Untold story of Tuskegee Airmen portrayed in book of rare photos in Oct. 21 program

"Our Common History" series on Macon County continues Oct. 21 with a presentation by Joe Caver, co-author of "The Tuskegee Airmen, An Illustrated History: 1939-1949," at 4 p.m. at the Tuskegee History Center, 104 South Elm St.

The book, featuring previously unpublished photos, traces the airmen through training, deployment and combat and provides hundreds of images chronicling the critical support roles of non-flyers such as doctors, nurses, mechanics, navigators, weathermen, parachute riggers and other ground support personnel, all of whom contributed to the airmen's success. The book also includes a chronology detailing missions flown.

Joe Caver retired in 2011 from the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery following a distinguished career as archivist and historian. He was previously a staffer at the Alabama Department of Archives and History. He holds degrees from Alabama State University and lives in Montgomery.

The "Our Common History" series is sponsored by the Tuskegee History Center, Tuskegee University Department of History and Political Science, and the Caroline Marshall Draughon Center for the Arts & Humanities in the College of Liberal Arts at Auburn University, with support from the Alabama Humanities Foundation, a state affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities. The events are free and open to the public.

For more information on the series, call (334) 844-6198 or visit www.auburn.edu/ourcommonhistory.