Bessie Coleman
Born January 26, 1892
Atlanta, Texas
First licensed Black Aviator

Bessie Coleman is famous for being the world's first licensed black aviator. She was born in Atlanta, Texas and attended school through the eighth grade. She later attended the Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Langston, Oklahoma. She attended flying school in Europe because women and people of color were treated better there and had more opportunities than in the United States. Of sixty-two candidates, she was the only woman in the group to receive her license which she received on June 15, 1921.

Bessie's dream was to open her very own aviation school, but she realized it would take time and money. Although she had to overcome racial and gender barriers, she appeared in various air shows, and refused to perform unless the audiences were desegregated. In addition, she gave lectures in black theaters in Georgia and Florida in an effort to save money to reach her goals.

With the help of a wealthy businessman, Bessie was able to purchase her own airplane in time for her next flying engagement which was scheduled for May 1, 1926. However, the day before her scheduled engagement, her life ended very tragically when she and her mechanic took the plane up for a test flight. The plane malfunctioned and caused Bessie to fall several hundred feet from an open cockpit to her death.

Harriet Quimby
1875 to 1912

PROFILE

Rosa Parks
Born February 4, 1913
Tuskegee, Alabama
Pioneer of Civil Rights

Rosa Parks is famous for refusing to give up her seat to a white passenger on a city bus. Although many other African-Americans were arrested during that time for doing the same thing, her arrest and conviction made the news because she was a well known civil rights activist. Over the years she became a very important citizen and has been called the "mother of the civil rights movement".

After the Rosa Parks bus incident, African-Americans decided to boycott the bus system by refusing to ride the bus. The Montgomery Improvement Association was a new organization created to supervise the boycott, and Martin Luther King, Jr. was chosen as its first leader. The boycott lasted for one year and led to the U.S. Supreme Court decision to ban segregated buses.

Over the next forty years, Ms. Parks made people aware of the history of the civil rights struggle. She has been given many honors, including the Martin Luther King Jr. Nonviolent Peace Prize. She is a living symbol of courage and determination and an inspiration to freedom-loving people everywhere.

Ameila Earhart
1897 - 1937

When Amelia was ten years old, she had the opportunity to see an airplane at the state fair. However, she was not too impressed with what she saw. As you will see, first impressions were not lasting because almost a decade later she developed a desire to fly after attending a stunt-flying exhibition.

While Amelia had to overcome the barriers of prejudice and money problems, she never lost sight of her goal of owning and flying her very own airplane. She had the advantage of taking her first flying lesson on January 3, 1921, and was able to make her dream a reality some six months later by saving up enough money to buy her own airplane. Although she bought the plane secondhand, she was able to set a record of flying at an altitude of 14,000 feet.

During Amelia's lifetime, it was hard for women to break into fields dominated by men. Therefore, whenever a woman managed to get through the door, they thrived on media coverage. The drawback to that scenario is that when women failed, they also drew a lot of criticism from the press.

Even though Amelia was well known for the 21 hour flight she took in 1928, she was even more remembered in 1937, when she attempted to fly over the Pacific Ocean because she disappeared, never to be heard from again. Even though she did not complete her world tour she should be remembered as a brave and daring aviator for attempting to do something that many people during her time never accomplished whether they were male or female.