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Bessie Coleman was born into poverty and picked cotton to help support her family. As WWI ended, her dream was to fly, but every flying school turned her down because of her gender and race.
African-Americans have contributed to American society in every walk of life, and one purpose of Black History Month is to call attention to some of those who may have escaped notice. Here are 10 brief biographies from the Profile America series produced by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Zora Neale Hurston was one of the great talents of the Harlem Renaissance - but had to work as a manicurist to support herself.
A century ago, bread bought at stores was hand-made, a time intensive process. That changed when a baker from Boston, Joseph Lee, invented the automatic bread-making machine.
Thousands of Americans owe their lives to the inventions of Garrett Morgan. The son of former slaves, Morgan invented the gas mask.
From the U.S. Census Bureau
Bessie Coleman was born into poverty and picked cotton to help support her family.
As World War I ended, her dream was to fly, but every flying school turned her down because of her gender and race.
Unbowed, she learned French and went to France, where she earned her international flying license, two years before Amelia Earhart. At the time, she was the only licensed black pilot in the world.
For the rest of her short life, she encouraged others to turn their dreams into reality. Sadly, she died in a crash while practicing for an air show in 1926.
There are 136-thousand pilots and navigators in the U.S. today, 3-and-1/2 percent of them female and just over one-half percent African American.
This profile is adapted from Profile America, a radio series produced by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004.
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