Overpass to be named Bessie Coleman Memorial Bridge

During its Feb. 20 meeting, Waxahachie City Council unanimously approved naming the Farm-to-Market 878 overpass at U.S. Highway 287 Bypass in honor of Bessie Coleman.

Coleman, originally born in Atlanta, Texas, moved to Waxahachie at 2 years old and later attended Oak Lawn School and Missionary Baptist Church School. At the age of 23, she moved to Chicago, where she worked as a manicurist before going to France to take flying lessons at Ecole d’Aviation des Fre`res Caudron. She became the first African American woman and the first Native American to earn their pilot license in 1921.

Coleman died in 1926 in a plane accident.

She has since been inducted into the National Women’s Hall of Fame, the National Aviation Hall of Fame and the International Air & Space Hall of Fame.

Council member Travis Smith shared comments he read on Facebook saying Coleman “served as a bridge herself” for women, African Americans and Native Americans. The FM 878 overpass is a good symbol of what Coleman accomplished in her life, he said.

In Waxahachie, Coleman has been honored with historical markers at Freedman’s Memorial Plaza, a street named after her (Bessie Coleman Boulevard located near Academy), and a plaque at Mid-Way Regional Airport.

Dr. Jamal Rasheed, president and executive director of the Ellis County African American Hall of Fame Museum and Library, had originally requested for a portion of U.S. Highway 287 to be named in Coleman’s honor.

Council members discussed that request at the Jan. 25 city council work session, where council member Billie Wallace suggested the overpass near Coleman’s childhood home.

“I’m not in total favor of the stretch of 287, but another option came to mind,” Wallace said. “What about the overpass there at 287 and 878 where she lived was actually located at?”

In the past, Rasheed had also reached out to the Mid-Way Regional Airport board about the possibility of naming the airport in Coleman’s honor but had no success. The council did note that both city councils, Waxahachie and Midlothian, would have to approve that change.

Originally published February 23, 2023 - https://www.waxahachiesun.com/news/local/overpass-to-be-named-bessie-coleman-memorial-bridge/article_7cc2199a-b3f6-11ed-9bd0-e76e8e288514.html