$cientists of Black History Month: Inspire, Relate, Awe
Katherine Johnson lived an aspirational 101 years on earth. We are lucky to have known her story. With so many stories that have gone largely uncelebrated, i needed to bring them to life. It has been an honor to publish the $TEMmers calendars since 2016 and research these extraordinary earthlings since 2012. their stories not only inspire us, but also give us something to relate to before they humble us.
Here are black- and african-american $TEMmers that have graced our calendar over the years. They were astronauts, surgeons, physicists, neuroscientists, and beyond. Learn about and from them not only in February, but every day throughout every year.
Alice Ball was a chemist who developed a treatment for leprosy. Her superior stole her method after she died… possibly from inhaling toxic chemicals in the lab.
Solomon Fuller, MD was a Liberian immigrant and neurologist who discovered key pathologies in Alzheimer’s disease.
Majorie Joyner invented a machine for permanent hair waves after watching her dinner roast in the oven.
Gerald Lawson was an engineer who invented the first video game cartridge. As a member of an elite computer engineering club, he met future Apple co-founder Steve Wozniak, but didn’t hire him for a position.
Dorothy Brown, MD was an orphan who grew up to become a surgeon, politician, and adoptive parent. She pushed for a woman’s right to choose and racial equality.
Henrietta Lacks was a mother of 5 children and of HeLa cells. Her cervical cancer cells were the first to grow inside of a laboratory, which allowed discoveries of vaccines and treatments for global health problems. More on her story here.
Daniel Hale Williams, MD refused to become a shoemaker at his mother’s request. After performing one of the world’s first heart surgeries, he opened a Chicago hospital, trained black nurses, and attended to slaves who were freed.
Annie Easley did complex calculations by hand for space programs as a human computer for NACA (pre-NASA).
Mildred Jefferson, MD convinced President Ronald Reagan to support the Pro-Life movement. She also advocated against equal rights for women in the work place.
Raye Montague designed US Navy battle ships using her self-taught computer programming knowledge. Her mom said that she would always need to work harder because of her race and gender.
Ron McNair, PhD held his ground when the police came to prevent him from checking out library books. He became the school’s valedictorian before becoming a physicist and an astronaut.
Vivien Thomas, PhD had to go without recognition for his pioneering work in cardiology because of his race and socioeconomic status. He prevailed and went from carpenter to professor.
Dorothy Vaughan was a math genius who worked at NACA.
Jesse Wilkins attended University of Chicago as the youngest student in history at 13 years old because he was a math genius. Luckily his boss spoke up for Wilkins when he face job discrimination because of his race.
$cience is Art
Art is $cience