Bessie Coleman Aviatrix Scott # 2956  Issued April 17, 1995 in Chicago, Illinois  Designed by Chris Calle

Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas on January 26, 1892. She was one of 13 children born to George and Susan Coleman.

In 1901 Bessie's father unable to find work after several moves in Texas, decided to move to Oklahoma. Susan refused to move again and remained in Texas with 4 of her children including Bessie. 

Susan obtained work as a housekeeper and cook for a well-to-do white family and Bessie took over the job of raising her sisters. She attended school when she could and also helped out by picking cotton during the season. Although she couldn't attend school on a regular basis she was an avid reader and read every book she could lay her hands on.

Bessie worked, taking in laundry and earned enough money to complete one year of college at The Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Langston, Oklahoma. In 1915 she moved to Chicago where two of her brothers were living.

In 1915 Bessie attended Burnham School of Beauty Culture and took a course in manicuring. She won a contest for the best manicurist in Black Chicago in 1916.

Bessie's brothers served in Europe during World War I and when they returned they talked enthusiastically about the lack of racial prejudice they found in France. Her brothers also related stories of liberated French Women and how they even piloted airplanes. Bessie was enthralled with the stories of women aviators and became determined to show her brothers that she could also become a pilot. 

In the United States of the 1920s, it was extremely difficult for any woman to learn how to fly; for an African American woman it was impossible. Bessie could not find any pilots willing to give her lessons. The editor of the Chicago Defender suggested that she try France where there was less racial strife and more individual freedom than in any other country of the time.

Bessie  traveled to France in 1920 and was accepted by the Ecole d'Aviation des Freres Caudron in Somme. She completed the course in seven months and obtained her International Aeronautics license on June 15, 1921. She was the first woman ever to earn this license. 

Air shows and aerobatics were the main source of income for aviators during those early years of flying. Unable to obtain instruction in aerobatics at home, Bessie returned to France and Germany in 1922 for this training. 

Bessie returned to the United States with the goal of opening a flight school for other African Americans. She held her first Air Show on September 3, 1922 at the Glenn Curtis Field in Long Island, New York. Bessie was an overnight celebrity and began performing in Air Shows throughout the country. She became known as Queen Bess - Daredevil Aviatrix. However, she would not appear in any Air Show that did not allow Blacks to attend. 

Bessie never realized her dream of founding a school for Black aviators. Her life was cut short in a tragic accident on April 30, 1926. Bessie fell to her death from the cockpit of her plane while practicing for an air show in Orlando, Florida. She was buried in Lincoln Cemetery, Chicago with full honors provided by the African American Eighth Infantry Regiment of the Illinois National Guard.

Sources: 
Encyclopedia Britannica  
Encyclopedia Africana