I’ve now confirmed that the aircraft in these photographs are the same aircraft.
The aircraft departed the Embakasi Airport in Nairobi, Kenya on September 7th 1959.
The very same aircraft landed two days later at Idlewild Airport in New York on September 9th 1959.
None of the 81 students, nor others aboard the aircraft, were recorded in the United States Department of Justice Annual Report (1960) for the Immigration and Naturalization Service.
I also learned that there were three (3) more Kenyan students, who weren’t on the flight, who arrived shortly thereafter in New York by regular commercial carrier. These individuals weren’t recorded either.
All together the African student’s consisted of 70 men and 14 women.
Tom Mboya raised $24,000 to charter a plane from Nairobi, Kenya to New York. This reduced the unit costs per passenger by about 50%.
Much of the funding for Project Airlift-Africa 1959 came from Jackie Robinson, Sidney Poitier and Harry Belafontne. Among other commendable actions they also wrote letters of sponsorship, covered tuition and provided scholarships.
The USDJ Annual Reports for the Immigration and Naturalization Service are flawed, inaccurate and exceedingly unreliable.
Its doesn’t seem to matter if you took a direct flight or not. Being recorded in Annual Report for the INS appears to be, at best, arbitrary.
Or perhaps (?) it was based on paperwork filled out by the passengers themselves. For example, whenever I’m on the last leg of my returning flight to the United States I (like all passengers) am asked to fill out paperwork for customs and immigration. The questions include:
1. Port of embarkation
2. Flight number
In any event, the USDJ Annual Report (1962) for the Immigration and Naturalization cannot be used as evidence to indicate that Stanley Ann Dunham (or anyone else) did not travel, by air, from Kenya to the United States in August 1961.
January 14, 1960. A Statement on the Program and Plans of the African-American Student’s Foundation, INC.,… by Lucas Daniel Smith
Please exercise your free speech in the comments section below. There are no stipulations of political correctness on this blog. Speak your mind, give us your thoughts, both objective and subjective. Share your ideas, hunches, inklings or your expertise. Please provide recommendation and corrections if you spot errors in fact within the blog report. Lastly, remember that posting a comment is much like casting a vote, so please do so.