The Original Flygirl

There is so much about the history of African Americans that is lost or obscured by the taint of racism. I remember in school learning about two American aviators, Charles Lindbergh an anti-Semite who admired Adolf Hitler and was a Nazi sympathizer, although we were not taught that. And Amelia Earhart, the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean. But not once was the name of an accomplished African American woman pilot from Amelia Earhart's era ever mentioned, her name was Elizabeth Coleman (above) better known as Bessie Coleman.

Bessie Coleman was born in Texas in 1892 into a family of thirteen children. She dreamed of one day doing important things. She went on to spend a year in college before moving to Chicago. There she worked in a Barber shop. That's where she heard men talking about World War One and the exploits of flying aces. That sparked an interest in aviation in Bessie. So she decided she wanted to learn to fly. America being what it was then, racist and misogynist, she was not able to find an American flight school that would accept her. So she learned to speak french, packed up and moved to France. In France she learned to fly and became the first American woman to earn an international pilots license.

Ms Coleman went on to become a very well known and accomplished stunt aviator in the United States. Bessie Coleman refused to perform before a segregated audience. Even so she was popular with Whites as well as African Americans. She was the subject of numerous newspaper and magazine articles in both African American and White publications.

On April 30, 1926 Ms Coleman was killed while preparing for a stunt in a newly purchased airplane. Her funeral in Chicago was attended by 10,000 people.


Find out more about Bessie Coleman: Official Bessie Coleman Website