By Lydia Browne
Bessie Coleman was quite an undaunted woman. As the first woman of African American and Native American descent to earn a pilot’s license in the United States, she displayed her talent as a pilot and an unwavering commitment to the things in which she believed.
Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas on January 26, 1892. She was one of 13 children, and her parents were sharecroppers. Her father had Cherokee grandparents and left the family for opportunities in Oklahoma when Coleman was young. Coleman, along with her mother and siblings, stayed in Waxahachie, Texas.
When she reached the age of 18, she began to attend Langston University in Oklahoma. However, she had to drop out of the school after a semester because she could no longer afford the cost of tuition. At the age of 23, she joined her brothers in Chicago, where she went to the Burnham School of Beauty Culture in 1915. She then began working as a manicurist in a barbershop. Meanwhile, the first World War raged on, and her brothers served in the military. When they returned, Coleman’s brother often teased her about his experiences in France, as French women were allowed to learn how to fly airplanes, but Coleman could not. This inspired her to become a pilot.
Though she applied to numerous flight schools throughout the country, she was not accepted, because she was both African American in a time of segregation and a woman in a time when most women didn’t even dream of flying. Nevertheless, none of these rejections would put out Coleman’s determination, and she began to learn French. She was soon accepted into the Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France. In 1921, she became the first American woman to receive an international pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
When she returned to the United States, Coleman dreamed of owning her own plane and opening a flight school. In 1922, she performed the first ever public flight by an African American woman, showing off the stunt flying at which she excelled. She had become well known for her figure 8’s and loops in the air.
In 1923, Coleman survived a plane accident. In the midst of one of her flights, the engine of her airplane suddenly stopped working. She sustained serious injuries, including a broken leg and cracked ribs. However, her determination did not waver. During this time, she assured her fans and friends, saying, “Tell them that as soon as I can walk I’m going to fly!” By 1925, she had healed from her injuries, and had returned to her dangerous performances.
Coleman became known for her refusal to perform for a segregated audience. One instance was when she returned to her hometown in Texas. It was planned that there would be two separate entrances at the stadium in which she was to perform for African Americans and for white people. Coleman refused to perform unless there was one entrance where both could enter. In the end, there was only one entrance, though people sat in segregated sections inside the stadium.
Coleman did fulfill one of her dreams. She was able to purchase her own plane, a Curtiss JN-4 “Jenny.” However—though she raised the money—Coleman would never be able to found her dream aviation school.
In 1926, at the age of 34, Coleman took a test flight during a rehearsal before a performance. Coleman sat in the passenger seat during the flight, without a seatbelt. When a loose wrench got stuck in its engine, the plane flipped over, and Coleman plummeted to her death. The pilot—a mechanic named William Wills—also died when the plane crashed.
The life of Bessie Coleman was quite an inspiring one. During her flying career, Coleman encouraged women and African Americans to learn how to fly just as she had. Now, she is rightly remembered as a pioneer in aviation.
beniciapaw.com 