13 Facts About Bessie Stringfield

Bessie Stringfield was born Betsy Beatrice White to Maggie Cherry and James White, living in Edenton, North Carolina.

Bessie Stringfield's birth date has been publicized as February 1911 with the birth name Betsy Leonora Ellis, though her death certificate says she was born in March 1911 in Kingston with parents names as James Richard White and M Cherry; a Social Security record has her birth date as March 1912.

Esther Bennett, Bessie Stringfield's niece, told The New York Times in 2018 that Bessie Stringfield had lied about her origins.

At the age of 16 Bessie Stringfield taught herself to ride her first motorcycle, a 1928 Indian Scout.

Bessie Stringfield made seven more long-distance trips in the US, and eventually rode through the 48 lower states, Europe, Brazil and Haiti.

Bessie Stringfield completed the rigorous training and rode her own blue 61 cubic inch Harley-Davidson.

Bessie Stringfield regularly encountered racism during this time, reportedly being deliberately knocked down by a white man in a pickup truck while traveling in the South.

Bessie Stringfield gained the captain's approval to ride and did not have any more trouble with the police.

Robert Scott Thomas, whose family had employed Bessie Stringfield as a housekeeper when Thomas was a child, was named executor and beneficiary of Bessie Stringfield's estate, unaware of any relatives at the time.

Bessie Stringfield married and divorced six times, losing three babies with her first husband.

Bessie Stringfield kept the last name of her third husband, Arthur Stringfield.

Bessie Stringfield was inducted into the Motorcycle Hall of Fame in 2002.

In 2017 Timeline released free and online a short film about Bessie Stringfield, "Meet Bessie Stringfield, the Black 'Motorcycle Queen'".