25 Facts About Ed Dwight

In 1961, at the direction of President John F Kennedy, Dwight became the first African American to enter the Air Force training program from which NASA selected astronauts.

An accomplished sculptor, Ed Dwight has completed a number of public monuments, including the Texas African American History Memorial on the grounds of the Texas State Capitol, and the African American History Monument on the grounds of the South Carolina State House.

At age four, Ed Dwight built a toy airplane out of orange crates in his backyard.

Ed Dwight attended grade school at Our Lady of Perpetual Help in Kansas City.

Ed Dwight was a member of the National Honor Society and earned a scholarship to attend the Kansas City Art Institute.

Ed Dwight enrolled at Kansas City Junior College and graduated with an Associate of Arts degree in engineering in 1953.

Ed Dwight enlisted in the United States Air Force in 1953.

Ed Dwight completed his airman and cadet pre-flight training at Lackland Air Force Base near San Antonio, Texas.

Ed Dwight then traveled to Malden Air Base in Malden, Missouri, to finish his primary flight training.

Ed Dwight earned a commission as an Air Force second lieutenant in 1955 before being assigned to Williams Air Force Base, southeast of Phoenix, Arizona.

Ed Dwight later completed Air Force courses in experimental test piloting and aerospace research at Edwards Air Force Base in 1961 and 1962, respectively.

Ed Dwight earned the rank of captain while serving in the Air Force.

In Ed Dwight's telling, this meeting occurred in 1959, before Young became director of the National Urban League and while Kennedy was a US senator from Massachusetts.

Ed Dwight was one of the "26 potential astronauts recommended to NASA by the Air Force," but NASA did not ultimately select him.

Ed Dwight resigned from the Air Force in 1966, claiming, according to The Guardian, that "racial politics had forced him out of NASA and into the regular officer corps".

Ed Dwight was a successful construction entrepreneur and occasionally "built things with scrap metal".

Ed Dwight learned how to operate the University of Denver's metal casting foundry in the mid-1970s.

Ed Dwight has been recognized for his innovative use of negative space in sculpting.

Dwight owns and operates Ed Dwight Studios, based in Denver.

In 2024, Ed Dwight was selected for a suborbital spaceflight mission and flew on Blue Origin's New Shepard NS-25, sponsored by Space For Humanity on May 19,2024.

Ed Dwight became the oldest person to fly in space at 90 years 8 months and 10 days, surpassing William Shatner.

Ed Dwight was raised Catholic, and served as an altar boy.

Ed Dwight was the only black artist involved in the project.

Ed Dwight was inducted into Phi Beta Sigma fraternity as an honorary brother at their 2023 conclave, held in Houston, Texas.

Furthermore, Ed Dwight said in October 2024 that he was currently working on a memorial to Normandy beaches in honor of the black soldiers of World War II.