Bessie Colman was one of thirteen children in a poor African American family residing in the southern United States (Onkst). She was born on January 26, 1892 in Texas to a Native American father and an African American mother (Onkst). Her family was facing tough times; racial discrimination was at a high (Onkst). Her father thought it would be best to move to the “Indian Territory” found in Oklahoma, but her mother disagreed (Onkst). Her father moved anyways, as did some of her siblings, but a few of her sisters and her stayed behind with their mother (Onkst). Her mother cleaned other people’s clothes, and she helped with that as well as picking cotton as she grew up (Onkst). She basically worked from sun up to sun down, sometimes longer (Onkst).
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They taught her how to fly in the French Nieuport airplanes, and on June 15, 1921 she got her pilots license (Onkst). This was only seven months after she started her training, and she was the first African American woman to obtain her pilots license (Onkst). When she returned to American she wanted to use her pilots license to make money, and wanted to start a school for colored people to learn how to fly (Onkst). However, she was an African American female which made making money flying very difficult (Onkst). This left only one option; becoming a barnstormer (Onkst). Once again, no school in America would accept her so she had to go back to Europe to learn aerial tricks (Onkst). She learned a few basic tricks and came back to the United States, and with that her career began …show more content…
In 1929 William J. Powell started a flight school for African Americans for her, as that was something she had been trying to accomplish (2006). Her next honor came in 1931 as the Challenger Pilots association of Chicago decided to fly every year over the Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago (2006). Years went by before she was honored again, but the day came in 1989 when she was inducted into the “First Flight Society”, in 1990 when a mayor in Chicago named a street at O’Hare International Airport after her, and then again in 1995 when a postage stamp came out to honor her (Harris, 2009). Texas also honored her in 2000 by inducting her into the Women in Aviation Hall of Fame, and in 2004 a park in Chicago was named after her (Harris, 2009). Additionally, she has a conference room at the FAA building named after her, and was the person that the musical Barnstormer was made about in 2008 (Harris, 2009).
Overall, Bessie Colman made history with her determination to do what she wanted. She may have been an African American woman in a time of racial and gender discrimination, but she still managed to achieve her goals. Even though she died young, her life was full of greatness and inspired many people to go after what they
They taught her how to fly in the French Nieuport airplanes, and on June 15, 1921 she got her pilots license (Onkst). This was only seven months after she started her training, and she was the first African American woman to obtain her pilots license (Onkst). When she returned to American she wanted to use her pilots license to make money, and wanted to start a school for colored people to learn how to fly (Onkst). However, she was an African American female which made making money flying very difficult (Onkst). This left only one option; becoming a barnstormer (Onkst). Once again, no school in America would accept her so she had to go back to Europe to learn aerial tricks (Onkst). She learned a few basic tricks and came back to the United States, and with that her career began …show more content…
In 1929 William J. Powell started a flight school for African Americans for her, as that was something she had been trying to accomplish (2006). Her next honor came in 1931 as the Challenger Pilots association of Chicago decided to fly every year over the Lincoln Cemetery in Chicago (2006). Years went by before she was honored again, but the day came in 1989 when she was inducted into the “First Flight Society”, in 1990 when a mayor in Chicago named a street at O’Hare International Airport after her, and then again in 1995 when a postage stamp came out to honor her (Harris, 2009). Texas also honored her in 2000 by inducting her into the Women in Aviation Hall of Fame, and in 2004 a park in Chicago was named after her (Harris, 2009). Additionally, she has a conference room at the FAA building named after her, and was the person that the musical Barnstormer was made about in 2008 (Harris, 2009).
Overall, Bessie Colman made history with her determination to do what she wanted. She may have been an African American woman in a time of racial and gender discrimination, but she still managed to achieve her goals. Even though she died young, her life was full of greatness and inspired many people to go after what they