Aviation pioneer Janet Bragg overcame enormous barriers before she became one of America's first black women pilots in 1933. Bragg spoke at the Black Heritage in Arizona Conference at the Marriott Hotel on Nov. 4, 1982. Bragg learned to fly in Chicago, and pushed for the opening of an airport in the nearby town of Robbins, Ill., where blacks would be allowed to fly. Bragg was an active pilot for 35 years and spent much of her life encouraging black women and men to learn to fly. She moved to Tucson in 1972 and died in 1993.
RON MEDVESCEK / ARIZONA DAILY STAR 1982