![]() Allen on a coast-to-coast, history-making flight. In 1932, with only four people coming out to watch his epic endeavor from a small airport in Los Angeles, Banning set off with his mechanic Thomas C. Thankfully for Banning, he found a white pilot who taught him the ropes and in 1926 became one of the first African American pilots in history. James Banning: First African American Pilot to Fly Across Americaīorn in 1900, James Banning held onto his childhood dreams of flying, despite the fact no school in America was willing to train a Black man. He died from stomach cancer in 1961 and was buried in Flushing Cemetery in the French War Veterans' section in Queens, New York. However, after fighting and getting wounded in World War II, he returned to the States and settled in Harlem, New York, where he worked odd jobs - his final stint being an elevator operator at Rockefeller Center. When World War I broke out, he fought for France and became a decorated infantryman before training as a pilot, receiving his license in 1917.īullard went on to participate in more than 20 combat missions before becoming a prominent nightclub owner in France and rubbing elbows with the likes of Louis Armstrong and Josephine Baker. Eugene Jacques Bullard: First African American Military Combat Pilotīorn in Columbus, Georgia in 1895, Eugene Jacques Bullard had lived many interesting lives before and after making history as the first Black military pilot.Īs a teen, he found his way to London and later settled in France as both an entertainer and a boxer. Although she had big dreams of starting an African American flying school, she died during a test flight in 1926. ![]() ![]() When she returned to the States, she became a celebrity and built her career as an airshow pilot. But because there were no aeronautical facilities that would teach minority women to fly in America, Coleman had to earn her license in France, which she did in 1921. Hailing from both African American and Native American descent, Bessie Coleman (1892-1926) was the first female from both ethnic heritages to earn her pilot license. Bessie Coleman Photo: Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
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