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On June 1st, 1921, several biplane trainer aircraft took off from Curtis Southwest Field outside Tulsa, Oklahoma.

They circled the Greenwood District of town north of the Frisco Railroad tracks,

and then, from their high vantage point, they joined in the violence below.

A white mob had descended on Greenwood, often called Black Wall Street for the affluence and prosperity of this predominantly black neighborhood.

So while the mob shot, beat, and bludgeoned in the streets, these aircraft

terrorized from above, firing rifles and dropping flaming tarballs, setting buildings ablaze

that burn from the roofs down. This horrible event became known as the Tulsa Race Massacre

and marked a dark day in the history of aircraft, perhaps

their first use in American domestic terrorism.

But two weeks later, half a world away in Paris, France, a completely different milestone

in aviation took place.

On June 15, 1921, Texas-born Bessie Coleman took to the sky in her airplane, and in the

process became the first African-American woman and first Native American to earn a pilot's license.

On today's Saturday matinee, we're sharing an episode from the fantastic Daily History

Show History Dispatches that details the exploits of Bessie Coleman

and how in an era of racial prejudice and violence

she persevered to become a pioneer of aviation.

I hope you enjoy.

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