As aviation and flying are closely linked with our favorite concepts of travel, voyage, and discovery, we wanted to celebrate African-American trailblazers within the Aviation industry in observation of this annual holiday. These four icons have courageously pushed the bounds of diversity, broken barriers, and have cemented their place as firsts within this industry, charting a course for inclusion.
Eugene Bullard, born in Columbus, Georgia, was the first African-American military pilot. Bullard, who flew for the French Military as he was denied the opportunity to fly for US forces, was one of the few Black combat pilots to serve during World War I. Over his career, Bullard received 15 medals from the government of France, including the iconic Légion d’honneur by General Charles de Gaulle, making him a Knight. He was inducted into the inaugural class of Georgia’s Aviation Hall of Fame. On August 23, 1994 – 77 years to the day, he should have been approved to fly for the US armed forces in World War I, were it not for systematic social inequalities – Bullard was posthumously appointed a second lieutenant in the United States Air Force.
Born in Atlanta, Texas, Bessie Coleman, was the first woman of African-American (and Native American) descent to obtain a pilot’s license. At a young age she developed an interest in flying, but as a woman (as well as one of color), she had no flight training opportunities in the United States, so she went to France for flight school through saved earnings and scholarships. She received her pilot license in France from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in 1921, making her the first Black person to earn an international pilot’s license. In 1922 upon her return to the US, she became the first Black woman in America to make a public flight. She had hoped to start a school for African-American fliers before her untimely passing at the age of 34 during an aerial mishap. Her pioneering spirit was an inspiration to early pilots within and outside of the African-American community.
Guion “Guy” Bluford, Jr. was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and is a retired US Air Force Colonel and a former NASA Astronaut. He is the first African-American man to travel into space, participating in four flights of the Space Shuttle and logging 688 hours between 1978-1993. Bluford was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 1997, the United States Astronaut Hall of Fame in 2010, and the National Aviation Hall of Fame in 2019.
Born in Decatur, Alabama, Mae Carol Jemison is an American engineer, physician, and former NASA astronaut. She became the first Black woman to travel into space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour in 1992. After spending 6 years at NASA, she later formed a non-profit educational foundation and through the foundation is the principal of the 100 Year Starship project funded by DARPA. She holds several honorary doctorates and was inducted into the International Space Hall of Fame in 2004 and received the Buzz Aldrin Space Pioneer Award in 2017.
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