Women of Aviation Week - Bessie Coleman in profile
This week marks the 6 th annual Women of Aviation Worldwide Week which aims to foster gender balance in the air and space industry. Here at the IET Aerospace Network we are celebrating by taking a look at some of the inspiring women of the aerospace industry. Today we are looking at Elizabeth ‘Bessie’ Coleman (1892 – 1926) who was the first female African American international pilot. She was also the first American woman to hold a pilot’s license. Bessie Coleman was the grandchild of slaves, her parents were illiterate and her prospects were extremely limited. With passion for education Coleman would read aloud to her family. She promised them that she would amount to something and set her sights on aviation. At the time there were no Africa American pilots in the area and no white pilots…