Robert Arthur Cole (1920 - 1968)

Born 2 Mar 1920 in Northfield, Washington, Vermont, USA

Ancestors

Husband of Doris Ella (Milner) Thomas — married 1 Sep 1944 (to 1949) in Alabama City, Etowah, Alabama

Husband of Irene Elizabeth (Stevens) Brown — married 29 Jul 1949 in Berlin, Washington, Vermont, USA

Died 19 Aug 1968 at age 48 in Baltimore, Maryland, USA

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Biography

Robert Cole is Notable.

Robert Cole was a Vermonter.

Robert Arthur Cole was a Tuskegee Airman.

Robert Arthur Cole was born in Northfield, Vermont on March 8, 1920, to Alonzo and Martha Cole. According to the Vermont Historical Society, U.S. Census data from 1930 shows that Cole had two sisters and two brothers. He graduated from Northfield High School in 1938 where, according to his yearbook, he belonged to the drama club, played basketball, sang in the chorus and played guitar in a dance band called the Blue Jackets.

Robert Cole, was one of the famed Tuskegee Airmen. An African-American pilot, Cole learned to fly planes during World War II. His logbook includes details about his training and his flights during the war. He was the only Tuskegee Airman from Vermont and is listed on the roles of airmen as having graduated from the school for Black aviators on December 28, 1944 as a Flight Officer from Northfield, Vermont.

Note: Arthur married Irene, a white woman in 1949 during a time when interracial marriages were still illegal in most USA states. However, Vermont is one of only 9 states in the USA that did not at some point consider interracial marriage illegal.

Sources

• Find-A-Grave Memorial: https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/506445

• Flight Records: Finding a Tuskegee Airman From Vermont - by Ken Picard (26 Jan 2016): https://www.sevendaysvt.com/LiveCulture/archives/2016/01/26/flight-records-finding-a-tuskegee-airman-from-vermont

• "Vermont Vital Records, 1760-1954", database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XFGD-HZ1 : 14 April 2020), Robert Arthur Cole, 1920.

• "Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQT-MFV1 : 27 December 2020), Robert Arthur Cole, 2 Mar 1920; citing Birth, Vermont, United States, various town clerks and records divisions, Vermont; FHL microfilm 005464905.

• "United States Census, 1930," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:XMZ8-3QV : accessed 17 January 2021), Robert A Cole in household of Alonzo J Cole, Northfield, Washington, Vermont, United States; citing enumeration district (ED) ED 30, sheet 20A, line 12, family 514, NARA microfilm publication T626 (Washington D.C.: National Archives and Records Administration, 2002), roll 2431; FHL microfilm 2,342,165.

• This Place in History: A Short Documentary Video about the Tuskegee Airman Robert Cole [by the Vermont Historical Society on 1 Feb 2018]: https://www.vermonthistory.org/tuskegee-airman-robert-cole

• "Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQ5-G63H : 27 December 2020), Robert Arthur Cole and Irene E Stevens Pombar, 1949; citing Marriage, Vermont, United States, various town clerks and records divisions, Vermont; FHL microfilm 005487670.

• "Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQF-HRJB : 27 December 2020), Robert Arthur Cole and Irena Elizabeth Stevens Pombar, 20 Jul 1949; citing Marriage, Northfield, Washington, Vermont, United States, various town clerks and records divisions, Vermont; FHL microfilm 005487676.

• "Vermont, Town Clerk, Vital and Town Records, 1732-2005," database with images, FamilySearch (https://www.familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QPQT-3RG8 : 27 December 2020), Robert Arthur Cole and Irena Stevens Pombar, 29 Jul 1949; citing Marriage, Berlin, Washington, Vermont, United States, various town clerks and records divisions, Vermont; FHL microfilm 005487676.