Celebrating Black History Month- Archie Williams

Celebrating Black History Month- Archie Williams

We continue our celebration of Black History Month by learning about Archie Williams today. Archie Williams took gold in the 400-meter dash at the 1936 Olympics – held in Hitler’s Berlin.

Although he battled racism both at home and abroad, he persevered and received an engineering degree from Berkeley. When the U.S. began preparing to enter WWII, Williams was one of just a few black flight instructors to train the famed Tuskegee Airmen, but the Army needed him most in meteorology. After training at UCLA, he forecasted for the war and served in many overseas missions; there was a great need for meteorologists who were also trained pilots. Williams retired from the military as a Lt. Colonel and went on to spend 20 years engaging young people in math and sciences through education.

Learn more about Archie Williams at these sources:

http://www.dodlive.mil/index.php/2012/02/olympian-becomes-weather-officer-during-world-war-ii/ http://blog.ametsoc.org/news/a-meteorologist-who-changed-the-world/