• MOTORCYCLIST
  
• FIRST Black woman to ride solo across the United States on a motorcycle
• Sources disagree on her birthdate, birthplace, and other details regarding her childhood, but she was probably born Betsy Leonora Ellis to a mother who died soon after she was born, and a father who took her to Boston and abandoned her there
• Adopted by a wealthy family, and got her first motorcycle when she was 16 as a birthday present
• Drove through ALL of the lower 48 states during the Jim Crow era, facing racist gangs and challenging society's perception that riding a motorcycle was unladylike
• Performed daredevil motorcycle tricks with the circus
• During World War II, she was hired as a dispatch rider for the Army
• Eventually settled down in Miami, FL and earned the nickname "Motorcycle Queen of Miami"
• Inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association nine years after her death
• The Bessie Stringfield All Female Ride is held every year in her honor

Bibliography: Adams, Ebony and Anita Sarkeesian. History vs. Women: The Defiant Lives That They Don't Want You To Know. New York: Feiwel and Friends, 2018. Print.
Stewart, Nikita. (2018, April 4). Overlooked No More: Bessie B. Stringfield, the 'Motorcycle Queen of Miami.' https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/04/obituaries/overlooked-bessie-stringfield.html

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