She attended the Tuskegee African American pilot training initially denied a commercial license because she was female. During World War II she attempted to join the WASPs but was denied because of her race. She earned her private pilot’s license and managed to save enough money to purchase a plane for %500 and, with her fellow students, physically built an airfield in Robbins, Illinois. She enrolled in the evening school program in 1933 while working as a Registered Nurse during the day. The billboard read: “Bird can fly, why don’t you?” and evoked her childhood dream. Living in Chicago, she saw a billboard advertising educational programs at the Aeronautical University, formerly the Curtiss-Wright Flying Services. In her autobiography, Bragg stated that she always enjoyed birdwatching and marveled at the aerodynamics of birds. This steady income financed her aeronautic education, purchase of eventually three aircraft, and allowed her to support the construction of an airstrip and the industry needs of her fellow flying enthusiasts in the Challenger Air Pilots’ Association. A stable position as a healthcare inspector for an insurance company provided the opportunity to pursue a childhood dream: to fly. In Chicago, she found nursing jobs and other temporary employment. Eventually, Harmon moved to Illinois during the Great Depression. She returned to Griffin and practiced nursing at the Griffin hospital for a brief period. After high school graduation, she attended Spelman Seminary where she studied nursing. Bragg nevertheless persevered and excelled in several professions and vocations.Īs a young girl, Janet Harmon was educated in segregated schools in Griffin and in Fort Valley at the Fort Valley high and Industrial School. Repeatedly denied opportunities and licensure not based on her lack of education, skills, or ability, but because of her gender and race, Mrs. Bragg was the first African American woman to receive a commercial pilot’s license. She died in blue Island, Illinois on April 11, 1993, after living in both Chicago, Illinois and Tucson, Arizona for many years. Janet Harmon Bragg was born in Griffin, Georgia on March 24, 1907.
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