Waxahachie Journal

When Bessie was not able to locate a pilot school in the United States that would accept her, she turned her determined sights to France. Several unknown sources provided her with funding and when she received her passport and French visa, she left for Somme, France in November of 1920. Bessie was an avid student, and she completed the ten-month course in only seven months. She learned to fly in a French Nieuport Type 82, and she received her pilot’s license from the prestigious Federation Aeronautique Internationale (FAI) on June 15, 1921. Bessie was the first black woman to earn a license from the FAI and she was the only woman in her class of 62 students.

Bessie returned to New York on September 16, 1921 by ship. An amazing amount of press coverage awaited her. But Bessie discovered that before she could fly an airplane as an entertainer, she needs more advanced training. On February 28, 1922, she left for France and achieved the additional training that she needed.
Bessie returned to the United States to begin her new flying career. She understood the need for publicity and she created an image of herself in a military-style uniform. Her first public appearance as an aviator was on September 3, 1922 at Curtis Field near New York City. She was billed as the “world’s greatest woman flyer.” Bessie traveled around the country, including Memphis and Chicago. Her first appearance in Texas was at a Houston racetrack in 1925.

One of Bessie’s goals was to open a school for aviators. She lined up a series of lectures and exhibition flights in Texas to promote this idea. She accumulated enough money for a down payment on a plane from the Curtis Southwestern Airplane and Motor Company. She made the payment at Love Field in Dallas.
Bessie went on another series of lectures in black theaters in Georgia and Florida. She borrowed airplanes so she could continue to fly exhibitions. Bessie refused to perform unless the audiences were desegregated and everyone was allowed to use the same gates. Bessie made the final payment on her airplane in Dallas, with the help of an unknown patron. She arranged to have it flown to Jacksonville, Florida for her next show, scheduled for May 1, 1926.