Date: Wednesday, March 10, 2010, 5:37 am
By: Erica Taylor, The Tom Joyner Morning Show
Janet Harmon Bragg was a legend in the field of aeronautics and aviation. She held the attitude that if there wasn’t opportunity, she would create it, and if there wasn’t a place to practice to live out your dream, build it yourself.
In 1933, Bragg enrolled in Chicago’s Curtiss Aeronautical University to study aeronautics, aircraft mechanics and meteorology. This was after she obtained her degree from Spelman College and worked as a nurse for several years.
Even though Bragg had found her calling in aviation, there was no place to fly; the school had no actual airplanes or flight training. So instead of giving up, she raised the money to buy her own plane, then rented it out to other black pilots in need of training. But her purchase led her to the next obstacle: Finding an airfield that would allow a black pilot to fly. Unsuccessful, Bragg banded together with her classmates and other black aviators to form the Challenger’s Aero Club. The group put their money together and bought acres of land in the black town of Robbins, Illinois and built their own airfield.
Bragg, now ready to soar above the clouds, was hit with yet a third obstacle: Getting a steady job as a working pilot. She tried to join the Women Air Force Service Pilots, but was denied entry because she was black. Instead, Bragg sought membership into the Civilian Pilot Training Program flight school at Tuskegee, Alabama. Though she was accepted, she was denied her license because of her gender.
It wasn’t until the mid-1940’s, after traveling to Chicago, that Janet Harmon Bragg received her license, becoming the first black woman to receive a commercial pilot’s license.
