‘Rise Above: Tuskegee Airmen & WASP’ Exhibit Opening Reception

Please note: Due to weather, the Opening Reception has been moved to the Train Station Patio.

All are invited to attend an Opening Reception for the ‘RISE ABOVE: Tuskegee Airmen & WASP’ Traveling Exhibit at 5:30 p.m. Friday, May 27 at the Train Station Patio.  Lakeside Chautauqua President & CEO Kip Greenhill will welcome guests and introduce featured guest, Harold Brown, Ph.D., a retired U.S. Army Air Force Officer who served during World War II as a combat fighter pilot with the 332nd Fighter Group, best known as the Tuskegee Airmen.

Dr. Brown’s P-51C aircraft was shot down in the European Theatre of World War II and he became a prisoner of war. He was flying a P-51C east of Bruck, Austria. His flight path took him over anti-aircraft emplacements that shot his plane down. He was surrounded by German citizens who then attempted to lynch him before a German constable intervened and took him to a prisoner of war camp. He was one of 32 of the Tuskegee Airmen to be captured during the war.

Following his retirement from the military, Brown earned a doctorate degree and became vice-president of academic affairs at Columbus State Community College. He retired from academia in 1986. Brown and his wife, Marsha S. Bordner, Ph.D., wrote Keep Your Airspeed Up: The Story of a Tuskegee Airman, a memoir about his World War II service, and published it in 2017. He will sign books at the reception.

Exhibit Hours: 

 – Wednesday, May 25: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. & 4-7 p.m.
 – Thursday, May 26: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. & 4-7 p.m.
 – Friday, May 27: 10 a.m.-2 p.m. & 4-7 p.m.
 – Saturday, May 28: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.
 – Sunday, May 29: 1-5 p.m.

About CAF Rise Above
The CAF Rise Above is a volunteer-driven, nonprofit organization dedicated to educating audiences across the country about the history and legacy of the Tuskegee Airmen, America’s first Black military pilots and their support personnel, and the Women Airforce Service Pilots. The CAF Rise Above educational initiative is a threefold outreach program, including a fully restored WWII-era P-51C Mustang, the signature aircraft of the Tuskegee Airmen; the Rise Above traveling exhibit 53′ mobile theater featuring the original panoramic film Rise Above: Red Tail and Rise Above: WASP; and resource materials for teachers, parents and youth leaders.

About the Commemorative Air Force
Founded in 1957, the Commemorative Air Force has amassed more than 170 WWII aircraft – the largest collection of vintage military warbirds in the world. Through the work of more than 11,000 volunteers across 83 units, the CAF’s educational outreach programs reach an estimated 20 million Americans each year, providing unique, compelling, hands-on access to history.