Bessie Coleman | |
|---|---|
 Coleman in 1923 | |
| Born | (1892-01-26)January 26, 1892 Atlanta, Texas, U.S. |
| Died | April 30, 1926(1926-04-30) (aged 34) Jacksonville, Florida, U.S. |
| Cause of death | Plane crash |
| Burial place | Lincoln Cemetery, Cook County, Illinois |
| Known for | First African-American andNative American female aviator |
| Spouse | |
Elizabeth Coleman (January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926)[2] was an early Americancivil aviator. She was thefirst African-American woman and firstNative American to hold apilot license,[3][4][5][6][7][8][9] and is the earliest known Black person to earn aninternational pilot's license.[10] She earned her license from theFédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921.[5][6][11]
Born to a family ofsharecroppers inTexas, Coleman worked in the cotton fields at a young age while also studying in a smallsegregated school. She attended one term of college atLangston University. Coleman developed an early interest in flying, but African Americans, Native Americans, and women had noflight training opportunities in the United States, so she saved and obtained sponsorships in Chicago to go to France for flight school.
She then became a high-profile pilot in notoriously dangerousair shows in the United States. She was popularly known as "Queen Bess" and "Brave Bessie",[12] and hoped to start a school for African-American fliers. Coleman died in a plane crash in 1926. Her pioneering role was an inspiration to early pilots and to the African-American and Native American communities.
Coleman[13] was born on January 26, 1892, inAtlanta,Texas,[10] the tenth of 13 children of George Coleman, an African American who may have hadCherokee orChoctaw grandparents, and Susan Coleman, who was African American.[14][15] Nine of the children survived childhood, which was typical for the time.[14] When Coleman was two years old, her family moved toWaxahachie, Texas, where they lived assharecroppers.[15] Coleman began attending school in Waxahachie at the age of six. She walked four miles each day to her segregated, one-room school, where she loved to read and established herself as an outstanding math student.[15] She completed her elementary education in that school.[15]
Every season, Coleman's routine of school, chores, and church was interrupted for her to participate in bringing in the cotton harvest. In 1901, George Coleman left his family. He moved toOklahoma, orIndian Territory, as it was then called, to find better opportunities, but his wife and children did not follow. At the age of 12, Coleman was accepted into the Missionary Baptist Church School on scholarship. When she turned eighteen, she took her savings and enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Langston, Oklahoma (now calledLangston University). She completed one term before her money ran out and she returned home.[16]
In 1915, at the age of 23, Coleman moved toChicago, Illinois, where she lived with her brothers. In Chicago, she worked as amanicurist at the White Sox Barber Shop, where she heard stories of flying during wartime from pilots returning home fromWorld War I. She took a second job as a restaurant manager of achili parlor to save money in hopes of becoming a pilot herself.[17] American flight schools of the time admitted neither women nor black people, soRobert S. Abbott, founder and publisher of theChicago Defender newspaper, encouraged her to study abroad.[4] Abbot publicized Coleman's quest in his newspaper and she received financial sponsorship from bankerJesse Binga and theDefender.[17]
Bessie Coleman took a French-language class at theBerlitz Language Schools in Chicago and then traveled toParis, France, on November 20, 1920, so that she could earn her pilot license. She learned to fly in aNieuport 564 biplane with "a steering system that consisted of a vertical stick the thickness of abaseball bat in front of the pilot and arudder bar under the pilot's feet."[18]
On June 15, 1921, Coleman became the first black woman[10] and first Native American[19] to earn an aviation pilot's license and the first black person[10] and first self-identified Native American[19] to earn an international aviation license from theFédération Aéronautique Internationale.[10] She is also the first American of any race or gender to be awarded these credentials directly from the FAI, as opposed to applying through theNational Aeronautic Association.[20] Determined to polish her skills, Coleman spent the next two months taking lessons from a French ace pilot near Paris and, in September 1921, she sailed for America. She became a media sensation when she returned to the United States.
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...
With the age of commercial flight still a decade or more in the future, Coleman quickly realized that in order to make a living as a civilian aviator she would have to become a "barnstorming" stunt flier, performing dangerous tricks in the air with the then-still-novel technology of airplanes for paying audiences. But, to succeed in this highly competitive arena, she would need advanced lessons and a more extensive repertoire. Returning to Chicago, she could not find anyone willing to teach her, so in February 1922, she sailed again for Europe.[18]
Coleman spent the next two months in France completing an advanced course in aviation. After this, she left for theNetherlands to meet withAnthony Fokker, one of the world's most distinguished aircraft designers. She also traveled to Germany, where she visited theFokker Corporation and received additional training from one of the company's chief pilots. She then returned to the United States to launch her career in exhibition flying.[18]
"Queen Bess", as she was known, was a highly popular draw for the next five years. Invited to important events and often interviewed by newspapers, she was admired by both blacks and whites. She primarily flewCurtiss JN-4 Jennybiplanes and other aircraft that had been army surplus aircraft left over from the war. She made her first appearance in an Americanairshow on September 3, 1922, at an event honoring veterans of the all-black369th Infantry Regiment ofWorld War I. Held atCurtiss Field onLong Island, near New York City, and sponsored by her friend Abbott and theChicago Defender newspaper, the show billed Coleman as "the world's greatest woman flier"[22] and featured aerial displays by eight other American ace pilots, and a jump by black parachutistHubert Julian.[23]
Six weeks later, Coleman returned to Chicago, performing in an air show, this time to honor World War I's370th Infantry Regiment. She delivered a stunning demonstration of daredevil maneuvers – including figure eights, loops, and near-ground dips to a large and enthusiastic crowd at the Checkerboard Airdrome – now the grounds of Hines Veterans Administration Medical Center,Hines, Illinois, Loyola Hospital, Maywood, and nearbyCook County Forest Preserve.[24]
The thrill of stunt flying and the admiration of cheering crowds were only part of Coleman's dream. Coleman never lost sight of her childhood vow to one day "amount to something". As a professional aviator, Coleman often would be criticized by the press for her opportunistic nature and the flamboyant style she brought to her exhibition flying. She also quickly gained a reputation as a skilled and daring pilot who would stop at nothing to complete a difficult stunt.
In 1922, Bessie acquired aCurtiss JN-4D with anOX-5 engine from a Los Angeles Army depot. She had arranged an airshow at the new Los Angeles County Fairgrounds (nowFairplex), but, on February 4, 1923, shortly after takeoff from Santa Monica the motor stalled, and the plane smashed into the ground. Coleman survived and, despite a broken leg and fractured ribs, pleaded with the doctors to "patch her up" enough to perform at the airshow. Instead, she was grounded for several months.[25][20]
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Committed to promoting aviation and combating racism, Coleman spoke to audiences across the country about the pursuit of aviation and goals for African Americans. She absolutely refused to participate in aviation events that prohibited the attendance of African Americans.[26]
In the 1920s, she met the Rev. Hezakiah Hill and his wife Viola on a speaking tour inOrlando,Florida. The community activists invited her to stay with them at the parsonage of Mount Zion Missionary Baptist Church on Washington Street in the neighborhood ofParramore. (A local street was renamed "Bessie Coleman" Street in her honor in 2013.) The couple, who treated her as a daughter, persuaded her to stay, and Coleman opened a beauty shop in Orlando to earn extra money to buy her own plane.[27]
Through her media contacts, she was offered a role in a feature-length film titledShadow and Sunshine, to be financed by the African American Seminole Film Producing Company. She gladly accepted, hoping the publicity would help to advance her career and provide her with some of the money she needed to establish her own flying school. But upon learning that the first scene in the movie required her to appear in tattered clothes, with a walking-stick and a pack on her back, she refused to proceed. "Clearly ... [Bessie's] walking off the movie set was a statement of principle. Opportunist though she was about her career, she was never an opportunist about race. She had no intention of perpetuating the derogatory image most whites had of most blacks," wrote Doris Rich.[18]
It's tempting to draw parallels between me and Ms. Coleman . . .[but] I point to Bessie Coleman and say here is a woman, a being, who exemplifies and serves as a model for all humanity, the very definition of strength, dignity, courage, integrity, and beauty.
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On April 30, 1926, Coleman was inJacksonville, Florida. She had recently purchased a Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny) inDallas. Her mechanic and publicity agent, 24-year-old William D. Wills, flew the plane from Dallas in preparation for an airshow and had to make threeforced landings along the way because the plane had been so poorly maintained.[29] Upon learning this, Coleman's friends and family did not consider the aircraft safe and implored her not to fly it, but she refused. On take-off, Wills was flying the plane with Coleman in the other seat. She was planning a parachute jump for the next day and was unharnessed as she needed to look over the side to examine the terrain.[13]
About ten minutes into the flight, the plane unexpectedly went into adive and then aspin at 3,000 feet above the ground. Coleman was thrown from the plane at 2,000 ft (610 m), and was killed instantly when she hit the ground. Wills was unable to regain control of the plane, and it plummeted to the ground. He died upon impact. The plane exploded, bursting into flames. Although the wreckage of the plane was badly burned, it was later discovered that a wrench used to service the engine had jammed the controls. Coleman was 34 years old.[18]
Funeral services were held in Florida, before her body was sent back to Chicago. While there was little mention in most media, news of her death was widely carried in theAfrican-American press. Ten thousand mourners attended her ceremonies in Chicago, which were led by activistIda B. Wells.[13]
Although Coleman would not live long enough to establish a school for young black aviators, her pioneering achievements served as an inspiration for a generation of African-American men and women. "Because of Bessie Coleman," wrote LieutenantWilliam J. Powell inBlack Wings (1934), dedicated to Coleman, "we have overcome that which was worse than racial barriers. We have overcome the barriers within ourselves and dared to dream."[30] Powell served in a segregated unit duringWorld War I, and tirelessly promoted the cause of black aviation through his book, his journals, and the Bessie Coleman Aero Club, which he founded in 1929.[31][18]
Coleman's example proved an inspiration for a number of pioneers in aeronautics and eventually astronautics, includingJohn Robinson,Cornelius Coffey,Willa Brown,Janet Harmon Bragg,Robert H. Lawrence Jr., andMae Jemison.[32]
Upon graduation from high school, she enrolled at the Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University) in Langston, Oklahoma. Financial difficulties, however, forced her to quit after one semester because she could not afford to attend another one.
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