This chapter is from the perspective of Eleanor Roosevelt on a journey to Tuskegee, Alabama with Mary McLeod Bethune. The journey is filled with light-hearted humor and serious exchanges.
Upon reaching the Tuskegee Institute campus, they have a tour of the institute and afterwards proceed to the Tuskegee Army Air Field, where they are greeted by a high-ranking officer, Lieutenant Colonel Thompson.
Eleanor notices Thompson’s disregard for Mary, and introduces her formally. The two women are on a serious mission at the air field.
They walk around the Army Air Field and hold speeches before the assembled African American pilots, delivering important messages about their roles.
Despite Lieutenant Colonel Thompson’s disapproval, they insist on meeting the chief flight instructor, Charles Anderson, who is known as the first African American to earn a commercial pilot's license.
Eleanor and Mary then explore the airfield with Anderson, learning about the intense training program for the pilots.
Eleanor acknowledges the unfair treatment and resistance experienced by the black cadets at Tuskegee and asserts that's why they are present.
They explore various aircrafts, including the P-51 Mustangs, with Anderson, while a line of female journalists (all part of Roosevelt's inner circle) watch and document their actions.
Thompson attempts to order the journalists away, but Eleanor reveals they are there at her invitation. She then requests Anderson to take her for a flight in one of the planes, a notion which shocks both Thompson and Anderson.
Thompson objects to this, stating that no white woman has flown with a black pilot before. Eleanor dismisses his objections and instead asks Anderson for his decision.