Janet Harmon Bragg

Janet Harmon Bragg (1907-1993) went to school to become a registered nurse but always wanted to be a pilot. While working as a nurse in a Chicago hospital, she enrolled in the Curtiss-Wright Aeronautical University, the first accredited flight school in the Midwest to admit black students and to hire black instructors. After graduating and earning her private pilate’s license, Bragg worked at Curtiss-Wright as an instructor.

During WWII, Bragg applied for the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP) but was not admitted because she was black. She then enrolled in the Civilian Pilot Training Program at Tuskegee Institute to earn a commercial pilot's license. Even though she passed every element of the flight test, she was not given a license because she was a black female. Bragg went back to Chicago, took the test again and finally earned her commercial pilot license—the first black woman to do so.

Why this stop? It's the Orange Line's Midway Airport stop.

Listen to Janet Harmon Bragg describe her first attempt at earning a commercial pilot license.