Archive Record
Metadata
Accession number |
C2003.020 |
Collection |
Tuskegee Collectibles Collection |
Title |
Tuskegee Collectibles Collection |
Catalog Number |
A2003.165.001 |
Object Name |
Newspaper |
Credit line |
Collection of the AAMI - Gift of Dr. Russell Collins |
Access Conditions |
Open for research |
Copyrights |
no known restrictions |
Scope & Content |
Challender, Mary. "Winner of Two Wars: New Memorial will Celebrate Iowa's Tuskegee Airmen, who Battled the Nazis Abroad and Prejudice at Home". IOWALIFE: Des Moines Sunday Register. August 4, 2002. |
Biographical History |
Russell LeRoy Collins, also known as "Duke" while in school and "Doc" by his children, was born March 24, 1925 in Cedar Rapids Iowa. He graduated from McKinley High School in 1943 and entered Coe College. He was drafted while in attendance at Coe and entered pilot training school at the Negro Training Air Field in Tuskegee Alabama. He returned when he was discharged in 1945 and returned to Coe where he met his wife, Shirley Ann Patton. They were married at Immaculate Conception Church on June 3, 1948. He served many years in the military having gone in two times. He was a member of the Tuskegee Airmen, but by the time he was to graduate, the war had ended. He went on to become a Captain in the Air Force getting honorably discharged in 1958 while stationed in Frankfurt Germany. He returned to Cedar Rapids Iowa where his last child was born. From this union with his wife, four (4) children were born: Russell LeRoy II, July 10, 1949 - Cedar Rapids Iowa; Imelda Karen, May 8, 1952 - Manila Philippines; Kai Martin, December 7, 1954 - Greenville South Carolina; and Damien David, August 12, 1958 - Cedar Rapids Iowa. Upon returning to Iowa in 1958, Russell worked at Penick and Ford and attended University of Iowa Dental School. He graduated from U of I in June 1963 and opened up his private practice at the SGA Building which was located in downtown Cedar Rapids in the 100 block of 2nd Street SE. He became the first Black dentist at the Iowa State Men's Reformatory in Anamosa Iowa in August 1968 until his retirement in June 1993. Russell passed away from a massive heart attack on June 8, 2005. He is buried in Cedar Memorial Cemetary |
Search Terms |
Cedar Rapids Des Moines Tuskegee Airmen World War II Military Wars Pilots Airmen Segregation Newspaper clippings Soldiers |
People |
Collins, Dr. Russell Williamson, Dan Masely, Louis Martin, Robert Williams, M Smith, Luther H Smith, Howard W. Bowman, James Esters, Maurice Morris, Robert Glass, Oscar Gomer, Joseph Spriggs, Thurmond Bibb, William Vinson Cavanah, Frances Coffin, Levi Coffin, Levi Coffin, Levi Coffin, Levi |