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Inventors & Scientists

Bessie Coleman

1892 – 1926

Texas; Chicago; France

Barred from U.S. flight schools, Texas-born Bessie Coleman trained in France and on June 15, 1921 became the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license, later performing as a barnstormer.

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Portrait photograph of aviator Bessie Coleman, 1920s, San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives
Credit: San Diego Air & Space Museum Archives, via Flickr Commons. License: Public domain (no known copyright restrictions; 1920s photo).

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Related entries

Sources

  1. Smithsonian Institution, "Smithsonian Snapshot: Bessie Coleman" (Primary source)
  2. Chicago History Museum, "Bessie Coleman" (Reference)

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