I had the opportunity to meet Chauncey Spencer at his home in Lynchburg, Virginia. He and his wife Anne were terrific hosts and I enjoyed hearing his story firsthand. He was a GREAT AMBASSADOR for the City of Lynchburg!

CHAUNCEY EDWARD SPENCER, SR. (1906–2002) was the third child of the poet Anne Spencer and her husband Edward. In 1939, he made an historic flight with Dale White from Chicago to Washington, D. C., to lobby Congress on behalf of African American fliers. This flight resulted in bills providing for flight training for African Americans and their admission as pilots in the Army Air Corps in World War II.

He was a founding member of the National Airmen’s Association of America, which later became known as the Tuskegee Airmen. In 1948, he received the U.S. Air Force Exceptional Meritorious Service Medal and Citation, the highest award given to a civilian, for his service in World War II. His flight suit is included in the Black Wings exhibit at the Smithsonian Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C.