News Release

Traveling Exhibit Honoring Tuskegee Airmen Arrives In August

Children watch a panoramic movie, part of CAF Red Tail Squadron's "Rise Above" travelling exhibit

Max Haynes, Courtesy of CAF Red Tail Squadron

News Release Date: July 12, 2019

Contact: Pete Swisher, [phone]

West Branch, Iowa— Herbert Hoover National Historic Site welcomes “Rise Above,” a traveling exhibit honoring the famed Tuskegee Airmen. CAF Red Tail Squadron, a non-profit educational outreach group presents the exhibit to tell the inspirational story of the Tuskegee Airmen, the first African American military aviators that made their mark during World War II.

The mobile exhibit will be open August 21 through August 25 from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. in the Village Green Parking Lot, across Parkside Drive from the Visitor Center at Herbert Hoover National Historic Site.

Herbert Hoover’s reputation as humanitarian and leader transcends decades of work across the world throughout his life.  Learn more about his work during the World War II time period, these famed aviators, and celebrate the National Park Service’s Founders Day with these numerous activities that accompany the exhibit: 

• Wednesday, August 21: The National Park Service invites all media outlets to see the exhibit.
• Thursday, August 22: The National Park Service welcomes veterans to a reception in the Visitor Center at 1 p.m. That evening at 7 p.m., blues singer Kevin “B.F.” Burt performs on the Village Green.
• Friday, August 23: Children can join activities on the Village Green at 4 p.m.
• Saturday, August 24: A park ranger leads a guided prairie walk at 10 a.m. Meet at the Tallgrass Prairie Observation Deck by the gravesite parking lot. Then at 12 p.m., picnic in the Village Green during a performance by the US Air Force band Midwest Winds. At 2 p.m. join an archivist for a talk at Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, followed by a screening of the movie “Red Tails” at 3 p.m.
• Sunday, August 25: Celebrate the birthday of the National Park Service with a performance by Brass Transit Authority at 1 p.m. on the Village Green.

This exhibit is made possible with the cooperation of the Herbert Hoover Presidential Library and Museum, the Hoover Presidential Foundation, and Humanities Iowa.