African American Pioneers in the Travel Industry - Part 2
Posted by treasurer on Feb. 22, 2023 / Subscribe 0
For Black History Month, we want to highlight a few African American Pioneers in the travel industry. For our second post, we have Lt. Willa Brown Chappell, Ruth Carol Taylor, and James Banning.
Lt. Willa Brown Chappell
Lt. Willa Brown Chappell was the First African American woman to earn a pilot license in the US, as well as a commercial pilot license. Inspired by Bessie Coleman, Willa Brown earned her pilot license in 1938 and commercial pilot license in 1939. She married Cornelius Coffey and helped him run the Coffey School of Aeronautics. She was also the First African American Woman in the Illinois Civil Air Patrol.
Ruth Carol Taylor
Ruth Carol Taylor was the first Black Flight Attendant (airline stewardess) in the US. She was hired in 1957 at Mohawk Airlines. She made her first flight on February 11, 1958 from Ithaca, NY to New York -Idlewild airport (JFK). Taylor had initially applied with Trans World Airline (TWA) and was rejected which lead her to file a lawsuit against them prior to working for Mohawk.
James Banning
James Banning was the first Black pilot to fly from coast-to-coast. Banning, along with Thomas Allen, began their flight in Los Angeles on September 19, 1932. Allen and Banning made it to New York on October 9th, 21 days later.
Sources
https://headlines.flydayton.com/10-african-american-pioneers-aviation-aerospace/
https://historyofblacktravel.com/history/
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