People, Locations, Episodes

Jane Cooke Wright, Cancer Researcher born

*On this date 1919, Jane Cooke Wright was born. She was an African American doctor and cancer researcher.

Phyllis Mae Dailey, Nurse and Officer born

*This date in 1920 is celebrated as the birth date of Phyllis Mae Dailey, a Black nurse and naval officer. She graduated from the Lincoln School of Nursing in New York City and is a public health student at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dailey initially wanted to enter the U.S. Army, but her race denied […]

The Black Cross Nurses Association is Formed

*On National Nurses Day, May 6, 1920, the Black Cross Nurses Association was established. The organization was the women’s auxiliary of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League.   Officially, the Universal African Black Cross Nurses, an international organization of nurses, was founded based upon the model of the Red Cross. They were established to provide health […]

Henrietta Lacks, Cancer Cell Donor born

*Henrietta Lacks was born on this date in 1920. She was an African American housewife, mother and the involuntary donor of cells from her cancerous tumor, which were cultured to create an immortal cell line for medical research. This is now known as the HeLa cell line.

John Ramos Jr., Doctor, and School Board Member born

*John F. Ramos, Jr. was on this date in 1920. He was an African American Physician and School Board Member.

John Francis Ramos, Jr. was from Boston, MA. He received a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall College in Newark, New Jersey and attended Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. His internship and residency in radiology occurred at the old General Hospital No. 2, Kansas City’s hospital for Black Americans. He was the first resident to complete his training at the hospital and was certified by the American Board of Radiology in 1950.

Nancy Leftenant, Nurse and Officer born

*Nancy Leftenant was born on this date in 1920. She was a Black nurse and military officer. Also known as “Lefty,” she was born in Goose Creek, South Carolina, to James and Eunice Leftenant. She graduated from Amityville High School, Amityville, New York, in 1939 and New York’s Lincoln School of Nursing in 1941. She […]

William Morgan, Dentist, and Tuskegee Airman born

*William Morgan was born on this date in 1921. He was an African American dentist and Tuskegee Airman.

William Bethel Morgan Jr. was from Wyano, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County), a small coal mining community. His father was William Bethel Morgan, Sr., a coal miner, and his mother was Susie Harris Morgan a farmer. When he was just 8, in 1929, Morgan’s father died in a Wyano coal mining accident. Young Morgan and his mother moved onto a farm in Yukon, Pennsylvania as the only black family in town.

Helen E. Nash, Pediatrician born

*Helen Nash was born on this date in 1921.  She was a Black pediatrician and administrator.  Helen Elizabeth Nash was born to Homer Erwin Nash and Marie Antoinette Graves Nash. Her father returned from World War I and started a medical practice called Herndon Building in 1910. Helen was the third of six children in […]

Edith DeVoe, Naval Nurse born

*Edith DeVoe was born on this date in 1921.  She was a Black nurse.  Edith Mazie DeVoe was born in Washington, D. C. to Sadie Frances (née Dent) and Joseph Edward DeVoe. Her parents were employed in government service, and the family consisted of four children: Elizabeth, Edith, Joseph, and Sadie. Her brother died in 1934, […]

Wendell Cotton, Orthodontist born

*On this date in 1922, Wendell Cotton was born. He was an African American dentist and community activist and the first black Orthodontist to open a private practice west of the Mississippi River.

Evelyn Mase, Nurse born

*Evelyn Mase was born on May 18, 1922. She was a Black African nurse. Evelyn Ntoko Mase was born in Engcobo, Transkei, South Africa. Her father was a mineworker, and her mother was his second wife; they had six children, three of whom died in infancy. Mase’s father died when she was still a child. […]

Benjamin F. Scott, Chemist born

*Benjamin Franklin Scott was on this date in 1922.  He was a Black chemist.  Born in Florence, South Carolina, he was the son of Benny and Viola Scott and had two older sisters, Mary and Rosa.  Scott earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1942 from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Scott continued his education at […]

Beatrix A. Hamburg, Psychiatrist born

*Beatrix A. Hamburg was born on this date in 1923.  She was a Black Psychiatrist and advocate for children. Beatrix Ann McCleary was born to Minor and Beatrix Ann Downs in Jacksonville, Florida. Her father was a surgeon who died when she was young. They moved to Long Island in New York shortly after his […]

The Afro-American Sons and Daughters Hospital Opens

*On this date in 1924, the Afro-American Sons and Daughters Hospital opened. In Yazoo City, Mississippi, the Afro-American Hospital “offers death and hospitalization benefits to its members.” After being organized, it had 35,000 members by the 1930s. The Afro Americans Sons and Daughters members used the hospital on a fee basis for non-members. There were […]

Amílcar Cabral, Pan-African Activist born

*Amílcar Cabral was born on this date in 1924.  He was a Bissau-Guinean and Cape Verdean agricultural engineer and Pan-African.  Amílcar Lopes da Costa Cabral was born in Bafatá, Guinea-Bissau, to Cape Verdean parents, Juvenal Antònio Lopes da Costa Cabral and Iva Pinhel Évora, both from Santiago, Cape Verde. His father came from a wealthy […]