People, Locations, Episodes

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.

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.

Alma Levant Hayden, Chemist born.

*Alma Levant Hayden, a Black chemist, was born on this date in 1927 in Greenville, South Carolina. She graduated from South Carolina State College with honors in 1947. Originally planning to be a nurse, she found herself so interested in chemistry that she gained a master’s degree in chemistry from Howard University. Levant joined the National Institute of […]

Jessie Price, Microbiologist born

*Jessie Price was born on this date in 1930. She was a Black veterinary microbiologist. She isolated and reproduced the cause of the most common life-threatening disease in duck farming in the 1950s and developed vaccines for this and other avian diseases. Early life and education.  Jessie Isabelle Price was born in Montrose, Pennsylvania. Her […]

George Wiley, Chemist born

*George Wiley was born on this date in 1931. He was a Black chemist and civil rights leader.   George Alvin Wiley was born in Bayonne, New Jersey, the son of a postal clerk and one of six children. His family eventually moved to Warwick, Rhode Island. Wiley earned his undergraduate degree at the University of Rhode Island in 1953 and […]

Vivienne Malone-Mayes, Math Professor born

*Vivienne Malone-Mayes was born on this date in 1932. She was a Black mathematician and professor.   Vivienne Lucille Malone was born in Waco, Texas, to Pizarro and Vera Lucille Estelle Allen Malone.  Growing up in a Black community in the Jim Crow South was difficult. This included racially segregated schools, but the encouragement of […]

James A. Harris, Nuclear Chemist born

*James Harris was born on this date in 1932. He was a Black nuclear chemist who discovered elements 104 and 105 (rutherfordium and dubnium).   James Andrew Harris was born in Waco, Texas. His parents divorced when he was young, after which he moved to Oakland, California, with his mother and finished high school. Harris […]

Raye Montague, Engineer born

*Raye Montague was born on this date in 1935. She is an African American internationally registered professional engineer (RPE) with the U.S. Navy (retired). Raye Jean Jordan Montague was born in Little Rock, Arkansas to Rayford Jordan and Flossie Graves Jordan. She attended St. Bartholomew School before moving to Merrill High School in Pine Bluff, where she graduated in 1952.

Bettye Washington Greene, Research Chemist born.

*Bettye Washington Greene was born on this date in 1935. She was a Black industrial research chemist. Bettye Washington was born in Fort Worth, Texas. She attended segregated public schools and graduated from I.M. Terrell High School around 1952. Washington graduated from Tuskegee Institute with a B.S. in chemistry in 1955. She earned her Ph.D. in physical chemistry from […]

John Macklin, Chemist, and Environmentalist born

*John W. Macklin was born on this date in 1939. He is an African American analytical chemist and educator.