BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY
John Robinson (aviator)
| John C. Robinson | |
|---|---|
Robinson in Ethiopian Air Force Uniform
| |
| Nickname(s) | The Brown Condor |
| Born | 24 February 1903 Carrabelle, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | 8 April 1954 (aged 50) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Buried at | Gulele Cemetery Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Allegiance |  United States of America Ethiopia |
| Service/branch | Imperial Ethiopian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1935–1944 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Brown Condor Squadron |
| Battles/wars | Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II (East African Campaign) |
| Other work | Ethiopian Air Lines |
John Charles Robinson (August 24, 1903 – April 8, 1954) was an American aviator and activist who was hailed as the "Brown Condor" for his service in serving in the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force against Fascist Italy. Robinson pushed for equal opportunities for African-Americans during his early career, and was able to open his own eponymous aviation school in addition to initiating a program for black pilots at his college, the Tuskegee Institute. Robinson's achievements as an aviator were in stark contrast to the limited opportunities for most African-Americans to careers in aviation, and was an important factor in reducing racially-based prohibitions in the United States. Robinson is also sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Tuskegee Airmen" for inspiring this all-black set of pilots who served during the United States' entry into World War II.
Early life
Robinson was born in 1903, in Carrabelle, Florida, and spent his early years in Gulfport, Mississippi. His birth father died when he was a baby, leaving himself and his four-year-old sister, Bertha, with their mother Celeste Robinson, who remarried to Charles Cobb.[1] Robinson was inspired by flight at an early age. According to one account, in 1910, Robinson was seven years old when he witnessed a float-equipped biplane flown by John Moisant in Gulfport, Mississippi.[2]
Education
Robinson completed his education at Gulfport High School for the Colored in 1919, and performed well in school. However, because African-Americans were barred from continuing their education beyond the tenth grade, and no opportunities for higher education were locally available, Robinson made preparations to attend the Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute.[3] He first attended college at the on September 1921 to study automotive mechanical science, graduating three years later. In addition to studying automobiles, he learned math, literature, composition and history.[4] He repeatedly applied to the Curtiss-Wright School of Aviation in Chicago, but was denied each time. He ended up getting a job there as a janitor and unofficially sat in on classes until an instructor managed to secure a place for him,[5] and was the first black student at the school.[6]
Early employment
Prior to entering college, Robinson held a short-term job as shoeshine man before getting a job as warehouse personnel.[7] After finishing his college degree, Robinson was unable to find a suitable career in his hometown of Gulfport. Robinson attributed this to racial discrimination as many of the local garages were under white ownership; speaking to his father, he said, "[The garage owners will] give me a job sweeping, filling gas tanks, changing tires, or washing, but I'm an engine man...When I talk to [them] about automotive science they smile, look at each other, and then look at me like I belong behind a mule and a plow."[8]
Robinson consequently moved to the Detroit where jobs in the automotive industry might be more plentiful.[9] There, he had difficulty finding a line of work that his college degree would have ensured him, mainly due to his extensive knowledge on the trade being unwelcome by those who could not keep up with his intellect. Robinson continued to refuse jobs sweeping or as a messenger boy, and managed to become a mechanic's assistant instead. Despite continued discrimination and failure to acknowledge his experience from some of his white coworkers, Robinson's skill was noticed and he was promoted to a full mechanic and was given a pay raise. Sometime later, he was approached by taxi cabs owner named Fitzgerald who offered to double his pay to work for his garage. Robinson took the job, but was never comfortable working for a business that secretly bootlegged whiskey to Canada during Prohibition Age.[10]
Aviation
Early flights
Despite his successes as a mechanic, Robinson began searching for means to take to the air. He was eventually directed to a small field, where he met pilots Robert Williamson and Percy, and earned his first flight in Robert's WACO-9 after fixing the engine on Percy's Curtiss JN-4D (Jenny).[11] Robinson was determined as ever to get back into the air, and sought his next best chance to do so in Chicago. After opening a garage for income, he repeatedly applied for Curtiss-Wright School of Aviation. Robinson was rejected every time, but circumnavigated this roadblock altogether by becoming a janitor on Saturday nights, thereby being able to listen in on the lessons being taught in the evening class at the time. Becoming exposed to like-minded individuals in the subject, Robinson started the Aero Study Group, one that successfully manage to build its own airplane, tested out by the same night teacher whose class Robinson cleaned, Bill Henderson. Impressed by the plane, Henderson got Robinson a slot at the school and under the instructions of Mr. Snyder, became a licensed pilot. Before long, Robinson convinced the school to allow his peers from the Aero Study Group to enroll and become pilots as well.[12] Later, Robinson, along with his friend Cornelius Coffey, formed the Challenger Air Pilots Association for African Americans wanting to fly.[13]
Expanding black aviation[edit]
Deciding that aviation school should not be closed to African-Americans, Robinson and his friend Cornelius Coffey opened their own airfield in Robbins, Illinois, the John Robinson School of Aviation.[14] To further promote black pilots, Robinson convinced his old college, the Tuskegee Institute, to open up a school of aviation, as soon as funds were available to do so.[15]
Ethiopia
Shortly after 1935, Robinson left the United States to accept a commission as a colonel in Ethiopia.[16] Robinson's decision to accept the commission was based on several factors. First, Robinson and his colleagues were social activists who wished to aid Ethiopia as it was threatened by an imperialistic Italy under Fascist dictator Benito Mussolini; and as Ethiopia was non-colonized, it represented the larger idea of a free and independent Africa that Robinson supported.[16][17] Second, opportunities for black aviators in the United States were limited, particularly in the U.S. Army Air Corps, where all Africa-Americans were explicitly prohibited from service. Lynchings by white mobs also continued to be common both in Robinson's hometown in Florida as well as in Mississippi.[18] Finally, having already earned recognition for his all-black military aviation unit in Illinois as a part of the National Guard, Robinson was interested in building and maintaining a similar unit in Ethiopia to promote black political consciousness.[17]
Faced with an invasion from Italy, the Ethiopian Emperor, Haile Selassie was in desperate need of experienced aviators for his air force. Learning of Robinson, Emperor Selassie's nephew, Dr. Halaku Bayen, invited Robinson to serve in the Imperial Ethiopian Air Corps, and Robinson accepted.[19] Upon his arrival, Robinson found himself in charge of less than two dozen aircraft, which included four Potez 25 biplanes, but all the aircraft were weaponless.[20] He was tasked with preparing the planes for combat with Italian forces.[21] The Italian invasion began on October 3rd, 1935. The eventual force totaled to 19 aircraft and 50 pilots. Ethiopian forces, however, were ultimately outmatched by the Italian airforce, who had advantages in experience and in sheer numbers. On May 9th, 1935, Italy annexed Ethiopia.[16]
After annexation, Robinson was also a witness to an Italian bombing of the city of Adwa in October 1935. He observed that the city was unprepared for the attack, and resulted in much confusion and residents fleeing to the city outskirts. "I saw a squad of soldiers standing in the street dumbfounded, looking at the airplanes. They had their swords raised in their hands," he described.[22]
For his service, Robinson received considerable press attention for his service through NBC Radio,[23] the Transradio Press Service,[24] and the Chicago Defender.[25] Robinson returned to the United States in 1936. Contemporary historians also recognize his achievements in Ethiopia.[26] Robinson's documented achievements in Ethiopia are considered to be the catalyst that inspired demands for social equality to allow African-Americans to serve in the U.S. Army Air Corps, and allowed for the organization of the African-American military pilot group, the Tuskegee Airmen, during World War II.[27] Robinson is therefore sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Tuskegee Airmen".[28]
Legacy
Robinson's Aero Club is the subject of the novel, The Challengers Aero Club by Severo Perez.[29]
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