Willa Brown

Willa Brown
Brown as a lieutenant in the United States Civil Air Patrol
Born(1906-01-22)January 22, 1906
Glasgow, Kentucky, US
DiedJuly 18, 1992(1992-07-18) (aged 86)
Chicago, Illinois, US
Other namesWilla Brown Chappell
Occupation(s)Pilot, lobbyist, activist, teacher
Known forCivil rights leader
First female African American pilot licensed in the United States
First African American officer in the United States Civil Air Patrol
First African American woman to run for United States Congress
Spouses
Wilbur Hardaway
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(m. 1929; div. 1931)​
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(m. 1947, divorced)​
Rev. J. H. Chappell
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(m. 1955, died)​

Willa Beatrice Brown (January 22, 1906 – July 18, 1992) was an American aviator, lobbyist, teacher, and civil rights activist.[1] She was the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States,[2] the first African American woman to run for the United States Congress, first African American officer in the Civil Air Patrol, and first woman in the U.S. to have both a pilot's license and an aircraft mechanic's license.[3][4]

She was a lifelong advocate for gender and racial equality in the field of aviation as well as in the military. She not only lobbied the U.S. government to integrate the United States Army Air Corps and include African Americans in the Civilian Pilot Training Program (CPTP), she and Cornelius Coffey co-founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics, distinguishing it as the first private flight training academy owned and operated by African Americans in the United States. She trained hundreds of pilots, several of whom went on to become Tuskegee Airmen; the creation of the Tuskegee Airmen has been credited to Brown's training efforts.[5][6]

Brown remained politically and socially active in Chicago long after the Coffey School closed in 1945. She ran in Congressional primary elections in 1946 and 1950 and taught in the Chicago Public School System until 1971, when she retired at age 65. Following her retirement, she served on the Federal Aviation Administration's Women's Advisory Committee until 1974.

  1. ^ Gubert, Betty Kaplan. "Brown, Willa (1906–1992), pilot and aviation educator". American National Biography. Oxford University Press. Retrieved March 31, 2020.
  2. ^ Davis, Edmond (July 25, 2012). "Brown, Willa B. (1906–1992)". The Black Past. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference :0 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference DOM was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ Grant, Kelli. "Our History | 99s in Aviation History | Women in Aviation". The Ninety-Nines, Inc. Retrieved February 9, 2016.
  6. ^ "Willa Brown Chappell". kchr.ky.gov. March 31, 2020. Archived from the original on September 11, 2015. Retrieved March 31, 2020.