Elizabeth "Bessie" Coleman was an African-American pilot during the early 1920's. She died, tragically, in a plane crash while practicing for a stunt in an aerial show.
Some Interesting Facts
* Coleman was the first American woman to hold an International pilot's license.
* She got her pilot's license in France due to racial and gender biases in the States.
* She worked as a manicurist in a Barber shop where she learned about airplanes and flying.
* She was part Cherokee Indian on her father's side.
* She was the tenth child out of thirteen.
* During one of her lessons, Coleman watched a fellow student die in a plane crash.
Some Quotes from and about Bessie Coleman
- "The air is the only place free from prejudices."
- "I refused to take no for an answer."
- "Tell them that as soon as I can walk I'm going to fly!"
- "I decided blacks should not have to experience the difficulties I had faced, so I decided to open a flying school and teach other black women to fly." (though she died before she was able to accomplish this)
- "Older brothers and sisters always look for opportunities to challenge the younger ones."
- "My Brother, John, told me he knew something that French women could do that colored gals would never do: Fly an Aeroplane."
A Video on Bessie Coleman
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