About this Library
Bessie Coleman Branch was opened and dedicated on March 27, 1993, replacing both the Washington Park Branch, a one room facility in Woodlawn Branch, and the Washington Park Branch, a smaller storefront. The branch was named after pioneering pilot Bessie Coleman, who was the first African American and one of the first American women to receive a pilot's license.
Her first flying exhibition was at Checkerboard Field in 1922, now Midway Airport in Chicago. She became known throughout the region United States for her daredevil flying prowess and her many encouraging speeches to young African American men and women. Her own goal was to open a flying school. At the threshold of achieving this dream, she suffered a fatal accident while preparing for an air show sponsored by the Jacksonville, Florida Negro Welfare League on April 30, 1926. Her example continues to inspire, and every year on Memorial Day, the Tuskegee Airmen fly over Bessie Coleman's grave and drop flowers in her honor. When the Bessie Coleman Branch celebrated its opening day, members of the original Tuskegee Airmen team attended the festivities, along with the Coleman family. One of the Airmen presented his own portrait of Bessie Coleman to the Branch as a gift to the people of the community.
Bessie Coleman Branch features five artworks funded through the Percent for Art Ordinance administered by the City of Chicago Public Art Program: two quilts by Big Mama, a quilt by Laverne Brackens, a britches quilt by Arbie Williams, and an ink and acrylic work on paper by Tim Branson.
