What's Your Super Skill?

WEEK 32 – Super Skill: Inspiration

Bertice Berry on Inspiration

November 12, 1960 – present

Reverend Doctor Bertice Berry has a larger than life personality. She is a sociologist, author, educator, lecturer, storyteller, talk show host, seamstress and deacon. She has authored 13 published books to date. She has been a guest to hosts Oprah Winfrey and Jay Leno among many others. Her messages have been heard live from the pulpit and many in-person engagements throughout the world as well as through TedTalks, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and other online venues. Dr. Berry has engaged audiences with her stories weaving her unique experiences into her presentations for more than 30 years in a way that encourages her viewers to self-reflect and become better themselves. Berry is dedicated to enabling healing from pain of racism to the inequities of sexism. Dr. Berry utilizes the soft skill of inspiration as she invites others to participate in becoming a purposeful gift to others. In addition to her in-person appearances, her storytelling has breathed life and connectivity into a growing online community that started during the throes of COVID-19, and continues today.

Dr. Berry was born in Delaware as one of seven children, raised by a single mother. At a young age, she cleaned houses in the mornings and banks in the afternoons after school to help with the family income. It may have appeared on the surface that she was destined for poverty, but she had other ideas. A brilliant student, she was encouraged by a librarian and a visionary teacher to dream bigger. Berry applied to multiple colleges and finally, received a scholarship to Jacksonville University from a wealthy benefactor who was looking for a promising student without means, and she happened to be in the right place at the right time. As a result, she became the first member of her immediate and extended family to go to college.

Dr. Berry went on to Kent State, where she earned her Ph.D. in Sociology by the time she was 26. She was a gifted speaker and educator at Kent State, learning the secret of comedic delivery while delivering a serious message. Berry became an entertainer, winning the National Comedian of the Year Award from 1991 through 1994 among other awards. She ultimately hosted her own syndicated talk show, “The Bertice Berry Show.”

Her greatest joy in life is her five adopted children and two grandchildren. Her goal is to help both her family and her viewers love one another and be inspired to live with purpose. Dr. Berry lives in Savannah, Georgia with her family, determined to continue her mission and God’s purpose for her as she positively inspires others through her humor, faith and love.

References

Dr. Bertice Berry (March 18, 2023). Why, Me, Here, Now? Finding Your Reason. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kwEzWsp5eyQ

McMichael, K. (April 20, 2022). Meet Dr. Bertice Berry. Local treasure gearing up for role in ‘Story Under the Stars.’ Connect Savannah. Retrieved from https://www.connectsavannah.com/community/meet-dr-bertice-berry-18234026

Bertice Berry Now. (2021). Sociologist, Author, Lecturer, Storyteller, Humorist, Servant Leader. Retrieved from https://berticeberrynow.com/

Reference image of Dr. Berry was retrieved from https://www.siumed.edu/news/author-bertice-berry-speak-womens-power-lunch-april-4 for illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 31 – Super Skill: Diplomacy

John Mercer Langston on Diplomacy

December 14, 1829 – November 15, 1897

John Mercer Langston was the first African American congressman from the state of Virginia, a civil rights trail blazer: the first African American to pass the bar in Ohio, the first African American attorney in Ohio and the first president of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, which became Virginia State University. Langston’s effectiveness as a civil rights activist both before and after the Civil War created a path and process for the Civil Rights activists that followed. In 1864, Langston became one of the founding members of the National Equal Rights League (NERL) with Henry Highland Garnet, Frederick Douglass and other civil rights activists. Langston was elected its first president. His conviction, influence, vision and super skill of diplomacy, helped Langston make strides by providing a voice for African Americans in the United States.

John Mercer Langston was born free on a plantation in Virginia on December 14, 1829. He was the one of five children of a formerly enslaved Lucy Langston and Captain Ralph Quarles, her former enslaver. Lucy Langston was emancipated by Quarles in 1806 and they lived on the plantation until they both died from unrelated causes in 1834. At the age of 5, Langston, along with his siblings, was sent to his father’s close friend, William D. Gooch, in Ohio. Langston went on to Oberlin College, an unique college admitting African Americans. He then studied Law and passed the Bar at the age of 24 in 1854.

In 1855, Langston spoke at the twenty-second anniversary of the American Anti-Slavery Convention held in New York. His speech, claiming that no person in the United Stated can say “I have my full share of liberty” because of slavery in the nation. His articulation marked the beginning of public activism in support of African American freedoms.

Langston practiced law until the beginning of the Civil War, when he helped to recruit African Americans to the Union army from Ohio, Illinois, and Indiana. At this same time, he became a founding member of the National Equal Rights League (NERL). He was elected the first president of the organization that called for full rights for African Americans, including the right to vote.

Well respected by the leadership of the United States, Langston was appointed a member of the Board of Health for the District of Columbia in 1871. He then served as a representative to Haiti under Presidents Rutherford B Hayes, James Garfield, and Chester Arthur. During that time, he also published his speeches under the title Freedom and Citizenship. Langston remained an advocate for education, opportunities, and freedoms for all holding education as an essential means to freedom. When Langston became president of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute in 1886, his primary purpose for doing so was to prepare African American teachers for the state’s public-school teaching, a unique proposition at that time.

Following his service in education, he was elected to a seat in Congress from Virginia, served on the education committee and spoke out in favor of full rights and fair treatment for African Americans throughout the United States. He published an autobiography, From Virginia Plantation to the National Capital, in 1894. He continued fighting for equality until his death in 1897.

References

Johnson, Joshua. John Mercer Langston. A Civil Rights Activist. The White House Historical Association. Retrieved from https://www.whitehousehistory.org/john-mercer-langston

Encyclopedia Virginia. John Mercer Langston (1829-1897). Retrieved from https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/langston-john-mercer-1829-1897/

Oberlin College Archives. Oberlin Through History. John Mercer Langston (1829-1897). Retrieved from https://www2.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/OYTT-images/JMLangston.html

Reference Image of John Mercer Langston was retrieved from https://encyclopediavirginia.org/entries/langston-john-mercer-1829-1897/ for illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 30 – Super Skill: Persistence

Pauli Murray on Persistence

November 20, 1910 – July 1, 1985

Reverend Doctor Pauli Murray was the first African American Doctor of the Science of Law (JSD) from Yale Law School, the first African American to become an Episcopal Priest, and the founder of the National Organization for Women (NOW). Murray strategically won the rights for desegregation in public schools, workplace rights for women, and LGBTQ+ in addition to being an author, poet, labor organizer, and member of the multi-racial LGBTQ+ community – all to dismantle the structure that supports racism and social inequalities. On the National Register of Historic Places, The Pauli Murray Center for History and Social Justice stands and operates in Murray’s honor in Durham, North Carolina, at their childhood home built by Murray’s grandparents.

Anne Pauline Murray was born on November 20, 1910, the fourth of six children to Agnes and William Murray. When Murray was three, her mother suddenly died of a cerebral hemorrhage. Murray’s father was left to raise six children alone. Raising six children was more than he could handle on his own. He sent Murray to live with her mom’s sister and grandparents in Durham, North Carolina. Three years later, William was committed to the Crownsville State Hospital for the Negro Insane. In 1922, William was beaten and killed by a white guard in the basement of the hospital. These horrible events were remembered by Murray as the most significant events of their childhood.

Embracing the super skill of persistence, Murray was an eager and motivated student, a forward on the basketball team, and graduated high school at the age of 15. Murray’s path forward was not simple. After denied acceptance at Harvard Law School, Murray graduated Howard Law School at the top of her class. Murray received her master’s degree from University of California, Berkley. She was able to win a seat on the New York Senate in 1948 and in 1955, published a compilation of all laws affecting all African Americans, State Laws on Race and Color. During the McCarthy-ism era, Murray was rejected from a State Senate position because her references, Eleanor Roosevelt, Thurgood Marshall and A. Phillip Randolph, were considered too radical. In 1961, John F. Kennedy appointed Murray to the Commission on the Status of Women on civic and political rights. In 1964, Murray co-authored the Jane Crow Law: Sex Discrimination and Title VII.

Murray graduated from Yale Law School in 1965, and among other activities was a founding member of NOW in 1966. Murray entered seminary at the age of 62 in 1973 and in 1977, became the first African American Priest in the Episcopal church, serving communion for the first time at Chapel of the Cross in Chapel Hill, NC, where Murray’s enslaved grandmother had been baptized. Murray retired as required by the church at the age of 72. On July 1, 1985, Pauli Murray died in Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, leaving a legacy of love, peace, change and accomplishment through persistence.

National Museum of African American History & Culture. Smithsonian. The Pioneering Pauli Murray: Lawyer, Activist, Scholar and Priest. Retrieved on April 5, 2024, from https://nmaahc.si.edu/explore/stories/pioneering-pauli-murray-lawyer-activist-scholar-and-priest

References

Rothberg, E. (2020-2022). National Women’s History Museum. Pauli Murray. Retrieved on April 5, 2024, from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/pauli-murray

Schulz, K. (2017, Apr. 10). The Many Lives of Pauli Murray. The New Yorker. Retrieved on April 5, 2024, from https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2017/04/17/the-many-lives-of-pauli-murray

Pauli Murray Center for Social Justice. Who is the Rev. Dr. Pauli Murray? Retrieved on April 5, 2024, from https://www.paulimurraycenter.com/who-is-pauli

Downs, K. (2015, Feb 19). NPR. Code Switch. The ‘Black, Queer, Feminist’ Legal Trailblazer You’ve Never Heard Of. Retrieved from on April 5, 2024, from https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/02/19/387200033/the-black-queer-feminist-legal-trailblazer-youve-never-heard-of

Reference Image of Pauli Murray retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2015/02/19/387200033/the-black-queer-feminist-legal-trailblazer-youve-never-heard-of was used to create the illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 29 – Super Skill: Sense of Purpose

Thomas L. Jennings on Sense of Purpose

January 7, 1791- February 11, 1859

Thomas L. Jennings was unique in many ways. He was born a black free man in New York. He became a tailor, working for an employer in New York. His career evolved as he became recognized for his expertise in tailoring. His reputation allowed him to open his own store with a following. He expanded his offerings to become the owner of a clothing store in New York City. Through the course of seeing his created clothing become soiled and ruined, he began experimenting with ways to safely clean the fabrics. Through this process, he discovered “dry-scouring”, which he patented in 1821. The fact that he was able to apply for and receive a patent was a landmark event, making Jennings the first African American to hold a patent. Only as a free man could he have had that right. He was able to defend the patent successfully in court as well. As a result of his invention and patent, he was able to amass a fortune.

As a wealthy entrepreneur, driven by his sense of purpose, his super skill, Jennings was able to provide large sums of his fortune in support of abolitionists’ activities for the rights of Africans in America that later became a movement. He not only paid for the freedom of enslaved people, he became a key member for the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1931, and two conventions that followed. He founded and supported multiple charities and causes, including the Freedom’s Journal, the first black-owned newspaper in America. He also donated generously to Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church.

Although Jennings and his family were afforded many opportunities, Elizabeth Jennings, Thomas’ own daughter, was not allowed on a public bus to go to church. Affording the best legal representation available in New York, Elizabeth was represented by Chester Arthur, later to become the 21st president of the United States. The case against the bus company in court in 1855 was won. This was a landmark decision that led to the New York law forbidding discrimination in public transportation.

The same year as his daughter’s court case, Thomas Jennings became one of the founders of the Legal Rights Association in order that discrimination and segregation defense could be tried in court with legal representation. Although Jennings died in 1859, his passion to end enslavement was realized shortly after his death.

References

Matcher, E. (February 27, 2019). Smithsonian Magazine. The First African-American to Hold a patent Invented ‘Dry Scouring.’ Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/innovation/first-african-american-hold-patent-invented-dry-scouring-180971394/

National Inventors Hall of Fame. (March 3, 1821). Recognizing the 200^th Anniversary of Thomas Jennings’ Patent. Retrieved on March 28, 2024, from https://www.invent.org/blog/inventors/thomas-jennings-dry-scouring

Mikorenda, J. (January 21, 2016). A Bold Man of Color: Thomas L. Jennings and the Proceeds of a Patent. The Gotham Center for New York City History. Retrieved on March 28, 2024 from https://www.gothamcenter.org/blog/a-bold-man-of-color-thomas-l-jennings-and-the-proceeds-of-a-patent

Alleged portrait of Thomas L. Jennings was used as a reference for the illustration by Nichols, J. © 2024 Savannah State University. However, because no other images have been identified of Thomas L. Jennings, the selected likeness is meant to honor a real man with a real story. The controversy regarding the likeness is noted below.

Jamaica with Irie. (December 21, 2023). End of Controversy. Thomas L. Jennings vs Paul Bogle. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pe5-_qif_eQ

WEEK 28 – Super Skill: Engagement

Virginia Jackson Kiah on Engagement

June 3, 1922 – December 28, 2001

Virginia Jackson Kiah was a nationally acclaimed artist, educator, civil rights activist and museum founder. Her portraits represent both the famous and the unknown. Using the super skill of engagement, she connected with all subjects through her portraiture, her education, and her museum. Kiah’s sought-after work hangs on the walls of the Baltimore Women’s Civic League, Carnegie Institute and Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) as well as private collections. The SCAD Museum of Art building is dedicated in her honor due to her tremendous contributions to the art community and her commitment to education. Because she was not able to go to museums as a child, she was determined to have a place to engage with art that everyone could enter. Her home became The Kiah Museum in 1959. Her slogan was “art for the masses.”

Born in Baltimore in 1911 to civil rights activists, Virginia Jackson was raised with full awareness of the difficulties of being of African descent in the United States. However, she was also supported in her own dreams to become an artist, a profession that was not generally supported by the African American community at large.

After high school, she earned a bachelor of fine arts degree from Philadelphia College of Art, becoming the first African American at the school to earn the highest honor in life drawing. She continued her studies in Pennsylvania and New York and earned a master’s degree from Columbia University.

In 1950, she married Dr. Calvin L. Kiah, a professor and ultimately the chair of the education department at Savannah State College (now University). Following her move to Savannah, she taught at Beach High School until 1963, after she returned full-time to her own portraiture art. Virginia Kiah engaged with and supported the local as well as the art community at large as she continued her own artistic endeavors.

Virginia Kiah established The Kiah Museum in 1959 for everyone to enjoy and became a founding member of the National Conference of Artists through Atlanta University in order to promote, recognize and inspire African American art and artists. Virginia Kiah continued her own art and The Kiah Museum until her death at the age of 90, leaving a legacy of engagement and collection of portraits. The Kiah House Museum in Savannah is now in the process of being restored.

References

Bauman, S. (March 15, 2022). WTOC. Women’s History Month: Virginia Jackson Kiah retrieved on March 26, 2024 from https://www.wtoc.com/2022/03/15/womens-history-month-virginia-jackson-kiah/

SCAD. (July 14, 2021). Virginia Jackson Kiah” ‘Live Your Vision’. Savannah College of Art and Design. Retrieved on March 26, 2024 from https://www.scad.edu/blog/virginia-jackson-kiah-live-your-vision

(October 29, 2021). Inside HSF’s Efforts to Save the Kiah House. Historic Savannah Foundation. Retrieved on March 26, 2024 from https://www.myhsf.org/inside-hsfs-efforts-to-save-the-kiah-house/

Photographic image from the collection at Savannah College of Art and Design (SCAD) retrieved from https://www.wtoc.com/2022/03/15/womens-history-month-virginia-jackson-kiah/ was used as a reference to create the illustration by Nichols, J. © 2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 27 – Super Skill: Guardianship

Donnie Cochran on Guardianship

July 6, 1954 – present

Captain Donnie Cochran, a distinguished Savannah State University Alum, was the first African American pilot with the United Stated Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron (aka Blue Angels). Flying three positions in the six-position formation, he became Commanding Officer and Flight Leader. He flew 2,200 hours in more than 300 air shows during his service with the Blue Angels in addition to his 888 accident-free day and night landings in service as a fighter pilot from the decks of aircraft carriers, leading the best rated squadron in the Pacific Fleet in 1994.

Donnie L. Cochran was born and raised on a farm in rural Georgia where he attributes the inspiration of his foundational work ethic to his parents. He earned a bachelor’s degree in Engineering from Savannah State University in 1976.

His commitment to his country, his squadron and himself is evident in is decisions about the great responsibility he had as a pilot. He was selected to fly with the Blue Angels after an airshow accident, killing one pilot and causing another to eject from his plane. The responsibility of carrying that knowledge was taken with the utmost seriousness as he became a member of the Blue Angels squadron. His implementation of super skill of guardianship was evident throughout his service career and the numbers speak for themselves. At the end of his career, he decided it was time for him to stop for the safety for the squadron as well as for himself. After his military service, he became a flight supervisor for United Parcel Service (UPS) and a Manager of Aviation for the Coca-Cola Company for 10 years. Now, he is a motivational speaker for both military and civilian audiences.

Captain Cochran has received multiple awards for his service and character including a Distinguished Graduate Award from Savannah State University, the 1989 Black Engineer of the Year Award, two (2) Legion of Merit Medals, three (3) Meritorious Medals, the Navy Commendation Medal, and the Air Medal among many others. He was inducted into the Georgia Military Veteran Hall of Fame, as well as the Georgia Aviation Hall of Fame.

Captain Donnie Cochran’s A4 Skyhawk stands in front of the SSU ROTC building as a monument to his roles with the Flying Angels. He continues to inspire current and future students through his engagement with Savannah State University.

References

Abdow, E. (July 21, 2021). Naval History and Heritage Command. Captain Donnie Cochran: From Farm Boy to Blue Angels Flight Leader. The Sextant. Hosted by Defense Media Activity. Retrieved on March 15, 2024, from https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/Operations/Article-View/Article/2687029/captain-donnie-cochran-from-farm-boy-to-blue-angels-flight-leader/

Black Aviation Airline Pioneers (BAAP). Captain Donnie Cochran – US Navy Blue Angels. Retrieved on March 15, 2024, from http://baap.info/?p=1526

Careers Communications Group. Twenty Years at the Top: Black Engineers of the Year. Chapter 3. Lt. Cmdr. Donnie Cochran 1989 Black Engineer of the Year. Retrieved on March 15, 2024, from https://issuu.com/rjkennedy/docs/black_engineers/s/11407942

Photograph of Blue Angels Commander Donnie Cochran with the No. 1 jet in 1995, retrieved from https://usnhistory.navylive.dodlive.mil/Operations/Article-View/Article/2687029/captain-donnie-cochran-from-farm-boy-to-blue-angels-flight-leader/ was used as a reference to create the illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 26 – Super Skill: Courage

Claudette Colvin on Courage

September 5, 1939 – present

Claudette Colvin was a good student who worked hard, and at 15 years old, her life changed. Before Rosa Parks took a stand, Colvin had had enough of the requirement that an African American give up a seat for a Caucasian on the bus. Using the super skill of courage Colvin said that she became empowered by her knowledge of Sojourner Truth and Harriet Tubman in that moment and her normally quiet demeanor became outspoken and she was not budging from her seat, insisting, “It’s my Constitutional right to sit here as much as that lady. I paid my fare; it’s my Constitutional right.”

Those words and stance had not been heard in Montgomery, Alabama, before, and it was a shock to those witnessing the moment. She was removed and arrested by police, scattering her books in the process. Colvin was taken to jail, charged, locked up and ultimately bailed out by her minister. At her trial, she was found guilty and was released on probation.

The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) acknowledged that the segregation was an issue but decided not to use Colvin as an example due to her age and the fact that she was pregnant. Months later, Rosa Parks was selected for that purpose. However, Colvin was later named as a witness in the Browder v. Gayle case in which the segregated bus system in Montgomery was found unconstitutional in 1956. After her initial arrest, however, she had become labeled as a trouble maker, was not able to find work and was forced to drop out of college. She moved to New York in 1958, became a nurse’s aid and had a second child.

Although Rosa Parks, just months after Colvin, had gained the “civil rights heroine” title, Colvin’s encounters went nearly unnoticed. However, Rita Dove wrote a poem called Claudette Colvin Goes to Work, which later became a song in an attempt to illuminate Colvin’s courage. Claudette Colvin: Twice Toward Justice, by Phillip Hoose, was a second attempt to award the first heroine her due. Colvin is credited with providing the foundation for having courage for action regarding the demeaning segregation laws. Although not widely recognized, she paved the way, according to the attorneys who represented Ms. Rosa Parks. Because of Claudette Colvin’s courage that day, the movement was started to correct the injustice. Claudette Colvin is still alive and well today in New York, now retired.

References

Adler, M. (March 15, 2009). Before Rosa Parks, There Was Claudette Colvin. National Public Radio. Weekend Edition. Retrieved on March 8, 2024 from https://www.npr.org/2009/03/15/101719889/before-rosa-parks-there-was-claudette-colvin

Biograhy.com Editors. (Updated February 8, 2024). Claudette Colvin. Retrieved on March 8, 2024 from https://www.biography.com/activists/claudette-colvin

History. This Day in History / March 2, 1955. Fifteen-year-old Claudette Colvin refuses to give up her seat on a segregated bus. Retrieved on March 8, 2024 from https://www.history.com/this-day-in-history/claudette-colvin-refuses-to-give-up-her-seat

Photograph of Claudette Coleman was retrieved on March 8, 2024 from Encyclopedia Britannica at https://www.britannica.com/biography/Claudette-Colvin#/media/1/1847540/288506 and was used to create the illustration by Nichols, J. © 2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 25 – Super Skill: Adaptability

Arthur George Gaston on Adaptability

July 4, 1892 – January 19, 1996

On July 4, 1892, Arthur George (A.G.) Gaston was born in a log cabin in Demopolis, Alabama. His father died when he was an infant and his mother took a job as a cook for a family in Birmingham, moving her son with her. As Gaston grew up, he was able to find work in a mining company. Realizing the needs within the African American community, Gaston spent his life filling the gaps through service and financial means, utilizing his super skill of adaptability.

As a young man, A.G. Gaston realized that there was a need in the African American community for proper funeral services. He decided to start a burial society, where members would pay $.25 weekly to guarantee a fine burial.

Gaston went on to open and vertically integrate all needs of services with Smith and Gaston Funeral Services, Booker T. Washington Insurance Company, Citizen’s Federal Savings Bank and the Gaston Motel, A. G. Gaston Construction Company, and the Gaston Boys and Girls Club, among other ventures. He was one of the first African American millionaires in Alabama. He learned how to navigate in a predominantly white-run city by understanding how to connect with others. His empathy for all people, along with his adaptability, allowed him to negotiate in ways others could not.

Gaston was a supporter of the principles of the Civil Rights movement. His very high-end hotel was used as a “war room” and central hub for the Civil Rights movement leaders including Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. When Dr. King was arrested, A.G. Gaston bailed him out with his own money at the price of $160,000.

Gaston was not always supported by more radical Civil Rights leaders as his empathy was sometimes viewed as siding with the white leadership. On the contrary, the reality was that he believed in the cause; he just approached the problem as a mediator between the two sides and he had a relationship in Birmingham with all leaders. His behind-the-scenes work helped bring success to the negotiations in his unique role in Civil Rights history.

Gaston lived to an astounding age of 103 as one of the wealthiest African American men in America. His work is largely missing from historical reference. As a result, his niece and grand-niece have completed a book in his honor, The Black Titan, about his success, his role in the Civil Rights movement and how his work paved a successful path for others. His use of his super skill of adaptability lives on as an example of the success it can bring.

References

National Public Radio. (2010, December 12).  A.G. Gaston: From Log Cabin to Funeral Home Mogul. Retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2010/12/21/132089160/a-g-gaston-from-log-cabin-to-funeral-home-mogul

Dickerson, R. (2019, January 31). The Birmingham Times. Businessman A.G. Gaston’s lasting legacy on Birmingham. Retrieved from https://www.birminghamtimes.com/2019/01/businessman-a-g-gastons-lasting-legacy-on-birmingham/

Photographic reference image is retrieved from https://www.npr.org/2010/12/21/132089160/a-g-gaston-from-log-cabin-to-funeral-home-mogul utilized through the courtesy of Birmingham Public Library and used to create illustration by Nichols, J. © 2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 24 – Super Skill: Bravery

Addie Byrd Byers on Bravery

1906 – December 2, 2003

Addie Byrd Byers was a celebrated teacher, advocate, and activist in the Savannah community. She is responsible for formalizing changes allowing African American children to have access to the public library in Georgia. At a time when she could have lost her job or worse, she confronted a system to make change. Her super skill of bravery provided the pathway for African American children to check out books, access resources and interact with educational materials in a non-segregated library system of Georgia. When a librarian told Byers that black children weren’t allowed because they had “never asked,” Byers responded that, “the black community didn’t ask to pay taxes, either.”

Byers, working with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), formalized the library access request for all minorities and was successful and ultimately recognized for her courage, care and determination in an effort to provide better educational opportunities for African American children.

Born in 1906, Byers was the daughter of Samuel and Rena Byrd, of Liberty County, Georgia. The family moved to Savannah after Byrd’s fifth grade year. She graduated junior high school as valedictorian of her class. Byrd went on to complete her high school education at Knoxville College in Tennessee, and afterwards, returning to Savannah to attend Savannah State University, earned her bachelor’s degree. She continued her education at Columbia University and returned to Savannah Georgia, once again, to teach in a local high school.

Byers went on to become a highly regarded teacher and introduced many of her students to NAACP, as well. She became a member of the Chatham County board of Education and was a part-time teacher at her alma mater, Savannah State University. She was a very active member of the NAACP, becoming the second Vice-President of the Savannah branch. She became a member of the Chatham-Effingham-Liberty Regional Library Board and continued to support equal access to all citizens Addie Byrd Byers died at her home on December 2, 2003, leaving a legacy of achievement that so many children continue to benefit today.

References

1 McCammon, S. Forgotten Women Part 5: Addie Byrd Byers. Georgia Public Broadcasting.  May 14, 2015. Updated July 17, 2020. Retrieved from https://www.gpb.org/news/2015/05/15/forgotten-women-part-5-addie-byrd-byers

Savannah Morning News. Obituary. Addie Byrd Byers. Retrieved from https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/savannah/name/addie-byers-obituary?id=29900705

Howard-Oglesby, P., Roberts, B. (2020). Savannah’s Black “First Ladies”, Vol I. Addie Byrd Byers. Ourskirts Press, Inc. Retrieved on February 19, 2024 from https://www.google.com/books/edition/Savannah_s_Black_First_Ladies_Vol_I/xo8VflhKStAC

Photographic image of Addie Byrd Byers was retrieved from City of Savannah Government onn February 19, 2024 from https://www.google.com/books/edition/_/xo8VflhKStAC?hl=en and was used as a reference to create illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 23 – Super Skill: Cultural Awareness

Gordan Parks on Cultural Awareness

November 30, 1912 – March 7, 2006

Gordon Parks was the first African American photographer for Life Magazine in 1949. He was also the first African American Hollywood director of a major film, The Learning Tree, in 1969. His breadth of skills afforded him success as a photographer, filmmaker, writer, choreographer, composer, and poet.

Parks’ documentation of a 17-year-old Harlem gang leader became an instrument to engage social programs within the community. Parks documented the Civil Rights Movement from behind his lens. In 1971, Parks directed Shaft, a successful film upending stereotypes through his character John Shaft, an African American detective focused on eliminating white criminals.

On November 30, 1912, Gordon Parks was born the youngest of 15 children into poverty and segregation in Fort Scott, Kansas. After his mother died when he was 15, Parks moved in with his sister in St. Paul, Minnesota. The move did not provide an escape from poverty, but instead exposed him to an attempted lynching and even a period of homelessness. In spite of all odds during these young years, he managed to compose a radio hit, worked as a waiter, played in an orchestra, toured with a basketball team and planted trees for a conservation effort, and finally became a father.

Parks’ super skill of cultural awareness merged with the power of photography as a young man by seeing magazine images of migrant farm families and their struggle that reminded him of his own. These images changed his life as he became aware of a photograph’s ability to emotionally connect with the viewer. It was after that encounter, convinced of the power of great photography, that he purchased his first camera from a pawn shop and taught himself how to take photographs.

Throughout Gordon Parks career, he amassed a photographic library of the most difficult aspects of our society’s undeniable racism struggles during the 1950s-1970s. He forever captured violence against impoverished African American residents and the criminalization of that poverty by police. This truth remains a struggle today, but Parks was acutely aware that photography prevents denial or the ability to ignore the injustices captured. As we reflect on Parks’ photography today, we are forced to face these difficult truths of our culture, allowing us his harsh vantage point with an opportunity to embrace his plea for cultural awareness as a grounding point for change.

References

Grundberg, A. (March 8, 2006). Gordon Parks, a Master of the Camera, Dies at 93. The New York Times. Retrieved on February 16, 2024, from https://www.nytimes.com/2006/03/08/arts/design/gordon-parks-a-master-of-the-camera-dies-at-93.html

National Gallery of Art. Uncovering America. Retrieved on February 16, 2024, from https://www.nga.gov/learn/teachers/lessons-activities/uncovering-america/parks-photography.html

The Gordon Parks Foundation. Retrieved on February 16, 2024, from https://www.gordonparksfoundation.org/gordon-parks/biography

International Center of Photography. Artist Gordon Parks (1912-2006) American. Retrieved on February 16, 2024, from https://www.icp.org/browse/archive/constituents/gordon-parks

MoMA. Gordon Parks American, 1912-2006. Museum of Modern Art. Retrieved on February 16, 2024, from https://www.moma.org/artists/8083

Image of Gordon Parks used by Gordon Parks Academy. History of Mr. Gordon Parks was retrieved on Fabruary 16, 2024, from https://www.usd259.org/Page/3615 and used to create the illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 22 – Super Skill: Determination

Mamie George Williams on Determination

April 1872 – July 8, 1951

Mrs. Mamie George S. Williams was a force. She was a leader that inspired others to follow through her super skill of determination and inspired the changes that she promoted. An historic marker now stands outside the Carnegie Library in Savannah in her honor.

Mary Frances Miller (Mamie), born in Savannah, Georgia in 1872, was the daughter of Reverend James and Sarah Miller. She married Forance Lambert in 1899 and was widowed by 1900. In 1902, she married a successful businessman, George Williams; 13 years later, she was widowed again. But, Mamie George had become a name that would stick with her for the rest of her life.

Mrs. Williams began supporting her community during World War I, supporting Liberty Loan Drives and other home-front war efforts. She earned a coveted pin for 2,400 hours of volunteer work with a branch of the American Red Cross. After the war, however, she turned her focus on politics. In 1920, when women were allowed the right to vote, she helped as many African American women as she could to register. Her efforts were credited with bringing out 40,000 women to vote. She waged voter campaign throughout Georgia, spread literature, made speeches and picketed.

In 1924, Williams made history when she was appointed the first woman from Georgia and the first African American woman in the nation to serve on the National Republican Committee, making history again that year as she was the first woman in U. S. political history able to speak on the floor in a National Republican Convention. Mrs. Williams organized the National Republican League of Colored Women Voters.

Mrs. Williams helped to set up night schools for women in Savannah, and she served as the president of Carver State Bank. Williams was on the committee that opened the first recreational swimming pool for black children in 1934. She led fund- raising efforts for African American girls and helped establish African American Girl Scouts Log Cabin Camp in Georgia.

On July 8, 1951, Mamie George Williams died in Charity Hospital in Savannah at the age of 79. Her determination remains an inspiration today as well as the legacy of change she inspired.

References

(2016). Georgia Women of Achievement. 2018 Inductee. Mamie George S. Williams. Politician. Suffragette. Community Activist. Retrieved on February 12, 2024, from https://www.georgiawomen.org/mamie-george-williams

Nwogu, L. (May 26, 2023). New historical marker honors Savannah native and civic leader mamie George S. Williams. Savannahnow. Savannah Morning News. Retrieved on February 12, 2024, from https://www.savannahnow.com/story/news/local/2023/05/26/mamie-george-s-williams-honored-with-historical-marker-in-savannah/70257626007/

Georgia Historical Society. (2023). Mamie George Williams. Retrieved on February 12, 2024 from https://www.georgiahistory.com/ghmi_marker_updated/mamie-george-williams/

Photo of Mamie George Williams was retrieved from https://www.savannahtribune.com/articles/historical-marker-unveiling-for-mamie-george-williams-african-american-suffragist/ and used as a reference to create the illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 21 – Super Skill: Collaboration

Charles Drew on Collaboration

June 3, 1904 – April 1, 1950

In 1940, Charles Drew was the first African American to earn a doctorate from Columbia University. His dissertation entitled, Banked Blood: A Study in Blood Preservation, was the first hint of his remarkable contributions to come. Dr. Drew is best known for his implementation of the standards by which blood and plasma are collected, stored and shipped. As a result of his collaborative work with Dr. John Scudder, mobile blood units were set up to collect blood to meet a growing demand. After WWII, Britain needed blood and plasma for its wounded, an effort which had not been scaled until this time. Dr. Drew and Dr. Scudder together collected more than 14,000 donor blood accounting for 5,000 liters of plasma, to help Britain meet its demand in the Blood for Britain project. Later, this would become the basis for blood and plasma collection processes in the United States and globally.

The policy prohibiting collection or requiring segregation of blood from people of African decent was without merit. Dr. Drew documented and professed that there was no scientific basis for the policy. However, it would take many years before that practice was eradicated.

Charles Drew was the oldest of five children born in Washington, D.C., on June 3, 1904. The family moved to Arlington, Virginia, in 1920, providing a middle-class upbringing that maintained a focus on education, church participation, and civic duties. At the age of 12, Drew became a paper boy. He recognized the value of the super skill of collaboration early, as he led six other boys working for him, so that they could cover a wider area distributing newspapers.

After high school graduation, he was able to receive an athletic scholarship to Amherst College in Massachusetts. He was recognized for his track and well as football athletic capability. He did not have a vision for the medical profession until his oldest sister died from illness. His Biology class at Amherst College helped him identify the specific area of interest to pursue within the practice of medicine.

This Biology class was a catalyst that led to Drew’s to follow medicine and blood bank research. Although Drew initially wanted to become a resident at a renowned hospital like Mayo Clinic, many patients refused to be treated by a minority doctor. He joined the faculty at Howard University college of medicine as a pathology instructor. He progressed to the role of chief surgical resident and Freedmen’s Hospital.

Dr. Charles Drew died suddenly in an automobile accident in 1950 at the young age of 46, leaving a legacy of collaboration that has resulted in what is now the Red Cross.

References

(2024). Charles Richard Drew. A pioneer in blood banking, Drew did extensive original research in blood chemistry. Science History Institute. Retrieved on February 2, 2024, from https://sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/charles-richard-drew/

(September 28, 2023). “Father of the blood back” – Charles R. Drew’s story. Retrieved on February 2, 2024, from https://bloodcancer.org.uk/news/charles-r-drew-the-father-of-the-blood-bank/

Balzer, D. (February 22, 2022). Black History Month: Honoring Dr. Charles Richard Drew. Mayo Clinic News Network. Retrieved on February 2, 2024, from https://newsnetwork.mayoclinic.org/discussion/black-history-month-honoring-dr-charles-richard-drew/

Photo of Charles Drew in the lab at Howard University, 1942. From Scurlock Studio Records, ca. 1905–1994, Archives Center, National Museum of American History, Smithsonian Institution was retrieved from https://sciencehistory.org/education/scientific-biographies/charles-richard-drew/ and used as a reference to create the Illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 20 – Super Skill: Empathy

Alice Woodby McKane on Empathy

February 12, 1865 – March 6, 1948

Alice Woodby McKane was the first African American female physician in Georgia. She and her husband founded nursing schools, a hospital in Liberia and a hospital in Savannah—driven by McKane’s super skill of empathy.

Alice Woodby was born in Bridgewater, Pennsylvania, in 1865. At the age of seven, she lost both of her parents followed by the loss of her eyesight for a period of about three years. In spite of these setbacks, Woodby attended public school and continued her education at the Hampton Normal and Agricultural Institute in Virginia and the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia followed by the Woman’s Medical College of Pennsylvania, from which she graduated in 1892 with a medical degree and high honors.

Dr. Alice Woodby moved to Augusta, Georgia, where she became a resident physician, the first African American physician in Georgia, and instructor at the Haines Normal and Industrial Institute before meeting and marrying another physician and surgeon, Dr. Cornelius McKane, who lived in Savannah. Cornelius was the grandson of a Liberian King. He was an active clergy member, writer, and speaker, as well as a supporter of charity.

Alice and Cornelius were not even settled in Savannah, before developing and starting the McKane School for Nurses, once again making history with the first training school for nurse in the Southeast. The nursing school, designed as a two-year school, graduated its first class of three nurses in 1895. The McKanes then left for Liberia. Alice became a medical examiner for African American Civil War veterans living in Liberia. The McKanes opened the first nursing school in Liberia similar to the one in Savannah.

Upon her return to Savannah, Dr. Alice McKane opened a practice on West Broad Street that specialized in gynecology and women’s diseases. She also obtained a charter to operate a hospital for women and children. McKane’s hard work and determination paid off with the opening of the McKane Hospital in 1896. The hospital was turned over to a group of local African American physicians and became Charity Hospital, a building still standing today, located at 644 West 36th Street in Savannah, now Heritage Place Apartments.

Dr. Cornelius McKane died in 1912 after the couple moved to Boston. Dr. Alice McKane did not slow down as she continued her medical career, continued to advocate for women’s suffrage, became a National Association of Colored People (NAACP) member, worked on committees for the Republican party, and authored a book. Dr. Alice Woodby McKane died at the age of 83, having devoted her life’s work to caring for others and training others to do the same.

References

(2014). Calhoun, T. Alice Woodby McKane. Sponsored by Wertheimer Family Foundation. Georgia Women of Achievement and Georgia Public Broadcasting. Retreived on January 26, 2024, from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ZZniJuwOOw

(2016). Georgia Women of Achievement. 2005 Inductee. Alice Woodby McKane. Retrieved on January 26, 2024, from https://www.georgiawomen.org/alice-woodby-mckane

(2004, Summer). Elmore, C.J., Charles J. Elmore, The Georgia Historical Quarterly Vol. 88, No. 2 (Summer 2004), pp. 179-196. Georgia History Festival. Retrieved on January 26, 2024, from https://georgiahistoryfestival.org/a-legacy-of-leadership-dr-alice-woodby-mckane-and-pioneering-healthcare-in-georgia/

(2019, March 11). Marker Monday: Charity Hospital. Georgia Historical Society. Retrieved on January 26, 2024, from https://www.georgiahistory.com/marker-monday-charity-hospital/

WEEK 19 – Super Skill: Conflict Resolution

Bayard Rustin on Conflict Resolution

March 17, 1912 – August 24, 1987

Bayard Rustin, a civil rights activist, advisor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was the primary organizer of the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom, a protest of racial discrimination and legislation for civil rights. He became adept at the super skill of conflict resolution through his belief in pacifist agitation or utilizing means of talking through resolution to change societal patterns, and he became extraordinarily effective at doing so.

Born on March 17, 1912 in West Chester, Pennsylvania, Bayard Rustin and his 11 siblings were raised by their grandparents, who were Quakers. Rustin worked for a non-denominational religious organization, the Fellowship of Reconciliation, from 1941-1946. He also organized the Congress on Rational Equality in 1941 for the New York branch.

Recognized for his talents in conflict resolution, he became a close advisor to civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr, and was the main organizer of Dr, King’s Southern Christian Leadership Conference. As a strong advocate for non-violent resistance as well as a foundational strategist, Bayard’s view on social justice played a role in his effectiveness in conflict resolution and ultimately, laid the foundation for significant change. Rustin’s conflict resolution skills afforded him the ability to be an effective mediator between Malcom X and Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., reducing tensions and helping to unify both camps of social change to a common cause.

In 1964, Rustin orchestrated a protest in the form of a labor boycott to protest the racial inequalities in the New York City school system. From 1966-1979, he served as the president of the A. Philip Randolph Institute in New York City, a civil right organization. Shortly after that service, he became involved in the gay rights movement.

In addition to being highly effective in conflict resolution, he also shared his skills with others by providing training programs with them in order to build a strong community of activists with the skill of conflict resolution. Because of his dedication to non-violence, sharing those skills were critical at these high-tension points in history.

After his death, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 2013.

Savannah State University offers classes utilizing conflict resolution through history and teaches techniques for engaging in conflict resolution effectively for the world at large. Highlighting and managing desired changes to societal practices is a desired outcome of that learning, as inspired through the examples in the life of Bayard Rustin.

References

Gates, Jr., H.L. The African Americans Many Rivers to Cross with Henry Louis Gates, Jr. 100 Amazing Facts About the Negro. Who Designed the March on Washington? PBS. Retrieved on January 12, 2024 from https://www.pbs.org/wnet/african-americans-many-rivers-to-cross/history/100-amazing-facts/who-designed-the-march-on-washington/

(Nov 20, 2023). National Park Service. Civil Rights. Bayard Rustin. Retrieved on January 12, 2024 from https://www.nps.gov/subjects/civilrights/bayard-rustin.htm

Morgan, T. (Jan 2, 2024). Bayard Rustin: Why MLK’s Right-Hand Man Was Nearly Written Out of History. History. Retrieved on January 12, 2024 from https://www.history.com/news/bayard-rustin-march-on-washington-openly-gay-mlk

Smithsonian. National Museum of African American History & Culture. Bayard Rustin 1912-1987. Retrieved on January 12, 2024 from https://nmaahc.si.edu/bayard-rustin

Photograph of Bayard Rustin from U.S. News and World Report, Library of Congress, Washington, D.C., Warren K. Leffler, negative number LC-DIG-ppmsc-01272 was retrieved on January 12, 2024 from https://www.britannica.com/biography/Bayard-Rustin and used to create the Illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 18 – Super Skill: Self-starting

Mary McLeod Bethune on Self-starting

July 10, 1875 – May 18, 1955

Dr. Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator, political leader and civil rights trailblazer, establishing the National Council of Negro Women (NCNW) in 1935. Bethune served as an advisor to President Franklin D. Roosevelt regarding issues of minority affairs. She was determined to help African American women have opportunities for education. In 1904, Bethune founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial School for Negro Girls in Florida. This school, which later became Bethune-Cookman College, is considered to be one of her most significant contributions in support of women’s education.

Mary McLeod was born on July 10, 1875 in Mayesville, South Carolina, as one of 17 children to former slaves. As a child, she attended school and worked in the cotton fields. She was awarded a scholarship to seminary and attended dreaming of being a missionary. Upon graduation, realizing that opportunities for missionaries were not readily available for African Americans, she became a teacher, instead.

Mary met Albertus Bethune, another teacher, and entered into what would be a tumultuous marriage in 1898, had a son, and moved to Florida. Shortly after founding the Daytona Normal and Industrial School for Negro Girls, Albertus left Mary to manage motherhood and the school, alone. Bethune’s soft skills, particularly the super skill of self-starting, was a key element to her success. Determined, she overcame poverty and mustered the will to maintain and grow the school, attracting wealthy donors to the school’s board and ultimately allowing it to thrive and merge into Bethune-Cook College.

Bethune was also a member of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), where she worked to end segregation as well as discrimination. As a strong advocate for women’s rights, she empowered African American women to become leaders in their own communities, understanding the power of a strong woman’s voice to unify support within the community. Her ability to instill self-starting in others allowed her to be effective in building and maintaining the organizations she founded as well as advocating for all minorities, but especially for African American women she sought to empower.

Bethune’s legacy continued after her death, becoming the first Black woman to be honored with a national monument. Her last will and testament outlined her philosophy for life including love and the support of others. Her life stands as a symbol of inspiration for future generations.

References

Michals, D. (2015). National Women’s History Museum. Mary McLeod Bethune. (1875-1955). Retrieved on January 12, 2024 from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mcleod-bethune

National Park Service. Mary McLeod Bethune. Mary McLeod Bethune Council House National Historic Site. Retrieved on January 12, 2024 from https://www.nps.gov/people/mary-mcleod-bethune.htm

Biography.com Editors. (April 23, 2021). Mary McLeod Bethune. Retrieved on January 12, 2024 from https://www.biography.com/activist/mary-mcleod-bethune

Photo of Mary McLeod Bethune from BlackHistoryNow. (May 1, 2013). Mary McLeod Bethune. Retrieved from https://blackhistorynow.com/mary-mcleod-bethune/ was used to create the Illustration by Nichols, J. ©2024 Savannah State University.

WEEK 17 – Super Skill: Faith

Richard Allen on Faith

February 14, 1760 – March 26, 1831

Reverend Richard Allen was the first ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church and later the first Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME). Allen was the founder of the first African American Church, Bethel Church, known as “Mother Bethel.” Richard Allen and his wife, Sarah, were abolitionists who helped provide safe passage as a stop on the Underground Railroad. They were seen as inspirational influencers of civil rights leaders, Frederick Douglass and Martin Luther King, Jr.

Allen’s spiritual journey, utilizing the super skill of faith, helped to bring Christianity to his slave holder’s home, enabled his own purchase of freedom, and afforded him the ability to bring faithful living to many others through his ministry.

Only known by his first name, Richard would be sold to a Delaware farmer, Stokley Sturges, around the age of eight. Sturges was a man he described as kind, though still a slave owner. Richard was a hard worker and earned the right to go to church. He was encouraged by Sturges to continue Christian practice, and Richard eventually brought his minister to the Sturge’s house to preach in the home for slaves who gathered. Sturges came to believe that slavery was wrong, and eventually allowed Richard to buy his freedom in 1783. Upon the purchase of his freedom, he took a last name of Allen.

Richard Allen joined St. George’s United Methodist Church, a congregation of both Black and White people worshiping together, though seated separately. However, tensions rose as the African American congregation moved its meeting to 5:30 a.m. and was asked to gather in limited numbers only. Allen remembered the year of the formal walkout by the African American parishioners in 1787, though many scholars believe it may have been later. Those leaving eventually started meeting together at an old blacksmith’s shop called, Bethel Church. Eventually this church became the African Methodist Episcopal Church in 1794, and would later be utilized to help fleeing enslaved people as a stop on the Underground Railroad.

Allen became the first ordained minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church in 1799. In 1816, Allen and others founded the first national Black church in the United States. The AME is now more than 2.5 million members strong.

Reverend Allen continued to speak out against slavery, and in 1830, organized a Free Produce Society, purchasing products from a non-enslaved labor force. Moving by faith until the end of his life, Reverend Allen died at his home in Philadelphia on March 26, 1831, and is buried at Bethel Church.

References

Biography. Richard Allen. (May 10, 2021). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/religious-figures/richard-allen

Allen, R. (1833). Martin & Boden, Printers, Philadelphia. The Life, Experience, and Gospel Labours of the Rt. Rev. Richard Allen. Retrieved from https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/allen/allen.html

Pope-Levinson, P. BlackPast. (October 18, 2007). Richard Allen (1760-1831). Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/allen-richard-pennsylvania-1760-1831/

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture, Photographs and Prints Division, The New York Public Library. (1800 – 1899). Richard Allen, Bishop of the first African Methodist Episcopal Church. Retrieved from https://digitalcollections.nypl.org/items/510d47dc-8fc6-a3d9-e040-e00a18064a99 and was used to create the illustration by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 16 – Super Skill: Goal-setting

Alice Coachman on Goal-Setting

November 9, 1923 – July 14, 2014

In 1948, Alice Coachman represented the American Olympic team in London. Coachman set a high jump record for the win making her the first African American woman to win an Olympic gold medal, receiving that award from King George VI. At the event, she looked towards the stands and saw her coach enthusiastically applauding for her, and then, she realized she had won.

After the Olympics Games, Coachman completed her degree at Albany State College. Although she was a retired athlete at that time, the Coca-Cola Company asked her to become a spokesperson making her the first African American to earn a paid endorsement.

Alice Coachman was born on November 9, 1923, in Albany, Georgia, and was one of 10 children in her family. Being raised in the segregated South, she was not able to train or compete in many organized sporting events. She excelled in spite of having to use old equipment and maintain her tenacity to succeed, exemplifying the super skill of goal-setting. In high school the boy’s coach recognized her abilities and helped her become stronger. barefooted, Coachman broke high school and college high jumping records in the Amateur Athlete Union (AAU) national championships. Coachman was offered a scholarship at the age of 16 to the Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. Although her parents were not initially supportive of an athletic scholarship at the age of 16, they eventually blessed their daughter’s goals.

In 1946, she enrolled in Albany State College as a national champion in not only high jump, but also 50-meter, 100-meter races and 400-meter relay race. She believed that she was probably at her peak form at that time and set her Olympic goals, but World War II caused the cancellation of both the 1940 and 1944 Olympic Games. Coachman continued to train in preparation to meet her goal of representing the United States on the Olympic team for the 1948 Olympic Games.

In her later life, Coachman created the Alice Coachman Track and Field Foundation to help young athletes as well as retired Olympians. During the 1996 Summer Olympic Games in Atlanta, she was honored as one of the 100 greatest Olympians in history. She was inducted into multiple hall of fames including the National Track & Field Hall of Fame (1975) and the U. S. Olympic Hall of Fame (2004).

Throughout her life she set goals and met them. Her legacy of goal-setting is astounding by any standard. Coachman died on July 14, 2014, at the age of 90 in a nursing home, where she was admitted after a stroke. Her achievements continue to motivate athletes today.

References

Georgia Women of Achievement. Alice Coachman. Track and Field Olympian. 2023 Inductee. Retreived from https://www.georgiawomen.org/alice-coachman

Biography. May 6, 2021. Alice Coachman. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/athlete/alice-coachman

Photograph of Alice Coachman by John Rooney/AP, retrieved from https://www.npr.org/sections/codeswitch/2014/07/19/332665921/why-an-african-american-sports-pioneer-remains-obscure was used to create the Illustration by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 15 – Super Skill: Problem-solving

Lewis Latimer on Problem-solving

September 4, 1848 – December 11, 1928

Lewis H. Latimer was born in Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4, 1848, of parents Georgia and Rebecca Latimer, who were run-away slaves from in Virginia. Because George was fair skinned, he had been posing as a plantation owner and his wife, who was darker, was thought to be his slave. Unfortunately, he was recognized and jailed. This activity created quite a stir in Boston. An African American minister paid $400 for his release and freedom. However, he was extremely poor, barely supporting his wife and four children.

In 1857, the Supreme court ruled that a slave by the name of Dred Scott was not a free man simply because he lived in a free state. George Latimer left his family at that time in what appears to be consideration of this freedom and the safety of his family. Lewis Latimer took on the obligation for supporting his family in the absence of his father. He worked as an office boy in a well-established patent office. He learned the trade of drafting by watching others, reading, and practicing mechanical drawing. He learned to master the skills necessary to be successful and excel, creating beautiful drawings. He was able to secure the promotion as a draftsman making $20 per week instead of his former $3 per week salary.

His timing was quite fortunate as well Latimer met Alexander Graham Bell, who hired him to draw plans for the telephone, his new invention. Apparently, there were many inventors trying to complete their patents at the same time. Latimer was able to provide the necessary drawings and blueprints in order to file the patent just hours earlier than a rival competitor on February 14, 1876.

After working at an electrical company in Brooklyn, NY, Latimer was invited to work for Thomas Alva Edison. Because of Latimer’s knowledge of electrical and patent documentation, they were able to file all patents to protect Edison’s inventions. This included translations into French and German in order to prevent European infringements. Latimer gained expertise as an investigator and in infringement cases as well.

Latimer worked until he was 74 years old, when his eyesight became too poor to continue. He remained able to teach mechanical drawing and English to new immigrants in the area. He was an officer in the Grand Army of the Republic (GAR) and supported civil rights activities as well until he died on December 11, 1928, at the age of 78. Lewis left a legacy in the super skill of problem-solving as a permanent recording in the U.S. Patent Office for two of the most significant inventions of his time—the lightbulb and the telephone.

References

George, L. (February 1, 1999). Smithsonian National Museum of American History. Innovative Lives: Lewis Latimer (1848-1928): Renaissance Man. Retrieved from https://invention.si.edu/innovative-lives-lewis-latimer-1848-1928-renaissance-man

Lewis Latimer House Museum. History: Lewis Howard Latimer. Retrieved on November 16, 2023, from https://www.lewislatimerhouse.org/about

Lemelson-MIT. Lewis Latimer: Improvement to the carbon-filament used for light bulbs. Retrieved on November 11, 2023, from https://lemelson.mit.edu/resources/lewis-latimer

Photograph of Lewis Howard Latimer from 1882, owned by the Queens Borough Public Library, retrieved from https://invention.si.edu/innovative-lives-lewis-latimer-1848-1928-renaissance-man was used to create the Illustration by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 14 – Super Skill: Risk-taking

Bessie Coleman on Risk-Taking

January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926

Bessie Coleman was the first African American and Native American descendent to earn her pilot’s license in the United States. She is known for wowing crowds with her aerobatic stunts. She spoke to groups in churches, schools and other venues in order to earn money for her own plane and open her own flight school. Coleman would only speak in venues open to everyone without segregation. She was recognized for standing up for her beliefs as well as stunt flying. Coleman’s use of the soft skill of risk-taking enabled her to meet her ambitious goals.

Bessie Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas to an African American mother, who worked as a maid and a father of mixed Native American and African American decent, who worked as a sharecropper. Due to discrimination, her father left the family and moved away in an attempt to escape the fallout of racism. This left her mother and her 12 siblings to work together in the fields, and wash laundry to earn extra money.

When Bessie was 18, she had only saved enough money for one semester of school at the Colored Agricultural and Normal University (Langston University, today) in Langston, Oklahoma. She was forced to drop out after that semester because she could not afford the tuition.

When she was 23, Coleman moved to Chicago with her brothers and became a manicurist in a barbershop after studying at the Burnham School of Beauty Culture. Her brothers served in World War I and shared stories with her about France. Apparently, her brothers teased her about French women being able to fly airplanes. Coleman was inspired and driven to become a pilot and applied to many flight schools in the United States. She was declined at all of them because she was African American and a woman. So, she took French lessons, and learned enough to be able to apply to the French schools. She was accepted at the Coudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France, and received her international pilot’s license from the Federation Aeronautique Internationale before returning to the United States.

In 1926 at the young age of 34, a serious accident would be her last. She and the pilot for that flight were both killed. Later, it was discovered that the accident was caused by a loose wrench becoming caught in the engine. The famous activist Ida B. Wells-Barnett gave the eulogy at her funeral and many people across the globe were heartbroken over her death.

References

PBS.org. American Experience. Fly Girls. Bessie Coleman. Retrieved on November 10, 2023, from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flygirls-bessie-coleman/

National Air and Space Museum. Bessie Coleman. Smithsonian. Retrieved on November 10, 2023, from https://airandspace.si.edu/explore/stories/bessie-coleman

Slotnik, D.E. (December 11, 2019). Overlooked No More: Bessie Coleman, Pioneering African American Aviatrix. Retrieved on November 10, 2023, from https://www.nytimes.com/2019/12/11/obituaries/bessie-coleman-overlooked.html

Photographic reference used to create the illustration of Bessie Coleman is from PBS, retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/americanexperience/features/flygirls-bessie-coleman. Illustration was created by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 13 – Super Skill: Creative Vision

Robert Robinson Taylor on Creative vision

June 8, 1868 – December 13, 1942

Robert Robinson Taylor became the first African American graduate of MIT in 1892 near the top of his class. He went on to became the architect of most of the buildings at the Tuskegee Institute. Utilizing the super skill of creative vision, he was able to reach his goals. Although Taylor was not the namesake of the buildings he designed, nor did he pour the foundation and lay all of the bricks; he had the creative vision, and the final output required a team to bring his designs to reality.

Robert Robinson Taylor was born on June 8, 1868. His father, Henry, freed in 1847, was the son of a white slave owner and an African mother resulting in enough freedom before the Civil War to allow Henry to go into business for himself as a carpenter, and he became very successful at doing so.

The prosperity of his family allowed Robert the ability to focus on learning, in which he excelled. He started at the Williston School, then the Gregory Normal Institute, a school for Africans. After graduating, he worked with his father, learning the basics of the building trade. They decided MIT was the best architecture program available and the first formalized architecture program in the world operating within a university structure, and he was accepted.

He faced prejudice as a Southerner at MIT but seemed to have adjusted well academically. Taylor proved his potential through his hard work and performance and earned a Loring Scholarship for two years, possibly as the first recipient of that honor. During Taylor’s time at MIT, he had talked with Booker T. Washington, founder of the Tuskegee Institute, a school created by and for African Americans that had started as a teacher-training school with a small grant from the state of Alabama. After exploration of other opportunities, Taylor finally decided to accept Washington’s offer for a position.

At Tuskegee.at Tuskegee, Taylor arguably made his greatest contribution, designing and directing construction of forty-five buildings on the campus between 1900 and 1913. However, his favorite building was the Chapel, which was constructed between 1895 and 1898 using bricks made by students and constructed by students. Taylor also served as the director of the Department of Mechanical Industries, and then became vice-principal of the Tuskeegee Institute in 1925. Taylor designed buildings for other institutions, churches, office buildings and homes as well.

He frequently returned to Tuskegee and was attending a service in the Chapel, when he collapsed on December 7, 1942 at the age of 74. He died that same day at the John A. Andrews Memorial Hospital — ironically, a building he also designed.

References

Massie, C. (February 12, 2015). Architect Robert Robinson Taylor Honored in Black Heritage Stamp Collection. Architect Magazine. Retrieved, Nov. 3, 2023, from https://www.architectmagazine.com/design/architect-robert-robinson-taylor-honored-in-black-heritage-stamp-collection_o

MIT. MIT Black History. Robert R. Taylor: First Black Student at MIT. Retrieved on Nov. 3, 2023 from https://www.blackhistory.mit.edu/story/robert-r-taylor

Photographic reference used to create the illustration is from the MIT Collection. Illustration was created by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 12 – Super Skill: Advocacy

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett on Advocacy

July 16, 1872 – March 25, 1931

Ida B. Wells-Barnett became an advocate for African Americans who were lynched and became a global spokesperson in order to illuminate the wrongs by creating awareness and global pressure. She became a voice and recordkeeper through the super skill of advocacy in order to change the deplorable behavior.

Ida Bell Wells was born on July 16, 1872, into slavery in Holly Springs, Mississippi, during the Civil War. Her parents became activists after the war while supporting her education. She was a strong-minded young girl as evidenced by the fact that she was expelled from Rust College for starting a dispute with its president.

When Wells was 16 years of age, she traveled to visit her grandmother. During her absense, the yellow fever epidemic had hit Holly Springs, Mississippi. Both of her parents and her youngest infant brother died. The rearing of her other brothers and sister fell on her, and she became a teacher so that she could support the family and keep everyone together. She and her siblings ultimately moved to Memphis.

Wells was motivated to advocacy through two key events. First, she was thrown off of a first-class train as a paying passenger. She sued the train company and won locally. The train company appealed and the case was unfairly overturned in federal court. Secondly, one of Well’s friends was lynched.

Wells began to focus her advocacy efforts on the violence inflicted by whites on the black population. She wrote an editorial letter encouraging African Americans to move out of Memphis for their own safety. She investigated multiple lynching events, documented her findings of 728 lynchings in total and then published her works in newspapers as well as a stand-alone booklet. Her exposure enraged the local white population, who burned her press. She was harassed her until the threats were so extreme that she was forced to move north, selecting Chicago, Illinois. She did not stop her crusade, however.

She married a well-known African American lawyer, Ferdinand Barnett, in 1895. The couple had four children and remained engaged in activism. Wells-Barnett traveled internationally, continuing to illuminate lynching globally. She openly confronted white women in the suffrage movement who turned a blind eye to lynching. As a result, she was ridiculed and demonized by the women’s suffrage organizations in the United States. She was the unrecognized founder of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). She focused on urban reform and renewal in Chicago until her death on March 25, 1931.

References

Norwood, Arlisha. (2017). Ida B. Wells-Barnett. National Women’s History Museum. Retrieved from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/ida-b-wells-barnett

Nyhistory.org. Women & the American Story. Life Story: Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862-1931). (Adapted from the New-York Historical Society’s Black Citizenship in the Age of Jim Crow curriculum). Retrieved from https://wams.nyhistory.org/modernizing-america/fighting-for-social-reform/ida-b-wells/#resource

PBS Learning Media. Ida B. Wells: A Lifetime of Activism | The Rise and Fall of Jim Crow. Retrieved from https://gpb.pbslearningmedia.org/resource/bf09.socst.us.const.antilynch/ida-b-wells-a-lifetime-of-activism/

National Library of Scotland. Struggles for Liberty. African American Activists in Scotland. Ida B. Wells-Barnett. Retrieved from https://digital.nls.uk/learning/struggles-for-liberty/themes/african-american-activists-in-scotland/ida-B-wells-barnett/

Photographic image from the Chicago Tribune Historical Photo collection was used for reference to create the illustration by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University. Retrieved from https://digital.tnconservationist.org/publication/?i=686783&article_id=3837106&view=articleBrowser

WEEK 11 – Super Skill: Teamwork

William Still on Teamwork

October 7, 1821 – July 14, 1902

William Still preserved approximately 1000 stories of refugees utilizing the underground railroad. His book, The Underground Rail- road, published in 1872 and exhibited at the Philadelphia Centennial Exposition in 1876, remains one of the most important historical records of the era. The book recognizes the struggle that many endured for the freedom from slavery as well as the entire network of contributors that he linked together — from the courageous fugitives to the white abolitionists. Although Still’s super skill of teamwork enabled safe passage of so many fugitives, he was not recognized due to the fact that he left his own efforts out of his narrative. In turn, his documentation of the Underground Railroad did not highlight his role.

William Still was born the youngest of 18 children in New Jersey to Levin Steel, a former slave who purchased his own freedom. His mother, Sidney, who escaped slavery, was only able to bring two of her children with her, one of whom was William.

While William Still had little formal education, he studied when time permitted. He moved to Philadelphia when he was 23 and eventually found a job as a clerk for the Pennsylvania Society for the Abolition of Slavery, later becoming chairman. It was there that he began helping slaves find shelter and safe passage to more northern destinations. He was also in charge of fund-raising to provide services in support of safe passage. He kept a record of every person, expenditure, process and outcome.

While in this role, his older brother, Peter, who had been left behind when his mother escaped, managed to buy his own freedom and arrived in the area looking for information about his parents in an attempt to reunite. Peter’s search brought him, unbeknownst, be- fore his youngest brother. After meeting Peter, William Still became more acutely aware of the importance of record-keeping in order to help others who had made similar journeys. Still’s role would connect those seeking asylum to a safe network of shelter, food, and necessities on their journey to a more permanent location in which to settle.

Prior to the Civil War, tensions rose, and he became afraid that his records might be found, and he destroyed many records in order to prevent putting refugee families in danger. He was only able to preserve approximately 1000 files. After the war was over, he penned his book.

All who fled were aided in their travel by William Still. His quiet organizational role enabled Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and many others to help “conduct the railroad” for so many, guiding them through the network and helping to ensure safety.

References

Diemer, A. (November 9, 2022). Smithsonian Magazine. The Forgotten Father of the Underground Railroad. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-forgotten-father-of-the-underground-railroad-180981088/

Underground Railroad Freedom Center. (2020). William Still. Retrieved from https://freedomcenter.org/heroes/william-still/

Diemer, A. (January 13, 2023). TIME Magazine. The Unsung Hero of the Underground Railroad. Retrieved from https://time.com/6237066/underground-railroad-william-still-history/

Reference photograph used to create the illustration is the property of Swathmore College and was retrieved from https://hiddencityphila.org/2022/11/finding-freedom-in-the-footsteps-of-william-still/ . Illustration was created by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 10 – Super Skill: Tenacity

Shirley Chisholm on Tenacity

November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005

Shirley Chisholm became the second African American in New York State Legislature in 1964. In 1968, she won a seat in Congress as its first African American woman, earning the name “Fighting Shirley” in her time in congress as she championed racial and gender issues as well as support for the poor. Chisholm cofounded the National Women’s Political Caucus in 1971. She became the first African American woman to serve on the House Rules Committee in 1977. Chisholm’s super skill of tenacity enabled her to make change where she saw opportunities, making strides for African Americans by her own example of service.

Shirley Anita St. Hill (Chisholm)was the oldest of four daughters to immigrant parents, Charles St. Hill from Guyana, a factory worker, and Ruby Seale St. Hill from Barbados, a seamstress. She is a graduated of the Brooklyn Girls’ High and from Brooklyn College, where she was recognized as strong and Cum Laude in 1946. Although encouraged to consider politics by teachers, she did not believe that an African American female politician was realistic.

Chisholm worked as a nursery school teacher upon graduation. She wed a private investigator, Conrad Q. Chisholm in 1949, which lasted 28 years until their divorce in 1977. By 1951, she earned a master’s degree from Columbia University in early childhood education becoming a consultant to the New York City Division of Day Care by 1960. She had become more aware of inequalities and she joined the League of Women Voters, the National Association of Colored People (NAACP), the Urban League and her local Democratic Party club in Brooklyn, NY.

Chisholm’s tenacity made effective in her service in the New York State Legislature, and she then set her site on the presidential nomination of her party in 1972. She was blocked and took legal action, but, her efforts were too fraught with discrimination. Chisholm remained in New York, retiring from Congress in 1983, then she taught at Mount Holyoke College and co-founded the National Political Congress of Black Women. Her health began to decline by 1991 and she turned down an opportunity to be the U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, enjoying her deserved retirement in Florida until her death in 2005.

References

Michals, D. (2015). National Women’s History Museum. Shirley Chisholm. Retrieved from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/shirley-chisholm

History.com editors. (April 13, 2002). Shirley Chisholm. Retrieved from https://www.history.com/topics/us-government-and-politics/shirley-chisholm

African American Heritage. (March 22, 2021). Shirley Chisholm (November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005). Retrieved from https://www.archives.gov/research/african-americans/individuals/shirley-chisholm

Gender on the Ballot. (Nov 30, 2019). 5 Shirley Chisholm Quotes that will Inspire and Empower You. Retreived from https://www.genderontheballot.org/5-shirley-chisholm-quotes/

Photograph by O-Halloran, T. from the Library of Congress Prints and Photographs division retrieved from https://www.loc.gov/item/2003688123/ was used to create the illustration by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 9 – Super Skill: Critical Thinking

Benjamin Banneker on Critical Thinking

November 9, 1731 – October 19, 1806

Benjamin Banneker’s mark was made with the development and publishing of his almanacs, which he published annually for six years, 1792 to 1797. The almanacs, considered among the first in the United States, included astronomical calculations he created as well as literature, medical information and tidal information. These almanacs became useful to fisherman and farmers, as well as those throughout the area. He also published information about insects, such as bees and the 17-year locust cycle. The 1793 almanac included correspondence with then Secretary of State, Thomas Jefferson, along with a letter illuminating the abuse and censure of “beings,” meaning, slaves for which he requested help. Thomas Jefferson responded to him with a letter that is now stored in the Library of Congress.

Benjamin Banneker was born a free black man to an ex-slave named Robert and his wife, Mary Banneky. Mary was the daughter of an Englishwoman, Molly Welsh, a former indentured servant and her husband Bannka, an ex-slave whom she freed. Bannka claimed to have come from tribal royalty in West Africa.

Young Banneker was taught to read by his grandmother and attended a local Quaker school for a short time. He was primarily self-educated, borrowing books and reading voraciously. Banneker engaged his super skill of critical thinking even as a young man by creating an irrigation system for his family’s farm and created a wooden clock that kept perfect time until his death. Banneker was particularly interested in astronomy and the forecast of eclipses. Through all of his learning, he continued to run the farm for many years, selling tobacco grown on the farm.

Recognizing Banneker’s intelligence, George Ellicott, a developer of grist mills in Baltimore with a large personal library, loaned Banneker books on astronomy and other interests. In 1791, a member of Ellicott’s family hired Banneker to assist in surveying the territory that would later become Washington D.C. However, Banneker became ill suddenly, halting his ability to continue his work.

Banneker sold most of his farm to the Ellicotts and lived in the log cabin on the remaining property. After a walk on October 19, 1806, just before his 75th birthday, Banneker passed away. All of the items Banneker borrowed were returned along with this astronomical journal, allowing others to have a small glimpse of his accomplishments. On the day of his burial on the property, mourners watched as his house burned to the ground. The one document in the Ellicott’s possession was one of only a few records of a portion of his life’s work.

References

(May 3, 2021). Benjamin Banneker. Benjamin Banneker was a largely self-educated mathematician, astronomer, compiler of almanacs and writer. Biography.com. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/scientists/benjamin-banneker on October 6, 2023.

Banneker’s letter to Jefferson. 1791. Public Broadcasting System. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h71.html on October 6, 2023.

Benjamin Banneker’s Almanac. 1795. Public Broadcasting System. Retrieved from https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/aia/part2/2h68.html on October 6, 2023.

Photograph of Benjamin Banneker was retrieved from https://www.farmersalmanac.com/benjamin-banneker and was used as a reference to create the illustration by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 8 – Super Skill: Attention to Detail

Katherine Johnson on Attention to Detail

August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020

Katherine Johnson is most recognized for her work on the trajectory for the first human spaceflight by Alan Shepard, which involved calculating the launch window, the rocket’s speed and orbit, and the exact location of the spacecraft at any given time during the flight. Johnson’s super skill of attention to detail through her mathematical expertise was crucial in determining the precise trajectory required, ensuring the safety and success of the mission.

Johnson worked on the path for the Apollo 11 mission that landed the first humans on the moon. She developed backup navigation charts and helped verify the computer calculations that guided the spacecraft to the moon’s surface.

In addition to her work in aerospace engineering, Johnson was also a trailblazer for women and people of color in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematical (STEM) fields. She faced discrimination and segregation throughout her career but persevered and became a respected and celebrated figure in her fields. In 2015, she was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Barack Obama, and in 2016, the movie Hidden Figures brought her story and the contributions of other African American women mathematicians to the forefront.

Born Creola Katherine Coleman, Katherine Johnson was the youngest of four children. She counted everything from items in the cupboard to the number of steps to a destination. After a move by the family in order to acquire greater education opportunities, she was able to excel by entering high school at 10, graduating at 14, entering West Virginia state the following year and completing all required math courses within two years. Classes beyond that point were conceived by her mentor, William Waldron Schieffelin Claytor, only the third African American person to earn a doctorate in mathematics from a university in the United States. He told her then that she would make an excellent researcher and prepared her for that field. Katherine graduated summa cum laude in 1937 and found no research opportunities available for 10 years before becoming one of the “computers” who worked for NASA. Her contributions to the field of aerospace engineering are remarkable due to her exceptional attention to detail.

References

Shetterly, M.L. (February 24, 2020) NASA. Katherine Johnson Biography. Retrieved on September 28, 2023 from https://www.nasa.gov/content/katherine-johnson-biography.

Katherine Johnson and the Mathematics of the Space Race. National Women’s History Museum. YouTube video. Retrieved on September 28, 2023 from https://www.womenshistory.org/resources/video/katherine-johnson-and-mathematics-space-race

Women’s History Minute: Katherine Johnson. National Women’s History Museum. YouTube video retrieved on September 28, 2026 from https://www.womenshistory.org/resources/video/womens-history-minute-katherine-johnson

WeAreTechWomen Team. (October 3, 2020) Inspirational Quotes: Katherine Johnson — NASA mathematician. We are Tech Women. Published October 3, 2020. Retrieved from https://wearetechwomen.com/inspirational-quotes-katherine-johnson-nasa-mathematician/ on April 25, 2023.

The portrait of Katherine Johnson, taken in 1983 at NASA Langley Research Center, is a public domain image credited to NASA and was used as a reference to create the illustration by Nichols. J. retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/katherine-johnson-portrait ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 7 – Super Skill: Innovation

Elijah McCoy on Innovation

May 2, 1843 – October 10, 1929

The real McCoy is a phrase that is meant to connote authenticity and seems to have started with the high-quality inventions of Mr. Elijah McCoy. His use of super skill of innovation enabled him to receive 58 patents during his lifetime.

Elijah McCoy was born on May 2, 1843, in Ontario, Canada, to former slaves from Kentucky, who had escaped through The Underground Railroad. After the end of the Civil War, they moved back to the United States and settled in Detroit, Michigan. Although his parents were poor, they managed to save enough money for their son’s education. At the age of 15, McCoy was sent away to boarding school in Edinburgh, Scotland, to pursue study in mechanical engineering.

Despite his credentials, he had a difficult time finding work upon his return. He took a job as a fireman for the Michigan Central Railroad, oiling the moving train engine parts. McCoy found this work tedious, and his manual process seemed capable of automation, which he began exploring. He devised a cup system to evenly oil the engine without having to stop to oil them manually, allowing for greater rail efficiency. McCoy continue to refine the invention among the creation of other innovations, receiving 58 patents during his lifetime. Most of his inventions were related to solving that first lubrication problem. However, he also developed designs for an ironing board and a lawn sprinkler. Unfortunately, his name did not appear on many of the products he invented due to lack of capital funding. However, by 1920, he was able to form the Elijah McCoy Manufacturing Company and produce the lubricators under his own name.

There were knock-off products appearing in these years. But, it is believed that his reputation was earned for providing both high quality and efficient products. As a result, his products were specifically requested. It is believed that the phrase “The real McCoy” was born of these preferences for his products. Elijah McCoy died on October 10, 1929, at the age of 85 in Detroit, Michigan, due to sustained injuries from an automobile accident that killed his wife and left him weakened and vulnerable.

References

Anderson, E. (March 3, 2007). Elijah McCoy (1843-1929). Black Past. Retrieved on September 22, 2023 from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/mccoy-elijah-1843-1929/

Biography.com (April 1, 2021) Biography. Elijah Mccoy. Retrieved on September 22, 2023 from https://www.biography.com/inventors/elijah-mccoy

The RandomVibez. Top 10 Elijah McCoy Quotes. Retrieved on September 22, 2023 from https://www.therandomvibez.com/elijah-mccoy-quotes/

Photograph, courtesy of the Henry Ford Collection and a public domain image, was used as reference for illustration by Nichols, J. ©2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 6 – Super Skill: Resilience

Fannie Lou Hamer on Resilience

October 6, 1917 – March 14, 1977

Fannie Lou Hamer was a powerful force of honesty and unwavering determination. She illuminated the events of her own experience as a reflection of a problem that needed reckoning to highlight racism and its brutal grip on her community in the rural South. Her voice became so powerful and supported other activists during her time. Hamer co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party (MFDP), helped to organize Freedom Summer for hundreds of college students to help with voter registration efforts in the South. Hamer was a member of the first integrated delegation in Mississippi. Hamer announced candidacy for the Mississippi House of Representatives and was prevented from appearing on the ballot, which led her to become one of the first black women to appear before the U.S. Congress in formal protest. She was one of the founding members of the National Women’s Political Caucus.

Fannie Lou (Townsend) Hamer was born into poverty in Montgomery County, Mississippi, as the 20th and youngest child of sharecroppers on October 6, 1917. She started working in the cotton fields with her family at the age of six. When Hamer was 12, she left school to work in the fields full-time.

Hamer was keenly aware of discrimination in her own life by being ostracized and humiliated when she and 17 others attempted to register to vote in Indianola, Mississippi. She eventually registered in Charleston, South Carolina, after which she was brutally beaten. In addition, she had an unwanted hysterectomy when she thought she was receiving treatment for another ailment. This deception was a method of sterilization imposed on African American women as a means of population control at that time. All of these events provided her a strength that no politician or police brutality could squelch. She shared her powerfully honest story during a hearing which was broadcast live and was interrupted by a Presidential announcement. As a result, the media felt compelled to share her message over and over again to great effect in the hours and days that followed. Hamer’s honest and painful message resonated with the oppressed, snowballing change throughout Mississippi, the nation and the world. Hamer’s super skill of resilience made her an indominable force.

Hamer continued to provide relief to others by helping farmers in rural Mississippi through the provision of free pigs, called a “pig bank.” She also launched the Freedom Farm Cooperative (FFC) so that African American communities could operate the farm co-op collectively and benefit from it as well. In 1977 at the age of 59, Hamer died of breast cancer, but her inspiration lives on.

References

Michals, D. (2017). National Women’s History Museum. Fannie Lou Hammer. Retrieved September 15, 2023 from https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/fannie-lou-hamer

Biography.com. (November 12, 2021). Fannie Lou Hamer. Retrieved September 15, 2023 from https://www.biography.com/activists/fannie-lou-hamer

Camacho, D.J. (June 3, 2021). Fannie Lou Hamer’s Fight for Civil Rights and Her Message for Today. Retrieved September 15, 2023 from https://therevealer.org/fannie-lou-hamers-fight-for-civil-rights-and-her-message-for-today/

Photo by Ken Thompson, The General Board of Global Ministries of the United Methodist Church, Inc. retrieved from https://www.zocalopublicsquare.org/2021/11/08/fannie-lou-hamer-voting-rights/ideas/essay/ was used for reference to create illustration by Nichols, J. © 2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 5 – Super Skill: Entrepreneurialism

Robert Sengstacke Abbott on Entrepreneurialism

November 24, 1870 – February 29, 1940

Robert Sengstacke Abbott was one of the first African American self-made millionaires due to his success with the most widely-read African-American newspapers in the United States, The Chicago Defender, supporting racial advancement, promoting pride and documenting the case against injustice within its pages.

Abbott was born to former slaves on St. Simons Island, Georgia on November 24, 1870. He studied printmaking at The Hampton Institute, exposing him to options outside of the South. Abbott then decided to study and practice law, which he attempted, but returned to his roots in printing due to the prejudices in the legal system. Utilizing the super skill of entrepreneurialism Abbott founded The Chicago Defender (The Defender) specifically to meet the needs of the African American community and the success was much more than he ever imagined. The publication reached more than 200,000 people by the 1920s. The Defender is known to have been read aloud in group settings in barber shops, on trains, and at beauty salons throughout the African American communities, likely reaching as many as 500,000 each week. The descriptive “Black” and “Negro” were never used in publications and were substituted with the term “the Race.” The paper was distributed throughout the South and encouraged African Americans to leave the South and move Northeast, Midwest and West in order to increase opportunity. The Defender is credited with causing the African American population in Chicago to triple into the 1920s. As a result of The Defender’s Success, the entrepreneur Abbott became one of the first African American self-made millionaires.

In 1923, Abbott created Bud Billiken, a fictional character embodying a symbol of pride for African American hope for the residents of Chicago during the Great Depression. In 1929, a parade was organized by Abbott in the name of Bud Billiken and is still the oldest and largest African American parade in the United States.

Robert Sengstacke Abbott died of an acute kidney disease on February 29, 1940, at the age of 69. Although Abbott had no children, he left the paper in good hands with his nephew, John H. H. Sengstacke, III. The Chicago Defender remained a printed newspaper until 2019, when it became an online-only publication. The Robert S. Abbott House in Chicago is now an historic landmark.

References

Tamblyn, G. (January 21, 2007). Robert Sengstacke Abbott 1870-1940. Retrieved from https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/abbott-robert-sengstacke-1870-1940/

Robert S. Abbott, Class of 1898. Founder of the Chicago Defender Newspaper. Chicago-Kent College of Law. Retrieved from https://alumni.kentlaw.iit.edu/alumni-distinction-robert-abbott

Robert Sengstacke Abbott. Inducted in 2017. Chicago Literary Hall of Fame. Retrieved from https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/inductees/profile/robert-sengstacke-abbott

Photographic reference image was retrieved from https://chicagoliteraryhof.org/inductees/profile/robert-sengstacke-abbott utilized by the Chicago Literary Hall of Fame and used for reference to create illustration by Nichols, J. © 2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 4 – Super Skill: Creativity

Octavia Butler on Creativity

June 22, 1947 – February 24, 2006

Octavia Estelle Butler was born on June 22, 1947 in Pasadena, California. Although she was dyslexic, she loved creating her own stories. Buy the age of 10, she had a dream of being an award-winning writer. This is a dream that became her life’s work through her masterful use of the super skill of creativity.

Butler’s creativity allowed her to grow to become a force in science fiction. Although the category is dominated by white men, she was not deterred from her dedication to create her own message in that space. Her characters often encountered the difficulties of black humiliations and painful struggles. Her big breakthrough came in 1979 with her novel, Kindred, telling the story of an African American woman who travels back in time to save her own ancestor – a white slave owner. Human experiences grounding her works provided depth and intricacy to her stories that often “blurred the lines of distinction between reality and fantasy.” Gregory Hampton remembered in Callaloo, stating of Butler’s work, that “she revealed universal truths.” Butler received a “genius” grant in 1995 from the McArthur Foundation as the first science-fiction writer to receive the grant.

The grant afforded her the opportunity to purchase a home for both herself and her mother — one of her marks of success noted at the young age of 10. Octavia Butler’s creative melding of painful topics and fictitious events provided her a broad audience to engage thoughtfully in difficulties of our time. Currently, her work is more relevant and sought-after today than when her novels were originally published.

In addition to her MacArthur “Genius” Fellowship, Butler ultimately received two Nebula Awards, two Hugo Awards, a lifetime achievement award in writing from PEN America Literary Awards. Butler died at her home at the age of 58, leaving the literary world absent of one of its great storytellers. In 2020, Parable of the Sower reached the New York Times best-seller list — 27 years after the original publication date. Her work has foundationally created a genre of sci-fi called Afrofuturism, referencing both sci-fi and African American pride in order to create a brighter future.

References

Octavia E. Butler. Author Octavia E. Butler is known for blending science fiction with African American spiritualism. Her novels include Patternmaster, Kindred, Dawn and Parable of the Sower. Hearst Digital Media. (2021, June 1). Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/authors-writers/octavia-e-butler.

Georgia, Alice. 2021, July 28. Pioneering Sci-Fi Writer Octavia Butler Joins a Pantheon of Futurists. Retrieved from https://www.smithsonianmag.com/smithsonian-institution/pioneering-sci-fi-writer-octavia-e-butler-joins-pantheon-celebrated-futurists-180978255/.

Photographic image by MIriam Berkley, 1988, retrieved from https://huntington.org/exhibition/octavia-e-butler-telling-my-stories, was used for reference to create illustration by Nichols, J. © 2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 3 – Super Skill: Perseverance

Matthew Henson on Perseverance

August 8, 1866 – March 9, 1955

Matthew Henson Each moment of Henson’s life was filled with delayed gratification, calling for perseverance at each turn. From his early years of great loss, multiple attempts to reach the North Pole, and recognition not received in his lifetime, the super skill of perseverance became a theme in his life. He finally received the recognition he deserved for a tremendous achievement with fellow climber, Robert Edwin Peary.

Matthew Henson was born in 1866 in Maryland of two freeborn African-American sharecroppers. After the death of his mother, his father moved the family to Washington, D. C. His father later died, leaving him orphaned at the age of 11 during the yellow fever epidemic. Henson became a cabin boy on a sailing ship, The Katie Hines, where he traveled to Asia, North Africa and investigated the Black Sea. During that time, he received an education, gained technical skills and excelled in competency as a sailor. The man who hired him died and Henson later found work in Washington, D.C. as a clerk in a millinery (hat) shop. He met Robert Edwin Peary, an explorer and officer in the US Navy Corps of Civil Engineers. Henson impressed Peary with his sea experience, and Peary offered Henson a job as a valet for an upcoming expedition.

Becoming fast friends and trusted colleagues, they made several journeys together before trying to reach the North Pole. Their successful attempt included 24 men, 19 sledges, and 133 dogs. The journey took its toll on many in the party, who turned back. However, on April 6, 1909, Peary, Henson, along with four Eskimos and 40 dogs finally reached the North Pole. Unfortunately, the success was clouded in doubt for many years by the climbing establishment.

Henson spent the next 30 years as a clerk in the New York Federal Customs Office. He published his memoirs in 1912, accounting for the journey to the North Pole. In 1937, at the age of 70, he finally received acknowledgement in the Explorers Club of New York as an honorary member. In 1944, all members of the expedition, including Henson, were awarded a Congressional Medal. He worked with Bradley Robinson to write a biography of his journeys, Dark Companion, published when he was 80 years old.

In 1987, his remains along with his wife’s were moved to Arlington Cemetery in the same manner Peary and his wife were buried, giving him equal status.

References

Matthew Alexander Henson, American Explorer. (March 5, 2023). Encyclopedia Britannica. Retrieved from https://www.biography.com/history-culture/matthew-henson

Mills, James. (February 28, 2014). The Legacy of Arctic Explorer Matthew Henson. This African-American explorer was the first man to stand on top of the world. National Geographic. Retrieved on April 26, 2023 from https://www.nationalgeographic.com/adventure/article/the-legacy-of-arctic-explorer-matthew-henson

Photographic image by Robert E. Peary, National Geographic, was used for reference to create illustration by Nichols, J. © 2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 2 – Super Skill: Diligence

Mae Jemison on Diligence

October 17, 1956 – present

Mae Jemison was the first African-American in space. She is most recognized for her contribution as a NASA astronaut, where she conducted experiments on bone cell research and motion sickness during her space flight. She contributed to the development of space shuttle technology and helped to design the first space lab that was used to study weightlessness and motion sickness.

In addition to her work as an astronaut, Jemison is also a physician and engineer. She founded the Jemison Group, a technology consulting firm that develops and implements sustainable engineering solutions to problems in developing countries.

Mae Jemison was born the youngest three children in Alabama, and moved to Chicago when she was young. She acquired her early education, explored her love of dance, and developed a desire to travel space. She was fascinated with Lieutenant Uhura, played by Nichelle Nichols, from the Star Trek television show, as well as the early Apollo launches both fueled her love of space exploration. She graduated high school at the young age of sixteen, and went on to Stanford University to continue her education. As one of only a few African-American students, she experienced racial discrimination in school, became president of the Black Student Union and later, choreographed a performance called Out of the Shadows about African-American experience. Jamison maintained a double major at Stanford, receiving a Bachelor of Arts Degree in African and African-American Studies as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemical Engineering. She went on to study at Cornell Medical School, practice medicine, and serve as a medical officer in Africa for two years. Jamison speaks four languages: Russian, Japanese, Swahili and of course, English.

After hearing about Jemison being a fan of Star Trek, she was invited to be a guest as Lieutenant Palmer on Star Trek: The Next Generation. Jemison created an international space camp, The Earth We Share for children ages 12-16.

Jemison shows the super skill of diligence to her work and has overcome many obstacles throughout her life and is dedicated to helping others overcome obstacles and meet their dreams as well.

References

Alexander, Kerri Lee. National Women’s History Museum. (2019). Mae Jemison. Retrieved from www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mae-jemison on August 17, 2023.

National Aero Space Administration (NASA). Mae C. Jemison (M.D.) Biographical Data. (1993). Retrieved from https://www.nasa.gov/sites/default/files/atoms/files/jemison_mae.pdf on August 17, 2023.

Photographic image from NASA was used for reference to create illustration by Nichols, J. © 2023 Savannah State University.

WEEK 1 – Super Skill: Leadership

Richard R. Wright, Sr. on Leadership

May 16, 1855 – July 2, 1947

Richard R. Wright was a foundational leader for the benefit of African Americans in the Unit- ed States. His many contributions included founding a high school, college, and a bank. His remarkable life left a mark in education, banking, politics, publishing, journalism and real estate, among many other accomplishments. As the founder of what would become Savannah State University, he continues to provide an opportunity on these grounds beyond his time on earth.

Richard Robert Wright was born enslaved in Dalton, GA in 1855. After emancipation in 1863, the family moved to Cuthbert, Georgia. In 1866, seeing promise in her son, Wright’s mother walked roughly 162 miles to Atlanta to enroll her son in Storrs School, established by the American Missionary Association.

Wright was one of the first 400 students at the school. The commissioner of the Freedmen’s Bureau visited the school, asking the students what they would like to say to Northern friends. Wright answered first by responding, “Tell them we are rising,” a tag line for which he has become famous by living and empowering in others. Wright graduated high school and then college at Atlanta University as the valedictorian at the first class in 1876. Wright went on to receive his master’s degree at Atlanta University, as well.

Recognized for his many accomplishments, he was a delegate to three national Republican Conventions. This exposure introduced him to his next opportunity to organize Augusta’s first African American High School, where he also became principal. Simultaneously, he owned the Augusta Sentinel, one of the largest African American newspapers in its time. Then, he was appointed president of the Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth in 1891, which became today’s Savannah State University. Wright’s remarkable super skill of leadership across so many influential paths created the foundational setting in which we continue to learn and grow today.

References

November, 2005. Volume V, No. 3. Reflections. From Georgia State Industrial College for Colored Youth to Savannah State University: The Restoration of Hill Hall. Georgia African American Historic Preservation Network. A Program of the Historic Preservation division, Georgia Department of Natural Resources. Retrieved from https://www.dca.ga.gov/sites/default/files/2005_-_11_reflections.pdf

Photographic image from Asa A. Gordon Library at Savannah State University was used for reference to create illustration by Nichols, J. © 2023 Savannah State University.