A Woman Who Touched The Sky
By: Emma Carpenter
Every February we celebrate Black History Month. To spotlight the many amazing black people in history.
Today we’ll learn about an Amazing woman who quite literally touched the sky.
That woman is Bessie Coleman.
Bessie was born in 1892. She had twelve brothers and sisters. At a young age, her father was out of the picture. Coleman then had the responsibility to help her mother. She even had to drop out of college after one semester due to a lack of money.
Her brother made fun of her because women in France could learn to fly planes, something American women were not yet allowed to do.
This infuriated young Coleman so she set out to become a pilot. She applied to flight schools across America. Not a single one accepted her, for she was both a woman and of African-American descent.
A famous African-American Newspaper Publisher advised her to move to France to get the education she needed.
So our hero in the dead of night took French classes, as her application would have to be in French.
Her endeavors paid off as she was accepted to the Caudron Brothers School Of Aviation. In 1921 she received her international pilot's license.
She returned home and shared her dreams with the world. She gave speeches in theaters, churches, and schools, showing them films of her many daring tricks. She had one demand that had to be met for every place she spoke.
There was to be no segregation or discrimination against the African-American people.
In 1922 she did her first public flight. People were fascinated as she did loop-de-loops throughout the sky and even made eights with her plane. She traveled the country offering flight lessons while also encouraging African-Americans and women to take to the skies.
In 1925 she finally gathered enough money to purchase her plane and decided to return to her hometown in Texas. To her dismay, Texas was still heavily segregated. The managers wanted two separate entrances to the stadium to separate black and white people. Coleman was adamant and even refused to go on with the show unless there was only one entrance.
At last, the managers agreed. Even today Coleman is applauded for standing up for her beliefs. After her show, she was met with a standing ovation.
Sadly in 1926 Coleman passed away.
William Wills, a mechanic, was flying the plane when a wrench got stuck in the engine taking all control away from Wills. The plane flipped over and without a seatbelt, Coleman fell 3,000 feet to her death. It then crashed not far from Coleman and killed Wills.
Though she would never know Coleman truly impacted many young women around America.
In 1977 The Bessie Coleman Aviators Club was born, consisting of many American-African women pilots who looked up to her bravery and perseverance.
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