History

The Columbia Air center was the first Black[1] owned and operated licensed airport in the United States of America.  The site has unquestionable county, state, and national historical significance.   The Columbia Air Center consisted of a 450-acre potato field leased from Rebecca Fisher for fifty dollars ($50.00) a month.  The first flight took place on February 22, 1941.[2]     

Mr. John W. Greene, Jr., managed the Columbia Air Center, received a pilot certificate number 10658, September 15, 1939, at Boston, Massachusetts.  He was the only African-American to hold both a pilot license and an aircraft mechanic license.  He was the first African-American awarded the Transport Pilot rating.  Today that rating is called an “Airline Transport Pilot License” that is held by pilots flying for commercial airlines.[3]  

During World War II the Defense Department initiated a program called the “Civilian Pilot Training Program” (CPT program) to meet the military’s need for pilots.  Three Black universities were involved in the CPT program, Howard University, Hampton Institute (Hampton University) and West Virginia State.  Howard University students did their flight training at the Columbia Air Center.[4]  The Columbia Air Center was the site for so many contributions by Black aviators to aviation that it would not be prudent to attempt to discuss them all in this document. 

The accomplishments and history of the Columbia Air Center will be preserved in the airport museum.

The airport may have continued to flourish if the owner of the land had not died or if her heirs had not refused to renew the airport lease.

[1] The term “Black” in this document is synonymous with “African American,” “Negro,” and “Colored.”

[2] See “Columbia Air Center, Croom, Maryland © Clayton Davis, Page 2.

[3] See “Columbia Air Center, Croom, Maryland @ Clayton Davis, Page 4.

[4] See “Columbia Air Center, Croom, Maryland @ Clayton Davis, Page 4.

Related Links

1. Columbia Air Center, Croom, Maryland by Clayton Davis

2. Columbia Air Center Historic Marker 

3. History of Columbia Air Center by Historians 2011
4. Riverside Field / Columbia Air Center / Croom Field, Croom, MD