Once It's Written, It Lives

Sometimes I wonder why I write here. It is an expense to keep the page up; it often requires a few hours of writing and research each week, and sometimes I get feedback. Maybe I just do it for myself. So why do I continue? I recently saw a quote, and I do not know who to attribute it to, but it answers that question for me. “Once it’s written, it lives!” That is why I do it, so they will live.

Originally, I began this site in 2017 when I first published “They Persisted” a book focusing on women born in the 1800s, little or completely unknown, who accomplished amazing things. My purpose both in publishing the book and maintaining this site was to highlight unrecognized women. There are so many! That led to the publication of “They Roared,” which introduced more indomitable spirits. A collection of test pilots during WWII, cryptographers, and photojournalists. I want them to live, so I write. If only a few people read these pages and come to know a woman who inspires them, I think I will continue. 

We probably all know Amelia Rose Earhart, the woman pilot. She is pretty famous, and much is written about her. Mystery still surrounds her.  But, have you heard of Azellia White? I saw mention of her a while ago and wanted to know more about her. According to my sources, she was the first African American woman to earn a pilot’s license in America. There were other African American women who earned pilot’s licenses, like Bessie Coleman, but they had to leave the country to accomplish this. Azelia was a true trailblazer, overcoming widespread perceptions at the time that neither women nor African Americans were qualified to fly airplanes.

Azelia White at 105 still inspiring!

Azellia was born in Gonzales, Texas, on June 3, 2013. I was unable to find a lot about her, which intrigued me even more. I did find a record of her marriage to Hulon “Pappy” White in 1936. He was an airplane mechanic and was with the Tuskegee Airmen. The Tuskegee Airmen were a group of African-American military pilots who fought in World War II. They formed the 332nd Fighter Group and the 477th Bombardment Group of the United States Army Air Force. 

In 1941, Eleanor Roosevelt visited Tuskee, Alabama, where they were living. The Tuskegee Airmen impressed Roosevelt very much, and she apparently encouraged her husband to let them fly in World War II. The Tuskegee Airmen fought a two-front war—one against the Axis powers and one against racial discrimination. By proving black men could fly and serve courageously in combat, the Tuskegee Airmen set the stage for the integration of the US military in 1948 and the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s. Of these, 355 served on active duty during World War Two as fighter pilots. Sixty-six Tuskegee Airmen died in combat. The Tuskegee Airmen destroyed 251 enemy airplanes and earned 150 Distinguished Flying Crosses for their service. While there, on the base with her husband, Azellia trained on a plane under the instruction and supervision of several of the Airmen. She took to flying like an eagle to the sky—to her, flying the Taylorcraft airplane was easy, earning her private pilot’s license on March 26, 1946. 

When the war ended, the Whites moved to South Houston, to the Taylor-Stevenson Ranch. They founded the Sky Ranch Flying Service with fellow Airmen, Ben Stevenson and Elton “Ray” Thomas. Sky Ranch was an airport for Houston’s black community and provided charter flights and flying lessons. Despite not being an official owner, the people at the airport knew and liked Azellia. Students often asked for her specifically. Occasionally, she played pranks on the students midair, with surprising stunts. Because African Americans harassed and assaulted regularly, and land travel put them in danger, she would often fly with her young niece to shop.  

The company closed its doors in 1948, but the pioneering aspect of Sky Ranch made its mark on the community. Azelia continues to serve as an inspiration to aspiring aviators, and the Aviation Science Lab at Houston’s Sterling High School is named in her honor. Principal Justin Fuentes called her “a powerful reminder to our students that they can be anything they want to be and achieve anything they want to achieve. No one can stop them.”

In April 2018, White was inducted into the Texas Aviation Hall of Fame. White received the Trailblazer Award from the Black Pilots of America for her “pioneering spirit in forging a path to the field of aviation.” 

Azelia passed peacefully in 2019.

 “I am a woman with wings,’ I once wrote and will revise these words again. ‘I am a woman with wings dancing with other women with wings.’ In a voiced community, we all flourish.”

― Terry Tempest Williams, When Women Were Birds: Fifty-four Variations on Voice