Allen, Thomas C.
unknown · Contribution: 1932
Transportation
Co-completed the first transcontinental flight by Black pilots in U.S. history, serving as mechanic and co-pilot alongside James Herman Banning
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Active since
- 1932
- Category
- Transportation
Impact on the world
Allen's mechanical skill and grit kept an underfunded, improvised aircraft aloft across a continent, proving Black aviators could match feats the well-funded white flying establishment celebrated.
Sources
- Smithsonian Magazine
1 more sources and references are available to members.
More in Transportation
Banning, James Herman
1899-1933
First African American to be licensed as a pilot by the U.S. government; co-completed the first transcontinental flight by Black pilots
Beard, Andrew
1849-1921
Improved automatic railroad car coupler (Janney coupler design)
Bluford, Guion 'Guy' Jr.
1942-
Aerospace engineering and human spaceflight
Bolden, Charles Frank Jr.
1946-
First African American NASA Administrator, appointed by President Obama in 2009; piloted and commanded four Space Shuttle missions, including the mission that deployed the Hubble Space Telescope; personally encouraged to apply as an astronaut by Ronald McNair, already profiled in this collection