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Collection Veterans History Project Collection

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Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
  • Service Unit/Ship: 99th Fighter Squadron
  • Location of Service: Chanute Field, Illinois; Keesler Field, Mississippi; Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama; Miami Beach, Florida; Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/4946

View full service history

"I just couldn't accept…the segregation that they had down here." (Audio interview, 14:20)

Army Air Corps Lieutenant Pompey Hawkins was among the first African Americans to attend Officer Candidate School. While stationed at Keesler Field in Biloxi, Mississippi, in 1943, Lieutenant Hawkins protested the segregation of post amenities for the men under his command starting in 1943. Predating the nonviolent protests of the Civil Rights movement, Lieutenant Hawkins and his men lined up to make purchases at the Post Exchange, sat in at the post restaurant, and stood in line for tickets at the post movie theater. Protests against injustice were not always nonviolent; he was tried, and acquitted, in a court martial for fighting back when assaulted by the base commanding officer.

Pompey L. Hawkins Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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Pompey L. Hawkins Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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Pompey L. Hawkins Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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About this Item

Title

  • Pompey L. Hawkins Collection

Names

  • Lugar, Richard
  • Clanin, Douglas
  • Hawkins, Pompey L.
  • U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar

Home State

  • Indiana

Headings

  • -  Hawkins, Pompey L.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
    • Service Unit/Ship: 99th Fighter Squadron
    • Location of Service: Chanute Field, Illinois; Keesler Field, Mississippi; Tuskegee Army Air Field, Alabama; Miami Beach, Florida; Jefferson Barracks, Missouri
    • Dates of Service: 1941-1946
    • Entrance into Service: Enlisted
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: Member of the Tuskegee Airmen. The veteran served as ground personnel at Tuskegee Army Air Field.

Materials

  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2005-12-13; 2005-12-13)
  • Manuscript: Clippings [2 items] -- (collected unknown)
  • Audio: Audio Cassette [2 items] -- Oral history interview (collected 1992-08-12)
  • Computer File: Floppy Disk [1 item] -- Electronic file of manuscript (collected 2006-08-14; 2006-08-16)
  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Transcription of audio recording (collected 2006-08-14)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/4946

Online Format

  • audio
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Lugar, Richard, Douglas Clanin, Pompey L Hawkins, and U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar. Pompey L. Hawkins Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.04946/.

APA citation style:

Lugar, R., Clanin, D., Hawkins, P. L. & U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar. (1941) Pompey L. Hawkins Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.04946/.

MLA citation style:

Lugar, Richard, et al. Pompey L. Hawkins Collection. 1941. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.04946/>.