U.S. Army Air Force pilot badge owned by Lt. Louise Lomax
date: label: Date
content: 1943-1946
name: label: Manufactured by
content: Unidentified
label: Distributed by
content: United States Army Air Force, American, 1941 - 1947
label: Owned by
content: Louise Virginia Lomax, American, 1920 - 2011
notes: label: Caption
content: During World War II, Louise Lomax joined the Army Nurse Corps (ANC) as a 2nd Lieutenant in March 1943 with the help of the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses and trained as a psychiatric nurse at St. Elizabeths Hospital in Washington, D.C. By September 1943 she was stationed at Tuskegee Army Air Field in Alabama, home of the Tuskegee Airmen. Pilot Badges were issued to Army Air Corps pilots, including the Tuskegee Airmen, after successfully completing pilot training. It is likely that Lt. Lomax owned this Pilot Badge as a personal souvenir of her time serving with the Tuskegee Airmen. While the term "Tuskegee Airmen" is often attributed to the famed African American pilots who trained at Tuskegee, the Tuskegee Airmen also included more than 10,000 Black men and women who supported the pilots, including nurses, civilian flight instructors, mechanics, cooks, supply personnel, and more.Lt. Lomax remained at Tuskegee during the war, where she was eventually promoted to 1st Lieutenant. For her war service she was awarded a World War II Victory Medal and an American Campaign Medal.
label: Description
content: A U.S. Army Air Force Pilot Badge owned by Lt. Louise Lomax, possibly as a souvenir from her time stationed at Tuskegee. The metal badge is in the shape of a shield with outstretched wings. The shield is striped and has stars at the top. The insignia pin has two pushback clasps. Embossed on the back of the shield is [STERLING].
place: label: Place used
content: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
topic: label: Topic
content: African American
label: Topic
content: Medicine
label: Topic
content: Military
label: Topic
content: Nursing
label: Topic
content: Segregation
label: Topic
content: Tuskegee Airmen
label: Topic
content: U.S. History, 1945-1953
label: Topic
content: Women
label: Topic
content: World War II
setName: label: See more items in
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture Collection
label: Classification
content: Awards, Medals, and Insignia
creditLine: label: Credit Line
content: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture, Gift of Pia Marie Winters Jordan in memory of her mother, First Lieutenant Louise Virginia Lomax Winters, Army Nurse Corps; and her uncle, Sgt. Henry James Lomax, U.S. Army
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of African American History and Culture
identifier: label: Object number
content: 2022.42.2.3
objectType: label: Type
content: insignias
objectRights: label: Restrictions & Rights
content: No known copyright restrictions
label: Restrictions & Rights
content: Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
physicalDescription: label: Medium
content: sterling silver
label: Dimensions
content: H x W x D: 11/16 × 2 15/16 × 3/8 in. (1.8 × 7.5 × 1 cm)