The Story of Aviation Pioneer James Herman Banning
By Louisa Jaggar and Pat Smith
Have you ever heard of James Herman Banning? If you have, you are unusual. Most people know Lindbergh and Earhart, but Banning, for the most part, has escaped the history books. Why? Because he was African American and in the 1920s the mainstream press didn’t write about African American aviators. He was the first African American to fly across the continental United States, and many believe he was the first to receive a United States issued pilot’s license.
Almost 70 years from the time of Banning’s death, Pat Smith was researching aviation heroes from Oklahoma for National Geographic’s Celebration of 100 Years of Flight. She found an aviation history file and pulled out a short news clip that mentioned Banning. She saved it because it peaked her interest and she wanted to know more about him. About two years later, she mentioned him to me. Together, we decided to write the story of his life for young adults.
This decision sent Pat on her quest to discover more about Banning’s life. She uncovered newspaper articles, journals, photos as well as Banning’s grades from his year at Iowa State College. She found the family’s homestead deed, the plot of the homestead and the Banning family on the Oklahoma census.
More importantly, Pat discovered a true hero. It turns out that Banning had searched for a couple years to find someone to agree to teach him to fly. Most white people didn’t believe African Americans could take to the skies. Finally, a Lieutenant Fisher agreed, but he died in a crash before Banning could begin his solo hours. When Banning couldn’t find someone to lend him a plane, he built his own airplane. He earned his pilot’s license and became a top barnstormer, competing and winning against many white pilots.
Banning believed that freedom in the air would one day translate to freedom on the ground and he let nothing stand in his way. After a lifetime of discrimination, Banning wanted to make a lasting statement that African Americans could make real contributions to aviation – not just as entertaining barnstorming stunt pilots. He wanted his plane and his picture in the Smithsonian, next to Lucky Lindy’s. He decided to fly across the continental United States.
At this time, Banning had no backers and owned a dilapidated plane with a 14-year-old engine. Thomas Cox Allen, a gifted mechanic also from Oklahoma, bought his way into the adventure with $200. Allen also came up with the ingenious idea to fund their flight with small donations from each town they landed in to cover the next leg of their journey, whether a warm meal, a place to sleep, or money for gas – and then inscribe the name of the donor on what they called the “Gold Book” – the wing of their plane. In this way, each contributor shared in a piece of history. Twenty-four communities participated and sixty five individuals inscribed their names on the “Gold Book,” as Banning made his way across America. Banning succeeded against so many odds.
But even with all the facts Pat has found, we are still searching for any and all information on Banning. Did anyone in your family fly during the Golden Age of Flight? Do you have old pictures stored in your attic by any chance? Do you have photos of the Bessie Coleman Aero Club in 1929 when Banning was the chief flight instructor? If you do please let us know. Aviation enthusiasts out there: share any information you may have about Banning and his mechanic, Thomas Allen, by emailing: JHBaviationpioneer@mail.com.
We also have another goal. We want to right a past wrong. We want to see Banning in the National Aviation Hall of Fame. He deserves to be. What can you do to help make this a reality? His nomination packet will be placed with the subcommittee of the NAHF Nomination Committee this June. Let them know how deserving Banning is by emailing: kcitro@nationalaviation.org or mail: National Aviation Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 31096, Dayton, OH 45437-0096, Attention: Kerisa Citro.
That’s not all folks! Pat and I, in partnership with the Tulsa Air and Space Museum, are creating a traveling exhibition on Banning’s life and accomplishments. His is a great story that is almost never told and we intend to tell it as loudly and as often and in as many mediums as possible. The traveling exhibition, On Freedom’s Wings, will make its first stops in Oklahoma, then move to Los Angeles where it will follow Banning and Allen’s route across the United States to New York. If you are interested in having this exhibit visit your town, please let us know at: JHBaviationpioneer@mail.com.
Louisa Jaggar is the author of Saving Stuff, Simon and Schuster, 2005
