Bessie Coleman

BESSIE COLEMAN (1893-1926)

Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman grew up in Texas, the twelfth of thirteen children, a blend of African-American, African and Choctaw Indian blood. After moving to Chicago as an adult, she became enamored of flying, and because she could find no school to take her, she went to France to study. Upon her return she became the first African-American licensed pilot in the U.S. She specialized in parachuting and stunt flying, and upon her return worked as a “barnstormer,” traveling around the country doing air shows.

She was also noted for encouraging other African-Americans to go into aviation. During a dress rehearsal for a performance in Jacksonville, FL, she fell from her plane and was killed, at the age of 32. A group of African-American pilots began commemorating her in 1935 with an annual flyer, where they drop a wreath over her grave at Lincoln Cemetery. That commemoration continues to this day. A branch of the Chicago Public Library is also named for her.
Bessie is one of those honored in Atchison, Kansas at the International Forest of Friendship, a memorial park founded by the women aviators organization the Ninety-Nines in 1976, to honor those who have contributed to aviation. Trees from every state and 40 countries shelter the names of more than 650 honorees commemorated with plaques embedded in Memory Lane.

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