People, Locations, Episodes

Samuel Nabrit, Biologist born

*Samuel Nabrit was born on this date in 1905. He was an African American biologist, educator, and activist.

Harold Finley, Parapsychologist born

*Harold Finley was born on this date in 1905. He was an African American Parapsychologist and Protozoologist.

From Palatka, Florida Harold Eugene Finley was the son of Eugene and Lugina Finley. He received a Bachelor of Science from Morehouse University in 1928. One year later he received a Master of Science from the University of Wisconsin his Ph.D. in Zoology in 1942. Dr. Finley was appointed as Professor at Atlanta University in 1938 where he stayed until 1947.

Angie Lena Turner King, Chemist born

*Angie Lena Turner King was born on this date in 1905. She was a Black chemist, mathematician, and educator.   Angie Lena Turner was born in the segregated coal-mining community of Elkhorn in McDowell County, West Virginia. She had a difficult childhood following her mother’s death when she was eight. Turner graduated high school at […]

William Claytor, Mathematician born

William Claytor was born on this date in 1908. He was an African American mathematician and educator.

Frank Mann, Aviator, and Engineer born

On this date we mark the birth of Frank Mann in 1908. He was an African American engineer and designer.

Warren E. Henry, Scientist born

Warren Henry’s birth in 1909 is marked on this date. He was an African American scientist from Evergreen, AL.

Warren Elliot Henry was born on a peanut farm where George Washington Carver lived and did research during summer months. Both of his parents were graduates of Tuskegee Institute, and young Warren was reading when he was four, occasionally going on walks with his father and Carver. He, too, attended Tuskegee Institute, where he majored in three subjects: mathematics, English, and French, earning a Bachelor of Science.

W. Lincoln Hawkins, Chemist, and Engineer born

*W. Lincoln Hawkins was born on this date in 1911. He was a Black chemist, engineer, and environmental justice advocate.   Walter Lincoln Hawkins was born in Washington, D.C. His father was a lawyer for the U.S. Census Bureau, and his mother was a science teacher in the District of Columbia school system. Hawkins also […]

E. Oscar Woolfolk, Chemist and Professor born

*E. Oscar Woolfolk was born on this date in 1912.  He was a Black chemist and Professor.  From Tupelo, Mississippi, he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree from Talladega College, Alabama, in 1934 and a Master of Science from Ohio State University in 1939. Ten years later, he earned a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University […]

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.

Carolyn B. Parker, Physicist, and Professor born

*Carolyn Parker was born on this date in 1917.  She was a Black physicist and professor.  Carolyn Beatrice Parker was born in Gainesville, Florida. Her father, Julius A. Parker, was a successful physician and pharmacist who graduated from Meharry Medical College, the first medical school for Blacks in the South. Her mother was Della Ella […]

Lloyd Noel Ferguson, Chemist born

*Lloyd Noel Ferguson was born on this date in 1918. He was an African American chemist, author and educator.

Jane Cooke Wright, Cancer Researcher born

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

Carl Fraction, Minnesota Chemist born

Carl Fraction was born on this date in 1919. He was an African American microbiologist, scientist, and photographer.

Carl Harrison Fraction was born in St. Paul, MN, to James and Opal Fraction, one of six siblings. When he was young, the family moved to Iowa. Carl graduated from Des Moines North High School in 1937, where he played in the high school band.

Fraction enlisted in the Air Force and was discharged in 1945, but he later contracted tuberculosis. While in the Air Force, he learned photography.

Margaret Collins, Entomologist and Activist born.

*Margaret Collins was born on this date in 1922. She was a Black entomologist (zoologist) and a civil rights advocate. Margaret James was born in Institute, West Virginia. Collins was the fourth child of Rollins James and Luella Bolling James. Institute was an all-Black town and a college town. Collins’s father earned his bachelor’s degree […]

Ralph Gardner, Chemist born

On this date in 1922, Ralph Gardner was born. He was an African American scientist who specialized in the development of hard plastics.

Ralph Alexander Gardner’s was born in Cleveland to Vivian Hicks Gardner, a teacher and housewife, and Clarence Chavous Gardner, a musician and government worker. His mother earned a degree from the University of Illinois. While in the eighth and ninth grade Gardner realized that chemistry was his direction in life. Gardner attended the Cleveland Public Schools, graduating from John Adams High School.