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Bessie Stringfield Exhibit: Trailblazer of Black Motorcycling History

BESSIE STRINGFIELD EXHIBIT: TRAILBLAZER OF BLACK MOTORCYCLING HISTORY

October 13, 2025

For decades, Bessie Stringfield’s legend has lived in fragments: in magazine features, brief documentaries, and whispered stories among motorcycle enthusiasts. But now, for the first time, her legacy takes center stage. Thanks to a loan of personal items from her estate, the Harley-Davidson Museum is unveiling a more complete picture of one of motorcycling’s most trailblazing pioneers.

“To me, what I did, was fun. And I loved it.”

Bessie Stringfield’s story has not yet been fully told. Articles, book chapters, small displays, and a short documentary have all introduced her incredible life and emphasize different parts of her story.

Much of the information available about Stringfield comes from interviews with journalists where she shared stories of her early life, how she learned to ride as a teenager, tales of her many cross-country rides, her marriages, and her motorcycles.

Now, thanks to a loan of personal items from her estate, the Harley-Davidson Museum can finally welcome Stringfield more fully into the galleries and share details and artifacts from her life.

Riding gear, documents, and rare photographs of the Black motorcycling community from the 1930s to the 1970s expand our understanding of how central riding was to her world.

BESSIE STRINGFIELD’S EARLY YEARS

Born in North Carolina in 1912, she began riding when she was a teenager. As a young woman she supported herself as a domestic servant and eventually became a nurse.

During WWII, she served as a dispatch rider. In the early 1950s she purchased her own home in Miami, intending it as a place for motorcyclists to stay if needed.

In the 1960s she started an AMA-sanctioned motorcycle club. Bessie Stringfield rode for over 60 years, not giving up her bike until late in life. Although she passed in 1993, her legacy continues to inspire riders to connect, to ride, and to make it fun.

BESSIE STRINGFIELD’S MOTORCYCLES

Stringfield was an avid fan of Harley-Davidson^®. She is said to have owned a total of 27 H-D^® motorcycles throughout her lifetime.

Her love of the brand is evident through the number of bikes represented in registrations, purchase contracts and receipts, insurance documents, and photographs.

Her rides included a 1940 EL, 1951 EL, 1965 FLH Electra Glide^®, and a 1978 Super Glide^®, in addition to others. She loved posing with her bikes, grinning broadly in photographs on them from the 1930s to the 1980s.

DEFENSE COUNCIL OF DADE COUNTY

During WWII, civilian defense programs expanded to include motorcyclists. Black motorcyclists joined in the efforts of the Defense Council of Dade County, Motor Escort Division, Messenger Unit in 1942.

That same year, Stringfield participated in Defense Council motorcycle training with seven other Black riders, all men.

Photographs show the riders in formation but also demonstrating their skills by all piling onto one bike, riding on each other’s shoulders, and generally having a good time.

IRON HORSE MOTORCYCLE CLUB

Stringfield was part of a Black riding community in Florida. She rode with groups and attended meets and races over many years.

She created the Iron Horse MC, obtaining AMA registration certification #1557 in 1965. Meetings were held at her house in Opa Locka, Florida.

The MC designed their own blue uniforms, participated in annual AMA Safety Competitions, held regular meetings and rides, and supported a successful candidate in her effort to be named “Miss Motorcycle.”

MOTORCYCLING COMMUNITY

Stringfield is an inspiration for so many riders. But it is important to know that she was also part of a larger world of motorcyclists.

The most amazing material from Stringfield’s estate is the photographs of the Black motorcycling community that she rode with from the 1930s until the end of her life.

Posing in riding gear or sitting on bikes on the street, wearing club uniforms, geared up for distance rides, competing on racetracks, or lounging on a blanket at a picnic in some shade, the images of so many different riders bring the long history of a varied and dynamic community to life.