Welcome back to The Quest Continues! It’s your host and fellow Oregon Black Pionerd, Mariah, with an update on all things BHQ. Read on for a recap of our most recent episode, a chance to see a BHQ artifact IRL, and a look at what’s to come!
For our September episode, we partnered with Dave Hedberg of Outdoor History Consulting, to dive deeper into the story of Black Oregonians who were part of the Tuskegee Airmen, including Portland poster boy Robert W. Deiz.
The investigation was sparked by a 1943 War Bonds poster titled Keep Us Flying, which features a Black aviator. Once we realized the poster’s inspiration was a local airman, we had to learn more about the man behind the iconic image.
Robert was a student at the University of Oregon, a talented musician, and an athlete before enlisting in 1942. While enlisted, he flew 35 combat missions, including the Battle of Anzio, and seems to have been the inspiration for a character in a 1944 DC Comic featuring the 99th Squadron. Local newspapers described him as “Portland’s Number One Hero.”
Dave also shared some highlights of several other Oregonians who were Tuskegee Airmen, including:
- Carl Deiz: Robert’s brother, who worked in the vital role of supply officer after a depth perception issue prevented him from being an airman like his brother. Carl eventually returned to Portland and married Mercedes Deiz, a trailblazer in the Oregon legal community.
- Rual W. Bell: a Jefferson High School alumnus who had a career flying the P-51 Mustang. He was shot down over Yugoslavia, evaded capture, and returned to duty.
- Charles Duke: a Washington High School alumnus who served as a fighter pilot and then became the first Black Portland police officer appointed in 42 years.
- Willard B. Miller: trained in the bomber group.
- Charles Stanton: one of the first Black bomber pilots in the armed forces, who served on an all-Black panel following the Freeman Field Mutiny (a monumental moment of non-violent civil disobedience during the war).
As part of this investigation, Dave was able to speak with Bill Deiz, Mercedes and Carl’s son and Robert’s nephew. Bill was so inspired by Robert Deiz, a “Black James Bond,” as he called him, that he wrote a historical fiction novel based on Robert, The Man From Tuskegee.
We asked Dave what his next steps would be:
“I think the big one is to dive deeper into the story of Robert Deiz and the comic book character from Comic Calvicade. I’d also like to flesh out more details about the other Oregon Tuskegee pilots that we only briefly touched on: What sparked their interest in flying, and what details of their service and training can we find?”
Dave plans to draft a journal article submission, so we might see this story featured in a future Oregon Historical Quarterly issue!
Weaving Stories Together
Want to see one of the artifacts featured in Black History Quest, IRL? Head to the coast this Fall/Winter to see Zilla’s quilt (from episode 14, Who was Zilla?) on display. The quilt will be on loan from the North Lincoln County Historical Museum alongside Oregon Black Pioneers’ The Black Pioneers traveling exhibit at the Pacific Maritime Heritage Center in Newport (on display from November 1st through February 28th, 2027).
Coming Soon
Our final regular episode of Black History Quest is almost here! For this episode, we’re working with local artist and researcher Roman Norfleet to dig deeper into the story of Sarah Wisdom, an early Black landowner in Portland, who was interred in Lone Fir Cemetery, and purchased not only her own plot, but 6 others alongside it for local Black residents. Stream Roman’s episode live on Wednesday, November 18th at 7:00 PM on Facebook or YouTube to learn more!
Dive into BHQ
Do you have something to add to a previous investigation, or simply want to learn more about these stories? Don’t hold back; we’d love to hear from you!
Can’t get enough? Check out all of our previous episodes of Black History Quest on YouTube.
Signing off,
