Albert Edward Forsythe

Who was Albert Edward Forsythe?

Albert Ernest Forsythe was a physician. Born in Nassau, Bahamas, he was the third child born to Horatio Alexander Forsyth and Lillian Maud Byndloss. As a toddler, Forsythe moved with his family to Port Antonio, Jamaica, where his father was a prominent civil engineer. At aged fifteen, Forsythe emigrated to the United States to study architecture at Tuskegee Institute. Forsythe continued his education at University of Illinois and finally at University of Toledo where he earned his bachelors of science. Forsyth then went on to medical school and graduated from McGill University Medical School. He added the 'e' to Forsyth while practicing medicine in New Jersey to distinguish himself from another physician practising in the same building as his practice.

In 1933, Forsythe and C. Alfred "Chief" Anderson were the first black pilots to make a round-trip cross-country flight from Atlantic City, New Jersey, to Los Angeles, California. They made the cross country journey in a Fairchild 24 named "The Pride of Atlantic City." The plane was not equipped with parachuts, a radio or landing lights, and they navigated using a road map.