Bessie Coleman
On April 30, 1926, Bessie Coleman Was Killed When Her Plane Crashed During A Test Flight In Jacksonville, Florida.
Bessie Coleman Was Born In Texas, In 1893, To Sharecropper Parents. She Was Twelfth Of Thirteen Children. She Was Inspired To Become A Pilot By Eugene Jacques Bullard, A Black Pilot Who Flew For The French During World War I.
Coleman Was Refused Admission To Flight-Training Schools In America Because Of Her Color And Sex. Subsequently, She Learned To Speak French While Working As A Manicurist. She Went To Paris In 1920, And After Ten Months, Had Her Airplane Pilot's License From The Federation Aeronautique International. She Was The First Black, As Well As The First American Woman, To Get An International Pilot's License.
On September 3, 1922, Bessie Coleman Made Her First Flight In An American Airplane, At An Exhibition Honoring The All-Black 15th Infantry Regiment Of The New York National Guard.
Prior To Her Death, She Had Plans To Open A Flight Training School For African Americans.
"In Order For Black History To Live, We Must Continue To Breathe Life Into It." -- Hubert Gaddy, Jr.
