Back to Results
2014.49.050-021-02
View full size image or right-click on image to save
Photograph
Clarence and LaVerna Oliphant in plane, Seattle, circa 1950
Order an ImageIn addition to his jazz club images, Seattle photographer Al Smith took many photos of family, friends and other local people in their everyday lives. Here, Smith photographs Clarence A. Oliphant (1923-2000) in the cockpit of a plane, with his wife, LaVerna (1923-2016) behind him.
Clarence Oliphant was born in Council Bluff, Iowa and moved to Seattle after serving in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943-1945. Oliphant served with the 332nd Fighter Group, known today as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of Black pilots to serve in the military. They fought in World War II and had a phenomenal success rate for protecting bombers. The airmen were so named for the training program they attended at Tuskegee Army Airfield (TAAF) in Tuskegee, Alabama. Clarence Oliphant was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame in 2006, and into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame with other Iowa Tuskegee Airmen in 2010.
Caption information source: "The Iowa Tuskegee Airmen," at the Iowa Aviation Museum website, retrieved at http://flyingmuseum.com/hall-of-fame/2006-the-iowa-tuskegee-airmen/
Caption information source: Iowa African American Hall of Fame website, retrieved at https://iaahf.studentaffairs.iastate.edu/inductees.php
Clarence Oliphant was born in Council Bluff, Iowa and moved to Seattle after serving in the U.S. Army Air Force from 1943-1945. Oliphant served with the 332nd Fighter Group, known today as the Tuskegee Airmen, the first group of Black pilots to serve in the military. They fought in World War II and had a phenomenal success rate for protecting bombers. The airmen were so named for the training program they attended at Tuskegee Army Airfield (TAAF) in Tuskegee, Alabama. Clarence Oliphant was inducted into the Iowa Aviation Hall of Fame in 2006, and into the Iowa African American Hall of Fame with other Iowa Tuskegee Airmen in 2010.
Caption information source: "The Iowa Tuskegee Airmen," at the Iowa Aviation Museum website, retrieved at http://flyingmuseum.com/hall-of-fame/2006-the-iowa-tuskegee-airmen/
Caption information source: Iowa African American Hall of Fame website, retrieved at https://iaahf.studentaffairs.iastate.edu/inductees.php
ID Number: 2014.49.050.021.02
Date: Circa 1950
Creator(s):
Smith, Albert J., Sr., Photographer
Physical Description: 1 photographic print : b&w ; 5 x 7 in.
Credit: MOHAI, Al Smith Collection, 2014.49.050.021.02
Copyright: All Rights Reserved
Other matching results
Larry Gossett entering police van at protest at the South African consulate, Seattle, December 9, 1984
Bob Santos entering police van at protest at the South African consulate, Seattle, December 9, 1984
Protesters at the South African consulate, Seattle, December 9, 1984
Hazel Scott at the piano, Seattle, October 11, 1947
Izzy Smith at ROOTS Family Picnic, Seattle, 1990
Woman at ROOTS Family Picnic, Seattle, 2001
Baseball game at picnic, circa 1944
Clarence and LaVerna Oliphant in plane, Seattle, circa 1950
Group of Basin Street nightclub patrons around a table, Seattle, May 1944
