Who is Bessie Coleman?
Bessie Coleman, known also as “Queen Bess,” was born on 26 January 1892 in Atlanta, Texas, into a family of thirteen children of mixed Native American and African American ancestry. Her family was extremely poor and worked in the cotton fields, which somewhat affected Coleman’s early education. Bessie Coleman was expected to adjust to the times and become a housewife or adopt a traditionally female career. However, Coleman had other ideas. She enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University but dropped out because of lack of money; Bessie Coleman then moved to Chicago, where she worked odd jobs in supermarkets, beauty salons, and barbershops. The idea of becoming a pilot struck Bessie Coleman early on, as she became friends with military pilots and local aviation experts that frequented the barbershop where she worked. When no American flying school wanted to take her on as a student because of her race and sex, Bessie Coleman packed up her things and moved to Paris
