BLACK IN TIME: A Moment In OUR History - Bessie Coleman

Bessie Coleman & Willa Brown

Bessie Coleman Was Born In Texas,  January 26, 1893, To Sharecropper Parents. She Was Twelfth Of Thirteen Children. She Was Inspired To Become A Pilot By Eugene Jacques Bullard, A Black Pilot Who Flew For The French During World War I.

Coleman Was Refused Admission To Flight-Training Schools In America Because Of Her Color And s*x. Subsequently, She Learned To Speak French While Working As A Manicurist. She Went To Paris In 1920, And After Ten Months, Had Her Airplane Pilot's License From The Federation Aeronautique International. She Was The First Black, As Well As The First American Woman, To Get An International Pilot's License.

On September 3, 1922, Bessie Coleman Made Her First Flight In An American Airplane, At An Exhibition Honoring The All-Black 15th Infantry Regiment Of The New York National Guard. Four Years Later, On April 30, 1926, She Was Killed When Her Plane Crashed During A Test Flight In Jacksonville, Florida. Prior To Her Death, Coleman Had Plans To Open A Flight Training School For African Americans.

SPECIAL NOTE: Willa Brown Gleaned Strength And Inspiration From The Life Work Of Bessie Coleman. She Was Instrumental In Establishing The Coffey School of Aeronautics And In Doing So, Fulfilled Bessie's Long Standing Dream Of An All Black Flying School. Brown  Became The First Black American Woman To Get A Commercial Pilot's License In The U.S. She Was Also The First Black American To Achieve An Officer's Rank In The Civil Air Patrol And Lead The Fight To Integrate Blacks Into The U.S. Army Corp.

"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.

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