In honor of the 125th anniversary of obtaining her pilot’s license we present Bessie Coleman the first black woman and first Native American to earn a pilot’s license.
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was born on January 26, 1892, in Atlanta, Texas. The tenth of thirteen children, Coleman was born in a one-room cabin to parents of African American and Cherokee ancestry. Her family moved to Waxahachie, Texas when she was two and became sharecroppers. Coleman walked four miles each way to go to school. Her favorite subjects were reading and math. She spent one term at the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University before moving to Chicago to stay with her brothers in 1915. There she worked as a manicurist. Her brothers served in the military during World War I and came home with stories of their time in France. Thrilled by stories of World War I pilots, Bessie dreamed of learning to fly. She got a second job managing a restaurant to raise money for flight school. But no American flight schools would accept her because she was African American and a woman. A manicure client and African American newspaper publisher Robert Abbott planted the idea that she study in Europe and featured her story in his newspaper. Then banker Jesse Binga helped fund her trip to France to study at the prestigious Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. But first she would need to learn French to complete her application so she enrolled at Berlitz in Chicago.
Coleman arrived in France on November 20, 1920. She attended Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, near the Baie de Somme. The Caudron brothers were flying aces and airplane builders. She was the only student of color in her class. She earned her international pilot license on June 15, 1921. Bessie was the first black woman and first Native American to earn a pilot’s license. She spent another two months in France taking additional lessons with a French Flying ace before returning to the US. Upon returning home, she realized the best way to making a living would be as a barnstormer, performing dangerous flying stunts. Still, no one in the US would instruct her, so she returned to Europe, for stunt training in France, the Netherlands, and Germany.
“Queen Bess” as she was soon nicknamed performed as a stunt pilot in air shows all over the USA. She quickly became a celebrity known for her high-flying acrobatics and pinpoint landings, “loop-the-loops” and figure 8s. She was billed as “the world’s greatest woman flier.”
Coleman loved the thrill of completing dangerous stunts and the excited reactions from the crowd. She was fearless, and once broke a leg and three ribs when her plane stalled and crashed. Another moniker was “Brave Bessie.” Coleman was also a vocal advocate for increased equality in aviation. She adamantly refused to fly in shows that denied admission to African Americans or used separate gates.
One of her major goals was to open a flying school for African Americans. Unfortunately, she never got the chance. On April 30, 1926, in Jacksonville Florida she rode as a passenger in a Curtiss JN-4 she had recently purchased. The plane was in poor condition, but she asked her mechanic to fly it so she could scope the terrain for a parachute jump she had planned for the following day. About 10 minutes into the flight, the plane went into a dive and spin. Coleman was thrown from the plane, which then crashed and exploded. She died instantly. She was just 34 years old. It was later discovered that a wrench used to fix the engine had been left in the controls.
Her funeral service was held in Florida where 10,000 mourners attended a ceremony led by Ida B. Wells. She was buried in Chicago. Coleman is the namesake for many buildings, streets, and scholarships around the country. She’s also been inducted into several halls of fame and had a mountain on Pluto named in her honor. Even after her death, she inspired future generations of African American pilots and two aviation schools were named after her.
A postage stamp was issued in Coleman’s honor in 1995. This stamp was the result of a years-long campaign led by the aviator’s niece, Marion Coleman. Coleman worked at the USPS for several years and believed her aunt belonged in the Black Heritage Series. After she retired in 1987, Coleman and a group of supporters began writing letters to the USPS requesting a stamp. This was the second stamp in the Black Heritage Series and stamp was first issued at Midway Airport in Chicago, Illinois – Coleman’s hometown.
She was honored again when a US quarter was minted in 2023. It is the the sixth coin in the American Women Quarters™ Program. The reverse (tails) side of the coin depicts Bessie Coleman as she suits up in preparation for flight. Her expression is reflective of her determination to take to the skies, the only place she experienced a freedom she did not have on the ground. The date on which she earned her pilot license is inscribed.
Display case dedicated to Bessie Coleman in Chicago O’Hare Airport
Tidbits:
- There’s is a rue Bessie Coleman in Paris 20th arrondissement, in Poitiers, Chicago and Waxahachie.
- In 2020, the Belgian and French comic book team Alain Henriet et Yann published the first volume in the Black Squaw series called Night Hawk. The scenario is inspired by Bessie Coleman and is a high-end series combining history, great adventure and psychological drama. 3 additional volumes have followed, the most recent this year!
- In 2021 The International Astronimic Union named a mountain on Pluto Coleman Mons in Bessie’s honor.
