Take a Flight with Bessie Coleman
Enjoy a flight throughout life as we learn more about Bessie Coleman. Coleman is famous for being the first African American woman to earn her pilot’s license in the United States. Not only was she an African American, but she was a woman who was able to trailblaze the pilot industry for the women of the future.
Bessie Coleman was in Texas in 1892 with 12 brothers and sisters. As a child, she helped her mother pick cotton and wash laundry just to help make ends meet. Later in life, she moved to Chicago to stay with her brothers. Her brothers served in the military and when one would tease her about how French women could fly planes, it inspired her to want to become a pilot. Through years of attempting to apply to schools, they all denied her because of her being both an African American and a woman. A friend suggested she should move to France since women were able to fly there, that way she could get her license. In June of 2021, she was finally able to receive her license from Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
In 1922, Coleman became the first African American woman to perform a public flight. She had a great time in the air doing figure 8s and loops on loops throughout the sky. Two years after receiving her license she survived her first airplane accident. Although it was dangerous the incident didn’t stop her from performing the great tricks she does. When she came back to perform in Texas, she stood up for civil rights at the location of the show. She wanted there to only be one gate open so that blacks and whites had to walk through the same entrance although they were still segregated. She slowly became famous for her standing up for African Americans and what she believed in.
Unfortunately, Coleman died at the early age of 34. She is still known as a trail blazer when it comes to civil rights and women in the aviation industry.
