Bessie Coleman

American aviator

• Born: January 26, 1892
• Birthplace: Atlanta, Texas
• Died: April 30, 1926
• Place of death: Jacksonville, Florida

Coleman was the first female African American pilot, performing stunts and aerial acrobatics before audiences in the United States and Europe. Facing explicit racism and ridicule from critics, she still earned a living with her skills as a flamboyant barnstorming flyer. She inspired many to pursue aviation at a time when that career was almost unthinkable for blacks, and for women. Her career preceded by several years that of aviator Amelia Earhart.

Early Life

Bessie Coleman was born to farm laborers George Coleman and Susan Coleman in Atlanta, Texas, near the Arkansas border. Three of her paternal great-grandparents were American Indian. When Coleman was two years old, her parents constructed a home in Waxahachie, Texas, south of Dallas. The racism the family faced because of their African and American Indian ancestry led George to move the family north to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma). Although George emphasized that the family would experience better socioeconomic conditions in Indian Territory, Susan stayed in Texas with several of her youngest children, including Coleman.

Intrigued by mathematics, Coleman walked several miles to the closest school for African American children when she did not have to pick cotton to earn wages for her family. Because her mother was illiterate, she read the Bible aloud to her family. Her mother encouraged literacy by subscribing to a bookmobile so her children had access to books. Coleman preferred biographies of notable African Americans such as Harriet Tubman. After completing eight grades, Coleman wanted an advanced education. By 1910, she enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now Langston University). Unprepared for college curricula, however, Coleman had to take basic courses. For a writing class, she read news accounts of pioneer male and female pilots.

Coleman returned to Texas in 1911 because she could not afford additional tuition. She started working as a housekeeper and launderer. The next year, she read a newspaper report that aviator Harriet Quimby (whom she admired), the first licensed U.S. female pilot and the first woman to fly across the English Channel, had died in an airplane crash.

Life’s Work

In 1915, Coleman traveled by train to Chicago. Frustrated with her monotonous life in Texas, Coleman had written to her brothers, who were living in Chicago, about her plans to move there. She started working as a manicurist in a barber shop, tending to customers including Robert Abbott, publisher of the Chicago Defender, an African American newspaper. (Abbott would later support her financially.) While reading news articles, she learned about white female pilots who flew locally. She also read about African American World War I pilot Eugene Bullard. Coleman’s brother, John, who had served in France during World War I, told her he had seen women aviators in that country. Aspiring to learn to fly, Coleman applied to flight schools in the United States but was refused admission because of her gender and race. Aware of Coleman’s ambition, Abbott urged her to travel to France, where racism and sexism would not be as much of a hindrance, offering to assist her financially. Preparing to travel overseas, Coleman took French language courses.

In November, 1920, Coleman sailed to France and went to Le Crotoy to study with Gaston Caudron and René Caudron at École d’Aviation des Frères Caudron(aviation school of the Caudron brothers). Although Coleman saw a fatal crash soon after she started instruction, she decided she would risk such hazards. In ground school, she learned mechanics and other basic skills before taking flying lessons in a Nieuport biplane. On June 15, 1921, the French Fédération Aéronautique Internationale granted Coleman license #18310, the first license presented by the agency to an American woman. Moreover, she became the first African American woman to earn a pilot license anywhere. Coleman took additional lessons at Le Bourget Field in Paris until September, when she returned to the United States. Soon, the African American press was reporting her accomplishments on its front pages.

Coleman hoped for a career as a barnstormer, popular entertainment in the 1920’s, needing to raise enough money to establish an aviation school for African Americans in the United States. Because stunt flying was so popular, Coleman sailed again to Europe in February, 1922, to learn aerobatics. She flew for six months in France, Germany, and Holland. Newsreels of her flights impressed American audiences and captured the attention of The New York Times, which published a brief article about her stunt flying in its August 14, 1922, edition. She had just arrived in New York to prepare for her first public flights in the United States.

On September 3, Coleman debuted at the Curtiss Field air show on Long Island, New York. Her next performance was held October 15 at Chicago’s Checkerboard Airdrome, where her family watched. Later, Coleman offered to let people fly with her for five dollars. Also, she agreed to drop advertisements while she flew for the Coast Tire and Rubber Company, visiting executives in Oakland, California. After a visit to Los Angeles to examine military surplus aircraft, she purchased a Curtiss JN-4 biplane, flown during World War I.

On February 4, 1923, Coleman’s engine in her recently acquired aircraft malfunctioned, causing her to crash in Santa Monica, California. While her fractured bones healed for three months, she continued her plans for what would be called the Coleman School of Aeronautics, placing advertisements in newspapers. After Coleman recovered, she barnstormed in Texas, including her hometown, and other cities in the South, Midwest, and New England. She spoke and showed films of her flights, and emphasized that aviation was a possible career for African Americans, especially women. Furthermore, she refused to fly at a show if its ticket sales and stands were segregated by race.

Coleman prepared a media release that re-created her history, hoping to garner more media attention. African American newspapers published articles featuring Coleman, but other media often mocked her and her flying, if they mentioned her at all. Her stylish French flight clothing and showmanship attracted crowds who were astonished to see an African American aviator. To further her publicity, she permitted African American preachers to fly with her without cost, shrewdly realizing they would publicize her flights to their congregations.

In contrast to most pioneering female pilots, who were white and had money, Coleman had to seek sponsors and borrow or purchase used planes, which sometimes had technical problems. In early 1926, John Betsch, representing the Jacksonville, Florida, Negro Welfare League, invited Coleman to fly at a May festival. She also spoke at African American schools in Jacksonville, urging children to pursue their goals. Because Coleman was unable to lease a plane because of her race, a Florida patron provided her funds to buy and transport a plane from Texas. Mechanic William D. Wills flew the airplane to Jacksonville, commenting he had experienced some glitches in the air. Although aware of dangers, Coleman decided that performing to raise money merited the risks.

On Friday, April 30, Coleman and Wills took off from Paxon Field for a morning practice flight, during which Coleman surveyed the area for parachute landing sites while Wills piloted. Attaining an altitude of 3,000 feet, the airplane jolted into an unstoppable nosedive. Coleman, who had not fastened her safety belt, was ejected from the plane and fell approximately 1,500 feet to her death. The airplane plunged to the ground, killing Wills. Mourners in Florida and Chicago attended funerals for Coleman, who was buried in Chicago’s Lincoln Cemetery.

Significance

In the face of racism and sexism, Coleman’s perseverance inspired generations of pilots, including Willa Brown, the first African American woman to earn a commercial pilot license and who started a Chicago flight school, and Mae Jemison, the first African American female astronaut. Determined to fly, Coleman exulted in knowing that Jim Crow laws were not applicable in the air. Her efforts to educate and encourage African Americans about aviation led many to pursue careers as pilots or as professionals in other areas of aviation.

People began preserving Coleman’s legacy soon after her death. In 1929, William J. Powell, a World War I veteran, started the Bessie Coleman Aero Club, a school in Los Angeles to teach flying. Bessie Coleman Aero Clubs soon formed around the country to promote African American aviation and stage air shows solely with African American pilots. Powell began distributing the Bessie Coleman Aero News in May, 1930. The Lambert-St. Louis International Airport depicted Coleman in its mural, Black Americans in Flight. On April 27, 1994, the U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp that featured Coleman.

Bibliography

Freydberg, Elizabeth, and Amelia Hadley. Bessie Coleman: The Brownskin Lady Bird. New York: Garland, 1994. Based on the author’s doctoral dissertation. Discusses contemporary women pilots, African American efforts to integrate flight, and popular culture and entertainment. Examines the importance of France to Coleman’s training and career. Includes facsimiles of advertisements and correspondence.

Hardesty, Von, and Dominic Pisano. Black Wings: The American Black in Aviation. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1987. Chronicles a 1984 National Air and Space Museum exhibition on black aviators. Includes a photograph of Coleman, a discussion of her significance as a pioneer African American pilot, and an examination of her influence on other minority aviators.

Lebow, Eileen F. Before Amelia: Women Pilots in the Early Days of Aviation. Washington, D.C.: Brassey’s, 2002. Profiles pioneering European and U.S. female flyers, describing situations that Coleman and her contemporaries experienced regarding training and earning licenses, promoting barnstorming, enduring negative public opinion, and risking accidents and death. Illustrations, bibliographical essay, and appendix that provides license information.

Rich, Doris L. Queen Bess: Daredevil Aviator. Afterword by Mae Jemison. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993. Thoroughly researched account of Coleman’s life and endeavors based on primary sources. Corrects errors perpetuated in other biographical accounts. Illustrations from Coleman’s family, newspapers, and letters complement the text.

Walker, Mike. Powder Puff Derby: Petticoat Flyers and Flying Flappers. Chichester, England: John Wiley & Sons, 2003. Discusses Coleman in a chapter also examining the life of German test pilot Hanna Reitsch. Emphasizes their struggles and challenges and how Coleman overcame racial and gender discrimination.