Bessie Coleman
World’s First Licensed Black and Native American Pilot
Early Life
Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas in 1892. She helped support her family all through high school, but was able to attend only one semester of college due to financial difficulties. She then moved up to Chicago to live her brother and attended beauty school. She would work as a manicurist and operate a chili parlor before deciding to follow her dream to learn how to fly.
Learning to Fly
When she learned that no American flying school would accept African Americans, she went to France and studied at the Ecole d'Aviation des Freres Caudon. She earned her pilot’s license in 1921, the first African-American and person of Native American descent to do so. She quickly realized that to make a living flying, she would have to learn how to do “barnstorming” or stunt flying. After some additional training, she returned to the US to begin performing.
Bessie Coleman and her plane, 1922. She most often flew a Curtiss JN-4D "Jenny". Public Domain. [source]
“Brave Bess”
Audiences quickly dubbed Coleman “Brave Bess” and “Queen Bess” for her death defying stunts. Coleman was keenly aware of her position as an ambassador for African-Americans. On at least one occasion, she refused to perform unless African-Americans were allowed to use the same entrance as whites. During her travels, she often gave talks to groups of African Americans to inspire them to take up aviation.
The air is the only place free from prejudices.
I knew we had no aviators, neither men nor women, and I knew the Race needed to be represented along this most important line, so I thought it my duty to risk my life to learn aviation and to encourage flying among men and women of our Race who are so far behind the White race in this modern study.
An Untimely Death
Coleman’s ultimate dream was to open a flying school for African-Americans, but it was not to be. She died in 1926 when she and her mechanic and publicity agent, William Wills were testing an airplane prior to a show and it malfunctioned, crashing to the ground and killing both Coleman and Wills. Despite her brief career, Coleman was an inspiration to a generation of pilots and has been honored with her own stamp and a Google doodle for her birthday.
You can find the episode @missedinhistory did on her here.
