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Harry Leavell, 2002

Veterans History Project Service Summary:

  • War or Conflict: World War, 1939-1945
  • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
  • Unit of Service: 1170th CLD, 1868th Aviation Engineer Battalion
  • Location of Service: Keesler Field, Biloxi, Mississippi; Tuskegee Institute, Alabama; Tampa, Florida; Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina; Guam (Mariana Islands); Pacific Theater
  • Highest Rank: First Sergeant
  • Collection Number: AFC/2001/001/2658

View full service history

"They didn't want you to succeed, and they did everything they could to keep you from succeeding." (Audio Interview, 37:59)

Harry Leavell's aspirations to become a fighter pilot in World War II were dashed by personal setbacks. He trained at Tuskegee, the legendary school that produced the famed eponymous airmen, noting how important Colonel Benjamin O. Davis and his West-Point bred code of honor were for the men's morale. Leavell lost both of his parents to natural causes early in his military career, and he admits he also lost his zeal for flying. But he became an engineer and served an important support role in the Pacific Theater. He also saw first-hand many incidents of subtle and overt racism designed to hold back his colleagues.

Harry W. Leavell Collection
Interview / Recording

Transcript

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More Resources

[ Diploma from the Tuskegee Institute, Division of Aeronautics [May 22, 1944] ]
[ Article on the Tuskegee Airmen ]

About this Item

Title

  • Harry W. Leavell Collection

Names

  • Lugar, Richard
  • Leavell, Harry W.
  • Elsener, Elizabeth
  • U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar

Home State

  • Indiana

Headings

  • -  Leavell, Harry W.
  • -  World War, 1939-1945 -- Personal Narratives
  • -  United States. Army Air Forces/Corps.

Repository

  • Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Gender

  • Male

Race

  • Black or African American

Status

  • veteran

Service History

  • World War, 1939-1945

    • Branch of Service: Army Air Forces/Corps
    • Unit of Service: 1170th CLD, 1868th Aviation Engineer Battalion
    • Location of Service: Keesler Field, Biloxi, Mississippi; Tuskegee Institute, Alabama; Tampa, Florida; Greenville Army Air Base, South Carolina; Guam (Mariana Islands); Pacific Theater
    • Highest Rank: First Sergeant
    • Dates of Service: 1943-1946
    • Military Status: veteran
    • Service History Note: Member of the Tuskegee Airmen.

Materials

  • Manuscript: Transcript [1 item] -- Typewritten document (collected 2009)
  • Manuscript: Unit histories [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Manuscript: Military papers (orders, personnel/201 files, etc) [1 item] -- (collected unknown)
  • Audio: DAT [1 item] -- Oral history interview (collected 2002-06-27)
  • Photograph: Mixed (Multiple types of photographs) [10 items] -- Photograph (collected unknown)
  • Audio: CD [1 item] -- Reference copy (collected 2002-06-27; 2007-11-07)

Collection Number

  • AFC/2001/001/2658

Cite as

  • Harry W. Leavell Collection (AFC/2001/001/2658), Veterans History Project, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress

Online Format

  • audio
  • image
  • online text

Additional Metadata Formats

IIIF Presentation Manifest

Rights & Access

Using VHP Material in Publication or Exhibition

The Veterans History Project (VHP) at the Library of Congress collects, preserves and makes accessible the firsthand recollections of U.S. military veterans who served from World War I through more recent conflicts and peacekeeping missions, so that future generations may hear directly from veterans and better understand what they saw, did and felt during their service. The Veterans History Project Collection includes oral histories along with documentary materials such as original letters, diaries, photographs, and memoirs.

Veterans and interviewers contribute these materials to the Library for scholarly and educational purposes, retaining any copyright they may hold. Therefore, permission must be obtained before using the interview or other materials in exhibition or publication. Researchers or others who would like to make further use of these materials should contact the Veterans History Project for assistance.

As a publicly supported institution, the Library generally does not own rights to material in its collections. Therefore, it does not charge permission fees for use of such material and cannot give or deny permission to publish or otherwise distribute material in its collections. Responsibility for making an independent legal assessment of an item from the Library’s collections and for securing any necessary permissions rests with persons desiring to use the item.

Please contact us with questions.

Obtaining Copies of VHP Materials

In order for VHP materials to be duplicated, we must receive written permission from the interviewee for you to obtain a copy of the recording unless the proposed use is limited to personal use, research, or other uses permissible by copyright law. If the interviewee is deceased, their next-of-kin may grant written permission.

Please contact VHP for assistance if you need to contact a veteran for permission to use their materials in exhibition or publication, or if you have received permission from the veteran and need access to high-resolution copies of VHP collection materials.

Citing VHP Materials

Please use the following formats when citing Veterans History Project materials (substituting the appropriate name and collection ID number).

Materials as a whole:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Manuscript material:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Memoirs (MS02), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Transcript (MS04), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Correspondence (MS01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Recording:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Audio recording (SR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Video recording (MV01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Photograph:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH01), photographer unknown, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.
  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Photographs (PH03-PH14), Ralph Williams photographer, Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Computer file:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Computer file (CF01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Artifact:

  • John P. Snodgrass (AFC 2001/001/[VHP collection]), Artifact (AR01), Veterans History Project Collection, American Folklife Center, Library of Congress.

Cite This Item

Citations are generated automatically from bibliographic data as a convenience, and may not be complete or accurate.

Chicago citation style:

Lugar, Richard, Harry W Leavell, Elizabeth Elsener, and U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar. Harry W. Leavell Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02658/.

APA citation style:

Lugar, R., Leavell, H. W., Elsener, E. & U.S. Senate/Richard Lugar. (1943) Harry W. Leavell Collection. [Personal Narrative] Retrieved from the Library of Congress, https://www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02658/.

MLA citation style:

Lugar, Richard, et al. Harry W. Leavell Collection. 1943. Personal Narrative. Retrieved from the Library of Congress, <www.loc.gov/item/afc2001001.02658/>.