The Tuskegee Airmen helped pave the way for future generations of Black military and commercial pilots. But who paved the way for the Airmen?
#1: Bessie Coleman (1892–1926) - After being denied admission to flying schools in the U.S. because she was Black and a woman, Coleman learned French, saved her earnings as a manicurist, and attended aviation school in France. She became the first Black woman to earn an international pilot’s license.
#2: Willa Brown (1906–1992) - Willa Brown and her husband were denied admission to pilot schools because of their race, so they started their own, the Coffey School of Aeronautics. As one of the first Black-owned flight schools in the country, they successfully petitioned the government to admit Black pilots into the Air Force. More than 200 of Brown’s students became Tuskegee Airmen.
#3: Amelia Robinson Jones (1919-2015) - From 1943 to 1945, Sergeant Amelia Jones was a member of the 99th Pursuit Squadron under Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, commander of the Tuskegee Airmen. She was officially inducted into their ranks in 2014.
These women broke barriers and embodied the courage and resilience of all Black women. Like them, we can be an inspiration to the rising generation.