Florida Senate - 2014                            (NP)    SR 1712
       
       
        
       By Senator Thompson
       
       
       
       
       
       12-01924E-14                                          20141712__
    1                          Senate Resolution                        
    2         A resolution recognizing pioneering aviatrix Bessie
    3         “Queen Bess” Coleman as we celebrate the centennial of
    4         the world’s first scheduled commercial airline, the
    5         St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line.
    6  
    7         WHEREAS, on January 1, 1914, Tony Jannus made aviation
    8  history by flying the Benoist XIV on the inaugural 23-minute
    9  flight of the St. Petersburg-Tampa Airboat Line, the world’s
   10  first scheduled commercial airline, and
   11         WHEREAS, the events of that day fostered an industry that
   12  has made worldwide travel not only possible, but practical, and
   13         WHEREAS, that pioneering flight exemplifies the
   14  entrepreneurial spirit that has evolved into an industry that
   15  has an economic impact in this state of nearly $100 billion and
   16  in the nation of more than $1.3 trillion, and
   17         WHEREAS, one of those who was inspired by that flight was a
   18  young African-American woman named Bessie Coleman, who had been
   19  regaled by her brothers with tales of French women flying
   20  airplanes during World War I, and
   21         WHEREAS, while working as a manicurist in Chicago, Bessie
   22  Coleman met Robert S. Abbott, publisher of The Chicago Defender,
   23  who encouraged her to go to France to study flying and, later,
   24  joined others in sponsoring her in that effort, and
   25         WHEREAS, on June 15, 1921, Bessie Coleman received her
   26  license from the prestigious Federation Aeronautique
   27  Internationale (FAI) and became the first African
   28  American/Native-American female licensed pilot in the world, and
   29         WHEREAS, in September 1921, Bessie Coleman returned to a
   30  segregated United States, but nevertheless became a media
   31  sensation, performing in air shows across the country, but only
   32  at venues where the audience was desegregated and everyone
   33  attending used the same entrance gates, and
   34         WHEREAS, wanting to make her living as a pilot, Bessie
   35  Coleman returned to Europe for advanced training in acrobatic
   36  flying, returning to the United States in 1922 and living for a
   37  time in Orlando, and
   38         WHEREAS, after surviving a plane crash in February 1923, in
   39  which she sustained serious injuries, Bessie Coleman resumed
   40  flying and, the following year, flew in a Texas air show, and
   41         WHEREAS, on April 30, 1926, while preparing for a May Day
   42  celebration air show in Jacksonville, Bessie Coleman fell from
   43  her plane 1,000 feet to her death after a loose wrench became
   44  wedged in the open gearbox, causing her mechanic, who was
   45  piloting the plane, to lose control, and
   46         WHEREAS, after a well-attended memorial service in
   47  Jacksonville, a funeral was held in Orlando, and Bessie Coleman
   48  was buried in Chicago, where, each year on the anniversary of
   49  her death, African-American aviators, both men and women, fly in
   50  formation over Lincoln Cemetery and drop flowers on her grave,
   51  NOW, THEREFORE,
   52  
   53  Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of Florida:
   54  
   55         That we recognize aviation pioneer Bessie “Queen Bess”
   56  Coleman as we celebrate the centennial of the world’s first
   57  scheduled commercial airline flight and remember Bessie
   58  Coleman’s contribution to the advancement of minorities and
   59  women on the occasion of the 88th anniversary of her tragic
   60  death and the 100th anniversary of passenger flight that
   61  originated in Florida.