John Robinson (aviator)
| John C. Robinson | |
|---|---|
Robinson in Ethiopian Air Force Uniform
|
|
| Nickname(s) | The Brown Condor |
| Born |
26 November 1903 Carrabelle, Florida, U.S. |
| Died | 26 March 1954 (aged 50) Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Buried at | Gulele Cemetery Addis Ababa, Ethiopia |
| Allegiance |
 United States of America Ethiopia
|
| Service/branch | Imperial Ethiopian Air Force |
| Years of service | 1935–1944 |
| Rank | Colonel |
| Unit | Brown Condor Squadron |
| Battles/wars |
Second Italo-Ethiopian War World War II (East African Campaign) |
| Other work | Ethiopian Air Lines |
John Charles Robinson (November 26, 1903 – March 26, 1954) was an American aviator and activist who was hailed as the "Brown Condor" for his service in serving in the Imperial Ethiopian Air Force against Fascist Italy. Robinson pushed for equal opportunities for African-Americans during his early career, and was able to open his own eponymous aviation school in addition to initiating a program for black pilots at his college, the Tuskegee Institute. Robinson's achievements as an aviator were in stark contrast to the limited opportunities for most African-Americans in aviation careers, and were an important factor in reducing racially based prohibitions in the United States. Robinson is sometimes referred to as the "Father of the Tuskegee Airmen" for inspiring this all-black set of pilots who served during the United States' entry into World War II.
Robinson was born in 1903, in Carrabelle, Florida, and spent his early years in Gulfport, Mississippi. His birth father died when he was a baby, leaving himself and his four-year-old sister, Bertha, with their mother Celeste Robinson, who remarried to Charles Cobb. Robinson was inspired by flight at an early age. According to one account, in 1910, Robinson was seven years old when he witnessed a float-equipped biplane flown by John Moisant in Gulfport, Mississippi.
Robinson completed his education at Gulfport High School for the Colored in 1919, where he developed a strong interest in mechanics and machinery. However, Robinson could not continue his education in Gulfport; African-Americans were barred from continuing their education beyond the tenth grade. Robinson subsequently made preparations to attend the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. He first attended college at the Tuskegee Institute on September 1921 to study automotive mechanical science, graduating three years later. In addition to studying automobiles, he learned math, literature, composition and history. He repeatedly applied to the Curtiss-Wright School of Aviation in Chicago, but was denied each time. He ended up getting a job there as a janitor and unofficially sat in on classes until an instructor managed to secure a place for him, and was the first black student at the school.
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