Black History Month Courtesy of the Student National Medical Association KCUMB Chapter

Early Pioneers

Benjamin Bannecker In 1761 he attracted attention by building a wooden clock that kept precise time Self educated, he began astronomical calculations about 1773—accurately predicted a solar eclipse in 1789 Sent a copy of his first almanac to Thomas Jefferson with a letter asking for aid in bringing about better conditions for American blacks

Carter G. Woodson Second African American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University Began promoting Negro History Week during the second week of February to celebrate the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. In the 1960s it became Black History Month

Daniel Hale Williams One of the first African American surgeons in America Helped found Provident Hospital in Chicago in 1891 In 1893, achieved international fame by performing the world's first successful heart surgery at Provident

Rebecca Lee Crumpler Became the first African American woman in the United States to earn an M.D. degree Authored A Book of Medical Discourses - one of the very first medical publications by an African American

Mary McLeod Bethune Appointed administrative assistant for Negro affairs of the National Youth Administration by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1936 Became an adviser on minority affairs to Roosevelt and assisted the secretary of war in selecting officer candidates for the U.S. Women's Army Corps (WAC) Vice president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People from 1940 to 1955

Great Inventors

George Washington Carver Agricultural chemist who discovered 300 uses for peanuts and hundreds of uses for soybeans, pecans and sweet potatoes Created recipes and improvements to/for: bleach, buttermilk, ink, instant coffee, linoleum, metal polish, shaving cream, shoe polish, synthetic rubber, talcum powder Despite hundreds of inventions, he was only issued three patents

Charles Richard Drew Black American physician and surgeon who became an authority on the preservation of human blood for transfusion Developed efficient ways to process and store large quantities of blood plasma in “blood banks” Agitated the authorities to stop excluding the blood of blacks from plasma-supply networks

Activists

Thurgood Marshall First African-American justice on the Supreme Court of the United States Primary strategist of the series of cases that ended with the Supreme Court's 1954 decision in the case of Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka which declared segregation in public schools as unconstitutional

Ruby Bridges First African American to enter an all-white school when the New Orleans public school system was ordered to desegregate in 1960 Her first walk to school inspired the familiar painting by Norman Rockwell

Reverend Vernon Johns Controversial Alabama preacher who often upset his conservative congregation with his sermons, including "Segregation After Death" and "When The Rapist Is White" Strongly opposed segregation and on one occasion walked into a 'White' restaurant and ordered a sandwich, knowing he was putting his life at risk After Johns retired, the congregation appointed a new preacher--Martin Luther King

Dorothy I. Height One of the major leaders of the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s Organized "Wednesdays in Mississippi,” to create a dialogue about the Civil Rights Movement between Southern and Northern white and black women Served as the president of the National Council of Negro Women for over 40 years

Artists and Authors

Gwendolyn Brooks American poet whose works deal with the everyday life of urban blacks First African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize 1949 Named Poet Laureate of Illinois in 1968 Received a lifetime achievement award from the National Endowment for the Arts in 1989

Johnnetta B. Cole Became the seventh president of Spelman College in 1987 Called herself “Sister President,”and became known as a strong advocate for the liberal arts curriculum in a changing society Author of Conversations: Straight Talk with America's Sister President (1993) and many other scholarly articles focusing on race and and class in the Pan-African world

Gordon Parks Bought a used camera in 1938, deciding on a career in photography Three years later, received a fellowship from the Julius Rosenwald Foundation to work in the photography section of the Farm Security Administration Became a poet, novelist, film director and photographer

Physicians

David Satcher M.D. Medical doctor and public health administrator Past Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) Appointed as the 16 th Surgeon General by President Bill Clinton Director of the National Center for Primary Care at the Morehouse School of Medicine

Barbara Ross Lee, D.O. Initially a school teacher after a college advisor discouraged her from becoming a doctor Graduated from the Michigan State University College of Osteopathic Medicine in 1973 First African American woman to be appointed dean of an American medical school

William G. Anderson, D.O. Graduate of the University of Osteopathic Medicine and Health Sciences in Des Moines Leader in the Civil Rights Movement in Georgia where he worked along side Dr. Martin Luther King First African American President of the American Osteopathic Association Associate Dean of the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine