Editor’s note: This is the second in a series of articles about the history of Hill Air Force Base and the people who worked there.

HILL AIR FORCE BASE—Officially deemed a “police action,” The Korean War has long been known as the Forgotten War. The major changes to operations at Hill, however, really kicked off several years before the start of the conflict, in 1947.

Since the incorporation of aircraft in the military, those involved with military aviation have been part of the United States Army. Founded in 1918 as the United States Army Air Service, aviators entered World War Two under the banner of the United States Army Air Corps, before ending service as the United States Army Air Forces. 

Then, in 1947, the United States Air Force became its own separate branch of the military, and accordingly, in 1948 Hill Field was officially renamed Hill Air Force Base. It wasn’t long after this change, in 1950, when the Korean War officially began, and operations at Hill ramped up once again.

As the war began, the first contribution made by those at Hill was to pull B-29s and B-26s, both WWII-era heavy bombers, out of mothballs, and restore and refit them for combat. The immediate availability of these aircraft was extremely advantageous to the U.S. and its allies during the early stages of the conflict.

Throughout the Korean War, and following, Hill continued to refit and expand, repairing and restoring new jet-powered aircraft, dedicating a new runway in 1956, and more as the personnel and employees made their way into the second half of the 20th century.

While all of this was happening, a person with strong ties to Hill was just starting to make history. Galvanized by the loss of her brother in the service, Ruby Jewell Timms Price had come to Hill Field during World War II hoping to become a fighter pilot. While that dream didn’t end up coming true, it didn’t deter her from lending her service in other ways at the Ogden Arsenal.

Price had been a teacher in Texas before making the journey to Utah, and following the war, she earned her master's degree from BYU. In the face of unabashed bigotry and racism, became likely the first black teacher in the state of Utah in 1950 in Brigham City. Despite an early rejection from the district in the 1940s, Price returned to Davis County, and taught there for many years.

Price was a trailblazer in many ways, serving as the first president of the NAACP in Ogden, winning Utah’s Mother of the Year award in 1977, and of course, teaching the countless students to pass through her classroom doors, among many other accomplishments. Known to many as “Grandma Ruby,” Ruby J. T. Price never forgot her start at Hill, and even still called the base her home years later. Utah, and the world at large, is certainly a better place for this Hill alumni.