Brown, Willa Beatrice
1906-1992 · Contribution: 1937-1942
Transportation
First African American woman to earn a commercial pilot's license in the United States; trained roughly 200 future Tuskegee Airmen
Portraits are AI-generated interpretations, not photographs.
Quick facts
- Born
- 1906-1992
- Active since
- 1937-1942
- Category
- Transportation
Impact on the world
Brown broke barriers of both race and gender in aviation and then built the training pipeline and political pressure that helped create the Tuskegee Airmen.
Sources
- The National WWII Museum
1 more sources and references are available to members.
More in Transportation
Allen, Thomas C.
unknown
Co-completed the first transcontinental flight by Black pilots in U.S. history, serving as mechanic and co-pilot alongside James Herman Banning
Banning, James Herman
1899-1933
First African American to be licensed as a pilot by the U.S. government; co-completed the first transcontinental flight by Black pilots
Beard, Andrew
1849-1921
Improved automatic railroad car coupler (Janney coupler design)
Bluford, Guion 'Guy' Jr.
1942-
Aerospace engineering and human spaceflight