Queen of the Air, by Victor Luckerson, illustrated by David Perrin, Smithsonian June 2026, pp 18-22.
Long before the Tuskegee Airmen, Bessie Coleman inspired a generation of Black pilots to take to the skies.
This is a story I had never heard. How a young woman, determined to fly airplanes. She was from Texas, but wanted more. She moved in his her brother in Chicago and became a manicurist, and earned good tips working in barber shops. Her brothr announced that Black wome could not fly airplanes. That set her in motion. But white pilots in Chicago would not train her; and the U.S. Army Air Service did not take women. She began saving money and studying French and at age 28 she headed for France where she was trained as a pilot. Flying was dangeroujs and a classmate died. But she was determined to let Blacks know that they could fly. She received her license in 1921. She was an. instant celebrity, but still had financial issues performing stunts in air shows did not make a lot of money. Finally in 1923 she purchased her own plan, but crashed it landing herself in the hospital for three months. She was determined to return to flying. Ahe flew in an all black air circus in 1925 for Juneteenth. She hoped to start a school to train black pilots, however tragedy struck. She and William Wills were surveying an area in Florida for a possible air show. Wills lost control of the plane and it flipped over, dumping Coleman from the passenger seat to her death. Wills also died when the plane crashed in a field.
Coleman has been the inspiration for many Black airmen. When Mae Jamison went to space she carried a photograph of Coleman.
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