Transcript of Interview with Mrs. Barbara (Merrill) Ross Ross, Barbara, interviewee contributor ctb Dandridge, Deborah contributor ctb 2011-06-14 The only son of Mr. & Mrs. Richard Ross from Flat Lick and Pineville, Kentucky, Mr. Merrill Ross moved to Topeka, Kansas to accept a teaching position in the public schools when he received his call to serve in the summer of 1944. Having already earned a pilot’s license from a civilian pilot training program at Pittsburg State University, Mr. Ross successfully pursued entrance into the Tuskegee Pilot Training program. But just as he was being prepared to be sent overseas the war ended. Due to Mr. Ross’s extended illness, this interview is primarily with Mr. Ross’s wife, Barbara, and son, Brian, who share their knowledge of Mr. Ross’s military experience as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen. They provide details about his pilot training and his encounters with members of local communities while on furlough. They also highlight his attendance of the inauguration of President Obama in 2008 as a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, who were honored guests of the President. After the war Mr. Ross returned to Topeka, Kansas where he experienced the desegregation of public schools as a faculty and administrator of the city’s segregated schools. Later Mr. Ross became the first African American to serve as principal of a predominantly white school in Topeka, Kansas. text World War (1939-1945) African Americans Oral history English eng electronic application/pdf Oral history ku-wwii:23https://digital.lib.ku.edu/ku-wwii/23ksrl_kc_wwii_ross_transcript.pdf electronic audio/mpeg reformatted digital https://digital.lib.ku.edu/ku-wwii/22 World War II: The African American Experience, RH MS 1439 Kansas Collection, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas University of Kansas This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License. ku-wwii_23_MODS Descriptive metadata from KU Scholarworks. MODS generated, with additional values/elements added, by KU Libraries Digital Initiatives. eng 2020-02-05