Capt. Edward J. Dwight
Photo by: dishfunctional (background) U.S. Air Force
Growing up in Kansas City, Edward Dwight worked two papers routes one for black paper and one for the white. He also spent many hours in the library studying mathematics texts to supplement his Catholic school education. "I always felt I had to do something better. I thought about my future," Dwight said (Robinson 76). No matter how hard he thought, he probably never imagined a future in which he became an astronaut candidate and successful sculptor. Edward Dwight's life deserves to be honored as one of the "hidden figures" of history.
Astronaut candidate
After eight years in the Air Force during which he completed pilot training and earned a degree in Aeronautical Engineering, Dwight was chosen by President Kennedy to be the first African American astronaut candidate. He successfully completed the training, but was not chosen by NASA to be one of the next group of astronauts (Behind). He was assigned to a airbase in Ohio, and seemingly forgotten by the space program (Sanders). Investigation were launched by members of congress, but no evidence of racial discrimination was found. Dwight asserts that the problem was more political, and that after the assassination of Kennedy, President Johnson chose a different African American to join the space program (White). According the Ebony article in 1965 Dwight wrote a report stating that he was "subjected to a line of questioning that dripped of racism" by a superior officer (Sanders 30).
One can assume that the officer was Chuck Yeager, whom Dwight accused of saying "'Kennedy is trying to shove this n-word down our throat.'"(Dimeo 10:45) in a 2015 interview. In Yeager's autobiography he devotes four pages to his dealings with Dwight. When Dwight was not selected to be an astronaut there were charges of racism which Yeager did not take kindly too. "I was disgusted. Many Southern whites who are honest will admit having problems about race in a general sense, but I didn't have to be the type who thought of all blacks as [expletive deleted] to know that Ed Dwight really didn't hack the program" (Yeager 272). Yeager goes on to explain that many people viewed "me as a dumb, down-home squirrel-shooter" (Yeager 272), but the Air Force went out of its way to give him "every opportunity to prove himself," so the Air Force can't possibly be prejudiced. Whether you want to to fault Yeager for not understanding white privilege when he wrote the book in 1985, it is clear that he does not understand how race works in this country.
Dwight ended up getting assign to an airbase in Ohio, and after a brief investigation forgotten. Not long after he retired from the Air Force.
Artist
Edward Dwight owned a chain of restaurants, and was a successful land developer, but eventually he decided to turn his love of sculpting into a career, so he earned a Master's of Fine Arts from the University of Denver, and later took a teaching job there (White). His first commission for a public sculpture was from the National Park Service. He created the statue of Frederick Douglass that stands in the visitor center at Douglass' home in Washington, D.C. Since then he has created many statues for communities all across the United States and Canada.
Dwight was also a member of the committee that designed the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial for the National Mall. Since it was to be made of stone, a medium Dwight is not familiar with, he was not chosen as the actual sculptor.
Edward Dwight continues to sculpt in his studio in Denver. Most of his sculptures are of jazz musicians and famous African American historical figures. Only a solitary bust of a Tuskegee Airman hints at his past as one of America's top aviators.
Work cited
“Behind the Scenes.” Behind the Scenes | Ed Dwight Studios, Inc., Ed Dwight Studios, www.eddwight.com/about/behind-scenes. Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Brune, AM. “Ed Dwight shows 'the angst, all the emotions' of black heroes in sculpture.” The Guardian, Guardian News and Media, 28 May 2015, www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2015/may/28/ed-dwight-honouring-americas-black-heroes-in-sculpture. Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Dimeo, Nate. “The Ballad of Captain Dwight.” The Memory Place, 28 Aug. 2015, thememorypalace.us/2015/08/the-ballad-of-captain-dwight/. Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
“Public Art Projects Gallery.” MEMORIALS & PUBLIC ART | Ed Dwight Studios, Inc., Ed Dwight Studios, www.eddwight.com/memorials-public-art. Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Robinson, Louie. “First Negro Astronaut Candidate.” Ebony, July 1963, pp. 71–81, Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Sanders, Charles L. “The Troubles of Astronaut Edward Dwight.” Ebony, June 1965, pp. 29–36, Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Teitel, Amy Shira. “Ed Dwight, the African American Astronaut who Never Flew.” Popular Science, 28 Oct. 2015, www.popsci.com/ed-dwight-african-american-astronaut-who-never-flew. Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Wells, Kathleen. Kathleen Wells Show, 18 Jan. 2012, podcasts.kcaastreaming.com/wells/. Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
White, Frank. “The Sculptor Who Would Have Gone Into Space.” Ebony, Feb. 1984, pp. 54–58, Accessed 28 Sept. 2017.
Yeager, Chuck 1923-, and Leo 1933-2008. Janos. Yeager: an autobiography. New York, Bantam Books, 1985.