Publisher's Hardcover ©2024 | -- |
African American air pilots. Biography. Juvenile literature.
Air pilots. United States. Biography. Juvenile literature.
Aeronautics. United States. History. 20th century. Juvenile literature.
Private flying. Illinois. Chicago. Societies, etc. History. 20th century. Juvenile literature.
African American air pilots. Biography.
Air pilots. United States. Biography.
Aeronautics. United States. History. 20th century.
Private flying. Illinois. Chicago. Societies, etc. History. 20th century.
United States. Race relations. History. 20th century. Juvenile literature.
United States. Race relations. History. 20th century.
Gr 7 Up— By following the lives of skilled auto mechanics Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, nurse Janet Harmon Bragg, and teacher and social worker Willa Brown, the authors have created a wonderfully detailed and evocative review of the true story of four Black Americans between the world wars who pioneered aviation in spite of many obstacles placed in their paths. Inspired by the achievements and legacy of Bessie Coleman that were celebrated in a 1928 Memorial Day tribute, Coffey and Robinson began a collaboration that grew to include Bragg and Brown. Their journeys culminated in avionics school and airport ownership, partnership with the Tuskegee Institute, and international acclaim. This title showcases how determination and ingenuity triumphed over segregation in Chicago during the nascent period of the aviation industry. The extensive investigation of primary and secondary documents, including contemporary newspapers and photographs, has allowed Smith and Wein, both authors of YA novels about young people becoming pilots, to give a vivid and accurate recounting of the struggles and triumphs of the desegregation of Chicago aviation. The lengthy end notes, bibliography, and substantial authors' note underscore the level of research completed. VERDICT Fans of the authors' previous books will appreciate this nonfiction title, as will fans of aviation history. Recommended for all collections.— Susan Catlett
Kirkus ReviewsAn account of how brilliant and resourceful early-20th-century Black aviators created their own runway to the skies.Originally trained as auto mechanics, Cornelius Robinson Coffey and John Charles Robinson shared a common dream of becoming pilots despite facing racism. "We're going to make it regardless," Coffey prophetically declared after they were both reluctantly admitted-under threat of a lawsuit-into Chicago's CurtissâWright School of Aviation. They successfully finished their program, persuading the school's initially hostile director to register a cohort of Black students whom they could teach as assistant instructors. Coffey and Robinson then sought interested men and women through advertisements in the Chicago Defender, whose publisher sponsored pioneering Black pilot Bessie Coleman. They organized the Brown Eagle Aero Club, and Robinson even accepted an invitation from Haile Selassie to help train Ethiopian pilots as the country prepared to defend itself against fascist Italy. Smith and Wein tightly thread together overlapping narrative threads, including the early evolution of aviation, the history of Tuskegee University, the role of the African American press, and tense geopolitical matters concerning the only African country to have escaped European colonization. Photographs scattered throughout are an additional treat, adding a special layer to the storytelling. The writing is accessible and buoyant, creating anticipation for what is to come, all culminating in an engaging slice of history.A fascinating, well-told American story full of compelling innovation. (authors' note, source notes, resources, index) (Nonfiction. 12-18)
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)Smith (
School Library Journal Starred Review (Thu Feb 01 00:00:00 CST 2024)
Kirkus Reviews
Publishers Weekly (Fri Oct 06 00:00:00 CDT 2023)
A Dream Takes Flight
Omaha, Nebraska, 1919
It was going to cost three dollars to ride--about $50 in 2023, but the work of several days, or even weeks, in 1919. Cornelius Robinson Coffey had the money from his side job running special deliveries for the Omaha post office. But the rule was white people first. He stood aside with the other onlookers in the cold Nebraska field and waited his turn, his eyes on the January sky.
Overhead, an airplane buzzed, boldly announcing man's dominion over the air.
Aviation was a fairly new craze, the Wright brothers having made their first flight barely fifteen years earlier, on December 17, 1903. But it hadn't taken long for the world to turn the airplane into a weapon of war. Today's barnstormer--one of those pilots who staged air shows in farmers' fields, selling tickets for quick plane rides and setting up shop in local barns--was a World War I veteran, recently home from Europe since the end of the Great War in 1918. Even the barnstormer's plane was a veteran of sorts. His Curtiss JN-4, a type nicknamed the Jenny, was one of the little two-seater biplanes that had been used to train American men to fly for the war effort.
White American men, that is.
Born on September 6, 1903, Coffey--as most people would call him in later years--was Black. And at only fifteen years old, he was the same age as the entire field of modern aviation. His home state of Nebraska had been a hub of aviation activity from the start, with the Wright brothers performing at the State Fair in Omaha in 1910.
While the Midwest wasn't the Deep South, segregation and racism still held sway. White customers went first. After waiting patiently for his turn to come, Coffey finally fished out the price for his first ride in a genuine airplane.
The pilot must have been astonished. This Black boy had the gall and the money to take a ride in the sky. The barnstormer turned to the other onlookers--undoubtedly white people--and said, "When I get through with him, that kid ain't going to even look at another airplane."
But Coffey's money was green, so the man took it, and let the boy climb up into the plane. The Jenny was built of fabric stretched over a wooden frame, a single-engine biplane with stacked wings and two open cockpits, one behind the other. Coffey most likely rode in the front cockpit, where the pilot could keep an eye on him.
The little wood-and-fabric Jenny rattled down the field and leapt up into the air.
In those days, there was hardly anyplace you could get a really smooth ride. Outside the city, scarcely any roads were paved. Inside the city, they were often paved with cobblestones, with embedded trolley tracks an extra hazard. Coffey knew what speed was like--he rode a Henderson motorcycle. But the silken speed of flight was something he could never have imagined. From the moment the Jenny's wheels left the ground, he loved it. It didn't bother him in the least that the pilot was doing his darnedest to scare the living wits out of the uppity little Black kid with his pocket money and his belief that he should beallowed to fly.
Everyone said Black people weren't made for flying. People said they were cowards. They were lazy. It took brains and guts to be a pilot.
But this kid seemed to have both.
With every loop and dive, Coffey just had more fun. The pilot upped his game, tilting the plane into rolls and spins. He might have even scared himself a little, flying upside down, or nosing the plane into a dive, only pulling up in the nick of time to skim the treetops.
"I think it was rougher on him than on me," Coffey said calmly afterward.
Three dollars bought fifteen minutes of thrills in the sky, and when they landed, the pilot had to admit he was impressed.
"Well, you know, if I was going to be here for any length of time, I'd probably teach you to fly," he told the boy.
Coffey had the feel for it, no doubt. But everyone knew Black people couldn't learn to fly. Cornelius Coffey had likely been told that, too.
So he hopped back onto his Henderson motorcycle and headed home. He wouldn't come near another plane for nearly a decade.
But when the time came, he would prove just how wrong everyone had been.
Excerpted from American Wings: Chicago's Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky by Sherri L. Smith, Elizabeth Wein
All rights reserved by the original copyright owners. Excerpts are provided for display purposes only and may not be reproduced, reprinted or distributed without the written permission of the publisher.
From the acclaimed author of Flygirl and the bestselling author of Code Name Verity comes the thrilling and inspiring true story of the desegregation of the skies.
“This beautiful and brilliant history of not only what it means to be Black and dream of flying but to, against every odd, do so, completely blew me away.” —Jacqueline Woodson, National Book Award Winner for Brown Girl Dreaming
In the years between World War I and World War II, aviation fever was everywhere, including among Black Americans. But what hope did a Black person have of learning to fly in a country constricted by prejudice and Jim Crow laws, where Black aviators like Bessie Coleman had to move to France to earn their wings?
American Wings follows a group of determined Black Americans: Cornelius Coffey and Johnny Robinson, skilled auto mechanics; Janet Harmon Bragg, a nurse; and Willa Brown, a teacher and social worker. Together, they created a flying club and built their own airfield south of Chicago. As the U.S. hurtled toward World War II, they established a school to train new pilots, teaching both Black and white students together and proving, in a time when the U.S. military was still segregated, that successful integration was possible.
Featuring rare historical photographs, American Wings brings to light a hidden history of pioneering Black men and women who, with grit and resilience, battled powerful odds for an equal share of the sky.