Day 4 - Charles W Chappelle - A Man For His Age

The United States Aeronautical Reserve

Charles Ward Chappelle was born in Eatonton, GA in 1872 seven years after the end of the Civil War.

His father, Reverend George W Chappelle belonged to the African Methodist Episcopal Church. His mother, Anna Johnson Chappelle was a homemaker, Reverend's wife, and the bearer of eighteen children.

Perhaps it was the rough and tumble of growing up in the midst of this brood that gave Charles his drive to set himself apart.

He started working odd jobs by the age of ten. He worked in lumber yards, laying brick, and any other type of work a ten-year-old could find. Effective child labor laws would not go into effect until the 1930s, so there were plenty of things he could do to earn money and help his family.

The Knox Institue

The Chappelle family must have had some means because they sent young Charles to the Knox Institute for primary and secondary school. This was a private school for black children in Athens, Ga.

After he graduated from Knox, he attended Morris Brown College in Atlanta, Ga. This institution was established by the African Methodist Episcopal Church. I do wonder if he might not have gotten a break on tuition seeing as his father was a reverend in the church. Not that it matters, I just wondered.

Charles also took correspondence classes.

At the end of all of this education, he emerged into the world with training as an electrical engineer and architect. Which means his first job was teaching in White Plains, GA. Obviously.

Charles moved to Philadelphia and worked as the first head electrician of US Steel for a time.

Then -

He moved to Manhattan and worked as an architect and though several sources say he designed and erected some buildings, I have not been able to find out which ones, so I have to assume they weren't landmark type buildings.

Around this time, he started visiting Africa. He was interested in how our country might improve trade between the continents.

There is no telling what might have happened in Charles' life if the Wright Brothers had not managed to make the first plane in 1903. By 1908, powered flight was all the rage. A new age had arrived. The public wasn't sure they believed it, but the very idea was incredibly exciting.

The buzz and potential of powered flight intrigued Charles. He was as taken by the idea of airplanes as any other American. He became a member of the United States Aeronautical Reserve, and over the course of a year, built a full-sized plane by himself.

In 1911 he entered his craft in The First Industrial Aeroplane Show at the Grand Central Palace in New York City.

Grand Central Palace

The trade show was to get investors interested in building planes for domestic use.

Charles was a hit. He was the only black person to enter a craft, and his participation garnered national media attention.

His plane was also a hit. It was noted for its unique design and capabilities. It was built to safely fly long distances.



There are two bits of information to relate about this event.

1. Charles received a medal. Some sources say he was given it for being the only black person to exhibit. Some suggest he won some kind of award for the design of his craft.

2. His model was put on display at the United States Aeronautical Reserve Headquarters.

Later in 1911, the first African American plane manufacturing company was established, and Chappelle served as the vice president for a short time.

Then, because why not, he became an international businessman. In 1913 he established a trading company that was set up to bring goods from Africa to America. The African Union company invested in building infrastructure - particularly railroads - in Ghana to facilitate trade. He used his contacts in the US Steel industry and the contacts he'd made with organizations in his other pursuits to build a very successful business. He ran this company until 1924.

Charles apparently lived in Africa at times, and in other parts of the US over his years running his company before being bought out and returning to Philadelphia in the 1920s.

Eventually, he went back to Philadelphia and worked for the city in the department of lands and buildings.


He died in 1941.

Charles W. Chappelle was a remarkable man who altered the world just by walking through it and being himself.