​ Lady Pilots Address Readers At Carroll County Library Book-Signing

By Timothy Cox

For Patch Westminster

On Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2025, two women professional pilots were featured in the Exploration Commons at 50 East in the lower level of the Carroll County Library in Westminster, Md.

Carole Hopson, who currently works as a Boeing 737 Captain for United Airlines, along with her cohort, Capt. Barbara Bell, a retired Navy pilot and instructor, addressed a diverse group of folks at the library and expounded on their unique experiences as commercial and academic airline professionals.

Both women have recently published books to chronicle their unique experiences.

Hopson, one of only about 150 African American women working as commercial, military, cargo or civilian pilots in the entire industry, discussed her trials and tribulations while pursuing her career.

The West Philadelphia native initially earned a swimming scholarship to the University of Virginia, but unfortunately, never got a chance to swim, due to an untimely car accident that ended her swimming career.

After graduating from UVA, she earned a master's degree in journalism from Columbia University (N.Y.) and became a police reporter/journalist. After ensuing stints in corporate America, including the NFL and Foot Locker, she ultimately realized that all along, she longed to fly.

In the past 15 years, she's worked as a Boeing 737 Captain for United Airlines, based in Newark, N.J. She followed her passion to fly all while raising two sons (now college-aged), with her husband, Michael.

In her new book, ‘A Pair Of Wings,’ Hopson briefly addresses her career transition. But primarily, the novel chronicles the life of her major influence, the late Bessie Coleman, the pioneer African American aviatrix and first American to earn a French civilian pilot’s license. Coleman, a Texas native, was born in 1892 and died in 1926. She was primarily a stunt pilot and earned a living doing dangerous tricks, worldwide.

Coleman was just 34 when she died in an accident that caused her to fall from a plane - as a passenger.

Hopson says Coleman's experiences predates Amelia Earhart who was born in 1897 and is more widely recognized as the first American woman to fly across the Atlantic Ocean, solo.

Hopson also heads the Jet Black Foundation, dedicated to sending 100 Black women to flight school by the year 2035. Hopson considers herself as continuing Coleman's plight to entice and encourage young black women onto becoming pilots. "It's a wide-open field, so why not?" she asked.

For more information, visit www.carolehopson.com.

The other featured author at the book-signing included Dr. Barbara Bell, an Upper Michigan native.

Dr. Bell is a retired Naval pilot and instructor and one of the first women to graduate from the prestigious Naval Academy in 1992. She also earned a Ph.D. from Vanderbilt University in Nashville.

Bell received an appointment to the U.S. Naval Academy at a time when only six percent of the student body was female. Today, Bell draws upon the skills she developed throughout her trailblazing years of service to teach and inspire both emerging and established leaders to reach new heights in their lives.

Within her book, ‘Flight Lessons: Navigating Through Life’s Turbulence and Learning to Fly High,’ Dr. Bell said she offers “keynote, breakout and other customized training programs for businesses and organizations interested in cultivating an environment open to a thriving, diverse workforce.”

For more information, visit www.CaptainBarbaraBell.com

(ABOUT THE AUTHOR: Timothy Cox has written for Gannett, Scripps-Howard, McClatchy and publications in Baltimore, DC, Pittsburgh, Ohio, Georgia and Tennessee. Reach Timothy Cox at teacawks2@gmail.com.)