Passion Blog #4

For today’s blog post I’m going to be spotlighting Bessie Coleman, a figure both monumental in the Civil Rights Movement and the Women’s Rights Movement.

Bessie was born on January 26 of 1892 in Atlanta, Texas. She had was one of thirteen children born to Susan Coleman, an African American maid, and George Coleman, a sharecropper of mixed Native American [Cherokee] and African American descent. Unfortunately despite it being relatively surprising for the time, Coleman started attending school in Waxahachie, Texas at the age of six. Due to the segregation, sexism, and racism of the time Coleman had to walk 4 miles ever single day to attend her segregated, single-room school. Despite all the challenges she faced, Coleman absolutely loved school, and she quickly became highly regarded as an outstanding math student.

In 1901, her father George left his family. He then proceeded to move to Oklahoma [then referred to as Indian Territory] in attempts to escape discrimination–his wife and 9 surviving children, however, did not follow. Instead they opted to stay in Texas, where Bessie would pick cotton and wash laundry to earn extra money. She was determined to succeed in life and by the age of 18, she had saved up enough money to attend what is now Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma–unfortunately, she ended up being forced to drop out after one semester due to her inability to afford full tuition

At the age of 23, she moved in with a few of her brothers who were living in Chicago. In Chicago she attended the Burnham School of Beauty Culture in 1915. Upon her graduation from that school she took up work as a manicurist at a local barbershop. All the while her brothers were serving overseas fighting in World War I. They came back telling stories of their time in France. One brother would tease her because in France women were allowed to fly airplanes but American women were not. His teasing motivated her desire to become a pilot. She ended up applying to flight schools all over the USA but was rejected from every last one because she was both African American and a woman. Eventually, a famous African American newspaper published–Robert Abbott–advised her to move to France where she could learn to fly–and so she did. However, in order to apply she had to spend her nights taking French classes, as the applications needed to be written in French.

After much hardworking, Coleman was accepted into the Caudron Brother’s School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France; and on June 15 of 1921 she received her international pilot’s license. Following graduation, her dream was to own a plane and open her own flight school. She would give speeches and show films of her air tricks to earn the money. She spoke at churches, theaters, and schools–but refused to speak anywhere that discriminated against or segregated African Americans. In 1922, she would perform the first public flight by an African American woman. She became famous for doing “loop-the-loops” and “figure 8s” in the air. People found her performances fascinating and she became an international sensation, traveling the country giving lessons, performing, and encouraging others to follow her lead.

In February of 1923, Coleman suffered her first major airplane accident. Her engine stopped working and she crashed. She was terribly injured, suffering a broken leg, cracked ribs, and cuts across her face, but luckily she was able to fully heal from said injuries. Her accident didn’t stop her from quickly returning back to flying though. Her hard work and dedication allowed her to save up enough money to purchase her own plane, a Jenny–KN-4 with an OX-5 engine–around 1925. Eventually she made plans to return to perform in her home state of Texas; however Texas was still very segregated, so the managers of the stadium planned to use two separate entrances for whites and African Americans. Coleman refused to come back unless everyone used the same gate, and after many meetings they agreed [even though people were still forced to sit in segregated sections within the stadium, her advocation is monumental].

Unfortunately Coleman’s story came to a tragic end on April 30 0f 1926. She was taking a test flight with a mechanic known as William Wills. Wills was flying and Coleman was in the passenger seat. At around 3000 feet in the air a loose wrench got stuck in the engine of the plane, causing Wills to lose control of the steering wheel–resulting in the plane flipping over. Coleman was devastatingly not wearing a seatbelt, as airplanes of that time did not have a roof for protection. She immediately fell out of the plane and died. Wills crashed shortly after and died as well. Her death was heartbreaking for many and famous activists like Ida B. Wells even attended the ceremony to honor Coleman in Chicago. In 1931, the Challenger Pilot’s Association of Chicago started a tradition of flying over her grave every year, and in 1977 African American women pilots formed the Bessie Coleman aviators club, and by 1995, the “Bessie Coleman Stamp” was made in remembrance of all of her accomplishments.

Moreover, Bessie Coleman was an activist that contributed greatly towards both the feminist movement and the Civil Rights movement. Apart from simply being a skilled aviator her dedication to justice and passion for equality is beyond admirable. She is not nearly talked about enough so it’s incredibly important to understand and appreciate her many accomplishments.

Source

Image

Image

Image