Willa Brown

Willa Beatrice Brown (January 22, 1906 – July 18, 1992) was an American aviator, lobbyist, teacher, and civil rights activist. She was the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States, the first African American woman to run for the United States Congress, first African American officer in the Civil Air Patrol, and first woman in the U.S. to have both a pilot's license and an aircraft mechanic's license.

Brown remained politically and socially active in Chicago long after the Coffey School closed in 1945. She ran in Congressional primary elections in 1946 and 1950 and taught in the Chicago Public School System until 1971, when she retired at age 65. Following her retirement, she served on the Federal Aviation Administration's Women's Advisory Committee until 1974.

Early life Willa Beatrice Brown was born to Eric and Hallie Brown on January 22, 1906, in Glasgow, Kentucky.

Brown taught in Gary, Indiana, at Emerson High School's Roosevelt Annex from 1927 to 1932. In 1934, she met John C. Robinson, who introduced her to the Challenger Air Pilots Association, a group of African American pilots. In that year, she helped organize a memorial flight to honor Bessie Coleman, the first internationally licensed pilot from the U.S. and a commercial pilot's license in 1939, becoming the first African American woman to earn either type of license in the United States. With her licenses, she worked as a pilot providing ten-minute pleasure rides for a $1 admission fee. She also joined the Challenger Air Pilots Association, the group who had initially introduced her to flying. Brown served as chair of the education committee. In the first year, Brown was elected to be the Association's national secretary. Brown was the school's director for its first two years, and she also taught there, while handling administrative and advertising work. During these years she also taught aviation mechanics for the Chicago Board of Education. In 1942, she attained the rank of Lieutenant in Civil Air Patrol Squadron 613-6, becoming the first African American officer in the Civil Air Patrol.

Postwar career The Coffey School closed in 1945 after World War II ended. She was defeated by William E. King. She ran unsuccessfully to be a Chicago alderman in 1947, and again for the same congressional seat in 1948.

Brown returned to teaching in high schools from 1962 until her retirement in 1971. She taught business and aeronautics.

In 1947, she and Cornelius Coffey married, but the marriage did not last long. Her final marriage was to Reverend J. H. Chappell, pastor of the Chicago West Side Community Church, in 1955.

On July 18, 1992, Brown died of a stroke in Chicago, at the University of Chicago's Bernard Mitchell Hospital. Brown and Coffey had begun an annual flyover tradition to drop flowers over Bessie Coleman's grave. After Brown's death, pilots performed flower drops for her grave as well. In 2002, Women in Aviation International named Brown one of the 100 most influential women in aviation and space. In 2003, a decade after her death, Willa Beatrice Brown was inducted into the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame. In 2010, Brown was awarded the Distinguished Alumni Award by the Indiana State University Alumni Association. Historical marker #238, located at the intersection of Race and Washington Streets in Glasgow, Kentucky. The marker was erected in recognition of Willa Brown Chappell, "the first African American woman to earn a pilot's license in the United States". Achievement #10 in the Civil Air Patrol cadet program, earning a cadet the rank of Cadet/1st Lieutenant, is named after Lt. Willa Brown. Willa was a member of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority. In 2022 Brown was enshrined in the National Aviation Hall of Fame.