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Bessie Coleman: Fly! Bessie, Fly!

Portrayed by Daisy Century from American Historical Theater

The first African American woman to become a licensed airplane pilot and the first American to hold an international pilot license, Bessie Coleman was a woman who refused to submit.

FEBRUARY IS BLACK HISTORY MONTH.

Born in Texas and raised on a farm, she loved school and walked four miles every day to attend a one-room all-black school through 8th grade. Working with her mother and two sisters, she did laundry, cleaned homes, and picked cotton to earn money so she could finish her education. At age 18, she enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural Normal University, but she only had enough money for one year. Traveling north to Chicago to live with her brothers, she heard stories from pilots returning from World War I and decided to become a pilot. After applying to three American aviation schools that refused to teach her, this smart, naturally gifted woman did not give up. Learning enough French to get by, she enrolled in a French school, the only black person in the class, and finished the ten-month course in eight months! 

In 1921 Bessie Coleman became the first African American woman to earn her pilots’ license. Never one to let other people define her limitations; she travelled to France to learn to fly when American flight schools refused her because of her race. In later years she shared her experiences with children, encouraging them with the words, "you too can fly”.               

Performer: Dr. Daisy Century recalls the thrill of receiving a standing ovation for her 3rd grade recitation of The Creation and credits this as the beginning of her desire to perform. Trained as a teacher, Century earned a BA in Biology at Claflin College, a master’s in science education from South Carolina University and a PhD from Temple University, also in Science Education. This naturally talented teacher and actor couples scientific methods with creative imagination in order to discover how the historical characters she interprets would respond to a given situation. An inspiring educator whose students have returned year after year to thank her for the difference she has made in their lives, Daisy has continued to inspire through her thoroughly researched, dramatically intense portrayals. She is a published author, writing under the name Emily Nelson, and is an accomplished singer.

At the conclusion of the program please feel free to take a brief online survey here: https://www.projectoutcome.org/responses/80665

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