Bessie Coleman, 1923 - George Rinhart/Corbis via Getty Images (Wikipedia)

Not an explorer but a pioneer in her own right, Bessie Coleman gained her ‘wings’ when segregation was still part of life in America.

Bessie (Elizabeth) Coleman was born on January 26th, 1892 in Atlanta, Texas, to George Coleman, of Cherokee descent, and Susan, an African American. She was the tenth of their thirteen children.

The family moved to Waxahachie, Texas, to live as sharecroppers when Bessie was 2. When she turned 6, she started school, walking four miles to the segregated school. As with all sharecropping children, Bessie’s daily routine was regularly interrupted by the cotton harvest. That didn’t stop her developing a love of reading or curb an emerging talent for mathematics.

In 1901, her father, George, left the family, returning to Indian Territory (Oklahoma) to find better opportunities. But Susan and the children didn’t go with him.

Bessie was accepted into the Missionary Baptist Church School on scholarship at the age of 12. Using her own savings, she enrolled in the university in Langston, Oklahoma when she turned 18. But she only managed to complete one term before her money ran out, and she returned home.

A few years later, aged 24, Bessie moved to Chicago, where she lived with her brothers. While working as a manicurist, she’d hear stories told by pilots who’d flown during World War 1. The more she heard of their exploits in the air, the more Bessie dreamed of being a pilot. So, undaunted by the fact that American flight schools did not admit women or blacks, she took a second job to save money to learn to fly.

It was Robert S. Abbot, the founder and publisher of ‘The Chicago Defender’, the black-owned newspaper with the highest circulation in the country, who encouraged her to study abroad. To help her achieve that goal, he wrote about Bessie in his newspaper.

It worked. Bessie received financial sponsorship not only from the newspaper but also from the prominent businessman and banker, Jesse Binga, who’d founded the first privately owned African American bank in Chicago.

As part of her preparations, Bessie learned French at the Berlitz Language Schools in Chicago and, in November 1920, travelled to Paris.

On June 15th, 1921, Bessie became the first black woman and the first Native American to earn a pilot’s license and the first black person and first Native American to earn an international pilot’s license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale (International Aeronautical Federation).

She didn’t stop there and spent the next two months taking lessons from a French pilot, learning stunt flying and parachuting.

On returning to America in September 1921, Bessie found she’d become a media sensation; her exploits in France had been captured on newsreel films.

Being black and a woman severely limited her options, and she realised the only viable way to make a living was with stunt flying, or ‘barnstorming’. For that, she’d need more lessons to extend her repertoire.

Unable to find anyone willing to teach her in Chicago, she returned to France in February 1922 where she completed an advanced course in aviation. She then travelled to the Netherlands and met with the aircraft designer, Anthony Fokker. Following that, she went to Germany to visit the Fokker Corporation. She also received training from one of their chief pilots.

With her extra training and added knowledge, Bessie returned to America, ready to start her career.

Bessie’s first public flight – the first by an African American woman in America – was on September 3rd, 1922, at an event to honour veterans of the 369th Infantry Regiment of WW1, an all-black regiment. The event was sponsored by the man who’d helped her achieve her dream, Robert Abbot, and his newspaper.

She became known as ‘Queen Bess’, and her popularity grew rapidly, admired by both blacks and whites. Regularly interviewed by newspapers and invited to important events, the only places she refused to perform were those that prohibited the attendance of African Americans.

Bessie mainly flew Curtiss JN-4 ‘Jenny’ biplanes, quickly gaining a reputation as a skilled and daring pilot, performing daredevil manoeuvres, including figure eights, loops and near-ground dips.

A Curtiss JN-4 (Jenny) on a training flight during World War 1 1918 (Wikepedia - family photo 'Laurascudder')

Not without cost though. On February 22nd, 1923, her plane stalled and crashed; she broke a leg and three ribs.

As much as she loved the thrill of stunt flying and the cheer of the crowds, Bessie never forgot her childhood vow of wanting to “amount to something”. She used her love of aviation to combat racism, speaking to audiences across the country, encouraging African Americans to pursue their goals.

It was during a speaking tour that Bessie met the Reverend Hezakiah Hill and his wife, Viola, in Orlando, Florida. The couple invited her to stay with them, which she did, and they treated her as a daughter. Bessie proceeded to open a beauty shop in Orlando to earn extra funds to buy her own plane.

One of Bessie’s dreams was to establish a school for young black aviators. Tragically, she didn’t live long enough to realise that dream.

On April 30th, 1926, Bessie was in Jacksonville, Florida where she was scheduled to give a benefit exhibition the following day. The plane she was planning on using was one she’d recently purchased, a JN-4 ‘Jenny’, which was still in Dallas.

Her mechanic, William D. Wills, flew the plane from Dallas but had to make three forced landings because the plane had been so poorly maintained.

When Bessie’s family and friends learned of this, they begged her not to fly it. Their pleas had no effect.

With Wills piloting the plane, Bessie took the other seat. She didn’t fasten her seat belt for she needed to lean out to examine the surrounding area in preparation for a parachute jump she’d be performing the next day.

They’d been in the air about ten minutes when the plane unexpectedly went into a dive and a spin at 3000ft. Bessie was thrown out at 2000ft, killed the instant she hit the ground.

Wills, too, was killed when the plane crashed and burst into flames.

Despite the fire damage to the plane, the cause was discovered to be a wrench, which had jammed the controls.

Bessie Coleman was only 34 when she died. After the funeral service in Florida, her body was taken back to Chicago where 10,000 mourners attended the memorial service.

It would be many years before Bessie Coleman would finally gain official recognition and be honoured as a true pioneer of early aviation. Not only are roads and schools in America named after her, there are also streets in Paris that bear her name.

In 1995, the US Postal Service issued a stamp honouring Bessie Coleman.

In her short life, Bessie Coleman inspired many African Americans to realise it was possible to strive for their dreams, no matter how big. I wonder what this brave woman would have accomplished if her life hadn’t been cut so awfully short.

Bessie Coleman - First Female African American Aviator