THE EXHIBIT
A WORTHY TRIBUTE
Located in the museum’s 58th Bomb Wing Memorial Hangar, The Tuskegee Airmen: Their Untold Stories will utilize immersive audio and video, imagery, and original artifacts to pay tribute to this trailblazing group of men and women in an exciting and permanent exhibit — the largest in the museum’s history.
IMMERSIVE
Visitors will be greeted by an immersive theater experience upon entering the exhibit, where a short original film will introduce them to the story of the Tuskegee Airmen: who they were, what they did, and how their experiences paved the way for so many others to succeed both in and outside of the military.
EXPERIENCE
After leaving the theater, visitors will navigate a series of themed alcoves interspersed with display cases and screens featuring original Tuskegee artifacts and filmed interviews with Airmen and their families. They will learn about the beginnings of the Tuskegee story, the combat experiences of the 332nd Fighter Group, and the wartime accomplishments of the Tuskegee Airmen.
THE SECOND WAR
They will also come to understand the “second war” fought by the Airmen—the fight against systemic racism and discrimination before, during, and after World War II—and leave with a newfound respect for how they were able to accomplish so much when so many others wanted them to fail.
The exhibit ends with the postwar legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, and how events like the 477th Bomb Group’s mutiny at Freeman Field in 1945 helped influence the integration of the U.S. military and laid the foundation for the Civil Rights Movement.
UNTOLD STORIES
While this is not the first exhibit to feature the Tuskegee Airmen, it is the first to focus on an often-forgotten aspect of their story; how the experiences of the Airmen affected not only their postwar lives,
but the lives of their family and friends.
It is also one of the few places where visitors can see a fully restored Stearman PT-17 trainer aircraft, painted just as it looked during its service at Tuskegee Army Airfield during the war.
Address
36 Perimeter Rd
Windsor Locks, CT 06096
Phone
860.623.3305