Episode #7: Bessie Stringfield (Mini-cast) Show Notes

Regularly, I stumble across women in history that are fascinating, but there’s not enough information to create a full-length podcast. So was born the “mini-cast,” a five minute version of the show. The first mini-cast subject is Bessie Stringfield, the “Motorcycle Queen of Miami.”
Born in 1911, in Kingston, Jamaica, Bessie was orphaned young. At 16, her adopted mother bought her a 1928 Indian Scout motorcycle, and she began a decades long romance with the open road. Courageously, during the peak of racial discrimination in the U.S., she rode across each of the lower 48 states. She journeyed through Europe, Brazil, and Haiti, too!

A motorcycle dispatch rider during World War 2, she rode coast to coast eight times, and was the only female in her unit. Settling in Florida in the 1950s, she became a nurse, and established the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club.

Bessie was a pioneer among women and African-Americans-the original “Easy Rider.” For more details on her life, check-out these sites:

Bessie Stringfield: Motorcyclist (Good Spark Garage)

Bessie Stringfield (AMA Motorcycle Hall of Fame)