Queen Bess: Daredevil Aviator

I have been working on a project involving Bessie Coleman, the first African American pilot in the U.S. Doris Rich's book was the best of the lot. Bessie did not leave a copious paper-trail with mounds of letters to others, but Rich has managed to track down specifics about many of the details of her life. Her account of Bessie's death in 1926 here in Jacksonville, Fla., is the most complete of any available books. As with many people, Bessie's dreams were bigger than her pocketbook. Howard Denson North Florida Writers Jacksonville, FL

As far as I know, this is the only adult biography of Bessie Coleman, the pioneer African-American aviatrix. Rich notes that she was hampered by a lack of personal material, but has none the less produced a fascinating biography. Coleman, a woman of modest background, overcame barriers of wealth, race and gender. A national celebrity, especially among Blacks, she was even able to attract the attention of white Americans. Through her airshows and lectures, and against a great deal of hostility, she was a tireless campaigner for equality for both sex and gender. Mae Jemison, the first African-American female astronaut has written an afterword. For some reason, this is after the notes and bibliography, but before the index. There are a variety of biographies of Coleman aimed at various ages of children. While reading this, I also read Bessie Coleman; first Black Woman Pilot by Connie Plantz. This is of course the most detailed and contains a considerable amount of historical and contextual information. Both this and Plantz's book are lavishly illustrated, happily with a number of different pictures, and I recommend both to anyone interested in visual information. The book has copious notes, a lengthy bibliography and an index.