African American Military History Museum

Growing up in the fields of Mississippi, with the whir of propeller planes overhead, Hattiesburg native Jesse L. Brown knew that one day he’d become a pilot. 

Born in the 1920s, Brown became the first Black aviator to complete flight training in the U.S. Navy. Despite the discrimination and hardships of his time, Brown flew dozens of missions during the Korean War, before his Vought F4U Corsair craft was struck down in 1950, and he was killed. 

His incredible story of perseverance and sacrifice is one of many stories of Hattiesburg’s homegrown heroes shared at the African American Military History Museum, which opened in 2009 after a decades-long community effort.

Ruth Bailey Early, another native, was Hattiesburg’s first Black female enlistee. She served as a U.S. Army Nurse Corps officer for five years in the 1940s. While abroad, a photo of her, standing in a confident, commanding pose, circulated around the world. Her likeness from that iconic image inspired the logo of the museum, where her photos and other ephemera are on display. 

Other exhibits share the inspiring stories of African American regiments. Highlights include stories of Buffalo Soldiers and soldiers of the Civil War, and the role of the famed World War II Tuskegee Airmen and Truman-era military desegregation efforts.

Housed in a historic 1942 United Services Organization (USO) building, the museum contains hundreds of artifacts, from uniforms, wartime photos, flags, and equipment, to an impressive collection of Spanish-American War medals.