Memorial Day, which is coming up soon, is the day when black men and women aviators fly in formation and drop bouqests of flowers on the grave of Bessie Coleman in Lincoln Cemetery.
Bessie Coleman, born poor and black in Texas in 1892, through courage and pluck became the first African-American woman to earn a pilot's license. A determined and flamboyant character, Coleman became world-famous as a daring stunt flyer until her tragic death in an airplane accident in 1926.
Miriam is a recovering librarian and sometime writer who wrote a book about African American aviators and astronauts cleverly entitled, "Distinguished African American Aviators and Astronauts." She's kind of stuck back in the twentieth century.
Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Science:
Distinguished African Americans in Aviation and Space Science offers brief, readable entries that describe the lives and careers of 80 men and 20 women who defied poverty and prejudice to excel in the ...
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