bessie coleman
DESCRIPTION
Biography of Bessie Coleman written for first graders.TRANSCRIPT
Bessie Coleman
A Pioneer in Aviation
Questions from Mrs. Holsapple’s and
Mrs. Webster’s Students
• How does the yellow airplane fly?
• Why did they have the gravestone?
• How do you read those words?
• Does nobody own the sky?
• Did she die in an airplane?
• How high does the plane go?
• Why was she on a gold coin?
• How much did the airplane cost?
Facts About Bessie Coleman
• NAME: Elizabeth (Bessie) Coleman
• DATE OF BIRTH: January 26, 1892 ( She
was born 119 years ago!)
• PLACE OF BIRTH: Atlanta, Texas
• DATE OF DEATH: April 30, 1926(She was
34 years old when she died.)
• PLACE OF DEATH: Jacksonville, Florida
Bessie’s Childhood
• Bessie was one of thirteen children.
• Her father, who was part Native American and
part African American, left for Oklahoma when
Bessie was 9.
• Bessie’s mom and two brothers went to work
and Bessie took care of the younger kids.
• Bessie went to school in a one room
schoolhouse. She finished eighth grade.
Bessie was born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892.
Working and Saving
• Bessie loved reading and math. She
wanted to go to college, so she worked as
a laundress and saved her money.
• In 1910 she went to Langston University in
Oklahoma. She only stayed for a year
before she ran out of money.
• She moved back home and once again
became a laundress.
To Chicago
• In 1915 Bessie moved to Chicago where
two of her brothers lived.
• She worked as a laundress and a
manicurist.
• In 1920, she realized that she wanted to
be a pilot.
• There were no African American pilots
who would teach her to fly.
To France
• Bessie studied French while working to
save money.
• She went to the best school in France and
received her International Pilot’s License
in 1921.
• She traveled around Europe and practiced
flying until she returned to the United
States in 1922.
Bessie’s Passport Photo
Bessie Coleman trained at the Ecole d'Aviation des Freres Caudron on the
Nieuport Type 82 becoming the first licenced black female pilot on 15 June
1921. Her machine would have been similar to this one but with civilian
registration
In 1921, Bessie got her Pilot’s license in
France.
Bessie with her wings
Bessie in Germany
Bessie’s Dream
• Bessie was famous to African Americans
and shared her dream in interviews with
many newspapers.
• She wanted to save enough money to
start her own flight school for people of
any race or gender.
Chicago
Defender
interview with
Bessie
About World War I
• Bessie became a pilot after World War I
ended in 1918.
• At that time, there were no airports or big
jet planes for transportation.
• The Army had extra airplanes left over
from the war.
• Pilots could buy the airplanes for a cheap
price and use them to make money.
Curtiss JN-4 JennyThis type of plane was produced by the Army for World War I. After the war, pilots could buy a plane
for as little as $200. The Army paid $5000 each.
Bessie’s Words
I knew we had no aviators, neither men nor
women, and I knew the Race needed to be
represented along this most important line, so
I thought it my duty to risk my life to learn
aviation and to encourage flying among men
and women of our Race who are so far
behind the white Race in this modern study.
Barnstorming
• Pilots would fly over a town and drop papers that told
where their show would be. They would get permission
from a farmer to use his field.
• People would come and pay to see the show.
• Some people could even pay for a ride in a plane.
• After the show, the pilots would pay the farmer for using
his fields. Then they would move to another town.
Wing Walking
• At an air show,
people could see
wing walkers,
parachute
jumpers, people
moving from one
plane to another,
and other
dangerous tricks.
• Some pilots would
sell tickets and
give rides.
Tragedy in Florida
• In 1926, Bessie took a train to Florida to give a benefit
for the Jacksonville Negro Welfare League.
• She was going to use a plane that she just bought. It
was a Curtiss JN-4 Jenny. It was having trouble on the
way to Florida.
• Bessie and her pilot friend, William D. Wills, went on a
flight to look for a good place for Bessie to jump from a
parachute. Bessie was not wearing her seatbelt
because she needed to see over the front of the plane.
• The plane dove and flipped. Bessie was thrown out and
killed.
The Chicago Defender, an African American weekly
newspaper, reported on Bessie’s tragic death.
Bessie Coleman
died at an air show
in Jacksonville,
Florida in 1926.
• Bessie’s Grave
Bessie’s grave is located in
Lincoln Cemetery, just
outside of Chicago. To
honor her memory, Black
pilots began a tradition of
flying over her grave
In Her Memory
• Bessie had three memorial services.
Many people attended them. She was
buried outside of Chicago.
• Over the years she has become an
inspiration for overcoming the two huge
barriers she faced: her color and her
gender.
Lt. William J. Powell, the founder and president
of theBessie Coleman Aero Clubs stated that,
"because of Bessie Coleman, we have
overcome that which was much worse than
racial barriers. We have overcome the barriers
within ourselves and dared to dream."
William J PowellStarted the Bessie Coleman flying
school in Los Angeles.
African Americans could get
their pilot licenses at the
school.
He began a company called
Bessie Coleman Aero, which built
airplanes and was owned by
African Americans.
On Labor Day of 1931 the Los
Angeles Bessie Coleman Aero
Club, under the direction of William
J. Powell, sponsored the first all-
black air show in U.S. history. The
show drew over 15,000 attendees.
He dedicated his book, Black
Wings, to Bessie Coleman.
Bessie Coleman flew before
Amelia Earhart.
In 1995, Bessie’s image was featured on a
stamp in the Black Heritage series.
National Historical Plaque in
Texas
Bessie Coleman One Dollar Coin
• Bessie’s image was considered for the dollar coin. While
they were not made in large numbers, you can find them
on eBay for about $40.00
This article discusses the dollar coin.
Books about Bessie
Bessie Coleman
1893-1926
First Black Woman Licensed Pilot
Inducted in 1989
Bessie Coleman was born into a poor Texas family, and although she was a bright
student, poverty kept her from attending college. She moved to Chicago where
she saw her first air show. The excitement and thrills created by the barnstorming
stunt pilots inspired her to learn to fly.
Coleman refused to give in to the racial and gender prejudices of her day.
Rejected by American flight schools, she went to France, learned to fly in Nieuport
biplanes, and earned the first International Pilot's License issued to a black
woman.
Returning to America in 1921, Coleman yearned to open a flight school for black
pilots. She believed "the air is the only place free from prejudices." She turned her
accomplishments into celebrity, appearing on newsreels, performing at air shows,
and lecturing to encourage other blacks to pursue aviation careers.
By 1926, Coleman had raised almost enough money to open her school. As fate
would have it, her dreams never came true. She died in a crash at a Florida air
show in 1926.
Additional Information
Barnstormers
• Barnstorming was a popular form of entertainment in the 1920s in which stunt pilots would
perform tricks with airplanes, either individually or in groups called a flying circus. Barnstorming
was the first major form of civil aviation in the history of flight.[citation needed]
• The term barnstormer was also applied to pilots who flew throughout the country selling airplane
rides, usually operating from a farmer's field for a day or two before moving on. "Barnstorming
season" ran from early spring until after the harvest and county fairs in the fall.
• The term barnstorming comes from an earlier American tradition of rural political campaigns.
• During the first World War, the United States had manufactured a significant number of Curtiss
JN-4s (called Jennys) to train its military aviators and almost every U.S. airman had learned to fly
using the plane. After the war the U.S. federal government sold off the surplus materiel, including
the Jennys, for a fraction of its initial value (the $5,000 purchase price of a Jenny could be
reduced to as low as $200). This permitted many of the servicemen, who were already familiar
with the JN-4's, to purchase their own planes.• Most barnstorming shows started with a pilot, or team of pilots flying over a small rural town to attract the attention of the local inhabitants.
They would then land at a local farm (hence the name "barnstorming") and negotiate with the farmer for the use of one of his fields as a
temporary runway from which to stage an air show and offer airplane rides to customers. After obtaining a base of operation, the pilot or
group of aviators would "buzz" the village dropping handbills offering airplane rides for a small fee and advertise the daring feats that
would be performed. Crowds would follow the planes to the field, purchase rides and watch the show. In some towns the appearance of a
barnstormer or an aerial troop would lead to almost everything in the town shutting down as people attended the show.[citation needed]
• Barnstormers would perform a variety of stunts, with some specializing as stunt pilots or aerialists. Stunt pilots performed a variety of
aerobatic maneuvers, including spins, dives, loop-the-loops and barrel rolls while aerialists would perform feats of wing walking, stunt
parachuting, midair plane transfers or even playing tennis, target shooting or dancing while on the plane's wings.
Resources
• National Air and Space Museum
• Egg Carton glider project
• Biographical Information
• Follow Your Dreams: The Bessie
Coleman Story
• Bessie Coleman Biography
• Austin Children’s Museum