[NTA] FW: Pause for a moment in history - Queen Bess' Airshow in Memphis TN
- From: "Ericsson, Aprille J. (GSFC-5050)" <aprille.j.ericsson@xxxxxxxx>
- To: undisclosed-recipients:;
- Date: Wed, 12 Oct 2011 16:57:34 -0500
From: Thelma Rudd [mailto:trudd@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]
Sent: Wednesday, October 12, 2011 4:58 PM
Subject: Pause for a moment in history - Queen Bess' Airshow in Memphis TN
Take a pause today and reflect on Bessie Coleman..the first American citizen to
receive an International Pilot's License!
Bessie was very intelligent, often surrounding herself with women and men of
power. Examples being Glenn Curtiss, Ida B. Wells-Barnett, Edwin Beeman,
Anthony Fokker, Josephine Baker, Ethel Waters, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson,
Robert Abbott, Miriam A. "Ma" Ferguson, and Kojo Touvalou-Houenou. Ms. Coleman
was also active in both the NAACP, and Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro
Improvement Association
On September 3, 1922, Bessie gave her first performance at an air show at
Curtiss Field, near New York City. The show was sponsored by Robert Abbott and
the Chicago Defender. Bessie was proclaimed "the world's greatest woman flyer."
She was a success -- praised in both white and black newspapers. Realizing her
power as an attraction, she would only fly in air shows with the understanding
that they not be segregated.
And on this day October 12, 1922 - Brave Bessie performed at the TriState Fair
in Memphis, TN. With her daring aerial feats attracting crowds of blacks and
whites alike, Coleman, often performed dangerous stunts which kept the audience
glued to their seats and their eyes to the sky. The Memphis audiences watched
her every move ever so closely that a young boy walked up to her after a short
flight demonstration and asked, "Lady, didn't your plane stop up there for a
little while?" Bessie answered "yes", for indeed her engine had shut off or
faltered.
Throughout her life, Bessie Coleman had resisted society's restrictions against
blacks and women. She believed that the air is the only place where everyone is
free. She wanted to teach other black people about that special environment.
It took some time until her wish was fulfilled. It was not until nineteen
thirty-nine that black students were permitted to enter civilian flight schools
in the United States and nineteen forty-one before the first black was
unknowningly hired as an air traffic controller - (google Oscar Holmes).
Please feel free to share this moment in history..
--
It looks like a good day to fly!
Thelma L. Rudd, BCAL President
901-219-7544<tel:901-219-7544>
www.WeAreTheLegacy.com<http://www.wearethelegacy.com/>
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- » [NTA] FW: Pause for a moment in history - Queen Bess' Airshow in Memphis TN - Ericsson, Aprille J. (GSFC-5050)
