Kentucky, Liberty, Coca-Cola
The Coca Cola advertisement was on the wall of the Lights of Liberty Movie Theater in Liberty, Kentucky. The white circle at the lower right of the advertisement indicate that Kirby Custom Signs painted the advertisement in 2013.
The image on the wall resembles Willa Brown who was born in 1906 at Glasgow, Kentucky. Brown was inspired by Bessie Coleman, a black pilot who learned to fly in Europe, because no one would train her in the United States. In 1921, Coleman became the first woman of African-American descent to earn an aviation pilot license. Brown followed Coleman's lead by earning her pilot license in 1937. In 1939, Brown received a commercial pilot license. She earned an aircraft mechanic license in 1943, becoming the first woman in the United States to have both a mechanic license and a commercial pilot license. She was instrumental in forming Coffey School of Aeronautics- she married the founder Cornelius Coffey. Brown trained black students at Coffey School of Aeronautics to be pilots and support personnel. Many of the students Brown trained entered the military to trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field. Those students became known as the“Tuskegee Airmen.” In 1955, Brown married Rev. J.H. Chappell. Willa Brown Chappell was inducted into the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame in 2003. (Some information presented was adapted from information obtained from Kentucky Educational Television (KET) website, Aviation Museum of Kentucky.)
NOTE: I do not know if the advertisement painter, or those who commissioned the painter, intended to depict Willa Brown Chappell on the wall. However, the striking resemblance between the women on the wall and Chappell led me to relay her story. Take another look at the woman on the wall and then view a photograph of Brown at:
Kentucky, Liberty, Coca-Cola
The Coca Cola advertisement was on the wall of the Lights of Liberty Movie Theater in Liberty, Kentucky. The white circle at the lower right of the advertisement indicate that Kirby Custom Signs painted the advertisement in 2013.
The image on the wall resembles Willa Brown who was born in 1906 at Glasgow, Kentucky. Brown was inspired by Bessie Coleman, a black pilot who learned to fly in Europe, because no one would train her in the United States. In 1921, Coleman became the first woman of African-American descent to earn an aviation pilot license. Brown followed Coleman's lead by earning her pilot license in 1937. In 1939, Brown received a commercial pilot license. She earned an aircraft mechanic license in 1943, becoming the first woman in the United States to have both a mechanic license and a commercial pilot license. She was instrumental in forming Coffey School of Aeronautics- she married the founder Cornelius Coffey. Brown trained black students at Coffey School of Aeronautics to be pilots and support personnel. Many of the students Brown trained entered the military to trained at Tuskegee Army Air Field. Those students became known as the“Tuskegee Airmen.” In 1955, Brown married Rev. J.H. Chappell. Willa Brown Chappell was inducted into the Kentucky Aviation Hall of Fame in 2003. (Some information presented was adapted from information obtained from Kentucky Educational Television (KET) website, Aviation Museum of Kentucky.)
NOTE: I do not know if the advertisement painter, or those who commissioned the painter, intended to depict Willa Brown Chappell on the wall. However, the striking resemblance between the women on the wall and Chappell led me to relay her story. Take another look at the woman on the wall and then view a photograph of Brown at: