Pillow sham with Tuskegee Flying School poem: Museum Object and Cultural History

The object in the museum catalogue

A square-shaped silk pillow sham used by the Tuskegee Flying School. The sham has an applique of American Eagle in red above a poem in blue edged with decorative tasseled edges. The poem beneath the eagle reads: [To my wife, a lovely darling little wife/ has made my dreams come true/ She's lightened all the cares of life/ her name my sweet is YOU. My memories are quite complete-You share in all I do/ My heart's a sanctum that I keep/ Reserved for thoughts of you].

Materials, dates and provenance

• Date: 1941-1946
• Manufactured by: Unidentified
• Subject of: Tuskegee Institute, American, founded 1881
• Subject of: United States Army, American, founded 1775
• Type: pillow shams
• Medium: silk (textile)
• Dimensions: H x W (Without Fringe): 17 × 17 in. (43.2 × 43.2 cm)
• Dimensions: H x W x D (With Fringe): 19 3/4 × 19 1/4 × 1/2 in. (50.2 × 48.9 × 1.3 cm)
• Place depicted: Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
• Topic: African American
• Topic: Families
• Topic: HBCUs (Historically Black Colleges and Universities)
• Topic: Military
• Topic: World War II
• Object number: 2012.46.57
• Credit Line: Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
• Data Source: National Museum of African American History and Culture

Sources and reuse

Catalogue descriptions and facts adapted from National Museum of African American History and Culture through the Smithsonian's official Open Access dataset. This record explicitly marks its metadata CC0 1.0; formatting and selection have been changed. The displayed image also has an explicit CC0 designation. The underlying object's rights statement is: No Known Copyright Restrictions Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.