People, Locations, Episodes

The Crownsville Hospital Center of Maryland opens.

*The Crownsville Hospital Center opened on this date in 1911. This was a psychiatric hospital for Blacks located in Crownsville, Maryland. The first group of 12 patients arrived and lived in a work camp in a willow curing house adjacent to one of the willow ponds. Staff worked with them to prepare roads and to […]

Edward Mazique, Physician born

*This date in 1911 marks the birth of Edward Mazique. He was a Black doctor and pioneer in the medical community of Washington, D.C.  Edward Craig Mazique was a native of Natchez, Miss. He graduated from Natchez College before leaving Mississippi to pursue an undergraduate degree and graduated from Morehouse College in Georgia, later serving […]

Lilian Ngoyi, South African Nurse and Activist born

*Lilian Ngoyi was born on this date in 1911. She was a Black machinist, nurse, and South African activist. Lilian Masediba Matabane was born in Pretoria, South Africa. She was the only daughter of Annie and Isaac Matabane and a sister to three brothers, Lawrence, George, and Percy. Her grandfather, on her mother’s side, was a […]

Reginald Weir, Doctor, and Tennis Pioneer born

*Reginald Weir was born on this date in 1911. was a Black tennis player and physician. Reginald Storum Weir was born in Washington, D.C. Weir was a medical school graduate of New York University and practiced family medicine from 1935 to 1985. Weir was captain of the City College of New York, men’s tennis team. […]

Horace Rains, Medical Doctor born

On this date in 1912, Horace Rain, an African American doctor and community activist, was born.

He was was one of three sons born in Atlanta to Igolias and Elizabeth Rains. The family moved to Columbus, OH, when Horace was a baby. He completed his education in public schools in Columbus, and attended Wilberforce University on a track scholarship. He received his B.S. degree in 1938, then taught physical education at Lincoln University, Jefferson City, MO., before being drafted into the Army in 1941.

Moddie Taylor, Manhattan Project Chemist born

*Moddie Taylor was born on this date in 1912. He was an African American chemist.

James Lu Valle, Chemist born

*James Lu Valle was born on this date in 1912. He was an African American Chemist.

From in San Antonio, Texas, he received a Bachelor of Arts from UCLA in 1936. During that time he ran track for UCLA and won a Bronze medal in 400 meter race in the 1936 Berlin Olympics. In 1937, Lu Valle earned a Master of Arts and Ph.D. in 1940 from California Institute of technology.

Muriel Petioni, Doctor, and Educator born

Dr. Muriel Marjorie Petioni was born on this date in 1914. She is an African American doctor, activist, and community server.

She was born in Trinidad, Port of Spain, the daughter of Rose Alling, a department store clerk, and Charles Augustin Petioni, a newspaper reporter. Her family migrated to New York City when Muriel was five years old. Her father became a prominent Harlem physician, activist, and nationalist for Caribbean independence.

Dorothy L. Brown, Surgeon and Politician born

On this date, Dorothy Lavinia Brown was born in 1919. She was an African American doctor, legislator, and the first Black female surgeon in the South.

Carlton Goodlett, Physician, and Publisher born

*Carlton Goodlett was born on this date in 1914. He was a Black physician, newspaper publisher, and political activist.    Carlton Benjamin Goodlett was born in Chipley, Florida, to Fannie T. Russ and Arthur Goodlett and later migrated to Omaha, Nebraska. He was the youngest of two children. His sister’s name is unknown, but when she was five and Carlton […]

Kenneth B. Clark, Educator, and Psychologist born

This date marks the birthday of Kenneth Bancroft Clark in 1914. He was an African American psychologist, educator, and social activist. His research, in particular his famous “doll study,” was crucial to the desegregation of public schools.

Ethelene Jones Crockett, Public Health Advocate born

*Ethelene Jones Crockett was born on this date in 1914.   She was a Black physician and public health activist.   Ethelene Jones was born in St. Joseph, MI.  She attended Jackson High School and Jackson Junior College (now Jackson College), where she graduated in 1934. She met and married George Crockett Jr while attending the University of Michigan In […]

John E. Hodge, Chemist, born

*John Edward Hodge was born on this date in 1914. He was an African American chemist.

Bessie Blount, Inventor, and Forensic Scientist born

On this date, we mark the birth of Bessie Blount in 1914, an African American inventor and forensic scientist.

She was born in Hickory, Virginia. Little else is known of her family or her childhood except that she had long wanted to work in the medical field. Blount left home and traveled north to New Jersey to become a physical therapist. She studied at both Panzar College of Physical Education and at Union Junior College. Then she moved to Chicago where she finished her training.

Olivia J. Hooker, Tulsa Professor born

*Olivia Hooker was born on this date in 1915. She was a Black psychologist and professor. Olivia J. Hooker was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma. At the age of six, during the Tulsa Race Riots of 1921, Ku Klux Klan members ransacked her home while she hid under a table with her three siblings. Hooker later was […]