I know you haven't heard from me for a while. I haven't had much to talk about, really. Winter has been a cold one. I don't know how it's been where you are, but here it got super cold, and we had a LOT of snow. Roads were closed and temperatures were in the single digits and below. I was very worried about Ken and his bad circulation from his diabetes. Last winter his feet got so cold that he developed and actual HOLE in one of his toes. So when it got so cold this year we escaped to Emma's house, where it isn't as cold as our big, old, uninsulated house. Fortunately we got there just before the big storm.
We're back home now, since temperatures got back in double digits at night, waiting for the other storm to drop, as you might say. I think it's ended without coming this way.
We still have some problems though. When we left for Emma's our car had been running, but, even though we just had our water pump replaced AGAIN, it had started smoking when I came home from the grocery store one night. While we were gone to Emma's Fuzz had to get something out of the car for me, and the battery was dead. We didn't have to go anywhere for a while when we got back, and I wasn't looking forward to walking the little over a mile from the garage back home, or sitting around the garage all day, so I had been putting off jumping the car and taking it in. I finally got our other rechargeable battery jump starter back from Emma and we tried it. The car wouldn't start. We tried twice. I called AAA to jump the car. Actually, I couldn't call them. There's no number. I had to fill out something on line. I was assured, (in print) that they were on the way to jump the car. I went out and sat in the car so I would be ready. I waited half an hour, and then I got a call. The AAA guy told me he was at least an hour and a half away. I looked at the time and realized that by the time he got here and jumped the car the garage would be about to close for the day. So I waited until the next day. We dug out another battery jumper, and tried it, The car still wouldn't start. I felt awful the next day, and did a lot of sleeping. So the next day I called AAA again, and the guy came out in minutes that time. But of course, things weren't as simple as jumping the car. When he tried, the alternator smoked. That was apparently an indication that we need a new alternator. So he couldn't jump the car. He ended up towing it to the garage. They said they didn't need me, so I stayed home. They said they couldn't get to it that day. They said they could look at it the next day maybe, (Friday), but maybe not until Monday. Well, Monday rolled around and they called me. The car needs an alternator, but worse than that, there's a crack in the engine block. So it really isn't worth putting in a new alternator. We are now officially car-less. We might have a car in a week or two, but it's going to be something cheap, and when I say cheap I mean CHEAP. So it will have a lot of miles on it, so who knows how long it will last. And this car trouble means I missed the first doll show of the year, so sorry, no post on that.
In the meantime, I haven't done a Black History post yet this year. I was trying to think of a doll to do, and considered the first Black Barbie. I don't have one though, at least I might not, not for sure, and wouldn't know where she is if I do, so that would have been a complication.(Although I did once do a post on the second Black Ken doll. You can see that HERE.) Then the other day I was looking for something in the pictures in my phone, and I came across this doll
She's Bessie Coleman, obviously. We'll check out the doll in a minute, but first, who was Bessie Coleman?
Elizabeth 'Bessie' Coleman was born in 1892, in Atlanta Texas, moving to Waxahachie at age 2. Her father, an African American sharecropper, may have had Native American grandparents. (We'll get back to that in a minute.) Bessie was the 10th of 13 children, nine of whom survived to adulthood. When Bessie was six she started school, walking four miles to attend a segregated school. She excelled at Math, but had to leave school every harvest season to help bring in the cotton.
Her father moved to Oklahoma to look for work, leaving his family behind. At 12 Bessie went to school on a scholarship. At 18 she used her own savings to enroll in Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University, now known as Langston University. After only one year she ran out of money and had to leave school.
Bessie's brothers moved to Chicago, and in 1915 she joined them there, attending beauty school, and getting work as a manicurist at a barber shop. She later took on a second job as manager of a chili parlour. Bessie loved listening to the stories of pilots who had recently returned from World War I, and thus began her interest in flying. She married Claude Glenn, a friend of her brother, in 1917. They soon separated. Supposedly they never lived together, and she never used his name. She rarely spoke of him.
Bessie saved her money, hoping to go to flight school. But in the U,S. African Americans and Native Americans were not accepted at flight schools. After taking a course in French, and with the help of Chicago Weekly Defender editor Robert S. Abbott, who helped Bessie contact schools overseas, Bessie went to France.in 1920 to study flight. Ten months later she was issued a pilot's license from the Federation Aeronautique, on June 15th, 1921, making her the first Black person in the world to become a licensed pilot. Bessie became the first Black woman, and the first Native American, ( I told you that would come in somewhere.), to be given an aviation pilot's license, and the first Black person and the first self-identified Native American to earn an international aviation license. She is also the first American of any race or gender to be given the license directly from the FAI, instead of applying to the National Aeronautic Association.
Later that year she returned to the United States with the intention of opening a school for pilots. Commercial airlines were years in the future, so to earn a living Bessie realized she would have to become a stunt flier. But, for that, she would need more lessons, and she would have to develop her own programme of stunts and tricks. With nowhere in the U.S. to teach her such things, in 1922 she left again for Europe. After two months of advanced courses in France, Bessie traveled to Germany and studied under the chief pilot for the Fokker Aircraft Company.
In September, 1922 Bessie made her first appearance in an American air show. The show was to honour the veterans of the 369th Infantry Regiment, an all Black regiment from World War I, which had ended just four years previous. The show billed Bessie as 'the world's greatest woman flier'. Bessie was sponsored by the Chicago Defender newspaper and Robert Abbott.
Bessie became a fixture at airshows and performed exhibition flights all over the United States. She earned the nicknames Brave Bessie and Queen Bess, for her impressive stunt flying. She was known for doing anything to complete a stunt. She still didn't own her own plane though, and at one point she opened a beauty parlour in Orlando Florida to try to earn money to buy her own plane.
In her travels she often gave talks at churches and schools to encourage young Black men and women's interest in aviation. Bessie's two passions were promoting aviation, and fighting racism. At one stop Bessie reused to give her talk unless Black and White students were permitted to use the same entrance. Unfortunately they were still segregated inside. She also refused to perform at events where African Americans were not allowed to attend.
In 1922 Bessie was signed to appear in a move called "Shadow and Sunshine", with the idea of making money to open her own flight school for African Americans. The movie was produced by the African American production company Seminole Film Producing Company, based in New York City. The studio was run by Peter P. Jones, an African American photographer and film producer, with the intention of creating high quality independent Black films. (There is a 1916 movie called "Shadows and Sunshine", and a later movie with a similar name. Neither have anything to do with the 1922 movie.), "Shadow and Sunshine" was to feature over 100 African American actors, and other African American aviators, including Edson O. McVey. (I can't find anything on Edson O. McVey. He appears to be lost in time, because you can usually find ANYTHING on the internet, and there is nothing on him. There is a current actor named Edison McVey. Not him.) The popular story goes that Bessie refused to appear, after learning that her first scene would show her in ragged clothes, with a walking stick and a pack on her back. She saw this as promoting the African American stereotypes she was fighting against. Other sources only say that Bessie went to New York for the filming, but failed to show up for, not only the filming of "Shadow and Sunshine", but other projects she had agreed to appear in for the company. Bessie's departure, and the company's business struggles meant the film was never completed, and the company eventually ceased operations. (Peter P. Jones is a fascinating guy, a pioneer in early colour film processes, and the first African American to lead a department of any major White studio, when he was appointed head of the photo department for Lewis J. Selznick's Selznick Pictures. (Lewis Selznick was the father of David O. Selznick, the producer of "Gone With the Wind", and Myron Selznick, producer and talent agent, who brought his client Vivian Leigh to the set of "Gone With the Wind" during the filming of the burning of Atlanta sequence, and introduced her to his brother, thus ending the famous and highly publicized attempt to find an actress to play Scarlett.) He also mysteriously disappears from History after 1950. His life would make a great movie. You can read about him HERE.)
In February of 1923, during a flight from Santa Monica, Bessie's engine stalled, and her plane crashed. She suffered a broken leg and fractured ribs. Bessie asked the doctor to 'patch her up' so that she could perform at an airshow she had scheduled. They refused, and Bessie was grounded. She spent months in a hospital, where she planned her flying school while recovering. Bessie didn't return to flying until 1925.
Bessie bought a Curtiss JN-4 "Jenny" airplane, a 2 seater open cockpit plane developed for use in World War I, in Dallas, Texas. In April of 1926 her mechanic, William D. Wills, who was also her publicity man, flew the plane from Dallas to Florida, where Bessie was to appear at an air show. On the way Wills had to make three 'forced landings', which are described by Wikipedia thus:
"The aircraft is forced to make a landing due to technical problems. Landing as soon as possible is a priority, no matter where, since a major system failure has occurred or is imminent. It is caused by the failure of or damage to vital systems such as engines, hydraulics, or landing gear, and so a landing must be attempted where a runway is needed but none is available. The pilot is essentially trying to get the aircraft on the ground in a way which minimizes the possibility of injury or death to the people aboard. This means that the forced landing may even occur when the aircraft is still flyable, in order to prevent a crash or ditching situation."
The plane was not in the best condition, and Bessie's loved ones begged her not to fly it. Bessie ignored the possible danger, and went up with Wills to check out the terrain for a parachute jump planned for the following day. She wasn't wearing her seat belt, as she needed to look over the side of the plane to see the ground. Shortly after takeoff, at an altitude of 3000 feet, the plane suddenly went into a dive, and a spin. At 2000 feet Bessie fell from the plane and died upon impact. The plane crashed, killing Wills instantly. Although the plane exploded and burned it was determined that a wrench had been left in the plane during repairs, and had jammed the controls.
Funeral services were held in Florida and Chicago, where they were led by newspaper owner and activist Ida B. Wells, herself the subject of a doll in this same series. You can see my post on that doll, and read about Ida HERE. I'd still love to get the Ida doll. I did eventually get the Madame C.J. Walker doll, (You can see that post HERE. ), but I'd rather have Ida.
You can learn more about Bessie, see some photos of her, and read some of her actual quotes HERE.
As for the doll, Bessie is part of the Inspiring Women series by Mattel. She's all kitted out in her flying togs, including a green jacket and jodhpurs, white scarf, belt, boots, and flight cap.
The Mattel site describes the doll this way:
The Barbie® Inspiring Women™ series pays tribute to incredible heroines of their time; courageous women who took risks, changed rules and paved the way for generations of girls to dream bigger than ever before. Despite facing racial and gender discrimination, Bessie Coleman became the first Black and Native American female aviator and the first Black person to earn an international pilot’s license. Sculpted to her likeness and wearing a traditional olive-green aviator suit, including a “BC”-initialed cap, this collectible Barbie® doll honors a high-flying icon. Includes doll stand and Certificate of Authenticity. Barbie® doll cannot stand alone. Colors and decorations may vary.
- This Barbie® Inspiring Women™ doll honors Bessie Coleman. She was the first Black and Native American female pilot, and the first Black person to earn an international pilot’s license.
- Bessie Coleman Barbie® doll wears a traditional olive-green aviator suit, tall lace-up boots and a cap emblazoned with her initials: “BC”.
- As someone who loved flying through the sky and performing aerial tricks, she naturally comes with a helmet and goggle accessories!
- May this aviatrix’s trailblazing achievements and remarkable courage inspire people everywhere to soar to greater heights.
- The Bessie Coleman Barbie® Inspiring Women™ doll comes in displayable packaging, making her a wonderful gift for collectors and children ages 6 years old and up.
Let's start with the likeness. She's pretty, but doesn't look anything like Bessie Coleman, and this face seems to be the same one used on other dolls.
Her hair is cute, but I've seen pictures of her with her hat off, and it looks a little goofy without the hat.
Her outfit is really nice.
I like that they made an all new boot mold for her, and didn't try to just get by with any old boots.
But I don't see the helmet and goggles she's supposed to come with. Does anybody have this doll? Are they in the bottom corner of the box, behind the pictures?
She also comes with a stand, and a certificate of authenticity.
She has the regular articulation of neck, shoulders, and hips, plus jointed elbows and wrists. For some reason the Mattel site doesn't even bother to tell you that.
So that's the Black History Month doll for this year. I wondered if I was going to make it in time! I'm coming in just under the wire. I have been having some eye problems, and I desperately need new glasses. So I have a terrible sick headache and I'm ready to finish this post! I'll hopefully see you soon, and more clearly! The next time you see me I will most probably be an old lady of 64, as my birthday is less than two weeks away.
