Against The Odds

March 13, 2007

The following article was written by Jacqui Sturgess, director of aerospace education for the Northeast Region of the U.S. Air Force Auxiliary, better known as the Civil Air Patrol. It previously appeared in a publication of the New Jersey Chapter of the Ninety-Nines, and on Women In Aviation-International's website. It was written shortly after Ms. Sturgess performed her first solo flight in February 2000.

I wanted to write this article as a way to celebrate my first solo. It being the month of February, certain women have been on my mind a lot and I wish to salute and honor them.

Jacqui Sturgess

If women make up only 6 percent of American pilots today, then it is likely that less than 1 percent are women of color. In 1997 there were not quite a dozen African American women pilots flying for the major airlines. The only captain was Patrice Clarke-Washington, who at 36 was flying a DC-8 on long haul trips for UPS. A graduate of Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, she learned to fly in order to see the world.

In 1967, a 50-year old doctorate student at NYU left her studies and drove out to La Guardia for her first flying lesson, completing a dream she'd held since high school. She didn’t stop there, but that same year founded the Ida Van Smith-Dunn Flight Clubs to teach children about aviation through a ground school course covering its history, basic navigation and aircraft operation.

Evie Washington wanted to join the U.S. Air Force — so she could learn to fly — at a time when not only was the Air Force not accepting women pilots, but didn’t have many black pilots either. Instead she worked hard to pay for her flying lessons, working her way up to an ATP license in order to pursue her goal of working for the airlines. Along the way, she too has made an effort to introduce children to aviation careers through orientation flights and lecturing at airports and schools.

After earning a Master Mechanics Certificate, then learning to fly, Willa Brown Chappell didn’t stop with her commercial pilot’s rating, but also obtained a CAA ground school instructor’s rating. In 1940, she persuaded the Civil Aeronautics Authority to accept that her students proved that blacks could become qualified pilots and be accepted into the Army Air Corps. She then campaigned successfully for the Air Corps to train blacks as pilots. This led to the legendary program at the Tuskegee Institute. Two years later, Willa and her pilot husband opened the first formal flying school owned and operated by blacks and approved by the government. This school was responsible for the initial training of the men who became pilots in the 99th Pursuit Squadron, the highly decorated all-black fighter squadron of WWII. Willa then joined the Civil Air Patrol (CAP), becoming the first black woman to become a member, and then the first black to hold the rank of officer in that organization. She continued teaching until her retirement in the mid-1970s and took her last flight in June of 1992, at the age of 86.

Lastly, my thoughts naturally turn to the daredevil aviator known as “Queen Bess” who had to learn French and cross the Atlantic in order to find a school that would teach her to fly. Bessie Coleman's Fédération Aéronautique International license is dated June 15, 1921, the first black woman ever to win a license from that prestigious organization — the only one at that time whose recognition granted one the right to fly anywhere in the world.

At 29, Bessie was a great trailblazer, single-handedly opening the frontier of aviation for blacks. In fact those Tuskegee Airmen can trace their beginnings to her example. She is a woman who exemplifies and serves as a model to all humanity: the very definition of strength, dignity, courage, integrity, and beauty.