The Mitchell Higginbotham papers are contained within the Tuskegee Airmen Archive. This archive consists of materials related to those individuals who served at Tuskegee Army Air Field, and its predecessors, as well as materials pertaining to Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., a non-profit organization.



This collection includes newspaper clippings, programs, photographs, brochures, and documents. Most of these items are related to the military history of the Tuskegee Airmen, events of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc., and African American history. This collection also contains some items pertaining to aviation history and Higginbotham's personal life.

Mitchell Higginbotham was born on March 2, 1921 in Amherst, Virginia. He began active duty in the United States military during the summer of 1942 and graduated at Tuskegee Army Air Field on February 1, 1945 as a member of class TE-44-K. Upon graduation he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant and was an original member of the famed 477th Bomber Group. He remained on active duty in the military until 1946 and was a reserve from 1946 to 1962. After his military service ended, Higginbotham served as a registrar at the Pittsburg Airport for the Los Angeles Airport Advisory Committee, and was also a probation officer with the Los Angeles County Probation Department for nearly three decades. In 1996, Mitchell Higginbotham was honored as the "Man of the Year" by the Los Angeles Chapter of Tuskegee Airmen, Inc.

6.25 linear feet (6 boxes, 1 map-case folder)

Copyright has not been assigned to the University of California, Riverside Libraries, Special Collections & Archives. All requests for permission to publish or quote from manuscripts must be submitted in writing to the Head of Special Collections & Archives. Permission for publication is given on behalf of the Regents of the University of California as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must also be obtained by the researcher.