Bessie Coleman wasn’t born with a dream.
But she was born with determination. And it was that determination that guided her decisions just as soon as she was old enough to make them for herself. When Coleman was 23, one of those decisions changed the course of her life. And guided everything that came after.

▲ Born in Atlanta, Texas, in 1892, Bessie was one of 13 children. Susan Coleman, her mother, was a domestic worker. George Coleman, her father, was a sharecropper. (A sharecropper is a farmer who works land for the owner. In return, the sharecropper gets a share of the value of a crop.) Three of George Coleman’s grandparents were Native American, so he was of mixed race. Like others, the family was subject to significant discrimination. They had to ride at the back of buses and streetcars. Plus, many public facilities, like restrooms and water fountains, were for Whites only. And they faced many obstacles to voting.
▲ Bessie’s mother took in laundry to earn extra money. As soon as they were old enough, Bessie and some of her sisters helped with the washing. In addition, Bessie and her siblings would join their parents in the fields to pick cotton. When Bessie was eight or nine years old, her father moved to Indian Territory (now Oklahoma) to get away from discrimination and find better job opportunities. Bessie, her siblings, and her mother remained in Texas.

◀ Bessie went to school in a one-room shack about four miles from home. At times, the school lacked the basics for learning, like paper and pencils. But Bessie’s mother was not to be defeated. She saw that Bessie was a devoted reader and made sure that she and her siblings took advantage of the traveling library that came by a few times each year.

In the early 1900s, many Blacks were moving north to escape racial violence. When Coleman was 23, she too moved north, to live with two of her brothers in Chicago. The type of work open to women in those days was limited, but again, Coleman was not to be put off. She went to the Burnham School of Beauty Culture and later worked as a manicurist in a barbershop. One of her customers was Robert Abbott, founder and publisher of the Chicago Defender, a major Black-owned newspaper. An avid reader of the paper, Coleman was inspired by stories about World War I pilots. “I want to find a bigger life,” she said. “I want to amount to something.” ▶


▲ While Coleman worked as a manicurist, her brothers served in the military in Europe. When they came home, they brought with them stories of France, where they were stationed. One of Coleman’s brothers teased her. “I know something that French women do that you’ll never do . . . fly!” Coleman’s response was immediate. She said, “That’s it! You just called it for me.” At that moment, Coleman’s dream was born. She would become a pilot.