Re: "the *** problem"

Aside from George Washinton Carver (who anyone with even a 6th grade
education would know)

African American Scientists
Benjamin Banneker
(1731-1806) Born into a family of free blacks in Maryland, Banneker
learned the rudiments of reading, writing, and arithmetic from his
grandmother and a Quaker schoolmaster. Later he taught himself advanced
mathematics and astronomy. He is best known for publishing an almanac
based on his astronomical calculations.
Rebecca Cole
(1846-1922) Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Cole was the second
black woman to graduate from medical school (1867). She joined Dr.
Elizabeth Blackwell, the first white woman physician, in New York and
taught hygiene and childcare to families in poor neighborhoods.
Edward Alexander Bouchet
(1852-1918) Born in New Haven, Connecticut, Bouchet was the first
African American to graduate (1874) from Yale College. In 1876, upon
receiving his Ph.D. in physics from Yale, he became the first African
American to earn a doctorate. Bouchet spent his career teaching college
chemistry and physics.
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams
(1856-1931) Williams was born in Pennsylvania and attended medical
school in Chicago, where he received his M.D. in 1883. He founded the
Provident Hospital in Chicago in 1891, and he performed the first
successful open heart surgery in 1893.
George Washington Carver
(1865?-1943) Born into slavery in Missouri, Carver later earned degrees
from Iowa Agricultural College. The director of agricultural research
at the Tuskegee Institute from 1896 until his death, Carver developed
hundreds of applications for farm products important to the economy of
the South, including the peanut, sweet potato, soybean, and pecan.
Charles Henry Turner
(1867-1923) A native of Cincinnati, Ohio, Turner received a B.S. (1891)
and M.S. (1892) from the University of Cincinnati and a Ph.D. (1907)
from the University of Chicago. A noted authority on the behavior of
insects, he was the first researcher to prove that insects can hear.
Ernest Everett Just
(1883-1941) Originally from Charleston, South Carolina, Just attended
Dartmouth College and the University of Chicago, where he earned a
Ph.D. in zoology in 1916. Just's work on cell biology took him to
marine laboratories in the U.S. and Europe and led him to publish more
than 50 papers.
Archibald Alexander
(1888-1958) Iowa-born Alexander attended Iowa State University and
earned a civil engineering degree in 1912. While working for an
engineering firm, he designed the Tidal Basin Bridge in Washington,
D.C. Later he formed his own company, designing Whitehurst Freeway in
Washington, D.C. and an airfield in Tuskegee, Alabama, among other
projects.
Roger Arliner Young
(1889-1964) Ms. Young was born in Virginia and attended Howard
University, University of Chicago, and University of Pennsylvania,
where she earned a Ph.D. in zoology in 1940. Working with her mentor,
Ernest E. Just, she published a number of important studies.
Dr. Charles Richard Drew
(1904-1950) Born in Washington, D.C., Drew earned advanced degrees in
medicine and surgery from McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, in
1933 and from Columbia University in 1940. He is particularly noted for
his research in blood plasma and for setting up the first blood bank.


African American Inventors
Thomas L. Jennings
(1791-1859) A tailor in New York City, Jennings is credited with being
the first African American to hold a U.S. patent. The patent, which was
issued in 1821, was for a dry-cleaning process.
Norbert Rillieux
(1806-1894) Born the son of a French planter and a slave in New
Orleans, Rillieux was educated in France. Returning to the U.S., he
developed an evaporator for refining sugar, which he patented in 1846.
Rillieux's evaporation technique is still used in the sugar industry
and in the manufacture of soap and other products.
Benjamin Bradley
(1830?-?) A slave, Bradley was employed at a printing office and later
at the Annapolis Naval Academy, where he helped set up scientific
experiments. In the 1840s he developed a steam engine for a war ship.
Unable to patent his work, he sold it and with the proceeds purchased
his freedom.
Elijah McCoy
(1844-1929) The son of escaped slaves from Kentucky, McCoy was born in
Canada and educated in Scotland. Settling in Detroit, Michigan, he
invented a lubricator for steam engines (patented 1872) and established
his own manufacturing company. During his lifetime he acquired 57
patents.
Lewis Howard Latimer
(1848-1929) Born in Chelsea, Mass., Latimer learned mechanical drawing
while working for a Boston patent attorney. He later invented an
electric lamp and a carbon filament for light bulbs (patented 1881,
1882). Latimer was the only African-American member of Thomas Edison's
engineering laboratory.
Granville T. Woods
(1856-1910) Woods was born in Columbus, Ohio, and later settled in
Cincinnati. Largely self-educated, he was awarded more than 60 patents.
One of his most important inventions was a telegraph that allowed
moving trains to communicate with other trains and train stations, thus
improving railway efficiency and safety.
Madame C.J. Walker
(1867-1919) Widowed at 20, Louisiana-born Sarah Breedlove Walker
supported herself and her daughter as a washerwoman. In the early 1900s
she developed a hair care system and other beauty products. Her
business, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, amassed a fortune,
and she became a generous patron of many black charities.
Garrett Augustus Morgan
(1877-1963) Born in Kentucky, Morgan invented a gas mask (patented
1914) that was used to protect soldiers from chlorine fumes during
World War I. Morgan also received a patent (1923) for a traffic signal
that featured automated STOP and GO signs. Morgan's invention was later
replaced by traffic lights.
Frederick McKinley Jones
(1892-1961) Jones was born in Cincinnati, Ohio. An experienced
mechanic, he invented a self-starting gas engine and a series of
devices for movie projectors. More importantly, he invented the first
automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks (1935). Jones was
awarded more than 40 patents in the field of refrigeration.
David Crosthwait, Jr.
(1898-1976) Born in Nashville, Tennessee, Crosthwait earned a B.S.
(1913) and M.S. (1920) from Purdue University. An expert on heating,
ventilation, and air conditioning, he designed the heating system for
Radio City Music Hall in New York. During his lifetime he received some
40 U.S. patents relating to HVAC systems.

.