Biography

Born in Atlanta, Texas on January 26, 1892, Bessie Coleman had twelve brothers and sisters. Her mother, Susan Coleman, was an African American maid, and her father George Coleman was a sharecropper of mixed Native American and African American descent. 

Coleman's brothers served in the military during World War I and came home with stories of their time in France. Her brother's stories, along with other news of pilots in the war, inspired her to become a pilot. She applied to many flight schools across the country, but no school would take her because she was both African American and a woman. Robert Abbot, a famous African American newspaper publisher told her to move to France where she could learn how to fly. Finally, Coleman was accepted at the Caudron Brothers' School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France. She received her international pilot’s license on June 15, 1921 from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale. In 1922, she performed the first public flight by an African American woman. She was famous for doing “loop-the-loops” and making the shape of an “8” in an airplane. People were fascinated by her performances, and she became more popular both in the United States and in Europe. She toured the country giving flight lessons and performing in flight shows, and she encouraged African Americans and women to learn how to fly. 

Though she died at the age of 34, her legacy continues to inspire communities all over the country. In 1995, the “Bessie Coleman Stamp” was made to commemorate all of her accomplishments. In 2023, the U.S. Mint released a special quarter featuring Bessie Coleman as part of the American Women Quarters Program. 

“Biography: Bessie Coleman.” National Women’s History Museum, https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/bessie-coleman. Accessed 6 Mar. 2024.