The Life and Legacy of Bessie Coleman

Disclaimer: This article is based on Bessie Coleman for educational purposes. The information about this topic is true and accurate to the best of my knowledge, but there may be omissions. I am not a qualified historian or teacher and should remind readers to read at their own risk. I reserve the right to change how I run and manage this blog and may change focus at any time.

This is an inspirational story featuring Bessie Coleman, a black Native American pilot who broke the racial and gender barriers by achieving her goal of becoming the first black female pilot in 1921 in France. It has been 102 years since she received her licence and influenced black people to kickstart their careers in aviation.

Who is Bessie Coleman?

Bessie Coleman was born and raised in Texas on the 26th January, 1892 and grew up in a large family. Coleman was a bright student who excelled in Maths and helped her mother pick cotton since her parents were sharecroppers and washed laundry to earn income.

She studied at the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston) but she had to leave because of financial difficulties.

What did Bessie Coleman do for a living?

When she was 23, she moved to Chicago to live with her older brother and secured a job as a manicurist at a barbershop after completing her education at the Burnham School of Beauty Culture.

While she was working, her brother John Coleman came into the barbershop, who wasn’t fully sober teased her saying that French women were more liberated and were allowed to fly aeroplanes and he was right. It was in the barbershop that she decided to become a pilot.

How did she become a renowned pilot?

While living in Chicago, she made connections and befriended prominent black entrepreneurs such as Richard Abbott, a businessman and publisher of the Chicago Defender newspaper. Also, Jesse Binga, an entrepreneur who owned a bank and both businessmen played an essential role in ensuring she achieved her goal.

She applied for aviation schools in the USA and got rejected because of her race and gender, however, that didn’t stop her from learning how to fly.

It was Mr.Abbott who suggested that she should apply for a flight school in France since they were “less sexist and racist” and were more accepting of teaching and training French women to become pilots.

In the meantime, she applied for schools in France, switched jobs to become the manager of a restaurant to save money and took French lessons that were paid for by Jesse Binga.

A flight school called the Caudron Brothers School of Aviation in Le Crotoy in France accepted her application and she left in November 1920. She spent 7 months training as a pilot and was awarded the international licence by the Federation Aero Nautique Internationale in June 1921.

The air is the only place free from prejudices

-Bessie Coleman

What happened after she became a pilot?

When she returned to America, she became a celebrity in the black community and became a stunt pilot. She returned to Europe to gain more experience and visited countries such as France, Netherlands and Germany before returning to America.

It was during this time that she became known as Queen Bess and became famous for barnstorming such as looping the loops and parachuting off the plane. Also, she toured the country and gave lectures to the black community.

How did she die?

She was rehearsing for an airshow in Florida and took her last flight with a mechanic called William Wills who was flying the Aeroplane.

According to the Independent, she was preparing to parachute off the plane when a wrench got caught in the engine and she was thrown out of the plane and didn’t survive the fall.

The mechanic didn’t survive the crash either as he lost control of the plane. She was only 34 years old and her ambition was to open a flight school so that black people could take flight lessons.

Over 5,000 people attended her funeral as they paid their last respects to the pioneering pilot. It was the journalist and activist Ida B. Wells who delivered her eulogy at the funeral.

Remembering Bessie Coleman

In 1929, William J. Powell, a black pilot started a flight school and called it Bessie Coleman Aviators Club in her honour. In 1977, black women started an aviation organisation called Bessie Coleman Aviators. It is important to not let race get in the way of your ambition.

I hope you enjoyed reading this article because I read a book about her and even though I have heard of her, I was inspired by her story and that she was passionate and determined to achieve her goals.

Let me know what you think of the blog post in the comments below, I appreciate the feedback and want to make sure that the content is intriguing. Don’t forget to share this blog post with other black women who are fascinated by black history and thank you for reading.

Reference

eBook: Bessie Coleman- First Female African-American and Native American Pilot by Cathleen Small.