There are restrictions for re-using this media. For more information, visit the Smithsonian’s Terms of Use page.
To view items in this collection, use the Online Finding Aid
This collection consists of forty 4 by 5 inch b/w copy negatives relating to the 477th Bombardment Group training activities in the United States, May 1944 to January 1945.
Lieutenant Ahmed A. "Sammy" Rayner, Jr. (died 1990) was a decorated USAF bomber pilot and original Tuskegee Airman, assigned to the 616th Bombardment Squadron. Rayner was from an African-American family of Chicago funeral directors, A. A. Rayner & Sons Funeral Home (noted for providing funeral services for Emmett Till), and later served as a Chicago alderman for the 6th Ward.
NASM.1993.0074
1944-1945
Joseph Hardy?, Gift, 1982, NASM.1993.0074
0.05 Cubic feet (Legal Folder (creased at 2nd score))
National Air and Space Museum Archives
This material was found inside of the Black Wings Exhibit and Book Collectio, NASM.1993.0060 in 2021 when that collection was being processed and put online via SOVA by Melissa Keiser.
This collection consists of forty 4 by 5 inch b/w copy negatives that appear to have been copied from US Army Air Forces (USAAF) photographs in a (or removed from a) scrapbook; most clearly show USAAF unit photographer markings at the lower edge. All images relate to the 477th Bombardment Group training activities in the United States, May 1944 to January 1945.
None
Material is subject to Smithsonian Terms of Use. Should you wish to use NASM material in any medium, please submit an Application for Permission to Reproduce NASM Material, available at Permissions Requests.
No restrictions on access
Lieutenant Ahmed A. "Sammy" Rayner Negatives Collection, NASM.1993.0074, National Air and Space Museum, Smithsonian Institution.
Aeronautics
World War, 1939-1945 -- African Americans
World War, 1939-1945 -- Aerial operations
Tuskegee Airmen
Collection descriptions
Archival materials