By ENS Randel Sam Meier
Most women, prior to the late twentieth century,
did not or could not have careers. Those women who
choose to work or had to work to support themselves
and or their families could choose from only a very
few jobs. There were always exceptions to the rule,
pioneers who went where no other woman had dared to
go. The search for adventure, financial needs, and
a desire to do something different led these women
to break the barriers society had set. Over the years,
women have been recognized for many great firsts,
including firsts in aviation.
Harriet
Quimby set out with just one goal. She was determined
to learn to fly, and no one was going to convince
her otherwise. To avoid public scrutiny, she disguised
herself as a man and took her flight lessons early
in the morning. After failing her first attempt to
obtain her pilots license, and in less than eight
years after the first flight of the Wright brothers,
on the 1st, of August 1911, Harriet Quimby entered
the history books as the first American woman licensed
to fly an airplane. Soon there after on the 16th,
of April 1912, she also became the first woman to
fly across the English Channel.
If it was hard for American women to find someone
to teach them to fly during the early years of aviation,
it was almost impossible for African-Americans. The
unwillingness to give up on a dream, and sheer determination,
enabled Bessie Coleman to become the first African-American,
male or female, licensed to fly an airplane. Born
in Texas Bessie's early life had been filled with
frustration and poverty. As a young girl Bessie picked
cotton to help support her family. In latter years
she became a beautician and by November of 1920 she
had saved enough money to go to France for flight
instruction. On the 15th, of June 1921, Bessie Coleman
earned her pilots license and had accomplished something
no other African-American had ever done. Bessie Coleman
introduced African-Americans to the field of aviation
and at the same time she proved that women and African-Americans
were every bit as capable of flying as white males.
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America's earliest female fliers had several things
in common. Harriet Quimby, and Bessie Coleman wanted
to fly. They were willing to do whatever it took to
make that happen. Despite disapproval, they believed
they had a right to be pilots. They refused to take
no for an answer and lived a life by one motto, "No
Matter the Odds, No Matter the Obstacles, Never Give
up." In their footsteps, still other women follow.
