Bessie Coleman was the first African-American woman to earn a pilot’s license.
Coleman, whose nicknames included “Brave Bessie” and “Queen Bessie,” spent her life teaching others about aviation, performing in air shows and encouraging others, especially African-Americans and women, to follow their dreams.
Coleman’s life was tragically cut short in a flying accident on April 30, 1926, but her legacy lives on today.
Bessie Coleman was the first African-American woman to earn a pilot’s license. (Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images)
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Read about how Coleman ended up earning his pilot’s license.
- What is Bessie Coleman known for?
- What did Bessie Coleman do as a young woman?
- How did Bessie Coleman change the world?
- How did Bessie Coleman die?
1. What is Bessie Coleman known for?
According to the National Women’s History Museum, Coleman was the first woman of African-American and Native American descent to earn a pilot’s license.
She became interested in flying after her brothers served in the military during World War I. After they returned home, sources say, they told her stories of French women who had learned to fly.
This prompted Coleman to try to get a pilot’s license, but he was rejected by schools across the United States and was unsuccessful.
According to the National Air and Space Museum, she sought training in France on the advice of Robert Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender newspaper.
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According to the National Women’s History Museum, she attended the Caudron Brothers Aviation School in Le Crotoy, France, and received her international pilot’s license from the International Aeronautical Federation on June 15, 1921.
Bessie Coleman attended the Caudron Brothers Aviation School in Le Crotoy, France, where she earned her pilot’s license and returned to the United States. (George Linhart/Corbis via Getty Images)
After getting her license, she returned to the United States and taught flying lessons and performed in shows. She was known for performing tricks in the air, such as “loop-the-loops” and “figure eights.”
2. What did Bessie Coleman do when she was young?
Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas on January 26, 1892. She grew up in a large family with 12 brothers and sisters.
When she was a child, her father, George Coleman, returned to Oklahoma to escape discrimination in Texas, according to the National Women’s History Museum.
She is survived by her mother, Susan Coleman, and her children.
According to the National Women’s History Museum, Coleman earned money as a young woman by helping her mother pick cotton and do laundry, before she earned her pilot’s license.
3. How did Bessie Coleman change the world?
According to the U.S. Mint, throughout his life, Coleman was a strong advocate for equal rights, refusing to perform in venues that segregated or discriminated against African-Americans.
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After earning her pilot’s license, she traveled around the country giving flight lessons and encouraging African-Americans and women to learn how to fly.
According to Britannica, on September 3, 1922, she became the first African-American woman to perform a public flight in the United States.
According to the National Museum of American History, Coleman saved up enough money during his aviation career to buy his own plane, called the Jenny (JN-4), which was equipped with an OX-5 engine.
After earning her pilot’s license, Bessie Coleman performed in skill-packed air shows in her home state of Texas and other places. (PhotoSearch/Getty Images)
When she returned to perform in her segregated hometown of Texas, event organizers made plans for two separate entrances.
Coleman refused to perform under those conditions and after discussion, management agreed, deciding to have only one entrance gate, although sections of the stadium would remain segregated, sources said.
4. How did Bessie Coleman die?
On April 30, 1936, Coleman took part in a test flight piloting the plane with a mechanic named William Wills, sitting as a passenger.
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According to the National Women’s History Museum, a loose wrench caught in the engine, causing the plane to flip over in the air and causing Coleman, who was not wearing a seat belt, to fall from the open-top plane.
Officials said Wills died when the plane crashed.
Coleman was 34 at the time of his death.
Today, Coleman’s influence and legacy lives on.
According to the National Women’s History Museum, numerous aviation clubs bear her name, including the Bessie Coleman Air Club, which began in the 1930s, and the Bessie Coleman Aviators Club of Chicago, which began in the 1970s.
According to sources, and in her honor, the Challenger Pilots Association has been flying over her grave every year since 1931.
In 2023, the United States Mint released a special quarter featuring the pilot. The quarter was issued as part of the American Women Quarters program, which is scheduled to begin in 2022 and run through 2025. According to the U.S. Mint, the program is designed to celebrate “the achievements and contributions of American women.”
