Chauncey Edward Spencer (1906 - 2002)

Born 5 Nov 1906 in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States

Ancestors

Husband of Elvira (Jackson) Spencer — married 17 Jun 1928 in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States

Husband of Anna Mae (Goode) Spencer — married 16 Aug 1940 in Cook, Illinois, United States

Died 21 Aug 2002 at age 95 in Lynchburg, Virginia, United States

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Biography

Chauncey Spencer is Notable.

Chauncey Spencer was an aviator and educator, and helped create the black aviators known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Chauncey Spencer was born in 1906. He was the son of Edward Spencer and poet Anne Bannister.

He passed away in 2002.^[1]

Before there were the Tuskegee Airmen, there was Chauncey Spencer.^[2]

Chauncey Edward Spencer (1906-2002) Later, while employed by the Army, Spencer worked with Judge William H. Hastie to encourage fair treatment of African American air cadets being trained at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and other air bases during World War II. He encountered considerable resistance from whites as well as blacks as the Civilian Personnel Employee Relations Officer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Despite this, he persisted and made steady progress towards integration of the Air Force. In 1948, Spencer received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award for service during World War II, the highest honor the Air Force could bestow upon a civilian. In 1953, the United States Air Force referred to his role in the integration of the military as "unique - though strangely unsung." However, his refusal to drag his feet on integration created resentment among highly-placed officials who wished to see integration fail. Consequently, in September 1953 Spencer was charged with disloyalty and accused of being a Communist. He was relieved of his position and his family suffered great humiliation and economic deprivation until 29 June 1954, when the Air Force cleared him of all charges.^[3]

Chauncey Spencer was an African American aviator born in Lynchburg and attended Dunbar High School. His mother was the Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer. After finishing college, Spencer wanted to take flying lessons but in segregated Lynchburg, lessons were not available to him. A family friend, Chicago Congressman Oscar De Priest, suggested that Spencer move to his district to take flying lessons. In 1934, Spencer helped organize the National Airmen Association of America (NAAA). Working as a kitchen helper in Chicago, Spencer used most of his weekly wages for flying lessons. Two years later, he and fellow NAAA member Dale White flew a biplane from Chicago to Washington, D.C. Meeting with then Congressman Harry Truman and others members of Congress. Spencer’s flight helped convince Congress to include blacks in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. Spencer worked to encourage fair treatment of African American air cadets at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama during World War II. These efforts helped create the black aviators known as the Tuskegee Airmen. In 1948, Spencer received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award for service during World War II, the highest honor the Air Force could bestow on a civilian. Spencer was inducted into the Virginia Aviation Hall of Fame in 1983.^[4]

Sources

1. ↑ "United States Social Security Death Index," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:J2BT-R6P : 9 January 2021), Chauncey E Spencer, 21 Aug 2002; citing U.S. Social Security Administration, Death Master File, database (Alexandria, Virginia: National Technical Information Service, ongoing).
2. ↑ https://richmond.com/chauncey-spencer/article_8c41963e-6aff-11e2-9dc6-001a4bcf6878.html
3. ↑ https://www.hill.af.mil/News/Art/igphoto/2000498560/
4. ↑ https://newsadvance.com/news/local/chauncey-spencer/image_54830210-8798-11e5-8267-a38de66f3d66.html

• "United States Census, 1910," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MPLY-VW3 : accessed 11 November 2021), Edward A Spencer Jr. in household of Edward A Spencer, Lynchburg Ward 3, Lynchburg (Independent City), Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 90, sheet 3B, family 75, NARA microfilm publication T624 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 1982), roll 1635; FHL microfilm 1,375,648.
• "United States Census, 1920", database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MJVM-PMF : 4 February 2021), Chauncy Spencer in entry for Edward Spencer, 1920.
• "Virginia, Bureau of Vital Statistics, County Marriage Registers, 1853-1935," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:8TDV-9LT2 : 20 August 2020), Chauncey Edwd Spencer, 17 Jun 1928; citing Marriage Registration, Lynchburg, Virginia, United States, Virginia State Library and Archives, Richmond.
• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:CHXT-DN2 : accessed 11 November 2021), Chauncey Spencer in household of James Jackson, Lynchburg, Virginia, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 20, sheet 27A, line 16, family 483, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2468; FHL microfilm 2,342,202.
• "Illinois, Cook County Marriages, 1871-1968," database, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:Q21L-KF6Q : 28 November 2018), Chauncey E Spencer and Anna Mae Howard, 18 Aug 1940; citing Marriage, Cook, Illinois, United States, citing Cook County Clerk. Cook County Courthouse, Chicago; FHL microfilm 102606579.
• "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:K8PZ-69B : 5 December 2014), Chauncey E Spencer, enlisted 05 Jul 1944, Ft George G Meade, Maryland, United States; citing "Electronic Army Serial Number Merged File, ca. 1938-1946," database, The National Archives: Access to Archival Databases (AAD) (http://aad.archives.gov : National Archives and Records Administration, 2002); NARA NAID 1263923, National Archives at College Park, Maryland.
• Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/31591259/chauncey-edward-spencer : accessed 11 November 2021), memorial page for Pvt Chauncey Edward Spencer (5 Nov 1906–21 Aug 2002), Find a Grave Memorial ID 31591259, citing Forest Hill Burial Park, Lynchburg, Lynchburg City, Virginia, USA ; Maintained by Art Wells (contributor 46973972).

See also:

• Chauncey Spencer after a successful parachute jump at a Chicago air show. Spencer became one of Chicago’s most well-known barnstorming pilots. National Air and Space Museum Archives, Smithsonian Institution (https://www.si.edu/newsdesk/snapshot/chauncey-spencer-aviator)(https://pioneersofflight.si.edu/content/chauncey-spencer)
• Aug. 29, 1991 - Chauncey Spencer, left, was unable to attend recent reunion of the Tuskegee Airmen, so five of his former comrades made the trip to Lynchburg for a surprise visit. In 1939, Spencer flew a rented biplane from Chicago to Washington, D.C., with fellow pilot Dale White, a flight that inspired then-Sen. Harry Truman to establish funding to train black pilots at the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. (https://newsadvance.com/chauncey-spencer/image_b4c2e8c5-d460-5203-a16e-04b07b9013dd.html)
• Chauncey Spencer: A Place in the Sky
  (https://www.discoveryvirginia.org/islandora/object/islandora%3A11191)

• Chauncey Spencer Aviation and Civil Rights Pioneer
  
• Chauncey Spencer AAA Travel Museum
  
• Memorial Day Tribute to Tuskegee Airmen: Chauncey Spencer
  

The Detroit man's father, Chauncey Spencer Sr., who died in 2004, helped bring about the formation of the pilot group that would become the Tuskegee Airmen In 1939, his father and another pilot, Dale White, were part of a pilot training program in Chicago. At that time, black pilots were denied the opportunity to fly for the military. So Spencer Sr. and White flew on a 10-city tour intended to show Americans the skills of black pilots. The tour ended in Washington, D.C., with a meeting with then-Missouri Sen. Harry S. Truman.