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Charles Alfred 鈥淐hief鈥� Anderson (1907-1996) Anderson was an aviator who is known as the Father of Black Aviation. He served as the Chief Civilian Flight Instructor in Tuskegee, Ala., for its new program to train Black pilots. He developed a training program, taught the first advanced course, and earned his nickname, 鈥淐hief.鈥�

• Anderson was born on Feb. 9, 1907, to Iverson and Janie Anderson in Bryn Mawr, Pa. An only child, he grew up in that area, but also lived for a time with his grandmother in Staunton, Va. In August 1929, Anderson borrowed money to buy his own airplane, a Velie Monocoupe, and with it largely taught himself how to fly, as few flying schools would accept Black students.
• Anderson joined the Pennsylvania National Guard but was let go when its leaders discovered he was Black. For a time, he also attended the Pets Aviation School in Philadelphia but was dropped for the same reason. By the end of 1929, Anderson had learned enough about flying to become one of the first Black pilots to earn a private pilot鈥檚 license. He trained with Ernst Buehl, a German veteran of World War I and later transcontinental airmail pilot in the U.S.
• In 1932, with Buehl鈥檚 help, he became the first African American to earn a commercial transport pilot license, enabling him to fly passengers. While in Atlantic City, Anderson met Albert E. Forsythe, a Black surgeon who became his patron, providing funding for an aircraft they later flew together.
• In July 1933, Anderson and Forsythe flew from Atlantic City to Los Angeles, and back, thus completing the first transcontinental roundtrip flight by Black pilots. In 1934, after purchasing a larger airplane that he named for聽Booker T. Washington, Anderson embarked with Forsythe on a goodwill flight to the West Indies, stopping in the Bahamas, Cuba, Jamaica, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, the Virgin Islands, Granada, and Trinidad. They received much publicity in the Black press. Also in 1934, Anderson married Gertrude Nelson, with whom he would have two children.
• In 1940 the Tuskegee Institute hired him as its chief flight instructor to develop its pilot training program. The U.S. Army Air Corps awarded Tuskegee the contract to provide primary flight training in February 1941.
• In early March 1941, the Air Corps activated the world鈥檚 first Black flying unit, the 99th Pursuit Squadron, at Chanute Field, Illinois, but announced that its pilots would train at Tuskegee. At the end of the month, First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt, wife of Pres. Franklin D. Roosevelt, visited Kennedy Field while meeting with the聽Rosenwald聽Foundation board and asked Anderson to take her on a flight. She wrote about her experience in a widely published column, and a photograph of Anderson with Roosevelt in a Piper Cub aircraft became famous. This event helped dispel the myth that Blacks could not or did not fly airplanes and encouraged African Americans to pursue aviation as a career.
• Anderson was selected by the Army as Tuskegee鈥檚 Ground Commander and Chief Instructor for aviation cadets of the 99th Pursuit Squadron, America鈥檚 first all-Black fighter squadron which would eventually join three other squadrons of Tuskegee Airmen in the 332nd Fighter Group, the 鈥淩ed Tails.鈥�
• In 1967, Anderson co-founded Negro Aviation International, an association for Black pilots. Anderson was inducted into the Alabama Aviation Hall of Fame in 1991 and was the recipient of numerous awards and honors. He died in 1996 at the age of 89 in Tuskegee and was buried at Greenwood Cemetery. On April 16, 2014, the U.S. Post Office unveiled a stamp commemorating Anderson at a ceremony at the Tuskegee Airmen National Historic Site in Tuskegee.