Charles Alfred Anderson Sr. (1907 - 1996)

Born 9 Feb 1907 in Bridgeport, Montgomery, Pennsylvania, United States

Ancestors

Died 13 Apr 1996 at age 89 in Tuskegee, Macon, Alabama, United States

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Biography

Charles Anderson Sr. is Notable.

Charles Anderson Sr. is a Military Veteran.
Served in the U.S. Army, World War II

C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson was the chief flight instructor for the Tuskegee Airmen, and is known as "the father of Black aviation."^[1][2]

Charles Anderson Sr. lived in Appalachia. See Appalachia Project.

Charles Alfred Anderson was born on 9 February 1907 in Bridgeport, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania in the United States of America. He was the son of Iverson Anderson and Jane White.^[3][4] He grew up in Bryn Mawr, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, a Philadelphia suburb.^[5][6]

Sometime between 1930 and 1940, Anderson married Gertrude Elizabeth Nelson.^[7][8] They moved to Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama in 1940 when Charles got a job as a flight instructor at the Tuskegee Institute.^[9] They had two sons.^[10][11]

He died on 13 April 1996 at his home in Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama,^[4][11] and is buried at Greenwood Cemetery in Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama.^[12]

Father of Black Aviation

As a child, Anderson was fascinated by planes and wanted to learn to fly. He couldn't find anyone willing to teach a Black person, so he taught himself by reading books, hanging out at airfields watching others fly, and listening in on conversations between pilots. He attended aviation ground school, and learned airplane mechanics.^[2] Finally, in 1929, he borrowed $2500 and bought his own plane, a Velie Monocoupe, then practiced taxiing and taking off and landing by himself. Later, he got some training from Ernest Buehl, a German immigrant. In 1932, he became the first Black person to have a commercial pilot's license, although Buehl had to talk the federal examiner into giving Anderson a chance to take the test.^[9][13]

In July 1933, Anderson made national news when he partnered with another Black man, amateur pilot and physician Dr. Albert Forsythe, to complete the first round-trip transcontinental flight by a Black person, flying from Atlantic City, New Jersey to Los Angeles, California and back.^[14][15] In 1934, Anderson and Forsythe made a goodwill flight to South America and the Caribbean, again making headlines.^[9][16]

In 1940, Anderson was recruited by the Tuskegee Institute to start the Civilian Pilot Training Program, one of the first programs to train Black pilots. In 1941, while First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was visiting the Tuskegee Institute, she went for a short plane ride with Anderson. Anderson would later recall that she said, "I've been told colored people can't fly, but I see them flying all over the place here." Soon after her visit, approval was given to start the training program at the Tuskegee Institute that would train the renowned "Tuskegee Airmen" fighter pilots in World War II. Anderson was the chief flight instructor for the program. After the war, Anderson continued flying and teaching others to fly for most of his life, although he also had other jobs at times when racism made an aviation career impossible.^[9][13]

Research Notes

• Spouse is Gertrude Elizabeth Nelson, not Gertrude Stout.^[17][18]

Sources

1. ↑ Charlie Cooper and Ann Cooper, Tuskegee's Heroes (United States: Zenith Imprint, 1996), pp. 38-39, Google Books (Page 38 : accessed 23 January 2021).
2. ↑ ^{2.0 2.1} Wikipedia: C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson
3. ↑ Pennsylvania, Birth Certificates, #33986, Charles Alfred Anderson, Bridgeport, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA; "Pennsylvania, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1906-1913," database with images, Ancestry.com, Ancestry Sharing Link, (Ancestry Record 60484 #368342 : accessed 27 September 2022).
4. ↑ ^{4.0 4.1} "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007," database, Ancestry.com (Ancestry Record 60901 #802938582 : accessed 27 September 2022), C Alfred Anderson, 9 Feb 1907-13 Apr 1996.
5. ↑ "United States Census, 1910," ED 97, Bryn Mawr Town/West District, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA; sheet 4B, family 73, Alfred Anderson in household of Iverson Anderson, NARA microfilm publication T624, roll 1378; FHL microfilm 1,375,391 (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MG8L-278 : accessed 23 January 2021).
6. ↑ "United States Census, 1920", ED 113, Bryn Maur West District, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA; sheet 6A, family 108, Alfred Anderson in Iverson Anderson household; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:MFYV-Q2C.
7. ↑ "United States Census, 1930," ED 66, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA; sheet 2B, family 44, Alfred Anderson in Jane Anderson household; NARA microfilm publication T626, roll 2082; FHL microfilm 2,341,816; https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XHZ9-XKK
8. ↑ "United States Census, 1940," ED 46-82, Bryn Mawr, Lower Merion Township, Montgomery County, Pennsylvania, USA; sheet 12B, line 50, family 207, Charles Anderson household; NARA digital publication T627, roll 3580; https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:KQDR-JLM
9. ↑ ^{9.0 9.1 9.2 9.3} Pope Brock, "Chief Anderson," People, Volume 33, No. 22, 28 Nov 1988; archived by the Wayback Machine, (https://web.archive.org/web/20110223223516/https://people.com/people/archive/article/0,,20100610,00.html : accessed 27 Sep 2022).
10. ↑ "United States Census, 1950," ED 44-8, Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, USA; sheet 5, family 38, Charles A. Anderson household; Ancestry Sharing Link, Ancestry Record 62308 #99260460 : accessed 27 September 2022.
11. ↑ ^{11.0 11.1} Mr. Charles "Chief," Anderson, Sr., obituary, Montgomery [Alabama] Advertiser, 18 Apr 1996, page 16A, column 4; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110325564/ : accessed 27 Sep 2022).
12. ↑ Find a Grave, database and images (https://www.findagrave.com : accessed 23 January 2021), memorial page for Charles Alfred Anderson Sr. (9 Feb 1907–13 Apr 1996), Find A Grave: Memorial #47974299, citing Greenwood Cemetery, Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, USA ; Maintained by Lisa (contributor 47155679).
13. ↑ ^{13.0 13.1} Judy Sheppard "'Chief's' a legend, a teacher of men," Columbus [Georgia] Ledger-Enquirer, 1 Dec 1991, page A-1 & A-7; image copy, Newspapers.com (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110323290/ page A-1 & https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110323335/ page A-7 : accessed 27 Sep 2022).
14. ↑ Associated Press, "Negro Airman Here on Flight to West Coast," Harrisburg [Pennsylvania] Telegraph,' 17 Jul 1933, page 1, column 7; image copy, Newspapers.com, (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/11290386/ : accessed 27 Sep 2022).
15. ↑ "Negro Fliers Honored at End of Round Trip Coast to Coast Hop," The Paterson [New Jersey] Morning Call,' 29 Jul 1933, page 3, column 1; image copy, Newspapers.com, https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110322666/ : accessed 27 Sep 2022).
16. ↑ "Negro Good Will Tour," The Evening News [Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania,' 8 Nov 1934, page 11, column 8; image copy, Newspapers.com, (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110322863/ : accessed 27 Sep 2022).
17. ↑ Mrs. Gertrude Nelson Anderson funeral notice, Montgomery [Alabama] Advertiser, 3 Jan 1995, page 3D, column 6; image copy, Newspapers.com, (https://www.newspapers.com/clip/110311929/ : accessed 27 Sep 2022).
18. ↑ "U.S., Social Security Applications and Claims Index, 1936-2007," database, Ancestry.com, (Ancestry Record 60901 #18056788 : accessed 27 September 2022), Gertrude Elizabeth Anderson, 23 Aug 1909-31 Dec 1994.

• "United States World War II Army Enlistment Records, 1938-1946," database, FamilySearch (Record : accessed 23 January 2021), Charles A Anderson, enlisted 26 Oct 1942, Tuskegee, Alabama, 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.
• Wikidata: Item Q16013563