Rondo Oral History Project Minnesota Historical Society

33 Pages·2011·11.44 MB·English

Transcript of an oral history interview with
Benjamin Louis Alexander
February 15, 2004
at
The Sterling Club
Saint Paul, Minnesota
t
c
Interviewed by e y
Kateleen Hope Cavett j t
o e
r i
as part of P c
o

y S
HAND in HAND's
r
o
RONDO ORAL HISTORY PROJlECT
a
t
Saint Paul, Msinnesota
c
i
H i
r
o

l t
a s
r i
O H
Mr. Alexander served during World War II as a Tuskegee Airman.

Afterwards, he came to the Twin Caities to attend the University of Minnesota
o
where he was a member of a tratditional Black fraternity and acquired his license
d
o
in mortuary science.
n
s
Mr. Alexander describes the challenges of starting a new business in Saint
o e
Paul. He teRlls us the hinstory of the Sterling Club and explains that discrimination
made it necessary for Black men to have a club of their own.
n
This is a transcript of taped interviews, edited slightly for clarity. A signed
i
M
release is on file from Mr. Alexander.
3
Pi

t
c
e y
j t
o e
r i
P c
o

y S
r
o
l
a
t
s
c
i
H i
r
o

l t
a s
r i
O H

a
o
t
d
o
n
s
o e
R n
n
i
M
Lt. Benjamin L. Alexander
Tuskegee Airman 1941-1945
8
KC: Kate Cavett
BA: Ben Alexander
KC: We're at the Sterling Club at 300 North Saint Albans Street, and can you
introduce yourself to me, Mr. Alexander?
BA: I'm Ben L. Alexander,l ex-president of the Sterling Club.2 I've been in the

t
c
Sterling Club for over fifty years.
e y
j t
o e
r i
P c
o

y S
r
o
l
a
t
s
c
i
H i
r
o

l t
a s
r i
O H
Wife Jewell Mann Alexander

a The picture is signed:
o
d t "T-c ~ Lc>\l~ H~"
o
n
s
o e
R n
n
KC: Wow, fifty years. What brought you to Minnesota? How did you corne to
i
M
Saint Paul?
BA: Well, I was at Langston University in Oklahoma and a young lady from
1.Benjamin Alexander was born February 11, 1918.and passed February 3, 2005.
2 Sterling Club was founded in 1918 and incorporated in 1919. It was located at 315 North Dale Street at Rondo. In
1958 it built a new home at 300 North St. Albans at Carroll. This private club was formed to give prestigious Black men,
who were not allowed in White facilities, a place to meet and network.
9
Minneapolis, Jewel Mann,3 was a student at Langston University and I
met her and we conversed and so forth and talked and got to know each
other and started going with each other. In the summertime, 1'd run on
the road from Chicago to Minneapolis and 1'd get a chance to corne up
and see her. That was back in 1939 and '40. She was there in '39 and she

t
didn't corne back in '40. I went back down in '40 and the Acrmy Air Corps
e y
carne through wanting volunteers for the Air Corps. They didn't have any
j t
o e
Blacks then. They didn't allow for Blacks. It was all White. So I joined up
r i
P c
with the Army Air Corps and was fortunate enough too be a Tuskegee

y S
Airman.
r
o
l
KC: I want to back up just a second. When you saay you ran on the road,
t
s
c
describe what you were doing? i
H i
r
o
BA: All I could do was-I was a waiter. I was a waiter from Chicago. We'd go
l t
a s
from there to Minneapolis then sometimes we go to Omaha, Nebraska.
r i
O H
Sometimes I would take a special up to the resort up in Wisconsin there,

a
o
where the wheels would have their cabins and so forth and that. But
t
d
o
during thne summer, that's all I did to make my school money for my
s
o e
clothes and so forth and that.
R n
KC: How many ynears did you run on the road?
i
BA: Oh, I woMuld say three years. That's just during the summer. It was only
three months out of the year.
KC: Did you get your degree from Langston University?
BA: No, I got my degree from the University of Minnesota. 1952, Mortuary
Science.
3 Wife Jewell Patricia Mann Alexander was born July 31, 1918, and passed September 3, 1998.
10
KC: Okay, so let's go back to being a Tuskegee Airman.4 Can you talk about
that experience?
BA: Yes, I can talk about that experience. What do you want to know about it?
I know they gave us hell down there and tried everything they could to
discourage us. They didn't recognize us, and after we all finished and

t
everything, they didn't know what to do with us. We couldn't go overseas
c
e y
and fight. We just stayed in the States here for, oh, I guess six, eight
j t
o e
months. And they finally got us over to Africa there, but they didn't know
r i
P c
what to do with these Black boys. "We
o

y S
trained 'em, but now what are we
r
o
l
gonna do with 'em?" a
t
s
c
KC: So you were a pilot? i
H i
r
BA: Yes, I was a pilot. o

l t
a s
KC: The training was at Tuskegee,S and
r i
O H
what was the training experience like?

a
BA: Oh, regulaor training, that's all. You had
t
d
o
to learn how to fly the machines, that's
n
s
allo. A lot of ethe boys never seen the
R n
inside of an airplane before. But they went down there and they grasped
n
i
it, wMhich the wheels of the Air Corps said, "Those Black boys can't fly.
4 Tuskegee Airmen were the 1,000 Black American fighter pilots of the 99th Pursuit Squadron, later incorporated into
the 332nd Fighter Group, who fought during World War II in the U.S. Army Air Corps. Their training took place at
Tuskegee Army Air Field, Tuskegee, Alabama. 445 Tuskegee Airmen went oversees as combat pilots in the European
Theater of Operations, North Africa and the Mediterranean. None of the bombers they escorted were lost to enemy
fighters. They destroyed 251 enemy aircraft and won more than 850 medals, and 66 Tuskegee Airmen were killed in
action. Their legacy was the eventual desegregation of the USAF and the recognition that Black pilots were equal to
White pilots. The Tuskegee Airmen have gained much respect and admiration.
S Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute was founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington in Tuskegee, Alabama. In
1937 the name was changed to Tuskegee Institute and in 1985, it became Tuskegee University. It is one of ninety
historically Black colleges and universities. The Tuskegee Archives, devoted to Black history, was established in 1904.
11
They're too scared." But we proved to them that we could fly just like that
White boy. And if I got shot, my blood's the same as that White boy's was.
KC: Your training officers were all White officers?
BA: No, but for the primaries, they were all Black pilots. They trained us.
There were a few Whites in there, but most of them were Black.

KC: Had the Black pilots been privately trained or trained before ytour class?
c
e y
BA: They'd been trained before. They'd taken over the cadets. We had a class
j t
o e
scheduled for training pilots for the army, the way the army wanted to do
r i
P c
it.
o

y S
KC: Were the White officers disrespectful or prejudiced toward you?
r
o
BA: Sometimes. Sometimes, yeah. "Boy, you can't do tlhis." or, "Boy, what are
a
t
s
c
you doing?" or, "What the hell's wrong with you?" Yeah, sure. We caught
i
H i
r
hell. o

l t
a s
KC: Did the Black officers hold you to a higher standard so that you would be
r i
O H
better then?

a
BA: They said, "Dono't give up. Just go ahead and take it and do your job."
t
d
o
KC: How long did the training take place?
n
s
BA: Four moonths. e
R n
KC: And then you sat around for six or eight months?
n
i
BA: They moMve them base to base. They didn't know what to do with you.
They were fighting intolerance there to disband the Black unit because
they didn't know what to do with us. You know, they didn't want us to
fight and they didn't want us to keep drawing pay. But somebody got to
12 .
t
c
e y
j t
o e
r i
P c
o

y S
r
o
l
a
t
s
c
i
H i
r
o

l t
a s Ben Alexander at Tuskegee
r i
O H

a
o
t
d
o
n
s
o e
R n
n
i
M
Ben Alexander second from right
13
the main people, I guess, and they said, "Well, we'll send them over to
Africa then. Let them escort some of the bombers and that./I
KC: So what year did you go to Africa?
BA: I didn't get overseas myself but some of my buddies did. Everybody

t
didn't get overseas.
c
e y
KC: What did you do here in the States?
j t
o e
BA: Nothing but fly and keep up my hours and that. Nothing. Just fly from
r i
P c
one base to the other.
o

y S
KC: What bases were you located at?
r
o
l
BA: [ANGB] Selfridge Field, [AFB] Eglin Field. a
t
s
c
KC: What states are these in? i
H i
r
BA: Florida and Michigan. o

l t
a s
KC: How were you treated when you were on these bases as a Black officer
r i
O H
when the majority of the airmen were White?

a
BA: Well, you wereo treated fair. They'd salute you sometime and sometime
t
d
o
they wouldn't.
n
s
KC: And yoour rank wase?
R n
BA: Lieutenant.
n
i
KC: So when Myou finished the air training then you became a lieutenant?
BA: Yes.
KC: Did they give you passes, liberties, to go off base or did they have special
restrictions because you were a Black officer?
14
BA: No, they didn't have anything special. You could get off anytime you
wanted to. But you didn't want to go in town there because all the
resentment you'd get in town and so forth.
KC: Do you have any specific memories that you remember about incidents
that happened to you as a Tuskegee Airman?

BA: Well, not myself, but some of the fellas related that theyt were in Georgia
c
there and the MPs didn't believe that there was aney Black flyyers down
j t
o e
there. They had to call for the commanding officer to come get them out of
r i
P c
jail.
o

y S
KC: When you heard that story, how did that feel?
r
o
BA: Well, it felt bad. You know, we were in tlhe service and then we're
a
t
s
c
humiliated like that. Same way with coming back from overseas. I didn't
i
H i
r
see it, but I heard. They'd have twoo lines. They said the Colored on this

l t
side and the Whites caome down son this side. They were all fighting for the
r i
O H
same thing, democracy. Supposed to be democracy.

a
KC: Did it evero make you want to quit?
t
d
o
BA: Oh, yeah, yeah. Sure. I'm very bitter at times.
n
s
KC: I'mo sorry. It soeunds hard.
R n
BA: Well, that's just the way America is. It's just the way America is. Boys
n
i
wenMt over there and fought like everybody else, but still they wasn't good
enough to get any recognition 'til the last few years. Now they're just
recognizing it Tuskegee Airmen and that.
KC: How many were in your training class?
BA: Twenty-five, thirty.
KC: How many total Tuskegee Airmen were there?
15
BA: Oh, I imagine there was around fifteen hundred, I guess. Round figures
1'd say fifteen hundred. That wasn't the ground officers and the mechanics
and that.
KC: Were your ground officer and mechanics Black as well?
BA: Yeah, they were Black, yes.

t
KC: So was Tuskegee a whole separate division from the rest of cthe Air Force?
e y
BA: Yes, it was. It was strictly Black, strictly Black.
j t
o e
KC: How many would be in this whole division rof ground iofficers and
P c
mechanics and airmen? o

y S
BA: Couldn't tell you that. I couldn't.
r
o
l
KC: And then you would have separate navigators thaat would be Black?
t
s
c
BA: Yeah, they had to go for trainingi and so forth and that, yeah.
H i
r
o
KC: What year did you go into t he Air Force?
l t
a s
BA: 1942.
r i
O H
KC: And what year did you leave?

a
o
BA: In '44. But I got out of the service in '46. When I got out of the service I
t
d
o
musteredn out in '46 at Patterson Field [in Ohio].
s
o e
KC: But, you left the Tuskegee group in '44?
R n
BA: Well, I left frnom down there, yeah.
i
KC: Where dMid you go then?
BA: Selfridge Field.
KC: How many were in your group of Tuskegee men at Selfridge Field?
BA: Oh, I couldn't tell. I don't know. I never thought about counting them.
There was quite a few of them. As they'd come out, they'd send you to
Selfridge to lay around and put your hours in flying and that.
16