By Brenda Daniel
In celebration of the contributions to society and cultural influences Black people have had in America over the last 400 years, the Lincoln Parish Journal will feature each week for the month of February, a spotlight on some of those men and women, who have pioneered and built upon their successes as more contemporary history makers. Today we start with the aviation industry.
Historical moments in AVIATION
Bessie Coleman (Queen Bess) 1892-1926, was born in Atlanta, Texas, and was the first Black person to earn an international pilot’s license. Unable to attend aviation school in the U.S. because she was a woman and Black, her dream set her focus toward France. She attended school at night to learn French, until she was able to complete an application that required its completion in French. Finally, she was accepted into the Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France. On June 15, 1921, she became the first Black woman to obtain an international pilot’s license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale. Bessie Coleman staged the first public flight by a Black woman in America on Labor Day, September 3, 1922. This Black pioneer is still being celebrated today, for her contributions to aviation 97 years after her death by Mattel toy makers, as “Brave Barnstormer” which part of the “Toymaker’s Inspiring Women” line of dolls for women to explore a career in aviation.
Mae Jemison 1956-current, was born in Decatur, Alabama, in 1956. She grew up in Chicago and was heavily involved in dance, but her passion for science dominated. Jamison graduated from Stanford University with a chemical engineering degree in 1977 and received her medical degree from Cornell Medical College four years later. She owned a medical practice until she set off to lend her skills as a doctor to the Peace Corps in Liberia and Sierra Leone. It was while on this assignment that she was accepted into the NASA program. On September 12, 1992, Jemison became the first Black woman in space as a member of the Space Shuttle Endeavour. She orbited the earth for nearly eight days. A person with many skills and interests, Jemison became the first real astronaut to be on an episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Later, she accepted a position as the Andrew D. White Professor-at-Large at Cornell University in 1999. She has been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, National Medical Association Hall of Fame and Texas Science Hall of Fame.
