At the age of 23, Coleman boarded a train and made the trip to Chicago. She moved in with her brothers and their wives. Coleman took class to learn to become a manicurist, and soon found a job at the White Sox Barber Shop on Chicago's Southside. But Coleman wanted to do something more with her life.
Her friend Robert Abbott told her that she could travel to France to fly. She studied the French language after work at night. She got a new job managing a restaurant and saved her money. Robert Abbot and her friends helped her pay for the trip. In 1920, Coleman went to France on a ship. She learned to be a pilot at the Caudron Brothers' School of Aviation. In 1921, Coleman became the first female African American pilot ever to hold an international pilot license. She earned it from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale.
Coleman went back to the United States to work as a barnstormer, performing tricks and stunts in her airplane. Barnstormers like Coleman flew planes in loops and figure eights and other patterns while audiences watched. Coleman performed in the United States and Europe. In the 1920s, much of the United States still practiced racial segregation. Coleman refused to perform at places that did not let African Americans watch equally. For one show in Texas, Coleman refused to perform unless the showrunners let everyone in the audience enter through the same gate instead of making one gate for white people and one for black people. She also taught flying lessons and encouraged women to learn to be pilots.
Coleman wanted to open an aviation school in the United States where black students could learn to be pilots.
In April 1926, Coleman and her mechanic, William Will, were practicing for a performance the next day. Will was piloting the plane, when it flipped over and started to dive. Coleman fell out of the plane and was killed. She is buried in Chicago's Lincoln Cemetery.
Coleman is in the Aviation Hall of Fame.
In 1929, William Powell started the Bessie Coleman Aero Club in her honor. The Club promoted aviation among black Americans, and it allowed men and women to join.
In 1995, the U.S. Post Office issued a stamp in her honor. A Chicago street was named after her.
Willie Dixon
William James "Willie" Dixon (July 1, 1915 – January 29, 1992) was an American blues musician, singer, songwriter and bass player. He was one of the founders of Chicago blues. He wrote a lot of songs which are still standards of Chicago blues. (i.e. "Little Red Rooster", "Hoochie Coochie Man", "Evil", "Spoonful", "Back Door Man", "I Just Want to Make Love to You", "I Ain't Superstitious", "My Babe", "Wang Dang Doodle", and "Bring It On Home") The songs are from the 1950s when Dixon worked as producer for Chess Records. He also played upright bass on many of the label's records.
Dixon was born in Vicksburg, Mississippi on July 1, 1915. He learned the blues during his time on prison farms in Mississippi as an early-teenager. Dixon sang bass for The Jubilee Singers, a local gospel group that was often in the program of the local radio station WQBC. He began to change poems he wrote into songs which he sold to local groups.
1936 he went to Chicago like many others from the Mississippi delta. There he begun boxing and won the Illinois State Golden Gloves Heavyweight Championship (Novice Division) in 1937. During his boxing time he met Leonard "Baby Doo" Caston, who convinced him to a musical career. Before the Second World War Dixon sang in different vocal groups. After the war he reunited with Caston and formed the "Big Three Trio".
Dixon signed with Chess Records as a recording artist but soon was involved in the record business. By 1951 he was producer, talent scout, session musician and staff songwriter. He worked with Chuck Berry, Muddy Waters, Howlin' Wolf, Otis Rush, Bo Diddley, Joe Louis Walker, Little Walter, Sonny Boy Williamson, Koko Taylor, Little Milton, Eddie Boyd, Jimmy Witherspoon, Lowell Fulson, Willie Mabon, Memphis Slim, Washboard Sam, Jimmy Rogers, and others. By his work with Chuck Berry he was a link between blues and early rock and roll.
From the late 1960s until the middle 1970s, Dixon ran his own record label, Yambo Records. He formed different all star bands which often went on tours in Europe. He also became an advocate for the blues. He founded the Blues Heaven Foundation. The Foundation preserves the blues legacy and secures copyrights and royalties for blues musicians who were often exploited in the past.
In the 1970s and 1980s his health became weaker and weaker because of his diabetes. Dixon died of heart failure in Burbank, California on January 29, 1992.
Legion of Honour
The Legion of Honour () is the highest French award.
It was established by Napoleon Bonaparte on 19 May 1802.
The Order is the highest decoration in France and is divided into five degrees: Chevalier (Knight), Officier (Officer), Commandeur (Commander), Grand Officier (Grand Officer) and Grand Croix (Grand Cross).
The order's motto is "" ('Honour and Country'), and its seat is the "Palais de la Légion d'Honneur" on the left bank of the River Seine in Paris.
Imperial College London
Imperial College London (IC) is a large university in central London. It specialises in business, engineering, medicine and science.
Imperial College was a constituent college of the University of London. It became fully independent in 2007, the 100th anniversary of its founding.
Imperial is among the best universities. It ranks 2nd in the 2015 QS World University Rankings and 9th in the 2015 Times Higher Education World University Rankings. Imperial ranked 22 in the 2014 Shanghai world rankings.
Imperial's faculty and alumni include 15 Nobel laureates, 2 Fields Medalists, 70 Fellows of the Royal Society, 82 Fellows of the Royal Academy of Engineering and 78 Fellows of the Academy of Medical Sciences.
Imperial's main campus is in the South Kensington area of Central London. It is on the boundary between the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster. Its main entrance is on Exhibition Road.
IC has a number of other campuses in Central London. With 525,233 square metres, it has the largest working estate of any higher education institution in the UK.
Imperial has around 14,700 full-time students and 3,330 academic and research staff. It had a total income of £694 million in 2009/10, of which £297 million was from research grants and contracts.
Imperial is ranked 26th in the world (and 5th in Europe) in the 2010 Academic Ranking of World Universities, 7th in the world (and 4th in Europe) in the 2010 QS World University Rankings, and 9th in the world (and 3rd in Europe) in the 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings.
There are currently 14 Nobel Prize winners and two Fields Medal winners amongst Imperial's alumni and current and former faculty.
Imperial is a member of the G5, the League of European Research Universities, Oak Ridge Associated Universities and the Russell Group. It forms part of the 'Golden Triangle' of British universities.
Imperial was formed indirectly by Prince Albert. Under his guidance, the Crown bought land in South Kensington to establish educational and cultural institutions. The area was referred to as "Albertopolis" by sceptics. The area included the Natural History Museum, the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Science Museum, the Royal Albert Hall and the Imperial Institute. The Imperial Institute was opened by Queen Victoria, who laid the first brick.
Notes
University of London
The University of London is a federal university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes.
Its headquarters, Senate House, is in Malet Street in the Bloomsbury area of Camden. This is near University College London and the British Museum.