Willa Beatrice Brown
ca. 1942
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Pioneering aviator and civil rights activist Willa Beatrice Brown spent her life pushing boundaries. While working as a social worker in Chicago, Brown decided she wanted to learn to fly, at a time when opportunities for blacks were few and even fewer for black women. In 1938, she became the first black woman to earn a commercial pilot’s license. Brown and her husband opened a flight school, the National Airmen’s Association of America, dedicated to training black men to become pilots.
When World War II began, she worked to integrate aviation schools and was the first woman to be commissioned a lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. Credited with training more than 200 men and women, her school supplied trainees to the Tuskegee Airman program.
After the war, Brown ran for Congress and, although she was not elected, she remained active in causes that were important to her, such as serving on the FAA Women’s Advisory Board until 1971.
The original caption for this photograph reads: "Willa Beatrice Brown, a 31-year-old Negro American, serves her country by training pilots for the U.S. Army Air Forces. She is the first Negro woman to receive a commission as a lieutenant in the U.S. Civil Air Patrol."
When World War II began, she worked to integrate aviation schools and was the first woman to be commissioned a lieutenant in the Civil Air Patrol, the civilian auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force. Credited with training more than 200 men and women, her school supplied trainees to the Tuskegee Airman program.
After the war, Brown ran for Congress and, although she was not elected, she remained active in causes that were important to her, such as serving on the FAA Women’s Advisory Board until 1971.
The original caption for this photograph reads: "Willa Beatrice Brown, a 31-year-old Negro American, serves her country by training pilots for the U.S. Army Air Forces. She is the first Negro woman to receive a commission as a lieutenant in the U.S. Civil Air Patrol."
This primary source comes from the Records of the Office of War Information.
National Archives Identifier: 535717
Full Citation: Photograph 208-FS-793-1; Willa Beatrice Brown Serves Her Country by Training Pilots for the U.S. Army Air Forces; ca. 1942; Feature Story Illustrations, 1942-1946; Records of the Office of War Information, Record Group 208; National Archives at College Park, College Park, MD. [Online Version, https://docsteach.org/documents/document/willa-beatrice-brown, December 13, 2024]Rights: Public Domain, Free of Known Copyright Restrictions. Learn more on our privacy and legal page.
