April 20, 2022 • 6 mins
In 1921, Bessie Coleman became the first Black American woman to earn a pilot's license. Learn about her life and legacy in this episode of BrainStuff, based on this article: https://science.howstuffworks.com/transport/flight/classic/bessie-coleman.htm
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Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam here. Well, when we think
of the early pioneers in the field of American flight,
we'll hear about Amelia Earhart's solo trek across the Atlantic
Ocean or Charles Lindbergh's NonStop journey in the Spirit of St. Louis.
(00:22):
But the textbooks have often overlooked a pivotal figure who
made an early mark on aviation history, Bessie Coleman, who
in nine one became the first African American woman to
be a licensed pilot. Coleman was born on January two
and grew up in Texas, the daughter of a Native
American and Black father and an African American mother who
(00:45):
both worked as sharecroppers. As the twelfth of thirteen children,
Coleman worked in the cotton fields after her father left
the family to return to his native reservation. She attended
primary school in a one room wooden shack. For the
article this episode is based on How Stuff Works, spoke
with Dr Philip S. Hart. He's written two books on
Coleman and also served as an advisor to the Smithsonian
(01:07):
Air and Space Museum's Black Wings exhibit, which honors Black
men and women who have advanced the field of airspace.
Heart said she was a good student an avid reader.
She read about a woman named Harriet Quimby, a woman pilot,
she thought that might be something she would be interested
in doing. As a young woman, Coleman sought a different
(01:28):
life for herself than the one her parents had, and
she attended what's now called Langston University, but ended up
dropping out for financial reasons. She eventually made her way
to Chicago, where her brothers lived, and she worked as
a manicurist in a local salon. A one brother, who
had returned from fighting during World War One, regaled her
with stories of women pilots in France, joking that Coleman
(01:49):
would never be able to fly like them. Such teasing
only spurred on Coleman's ambitions to become a pilot. While
working in the salon, Coleman met Robert abbey It, publisher
of The Chicago Defender, which was a leading newspaper serving
the black community. Abbott would become her mentor, supporting her
interests in aviation. Hart explained one of the reasons he
(02:11):
wanted to support her was because he knew her exploits
would make for good stories in his newspaper. Based on
her gender and skin color, Coleman was denied admission to
all of the aviation schools she applied to in the
United States. At Abbot's encouragement, Coleman studied French and went
to Paris to learn how to fly. While there, Coleman
befriended fellow black American expatriots like entertainer Josephine Baker. After
(02:37):
receiving her international pilot's license from the International Aeronautical Federation
in Coleman returned to the United States, but the only
job opportunity for a trained pilot and delivering mail for
the Postal Service, was unavailable to her as a black
person and as a woman, so she turned to performing
aerial stunts, also known as barn storming. Her first air
(02:59):
show took place at the Checkerboard Field in Chicago. In
Nino Heart said, generally those air shows attracted anywhere from
twenty thousand to thirty thousand people. Their high energy affairs,
big bands. You had pilots doing tricks, wingwalkers, parachute jumpers.
A very high energy, yet very dangerous event, very profitable
(03:20):
for the pilot. Barnstorming became a lucrative way not only
to make a living, but also to finance the aeronautical
schools that Coleman intended to set up to foster black
participation in aviation. But despite Coleman's drive, winsome personality, and
immense talent, it wasn't always an easy career path. Heart said,
(03:42):
You're going to get negative reactions from people in general,
white people because she's black and she's a woman. She's
going to get a certain kind of reaction from black
people who think she shouldn't be a pilot because it
was viewed to something that men should do. So she
faced discrimination and conflict from both black and white people,
but for the most part, her support in the black
community was pretty strong. Sadly, tragedy cut short Coleman's life
(04:07):
on April ninety six, when she died after falling from
her plane while rehearsing for an air show in Jacksonville, Florida.
A funeral service was held in Jacksonville and a much
larger one in Chicago, which more than five thousand people attended,
including black civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, who eulogized Coleman.
Coleman's life has seen a renewed interest in recent decades
(04:29):
from institutions seeking to honor her pioneering work and legacy
as a black woman in aviation. The US Postal Service
honored Coleman by placing her image on a stamp that
came out in as part of their Black Heritage series,
and Heart is currently working on a future film about
Coleman's life story. The National Aviation Hall of Fame also
(04:50):
enshrined Coleman as one of the honorees in two thousand six,
which Amy Spowart, president and CEO of that organization, called
overdue and necessary. In an email interview with How Stuff Works,
Spowart said, Bessie never took no for an answer, whether
it was working extremely hard to save up the funds
needed for lessons learning French. When she realized that she
(05:11):
would need to go to France to earn her license,
and that she would always fight gender and race bigotry,
Coleman didn't let anything stand in her way. Dr Hart's
Mother's uncle, one James Herman Banning, was the first black
American pilot to be licensed by the US government in
ninety and he served as the first chief pilot of
(05:32):
the Bessie Coleman Aero Club, which was established in nine
in honor of Coleman to support black men and women
in the field of aeronautics. The Bessie Coleman Aero Club
ended up training many black pilots, some of whom went
on to serve as Tuscogee airmen during World War Two.
They also sponsored the first all black flight shows in
the nineteen thirties in Los Angeles, which raised money for
(05:54):
the city Unemployment Fund at the height of the Great Depression.
Heart said her legacy the black men and women she
inspired to follow her into the field of aviation. The
first African American woman to go into space, May Jamison
took a photo of Coleman into space with her. Today's
(06:16):
episode is based on the article Bessie Coleman, America's first
Black female Avia tricks on houstff works dot Com, written
by Terry yr Lagata. Brain Stuff is production of by
Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com,
and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from
my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey
brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam here. Well, when we think
of the early pioneers in the field of American flight,
we'll hear about Amelia Earhart's solo trek across the Atlantic
Ocean or Charles Lindbergh's NonStop journey in the Spirit of St. Louis.
(00:22):
But the textbooks have often overlooked a pivotal figure who
made an early mark on aviation history, Bessie Coleman, who
in nine one became the first African American woman to
be a licensed pilot. Coleman was born on January two
and grew up in Texas, the daughter of a Native
American and Black father and an African American mother who
(00:45):
both worked as sharecroppers. As the twelfth of thirteen children,
Coleman worked in the cotton fields after her father left
the family to return to his native reservation. She attended
primary school in a one room wooden shack. For the
article this episode is based on How Stuff Works, spoke
with Dr Philip S. Hart. He's written two books on
Coleman and also served as an advisor to the Smithsonian
(01:07):
Air and Space Museum's Black Wings exhibit, which honors Black
men and women who have advanced the field of airspace.
Heart said she was a good student an avid reader.
She read about a woman named Harriet Quimby, a woman pilot,
she thought that might be something she would be interested
in doing. As a young woman, Coleman sought a different
(01:28):
life for herself than the one her parents had, and
she attended what's now called Langston University, but ended up
dropping out for financial reasons. She eventually made her way
to Chicago, where her brothers lived, and she worked as
a manicurist in a local salon. A one brother, who
had returned from fighting during World War One, regaled her
with stories of women pilots in France, joking that Coleman
(01:49):
would never be able to fly like them. Such teasing
only spurred on Coleman's ambitions to become a pilot. While
working in the salon, Coleman met Robert abbey It, publisher
of The Chicago Defender, which was a leading newspaper serving
the black community. Abbott would become her mentor, supporting her
interests in aviation. Hart explained one of the reasons he
(02:11):
wanted to support her was because he knew her exploits
would make for good stories in his newspaper. Based on
her gender and skin color, Coleman was denied admission to
all of the aviation schools she applied to in the
United States. At Abbot's encouragement, Coleman studied French and went
to Paris to learn how to fly. While there, Coleman
befriended fellow black American expatriots like entertainer Josephine Baker. After
(02:37):
receiving her international pilot's license from the International Aeronautical Federation
in Coleman returned to the United States, but the only
job opportunity for a trained pilot and delivering mail for
the Postal Service, was unavailable to her as a black
person and as a woman, so she turned to performing
aerial stunts, also known as barn storming. Her first air
(02:59):
show took place at the Checkerboard Field in Chicago. In
Nino Heart said, generally those air shows attracted anywhere from
twenty thousand to thirty thousand people. Their high energy affairs,
big bands. You had pilots doing tricks, wingwalkers, parachute jumpers.
A very high energy, yet very dangerous event, very profitable
(03:20):
for the pilot. Barnstorming became a lucrative way not only
to make a living, but also to finance the aeronautical
schools that Coleman intended to set up to foster black
participation in aviation. But despite Coleman's drive, winsome personality, and
immense talent, it wasn't always an easy career path. Heart said,
(03:42):
You're going to get negative reactions from people in general,
white people because she's black and she's a woman. She's
going to get a certain kind of reaction from black
people who think she shouldn't be a pilot because it
was viewed to something that men should do. So she
faced discrimination and conflict from both black and white people,
but for the most part, her support in the black
community was pretty strong. Sadly, tragedy cut short Coleman's life
(04:07):
on April ninety six, when she died after falling from
her plane while rehearsing for an air show in Jacksonville, Florida.
A funeral service was held in Jacksonville and a much
larger one in Chicago, which more than five thousand people attended,
including black civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, who eulogized Coleman.
Coleman's life has seen a renewed interest in recent decades
(04:29):
from institutions seeking to honor her pioneering work and legacy
as a black woman in aviation. The US Postal Service
honored Coleman by placing her image on a stamp that
came out in as part of their Black Heritage series,
and Heart is currently working on a future film about
Coleman's life story. The National Aviation Hall of Fame also
(04:50):
enshrined Coleman as one of the honorees in two thousand six,
which Amy Spowart, president and CEO of that organization, called
overdue and necessary. In an email interview with How Stuff Works,
Spowart said, Bessie never took no for an answer, whether
it was working extremely hard to save up the funds
needed for lessons learning French. When she realized that she
(05:11):
would need to go to France to earn her license,
and that she would always fight gender and race bigotry,
Coleman didn't let anything stand in her way. Dr Hart's
Mother's uncle, one James Herman Banning, was the first black
American pilot to be licensed by the US government in
ninety and he served as the first chief pilot of
(05:32):
the Bessie Coleman Aero Club, which was established in nine
in honor of Coleman to support black men and women
in the field of aeronautics. The Bessie Coleman Aero Club
ended up training many black pilots, some of whom went
on to serve as Tuscogee airmen during World War Two.
They also sponsored the first all black flight shows in
the nineteen thirties in Los Angeles, which raised money for
(05:54):
the city Unemployment Fund at the height of the Great Depression.
Heart said her legacy the black men and women she
inspired to follow her into the field of aviation. The
first African American woman to go into space, May Jamison
took a photo of Coleman into space with her. Today's
(06:16):
episode is based on the article Bessie Coleman, America's first
Black female Avia tricks on houstff works dot Com, written
by Terry yr Lagata. Brain Stuff is production of by
Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com,
and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from
my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
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