Bessie Coleman and Amy Johnson
Bessie Coleman
Bessie Coleman was the first black woman aviator in the
early 1920s. She was born into a poor family in the south of
America. She was one of 13 children. Her father was
Cherokee and Black heritage, her mother was African
American.
She was born on 26th January 1892 in Atlanta, Texas. Then
the family moved to Waxahachie, Texas, where she grew up
picking cotton and doing laundry for customers with her
mother.
Bessie's father decided to move the family to "Indian
Territory" in Oklahoma... Bessie's mother did not want to live
on an Indian reservation and decided to stay in Waxahachie.
Bessie and her sisters stayed there with their mum.
Bessie wanted to get the best education she could. She went to college for one
term only because she had no more money to pay the college fees. She trained
as a manicurist and went to live with two of her brothers in Chicago.
She wanted to become a pilot as she had read about and seen them flying on
newsreels. Her brother John came back from World War 1 and told Bessie about
French women who were pilots. This made Bessie desperate to prove that she
could learn to fly.
At this time America was a country where it was not easy for Black people to do
the same as White people. There were schools for White pupils, schools for
Black pupils. Bessie had attended a college for “Coloured” pupils where there
were no White pupils. White and Black people did not mix. This meant that
Bessie would have to find a flying school that would take Black pupils.
Bessie also had to fight hard to get people to think that a woman could become a
pilot because nearly all pilots were men. There were no laws in the 1920s on
equal opportunities.
Bessie applied to all the flying schools in America. All the schools rejected her.
She went to night school to learn French. She began applying to French flying
schools. She went to the Cauldron Brothers' School of Aviation in Le Crotoy,
France in 1920. After 7 months she got her pilot’s licence and went back to
America.
Bessie wanted to learn how to do daredevil stunts in her
plane. All the American flight schools turned her away.
She went back to France to learn how to do stunts there.
Bessie flew in her first air show on September 3, 1922,
at Glenn Curtiss Field in Garden City, New York. She began to tour America
giving exhibitions, flight lessons, and lectures. At these events, she talked to
African Americans and women to get them to learn to fly.
In February 1923, she had an accident and broke her leg. She did not fly for
more than a year. On June 19 1925 she dazzled thousands as she "barrel-rolled"
and "looped-the-loop" over Houston's Aerial Transport Field. It was her first
exhibition in her home state of Texas. Local white people attended, but they
watched from separate benches...
Bessie returned to her hometown of Waxahachie to give an exhibition. Whites
and African Americans wanted to attend. Officials wanted whites and African
Americans to enter the venue through separate "white" and "Negro" admission
gates. Coleman refused to perform under such conditions. She demanded only
one admission gate. In the end, Bessie got her way. Blacks and Whites went
into the air field through the same gate, but then went into separate areas.
On April 30 1926, she died falling out of her new plane while it was being tested.
Why is Bessie famous?
Bessie Coleman challenged early 20th century stereotypes about white
supremacy and the inabilities of women. As the first licensed African American
female pilot, and performing throughout the country, Coleman proved that people
could succeed and achieve their dreams in spite of their gender or the colour of
their skin.
Images of Bessie thanks to the Bessie Coleman Foundation,
http://www.wearethelegacy.com/news.html
Plane image thanks to http://www.airminded.net/ (Kevin Holcomb)
Amy Johnson
Amy Johnson was born 1st July 1903 in Hull. She had 2 sisters. Her family
owned a fish processing factory. They were comfortably well off.
Amy went to Sheffield University (which was unusual for a woman to do so at
that time) in 1922. When she left university she had a variety of jobs in Hull
before moving to London in 1927.
She joined the London flying club in 1928 and learnt to fly. She obtained her
pilot’s licence in July 1929. In December 1929 she became the first British
woman to be awarded her ground engineer’s licence. She wanted to show the
world that women were as good as men in an area which had previously been
dominated by men
In 1930 she undertook a solo flight to Australia in a Gypsy Moth plane
(called Jason after the family’s fish company). The plane was bought by her
father and Lord Wakefield of the Wakefield-Castrol oil company. It was second
hand and cost £600.
She flew from Croydon (near London) to Darwin, Australia. The flight took 20
days. She did not break any world records on this flight but she became the first
woman in the world to complete such a solo flight which covered more than
11,000 miles.
When she came back to England the Daily Mail gave her £10,000 prize money
and she was also awarded the CBE by the King. She used money given her in
Sydney Australia to buy a gold cup which is awarded to a child from Hull who has
shown outstanding bravery each year.
She flew on other long epic journeys and set many world records. For example
she became the first pilot to fly from London to Moscow in 1 day ( this took 21
hours). She married but the marriage did not last very long.
When World War11 broke out Amy joined the ATA ( Air Transport Auxilliary).
Her job was to fly new or repaired aircraft to airbases for the RAF. In January
1941 she set to deliver a plane to Oxford. However she crashed into the sea in
mysterious circumstances many miles off her planned route and her body has
never been found.
See following pages for image of Amy arriving in Australia and of her CBE both
courtesy of East Riding Council (David.Marchant@eastriding.gov.uk)
Amy’s CBE
Commander of the Order of the British Empire
Title: Bessie Coleman + Amy Suggested ages: Year 2
Johnson
Two great female aviators of the
early 20th century
Lesson 1 Bessie Coleman
Curriculum references Outcomes
NC programme of Study History Children will be able to sequence the
KS1 events of Bessie Coleman’s life.
Chronological understanding 1a Children will identify differences
Knowledge and understanding of between the past and present.
the past 2a, 2b
Historical Enquiry 4a, 4b
Organisation and Communication 5
QCA History KS1 Unit 4
NC NSG Citizenship KS1 4c Unit 4
Previous experience Resources
Children should have developed Information about Bessie Coleman
some chronological understanding Children’s activity sheets (Order their
and know that some events lives)
happened before living memory. Scissors
They should have heard about Glue
Bessie’s work in fighting against IWB
racial prejudice + of challenging
early 20th Century stereotypes
Introduction
Ask the children who has heard of Bessie Coleman .
Ask them to tell you what they know about her.
Main teaching activity
Remind the children that Bessie Coleman was born a long time ago then read
her story to the children.
Ask the children to highlight some of the differences between her life and
theirs.
List these.
Explain to the children that the story you have just read was in order; the early
events in Bessie’s life were told first, and it finished with what happened after
her death. Read the story again, highlighting the dates as you read it.
Tell the children that in their copy of the story the events are all muddled up
and that they have to put them in the correct order.
Remind the children of the sorts of clues they could be using:
Dates
Words relating to the passing of time
Give out the children’s sheets, blank paper to stick the statements on,
scissors and glue.
Plenary
With the children re-order the story of her life on the IWB. Ask the children to
explain what clues they used to do this.
Ask the children to give reasons from the text why we remember Bessie
Coleman
Assessment
Can the children correctly sequence the events of Bessie Coleman’s
life?
Can the children make comparisons between their lives and Bessie
Coleman’s?
can the children give reasons why we remember her today?
Title: Bessie Coleman and Amy Suggested ages: Year 2
Johnson
Lesson 2 Amy Johnson
Curriculum references Outcomes
NC programme of Study History Children will be able to sequence the
KS1 events of Amy Johnson’s life.
Chronological understanding 1a Children will identify differences
Knowledge and understanding of between the recent past and present.
the past 2a, 2b
Historical Enquiry 4a, 4b
Organisation and Communication 5
NC NSG Citizenship KS1 4c
Previous experience Resources
Children should have developed Information about Amy Johnson
some chronological understanding including pictures where possible
They should have heard about Children’s activity sheet What was she
Bessie Coleman’s role in like?
challenging early 20th century Children’s activity sheets (Order their
stereotypes + racial prejudice lives)
Globe or maps showing where Amy
was born and travelled to
IWB
Glue & scissors for Order their lives.
Introduction
Ask the children if anyone has heard of Amy Johnson
Main teaching activity
Explain to the children that Amy Johnson lived some time ago. Ask the
children to find out when their great grandparents were born.
Read the story of her life, pointing out on the map places where she visited.
Ask the children to list the differences between Amy’s life and theirs.
Ask the children to think about how she would have travelled from Australia to
UK in 1930
Explain to the children that they are going to think of some words to describe
Amy. Go through some with the children e.g. rich, uncaring, thoughtful, clever
etc.
Tell the children that once they have thought of some words to describe Amy
Johnson they should write sentences using those words.
If children finish give them Amy’s life story to sequence correctly.
Plenary
Go through the children’s sentences with them. Ask them to explain from the
story why they have chosen those words/sentences.
With the children re-order the story of Amy’s life on the IWB. Ask the children
to explain what clues they used to do this.
Assessment
Can the children make comparisons between their lives and Amy Johnson’s?
Can the children choose appropriate words to describe Amy’s character and
use these in sentences?
Can the children correctly sequence the events of Amy’s life?
Title: Bessie Coleman + Amy Suggested ages: Year 2
Johnson
Lesson 3
Curriculum references Outcomes
NC programme of Study History Children will compare and contrast the
KS1 lives of Bessie Coleman + Amy
Knowledge and understanding of Johnson
the past 2a
Organisation and Communication 5
QCA History KS1 Unit 4
NC NSG Citizenship KS1 4c
Previous experience Resources
Children should know about the Information about both Bessie Coleman
lives of Bessie Coleman + Amy + Amy Johnson
Johnson IWB useful but not essential.
Children’s activity sheets Compare and
contrast
Venn diagram enlarged to A3 size
Scissors and glue
Introduction
Ask the children to remind you of some of the facts about Bessie Coleman +
Amy Johnson
Jot these down.
Re-read the stories of both people if necessary.
Main teaching activity
Explain to the children that they are going to compare the lives of the two
female aviators.
On the IWB show the children’s activity sheet and the statements.
Ask a child to suggest a statement that is true of Bessie but not Amy. Drag
that to the correct area of the diagram. Ask for a statement that applies to
Amy but not Bessie.
Ask for a statement that refers to both, thus showing children how they can
position the statements in their diagram.
Explain to the children that they will work in pairs to decide which statement
goes where.
When they have finished they should try to think of some statements of their
own to add to the diagram.
Plenary
Go through all the statements with the children, dragging them to the correct
part of the diagram.
Ask the children to share their statements and add them to the diagram.
Print out the diagram.
Focus on certain areas of differences between the two women and ask the
children to try to suggest what effect that had.
Ask the children why Amy Johnson is better known than Bessie
Assessment
Can the children sort the sentences and correctly position them in the
diagram?
Can the children write statements of their own to add to the diagram?
Can the children use this information to talk about the differences in Amy’s
and Bessie’s lives?
Amy Johnson 1903 - 1941.
(You can listen to a song which was written about Amy by following the link
http://www.petefaint.co.uk/jackhylton/amy.mp3
It may take a while to download + note the quality of the recording is not brilliant
however it will give children a flavour of what 1930’s music sounded like and how
Amy became the nation’s heroine after her flight to Australia)
There is a wealth of material about Amy Johnson which the bbc schools radio
programme used in summer 2009 - you can choose to purchase a CDrom with
the materials on or listen as it is broadcast see
http://www.bbc.co.uk/schoolradio/pdf/timeandtune_summer_2009.pdf for full
details.
There are a considerable number of websites which contain much information
about Amy.
Amy’s family donated resources to Sewerby Hall see
http://www.eastriding.gov.uk/sewerby/hall/amy.html
The science museum has pictures of Amy and her plane and considerable
details of Amy’s life.
http://www.sciencemuseum.org.uk/onlinestuff/stories/amy_johnson.aspx
Suggestions re recovery of Amy’s body + some other images
http://www.bbhmg.com/amyjo.htm
the Golden Age of flight has brief details of Amy
http://www.nasm.si.edu/research/aero/women_aviators/amy_johnson.htm
Buckinghamshire lists her as one of its most famous residents
http://www.visitbuckinghamshire.org/site/culture-history-and-heritage/famous-
inhabitants
The national portrait galley has 2 portraits of Amy
http://www.npg.org.uk/collections/search/largerimage.php?LinkID=mp02440&pag
e=1&rNo=0&role=sit
the BBC has much useful information and some interesting images
http://www.bbc.co.uk/humber/content/articles/2005/10/18/amy_johnson_feature.s
html
For a discussion about the circumstances of her death and an image of a statue
in her honour visit
http://www.bbc.co.uk/insideout/yorkslincs/series1/amy-johnson.shtml
from history to her story
http://www.historytoherstory.org.uk/index.php?nextcount=3&targetid=21&themeid
=8
For fuller details of Amy’s life
seehttp://www.hullcc.gov.uk/pls/portal/docs/PAGE/HOME/LEISURE%20AND%2
0CULTURE/LOCAL%20HISTORY%20AND%20HERITAGE/AMYJOHNSON.PD
F
Name…………………………………………………………Date…………………
Amy Johnson
Which of these words describes Amy Johnson?
Clever Brave Hard working
Caring Cowardly Rich Determined
Think of some more words to describe her.
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Use these words to write some sentences to tell us what Amy Johnson
was like.
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