Black History Month 

Wendell Scott (1921 - 1990)

• First Black full-time NASCAR driver.
• Greased Lightening, a movie starring Richard Pryor was based loosely on his life. 

• Was inducted into the International Motor Sports Hall of Fame and the NASCAR Hall of Fame. 

Dr. Solomon Carter Fuller (1872 - 1953)

• Nation's first black psychiatrist.
• Worked as a pathologist at Westborough State Hospital for the Insane.
• Invited by German psychiatrist Dr. Alois Alzheimer to be his graduate research assistants at the Royal Psychiatric Hospital in Munich.
• Made significant contributions to research on brain disorders.

Eunice Hunton Carter (1899 - 1970)

• First black woman to earn a law degree from Fordham University Law School.
• Appointed New York Assistant District Attorney.
• Mob-buster who found evidence pointing to Charles "Lucky" Luciano as a "Mob-Boss". 

Claudette Colvin (1939 - Present)

• 15-year old activist
• Nine months before Rosa Park, she refused to give up her seat to a white passenger on a bus.
• Main witness in the lawsuit whch ended segregation on pubic transportation in Alabama.

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (1908 - 1972)

• Baptist Pastor, publisher, politician
• Pastor of Abyssinian Baptist Church.
• Represented Harlem in the US House of Representatives.
• First African-American to be elected to Congress from New York. 
• Founder/publisher of the People's Voice, a newspaper for "a progressive African american audience.

Charlie Sifford (1922 - 2015)

• Golfer, pioneer
• Helped open the game of golf to African American golfers.
• Won several UGA (association of black golfers) and PGA tournaments.
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James Armistead (1760 - 1830)

• Patriot, spy, double agent.
• Served both the Continental Army and the British Army, but fed false info to the British.
• His intelligence reports were instrumental in help[ing defeat the British during the battle of Yorktown.

Rebecca Lee Crumpler (1831 - 1895)

• First African American Woman to become a physician in the US.
• Worked wit the Freedmen's Bureau to provide medical care of freed slaves.
• Published "A Book of Medical Discourses", which focused on medical care for women and children.

Madam C.J. Walker (1867 - 1919)

• First self-made Female millionaire.
• Born Sarah Breedlove, was both an orphan and widow by age 20.
• Developed and sold hair-growing formula specifically for African American women.
• Established beauty schools, salons and training facilities.

Mark Dean (1957 - Present)

• Computer Programmer, Inventor.
• Co-creator of the first IBM ISA BUS - the hardware interface that allows multiple devices, such as: printers, modems, keyboards, etc to be plugged into a computer.
• Invented the first color PC monitor.
• Professor at University of Tennessee.

John Mercer Langston (1829 - 1897)

• Educator, activist and diplomat.
• First African-American Lawyer.
• First African-American to be elected to public office in the US.
• First dean of Howard University Law School.
• Great-Uncle of Poet Langston Hughes.

Ivan van Sertima (1935 - 2009)

• Guyanese-born literary critic, linguist and anthropologist.
• Associate processor of Africana Studies at Rutgers University.
• Authored "The Lost Sciences of Africa: An Overview"  which discusses early African advances in metallurgy, astronomy, mathematics, architecture, engineering, agriculture, navigation, medicine and writing.

Carol Mosley-Braun (1947 - Present)

• Attorney, activist, politician.
• First African-American woman to be elected to the U.S. Senate in 1992.
• Served as U.S.ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa under Pres. Bill Clinton in 1999.

Nat  Turner (1800 - 1831)

• Enslaved African-American who led a rebellion of slaves and free blacks.
• Christian Preacher that traveled from plantation to plantation ministering to the slaves about the word of God.

Hattie McDaniel (1895 - 1952)

• Professional singer, actress, songwriter and comedian.
• First African-American to win an Oscar.
• Appeared in over 300 films.
• First African-American woman to sing on the radio in the US

Benjamin Banneker (1731 - 1806)

• Invented the first clock in America.
• Responsible for surveying of territory for construction of the nation's capital.
• Authored commercially successful series of almanacs.
• Corresponded with Thomas Jefferson on matters of slavery and racial equality.

Henrietta Lacks 1(920 - 1951)

• Cancer cell culture was used to create one of the most important cell lines 
• The cells were used  to develop polio vaccine, research cancer, AIDS, etc.
• Given a posthumous doctorate in Public Service.

Garrett Morgan (1877 - 1963)

• publisher, inventor
• Invented hair-straightening products, breathing device, sewing machine and an improved traffic signal.

Patricia Bath (1942 - Present)

• Inventor, Doctor, Educator
• First African Americal to become an Opthamologist.
• Co-founded Americal Institute for the Preention of Blindness.
• Invented Laserphaco Probe for the treatment of cataracts

Lonnie G Johnson (1949 - Present)

• Inventor, Engineer
• Former Air Force and NASA engineer
• Invented Super Soaker water gun
• Developed Johnson Thermoelectric Energy Converter which converts heat into electricity.

George Carruthers (1939 - Present)

• Scientist, Physicist
• Invented spectrograph used by NASA in the Apollo 16 flight
• Built his first telescope at age 10
• Professor at Howard University

Sarah E Goode (1855 - 1905)

• Entrepreneur, Inventor
• First African American woman to receive a US Patent.
• Designed the folding cabinet bed.
• Owned furniture store along with her carpenter husband.