Bessie Coleman, born in Texas in 1892, became the first African-American female pilot and the first African-American to hold an international pilot license. After hearing stories of American airmen returning from World War I, she resolved to become a pilot, but after being frustrated and denied in America, she traveled to France, where French aviators taught her and she received her international pilot license in 1921. Returning to the U.S., she began a career in barnstorming exhibition flying and quickly became an overnight success, with the media dubbing her "Queen Bess" as she flew over packed stands of spectators, both black and white. In 1926, near this site at then-Paxon Air Field, she was flying in a new plane with her co-pilot when he lost control, and she was flung from the plane to her death; the plane crashed and the co-pilot was also killed. The crash was caused by a loose wrench that slipped into the gearbox after takeoff, and her courage and perseverance inspired an entire generation of black aviators.