All language subtitles for The.Legend.The.Bessie.Coleman.Story.2018.720p.WEBRip.x264.AAC-[YTS.MX]

- [Narrator] In
1921, a young woman

Downloaded from
YTS.MX

who arose from the poverty

of the Texas cotton
fields captured the hearts

of the black
population of America.

Official YIFY movies site:
YTS.MX

She taught them to overcome
not only racial barriers

but the barriers
within themselves

and in doing so dared to dream.

This is her story.

[baby crying]
[somber music]

- Susan, where's your Bible?

- [Susan] Right there,
on the shelf next to you.

- Now what you gonna name
this new little girl of yours?

- [Susan] Her name is Elisabeth,
and she's my 10th born.

- At the turn of the
century, it was not unusual

for African American's
born in the South not

to have birth certificates.

Hospitals, like most
civilized establishments,

were off limits to them.

So births were done at home
with the help of a midwife.

It was not uncommon for birth
dates to be recorded down

in a family journal or a Bible.

Susan comments that her 10th
child was born January 26, 1892

in Atlanta, Texas.

She will later tell people
she gave birth to 13 children,

raised nine of them and
add, with a loving smile,

"And one of them
was flat crazy."

She was talking
about her 10th born,

Elisabeth Bessie Coleman.

I am Aneva Walker welcome to

The Legend: The
Bessie Coleman Story.

[somber music]

Bessie was born in a small
farming town of Atlanta, Texas.

Like so many other dusty towns

littering the
Southern landscapes,

Atlanta offered little more

than manual labor
jobs and poor wages.

So when Bessie was two years
old, the Coleman family

moved to the booming cotton
town of Waxahachie, Texas.

George Coleman, Bessie's father,

had become a skilled
carpenter, and he hoped

to find decent work in the
fast-growing town of Waxahachie.

He built a three-room
house on Palmer Road,

on the south side of the
town, in the colored district.

It was the first house he had
ever built for his family.

It was also the first house
the Colemans had lived in

with a wood floor.

It was a sound house,
well-built, unlike many houses

in the farming belt of
Texas during those times.

Bessie's father was
wise enough not to fall

into the insidious trap
called sharecropping,

a fraudulent plan designed
to keep the poor tied

to working the land
and forever indebted

to the property owners.

It wasn't just for blacks.

Anyone poor enough or
desperate enough would do.

To better understand
Bessie Coleman,

one must comprehend
the time she lived in.

Bessie was born 30 years
after slavery was abolished

and her people were set free,
where freedom meant to slaves

that they were no longer
owned or considered property.

But free? Hardly.

During nearly three
centuries of bondage,

African slaves were forcefully
kept illiterate and fearful.

They were treated
as non-entities

with no culture nor
heritage, no contributions

nor meaning in life other
than to bend the will

of the superior white race.

Thinking or acting on
one's own was discouraged

and at times even punished.

So when liberty finally came,

millions of newly freed
slaves found themselves

in a hostile world of
fear and self-doubt.

America's new citizens were
mistreated, scorned, unschooled

and cut off from any
semblance of a normal life.

And it was all by design.

The Southern states, desperate

to keep their
unrestricted labor force,

quickly enacted their
own rules and laws

under the customary war
cry of state rights.

And let's be perfectly clear.

We're not talking about a bunch

of crazies running
around in white sheets.

New rules were
drawn up, voted on

and put into law by
Southern state governments.

The dehumanizing effect

of the laws African
Americans were subjected to

is a disgrace the United
States will never live down.

While the laws differed
slightly from state to state,

across the South, the
effect was the same.

These laws became known
as the Black Code.

It was against the law
for blacks to disagree

with the white man, own a
gun, walk on the sidewalk,

hold meetings, vote,
be outside after sunset

and speak without
being spoken to.

The list of laws was endless.

And many times, they
were created on-the-spot

for a local judge to uphold,
which was always the case,

because it was also
against the law

for a Negro so sue a white man.

If arrested for breaking
one of these laws,

they were put in chains
and sentenced to hard labor

for local businesses
and farmers.

It was legalized
slavery all over again.

It was even against the law

for African Americans
to become literate.

Think about that.

A person could go to jail
for learning how to read.

That's about as vile as it gets.

The United States government
saw these Southern laws

for what they were and
steadfastly overruled them,

which, of course, took a while.

But the Jim Crow laws of equal
but separate were allowed

to continue for another
disgraceful 101 years.

These are the times Bessie
Coleman was born into,

forever etched into
her young mind.

She never forgot them
nor forgave them.

[dramatic music]

George Coleman was half
Choctaw Indian and half black.

Texas never professed
to hate their Negros.

After all, slave labor
helped create some

of the most prosperous
businesses in the world.

And it also did establish
quite a difference

in the quality of
life in the South.

But Texans were not shy

about voicing their
hatred of Indians.

Sharing a border with
Oklahoma, in Indian territory,

had always been a
source of turmoil.

George Coleman not
only had to deal

with racism but hatred as well.

After five years in Waxahachie,
George tried to talk

to his wife Susan into
moving to Oklahoma

where blacks were
treated better.

The older children had all
started their lives by then,

but she absolutely refused,
wanting no part in Indian life.

So George went by
himself, leaving her

and her four daughters behind,
Bessie being the oldest.

Bessie had started
school by then,

held in a small, separate
but equal building,

four miles from their home.

It was no shock to Susan Coleman

when her 10th-born
child quickly developed

into the brightest
kid in school.

She loved reading, and her
math skills were exceptional.

When it was time to harvest
the local cotton crop,

she would hang out by the scales

where the cotton was weighed

to make sure the farm owners
didn't cheat the workers.

Although Bessie was rarely
seen picking much cotton,

she was always a welcomed

and reassuring
sight at the scales.

Of course, some of
the other farmers

with questionable ethics
weren't too happy about it.

But all they could do is
grit their teeth and watch.

After Bessie's father
left for Oklahoma,

her mother took a job as
a cook and housekeeper

for a white family on
the other side of town.

But she was always home at
night to be with her children.

Between going to school and
acting as a surrogate mother

to her three younger sisters,
Bessie grew up in a hurry.

She cleaned, cooked
and did the wash

in a house without
electricity or plumbing.

While this arrangement may
have been awkward at times,

they worked just fine
for the Coleman girls.

There was a lot of
love in their family.

Everyone did their best to
help out, and it worked well.

Susan Coleman, who didn't
learn to read or write

until well into her 50s,
wanted more for her children

than the life she
had been forced into,

the only life she'd ever known.

She knew education was
the key to a better life,

and the upbringing of
her children showed it.

The local library book wagon
even made regular stops

at the Coleman house, and
it was always a delight

for the neighborhood kids.

And Bessie's mother made sure
there was never a shortage

of books around to
help encourage reading.

Susan embraced the teachings
of the Baptist religion.

And Sunday was the
all-important Lord's day

at the Negro Baptist
Church in Waxahachie.

While she felt the
stories of the Bible

and Christian faith
were important,

it was the discipline and
self-respect religion taught

that was stressed the most
in the Coleman household,

and of course the foundation
of all enlightened religion,

we are all equal
in the eyes of God.

The books that made
the biggest impressions

on young Bessie were The
Essays of WEB Du Bois,

the stunning poetry
of a young genius

named Paul Laurence Dunbar.

Then there was Harriet Tubman,
a rebellious runaway slave

who put her life
on the line helping

to free over 300 other slaves

in what is referred to as
the Underground Railroad.

Tubman was a bold, courageous
woman who was actually feared

by the slave owners.

Sounds like a real
bad lady to me.

No wonder they
were afraid of her.

[gentle music]

And then there was a book
called Uncle Tom's Cabin,

the anti-slavery book written

by Harriet Beecher
Stowe, published in 1852.

Remarkably, the book was
the bestselling novel

of the 19th century and ignited
an anti-slavery firestorm

around the world.

It was also credited with
laying the groundwork

for the Civil War.

Bessie would often read the
book out loud to her family

and dramatically act out
some of the brave characters.

It's not surprising that
Uncle Tom's Cabin was one

of her favorite books,
even though the conduct

of the characters,
Uncle Tom and Topsy,

disgusted young Bessie.

They presented themselves
as humiliating doormats

to the slave owners,
and she viewed them

as spineless cowards.

Perhaps she favored the book,
because it gave her a set

of rules and
guidelines to live by,

rules she would never break,
lines she would never cross.

Whatever the reason, young
Bessie made a solemn vow

to herself that she never broke.

She often would tell her mother,

"I will never be
like Uncle Tom."

And she never was.

In fact, it was
quite the opposite.

Very early in life,
Bessie developed

what is referred
to as an attitude.

In the South, whites
called it uppity, a Negro

who had the nerve to look
you in the eyes, unflinching,

as if they thought
they were your equal.

It could and did lead
to a world of trouble

for many people,
especially the young men

who had a hard time
bowing their head

along with their backs.

Bessie probably
got away with it,

because whites reasoned
she was just a young child

who didn't know any better.

As Bessie grew older,
she took in laundry

to help out with the bills.

She became so good
at ironing clothes,

she would often be paid
more than she asked.

Between her and her
mother, they even managed

to save some money.

During the cotton season,
everyone would pick cotton

to earn much needed extra money.

In fact, the Negro
schools were shut down

during the harvesting to
ensure the farmers got

every last able
body in the fields.

Evidently, they thought it
was more important for a child

to learn how to pick cotton
than to learn how to spell.

Bessie was an avid reader.

[upbeat music]
And between the exciting

and wonderful adventures
she found in books

and the reality of everyday
life in post-slavery Texas,

she quickly came to a
realization that picking cotton

and taking in
laundry for the rest

of her life just
wasn't her thing.

It sucked.

So in 1910, at the age of 18,

Bessie and her mother
pooled their savings,

and she enrolled in
an elementary division

of the Colored Agricultural
and Normal School

in Langston, Oklahoma, what
is now Langston University.

The school was opened in 1897
for Negro children wanting

to further their education.

Since it was against the
law for people of color

to attend white
colleges at that time,

the Negro community opened
up their own college.

It's humble beginnings started
at a Presbyterian church

with just 41 students.

Bessie only had a 6th-grade
education at the time.

She passed high school
level with superior grades

and completed one
year of college,

where she was required to
study English, algebra,

Latin, physiology and botany.

But just like today,
college was expensive,

and the money soon ran out.

She returned to Texas and tried
to settle into her old life.

But Bessie, along with the
rest of the Coleman household,

knew she would be
leaving the South.

It was only a matter of time.

And after several
restless years,

Bessie finally
made the decision.

It was time to head up North,

so she could amount
to something.

Bessie moved to Chicago in 1915.

She promised her
mother and sisters

that she would get
a good paying job

and within two years
move them there with her.

And as usual, Bessie
was good to her word.

And by 1917, the Coleman family
had relocated to Illinois.

Chicago at that time
in history was arguably

the most exciting
city in America.

[upbeat jazz music]

But unfortunately, some
of Jim Crow was alive

and well in Chicago.

It was found in
housing discriminations

and banking practices,
jobs discrimination,

primarily in the unions
and sadly in schools.

[somber music]

This, of course, led to poverty

and deplorable living
conditions that go with it.

But Chicago has something
Negroes couldn't find

in the South.

It had opportunity.
[upbeat music]

If a person was willing to
get even a minimal education

and work hard, the
possibilities were abundant.

While Bessie's brothers
were not highly educated,

they were both doing
very well in Chicago.

Walter was a Pullman porter,
which was a high-paying

and respectable job
in the community.

Johnny Coleman was a
World War I veteran.

When he returned from
France, he went to work

as a well-paid specialty
cook in one of the many clubs

and restaurants
belonging to a person

who once owned the
City of Chicago,

a man named Alphonse
Gabriel Capone.

While the press most
often portrayed Al Capone

as a dangerous criminal,
he was only dangerous

to other criminals.

The working-class people
of Chicago loved him.

And why not?

He provided them with
booze and nightclubs

during that remarkable
era known as Prohibition.

[upbeat music]

Bessie stayed with her
brother Walter and his wife

for a period of time while
she laid out her plans

for getting a job
and the groundwork

for amounting to something.

Domestic work of cleaning and
washing was readily available

for African
Americans in Chicago.

But those jobs were not
an option for Bessie.

She didn't relocate 1,000 miles

to wash someone
else's dirty laundry.

She already knew how to do that.

There were always numerous
barbershops and beauty salons

on the South Side of Chicago.

And there were always
ads in the paper

for trained beauticians
and manicurists.

So Bessie enrolled in the
Burnham School of Beauty Culture

to learn manicuring.

She didn't know exactly where
she'd be heading in life,

but she knew when
opportunity came knocking,

she would recognize
it a lot easier

in a well-paying job in
the mainstream of society,

instead of being bent
over a laundry tub

in someone's backyard.

It was a realistic decision.

With her good looks and
a refreshing personality,

Bessie soon landed a job at
the White Sox Barber Shop,

the most popular shop in the
most exciting part of town

on the South Side of
Chicago, a 16-block strip

that was known as The Stroll.

[upbeat jazz music]

It had been 50 years
since slavery ended.

While the South quickly created
laws and rules in an effort

to keep their Negroes
poverty-stricken and uneducated,

a not-so-quiet revolution
was taking place up North.

It became known as the
Harlem Renaissance.

[upbeat jazz music]

While Harlem, New York is
credited with its birthplace,

it was a simultaneous
resurgence throughout the North.

The Renaissance took root

in a book titled The New
Negro, an anthology edited

by Howard University
teacher Alain Locke.

The overriding theme
of the book was that

after nearly three
centuries of oppression,

it was time for American Negroes
to take on a new identity,

candidly stated, to quit
apologizing for being black

and embrace their exceptional
heritage and culture.

Although this concept
had been expressed

by African American
leaders for years,

it was this book that in 1925
finally sparked the movement.

[upbeat jazz music]

This new identity exploded
out of the Renaissance

in all facets of creative
and intellectual talent

with artists such
as AJ Motley Junior,

Aaron Douglas, Palmer Hayden

and the passionate
sculptures of Augusta Savage,

also the literary genius
Zora Neale Hurston,

Langston Hughes and Jean Toomer.

Black newspapers
flourished in the North

as the voices of a New Negro.

Enterprising people of
color were opening up

successful business
in the cities, stores,

banks, markets and restaurants.

Nightclub and ballrooms
were flourishing,

such as the legendary
Dreamland, Aragon

and the Chicago Cotton Club.

In 1920, the prohibition
of alcohol was enacted

in the United States

and unintentionally
opened up a whole new era

in Chicago's unpredictable
history, the speakeasy.

Anyone from preachers
to pimps could be found

on the White Sox Barber Shop.

Bessie Coleman may not
have known the occupation

of the men she gave manicures
to, but she did know

they didn't make a living
getting their hands dirty.

This era also ushered in music
that will become synonymous

with the Harlem
Renaissance, the jazz era.

And while Jazz is most often
credited with originating

in the streets of New
Orleans, it wasn't long before

that captive sound
was drawing crowds

in the nightspots on
The Stroll in Chicago,

and not just black
crowds but whites also.

And with that sound came
the entertainers, musicians,

singers, dancers who
would carry the music

of jazz around the world.

A converted clarinet player
named Louis Armstrong

was a frequent entertainer
at nightclubs on The Stroll.

King Oliver and his soulful
muted horn was a rising star

as were Queen of the
Blues, Bessie Smith,

bandleaders Duke
Ellington and Cab Calloway

and the piano genius
Jelly Roll Morton,

who is still considered
one of the greatest players

of the piano of all time.

The entertainment
served to bridge the gap

between the racially mixed
nightlife crowds of Chicago.

And soon, clubs and cabernets

on The Stroll were
totally integrated.

Unfortunately, when
morning came around,

it was back to reality.

[upbeat jazz music]

And right in the middle of
the social musical upheaval

was a young cotton-picking girl

from Waxahachie, Texas,
Elisabeth Bessie Coleman.

Was she overwhelmed by it all?

Of course, she was.

We're talking about a young girl

who just, a few years earlier,

had to be off the
streets before dark.

Now The Stroll after
dark was her playground.

Was she intimidated?

Not at the least.

Bessie jumped in with both feet.

She became the proverbial
kid in the candy store

and relished her
newfound lifestyle.

But Bessie wasn't alone.

She became friends with some
of the young entertainers

who were performing at the
nightclubs on The Stroll.

The gospel-singing
immortal Ethel Waters

was just starting out
as a blues singer.

Bill Bojangles Robinson
was soon tap dancing

in Hollywood with
Shirley Temple.

[upbeat music]

And then there was the
amazing Josephine Baker.

She was a struggling chorus
girl, at the time, but would go

on to not only be the
world's first black superstar

but one of the most famous
entertainers of all time.

And if anyone was born to dance,

it was Josephine Baker.

[singing in foreign language]

Another social revolution of
these times was the advancement

of women's equality.

In 1920, women were finally
given the right to vote.

But it didn't stop there.

The men that were
still complaining

about letting women vote
were about to be traumatized.

Women's hemlines shot
up from their ankles

to their knees,
almost overnight.

And it wasn't just their
street clothes that shrank.

Bathing suits soon followed.

It became acceptable,
at least for women,

to go out in groups
or even alone.

It was a new independence
women had never experienced.

And they adjusted to it
just fine, and of course,

Bessie and her little group
took full advantage of it.

So here was Bessie
Coleman in the middle

of all this big city
excitement during the day,

chatting with
successful businessmen

while she files and polishes
their nails, and at night,

gallivanting around town with
up and coming show biz stars.

So what does Bessie Coleman
decide to do with her life?

She decides to fly airplanes.

It's interesting to know that
the poet Paul Laurence Dunbar,

whose writing influenced
Bessie so much, graduated

from the integrated high school
in Dayton, Ohio, in 1890.

Two of his classmates who
also had a major influence

in Bessie's life
would later print some

of Dunbar's newsletters
and poetry before moving on

to a more lucrative
business selling bicycles.

Their names were Orville
and Wilbur Wright.

Go figure.

As a manicurist, Bessie often
heard her clients talking

about the war in France.

White newspapers rarely
printed positive stories

about Negroes, for fear of
offending their readers.

So Bessie read The
Chicago Defender,

a newspaper founded by a
young man named Robert Abbott

who had amassed a fortune
publishing a newspaper hailed

as the world's greatest weekly.

Bessie followed the exploits

of the New York 15th and
Illinois 8th Regiments,

the first and second Negro
regiments shipped to France,

during World War I.

She marveled at the courage
of men fighting and dying

for their country, a
country they loved so much,

a country that didn't
love them back.

She also followed the daring
exploits of the pilots,

especially those of Eugene
Bullard, a dispatriot

from the United States,
who had moved to France.

He became one of France's best
pilots during World War I.

The exact occasion of Bessie's
decision can be traced back

to a day her brother Johnny,
a veteran of the war,

came into the barber shop.

He had been known for drinking
more for lunch than he ate,

and perhaps that
day was one of them.

To the amusement of the
customers, he was expounding

on the many virtues of
French women as opposed

to American women, especially
black American women.

He teased his sister

that while she was
just a lowly shop girl,

French women were actually
learning to fly airplanes.

Bessie was used to her
brother's glorified war stories

and generally took them
with quiet amusement.

But that date was different.

Johnny's words hit a nerve.

She was making decent
money, having a good time

and running with the in-crowd.

But she had lost sight
of the promise she made

to her mother, that one day
she would amount to something.

Her brother Johnny was right.

She was still just a shop girl.

At that moment, Bessie's dream
unfolded in front of her.

She was farsighted enough to
realize that the invention

of the airplane was going
to change the world.

And she wanted her race to
be a part of that change.

She would learn to fly,
open a flying school

and teach others
of her race to fly.

Flying airplanes was quickly
catching on across the country,

and there were quite a
few schools to pick from.

Bessie quickly set out
to find a flying school

to learn to fly,
and just as quickly,

she was reminded
the reality of life

in the United States
for a Negro woman.

No school would
teach her to fly.

They would tell her she was a
woman, which she already knew.

And they would tell her
that she was colored,

which she also already knew.

Flying schools reasoned women
were too emotional to fly.

Their first reaction to
trouble was to generally panic.

And Negroes, well, they
were just mentally incapable

of handling such a
complicated piece

of machinery as an airplane.

There was a handful of
women in the United States

who had learned to
fly, at the time.

But they were white women
whose families were wealthy

and well-connected,
able to skip the rules.

Evidently, wealthy
women didn't panic

at the first sign of trouble.

But Bessie Coleman
wasn't about to give up.

Telling her she couldn't do
something was the quickest way

to get her to do it.

[airplane whirs]

One of Bessie's customers

in the barber shop
was Robert Abbott,

owner of The Chicago Defender.

One of the reasons for his
success was he never lectured

nor talked down to his readers.

He treated them as equals

and told his writers
to do the same.

His newspaper was on The
Stroll, and he spent a lot

of time on the street
visiting with people.

He had an open-door
policy, at the paper,

and encouraged his
readers to stop by

if they had any problems.

And he meant it, which was good,

because Bessie Coleman
took him up on it.

She went to him for advice.

- [Bessie] Mr Abbott?

- [Robert] It's open.

[gentle music]

- Robert Abbott prided himself
on using both his position

and money to help
uplift the race.

He was also a shrewd
businessman, always focused

on ways to generate
newspaper sales.

So when he learned
of Bessie's dream,

he undoubtedly saw a way
to further both goals.

He advised her to
get a high-paying job

and learn to speak French,
because if she was serious

about learning to fly, she
would need to go to France,

where people of color were
treated with more respect.

While this advice could be
overwhelming to most people,

causing them to rethink
their priorities,

Bessie's response was
to properly enroll

into the Berlitz school of
language to learn French.

She taught her sister Georgia
how to manicure nails,

so she could take over her job
at the White Sox Barber Shop

and found a better paying
job managing a chili parlor

on 38th street.

Bessie had found her calling.

She was focused.

Most Americans considered
flying an airplane

a talent reserved only
for the elite white race.

Bessie, like all blacks,
had long ago grown weary

of how white folks
defined people of color,

and she was going to
show the elite white race

how wrong they were.

It was a bold decision, and it
was also, during those times

in America, a very
dangerous decision.

Just because race discrimination
in America was a daily fact

of life, it didn't make it
any easier to deal with.

And the standard
white supremacist
response of get over it

or quit blaming racism was as
ridiculous then as it is now.

African Americans would
love to get over it

if only they were allowed to.

Everyone dealt with
it in their own way.

Some became Uncle Toms,
bowing and scraping

through their life with
frozen smiles and a deaf ear.

Others accepted it as a
dreadful fact of life.

Then there were those
that one day just exploded

with frustration, ended up
at the mercy of a lynch mob.

Robert Abbott located a
flying school in France

and supplied the much
needed financing for Bessie.

She also received funding
from the Jesse Binga Bank,

located on The Stroll.

Binga had opened the first
bank for African Americans

at a time when the
financial industry

in Chicago wouldn't do
business with Negroes.

Jesse Binga, like Robert
Abbott, was also focused

on uplifting the race.

It is also quite possible
and probable the thought

of his bank's name
being associated

with America's first black flier

may have influenced
his decision.

[horn bellows]

On November 20th,
1920, passport in hand,

Bessie boarded the
biggest ship in the world,

the SS Imperator, all 919
feet and 53,117 tons of it,

and set sail for France.

Her passport stated
she was going abroad

to study in England,
France and Italy.

What it didn't say was
she was scared to death.

So here was Bessie
Coleman, alone,

never having been
on a ship before,

never having seen
the ocean before

and taking her first boat ride

on the biggest
ship on the planet.

She was the only black
passenger on board

and was going to be alone
with a whole lot of strangers,

mostly French-speaking
foreigners, for
a very long time.

But any anxiety she may have
felt were quickly dispelled

by the other travelers
who treated her

like just another passenger.

The flying school
Bessie attended was one

of the finest in the world.

The Caudron School of
Aviation in Somme, Le Crotoy,

operated by two brothers,
Rene and Gaston Caudron.

They were world-renowned for
the innovative advancements

they were bringing to aviation.

The school was
near Rouen, France,

where the legendary Joan
of Arc was imprisoned

by the English after being
betrayed by her own king.

Bessie was the only Negro and
the only female in the class,

which surprised no
one, especially Bessie.

The first time Bessie
climbed into an airplane,

the instructors knew
they had someone special.

The word quickly spread
around the school.

The Coleman girl is a natural.

She easily learned the skills
needed to fly an airplane,

but she wanted to do
more than just fly.

She wanted to touch the stars.

She wanted to be
one of the best.

When Bessie took her
initial solo flight,

she realized for the
first time in her life

what it was like
to be totally free.

Her small apartment was
five miles from the school,

and while it was more likely
she had access to rides,

Bessie preferred
to walk, using it

to condition herself
physically and mentally

for her daily training sessions,

a sort of walking meditation.

[leaves rustling]
[birds twittering]

On days off, Bessie
would often take walks

through the stunning
rolling hills

of surrounding Rouen, France.

She would envision Joan of Arc
galloping across the fields,

leading her armies to victory.

She could hear the
sounds of battle,

the thundering horses,
the clashing swords.

[hooves galloping]
[swords clanging]

[horse neighing]
[horse snorting]

And Bessie knew what
Joan must have felt.

[horse neighing]
[swords clanging]

She would follow
in her heart doing

what she was told
she couldn't do,

against all odds,
alone with her pride.

Sometimes, Bessie felt like
an American Joan of Arc.

[hooves galloping]

White newspapers in America,

pressured to report Bessie's
outstanding accomplishments,

wrote that it took the
Coleman woman 10 months

to learn how to fly an airplane,

which isn't true, of course.

It took the Coleman
woman seven months

to complete a
seven-month course,

along with the other students.

The Caudron School in
France took learning

to fly airplanes seriously.

Students were required to
learn the science and physics

of flight, airplane
design and manufacturing,

airplane repairs,
engine rebuilding,

advanced medical treatment and
how to repair your airplane

if you flew it into
a tree and lived.

The plane Bessie learned

to fly in was the
French Nieuport Type 82.

It was the favorite
trainer plane in France,

just as the Curtiss JN-4,
Jenny, was in America.

It was a delicate airplane
made of steel, wood,

wire, cloth and
pressed cardboard.

Structural failures were often.

Bessie witnessed a fatal
accident the first week

that further
emphasized the dangers

of the fragile
airplanes of that time.

There were no brakes,
so the plane was stopped

by a tail skid that
dug into the ground.

Obviously, picking
a good landing spot

was a major part of flying.

On June 15th, 1921, 18 years

after the Wright
brothers' historic flight,

the renowned Federation
Aeronautique Internationale

awarded Bessie Coleman's
aviator license number 18310,

and she became the
first black in history

to receive the international
pilot's license.

After completing her training
and passing her final exams,

Bessie went to Paris.

There she gained more
flying skills by training

with veteran pilots long
out of flying school.

She also visited
airplane manufacturers

to study the different
types of planes being built,

gaining firsthand knowledge

about the advancements
being made

in the industry, her industry.

Bessie's story was
front-page news in France.

The French people were well
aware of the racial disorder

in the United States and greatly
respected her achievements.

To Bessie, it was
just the beginning.

The 29-year-old
Bessie Coleman arrived

in New York Harbor,
September 29th, 1921

on board the
historic ocean liner

and ex-troop transport
USS Manchuria.

As she glided past
the Statue of Liberty,

she realized that despite
the challenging times

and racial intolerance,
this was still her country,

and she was still
glad to call it home.

[gentle music]

When the ship docked,
Bessie was overwhelmed

by the greeting she received.

The Chicago Defender
had been reporting

Bessie's accomplishments
in Europe, and thousands

of excited readers had
been following the stories.

By challenging
the establishment,

Bessie had unknowingly become
a champion among her people.

Not only were there reporters

from black newspapers on
hand, but the entire cast

of the Broadway hit
Shuffle Along was also

at the dock to greet her.

The show, with an
all-black cast,

had started a mile Off-Broadway

and became an
overnight sensation.

It now played to
standing-room-only
audiences on Broadway.

It was more than just a
welcome-home greeting.

It was a show of
respect and admiration

for what she had done.

While some whites
were sympathetic to
the Negro struggle

and could appreciate Bessie's
efforts, only a black person

in America 1921 could
truly comprehend

what Bessie Coleman
had accomplished.

Before leaving New York,
Bessie was guest of honor

at a performance of the
musical Shuffle Along.

She was presented with
a beautiful silver cup,

engraved with her name and
the names of the cast members

in appreciation of
her achievement.

When Bessie Coleman
walked on the stage

to receive the award,
the entire audience,

500 whites in the reserved seats

and 400 African
Americans in the balcony,

rose and gave a standing ovation

to the first Negro
pilot in the world.

[audience applauds]

[switch clicks]

- Did I make you proud, Mama?

[Bessie sighs]

I can't believe you framed
my passport picture.

I look scared to death.

- [Susan] If I remember
right, you were, dear.

[Bessie laughs]

- [Bessie] Good night, Mama.

- So Bessie Coleman had
done what no other black

in history had done.

Her goal of opening a
flying school was about

to become a reality.

She was young,
pretty and famous,

well, almost famous.

The world was at
her feet, right?

Wrong.

When Bessie set out to get a job

in the blossoming
aviation industry,

she came face to face
with the ugly reality

that nothing had
changed in America.

She was still a black person
in a white person's country.

Her talent, achievements
and fame did nothing

to change the color of her skin.

During an interview,
a misguided reporter,

noting Bessie's
racial hardships,

suggested she try
passing for white.

There were skin-lightening and
hair-straightening products

on the market, and many
blacks were indeed passing

for white, or at least,
exotic foreigners,

as a way of escaping racism.

In fact, the first
black millionaire woman

in the United States, Sarah
Breedlove, AKA Madame CJ Walker,

made her millions selling
hair-straightening

and skin-bleaching products
to African Americans.

But denying her race was not
an option for Bessie Coleman.

The reporter might as well
suggest she try passing

for Uncle Tom's Topsy.

One icy look from her
brought the interview

to an abrupt end.

Bessie was not only denied a
job in the aviation industry,

she was denied the right to
buy or even rent an airplane,

and there was absolutely
nothing she could do about it.

Although there was no law
against selling to Negroes,

whites following the lead
of their own government,

which endorsed segregation,

could and did create
their own set of rules.

Soon after World War I,
many pilots took advantage

of the novelty of the
airplane, encouraged

by the romanticized
stories of daring young men

and their flying machines,
and took up what came

to be known as barnstorming.

[airplane whirring]

They would tour the
countrysides, rent
fields from farmers,

put up notices in a local town,

put on a flying display,
charge people for a ride

and move on to the next town.

The events were so popular
they soon became billed

as flying circuses and
were held at the airports

in the bigger cities
to draw larger crowds

where they could
charge admission.

There were concession
stands, souvenir stands

and, of course, a chance to
ride in a real, live airplane.

[airplane whirring]

Bessie realized the only way
she could raise enough money

to open her flying school was

to put on her own
flying circuses.

This meant she needed
to become a stunt pilot

and learn the daredevil
maneuvers needed

to thrill a paying audience.

Since no one in
the United States

would teach her stunt flying,

it meant returning to France.

While this was a major
setback to Bessie's dream

of opening her flying school,

she saw it just as another
hoop to jump through

and a hurdle to be cleared.

And besides, she reasoned
there was a whole lot

of things worse than
returning to a country

where she didn't have to
search for a colored restroom.

So in May of 1922,

she once again boarded
the cruise liner,

the SS Paris,
[bell ringing]

and headed back to
France, feeling like
a seasoned traveler,

but this time, the fears
and anxieties were gone.

This time, Bessie Coleman
took Europe by storm.

[upbeat music]

She didn't just limit
her visit to France

but trained in other
countries as well.

In Germany, she received
advanced aerobatic training

from the famous Robert Thelen

who the Wright brothers
considered the best pilot

in the country, at the time.

She also trained
with Alfred Keller,

a well-known, World War I ace
pilot who would go on to fame

with the German Luftflotte,
during World War II.

In the Netherlands, she trained
and test piloted aircraft

for the renowned aircraft
engineer Anthony Fokker,

designer of the Fokker airplane,

the most widely used
plane in World War I.

He was also famous as
an aerobatics stuntman.

In Germany,

she flew a 200-horsepower
Benz-motored LFG
Roland airplane,

loaded with newsmen over
the kaiser's palace,

so they could photograph
it from the air.

The German press hailed it as
the largest plane ever flown

by a woman and marveled
at the fact she did it

without instruction
or advanced training.

Bessie's flying skills
not to mention her grace

and charm quickly
won over the press

in every country she visited.

A few weeks later, Bessie
set yet another record.

She test piloted a prototype
of the Dornier Do X sea plane.

The plane was being designed
for commercial air travel,

one of the first in the world.

The Dornier company planned
to have it in production

by the end of the decade.

It was nicknamed The Flying
Palace and for good reason.

It was huge.

The plane weighed 52 tons

and needed 12
diesel-powered engines

delivering 6,000 horsepower
to get it airborne.

[engine whirs]

The press, as well
as the public,

was amazed a woman could
fly an airplane that big.

When Bessie returned
from Europe,

the news of her
accomplishments preceded her.

She returned with letters
from airplane manufacturers,

royalty and noted dignitaries,

all attesting to
her flying skills,

and newsreels of her
flying achievements.

But what meant the most to
Bessie was the newspaper stories

and comments by her peers,

the many famous pilots
she trained with,

stories stating that
Bessie Coleman was one

of the best pilots
they had ever seen.

[gentle music]

Bessie immediately set out
launching her barnstorming tours

designed to pay off her debts
and finance her flying school.

And Robert Abbott, of The
Chicago Defender newspaper,

was all too glad to help.

She was given an office
in his New York branch

to launch her barnstorming
career, and launch it, she did.

But she wanted her first show
in America to be special.

She wanted her people, her race,

to know she hadn't gone
through what she did just

to entertain white folks.

The event would be designed
around national patriotism,

specifically black patriotism.

She would honor the 15th
Regiment, the first Negroes sent

to fight during World War I.

The 15th Regiment band
would also be there

to entertain the crowd with
the music they made famous

in France, known as brass
band jazz, conducted

by James Reese Europe,
a ranger and composer

of the Broadway fame.

The show would be held
at Glenn Curtiss Field,

Garden City, Long Island,
September 3rd, 1922.

The plane Bessie would make her
debut in was a Curtiss JN-4,

or Jenny as it was most often
called, donated for the show

by the Curtiss Motor Car
and Aeroplane Company.

The day of the show,
for whatever reasons,

an overzealous field official
wouldn't allow Bessie

to fly their airplane,
until she took up one

of their pilots for a
test flight, evidently

to make sure the little colored
girl could fly an airplane.

Now here is Bessie Coleman.

She trained at the famous
Caudron Flying School

of Aviation, the only
black person in the world

with the international
flying license.

She was held by
famous European pilots

as one of the best
they had ever seen,

who had test piloted a
52-ton commercial airplane.

A pompous desk
jockey wanted to see

if she could handle the
outdated Jenny trainer,

while thousands
of people waited.

As mentioned before,
Bessie had an unmistakable

and well-defined attitude.

She had a sharp mind
and a sharp tongue,

and she wasn't
afraid to use both.

And if there were ever a time
for her to lose her composure,

it was now, but she didn't.

Why?

She saw it for what it
was and played their game.

She wasn't about to give
the white press a reason

to disrespect her or her people.

She took the pilot

on a flight he had never
experienced before,

that had him head-down
in the cockpit.

[airplane whirs]

He found out in a
big hurry that yes,

the little colored girl
could fly an airplane.

Bessie's first airshow
was a huge success.

After a rousing national
anthem, Bessie, showing a flair

of showmanship,
made her entrance.

She was wearing a
tailored flying uniform,

complete with a sand-brown
belt, white silk shirt,

leather jacket and
knee-high lace boots.

And the crowd loved it.

With a proper flair, she
was escorted to her plane

and put on a thrilling
show that had people

on their feet cheering.

["The Star-Spangled Banner"]

- [Announcer]
Stand back, please.

- That day, at the
Glenn Curtiss Field,

Bessie also achieved
another first,

which most in the crowd
were not aware of.

Bessie became the first
black person in history

to fly an airplane
in the United States.

Bessie's supporters wanted
her to do her next show

in Chicago, to spotlight
her achievements,

a hometown-girl-makes-good
type of show,

which Bessie was
looking forward to.

But after the enormous triumph
of the Long Island show,

she was offered an
opportunity to perform

at the Negro Tri-State
Fair in Memphis, Tennessee.

It fit in with her goals
and performing in the South,

and she took it.

It turned out to
be a wise decision

and another huge success.

She was billed as the main
attraction, opening day,

and drew a crowd of
over 10,000 people.

Bessie knew that to achieve
her dream of helping her race,

she would need to perform
throughout the South

for the simple reason that it
was where the vast majority

of blacks still lived.

Bessie Coleman was fast
becoming a star not only

within the black community
but with whites as well.

At first, it may
have been a novelty

seeing a Negro woman
fly an airplane,

because even white women
flyers were a rarity.

But her talent soon
outshone the novelty.

Even American
pilots were learning

that Bessie Coleman can
make an airplane do things

it wasn't meant to do.

[airplane whirs]

Bessie would later mistakenly
say 20,000 people were

at her show, that day.

While 10,000 people
did attend her show,

the 20,000 figure was
the total attendance

of the three-day fair.

Along with Bessie's flair

for the dramatic was a
flair for exaggeration,

so that figure just might have
been an on-purpose mistake.

In 1922, there was no such
thing as mass communication.

Try imagining a world with
no computers, no internet,

no television and
no cell phones.

Right, I can't either.

In fact, in 1922, very
few people owned one

of those newfangled
things called a radio.

When it came to getting the
news, the newspapers were it.

Bessie was fully aware of this.

Anytime she had a chance
to talk to the press,

she made sure she always had
something interesting to say.

Always.

While Bessie returned
to Chicago to play

in her hometown debut, she
was astounded and delighted

by the crowds of young
people beseeching her office

at The Chicago
Defender newspaper.

The show in Chicago, held at
the Checkerboard Airdrome,

now Midway Airport, was
held on October 15th, 1922.

Like her first show, it was
designed with a patriotic theme.

And once again, she honored
a Negro military regiment.

This time it was the 8th
Regiment of Illinois,

the second segregated regiment
to be shipped overseas

and the only regiment
with black officers.

Evidently, the United
States military

had finally figured out a black
man didn't need a white man

to tell him how to
fight for his country.

Both the field and the airplane

Bessie would fly were provided
by a young entrepreneur

named David L
Behncke, a white man.

Behncke, a pilot himself was
a huge fan of Bessie Coleman

and would later
become her agent.

Bessie designed many of
her show's flying maneuvers

around moves made famous
by World War I flying aces.

There was one event that
didn't go off quite as planned.

It was billed as
The Drop of Death.

A parachutist would jump
off the plane, free-falling

for a dangerously long
time before opening a chute

at the very last moment.

Bessie had a
beautiful red, white

and blue jumpsuit
made for the event.

Her younger sister Georgia
was to do the parachute jump.

[chuckles] That's right,
her sister Georgia.

There are two version as to

when Bessie informed her
little sister she wanted her

to do The Drop of Death,

one is the night before the show

and the second version
is just before the event.

In both versions, a
heated argument broke out

where Georgia steadfastly
refused to do it.

It isn't clear if she'd ever
flown in an airplane before,

but she definitely had
never jumped out of one.

And she wasn't
about to start now.

The little sister won both
versions of the argument,

and Bessie had to hire a
professional to do the stunt.

Good girl, Georgia.

The show was another
huge success.

A racially mixed crowd
of over 2,000 showed up.

Bessie needed two
additional pilots

to give people rides until dark.

Bessie performed another
show in Gary, Indiana

with the same
successful results.

By now, she had saved up a
little money and was beginning

to see the light at
the end of the tunnel.

She began to make plans
for a barnstorming tour

through the South where most
of the people she wanted

to reach still lived.

But before a Southern
barnstorming tour could happen,

she had to do several shows
her agent, David Behncke,

had arranged in the North.

One of those was
in Columbus, Ohio

for a Labor Day celebration.

While Bessie had
somewhat settled

into her rapidly growing
fame, her attendance

at this event far
exceeded her expectations.

She received a welcome letter
from not only the mayor

of Columbus but the
governor of Ohio as well.

[upbeat music]

- [James] My dear Miss Coleman,

word comes to me that you are
paying us a visit next Monday

to aid in the
observation of Labor Day.

Being familiar with
the skill, daring

and courage you have
exhibited on so many occasions

and knowing how your
efforts have been recognized

by the heads of many
European governments,

I deem it an honor and a
privilege to welcome you

to the City of Columbus,

with the hope your stay in
our city will be pleasant

and profitable and again
express my gratitude

that you are to visit us.

I am sincerely yours,
James J Thomas, mayor.

- Needless to say,
the Labor Day show

in Columbus was
another big success.

After the Northern tour,
Bessie returned to Chicago

to spend time with
family and friends

while making plans
for her Southern tour.

Bessie's decision to do shows

throughout the South
caused a lot of friction

between her and her
agent, David Behncke,

also with Robert Abbott
of The Chicago Defender.

They both felt that
a racial atmosphere

of the South could not only
be damaging to her career

but pose a physical
threat to her as well.

[solemn music]

So Bessie had three strikes
against her, right off the bat.

As far as staying in her place,

well, Bessie's place was
any place she wanted to be.

Keeping a low profile was
definitely out of the question.

And as far as
outspoken [chuckles],

we're not even going there.

She laughed at her
agent's concern

about the Southern
tour being dangerous.

She reminded him she lived

with danger every
time she climbed

into an airplane held together

with glue, staples
and baling wire.

Neither Bessie nor her agent
would budge on the issue,

so he resigned.

There were no ill feelings,

and they remained
respectful of each other.

What Bessie's agent
didn't fully understand,

and no white person could,

is that while the
Southern mindset

on human rights was
beyond primitive,

the South didn't own
the market on hate.

Racism, in one form or
another, could be found

across America, coast to
coast, border to border.

The Southern practice of
turning murder into a form

of group entertainment
was appalling

and denounced across
the rest of America.

But the bombing of Negro
homes and churches could

and did happen anywhere
in the country.

And while Bessie's
Labor Day show

in Ohio was a stunning success,
a terrorist organization

which hides behind
the American flag

and the Christian
religion chose that day

in Bessie Coleman's
presence to demonstrate

and hold a recruiting drive.

[solemn music]

The South didn't
scare Bessie Coleman.

That is where she was born.

That is where the majority of
African Americans still live,

and that is where she was
going, period, case closed.

♪ Mammy

♪ Mammy

♪ The sun shines east

♪ The sun shines west

♪ I know where the
sun shines best ♪

♪ Mammy

- During the early
part of the century,

the main sources of live
entertainment were stage plays,

musicals and vaudeville,
all predominantly white.

As Negro entertainment became

not only more recognized
but more in demand,

an organization called Theatre
Owners Booking Association,

or the TOBA, as it
is known, was formed.

They performed primarily
in the segregated South

where they couldn't stay in
hotels, eat in restaurants

or even use the restrooms.

While still in Chicago, Bessie
did a tour with the TOBA,

not to sing or dance, but to
give lectures, yes, lectures.

She considered the
tour to be a prelude

to the barnstorming trip,
and as usual, she was right.

She gave lectures
at churches, clubs

and especially movie theaters

where she can show the films
of her flying in Europe.

Bessie also made it a point
of visiting black schools

in every town she visited,
not to sell tickets

for an upcoming show
but to sell hope.

She knew how damaging hatred
and racism was on young minds.

In every school she visited,

she would drive
home the message.

If I can do it, you can do it.

The movie business,
or the nickelodeon

as it was called back then,
was still considered a fad,

at the time, but it was a fad

that had the vaudeville
industry nervously looking

over its shoulder.

Bessie combined the magic of
movies with the magic of flight

and filled the house
everywhere she spoke.

Her dream of a flying
school was just

that much closer to
becoming a reality.

Aside from Bessie's
God-given boldness,

she had a set of
rules she lived by,

that many in the business
world found annoying.

They were called principles.

She simply would not
compromise herself or her race.

This was a point of contention
for many successful blacks

who had spent their entire
lives compromising themselves.

And who was this little
Southern girl to come along

and directly or
indirectly point this out?

A popular entertainment
publication

of the day had a black writer
covering the Negro scene.

His name was AJ Jackson.

He considered himself a
show biz entrepreneur,

and because of his column,
knew influential people

in the black
entertainment industry.

He had written several
favorable articles

on Bessie's airshows.

During this time, Bessie
was getting many offers

to perform at different
shows and functions.

Some, she committed to,
and some, she didn't

There were mistakes made,

misunderstandings and
miscommunications.

During this time, a film
company approached Bessie

about doing a movie of her life.

And entertainment writer AJ
Jackson gave it a lot of press,

writing detailed stories
about Bessie starring in it,

the size of the film and
the great supporting cast.

When Bessie showed up her
first day of shooting,

she wasn't on set an hour before
a heated discussion ensued

between her and the director.

Bessie ended up storming
off the set, quitting.

AJ Jackson somehow took
this as a personal insult,

perhaps because of the
glowing reports he had written

about her earlier.

So he crawled down
into the gutter

and responded the
only way he knew how.

- [AJ] She just threw
it up and quit cold,

leaving 30 cast
members, two cameramen

and the director
waiting for hours.

Miss Coleman is
originally from Texas,

and some of her
Southern dialects

and mannerisms
still cling to her.

The woman who replaced Bessie
is an exceptional actress

with unmistakable
culture and social status

which will be an
asset to the company.

[upbeat music]

- What Mr Jackson
conveniently left out

of his story was why
the little Southern girl

with her mannerisms
still clinging

to her walked off the set.

The first scene of the movie
required a barefoot Bessie

to be dressed in
dirty, tattered clothes

with a pack on her back and
carrying a walking stick,

to portray a poor, illiterate
girl just arriving in Chicago.

Yeah, this was the
stereotypical image

of the Southern blacks
most often depicted

by the white media.

It was insulting,
demeaning, and it was wrong.

Bessie would have no part of it.

Maybe it was her parting words
that she stormed off the set

that hit a nerve in Mr
Jackson's fragile spine,

if he had one.

"No Uncle Tom stuff
for me," she shouted.

In January of 1923,

Bessie finally landed an
endorsement deal of sorts,

the Coast Tire and Rubber
Company in Oakland, California.

They hired Bessie to
represent their company

and drop leaflets from the
sky, advertising their tires.

Coast Tire was small,
as was the contract

by comparison to what other
name pilots were getting,

but it was a job.

Flyers such as Amelia
Earhart were making thousands

of dollars by suggesting
she stayed thin

by smoking Lucky
Strike cigarettes,

an endorsement she received soon

after being given a ticker
tape parade in New York

for being the first woman
to fly over the Atlantic,

as a passenger.

That's right, a passenger.

This is not to
take anything away

from Amelia Earhart's talent.

She developed into
an outstanding pilot.

And she certainly can't
be faltered for being born

into a well-to-do white family.

In fact, it was Earhart herself

who pointed out all she did

during the publicity stunt
was lie on her stomach

at the open hatch and take
pictures of the ocean.

It's just her path to
greatness was quite different

and quite a bit easier
than Bessie Coleman's.

After agreeing to the
terms with Coast Tire,

Bessie made a visit to
the Air Intermediate Depot

at Rockwell Field,
Coronado, California.

Air records show she purchased
three Curtiss JN-4 airplanes

from the supply division
with, most likely,

an advance from Coast Tire.

While private airplane
companies would still

not sell Bessie
Coleman an airplane,

government war surplus
suppliers would.

In reality, Bessie
only had enough money

to buy one airplane for
$400 and then put two more

on hold to be paid
for, for later.

She spent every dime
she had on the plane.

[leaves rustling]

[upbeat music]

Bessie was happy.

No, she was more than happy.

She was ecstatic.

After all the rejections,

not to mention the
constant financial worries,

she finally had her own plane.

In anticipation, Bessie had
agreed to appear at the opening

of the new fairgrounds at
Palmer Park in Los Angeles.

She was to be the
sole attraction

where 10,000 people
will be on hand

to see Bessie
Coleman own the sky.

But it wasn't to be.

A moment after taking off
to fly to Los Angeles,

the motor suddenly shut
down at only 300 feet.

The plane instantly
nosedived, crashing.

[somber music]

Bessie was alive but unconscious
when help reached her.

As Bessie drifted in
and out of consciousness

in the hospital, she
pleaded with the doctors

to just patch her up, because
she had an airshow to put on.

That patching up
would require dealing

with internal injuries,
a shattered leg broken

in two places,
multiple broken ribs

and severe facial wounds.

Her plane was totally destroyed.

There would be no airshow in
Los Angeles or anywhere else

for Bessie Coleman
for quite a while.

That type of accident
was not unusual

in the early days of aviation.

Over the next few weeks
in Los Angeles alone,

five pilots were killed in
the same type of accidents.

Makes you wonder where they
bought their airplanes.

Not everyone in the Negro
community were sympathetic

to Bessie's problem.

Some at the fair demanded
their money back.

Others even accused Bessie
of faking the accident

and fair officials of
running a con game.

One shallow-minded
religious group went as far

to suggest God had punished
her for flying on the Sabbath.

These accusations
enraged Dora Mitchell,

a reporter for The
California Eagle,

a Negro newspaper who gallantly
came to Bessie's defense.

She scolded the accusers
as deplorable and wrote,

"A brave, little race girl was
condemned without a hearing

"while she lay on a bed of
pain, unable to even respond."

After three months in
Saint Catherine's Hospital

in Santa Monica, California,
Bessie returned to Chicago

where she would spend another
nine months recuperating.

She was nearly broke, without
a job and without a plane.

If ever there was a time to
call it quits, it was now.

Friends and family took the
occasion to try to talk Bessie

into getting out of the
dangerous flying business,

pointing out how lucky
she was to still be alive.

But Bessie's mother told
them to save their breath.

She knew her 10th-born
better than anyone.

And Bessie would
never give up flying.

And of course, she was right.

The time spent recuperating
in Chicago, while unplanned,

turned out to be a welcomed
time off for Bessie to regroup,

re-plan and spend much needed
time with friends and family,

family she dearly missed
and needed while touring.

Bessie was adorned by
her nieces and nephews,

and when she did have
the money, she made sure

to spend a lot of it
on the little ones.

During this time, some
interesting events happened

that gave a meaningful
insight to Bessie Coleman.

She was romanced by Prince
Kojo Tovalou-Houenou

of Dahomey, Africa, or
Prince Kojo to his friends.

He was a handsome young man,

an outspoken black
nationalist and a lawyer.

He spoke four languages and
was a sought after guest

among the elite of Europe
and the United States.

He had been invited to tour
Chicago by the N double-A CP.

Bessie met the prince at a
party given in his honor.

Their relationship turned
out to be a little bit more

than just a friendship.

The prince fell for Bessie hard.

He spent more time on her
doorstep than touring Chicago.

Now, many women,

no, most women would
consider a good-looking,

wealthy prince a
gift from Heaven,

especially a woman who
needed a couple of airplanes

and a hangar to park them in.

If ever there was a time
to rethink her goals

or maybe just rearrange
them a bit, it was now.

But nothing ever became
of the relationship.

If there were strings attached,
and there probably were,

perhaps Bessie wasn't ready
to give up her independence

and settle into the humdrum life

of a wealthy, pampered princess.

Maybe their relationship
was put on hold

until she made one more tour,
her tour through the South.

We will never know.

Bessie's race was obviously
an overwhelming deterrent

in reaching her goal of
opening a flying school,

yet there was more
to it than that.

Life is not as always
clearcut as we would like.

Although she was a celebrity

in the black community of
Chicago, Bessie didn't fit

into any one group
she felt at home with.

The Negro society in America
had its own caste system,

just the same as any other race.

Although there was natural
bonding of blacks because

of their heritage and the racism
they're always exposed to,

rich or poor, the bonding
did not unite them socially.

Just as upper-class whites
had nothing in common

with their white brethren
struggling in poverty,

so it was with many in
the black community.

Bessie Coleman was,
at best, middle-class.

The black upper-class
of Chicago was made up

of lawyers, doctors, educators
and wealthy businessmen,

social climbers
who had no interest

in helping a daredevil
airplane flyer

from the local barber shop.

For her barnstorming
tour through the South,

Bessie set up in Houston, Texas.

Her first show would be
held at the old speedway

renamed the Houston
Aerial Transport Field.

The show was sponsored by
a group of black promoters.

They didn't have the
funds to pay white flyers

to attract a white
audience and was hoping

Bessie's notoriety would
draw in an interracial crowd.

The event was well-advertised
throughout Houston,

and the promoters were
astonished by the results.

A racially mixed crowd of
over 15,000 people showed up.

The show was held on June
19th, a very special day

for African Americans
in the state.

It was the day slaves finally
won their freedom in Texas.

Even though it came
two and a half years

after President Lincoln
signed it into law

and needed to be enforced by
the armed Northern troops.

It finally came and
has been celebrated,

every year since,
simply as Juneteenth.

[patriotic music]

None of this was lost on
enterprising Bessie Coleman,

and she worked hard at
winning the white press over,

and she succeeded.

She received glowing stories

about her skills and
past achievements.

Now, we're not just talking
about any state here.

We're talking about
Texas, the state

with the worst Jim Crow
laws on the country,

where blacks were
leaving by the thousands.

White newspapers
absolutely refused

to capitalize the word Negro,

and Bessie Coleman is playing
the press like a violin.

She even used this
time to fire a shot

that will ricochet
around the South

and cause many Northern black
establishments to cringe.

Dear Bessie stated to the press

that when she opened
up her flying school,

she planned to use Uncle
Tom's cabin as her hangar.

Bessie had this delightful,
captivating way about her

that when she made a statement,
there was absolutely no way

to misunderstand what she meant.

Bessie was such a success
she was immediately booked

for three more shows,
one in Richmond, Texas

and then two more in Houston

before moving on to San Antonio.

She also found time to lecture,

making appearances
throughout Dallas.

Bessie also spent
considerable time

at Love Airfield,
outside of Dallas.

Why?

The field was a virtual
warehouse of used
military aircraft.

She remembered Love
Airfield as a mecca

of racial indifference
against mainstream Texas.

Everyone at the field accepted
her as just another pilot,

except prettier than most.

She settled on a plane

from the Curtiss Southwest
Airplane and Motor Company

and put a down payment on it.

[solemn music]

Bessie made sure one of
her shows would be held

in her childhood town at
the Waxahachie airport.

It was a bittersweet
show for her.

When Bessie left for Chicago,
most wished her well.

There were, however, some

who thought she was
making a big mistake,

setting her goals too high.

She wondered what
they thought now.

Bessie also couldn't
help wondering how many

of her childhood friends were
still living in the shacks

and still being cheated
at the cotton scales.

Shortly before the show, she
learned Negroes weren't allowed

to enter through the main gate

at the Waxahachie
Fairgrounds, like the whites.

They were required to enter
through the side gate.

[dramatic music]
No.

- [Manager] Miss Coleman,
what a pleasant surprise.

- Bessie refused to fly if
her people were not allowed

through the main gate.

The show officials
hastily apologized,

claiming it was a big mistake.

Right.

They reassured Bessie Negroes
would indeed be allowed

through the main gate.

Bessie let it be
known for the rest

of her tour that if
there was no admittance

for her people
through the main gate,

there would be no Bessie
Coleman through any gate.

After a show in Austin,
Texas, a dinner was held

in Bessie's honor, at
the Governor's Mansion.

Hosted by the first woman
governor in the United States,

a Democrat, Miriam Ferguson.

She won a lopsided election,

a few years after the 19th
Amendment was ratified,

giving women the right to vote.

She was not only
active in helping
sharecropping farmers out

of what amounted to forced
slavery, black and white,

but even more
surprising, she ran

on a platform denouncing the
all-powerful Ku Klux Klan.

The two women were
on parallel missions,

Bessie wanting to help her
people overcome the scars

of slavery and Governor
Ferguson wanting

to help Texas out
of the dark ages.

Both of them, in
all probability,

thought it would
come a lot quicker.

Despite her fast-growing fame,

airplane manufacturers
still would not sell a plane

to a person of color,
not even Bessie Coleman.

And landing a lucrative
endorsement was
next to impossible,

because white
companies were afraid

of losing their customers
if they endorse a Negro.

There were companies that
sold strictly to Negro market.

But the ones that could
afford advertising were mostly

in the cosmetic business,
mainly hair-straightening

or skin-lighteners, both of
which were counterproductive

to Bessie's message.

It's ironic that at this same
time, over 4,000 miles away,

white women were buying
cosmetic products

to darken their skin, in order
to look like a black woman,

Bessie's friend from
Chicago, Josephine Baker.

In Paris, Josephine was not
just the toast of the town,

she owned the town.

She was an overnight sensation
at the Folies Bergere,

becoming so amazingly popular
that products sprung up

to help white women
look like La Baker,

skin creams to darken
the skin and fixatives

to hold the famous La
Baker curls in place.

She was mobbed
everywhere she went.

Europeans were having a love
affair with Josephine Baker

and could care less what
race she belonged to

as long as she belonged to them.

In the United States, Bessie
was constantly scrambling

to beg, borrow or steal a plane

in order to perform in shows,
and most often than not,

it was an outdated, poorly
maintained aircraft.

During this time, Bessie was
asked to do a memorial flight

over the Saint Charles
River in Boston

in honor of the flying
pioneer, Harriet Quimby.

Thousands were on hand
to pay their respects

and witness the event.

Harriet Quimby was a
beautiful and flamboyant flyer

whose career lasted
a scant year.

In 1911, she became
the first woman

to earn a flying license
in the United States.

She also became the first female

to fly across the
English Channel.

In 1912, she died
tragically while

at the Boston aviation event.

Why Bessie Coleman
was asked to perform

at the memorial flight was then,

as it is now,
somewhat surprising.

Harriet Quimby was
a white socialite

from a well-to-do family.

Bessie Coleman was a
street smart black woman

from a dirt poor family.

They had never met.

But more than that, white
women rarely associated

with black women
on an equal basis.

And white female pilots never
acknowledge Bessie Coleman.

It was as if she didn't exist.

Some historians have
suggested Bessie

and Amelia Earhart was friends.

Nothing could be
further from the truth.

But none of this really
mattered to Bessie.

She respect Harriet Quimby

for the breakthrough
accomplishments

and contributions to flying.

Race was not a factor.

Even though the South
was, well, the South,

there existed a network
of black activists intent

on fighting racism and
advancing the Negro cause.

Schools, churches
and business groups

all opened their arms to Bessie.

Even during the
roughest of times

when hotels and restaurants
would deny her service,

she always had a place
to stay, food to eat

and a stage to lecture
and show her films from.

Bessie's popularity
was growing fast.

While in Orlando, she
was asked to do a show

for the Chamber
of Commerce event.

It was a major breech in the
color barrier, at the time,

and had the local
KKK up in arms.

The day at the event,
she learned Negroes
would be excluded

from attending her
performance, and of course,

she refused to fly.

Even after the Orlando chamber
agreed to admit Negroes,

she still would not fly
until leaflets were dropped

from the airplanes over
the black areas stating

that they were
welcome at her show.

This was a remarkably gutsy

and dangerous call
for Bessie to make.

The Chamber of Commerce
was hiring Bessie Coleman

and her talent, not her people.

Many in the chamber felt her
demands were way out of line.

Racial segregation was
strongly enforced in Florida.

In many towns, Negroes
weren't allowed outside

after sundown, not by law, but
by civilian vigilante groups

who would patrol the
streets with baseball bats.

And sadly, it was all sanctioned

by the local city government.

But Bessie pulled it off.

The leaflets were dropped,
and the show went on.

This is another
example of a situation

that should've been handled
by Bessie's manager,

long before the day of the show.

Bessie's next show was to be

in the fast-growing coastal
town that billed itself

as the gateway to Florida.

It was named after
the seventh president

of the United States,
Andrew Jackson.

Bessie's Florida manager

in Jacksonville was a young
man named John T Betsch,

a member of the Jacksonville
Negro Welfare League.

While his managerial
experience was limited,

he was also devoted
to helping his race

and understood Bessie's cause.

During the Orlando show,
Bessie made a valuable contact

in one Erwin M Beeman,

heir to the Beeman
chewing gum empire,

and was a member of the
Orlando Chamber of Commerce.

Beeman, a white man,
realized Bessie's popularity

was quickly crossing
the color barrier

and saw the benefit of hooking
his wagon to her rising star.

Another breakthrough
at the time came

when Bessie was contracted
to do the stunt flying

in a film for Norman Film
Studios in Arlington, Florida.

The title of the film
was The Flying Ace.

Bessie was excited about working

with a legitimate film company

and took full advantage of it.

The fledgling motion picture
industry was centered

in New York, and
Jacksonville, Florida

was quickly becoming
its Southern branch.

The movie business in
California hadn't blossomed yet.

The word Hollywood, at the
time, referred to a huge sign

on the hill advertising housing
developments in Los Angeles.

Today, that housing
development is long gone.

But that magical
sign is still there.

Motion pictures
were rapidly taking

over the entertainment scene,
and Bessie saw it as a means

to generate instant exposure
for her flying school.

She wrote Richard Norman
suggesting he make a film

on her life, and with typical
Bessie Coleman self-assurance,

she even had a title picked out.

- [Bessie] I know I
have been a success

in every house I have played
in, Chicago and other cities.

The title will be Yesterday,
Today and Tomorrow.

And as any intelligent
person knows,

I am the world's first
colored flyer, man or woman.

I am, and know it, the
most known colored person,

other than the jazz singer.

- Bessie's writing elegance
was as refreshing as she was.

It displayed an
energizing self-confidence

of what she had accomplished
in just a few years

and a keen awareness of
her marketing potential.

Entering the legitimate
film world was a big moment,

and Bessie knew it.

And she certainly didn't
need a sledgehammer

to drive her point home.

You got to love her.

Richard Norman wrote back
that he was very excited

about the idea, and they
would work out the details

when they met.

But they never did meet.

It was to be the
day after her show

in Jacksonville, Florida.

Bessie Coleman arrived
in Jacksonville happier

and more confident than she
had been in a long time.

Her money problems
were behind her,

and her dream was
within her reach.

She was looking
forward to doing a show

for the Negro Welfare League

and considered it a privilege
they had invited her.

The league did wonderful
things to help the race

and was well respected
in the black community.

She also managed to visit
every school in Jacksonville

to talk to the kids, as always,

telling glorious stories
of flying airplanes

and of course stressing her
if-I-can-you-can message.

In the excitement of
her recent good fortune,

Bessie had overlooked
one very important item.

She was in the South.

And she was still a Negro woman.

No one would rent or
loan her an airplane

to use in the show.

But Erwin Beeman quickly
remedied the problem.

He paid off Bessie's
plane waiting in Dallas

and arranged to have
a mechanic fly it

to Paxon Field in Jacksonville.

The mechanic who
brought the plane

from Love Field was a young
man named William Wills.

He reportedly worked as
a mechanic and pilot.

He arrived at Paxon
Field on April 28th.

The plane Bessie put
a down payment on

in Dallas was a JN-4, Jenny,

with an OX-5 engine
capable of 90 horsepower.

The plane had arrived
in Jacksonville

and was indeed a Jenny
with an OX-5 engine,

but it was so worn it could
barely develop 60 horsepower.

This caused speculation among
the mechanics at the field

if it was the same plane
Bessie Coleman purchased.

She had spent seven months

at the best aviation
school in the world.

She knew planes inside and out,

and she certainly knew a
junker when she flew one.

For the first time

in Bessie Coleman's
unparalleled flying career,

she knew what it was like to
be just the run-of-the-mill,

ordinary famous person.

She had a sponsor.

She had her own plane.

She had Norman Studios wanting
to do a film of her life.

Paxon Airfield, where
Bessie's plane was delivered,

was quite possibly
the first airfield

in Jacksonville, Florida.

It's almost mystical
that Bessie Coleman

who believed so strongly
that education was the key

to success and spent so
much time visiting schools

would take her last flight
from that spot, that land.

Why?

Because it is now home to a
middle school where hundreds

of children gather every
day to get an education.

At 7:15, Friday morning,
April 30th, 1926,

Bessie, the mechanic Bill Wills

and her agent John Betsch
arrived at the airfield.

Bessie was to perform
a parachute jump
the following day.

She wanted to scout the
fairgrounds from the air

to pick out the
best landing areas.

She told Wills to fly,
so she could scout

from the rear cockpit.

She also told her agent
that she would take him up

for a spin when they got back.

Bessie knelt by the plane
in silence, briefly,

as she always did,
stepped up into the well

then hesitated
for a long moment,

gazing out over the horizon,
as if lost in thought.

She then climbed into
the plane and took off

into the beautiful
spring morning.

[solemn music]

Bessie Coleman was only
five-foot-three-inches tall.

At approximately 2,000 feet,
she unbuckled her seat belt,

because she wanted to stand up

to look over the
edge of the cockpit

to better see the ground below.

[dramatic music]

[somber music]

Spectators on the ground say
the plane suddenly flipped over

and went into a dive.

Bessie Coleman was
thrown from the plane,

falling to her death.

Some witnesses say that
the pilot regained control

of the plane but hit
a tree and crashed.

Others say it appeared he
never did regain control

of the plane.

What happened next was a
chain of events so bizarre

that it left a shroud of
doubt surrounding the cause

of Bessie's death,
even to this day.

Bessie's agent, John Betsch,
and the police arrived

at the crash around
the same time.

He was reportedly traumatized
by what he had witnessed.

He was in shock.

While the police were
trying to pull Wills body

from the wreckage, he struck
a match to light a cigarette,

to calm his nerves.

[explosion roars]

The gasoline fumes
erupted into flames,

engulfing the plane
and Wills' body.

In the following confusion,

Bessie's agent was
arrested and jailed.

He was released
later that evening.

There was much anger
and rampant speculation

among the black
community following
Bessie Coleman's death.

Some felt she was
murdered because

of her skyrocketing popularity

and her unyielding
attitude towards racism.

There was speculation
Wills played a part

in Bessie's murder.

It was pointed out that he
appeared to regain control

of the plane and would've
lived but for hitting the tree.

Robert Abbott, editor
of Chicago Defender,

was in town visiting friends.

The day before the accident,

he warned Bessie not
to fly with Wills,

because he didn't like
the looks of that Texan.

Bessie just laughed, telling
him he was overreacting.

Others reasoned it would
have never happened

if Bessie had been treated
with the proper respect

and was flying the newer
airplanes she deserved.

There were reports
that when the wreckage

of the plane was examined,
a wrench was found jammed

into the control gears.

This would've caused
the erratic behavior

of the airplane described
by the witnesses.

The control gears were not
reachable through the cockpit.

But if the wrench had
been jammed in the gears

on the ground, Wills would not
have been able to take-off.

It was learned that Wills had
to make two unscheduled stops

for repairs while bringing
the plane from Dallas,

one stop in
Meridian, Mississippi

and another stop in
Farmington, Mississippi.

Obviously, somewhere
between Love Field, Texas

and Paxon Field, Florida,
there was quite a few occasion

for a careless mechanic
to leave a wrench behind,

which could've ended up
eventually working its way

into the control gears.

As the mechanics at Paxon
Airfield pointed out,

the plane that arrived from
Dallas was old and worn out.

The newer planes were equipped

with protective coverings,
leaving no way a wrench

or any other object
could've found its way

into the control gears.

There were many who speculated

the wrench could've been
placed in the wreckage

after the accident, if in
fact there ever was a wrench.

It was never shown
to the public.

The details surrounding
Bessie's death were as hard

to believe then
as they are today.

The black population
of Jacksonville was

in a state of shock.

The fair was never
officially canceled,

because it wasn't necessary.

By mid-morning, vendors were
packing up and heading home.

The fairgrounds were empty.

A dance in Bessie's honor,
planned by the young women

of Jacksonville, was canceled.

Instead of dancing that night,

the people of Jacksonville
went to the Pratt Funeral Home

where Bessie lay, to
pay their respects.

There was a steady
line of mourners filed

by Bessie's casket until dawn
of the following morning.

[somber music]

Bessie Coleman's death
overwhelmed the black people

of this country in 1926.

Up until then, she was an
impetuous young woman striving

to elevate her race.

She said what she wanted,
to whom she wanted

and let the chips
fall where they may

and in doing so, unknowingly
became the spokesperson

for millions of silent voices.

With her untimely death,

they had suddenly lost
more than a rising star.

They had lost a family member.

Her tragedy was their tragedy.

The magnitude of
Bessie Coleman's impact

on the black community
became strikingly apparent

during the three
funerals held for her.

At the Bethel Baptist
Institutional Church
in Jacksonville,

2,000 mourners filled
the inside of the church,

while another 3,000
stood outside.

Bessie's casket was escorted
to the train station

to be sent to Chicago,
her final resting place.

A reporter noted that there were

over 500 mourners
present at the station.

There were hundreds more
at the Chicago station,

just to get a glimpse of
Bessie's flag-draped coffin

when it arrived.

Also waiting at the station
was a military escort

from the Negro 8th
Infantry Regiment.

They escorted the casket to
a South Side funeral home

where she laid and stayed.

There are an estimated 10,000
mourners that showed up

to pay tribute to
Bessie, that evening

and all of the next day.

Yes, 10,000 mourners.

Her final funeral was held
at the Pilgrim Baptist Church

on 33rd Street, on the
South Side of Chicago.

At 11 a.m, May 4th, after the
Coleman family had been seated

in the front row, six
uniformed pallbearers

from the 8th Regiment entered
carrying Bessie's coffin.

1,500 people filled the church,

and another 4,000 stood
outside in the streets.

Brave Bessie Coleman was
laid to rest, later that day,

in lot 580, section nine of
Chicago's Lincoln Cemetery.

It was the black cemetery
in Chicago of 1926

and named after a
man who, like Bessie,

died advancing a
cause he believed in.

While Bessie's death
was the front-page news

of the black newspapers
across the country,

the white press all but
ignored the tragedy.

The few that did mention it
ran the stories buried deep

in the paper, but this
was to be expected.

Throughout Bessie Coleman's
career, the white press had,

for the most part,
either ignored her

or treated her with contempt.

The Florida
Times-Union ran a story

about the mechanic
Bill Wills' death

and how he was teaching the
Coleman girl how to fly.

The Jacksonville Journal
also ran a story about Wills.

While they did concede
Bessie Coleman knew how

to fly an airplane,
she was referred to

as that woman,
throughout the story.

But it wasn't the white
press that brought an end

to Bessie Coleman's life.

They treated all blacks
with the same disrespect.

The papers were, after all,
an extension of the readers.

During Bessie's funeral, at
the Pilgrim Baptist Church,

Pastor Junius Austin,
an outspoken leader

in the black community,
placed the responsibility

for her untimely death
squarely on the shoulders

of the affluent members
of the black society.

The audience was reminded
of how she refused

to fly in shows where
her race was denied,

a decision that cost her
thousands of dollars,

at a time where she
desperately needed the money,

just to keep going, and yet,
what support did her race show

when she needed it the most?

He bluntly stated in
a passionate eulogy,

"This girl was a 100
years ahead of her race

"that she loved so well

"and by whom she was
least appreciated."

What Elisabeth Bessie
Coleman accomplished

in her short lifetime
is beyond comprehension.

Consider this, Martin Luther
King Jr hadn't been born yet.

It would be 34 years
before Rosa Parks refused

to give up her seat on that
Montgomery, Alabama bus.

There were not sit-ins,
no Freedom Riders

and no marches in Washington.

It would be 43 years

before the Civil Rights
Act was signed into law.

43 years.

There was just another
brave young woman, alone,

who in her own sweet
words refused to take
no for an answer.

[solemn music]

When Bessie Coleman made the
decision to learn to fly,

her unwavering focus was
to help bolster pride

and self-esteem in her race.

This focus grew
out of the dreadful
conditions she witnessed

as a young girl
growing up in Texas

and later on,
across the country.

But she believed
with all of her heart

that the country would
heal, and change would come.

A reporter once asked Bessie

why she didn't leave the United
States and move to Europe

where she would be
treated with more respect.

She simply replied,
"Because I'm an American."

[gentle piano music]

Bessie was excited about
the future of aviation

and wanted her people, her
country to be a part of it.

Did Bessie Coleman die in vain?

During the ensuing years, some
seemingly responsible sources

of public information
showed a disheartening,

if not disgraceful, resistance

to recognizing
Bessie's contribution,

not only to aviation
but to her race.

Over time, the
line between racism

and/or indifference
may become blurred.

But shoddy journalism
is always crystal-clear.

In a 176-page book, put
out by Time Life in 1981,

titled Women Aloft, all of
a 1/4 of a page is devoted

to Bessie Coleman, along with
wrong dates and misinformation

such as she drifted to Chicago
to open up a chili parlor.

Drifted, as in barefoot
with a pack on her back

and wearing tattered clothes?

Sound familiar?

[solemn music]

In 2001, Dorling Kindersley
put out a mammoth 984-page book

titled Aviation Year by Year.

Bessie is given
an 1/8 of a page,

which is the space taken
up by a blurry reprint

of a French newspaper clipping

titled Color Bar Forces
Woman to Go to France.

This type of reporting reeks

of the treatment Bessie
received, during her career.

Negro Airmen International
Inc, formed in 1964,

prided themselves in
presenting detailed accountings

of early black aviators
that, in their own words,

broke the color
barrier in flying.

Their comprehensive account
numbers many great black flyers

that made meaningful
contributions to aviation.

Bessie Coleman is not mentioned.

Now, if being first
is not meaningful,

maybe we should just consider
rewriting the dictionary.

Sorry, guys, it
happened, get over it.

Captain Johnny Robertson,
considered the father

of the Tuskegee Airmen, held
Bessie in such reverence

for breaking the color barrier,

he stared an annual
fly over her grave

on Memorial Day to drop flowers.

In 1929, William J Powell,
a former World War I soldier

and later civilian
pilot was so inspired

by Bessie he founded the
first Bessie Coleman Aero Club

in Los Angeles to provide
training in airplanes

to young African Americans
wanting to become aviators.

In 1931, the Bessie
Coleman Aero Club

sponsored the first all-Negro
airshow in the United States.

15,000 people showed up.

In 1935, a group of
Bessie's followers

joined Johnny Robertson in
the annual memorial flyover.

Cornelius Coffey, Dale
White, Willa Brown

and Janet Bragg all went
on to become famous pilots.

This flyover tradition
continues today.

[solemn music]

Over 40% of the famed
Tuskegee Airmen learned

to fly at the first black
flying school in America

where Bessie Coleman was
instrumental in opening.

In 1990, at Chicago
O'Hare Airport, the street

Old Manhattan Road was
renamed Bessie Coleman Drive.

Bessie Coleman Drive at
O'Hare Airport [chuckles].

In 1931, a group of
Bessie's disciples

formed a national organization

called the Challenger
Air Pilots Association.

Its home base was in Chicago,

but they built their own
airfield outside of town

in a village called Robbins.

Why?

Because Chicago airfields
were off-limits to Negroes.

61 years later, in 1992,

Mayor John Daley issued a
proclamation declaring May 2nd

as Bessie Coleman Day,
in the City of Chicago.

[dramatic music]

On March 27th, 1993, in Chicago,

the Bessie Coleman Library
was officially opened

at 731 East 63rd Street.

In 2001, Bessie's home state

of Texas finally recognized
her with a plaque

in the town of Waxahachie,
where she grew up.

In 2004, the beautiful
Bessie Coleman Park

was opened in Chicago.

In Cedar Hill, Texas,
2005, the doors opened

to the new Bessie
Coleman Middle School

that teaches 1,500 youngsters.

In 2014, on February 14th, the
Oakland International Airport

in California renamed the
portion of the airport drive

to Bessie Coleman Drive.

Mae Jemison, the first black
female astronaut in the world,

was so moved by Bessie's
accomplishments,

she carried her
picture into space.

She stated, "I point
to Bessie Coleman

"and say without hesitation
that here is a woman

"of being who exemplifies
and serves as a model

"to all humanity, the very
definition of strength,

"dignity, courage,
integrity and beauty."

[gentle music]

It has been 88 years
since Bessie Coleman died

on that spring morning
in Jacksonville, Florida.

Her goal was to help
uplift her people,

help stifle the results
that centuries of slavery

and racism had imposed
on the African Americans.

Although her life
ended abruptly,

and she never
realized her ambition

of opening up a flying school,

she achieved goals far
beyond her wildest dreams,

even for Bessie.

Millions of lives have
been enriched because

of the short time she
spent on this planet,

and not too many people can
make that extraordinary claim.

The day Bessie died, a note
was found in her pocket

from a little girl at one

of the schools she
visited, the day before.

[gentle music]

It reads, "My dear one,
I am writing to you

"to congratulate you
on your brave doings.

"I want to be an aviator
when I get a woman.

"I like to see our own
race do great things.

"I'm going to be out there

"to see you jump
from that airplane.

"I want an airplane of my
own when I get a woman.

"Many kisses, yours, a little
girl, Ruby Mae McDuffy."

[dramatic music]

Did Bessie die in vain?

What do you think?

Perhaps at that moment
when Bessie was thrown

from that airplane,
her soul was set free,

and the only thing that fell

to the ground was a body
she no longer needed.

Perhaps her spirit is still
soaring amongst the clouds

where she belongs.

[somber music]

♪ Too, doo, doo,
too, doo, doo, doo ♪

♪ Too, doo, doo,
too, doo, doo, doo ♪

♪ Mm-Hmm

♪ She knows

♪ Why it's home

♪ She goes

♪ And I get home

♪ She knows

♪ And I told you
she would, child ♪

♪ She goes riding on now

♪ She's riding on home

♪ She goes

♪ On high, yes

♪ Ooh, ooh, ooh

♪ Higher, she does get

♪ Getting higher up, now

♪ Getting higher, on high

♪ Fly on, she can

♪ On the top

♪ Till she came
crashing down, oh no ♪

♪ Too, doo, doo,
too, doo, doo, doo ♪

♪ Too, doo, doo, too, doo, doo

♪ Oh, oh, oh, oh no

♪ Too, doo, doo, too, doo