MLA Biography Project

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MLA Biography Project: Bessie Coleman Bessie Elizabeth Coleman was born January 28,1892 in Atlanta, Texas. Her mother wanted to move back to Texas by that time Bessie was only 2 years old. Waxahachie, a town of fewer than 4,000 people. She was the tenth out of thirteen children in her household with her two parents Susan and George Coleman. Susan and George were married for 17 years with up’s and down. George was mixed with African American and part Cherokee. But Susan was a straight African American from the roots up. George Coleman left his family in 1901 to return to Indian Territory because of the racial barriers that existed in Waxahachie and all over Texas. Susan Coleman refused to move the kids back to Oklahoma. Bessie stayed along with four other siblings, to help with the family financial issues by picking cotton or help with the washing and ironing that her mother did for work. But her mother was determined to get her kids an education. When Bessie graduated from high school, she enrolled in the Colored Agricultural and Normal University, which is now Langston University in Langston, Oklahoma. But with money issues she had to drop out after her first semester because all her savings had run out. But she could have stayed and work, but her mother needed help at home so Bessie gave up school just to help her mom out at home. Not long after that she moved to Chicago in 1915, where her brother was then living, and attended beauty school. She spent her early years in World War 1 working as a manicurist at the White Sox Barber Shop. She operated a small but profitable chili parlor. Unfortunately, she got married to Claude Glenn, but she never really said it publicly since she knew he wasn’t really for her life so s... ... middle of paper ... ... American-Statesman, September 6, 1993. Roger Bilstein and Jay Miller, Aviation in Texas (Austin: Texas Monthly Press, 1985). Dallas Morning News, September 8, 1993. Houston Post-Dispatch, May 1, 1926. Anita King, "Brave Bessie: First Black Pilot," Parts 1 and 2, Essence, May, June 1976. Doris L. Rich, Queen Bess: Daredevil Aviator (Washington: Smithsonian Institution Press, 1993). Vertical Files, Barker Texas History Center, University of Texas at Austin. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/amex/flygirls/peopleevents/pandeAMEX02.html 1996-2009 WGBH Educational Foundation This site is produced for PBS by WGBH http://www.bessiecoleman.com/ By the Atlanta Historic of Museum http://www.biography.com/people/bessie-coleman-36928 1996–2013 A&E Television Networks, LLC. All Rights Reserved. http://womenshistory.about.com/od/aviationpilots/a/bessie_coleman.htm By Jone Johnson Lewis

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