Could you channel a bit of tenacity from a story of someone in our past? We think its possible because all stories matter including yours.

Here you’ll meet Bessie Coleman our first history hero, one of many you’ll find in our #channelinghistoryheros series. We will share inspirational stories meant to encourage you to reach for what you want.

Bessie Coleman was born January 26, 1892, Bessie Coleman’s parents were George and Susan, and at the time, they lived in Atlanta, Texas. Its likely Bessie’s mother had been a slave before the Civil War, but her father was of both African and Native ancestry and was most likely free. Neither of Bessie’s parents knew how to read or write, and they worked primarily as sharecroppers while they raised their family of 12 children.

When Bessie was 6, she began attending a public, all black, one-room school intermittently when picking cotton and farm work would allow. These were tough economic times for everyone as the U.S. experienced a stock crash in 1893. Still, conditions were more difficult for African Americans suffering the effects of Jim Crow, particularly in the South. 

The family purchased land in Waxahachie, Texas, and tried to make a go of farming on their own. Cotton was the primary commodity, and it was George and Susan’s hope they could benefit from land ownership and hard work.

The inequality and persecution of black people in the South, and in Texas especially, became too much for George, and he ultimately wanted to leave. His experience of racism was even harsher due to his Native American ancestry.

George left the family in 1901, at a time when persecution toward African Americans was escalating. In the year prior, 115 lynchings occurred in the South alone. These mob rule, vigilante executions were meant to strike fear in the African American community and aid in the squelching of their rights and resistance.

Susan did not want to uproot the family, however, and remained with the younger children—including Bessie—in Texas. About this time, Bessie’s older brothers headed out to make their way and relocated to Chicago and Canada.

Susan worked as a cook and housekeeper for a prominent white family in the town, and Bessie, age 14, stayed home to care for the younger children. She also helped her mother pick cotton to support the family.

BESSIE REACHES TOWARD HER DREAM

As Bessie neared independence, she worked at a laundry to earn extra money. By age 18, she saved enough to attend the Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Langston, Oklahoma, but dropped out after one semester due to a lack of funds.

At 23, Bessie moved to Chicago and lived with her brothers. She attended Burnham School of Beauty Culture, and in 1915 became a manicurist in a local barbershop. Bessie’s brothers, who had served during WWI, told her stories of France and how women became pilots.

From then on, Bessie knew she wanted to fly airplanes. She tried to gain admittance to aviation programs in the U.S., but there were no African American pilot instructors, and no white pilot programs would accept her.

The famous American newspaper publisher Robert Abbott told her to move to France to learn to fly because women were accepted for training there. Bessie took French lessons at the Michigan Avenue Language School so she could complete applications for flight school in French.

Bessie was accepted in the Caudron Brothers’ school of aviation and became the first African American and Native American woman to earn an international license on June 15, 1921. And with her flair for theatrics, Bessie knew that an image and skill would be required to be taken seriously. She designed a custom-tailored uniform to command attention and to make an impression.

In 1922, Bessie performed the first public flight by an African American woman. Famous for loop-the-loops, she became renowned as an aviation daredevil in the U.S. and Europe. Some of her monikers included “Queen Bess,” and “Brave Bess,” and the public regarded her as an entertainer for her talents in the sky.

Coleman’s dream was to own a plane and give lessons to others. She especially wanted to encourage women and African Americans to reach for their dreams. Bessie gave speeches and showed films of her aviation tricks to schools, churches, and other events to earn money toward her goal.

In February of 1923, she survived her first airplane crash when her engine suddenly stopped working. She suffered a broken leg but recovered.

By 1925, she was performing again and was able to purchase her own plane—a Jenny-JN-4 with an OX-5 engine. She returned to her hometown to perform for a crowd at an event. Texas was still segregated, so the event managers organized separate entrances; Bessie, however, refused to perform unless they made one entrance. She became known for standing up for her beliefs.

On April 30, 1926, Bessie was on a test flight with mechanic William Wills. At 3,000 feet, a wrench got stuck in the engine. Wills lost control of the plane, which turned over, and Coleman fell to her death.

Bessie left behind no personal memorabilia, so the only documentation of her comes from black weekly newspapers. Her oldest sister Eloise also left some unpublished journals, which have been preserved. I captured most of what I learned for this post by reading excerpts from the book, “Queen Bess: Daredevil Aviator,” by Doris Rich. I’ve gone ahead and purchased my copy of her book.

INSPIRATION AND JOURNAL IDEAS FOR YOU

How can you channel Bessie Coleman and find inspiration?  She revealed her tenacity and determination to work around roadblocks set up in her society.

Even though the messages of hate, racism, and sexism were prevalent, Bessie tapped into her innate wisdom to embrace the truth. She held onto her dream and worked steadily toward it.

Innate wisdom and dreams: you have those, too. We are not defined only by our realizations, but by our aspirations as well. Reaching for your piece of sky is a worthwhile venture in and of itself.

How do you reach? How can you persist? Channel some Bessie Coleman today.

If you’d like a bit of Bessie Coleman on display to remind you of her story and your encourage you to persist, please check out our printable history hero of Bessie Coleman here.

Sherry is the founder of Storied Gifts a personal publishing service of family and company histories. She and her team help clients curate and craft their stories into books. When not writing or interviewing, Sherry spends loads of time with her grandchildren and lives in Des Moines, Iowa.

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