In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Carter G. Woodson

by Korey Bowers Brown

During the dawning decades of the twentieth century, it was commonly presumed that black people had little history besides the subjugation
of slavery.  Today, it is clear that blacks have significantly impacted the development of the social, political, and economic structures of the United States and the world.  Credit for the evolving awareness of the true place of blacks in history can, in large part, be bestowed on
one man, Carter G. Woodson.  And, his brainchild the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, Inc. is continuing Woodson’s tradition of disseminating information about black life, history and culture to the global community.

Known as the “Father of Black History,” Woodson (1875-1950) was the son of former slaves, and understood how important gaining a proper education is when striving to secure and make the most out of one’s divine right of freedom. Although he did not begin his formal education until he was 20 years old, his dedication to study enabled him to earn a high school diploma in West Virginia and bachelor and master’s degrees from the University of Chicago in just a few years.  In 1912, Woodson became the second African American to earn a PhD at Harvard University.
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In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Rebecca J. Cole

(16 March 1846–14 August 1922) was an American physician. In 1867, she became the second African American woman to become a doctor in the United States after Rebecca Crumpler‘s achievement three years earlier.

Cole was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and would overcome racial and gender barriers to medical education by training in all-female institutions run by women who had been part of the first generation of female physicians graduating mid-century. Cole attended the Institute for Colored Youth, graduating in 1863. She then went on to graduate from the <a title="Drexel University College of Medicine" href="http://en.wikipedia.org Continue reading →

In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Thomas “Blind Tom” Wiggins

(May 25, 1849 – June 14, 1908) was an African American autistic savant and musical prodigy on the piano. He had numerous original compositions published and had a lengthy and largely successful performing career throughout the United States. During the 19th century, he was one of the most well-known American performing pianists.

Wiggins was born on the Wiley Edward Jones Plantation in Harris County, Georgia. Blind at birth, he was sold in 1850 along with his enslaved parents, Charity and Mingo Wiggins, to a Columbus, Georgia lawyer, General James Neil Bethune.^[1] Bethune was “almost the pioneer free trader” in the United States and “the first [newspaper] editor in the south to openly advocate secession” ^[2]. The new owner re-named the child Thomas Greene Bethune or Thomas Wiggins Bethune (according to different sources). Continue reading →

In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Bessie Coleman

First African American to earn an international pilot’s license

Bessie Coleman was the first African American to earn an international pilot’s license. She dazzled crowds with her stunts at air shows and refused to be slowed by racism.

She would be a leader, she said, in introducing aviation to her race. She would found a school for aviators of any race, and she would appear before audiences in churches, schools, and theaters to spark the interest of African Americans in the new, expanding technology of flight. Continue reading →

In honor of Black History Month, here are few profiles of contributors to history of African descent:

Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr

From Air Force Pilot to First Black Astronaut

Col. Guion S. Bluford Jr.: After flying combat missions over Vietnam as a U.S. Air Force pilot, he went on to become one of America’s first black astronauts. He flew 144 combat missions, 65 over North Vietnam, as a member of the 557th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Cam Ranh Bay, Vietnam.

Lillian E. Fishburne

First Black Female Rear Admiral

Lillian E. Fishburne: Appointed by President Bill Clinton, she became the first African-American woman to hold the rank of rear admiral. The appointment also made the now-retired Fishburne the highest-ranking African-American woman in the U.S. Navy.

Thanks to Tanisha and Bryan Jones and their daughter Sinai for compiling these profiles from the following sources:

1) The Encyclopedia of African-American Heritage, by Susan Altman
2) The Roots website, theroots.com
3) Famous Black Inventors website, black-inventor.com