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Bessie's Stamp | |||||||||||
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In 1995, Bessie Coleman was honored by the United States Post Office when they issued a thirty-two cent stamp with her name and picture on it. Coleman's neice, Marion Coleman, now 78, lobbied nearly ten years to obtain the honor for her aunt. "I told them I wanted a stamp for my aunti, and a whole lot of them gave me lots of support...We also got a lot of help from the Tuskegee Airmen - those black pilots from World War II. They all remembered Bessie Coleman," said Marion. The Tuskegee Airmen would pay tribute to Coleman by annually flying over her grave and dipping their wings. In recent years, other African-American pilots have joined the Airmen in the showing of respect. Marion said, "It's a great honor, but somehow a stamp seems more permanent to me. And she deserved it, she was someone who saw what she wanted and went out and did it instead of blaming other people about who she couldnt." (1) |
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(1) Dennis Schatzman, "America's First Black Woman Aviator to be Honored With Stamp," Los Angeles Sentinel, V. LX, N. 45 (1995): A-4. | |||||||||||
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