pop quiz
Black Firsts in Aviation
Compiled by Lashonda M. Winston
These African Americans have really soared in altitude and
accomplishments. Can you match their names to their historic successes?
Check the bottom of the next page for the answers.
James Banning
Janet Waterford Bragg
Guion S. Bluford Jr.
Rachelle Jones
Frank Mann
6 | summer 2009 |
Bernard Anthony Harris Jr.
Charles Anderson
Stephanie Grant
Robert H. Lawrence Jr.
Frederick Drew Gregory
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This colonel in the U.S. Air Force and aerospace
engineer became a NASA astronaut in August
1997. On Aug. 20, 1983, the astronaut/engineer
launched with the Challenger, on the space
shuttles’ third mission, becoming the first African
American in space.
This person graduated from Bradley University in
Peoria, Ill., with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry
at the age of 20 and later became the first AfricanAmerican astronaut on June 10, 1967. Tragically,
this great achiever was killed a short time later in
a plane crash during a training mission and never
made it into space.
In March 2009, this
airline captain became
part of history as one
of the crew members of
the first all-black female
airline flight crew.
Born Jan. 7, 1941, in Washington, D.C., and the nephew of Dr.
Charles, this retired U.S. Air Force colonel graduated from the
U.S. Air Force Academy. A former NASA astronaut and former
NASA deputy administrator, this outstanding aviator also
served briefly as NASA acting administrator in early 2005
and was the first African-American space shuttle commander.
As a student at Sam Houston High School in San Antonio, Texas, this former
NASA astronaut was actively involved in science fairs, book clubs and other
school activities. Before turning to space, this outstanding scholar earned
a B.S. degree in biology and an M.D. degree, and completed a residency
in internal medicine at the Mayo Clinic. On Feb. 9, 1995, this trailblazer
became the first African-American to perform an extravehicular activity
(space walk), during the second of his two space shuttle flights.
This American aviator, nurse and nursing home proprietor enrolled
in Aeronautical University ground school to study meteorology,
aeronautics and aircraft mechanics. After passing the test for
a private pilot’s license, the aviator went to the CPTP School at
Tuskegee, Ala., to obtain a commercial pilot’s license but was denied
a license by a bigoted instructor. She returned to Chicago, where
she passed the flight test with ease, the first black woman to do so.
This historic aviator taught himself to fly at the age of 22 in a used plane purchased with his
savings and funds borrowed from friends and relatives. He earned a private pilot’s license in 1929
and a commercial pilot’s license in 1932. During the next two years, he and his friend Dr. Albert E.
Forsythe made the first round-trip transcontinental flight by black pilots.
Born in Oklahoma, the son
of Riley and Cora Banning,
this aviator studied electrical
engineering at Iowa State
College for a little more than
a year. After dreaming since
boyhood of being a pilot, he
was repeatedly turned away
from flight schools because he
was black. Eventually learning
to fly from an army aviator, he
became the first black aviator
to get a license from the U.S.
Department of Commerce.
This lifelong friend of billionaire Howard Hughes was a graduate of the University of Minnesota
and UCLA, where he earned a mechanical engineering degree. During World War II, he helped
develop equipment that revolutionized military weaponry. He was the first black commercial pilot
for American Airways and was also a distinguished military officer.
www.nsbe.org
Answers:
1. Guion S. Bluford Jr.
2. Robert H. Lawrence Jr.
3. Frederick Drew Gregory
4. Bernard Anthony Harris Jr.
5. Janet Waterford Bragg
6. Rachelle Jones
7. Charles Anderson
8. James Banning
9. Stephanie Grant
10. Frank Mann
In March 2009, this first officer became part of history as one of the crew
members of the first all-black female airline flight crew.
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