WEBVTT - How Did Bessie Coleman Work?

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<v Speaker 1>Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey

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<v Speaker 1>brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam here. Well, when we think

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<v Speaker 1>of the early pioneers in the field of American flight,

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<v Speaker 1>we'll hear about Amelia Earhart's solo trek across the Atlantic

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<v Speaker 1>Ocean or Charles Lindbergh's NonStop journey in the Spirit of St. Louis.

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<v Speaker 1>But the textbooks have often overlooked a pivotal figure who

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<v Speaker 1>made an early mark on aviation history, Bessie Coleman, who

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<v Speaker 1>in nine one became the first African American woman to

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<v Speaker 1>be a licensed pilot. Coleman was born on January two

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<v Speaker 1>and grew up in Texas, the daughter of a Native

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<v Speaker 1>American and Black father and an African American mother who

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<v Speaker 1>both worked as sharecroppers. As the twelfth of thirteen children,

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<v Speaker 1>Coleman worked in the cotton fields after her father left

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<v Speaker 1>the family to return to his native reservation. She attended

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<v Speaker 1>primary school in a one room wooden shack. For the

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<v Speaker 1>article this episode is based on How Stuff Works, spoke

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<v Speaker 1>with Dr Philip S. Hart. He's written two books on

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<v Speaker 1>Coleman and also served as an advisor to the Smithsonian

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<v Speaker 1>Air and Space Museum's Black Wings exhibit, which honors Black

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<v Speaker 1>men and women who have advanced the field of airspace.

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<v Speaker 1>Heart said she was a good student an avid reader.

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<v Speaker 1>She read about a woman named Harriet Quimby, a woman pilot,

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<v Speaker 1>she thought that might be something she would be interested

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<v Speaker 1>in doing. As a young woman, Coleman sought a different

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<v Speaker 1>life for herself than the one her parents had, and

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<v Speaker 1>she attended what's now called Langston University, but ended up

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<v Speaker 1>dropping out for financial reasons. She eventually made her way

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<v Speaker 1>to Chicago, where her brothers lived, and she worked as

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<v Speaker 1>a manicurist in a local salon. A one brother, who

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<v Speaker 1>had returned from fighting during World War One, regaled her

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<v Speaker 1>with stories of women pilots in France, joking that Coleman

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<v Speaker 1>would never be able to fly like them. Such teasing

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<v Speaker 1>only spurred on Coleman's ambitions to become a pilot. While

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<v Speaker 1>working in the salon, Coleman met Robert abbey It, publisher

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<v Speaker 1>of The Chicago Defender, which was a leading newspaper serving

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<v Speaker 1>the black community. Abbott would become her mentor, supporting her

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<v Speaker 1>interests in aviation. Hart explained one of the reasons he

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<v Speaker 1>wanted to support her was because he knew her exploits

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<v Speaker 1>would make for good stories in his newspaper. Based on

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<v Speaker 1>her gender and skin color, Coleman was denied admission to

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<v Speaker 1>all of the aviation schools she applied to in the

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<v Speaker 1>United States. At Abbot's encouragement, Coleman studied French and went

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<v Speaker 1>to Paris to learn how to fly. While there, Coleman

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<v Speaker 1>befriended fellow black American expatriots like entertainer Josephine Baker. After

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<v Speaker 1>receiving her international pilot's license from the International Aeronautical Federation

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<v Speaker 1>in Coleman returned to the United States, but the only

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<v Speaker 1>job opportunity for a trained pilot and delivering mail for

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<v Speaker 1>the Postal Service, was unavailable to her as a black

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<v Speaker 1>person and as a woman, so she turned to performing

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<v Speaker 1>aerial stunts, also known as barn storming. Her first air

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<v Speaker 1>show took place at the Checkerboard Field in Chicago. In

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<v Speaker 1>Nino Heart said, generally those air shows attracted anywhere from

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<v Speaker 1>twenty thousand to thirty thousand people. Their high energy affairs,

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<v Speaker 1>big bands. You had pilots doing tricks, wingwalkers, parachute jumpers.

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<v Speaker 1>A very high energy, yet very dangerous event, very profitable

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<v Speaker 1>for the pilot. Barnstorming became a lucrative way not only

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<v Speaker 1>to make a living, but also to finance the aeronautical

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<v Speaker 1>schools that Coleman intended to set up to foster black

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<v Speaker 1>participation in aviation. But despite Coleman's drive, winsome personality, and

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<v Speaker 1>immense talent, it wasn't always an easy career path. Heart said,

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<v Speaker 1>You're going to get negative reactions from people in general,

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<v Speaker 1>white people because she's black and she's a woman. She's

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<v Speaker 1>going to get a certain kind of reaction from black

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<v Speaker 1>people who think she shouldn't be a pilot because it

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<v Speaker 1>was viewed to something that men should do. So she

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<v Speaker 1>faced discrimination and conflict from both black and white people,

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<v Speaker 1>but for the most part, her support in the black

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<v Speaker 1>community was pretty strong. Sadly, tragedy cut short Coleman's life

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<v Speaker 1>on April ninety six, when she died after falling from

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<v Speaker 1>her plane while rehearsing for an air show in Jacksonville, Florida.

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<v Speaker 1>A funeral service was held in Jacksonville and a much

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<v Speaker 1>larger one in Chicago, which more than five thousand people attended,

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<v Speaker 1>including black civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, who eulogized Coleman.

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<v Speaker 1>Coleman's life has seen a renewed interest in recent decades

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<v Speaker 1>from institutions seeking to honor her pioneering work and legacy

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<v Speaker 1>as a black woman in aviation. The US Postal Service

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<v Speaker 1>honored Coleman by placing her image on a stamp that

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<v Speaker 1>came out in as part of their Black Heritage series,

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<v Speaker 1>and Heart is currently working on a future film about

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<v Speaker 1>Coleman's life story. The National Aviation Hall of Fame also

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<v Speaker 1>enshrined Coleman as one of the honorees in two thousand six,

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<v Speaker 1>which Amy Spowart, president and CEO of that organization, called

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<v Speaker 1>overdue and necessary. In an email interview with How Stuff Works,

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<v Speaker 1>Spowart said, Bessie never took no for an answer, whether

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<v Speaker 1>it was working extremely hard to save up the funds

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<v Speaker 1>needed for lessons learning French. When she realized that she

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<v Speaker 1>would need to go to France to earn her license,

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<v Speaker 1>and that she would always fight gender and race bigotry,

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<v Speaker 1>Coleman didn't let anything stand in her way. Dr Hart's

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<v Speaker 1>Mother's uncle, one James Herman Banning, was the first black

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<v Speaker 1>American pilot to be licensed by the US government in

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<v Speaker 1>ninety and he served as the first chief pilot of

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<v Speaker 1>the Bessie Coleman Aero Club, which was established in nine

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<v Speaker 1>in honor of Coleman to support black men and women

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<v Speaker 1>in the field of aeronautics. The Bessie Coleman Aero Club

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<v Speaker 1>ended up training many black pilots, some of whom went

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<v Speaker 1>on to serve as Tuscogee airmen during World War Two.

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<v Speaker 1>They also sponsored the first all black flight shows in

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<v Speaker 1>the nineteen thirties in Los Angeles, which raised money for

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<v Speaker 1>the city Unemployment Fund at the height of the Great Depression.

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<v Speaker 1>Heart said her legacy the black men and women she

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<v Speaker 1>inspired to follow her into the field of aviation. The

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<v Speaker 1>first African American woman to go into space, May Jamison

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<v Speaker 1>took a photo of Coleman into space with her. Today's

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<v Speaker 1>episode is based on the article Bessie Coleman, America's first

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<v Speaker 1>Black female Avia tricks on houstff works dot Com, written

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<v Speaker 1>by Terry yr Lagata. Brain Stuff is production of by

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<v Speaker 1>Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com,

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<v Speaker 1>and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from

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<v Speaker 1>my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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<v Speaker 1>or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.