Outshining The Wright Brothers
American engineer and businessman Charles Ward Chappelle won acclaim in 1911 for his long-distance aircraft, and from 1913 until 1930, he served as president of the African Union Company.
Chappelle presented at the First Industrial Aero Event in Brooklyn, New York, in January 1911. The show included airplanes and aeronautical technology. An architect and engineer by profession, Chappelle had created a long-distance aircraft that could fly safely. Even though the Wright Brothers had just flown a decade earlier, Chappelle’s aircraft was remarkable for its innovative design and remarkable performance. At the end of the week-long exhibition, which drew over 15,000 attendees, the organizers presented Chappelle with a medal and displayed his model at the US Aeronautical Reserve headquarters. Out of all the participants, he was the only Black American.
Investments and commercial possibilities came Chappelle’s way as a result of his popularity on the program. Later that year, he co-founded and held the position of vice president for a short time at the first Black American aircraft firm. Supposedly hailing from the Akim people of the Gold Coast in Africa, Alfred C. Sam hired Chappelle to serve as head engineer in December (modern-day Ghana). Among the first African companies to supposedly conduct business with their American counterparts was Sam’s Akim Trading Company. The construction of a train and electricity infrastructure was Chappelle’s original plan.
African Union Company Co-Founded
After four months, Chappelle returned to the US because people questioned Sam’s economic acumen and authority. A Ghanaian business that helped bring African commodities like cocoa and mahogany to international markets, the African Union Company was co-founded by him in December 1913.
Under Chappelle’s leadership as president and general manager, the company aimed to construct an industrial school and invest in infrastructure in Africa. Chappelle served in this role from 1913 until around 1924, when he finally returned to America. But he kept on as president all the way until the business was dissolved in 1930. The corporation was believed to be worth three to ten million dollars in 1922, and one prospective investor left thinking it held half of Gold Coast’s resources.
In 1872, Chappelle came into this world in Eatonton, Georgia. In 1897, he uprooted his life from Atlanta and settled in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. He had moved to Brooklyn in 1910 before appearing at the airshow, but after returning from Africa, he lived in Pittsburgh again until his death in 1941. As an architect, Chappelle relocated to Brooklyn and constructed many structures there. He spent over a year building his aircraft, and while he was doing it, his work was published in Air Scout, the official magazine of the Aeronautical Reserve.
This is a part of our new series – “Hidden Gems in Black History,” where we highlight uncommon facts throughout Black history. Join us every day during Black History Month for interesting facts about Black people and places you likely haven’t heard before!
