Black Wings: Online Biography

Pilot’s license, Bessie Coleman, 1921 photo

Joe Louis, William J. Powell at the Bessie Coleman Aero Club, 1930s photo

Lt. Willa Brown, circa 1942 photo

Eleanor Roosevelt, C. Alfred Anderson, Tuskegee airplane ride, circa 1940 photo

First cadets, Tuskegee, 1941 photo

	Online Biography In this activity you will use the Black Wings collection, your own research, and biographical passages from this section of the Black Wings site to create a biography of an African American pioneer in aviation. You’ll present your aviator biography to your classmates; you’ll tell them about your aviator’s life and accomplishments; and you’ll show them images (on screen or in print) from the Black Wings collection to illustrate your biography. Your biography won’t be a summary of all the aviator’s life events from birth to death. Instead, it will be a “high points” biography, in which you present your classmates with the turning points, major decisions, or most significant events of an African American aviator’s life. Your teacher may give you some specific advice on how to create and present your biography of an African American pioneer in aviation. Step 1 - Choose a Subject Choose one of these aviators as the subject of your biography: Bessie Coleman: first licensed black pilot in the United States William J. Powell: advocate of black participation in aviation, author of Black Wings, and founder of the Bessie Coleman Aero Club and Bessie Coleman School to train black aviators Willa Brown: pilot and president of the National Airmen’s Association of America C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson: the “Father of Black Aviation,” initiated the Civilian Pilot Training program at Howard University, and the chief civilian flight instructor at Tuskegee Benjamin O. Davis Jr.: first black student to graduate from West Point, first black general in the U.S. Air Force, advanced to the rank of four-star general in 1998 Step 2 - Learn about Your Subject Read and print the biographical passage at this site about the aviator you’ve chosen. Bessie Coleman William J. Powell Willa Brown C. Alfred “Chief” Anderson Benjamin O. Davis Jr. Find at least one other short biographical passage about your aviator on the Internet or in your school library. The Resources section of this site will help you find information. Print the web biography and/or make a copy of the print information you find about your aviator.

	Step 3 - Learn about the Basics of Your Aviator’s Life Answer the following questions to create a basic biography of your aviator

•	When was your aviator born and when did he or she die?


•	Where did your aviator live?


•	How did your person become an aviator?


•	What obstacles to becoming an aviator did your person face?


•	What are three of your aviator’s major accomplishments?
	1.
	2.
	3.

•	What’s one “quotable quote” from (or about) your aviator that will help your classmates know this aviator better?


	What do you admire most about this aviator?

	More questions below.

	Step 4 - Search the Black Wings Collection for Images to Use in Your Biography of an Aviator Now that you know the basics about your aviator, you are ready to choose images from the Black Wings collection to illustrate your writing and to present to your classmates orally. To find interesting items that relate to your aviator, you can search the Black Wings collection by gender, person, object type, or decade.

	Step 5 - Prepare the Script for Your Biography Presentation The script for your biography will have two sections: Answers to the biography questions in Step 3. Three short paragraphs explaining the images you’ve chosen from the Black Wings collection.




	To prepare the script for your biography presentation, answer the questions in Step 3. Then, write a short explanation of each image you chose from the collection. For example, if you were creating a biography of William J. Powell, you might include the advertisement he created around 1936 offering “aviation training free.” [link to advertisement, in collection. Item no. 31, Accession 1996-0008] You would print out and study the advertisement. Then you would write a short paragraph about how this advertisement shows something important about Powell’s beliefs or his life. During your biography presentation, you will read the paragraphs you wrote about each of the three items you chose from the collection. Step 6 - Present Your Biography to Your Classmates Now you get to share your interest in your aviator with your fellow students. To present your biography to your classmates, you will read the biography you’ve written and show your classmates the three images you chose from the Black Wings collection. Depending on your teacher’s advice and the classroom setup, you may be able to show the images on an extra-large monitor or on a wall screen. Or you may want to print out the images from the collection and pass them around for your classmates to review while you are reading the paragraph you wrote about each image.