Bessie coleman biography

Early Life

Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas, to Susan and George Coleman. George, who had Native American grandparents, would eventually return to the Cherokee Nation, leaving Susan to raise Coleman and her siblings alone. 

In , year old Bessie Coleman, now living in segregated Chicago, was at a personal crossroads. She sought a life beyond her job of manicurist in beauty salons. When her brother, a World War I veteran, taunted her about her future with stories of French women flyers she replied, “That’s it… You just called it for me!” She was determined to become a pilot. But in the United States, Black men were not welcome in aviation, let alone Black women.

Unfazed after vit pilots refused to give her instruction, Coleman sought advice from Robert Abbot, publisher of the influential Black newspaper the Chicago Defender, and a constant advokat for the inclusion of Black people in American society. Sensing her commitment, and the resulting publicity if

•

Bessie Coleman

()

Who Was Bessie Coleman?

Bessie Coleman was an American aviator and the first Black woman to earn a pilot's license. Because flying schools in the United States denied her entry, she taught herself French and moved to France, earning her license from France's well-known Caudron Brother's School of Aviation in just seven months. Coleman specialized in stunt flying and parachuting, earning a living barnstorming and performing aerial tricks. She remains a pioneer of women in the field of aviation.

Early Life, Siblings and Education

Bessie Coleman was born on January 26, , in Atlanta, Texas. She's one of 13 children to Susan and George Coleman, who both worked as sharecroppers. Her father, who was of Native American and African American descent, left the family in search of better opportunities in Oklahoma when Coleman was a child. Her mother did her best to support the family and the children contributed as soon as they were old enough.

At 12 years old, Colem

•

Bessie Coleman

By Julia Lauria-Blum   (as first appeared in Metropolitan Airport News, June 7, )

Bessie Coleman, Curtiss Field, L.I. (Cradle of Aviation Museum)

Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was born on January 26, in Atlanta, Texas. As one of 13 children born to sharecroppers, George and Susan Coleman, who were of Native American and African-American descent, Bessie worked as a child in the cotton fields, vowing to one day ‘’amount to something’’.

Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman (Cradle of Aviation Museum)

At the age of six, Coleman began attending school in Waxahachie, Texas in a one-room, segregated schoolhouse where she completed all eight grades. At age 12, Bessie was accepted into the Missionary Baptist Church School on a scholarship. Yearning to further her education she worked and saved her money and enrolled at Langston University in Oklahoma where she completed one term before running out of funds and returning home to Texas. 

In at age 23, Bessie moved to Chicago to