadron The 100th Fighter Squadron (100 FS) is a unit of the Alabama Air National Guard 187th Fighter Wing located at Dannelly Field, Alabama. The 100th is equipped with the General Dynamics F-16C+ Fighting Falcon. The 100th FS was one of the Tuskege ...

. From

Capodichino Air Base Naples International Airport ( it, Aeroporto Internazionale di Napoli) is the intercontinental airport serving Naples and the Southern Italian region of Campania. According to 2019 data, the airport is the fifth-busiest airport in Italy and ...

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

, Italy he flew a number of missions in

Bell P-39 Airacobra The Bell P-39 Airacobra is a fighter produced by Bell Aircraft for the United States Army Air Forces during World War II. It was one of the principal American fighters in service when the United States entered combat. The P-39 was used by ...

s and

Curtiss P-40 Warhawk The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk is an American single-engined, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground-attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and ...

s. He was subsequently based in

Ramitelli Airfield The Foggia Airfield Complex was a series of World War II military airfields located within a radius of Foggia, in the Province of Foggia, Italy. The airfields were used by the United States Army Air Force Fifteenth Air Force as part of the s ...

where he flew many more missions in

North American P-51 Mustang The North American Aviation P-51 Mustang is an American long-range, single-seat fighter and fighter-bomber used during World War II and the Korean War, among other conflicts. The Mustang was designed in April 1940 by a team headed by James ...

s. In total, he flew 143 missions. After the war and after his return to Los Angeles, he helped to organize the Los Angeles chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc. and to found a scholarship foundation in the name of the Tuskegee Airmen. In 2007, Steward attended President

George W. Bush George Walker Bush (born July 6, 1946) is an American politician who served as the 43rd president of the United States from 2001 to 2009. A member of the Republican Party, Bush family, and son of the 41st president George H. W. Bush, he ...

's presentation of the Tuskegee Airmen with the

Congressional Gold Medal The Congressional Gold Medal is an award bestowed by the United States Congress. It is Congress's highest expression of national appreciation for distinguished achievements and contributions by individuals or institutions. The congressional pract ...

Biography

Steward was born in Los Angeles and was a childhood friend of

Jackie Robinson Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color lin ...

. He attended

Jefferson High School This is a list of memorials to Thomas Jefferson, the 3rd president of the United States and the author of the United States Declaration of Independence. Buildings Elementary schools *Jefferson Elementary School, in Cammack Village, Arkansas *Thoma ...

. In 1937, he entered

Santa Barbara State College The University of California, Santa Barbara (UC Santa Barbara or UCSB) is a public land-grant research university in Santa Barbara, California with 23,196 undergraduates and 2,983 graduate students enrolled in 2021–2022. It is part of the Un ...

where he would become the first black captain of the

Gauchos A gaucho () or gaúcho () is a skilled horseman, reputed to be brave and unruly. The figure of the gaucho is a folk symbol of Argentina, Uruguay, Rio Grande do Sul in Brazil, and the south of Chilean Patagonia. Gauchos became greatly admired an ...

team. In 1941, he led the Gauchos to the semifinals of the

1941 NAIA Division I men's basketball tournament The 1941 NAIA basketball tournament was held in March at Municipal Auditorium in Kansas City, Missouri. The 5th annual NAIA basketball tournament featured 32 teams playing in a single-elimination format. The third time was the charm for the ...

but was not allowed to play because he was black. Steward graduated from college in 1941 with a business degree. He met his wife Helen in

Santa Barbara, California Santa Barbara ( es, Santa Bárbara, meaning "Saint Barbara") is a coastal city in Santa Barbara County, California, of which it is also the county seat. Situated on a south-facing section of coastline, the longest such section on the West Coa ...

and married her in Los Angeles in 1943. They had one son and two daughters. In 1942, when

United States Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War II ...

began to allow blacks enter and become pilots, Steward was allowed to enlist and he was sent to the Tuskegee Institute for training. After his military discharge in 1946, he returned to Los Angeles with his wife to buy a house but they were not able to secure a mortgage because they were black. Because of this, he went to real estate school and obtained a real estate license. In the 1950s he helped to integrate parts of Los Angeles by facilitating home sales. On December 14, 2014, he came down with a cold that led to pneumonia. He died on December 17 in Community Memorial Hospital of natural causes at the age of 95. His wife Helen died 10 years earlier in 2004 after 60 years of marriage.

References

External links

Guide to the Lowell Steward PapersAmerican Voices

Studs Terkel Louis "Studs" Terkel (May 16, 1912 – October 31, 2008) was an American writer, historian, actor, and broadcaster. He received the Pulitzer Prize for General Non-Fiction in 1985 for '' The Good War'' and is best remembered for his oral hi ...

Interviews Lowell Steward {{DEFAULTSORT:Steward, Lowell 1919 births 2014 deaths Military personnel from Los Angeles Businesspeople from California Tuskegee Airmen UC Santa Barbara Gauchos men's basketball players Recipients of the Distinguished Flying Cross (United States) Recipients of the Air Medal American men's basketball players African-American aviators 20th-century American businesspeople 21st-century African-American people 20th-century African-American businesspeople

Tuskegee Airmen

Biography

See also

References

External links