Queen Bess and the Black Eagle

Aviatrix Bessie Coleman poses alongside Aviator, Hubert Fauntleroy Julian.

Hubert Fauntleroy Julian
Born Huberto Fauntleroyana Julian in Trinidad in 1897, but better known to the world as the Black Eagle, Julian was a world famous aviator and soldier of fortune. Something of a controversial figure in the 1920s and 30, Julian was a supporter of Marcus Garvey and one of the first, if not the first black man to get his pilot’s license. Julian became known as a showman by flying his plane over rallies for Garvey and performing aerial stunts. He unsuccessfully attempted a transatlantic flight from New York to Africa in 1924, and barely survived when his plane crashed into the ocean. He successfully made the trip five years later. In 1931, Julian set the non-stop non-refueling aviation endurance record with a flight of 84 hours and 33 minutes. He also toured with an all-black flying circus known as The Five Blackbirds. When Italy invaded Ethiopia in 1935, the Black Eagle flew to the African nation to fight for Emperor Haile Selassie, who had made Julian an honorary citizen in 1930, and awarded him the rank of colonel. The Black Eagle passed away in New York City in 1983.

Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman (who was the first black female pilot), was born into a poor Texas family, and although she was a bright student, poverty kept her from attending college. She moved to Chicago where she saw her first air show. The excitement and thrills created by the barnstorming stunt pilots inspired her to learn to fly.

Coleman refused to give in to the racial and gender prejudices of her day. Rejected by American flight schools, she went to France, learned to fly in Nieuport biplanes, and earned the first International Pilot's License issued to a black woman.

Returning to America in 1921, Coleman yearned to open a flight school for black pilots. She believed "the air is the only place free from prejudices." She turned her accomplishments into celebrity, appearing on newsreels, performing at air shows, and lecturing to encourage other blacks to pursue aviation careers.

By 1926, Coleman had raised almost enough money to open her school. As fate would have it, her dreams never came true. She died in a crash at a Florida air show in 1926.

Sources: firstflight.org; F. H. McCullough, Photograph of African American Aviators Bessie Coleman and Hubert F. Julian. James Weldon Johnson Collection in the Yale Collection of American Literature, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library; Photographed by F. M. McCullough (Sept. 3, 1922).