Bessie Coleman: Paving the Way in Aviation

by Abigail Knowles Wolfe (BPRW)

In a year of such firsts as Jamaican-decent pilot Barrington Irving’s trek around the world in a single-engine airplane, and the Tuskegee airmen earning a Congressional Gold Medal; perhaps it is fitting to go a little further back into aviation history to discuss the premier African American woman of flight. Bessie Coleman was born in a small town in northeastern Texas in 1892, the 10th of 13 children and would ultimately become the world’s first licensed black pilot.

Two of Bessie’s brothers returned from France after serving in WWI, describing the astounding careers French women were able to have as pilots and professionals. With a strong drive and desire to make something of her life, Bessie sought funding and the appropriate visas to travel to Somme, France and attend the Ecole d’Aviation des Freres Caudron at Le Crotoy.

According to biographical information provided by a website created in her honor www.bessiecoleman.com, Coleman was able to complete a 10 month flight course in a matter of only seven months. Bessie’s pilot’s license did not mention that she was the first black woman to ever earn a license from the esteemed aviation school, nor did it mention that she was the only woman, period, of the 62 candidates in her class to earn a pilot’s license at that time.

Bessie Coleman spent the majority of her flight career performing stunts for crowds with the goal of raising enough funds to start her own flight school for African Americans. It is noteworthy that Bessie refused to perform at any racially segregated events insisting that all audience members enter through the same gates. Although she died in her early 30s after falling from the cockpit of her own plane during a practice run, her legacy lives on. Bessie Coleman paved the way for many great African American aviators to follow and for women of all ethnicities.