Women's History Month: Bessie Coleman

March is Women's History month. To honor all the great women that came before us, I decided to research some extraordinary women and teach Doll Face about them. 

The first woman that we covered this month is Bessie Coleman. Bessie Coleman was an American Aviator. She was born on January 26, 1892, in Atlanta, Texas. She was one of 13 children. She lived in Waxachie, Texas, until the age of 23 when she moved to Chicago, Illinois, with her brothers. In Chicago, she worked as a manicurist at the White Sox Barber Shop. There she met a man, Robert S. Abbott, who encouraged her to go abroad to get a aviator license since she would not be able to do so in the United States because she was Black and a Women. To prepare for her trip, to France, Bessie learned to speak French. She moved to Paris, France, on November 20, 1920, to attend the Ecole d'Aviation des Freres Caudon at Le Crotoy. Bessie Coleman was the first African American Women to earn an international aviation license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale and the first African American women to earn a pilot's license. 

Bessie Coleman returned to the United States and became a stunt flyer to earn a living. For five years she performed for crowds. Bessie died on April 30, 1926, during a flight where she was surveying some land for a performance she was scheduled to execute the next day. She was 34 years old at the time of her death. 

Source

We purchased the book "Fly, Bessie, Fly" by Lynn Joseph, for Doll Face. The book was a pre-owned copy but was in great condition when we got it. The book itself tells the story of Bessie Coleman's life. We had a good time reading about Bessie and all her dreams.

Bringing the lesson home:

I took some old cardboard boxes and cut them out and then painted them to make a plane for Doll Face. See pictures below. It is always fun to use your imagination to come up with something your child will enjoy. The materials used to make the plane were things that we already had at home: cardboard boxes, scissors, glue and paint.

Doll Face had a blast climbing in and out of the cardboard plane that I made her. I laid out an old blanket, that has a cloud pattern, on the floor. She immediately pretended she was flying thru the air with her aviator hat on. I was cracking up the whole time.

She didn't want to take this picture. LOL. Can you tell?

We also discussed how far Bessie Coleman had gone just to follow her dreams. I showed Doll Face where we live and showed her how far France is from us. This discussion led us to discuss the idea that sometimes we have to move to different places in order to make our dreams or goals a reality. And that while this might be scary, it can be fun.

Overall, I feel like Doll Face had a blast learning about Bessie Coleman. She asked many questions and inquired about learning to fly. 

Bessie Coleman was definitely a woman ahead of her time. She has inspired us to reach for our dreams and goals.