Who is Bessie Stringfield?
The Importance of Conserving Bessie's Story
Bessie Stringfield paved the way for many women riders, past and present. Her story is important to conserve and pass on because it brings encouragement for many people, teaching them to not let anyone or anything hold them back from being who they are or doing what they believe in.
Bessie Stringfield has quite a mysterious background. She is believed to have been born either February or March 1911, or March 1912 in Edenton, North Carolina or Kingston, Jamaica. Although her early beginning is unclear or lost in history, what she accomplished during her time reads loud and clear. She started her legacy when she picked up her first motorcycle and taught herself to ride at the age of 16. Her journeys began the 1930's. Traveling the U.S. during a dangerous time in history, Bessie broke boundaries, not only a female motorcyclist but as an African-American rider as well. Throughout her life, Bessie was married 6 times but had no children. Eventually, Bessie served as a courier for the U.S. Army during WWII and in 2002, was inducted into the AMA Motorcycle Museum Hall of Fame in honor for all her historical achievements.
How Bessie Stringfield Made History
There is no better way to put it: Bessie Stringfield is an absolute American badass. After teaching herself to ride her first motorcycle, Bessie went on to ride long-distances across all of America as a solo rider. Notably, she did so eight times throughout the 1930s and 1940s during Jim Crow America. The United States eventually recognized her incredible abilities on a motorcycle and during WWII she served her country as a courier, delivering documents between U.S. military bases. While alive, she was known for telling stories of her travels: stories of being run off roads due to her race, sleeping on her bike when hotels refused her a room, raising money by performing bike tricks for audiences, and winning a flat track race only to be denied the prize when officials discovered she was a woman. Bessie faced immense persecution as a woman rider of color, but endured it, proudly doing what she loved and, in the process, breaking some of the most challenging boundaries in American History.