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| WOMEN IN TRANSPORTATION |
| Changing America's History |
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Aviation
Pioneers
Bessie Coleman paved the way for African Americans. She began flying in the early 1920s and became the first African-American woman pilot. Coleman went to France for initial flight training and received her license in 1921. She returned to the United States in 1922 and performed in air shows in the South, concentrating on performances for predominately African-American audiences. Coleman was never able to achieve her life-long dream of establishing an aviation training school for African Americans. She died in a flying accident on April 30, 1926. |
Top: Jacqueline Cochran, first woman to break the sound barrier, May 18, 1953. | |
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In August 1911, Harriet Quimby became
the first woman in America to get a pilot's license. Working as a writer and editor for Leslie's Illustrated Weekly, she used her position to challenge existing beliefs about appropriate behavior for women. She began flying lessons in the spring of 1911 by disguising herself as a man. She then worked in exhibition flying until her death during a flight over Boston in July 1912.
Amelia Earhart is the most famous early woman aviator. Among her many flying records is the first solo transatlantic fight by a woman. She set the record crossing the Atlantic in 14 hours and 56 minutes. In 1937, Earhart and her navigator, Fred Noonan, set off to circle the globe but disappeared in the attempt.
