Neighborhoods Served
- Woodlawn
- Hyde Park
- Greater Grand Crossing
History
- Coleman Branch opened March 27, 1993.
- The branch was named after pioneering pilot Bessie Coleman (1892-1926), the first black woman to fly an airplane and the first African American to earn an international pilot's license.
- Coleman’s first flying exhibition was in 1922 at Checkerboard Airdrome (now Midway Airport) in Chicago.
Artwork
- After School Matters student art: a mural featuring three African American authors from the Woodlawn community, Gwendolyn Brooks, Sam Greenlee and Lorraine Hansberry
- The Bessie Coleman Collection: a collections of photos donated by the DuSable Museum of African American History
- Coleman Branch also features artwork funded through the Percent for Art Ordinance administered by the City of Chicago Public Art Program:
- a painting entitled "Tribute to Black Aviation" by Aaron Truesdell
- a drawing entitled "Maquette for Bessie Coleman Mural" by Al Price
- two quilts by Big Mama
- a quilt by Laverne Brackens
- a britches quilt by Arbie Williams
- an ink and acrylic work on paper by Tim Branson
