There is a tendency during Black History Month to hear the stories of popular figures in history such as Rosa Parks, Jackie Robinson, Muhammad Ali and Barack Obama — but that leaves out some incredible contributors such as Lewis Latimer, who patented the filament for the lightbulb and worked on the first telephone, Gwendolyn Brooks, a Pulitzer prize winning poet, or Dorothy Height, who earned the Presidential Medal of Freedom for civil rights activism. Although it is impossible to mention all of the incredible contributors to our history, here are just a few trailblazers that left their mark.
Shirley Chisholm (1924-2005)
First African American woman in Congress in 1968
She was known as an advocate for racial and gender equality and was a member of the NAACP and the Urban League among others. In 1964, she became the second African American in the New York State Legislature and in 1968, she won a seat in Congress. While in Congress, she introduced legislation that supported racial and gender equality, poor communities and ending the Vietnam War. In 1972, she campaigned for the Democratic Party presidential nomination. She was only legally permitted to make one speech because of discrimination. However, she went on to earn 10% of the total delegate vote in her campaign. She retired from Congress in 1983.
Bayard Rustin (1912-1987)
The openly gay organizer of the March on Washington
In the 1930’s Rustin moved to NYC and joined the Young Communist League but quit after he was unable to protest racial segregation in the armed forces. Rustin then joined Reverend A.J. Muste’s Fellowship of Reconciliation and traveled the country calling for racial equality. Because he refused his draft service, he served 26 months in jail in a high-security prison due to desegregation protests and being openly gay. Once released, he continued his commitment to nonviolent protest and attended a world pacifist conference in India to learn the teachings of Mahatma Gandhi. In 1956, he met with Martin Luther King Jr. for the Montgomery Bus Boycott and shared Gandhi’s teachings with King. In 1963, Rustin brought forth the idea of the March on Washington to focus on jobs and freedom. Rustin led the planning coalition with large civil rights organizations of the time including the SNCC, CORE, NAACP and National Urban League. However, because of his past, he was forced to stand in the shadows and allow the organizers to represent the March on Aug. 28, 1963.
Bessie Coleman (1892-1926)
First African and Native American female pilot
When she was 23, Coleman lived in Chicago and worked as a manicurist. Her brothers served during WWI and teased her about how French women were allowed to fly airplanes but Coleman was not. She then applied to flight schools but was denied due to her being African American and a woman. She decided to take French classes and later travel to France to make her dream come true. She was accepted to the Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation in Le Crotoy, France and received her international pilot’s license in 1921. The next year, she performed the first public flight by an African American woman. She was famous for her aerial tricks such as loops and “figure eights.” She traveled the U.S. giving flight lessons and performing in flight shows but refused to travel anywhere that was segregated or discriminated against African Americans. She soon earned enough money to purchase her own plane, a Jenny JN-4 with an OX-5 engine.
Rose Marie McCoy (1922-2015)
Famous songwriter
Born in Arkansas, she attended Eliza Miller High School and dreamed of becoming a professional singer after performing in shows and watching jazz bands perform. In 1942, she moved to New York and eventually started performing as an opening act to stars like Moms Mabley. In 1952, she recorded two of her songs for Wheeler Records. Soon, music publishers sought her writing for popular artists to sing. In 1953, she wrote “Gabbin’ Blues” and “Way Back Home” performed by Big Maybelle, which reached the top ten on Billboard’s Rhythm & Blues chart. That same year, she worked with her first writing partner, Charles Singleton, and wrote seven top-ten hits together such as “If I May” performed by Nat King Cole, “Letter from My Darling” performed by Little Willie John and “Well All Right” performed by Big Joe Turner. Some highlights of her songwriting career include writing hits for Nappy Brown, Elvis Presley, Ike and Tina Turner and jingles for Aretha Franklin and Ray Charles. The last songs she wrote before her death were on Billy Joe Conor’s 2013 self-titled country album.
Garrett Morgan (1877-1963)
Successful inventor
When Morgan was a teenager he moved to Ohio and found a job as a handyman. He soon obtained a patent for an improved sewing machine and opened a repair business. In 1909, while working to improve the friction of the sewing needle on fabric, he discovered the invention straightened the hairs of the cloth. He later tested the invention on his own hair and created the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company and sold the product to African Americans to straighten hair. In 1914, Morgan patented a breathing device also known as a safety hood to provide a safe breathing experience around gases, smokes and other irritants. Morgan marketed the device to fire departments but faced resistance due to Southern buyers. Morgan hired a white actor to pose as the inventor and the product sold without issue. This device later became the prototype for gask masks used during WW1. As Morgan was the first Black man in Cleveland to own a car, he witnessed a carriage incident at an intersection in the city. In 1923, he created a new traffic signal with a warning light to allow drivers to prepare to stop. These patents were created for what we know today as the three-way traffic light and sold to General Electric for $40,000.
Matthew Henson (1866-1955)
Co-explorer to reach the North Pole
At 11, Henson found work as a cabin boy on the ship Katie Hines, and Captain Childs taught Henson the ways of the world as they traveled on the ship through Asia, Africa and Europe. In 1887, Hanson met Robert Edwin Peary, an explorer and officer in the U.S. Navy Corps of Civil Engineers and was hired as a valet. For about 20 years, Henson accompanied Peary on expeditions to Nicaragua, Greenland and several attempts to reach the North Pole. In 1908 the final attempt was made to travel to the North Pole with 24 men, 19 sledges and 133 sled dogs. Henson’s experience with the Inuits in terms of language, skill with building sledges and training others along the trip made him the perfect companion. On April 6, 1909, the remaining Peary, Henson and four Eskimos and 40 dogs reached the North Pole. In 1912, Henson recorded his experience in a book called “A Negro Explorer at the North Pole,” and in 1937 he was accepted into the Explorers Club in New York as an honorary member. Seven years later he was awarded a Congressional Medal for his exploration.
For more remarkable stories of Black trailblazers visit our website nsucurrent.nova.edu.
