People, Locations, Episodes

Lloyd Noel Ferguson, Chemist born

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

David Blackwell, Math Professor born

David Blackwell was born on this date in 1919. He was an African American mathematician and professor.

David Harold Blackwell grew up in Centralia, Illinois, a town on the “Mason-Dixon Line.” He was raised in a family which expected and supported working hard. As a schoolboy, Blackwell did not care for algebra and trigonometry.

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.

Marie M. Daly, Biochemist born

Marie Daly was born on this date in 1921. She was an African American biochemist.

From Corona, NY, Marie Maynard Daly earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Queens College in 1942 and a Master of Science from New York University in 1943.

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.

Henry Washington Banks, Astronomer born

*Harvey Washington Banks was born on this date in 1923.  He was a Black Astronomer. Harvey Washington Banks was from Atlantic City, New Jersey. He attended Dunbar High School and Howard University. While at Howard, Banks earned his B.S. and M.S. in Physics in 1947 and 1948, respectively.  He remained at Howard, where he taught physics until 1952. […]

J. Ernest Wilkins Jr., Math Educator born

*J. Ernest Wilkins, Jr. was born on this date in 1923. He was an African American mathematician and teacher.

William Darity Sr., Public Health Advocate born

*William Darity Sr. was born on January 15, 1924. He was a Black public health advocate, academic administrator, and activist. William Alexander (Bill) Darity Sr. was born in East Flat Rock, N.C. Neither of his parents, Aden Randall and Elizabeth Smith Darity, had been educated beyond the sixth grade. Still, they managed to provide a […]

Jewel Plummer Cobb, Biologist, and Educator born

*Jewel Plummer Cobb was born on this date in 1924. She is an African American Educator and Research Scientist.

Evelyn Granville, Math Educator born

Evelyn Boyd Granville was born on this date in 1924 in Washington, D.C. She is an African American mathematician, teacher, and scientist.

She attended a then-segregated Dunbar High School, and was encouraged in the subject by two of her mathematics teachers. Granville attended Smith College on a partial scholarship. In 1945, she graduated summa cum laude and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. She worked with Einar Hille, her Ph.D. faculty adviser at Yale University, in functional analysis.

Albert Antoine, Scientist, and Teacher born

Albert Cornelius Antoine was born on this date in 1925. He is an African American scientist and educator.

Hosea Williams, Activist born

On this date, Hosea Williams was born in, 1926. He was an African American civil rights activist.

Williams was the son of blind Black parents, from Attapulgus, Georgia. After studying at Morris Brown College and Atlanta University, he found employment as a research chemist for the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Randolph Bromery, Geophysicist born

*Randolph Bromery was born on this date in 1926. He is an African American Geophysicist, educator. Bromery was born and raised in Cumberland, Maryland during the Depression.