Janet Bragg (1907-1993) born Griffin, Georgia
The granddaughter of a freed slave, Janet Harmon Bragg surmounted racial barriers by using
her education and her keen instinct for business. Born in Georgia and trained as a nurse at
Spelman Seminary in Atlanta (now Spelman College), Janet moved to Chicago and worked as a
nurse until enrolling at Chicago’s Curtiss Aeronautical University ground school in 1933. Janet
studied but lacked an important training device – an airplane. She then purchased her own
airplane to fly and to rent to others.
However, she found no airport where black pilots were allowed to fly. Bragg and her classmates
purchased land and built an airfield in the all-black town of Robbins, Illinois. Janet earned her
private pilot’s license and wrote a weekly column called “Negro Aviation” for the Chicago
Defender newspaper. During World War II, she and other black women applied to the Women’s
Auxiliary Service Pilots (WASPs) but were rejected. Janet persisted, and eventually earned her
commercial pilot’s license.
Janet launched her own nursing-home business and became a successful entrepreneur and
speaker at aviation events across the country. She traveled in Africa where, while overlooked in
American history books, she was welcomed by royalty and ordinary people alike.
The granddaughter of a freed slave, Janet Harmon Bragg surmounted racial barriers by using
her education and her keen instinct for business. Born in Georgia and trained as a nurse at
Spelman Seminary in Atlanta (now Spelman College), Janet moved to Chicago and worked as a
nurse until enrolling at Chicago’s Curtiss Aeronautical University ground school in 1933. Janet
studied but lacked an important training device – an airplane. She then purchased her own
airplane to fly and to rent to others.
However, she found no airport where black pilots were allowed to fly. Bragg and her classmates
purchased land and built an airfield in the all-black town of Robbins, Illinois. Janet earned her
private pilot’s license and wrote a weekly column called “Negro Aviation” for the Chicago
Defender newspaper. During World War II, she and other black women applied to the Women’s
Auxiliary Service Pilots (WASPs) but were rejected. Janet persisted, and eventually earned her
commercial pilot’s license.
Janet launched her own nursing-home business and became a successful entrepreneur and
speaker at aviation events across the country. She traveled in Africa where, while overlooked in
American history books, she was welcomed by royalty and ordinary people alike.
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