Plaque designed by Davis Aerospace and Maritime students to be dedicated at CLE

June 3, 2021

Press Releases

On Friday, June 4, 2021, students from Cleveland Metropolitan School District’s Davis Aerospace and Maritime School will witness the unveiling of a plaque they researched and designed in honor of Benjamin O. Davis, and all Tuskegee Airmen from the Cleveland, Ohio area.

Davis, the school’s namesake, was a graduate of Cleveland schools who went on to become one of the original Tuskegee Airmen. He flew in World War ll and was the first African-American Air Force general.

Laila Graham, a Davis senior, led the efforts to bring the project to fruition. Using the laser cutting machine from the Davis Fab Lab, she etched replica patches, labels, and text for the plaque. Impressively, though, are the illustrations of the man and woman at the top of the plaque. These figures were hand drawn special for this plaque, digitized, and laser engraved by Laila.

The plaque was commissioned by Mayor Frank G. Jackson, designed in 2020 by students of Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School, Cleveland Metropolitan School District, and co-sponsored by the North Coast Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., and Phastar Corporation of Cleveland, Ohio.

 

WHO:
Grady L. Stevenson, Interim Director of Community Relations
Robert W. Kennedy, Interim Director of Port Control
Tim Jones, Principal, Davis Aerospace and Maritime High School
Drew Ferguson, President & CEO Phastar
Dr. Donna McIntyre Whyte, PhD, Adjunct Faculty CSU

WHAT:
Unveiling of Plaque dedicated to Cleveland’s Tuskegee Airmen

WHEN:
Friday, June 4, 2021, at 12:30 p.m.

WHERE:
Cleveland Hopkins Airport