01/27/2021
It is Bessie Coleman's Birthday! Follow us all day as we learn more about this pioneer of black aviation!
Bessie Coleman soared across the sky as the first African American, and the first Native American woman pilot. Known for performing flying tricks, Coleman’s nicknames were “Brave Bessie and “Queen Bess”. Her goal was to encourage women and African Americans to reach their dreams. Unfortunately, her career ended with a tragic plane crash, but her life to continues to inspire people around the world.
Bessie was born in Atlanta, Texas on January 26, 1892, she had twelve brothers and sisters. Her mother, Susan Colean, was an African American maid, and her father George Coleman was a Native American sharecropper. In 1901 her father decided to move to Oklahoma to try to escape discrimination. Bessie’s mother decided not to go with him, the rest of the family stayed in Waxahachie, Texas. Bessie grew up helping her mother pick cotton and was doing laundry to earn extra money. By the time she was eighteen, she had saved enough money to attend the Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma). She dropped out of college after only one semester because she could not afford to attend.
Image shows- public domain photo of Bessie Colman and her plane in 1922.
