1950s Scrapbook of an African American Air Force Cadet at Sheppard Air Force Base

Wichita Falls, Texas; Chicago, Illinois; and New York City, 1956. Scrapbook containing approximately fifty-three photos: five measuring 8 ½ x 10 inches and smaller; two measuring 5 x 7 and smaller; and forty-six measuring 4 x 5 inches and smaller. Photos overall excellent; scrapbook pages with marginal damage and two detached. Overall excellent.. A scrapbook assembled by Robert W. Franklin of Chicago, documenting his time at Sheppard Air Force Base in Wichita Falls, Texas, along with some shots of friends in Chicago and New York City. Sheppard opened as a US Army Air Corps (precursor to the Air Force) training center in 1941, hosting basic training and technical, flying, and engineering training. In the 1950s, several new trainings moved there, including transport, intelligence, and aircraft maintenance training. The first photo shows a young man, probably Franklin, posing in front of a sign for the 3762nd Student Squadron, a Cold War-era group that trained men for the Air Force. Most captions identify people by nicknames, such as “‘Iron Jaw,’ the Devil’s Son-In-Law”, “‘Way-out’ Beal,” and “J. P. ‘Shortman’ Bauer”. The men—and some young women—hang out at the Airmen’s Club and pose with planes and in their quarters. Of interest to Air Force historians, especially of the African American experience in the Air Force.