Speaker 1: Welcome to Brainstuff, a production of I Heart Radio. Hey
Speaker 1: brain Stuff, Lauren bog Obam here. Well, when we think
Speaker 1: of the early pioneers in the field of American flight,
Speaker 1: we'll hear about Amelia Earhart's solo trek across the Atlantic
Speaker 1: Ocean or Charles Lindbergh's NonStop journey in the Spirit of St. Louis.
Speaker 1: But the textbooks have often overlooked a pivotal figure who
Speaker 1: made an early mark on aviation history, Bessie Coleman, who
Speaker 1: in nine one became the first African American woman to
Speaker 1: be a licensed pilot. Coleman was born on January two
Speaker 1: and grew up in Texas, the daughter of a Native
Speaker 1: American and Black father and an African American mother who
Speaker 1: both worked as sharecroppers. As the twelfth of thirteen children,
Speaker 1: Coleman worked in the cotton fields after her father left
Speaker 1: the family to return to his native reservation. She attended
Speaker 1: primary school in a one room wooden shack. For the
Speaker 1: article this episode is based on How Stuff Works, spoke
Speaker 1: with Dr Philip S. Hart. He's written two books on
Speaker 1: Coleman and also served as an advisor to the Smithsonian
Speaker 1: Air and Space Museum's Black Wings exhibit, which honors Black
Speaker 1: men and women who have advanced the field of airspace.
Speaker 1: Heart said she was a good student an avid reader.
Speaker 1: She read about a woman named Harriet Quimby, a woman pilot,
Speaker 1: she thought that might be something she would be interested
Speaker 1: in doing. As a young woman, Coleman sought a different
Speaker 1: life for herself than the one her parents had, and
Speaker 1: she attended what's now called Langston University, but ended up
Speaker 1: dropping out for financial reasons. She eventually made her way
Speaker 1: to Chicago, where her brothers lived, and she worked as
Speaker 1: a manicurist in a local salon. A one brother, who
Speaker 1: had returned from fighting during World War One, regaled her
Speaker 1: with stories of women pilots in France, joking that Coleman
Speaker 1: would never be able to fly like them. Such teasing
Speaker 1: only spurred on Coleman's ambitions to become a pilot. While
Speaker 1: working in the salon, Coleman met Robert abbey It, publisher
Speaker 1: of The Chicago Defender, which was a leading newspaper serving
Speaker 1: the black community. Abbott would become her mentor, supporting her
Speaker 1: interests in aviation. Hart explained one of the reasons he
Speaker 1: wanted to support her was because he knew her exploits
Speaker 1: would make for good stories in his newspaper. Based on
Speaker 1: her gender and skin color, Coleman was denied admission to
Speaker 1: all of the aviation schools she applied to in the
Speaker 1: United States. At Abbot's encouragement, Coleman studied French and went
Speaker 1: to Paris to learn how to fly. While there, Coleman
Speaker 1: befriended fellow black American expatriots like entertainer Josephine Baker. After
Speaker 1: receiving her international pilot's license from the International Aeronautical Federation
Speaker 1: in Coleman returned to the United States, but the only
Speaker 1: job opportunity for a trained pilot and delivering mail for
Speaker 1: the Postal Service, was unavailable to her as a black
Speaker 1: person and as a woman, so she turned to performing
Speaker 1: aerial stunts, also known as barn storming. Her first air
Speaker 1: show took place at the Checkerboard Field in Chicago. In
Speaker 1: Nino Heart said, generally those air shows attracted anywhere from
Speaker 1: twenty thousand to thirty thousand people. Their high energy affairs,
Speaker 1: big bands. You had pilots doing tricks, wingwalkers, parachute jumpers.
Speaker 1: A very high energy, yet very dangerous event, very profitable
Speaker 1: for the pilot. Barnstorming became a lucrative way not only
Speaker 1: to make a living, but also to finance the aeronautical
Speaker 1: schools that Coleman intended to set up to foster black
Speaker 1: participation in aviation. But despite Coleman's drive, winsome personality, and
Speaker 1: immense talent, it wasn't always an easy career path. Heart said,
Speaker 1: You're going to get negative reactions from people in general,
Speaker 1: white people because she's black and she's a woman. She's
Speaker 1: going to get a certain kind of reaction from black
Speaker 1: people who think she shouldn't be a pilot because it
Speaker 1: was viewed to something that men should do. So she
Speaker 1: faced discrimination and conflict from both black and white people,
Speaker 1: but for the most part, her support in the black
Speaker 1: community was pretty strong. Sadly, tragedy cut short Coleman's life
Speaker 1: on April ninety six, when she died after falling from
Speaker 1: her plane while rehearsing for an air show in Jacksonville, Florida.
Speaker 1: A funeral service was held in Jacksonville and a much
Speaker 1: larger one in Chicago, which more than five thousand people attended,
Speaker 1: including black civil rights activist Ida B. Wells, who eulogized Coleman.
Speaker 1: Coleman's life has seen a renewed interest in recent decades
Speaker 1: from institutions seeking to honor her pioneering work and legacy
Speaker 1: as a black woman in aviation. The US Postal Service
Speaker 1: honored Coleman by placing her image on a stamp that
Speaker 1: came out in as part of their Black Heritage series,
Speaker 1: and Heart is currently working on a future film about
Speaker 1: Coleman's life story. The National Aviation Hall of Fame also
Speaker 1: enshrined Coleman as one of the honorees in two thousand six,
Speaker 1: which Amy Spowart, president and CEO of that organization, called
Speaker 1: overdue and necessary. In an email interview with How Stuff Works,
Speaker 1: Spowart said, Bessie never took no for an answer, whether
Speaker 1: it was working extremely hard to save up the funds
Speaker 1: needed for lessons learning French. When she realized that she
Speaker 1: would need to go to France to earn her license,
Speaker 1: and that she would always fight gender and race bigotry,
Speaker 1: Coleman didn't let anything stand in her way. Dr Hart's
Speaker 1: Mother's uncle, one James Herman Banning, was the first black
Speaker 1: American pilot to be licensed by the US government in
Speaker 1: ninety and he served as the first chief pilot of
Speaker 1: the Bessie Coleman Aero Club, which was established in nine
Speaker 1: in honor of Coleman to support black men and women
Speaker 1: in the field of aeronautics. The Bessie Coleman Aero Club
Speaker 1: ended up training many black pilots, some of whom went
Speaker 1: on to serve as Tuscogee airmen during World War Two.
Speaker 1: They also sponsored the first all black flight shows in
Speaker 1: the nineteen thirties in Los Angeles, which raised money for
Speaker 1: the city Unemployment Fund at the height of the Great Depression.
Speaker 1: Heart said her legacy the black men and women she
Speaker 1: inspired to follow her into the field of aviation. The
Speaker 1: first African American woman to go into space, May Jamison
Speaker 1: took a photo of Coleman into space with her. Today's
Speaker 1: episode is based on the article Bessie Coleman, America's first
Speaker 1: Black female Avia tricks on houstff works dot Com, written
Speaker 1: by Terry yr Lagata. Brain Stuff is production of by
Speaker 1: Heart Radio in partnership with how stuff Works dot Com,
Speaker 1: and it's produced by Tyler Clang. Four more podcasts from
Speaker 1: my Heart Radio, visit the i Heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,
Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.