The Air Zoo celebrated the birthday of Bessie Coleman on Tuesday. Coleman is the first woman of African-American descent and the first Native American to hold a pilot’s license.
The Air Zoo, in Portage, Michigan, is home to a permanent exhibit called Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight. Created by the Smithsonian, the exhibit provides a timeline of African Americans’ substantial contributions to aerospace and aviation.
A pioneer in the aviation industry, Coleman broke gender and racial barriers to achieve her goal of becoming a pilot. Born into a poor family on Jan. 26, 1892, in Atlanta, Texas, she was the 10th of 13 children. Her father, George Coleman, had grandparents who were Cherokee, and her mother, Susan Coleman, was African American.
Coleman would eventually move to Chicago in her early 20s to live with her brother. She worked in Chicago as a manicurist before pursuing her real dream. She had a fascination with flying that began early in her life.
“The air is the only place free from prejudices.” — Bessie Coleman, first African-American woman to earn a pilot’s license
“Her brother actually teased her that women in France could learn to fly, and that she couldn’t because she lived in America and she was African American,” Air Zoo Collections and Library Manager Christy Kincaid said.
“She proved him wrong,” Kincaid said “She learned French, went over to France, and after just seven months of learning how to fly she became the first African-American woman to earn her pilot’s license.”
Coleman returned to the states a media sensation. She would return to France one more time to learn the skills to become a barnstorming stunt pilot. She would perform for several years before her death. Coleman died in a plane crash in 1926 at the age of 34.
- Black Voices: Find more inspirational stories of women and men of color on our Black Voices page
“She was always going after her dreams. She didn’t take no for an answer,” Kincaid said.
Staff at the Air Zoo said they hope that pioneers like Coleman will inspire visitors to pursue their own passions.
The Air Zoo is currently going through a study looking at the photos on the museum floor to determine the number of men, women, and people of color represented.
“It’s just very important for us to understand our audience and to allow them to see themselves in our exhibit floor,” Kincaid said.
The Air Zoo, at 6151 Portage Road, is home to more than 100 spacecraft as an affiliate of the Smithsonian Institution. As of Jan. 27, 2021, the Air Zoo was open Monday through Saturday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sunday, noon to 5 p.m. Visit the Air Zoo website for ticketing information and COVID-19 related protocols.
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