William J. Powell (Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc.) Photograph Collection
William J. Powell (1899-1942) was a prominent African-American entrepreneur and pilot who urged African-Americans to become part of the future aviation industry.
Powell was born in Henderson, Kentucky, on July 29, 1899. He moved to Chicago at the age of eight. He entered the University of Illinois in 1916. He went to Officers' Training Camp in Fort Des Moines, Iowa, in June 1917, and was commissioned as a First Lieutenant in the American Expeditionary Forces at the completion of training camp. He served with the 317th Engineers and 365th Infantry during World War I. After his honorable discharge in 1919, he returned to the University of Illinois, graduating with honors and a degree of Bachelor of Science in electrical engineering in 1922.
He worked as an electrical engineer and electric welding instructor for Rock Island Railroad for two years. In 1924, he opened his first filling station and in two years' time, he had built a successful automobile business in South Chicago before moving to Los Angeles in 1928.
During the late 1920s and 1930s, Powell worked tirelessly to promote airmindedness in the black community. Under his umbrella organization, Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc., Powell wrote a thinly disguised autobiography,
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NASM Generated. Images in this collection were copied by the NASM Branch Photo Lab from issues of
This collection consists of 9 copy prints and 14 copy negatives. The bulk of the images were copied from issues of
Researchers may wish to consult other collections in the NASM Archives: William J. Powell Collection (Accession 1999-0049).
Described and encoded by Elizabeth C. Borja, 2017.
William J. Powell (Craftsmen of Black Wings, Inc.) Photograph Collection, Accession 1996-0008, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Photographs