Bessie Stringfield: Tales of the Talented Tenth

Imagine a five-foot-two-inch-tall woman riding a Harley eight times across the continental United States.

Now imagine she is Black and is journeying across the country in the pre-Civil Rights era of the 1930s and '40s. 

That is the amazing true story of Bessie Stringfield, the woman known today as The Motorcycle Queen of Miami and the first Black woman to be inducted into the American Motorcyclist Association Hall of Fame and the Harley Davidson Hall of Fame. Stringfield was a pioneer in motorcycling during her lifetime; she rode as a civilian courier for the US military and founded the Iron Horse Motorcycle Club in Miami, all while confronting and overcoming Jim Crow in every ride.