Did you know that Bessie Coleman (1892–1926) was a pioneering American aviator and the first African American and Native American woman to earn an international pilot’s license, which she obtained in France in 1921? Known as "Queen Bess," she became a renowned stunt flier, advocating for racial equality and aiming to establish a flight school for Black aviators before her death in 1926.
Pioneering Achievement: After being denied entry to U.S. flight schools due to her race and gender, she learned French and earned her international pilot's license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921.
Barnstorming Career: She specialized in stunt flying, parachute jumps, and aerial tricks, drawing large crowds in the U.S.
Civil Rights Activism: Coleman refused to perform at airshows that segregated or discriminated against Black audiences.
Early Life and Family: Born in Atlanta, Texas, she was one of 13 children born to sharecroppers. She worked in cotton fields before moving to Chicago.
Death: She died at age 34 on April 30, 1926, in Jacksonville, Florida, when her plane, a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny," went into a dive due to a mechanical failure (a wrench jamming the controls).
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