Willa Beatrice Brown left Terre Haute at age 21 and eventually became one of the most influential aviators in U.S. history.
Brown was born in Kentucky in 1906 and later moved to Terre Haute, where she attended Wiley High School. She went on to earn her bachelor’s degree from Indiana State Teachers College in 1927. Brown moved to Gary, where she taught school.
Influenced by Bessie Coleman (the first black American pilot), Brown began flight lessons at Chicago’s Aeronautical University, earning a Master Mechanic certificate in 1935. She also earned a master’s degree in business administration from Northwestern University in 1937.
Brown earned her private pilot’s license in 1938, becoming the first black woman to be licensed as a private pilot in the United States.
Brown then married Cornelius Coffey, a certified flight instructor and aviation mechanic in Chicago, and together they established the first flight school owned and operated by blacks. The Coffey School of Aeronautics trained black pilots in aviation mechanics.
After years of denying black pilots entry into the U.S. military, the government selected the Coffey school to provide black trainees for the Air Corps pilot training program at Tuskegee Institute.
Brown helped form the National Airmen’s Association of America in 1939, and continually advocated the inclusion of black pilots in the Civilian Pilot Training Program. In 1941, she was named federal coordinator of the Chicago unit of the Civil Air Patrol civilian pilot training program, the first black officer in the unit.
Brown also was the first black woman to run for Congress in 1946, campaigning again in 1948 and 1950, before returning to teaching.
She died July 18, 1992, in Chicago.
Brown has been inducted into the Military Aviation Hall of Fame of the State of Illinois. She also is a member of Kentucky’s Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2002, she was named one of Women in Aviation’s 100 Most Influential Women in Aviation and Aerospace.
Deb McKee can be reached at (812) 231-4254 or deb.mckee@tribstar.com.
Black History Month
February 13, 2007
Black History Month: Terre Haute native was influential U.S. pilot
Willa Beatrice Brown was first black female pilot
- Black History Month
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- Councilman’s plan: Help Terre Haute grow by working with other cities Neil Garrison, city councilman, has implemented a new plan that fosters unity between communities similar to Terre Haute.
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Black History Month: Carter Goodwin Woodson 'Father of Black History'
Carter Goodwin Woodson, a black author, editor, publisher and historian, was born in December 1875 and lived until April 1950. Woodson believed that African-Americans should know about their past in order to cooperate intelligently in the affairs of our country. Strongly he believed that African-American history is a firm foundation for young Black Americans.
He is known as the “Father of Black History” and held an important position in black history in early 20th century American history. - Correction March 16, 2007 The Tribune-Star corrects errors. If you believe we have made an error, contact Editor Max Jones at (812) 231-4336 or e-mail him at max.jones@tribstar.com.
- There’s still a lot to learn When I sat in the first meeting discussing plans for Black History Month, I knew this was going to be a challenge. Although it was mid-January, something told me we would still need more time.
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Capturing history while we can
When the idea for a month-long project on Black History Month was suggested, I was excited and a bit apprehensive.
Being a history buff, the idea of rooting around in archives and yearbooks, and talking to members of older generations really appealed to me. - Persevering over obstacles When I was in school, I remember reading Ralph Elison’s poem “Invisible Man” and not understanding why he thought of himself as “invisible.” But in studying a little about local black history I believe I got a glimpse of what he meant. I think for hundreds of years there was a feeling among the majority of Americans that this land was a white, European nation and black people, native Americans and other non-Europeans were aliens who should be kept out of sight — made “invisible” — by being placed on reservations, deported back to Africa, or legally kept in legally segregated schools or in different neighborhoods.
- Deming students send Black History Month out with musical celebration Black History Month went out in style in Deming Elementary on Wednesday afternoon as students and guests shared, in words and song, some of the lessons of the monthlong celebration.
- Black History Month: Phillis Wheatley Association worked to create dormitory for black women The not-for-profit Phillis Wheatley Association of Terre Haute was incorporated in 1923 to provide a dormitory for black women students of Indiana State Teachers College.
- Black History Month: Color barrier broken in Valley When a man asked Marcella Herndon, 74, if she would be interested in posing for a photo to advertise beer, she was a little skeptical.
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Black History Month: Former resident looks back on his days in Vigo County’s ‘colored orphans home’
James Anderson lived at the “colored orphans home” east of Terre Haute more than 60 years ago, but looking out over the wooded and hilly landscape where he spent much of his childhood, it “almost seems like yesterday,” he said.
- Black History Month: Evangeline Merriweather heads toward historic marker Although Evangeline Evelyn Harris Merriweather was widely known in Vigo County as a teacher, writer and musician, it was her writing that likely will earn her a historical marker.
- Black History Month: Terre Haute barber Edward James Roye became fifth president of Liberia The man who became the fifth president of Liberia, Edward James Roye, once was known to have the largest barber pole in the Midwest, about 79 feet tall.
- Teacher, Democratic committeewoman still influencing city council Theresa Turner served in Terre Haute as a Democratic precinct committeewoman for almost 60 years, longer than anyone else in the city’s history, according to her family.
- Bell, renowned veterinarian, spent 20 years on Vigo County School Board Iverson C. Bell was called “one of the most contributing members of our community” by the late Mayor P. Pete Chalos in 1984.
- Terre Haute formed first black fire station in September 1891 The first all-black fire company in Terre Haute was organized Sept. 10, 1891, in old hose company No. 1 at Lafayette Avenue and Sycamore Street, according to Fire Department historian Tom Champion.
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Black History Month: Valley resident became college dean, ambassador
Ambassador Cynthia Norton Shepard Perry, now U.S. director of the African Development Bank in Ivory Coast, was born in Lost Creek township in 1928, one of nine children.
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Black History Month: Author of 5 books building legacy across Indiana
If there was one message Daisy Hood drilled into her eight children in the 1920s and ’30s, it was the importance of contributing to one’s community.
The message was lived by Daisy herself who, despite being crippled from childhood polio, was a well-known community activist and educator in Terre Haute during the days of black and white segregation. Daisy was instrumental in the development of the Charles T. Hyte Community Center, the Colored Day Nursery and the Phyllis Wheatley Home. She also sat on numerous boards, including the Terre Haute branch of the NAACP. -
Black History Month: Terre Haute native leads one of Navy’s most successful athletic programs
Paul Harris learned two lessons in one moment.
First, coasting is not an option while wearing a U.S. Naval Academy track-and-field uniform. Second, his coach — Stephen Cooksey — is quite comfortable standing out in a crowd. - Black History Month: Emancipation Proclamation once celebrated in Terre Haute Terre Haute’s black citizens used to celebrate the signing of the Emancipation Proclamation every Sept. 22 with a day off from work and school.
- Black History Month: Jenkins, scholar-athlete at Wiley, became Morgan State University president Martin Jenkins, who has been called a “forgotten pioneer” in the study of intellectually gifted black Americans, was born and raised in Terre Haute, where he was an outstanding scholar and athlete at Wiley High School.
- Black History Month: Colored Day Nursery provided care for black kids From 1908 to 1966, the Colored Day Nursery in Terre Haute provided care and meals to black children whose parents worked. The nursery was organized by a group of mothers to “serve the colored working mothers of the neighborhood,” according to the book “The Negro in the History of Indiana” by John Lyda.
- African Global Night set for Feb. 24 at ISU On Feb. 24, the African Students Union together with other departments within and outside Indiana State University will sponsor African Global Night to celebrate Black History Month.
- Black History Month: Mother Bettie is a TH living legend Bettie Eleanor Davis, 85, is a Terre Haute native whose love of young people and interest in sharing the history of her people have made her a local treasure. Davis, also known as Mother Bettie, is a volunteer and activist who has been researching and telling the history of black people in Terre Haute for more than a decade.
- Clarification: Feb. 13, 2007 The Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church congregation began meeting in a local home in 1837, prior to the construction of the first church at First and Crawford streets in 1839. The church was referenced in a Monday Tribune-Star article on the Underground Railroad.
- Black History Month: Wood craftsman spent his life in Terre Haute making violins It is difficult to imagine what tools he might have had access to, what kind of a workshop he may have had and how he learned to create one of the most intricate musical instruments in the world.
- Black History Month: Terre Haute native was influential U.S. pilot Willa Beatrice Brown left Terre Haute at age 21 and eventually became one of the most influential aviators in U.S. history.
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Black History Month: Valley’s role on Underground Railroad still being revealed
In a day when skin color differentiated the masters from the slaves, many people took a chance by putting their lives in the hands of strangers, traveling hundreds of miles north through the Wabash Valley in search of freedom.
More information about Vigo County’s role in that system comes to light each day, but because of the extreme secrecy of the Underground Railroad, it’s unsure if its entire, storied history ever will be revealed. - Black History Month: Demetrius ‘Dee’ Ewing broke business barriers in Terre Haute Born on Halloween 1909 in Clarksville, Tenn., Demetrius “Dee” Ewing would eventually become the first black businessman to own a store on Wabash Avenue in Terre Haute.
- Black History Month: ‘Doc’ Jones helped pave way in Valley, was a ‘pillar of the black community’ Winton D. “Doc” Jones was a pharmacist and businessman with a shop at 13th Street and College Avenue in Terre Haute for more than 50 years.
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Black History Month: Indiana’s first black legislator attended Allen Chapel school
James S. Hinton, Indiana’s first black state legislator, was one of the earliest students at the original Allen Chapel school in Terre Haute.
The Allen Chapel school was a “subscription school,” meaning parents paid for their children to attend. The fee at the school was 25 cents per week, according to a publication by the Allen Chapel. - More Black History Month Headlines
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