Philippa Schuyler traveled to Vietnam during the war in 1967 as a war correspondent. She also worked as a Catholic lay worker, ferrying orphans to safety from Hue to Danang. During a helicopter mission to evacuate the orphans, her helicopter crashed into the sea. Even though she survived the crash, she couldn’t swim and drowned. It was later discovered that the accident was the fault of the pilot and could’ve been avoided.
Philippa Schuyler died on May 9, 1967 at age 35. Prior to her passing, she had openly addressed her issues with her mother’s choice of upbringing in a written letter, accusing her of imposing impossible expectations upon her daughter. In 1969, Jody Cogdell Schuyler committed suicide.
There has been a discussion about a biopic of Schulyer’s life. The family papers are kept at New York’s Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, in a collection entitled “Composition in Black and White: The Life of Philippa Schuyler.”
Little Known Black History Fact: Philippa Schuyler was originally published on blackamericaweb.com
