Born: 2 January 1906, United States
Died: 18 July 1992
Country most active: United States
Also known as: NA
The following is republished from the Federal Aviation Administration. This piece falls under under public domain, as copyright does not apply to “any work of the U.S. Government” where “a work prepared by an officer or employee of the U.S. Government as part of that person’s official duties” (See, 17 U.S.C. §§ 101, 105).
Two women, Willa Brown and Janet Harmon-Bragg, took (Bessie) Coleman’s legacy and soared, proving themselves against the double-headed hydra of racism and sexism.
Brown earned her pilot license in 1938, her commercial license in 1939 and earned her Master Mechanic Certificate in 1935. A flight instructor and advocate, she helped organize an air show featuring African American pilots. Later, she would be the cofounder and director of the Coffey School of Aeronautics and would continue the tradition of pushing flight opportunities for African-Americans. These opportunities came as America transitioned to war. Brown lobbied First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt to allow African Americans to fly for the US Army. While the effect of Brown’s campaign are open to debate, resulting legislation opened the possibility for the Coffey school to provide training for pilots. Some of these pilots would go on to fly in
the famous 99th Fighter Squadron, known more popularly as the Tuskegee Airmen.
Throughout WWII, Brown and others in the Chicago African American flight culture continued to push for greater equality. In large part due to Brown’s advocacy by March 1942, the Civil Air Patrol stood up the first desegregated unit Civilian Air Patrol unit, members of which came primarily from the Coffey school and for which Coffey was the squadron commander and Brown as a second lieutenant. Though the school would close after the war, the mark it made on aviation and for equality is immense and lasting.
IW note: Brown was also a lobbyist, civil rights activist and the the first African-American woman to run for Congress.