Charles Frederick Page, Inventor of the Bi-Ballooned Flyable Airship, 1903

US Patent #0817442,Charles F. Page AirShip Pg1, Fig.1
US Patent #0817442,Charles F. Page AirShip Pg1, Fig.1

The story of Orville and Wilbur Wright and their first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, in 1903, is known to millions around the world. What is not known is that they had a contemporary in African American inventor Charles Frederick Page. As a formerly enslaved individual who lived during the Jim Crow era, his patent and invention are relatively obscure. We are highlighting his fascinating history, invention, and contributions during this period in the United States. See Page’s remarkable story, written by historian Kelly McCoy, here.

Charles Frederick Page of Pineville, Louisiana, was an inventor who designed, built, and applied for a United States patent for a double ballooned flyable airship in 1903. This event occurred just before Orville and Wilbur Wright flew the first engine-powered and controlled aircraft near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, on December 17 of the same year. Likely born enslaved in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, in 1864, Page educated himself and became known for his deep thinking and entrepreneurial spirit.

Charles Frederick Page

Page was skilled in a variety of occupations, although he was primarily known as a timberman. He also produced and sold charcoal and was a botanical farmer who sold plants to drug companies to make medicines.

Between 1899 and 1903, at his home in Pineville, Page built a full-scale version of a bi-ballooned flyable airship. His aircraft was a complicated mechanical balloon device. First, the invention was unique in that it was a bi-balloon airship, unlike the Zeppelin airship of the same period.   Secondly, the bi-balloon airship’s boat hull included a rudder for steering purposes and a propeller operated by a gas motor to send the airship in any direction. Page’s invention improved stability, propulsion, and control, advancing airship technology in the United States.  

On April 24, 1903, he filed a patent application with the United States Patent Office. In 1904, while his patent application was pending, Page sent his creation to be exhibited at the 1904 Louisiana Purchase World’s Fair in St. Louis, Missouri. While it is not clear why he wanted to show his invention at the fair or why he wanted it shipped rather than delivered in person, speculation years later from grandson Joseph P. Page suggested that shipping it was the custom of the era.  Since it was shipped on a freight train, there was no room for Page as a passenger.

US Patent #0817442, Charles F. Page AirShip Pg.2, Fig.2

Page may have been inspired to compete in the international aeronautic competition held at the fair because of the grand prize of $100,000, a considerable sum during that era.   The airship, however, mysteriously disappeared en route to St. Louis. Eva Page, the inventor’s daughter, who suspected racism during this Jim Crow era, was quoted in a 1974 interview in Alexandria Daily Town Talk, a local newspaper, as saying, “It was stolen… After that, Papa never built another one.”

Despite this setback, Page received United States Patent #817,422 for his “Air Ship” on April 10, 1906, before the Wright Brothers received U.S. Patent #821,393 for their “Flying Machine” on May 22 of the same year. Page received inquiries and offers to buy his patent, but he refused. He was so discouraged after the airship disappeared that he basically gave up any further attempts at constructing an air ship.

US Patent #0817442, Charles F. Page Airship Text Page1

Page moved past the loss of his invention and devoted his life to helping his community individually and collectively in many ways during the Jim Crow era. In one instance, he developed ways for local tenant farmers to diversify crops and infrastructure that would eventually allow them to own their farms over time.  In another example, he created a group of mediators that helped to prevent a race riot after the murder of a local white student.  Page also established a brickyard for the Black community members to use, built coffins, and practiced amateur dentistry for people who could not afford these services. Seeing a need for a proper cemetery for Black community members in Pineville, he founded the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery.

Charles Frederick Page died at his son’s home in Alexandria, Louisiana on November 18, 1937, and was buried in the Page family crypt at the Lincoln Memorial Cemetery.  Regarding her father’s legacy, daughter Eva Page said in her 1974 interview in the Alexandria Daily Town Talk, “He always thought people were more important than airships.”

US Patent #0817422 Charles F. Page AirShip Text Page 2

In recent years, Charles Frederick Page’s achievements have been remembered and reclaimed locally and nationally through the efforts of his grandchildren, Joseph P. Page and Orris V. Cooper Jr., as well as historian and author Michael D. Wynne. In 2024, Page posthumously received recognition for his achievements and contributions to aviation and the community with a commemoration and historical marker in the city of Pineville, Louisiana. An exhibition with replicas of Page’s patented drawings created by artist Peter Excho was installed at Louis Armstrong International Airport in New Orleans and the New Orleans Ernest N. Morial Convention Center.