Bessie Coleman

Denied flying lessons in America, home of the free and the brave, because of her race and gender, Bessie Coleman learned French and in 1918 joined a Red Cross unit attached to a French flying squadron. She received her first lessons from French and German aviators completing her flight training at the most famous flight school in France - the Ecole d'Aviation de Freres Caudron - earning her flying license from the National Aeronautic Association, the U.S. Chapter of the Federation Aeronautique International. She became the first black woman aviatrix in America. returning home in 1922, she began a career in aviation as a stunt pilot with the intention of establishing a flight school for black people. April 10, 1926 she died while a passenger in a plane a test pilot was flying. The aircraft suddenly flipped over upside down dropping Bessie to the ground 5,000 feet below. The pilot was burned to death on the ground after a spectator accidentally lit his cigarette igniting gas fumes around the wreckage.