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Home , Bessie Coleman

Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources: ​ ​ “Aviatrix Must Sign Life Away to Learn Trade”. Defender, October 8, 1921.

This newspaper article from 1920 gave me a lot of great information about Bessie Coleman when she got back to the U.S. from . They did an interview with her to ask about her time in school there. She told the reporter that she had to walk 9 miles a day for 10 months in order to go to school. She also encouraged other black men and women to fly so that other countries wouldn’t take the lead in aviation. This was an interesting article because it was almost all quotes from Miss Coleman.

Bessie Coleman’s Pilot’s License. Federation Aeronautique Internationale, France. Smithsonian Institution.

Bessie Coleman got her pilot’s license in France because no schools in the United States would allow her to attend. She was actually turned down by the first school she applied to in France but eventually was able to go to flight school and get her license. She was the first black female in the world to get a pilot’s license.

Carr, Daniel. Bessie Coleman Golden Dollar Prototype. 1998. Moonlight Mint. Web. 8 Oct. ​ ​ 2016. http://www.dc-coin.com/2001bessiecolemangoldendollarprototype- ​ usareversebrassprooflike.aspx. ​

Bessie Coleman was nominated to be on the face of the $1 gold coin, but she lost to . This is a picture of what the coin would have looked like if she had won. The competition was for famous women in america, and even though she didn't win it still is important that she was nominated. It showed her importance to america today, and that she was so powerful that she would be on the $1 gold coin..

Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. “Black Wings: American Dreams of Flight”. Smithsonian Institution. Brochure. Web 20 August 2016. http://www.sites.si.edu/blackWings/blackWingsBrochure.pdf

The Smithsonian published this brochure on great African-Americans in the aviation world. There is a section on Bessie Coleman and , the first African-American in space. Jemison has a quote that I can use on my website in the historical significance section about Bessie Coleman being a role model for her and always being with her as she was growing up and trying to become a pilot.

United States Postal Service. Women on Stamps. Publication 512. 2003. Diversity Development. Web. 06 Oct. 2016. https://about.usps.com/publications/pub512.pdf. ​ ​

The post office issued the Bessie Coleman postage stamp on April 27, 1995. It was a 32 cent stamp. The fact that she is on a stamp is proof that she took a stand for women’s rights and African-American rights. I also got historical context information from this publication about Harriet Quimby, the first woman to get a pilot’s license.

Secondary Sources:

Beckner, Chrisanne. 100 African Americans Who Changed American History. Milwaukee: ​ ​ World Almanac Library, 2005. 57. Print.

This book gave me a lot of background information on Bessie Coleman. It started with her childhood in Atlanta, and went on to her short college career and then her time in Chicago. There are a lot of examples of how she took a stand for women and African-Americans. In fact she ended up in France because her brother told her that women in the U.S. would never fly like the pilots in France. She got her pilot’s license in 1921 and came back to the U.S. a hero. I learned that she was an important aviation pioneer who paved the way for many others after her.

"Bessie Coleman." Texas Humanities. Atlanta Historical Museum. Web. 24 Sept. 2016. ​ ​ http://www.humanitiestexas.org/programs/tx-originals/list/bessie-coleman

This website gave me good information on why she is referred to as “Brave Bessie”. I also got links to other sources such as museum exhibits and documentaries that will help me prove that she took a stand.

"Bessie Coleman Biography." Bio.com. A&E Networks Television. Web. 03 Sept. 2016. ​ ​ http://www.biography.com/people/bessie-coleman-36928#synopsis

This source had all of the basic background information that I need in a quick and easy to find website. I learned extra information like how both of her parents were sharecroppers. When she was 12, Bessie attended the Missionary Baptist Church in ​ Texas. When she got older she attended the Normal University. It also said that she died during a rehearsal.

Caver, Joseph, Jerome A. Ennels, and Daniel L. Haulman. Introduction. The Tuskegee ​ Airmen: An Illustrated History, 1939-1949. Montgomery, AL: NewSouth, 2011. ​ 15-16. Print.

This book was about the , but there was good information on Bessie Coleman in the introduction. I learned how she was like an idol to them. I originally wanted to do my project on the Tuskegee Airmen but changed from them to “Brave” Bessie because of this book and the Cooper book.

Cooper, Charlie, Ann Cooper, and Roy La Grone. Tuskegee's Heroes: Featuring the ​ Aviation Art of Roy LaGrone. Osceola, WI: Motor International & Wholesalers, ​ 1996. 20-24. Print.

Even though this book is about the Tuskegee Airmen it has some good information on Bessie Coleman. This was the first book that I read that mentioned her. I had never heard of her before. When I read about her in the “Early Years” section I was very interested, and decided to change my topic. It was obvious that she took a stand for aviation way before the Tuskeegee Airmen and they were able to fly because of her. It is interesting to think about how much more she would’ve done if she didn’t die so young, before she was able to open her own flight school.

Crowley, Kitty A., and Russell Charpentier. First Women of the Skies. New York: C.P.I., ​ ​ 1978. 20-22. Print.

In this book I learned about important female aviators. Bessie Coleman wasn’t an average stunt women. She did extreme tricks for her time. She would almost touch the ground and at the last moment pull up. She would go so low that “the spectators could see her face”. She would do figure eights and loops that were super dangerous. On April 30, 1926 she did a show and all the money was to be donated to the Negro Welfare League. When she was practicing for the show the plane suddenly dove and flipped over. “Brave Bessie” fell to her death.

Fisher, Lillian M. "Bessie Coleman.". Ancestry.com. Rootsweb. Web. 24 Sept. 2016. http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~txecm/bessie_coleman.htm

This website gave me interesting information. I found out that Bessie Coleman married Claude Glenn but it wasn't official and it wasn't public. She also had an accident in and it took her over a year to recover. I also learned that when she died she was not alone in the plane. She was practicing with another pilot, William Wills, who was showing her how to fly a new “used” plane that she just bought. Even though the damage prevented investigators from finding what caused the accident, most people believed it was a loose wrench.

Fisher, Lillian M. Brave Bessie: Flying Free. , TX: Hendrick-Long Pub., 1995. Print. ​ ​

This book was a biography of Bessie Coleman’s entire life. The most important part of the book was explaining how she stood up against discrimination in her hometown. She refused to perform until the manager closed the “black only” entrance and allowed all the people to use one entrance. This proves that she took a stand against discrimination. The book also had a good definition and examples of “” and how she would get permission from farmers to use their land and barn to do performances around the country for local people, as long as African-Americans could watch.

Gates, Henry Louis, and Cornel West. The African-American Century: How Black ​ Americans Have Shaped Our Country. New York: Free, 2000. 90-94. Print. ​

From this source I learned that Miss Coleman was known as “Brown Skin Bess” and that her dad, George Coleman, was a Native American who left the family and moved to the Choctaw reservation when she was young. Her mom made sure that she had lots of books to read from a travelling library that came to her town. Bessie wanted to become an aviator, because at the barber shop where she worked, she heard stories about how fun and thrilling flying was from veterans.

Hart, Philip S. Up in the Air: The Story of Bessie Coleman. Minneapolis: Carolrhoda, ​ ​ ​ 1996. Print.

This book gave me a lot of information about Bessie Coleman’s aviation career and how she took a stand for women’s rights. The first aviation school she tried to go to denied her because two female aviation students had just died and the school didn’t think women were ready. She tried other schools in the U.S. and were denied by them all. She was forced to move to France to get her pilot’s license. The book also discusses how she had to take a stand for money because she started with a good friend who funded her but after a crash he abruptly stopped giving her money so she had to find other ways to support her career.

Keenan, Sheila. Scholastic Encyclopedia of Women in the United States. New York: ​ ​ Scholastic Reference, 2002. Print.

This encyclopedia had articles on many famous women in American history. The article on Bessie Coleman was short but it gave me information on an important part of my project which is historical context. I learned that Bessie heard stories about Eugene Jacques Bullard, an African-American who flew for the French in World War I. That made her want to become a pilot and probably is why she thought of going to France when she couldn’t get into aviation schools in the U.S.

Smith, Jessie Carney. Epic Lives: One Hundred Black Women Who Made a Difference. ​ ​ Detroit: Visible Ink, 1993. 102-106. Print. ​

Bessie Coleman had three goals: to get a pilot’s licence and learn to fly, to become a recognized stunt flier, and to open an aviation school where black pilots could learn to fly. She only lived to reach two of them. In order to achieve her first goal she had to learn French and German in order to go to Europe to get her license. She learned to fly the German airplane. On Labor Day, 1922, she flew as part of the “United States: In The Air” show near New York City then in Chicago at the Checkerboard Airdrome which is now Midway Airport. These helped her achieve her second goal. I learned that even though she died at an early age and never opened a flying school she was an inspiration to many other African-American and women pilots.

Spivey, Lynne. "Bessie Coleman." Atlanta Historical Museum. Web. 16 Oct. 2016. http://www.bessiecoleman.com/

This is the official website for Bessie Coleman. The best thing about this website is it had five links that I will use in my website. I learned that she probably learned to take a stand from her father, who was tired of racial barriers against Native Americans and wanted the family to move with him to live in but they said no. Her father wanted to be free so he moved and left the family behind in Texas.