Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas back in 1892 to George and Susan. BTW I lived in Texarkana, Texas about 20 miles north of Atlanta. That has nothing to do with this post however, I found it interesting. So, when Coleman was 2 the family moved to Waxahachie, Texas. Attending school Coleman had to walk four miles to get to classes.
Coleman attended Langston, University in Langston, Oklahoma. At 23 Coleman moved to Chicago working in various jobs. Wanting to become a pilot due to WWI veterans talking about flying. Due to the lack of funds and other issues (we’ll get to that shortly) Coleman moved to Paris to earn a pilot license. In 1926 Coleman was in Jacksonville, Florida having just recently purchased a Curtis JN-4 in Dallas.
The plane had issues however Coleman ignored putting on the seat belt. Coleman was planning on a parachute jump for the next day and wanted to look over the cockpit to examine the terrain. About 10 minutes into the flight the plane took a nose dive and Coleman fell out of the plane. So, not a brilliant move no doubt however, what Coleman will go down in the history books is.
For you see Coleman was Bessie Coleman the first African-American and the first Native American female aviator to hold a pilots license. She was also the first person of African-American and Native American descent to hold an international pilot license.
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