Texarkana Museums System

We are incredibly grateful to the Kiwanis Club of Texarkana for their generous grant we were awarded last night.

Community partners like Kiwanis help make it possible for us to preserve local history, provide educational programming, and create meaningful experiences for visitors of all ages. Their investment in our mission is an investment in the stories, people, and heritage that make our region unique.

Thanks you so much for your commitment to children and all of our community!

As we continue exploring the stories that shaped our region, we remember pioneers like Bessie Coleman whose courage opened doors for future generations.

Have you heard Bessie Coleman’s story?

On this day in 1921, Bessie Coleman became the world's first licensed black pilot. The native of Atlanta, Texas, graduated from high school in Waxahachie and attended Colored Agricultural and Normal University in Oklahoma. After moving to Chicago, she went to France and attended the aviation school at Le Crotoy. The Federation Aeronautique Internationale issued her a pilot's license. She flew in her first air show at Curtiss Field near Manhattan in 1922. She afterward took part in many more shows while touring the country, and her daredevil stunts earned her the nickname "Brave Bessie." She was killed during a test flight on April 30, 1926, at Jacksonville, Florida. She is buried in Lincoln Cemetery at Chicago. A Chicago street is named Bessie Coleman Drive, and a United States commemorative stamp in her honor was issued in 1995.

On June 14, 1777, two years into America's fight for independence, the Continental Congress approved the design of a flag to represent the new nation: "Resolved: that the Flag of the thirteen United States shall be thirteen stripes, alternate red and white; that the Union be thirteen stars, white on a blue field, representing a new constellation."

In 1916, as the nation grappled with whether to enter a different war, President Woodrow Wilson established the anniversary as "Flag Day".

🖼: Poster from the 140th anniversary of flag day (Willard and Dorothy Straight Collection/Library of Congress)