UNMC co-sponsors Salute to Women of the Tuskegee Era

On Aug. 15, 1944, the first contingent of African-American U.S. Army nurses, arrive at the port of Greenock, Scotland, in European Theater of Operations. Photo taken from a brochure prepared by the U.S. Army Center on Military History.

Omaha has embraced the Tuskegee Airmen National Convention held this week at the Qwest Center Omaha. UNMC staff, faculty and students are assisting the convention with health screening clinics and special youth activities, as well as by attending several gala events.

For the first time ever, the Tuskegee Airmen convention will honor women members of the military during World War II. There will be a unique “Salute to Women of the Tuskegee Era” held today (Aug. 6), from 4 to 6 p.m. at the Hilton Omaha Grand Ballroom, 1001 Cass St. The event is free to the public and convention attendees. It is co-sponsored by UNMC’s College of Nursing and Community Partnership, Clarkson College and The Nebraska Medical Center.

The heart of the tribute will be a display of 18 large posters featuring photographs and historical information on African-American women in uniform during World War II. Guests will learn about the first black women to be commissioned as officers in the U.S. armed forces. They also will learn about the first black women to become nurses in the military and the first black woman commissioned an officer in the Civil Air Corps. Black women performed arduous duty as nurses in South Pacific jungle stations or at posts in Africa. An African American women’s battalion in England processed all of the mail that followed the fighting men in World War II.

The salute will feature a keynote address by Valda Boyd Ford, director of Community and Multicultural Affairs at UNMC, on the legacy of health careers left by the first black women to enter military nursing corps. Two retired U.S. Air Force female officers, Sarah Williams, Ph.D., and Loretta Hicks, M.D., will reflect on World War II and the future success of black women in the military. In addition, there will be a surprise guest appearance by Nancy Leftenant Colon, 81, the first African-American woman commissioned a lieutenant in the Regular Army Nurse Corps in 1948.