Jane Nettie Harmon was born in Griffin, Georgia back in 1907. Her family ancestry was interesting it was a mix of African and Cherokee. She attended Episcopal schools and went west no to Spelman College in Atlanta, Georgia. She graduated in 1929 as a registered nurse.
After graduation she left Georgia and settled in Chicago, Illinois working at Wilson Hospital. She married Evans however the marriage fell apart after two years. She continued working as a nurse but this time for practicing doctors while attending Loyola University. From 1941-51 she was a health inspector for an insurance company.
Om 1953 she married again to Sumner. Both of them managed nursing homes for the elderly in Chicago until their retirement in 1972. Sumner died in 1986 and Jane died in 1993. As you may have guessed I’m leaving the best for last.
So while she was born Jane Nettie Harmon you may know her better as Janet Harmon Waterford Bragg. What she accomplished back in those days is the reason she will be written in the history books. So let me give you a brief of what she accomplished. In 1928 she was the first black woman to enroll in the Curtiss Wright School of Aeronautics in Chicago. in 1943 she applied to join the Women Airforce Service Pilot (WASP) program but she was denied her interview because she was black. Not being deterred she travelled to a flight school in Tuskegee, Alabama and completed the Civilian Pilot Training Program where she was again denied a pilot’s license in Alabama. I do so admire this woman she went on to Pal-Waukee Field in Illinois where she was finally given her license to fly. So she was the first African-American woman to hold a commercial pilot license.
Just another story of why you should not let anyone say to you it won’t happen or you can’t do it. Remember your only limitations as in your mind.
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