Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892. Her mother was African American. Her father was part African American and part American Indian. Her family was poor. Bessie had to walk almost four miles to go to school. When she was nine years old, her father left the family. 

Bessie had to pick cotton and wash clothes to help earn money for her family and save small amounts for her education. Bessie was proud of her race, something she learned from her hard-working and religious mother.

She managed to save enough money to attend one year of college in Oklahoma. The money ran out and she had to leave after only one year, but in that year she learned about flying.  She read about the Wright brothers and the first American female pilot, Harriet Quimby.  She thought more and more about flying.  At the age of 23, living in Chicago with her older brothers, she heard stories from pilots returning from WWI. She decided she was going to be a pilot and worked several jobs to save money to learn how.  It was a herculean task as a woman and a woman of color. Finding that there were no opportunities for her in the United States she decided to head to Europe.  She studied French at a language school in Chicago. She also took a higher paying job supervising a restaurant in order to save more.  Soon after the war ended Bessie went to France and attended the famous flight school, Ecole d’Aviation des Ferres Caudron in northern France, where she completed seven months of flight training and earned her international permit to fly in 1921. She was the first black woman to ever earn an international pilot’s license.

She returned to Chicago as the only black female pilot in the United States. Bessie soon learned that it was nearly impossible to earn enough money to live.  In 1922 she returned to Europe to complete four more months of training, learning impressive tricks, with French and German pilots.

Coleman returned to New York where she gave her first public flying performance in the U.S. Before a large gathering she rolled her plane among other breathtaking feats such as stalling the plane and starting again just before it landed.  The crowd went wild. She became famous and performed across the county.  She was a huge success but Bessie wanted more.

She knew she needed a plane of her own and she wanted to establish a school for black pilots in the U.S.so Bessie traveled to Los Angeles where she enlisted the support of a company that sold tires.  They helped her purchase a Curtiss JN-Four airplane, commonly called a Jenny. In return she was to promote the company in public events.  An air show was organized in Los Angeles but the Jenny’s engine stalled soon after takeoff and crashed.  Coleman suffered a broken leg and other injuries. She was made of tough stuff though and sent a message to her public…”Tell them all that as soon as I can walk I’m going to fly!”

In 1925 she traveled to her home state of Texas where she gave speeches and showed films of her flights.  Soon she had enough money to pay for another Jenny and continued her speeches, organized more air shows in Texas, Georgia and Florida hoping to earn enough money to open her school.

On April 13, 1926 during a flight the controls of the Jenny stuck and with no safety devices in place, such as a safety belt or parachute, she plummeted to her to her death as the plane rolled.

Her powerful influence continues today.  “Because of Bessie Coleman, we have overcome that which was much worse than racial barriers.  We have overcome the barriers within ourselves and dared to dream.”  Lt. William Powell.

In 1992 Chicago City Council passed a resolution praising her.  It said: “Bessie Coleman continues to inspire untold thousands, even millions of young persons with her sense of adventure, her positive attitude and her determination to succeed…”