American Wings: Chicago’s Pioneering Black Aviators and the Race for Equality in the Sky

Sherri L. Smith, Elizabeth Wein

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…