Elizabeth Bessie Coleman was born on January 26, 1892, into a sharecropping family in a small town in Atlanta, Texas. She became interested in flying while living in Chicago, where stories about the exploits of World War I pilots piqued her interest. Unfortunately, flight schools during this time would not allow Coleman in due to her race and gender, but she remained determined! She would move to Paris where she learned French and ended up enrolling in a prestigious aviation school. In 1921, she became the first African American, and the first Native American woman to earn a pilot's license. Known for performing flying tricks, Coleman would earn the nicknames “Brave Bessie,” “Queen Bess,” and “The Only Race Aviatrix in the World.” On April 30, 1926, she was practicing for a May Day celebration in Jacksonville, Florida, when her plane, piloted by her mechanic, flipped during a dive. Sadly, Coleman was not wearing a seatbelt and did not survive the accident. She was only 34. Al...