Essential The Official African American Thread#2

[Black Lightning]

Bessie Blount was an African American woman who led a life that was dedicated to helping those in need. She was a physical therapist and an inventor of apparatus that was designed to help the amputees that suffered permanent injuries in World War II. Bessie Blount has been called a "savior of the handicapped" for her invention that allowed World War II disabled veterans to feed themselves, and for her unique method of teaching them to write again.

Frederick McKinley Jones is credited with transforming the food industry and America's eating habits with his invention of a practical refrigeration system for trucks and railroad cars. Frederick Jones patented more than sixty inventions in all, but it is his invention of the automatic refrigeration system for long-haul trucks in 1935 that he is most famous for.

Roscoe L Koontz designed a pinhole gamma ray camera called the collimator, and helped to design and fabricate automatic air and water radiation activity measuring devices. He was the first formally trained health physicist.

Health physics is a profession devoted to the protection of people and the environment from the harmful effects of radiation, thus providing for the utilization of radiation for the benefit of mankind. The profession, as we know it, began during World War II when the tremendous power available from nuclear energy was first being developed for weapons. The radiation hazards encountered during the early years of atomic energy were solved by the cooperation of physicists, chemists, biologists, engineers, and physicians. From this endeavor emerged the interdisciplinary specialty known as "health physics."

Jan Ernst Matzeliger invented a shoemaking machine that increased shoemaking speed by 900%. Jan Matzeliger conceived, patented, built working models, and factory-tested a machine known as a shoe-lasting machine, and he eventually became a stockholder in the company that manufactured it. Matzeliger's shoe-lasting machine could produce 150 to 700 pairs of shoes a day.

Elijah McCoy was the inventor of a device that allowed machines to be lubricated while they were still in operation. Machinery buyers insisted on McCoy lubrication systems when buying new machines and would take nothing less than what became known as the real McCoy. The inventor's automatic oiling devices became so universal that no heavy-duty machinery was considered adequate without it, and the expression became part of America culture.

Louis W. Roberts was a pioneer in optics and microwave electronics technology. He was also one of the highest-ranking African-American scientists working for NASA during our race to the moon. Roberts holds eleven patents for electronic devices and is the author of papers on electromagnetism, optics, and microwaves.

James Edward West, Ph.D., is a Bell Laboratories Fellow at Lucent Technologies where he specializes in electro, physical, and architectural acoustics. James West's research in the early 1960s led to the development of foil-electret transducers for sound recording and voice communication that are used in 90% of all microphones built today and at the heart of most new telephones being manufactured.

 

[Black Lightning]

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was born on January 18, 1856 in Hollidaysburg, Pennsylvania. He was the fifth of seven children born to Daniel and Sarah Williams. Daniel’s father was a barber and moved the family to Annapolis, Maryland but died shortly thereafter of tuberculosis. Daniel’s mother realized she could not manage the entire family and sent some of the children to live with relatives. Daniel was apprenticed to a shoemaker in Baltimore but ran away to join his mother who had moved to Rockford, Illinois. He later moved to Edgerton, Wisconsin where he joined his sister and opened his own barber shop. After moving to nearby Janesville, Daniel became fascinated with a local physician and decided to follow his path. He began working as an apprentice to the physician (Dr. Henry Palmer) for two years and in 1880 entered what is now known as Northwestern University Medical School. After graduation from Northwestern in 1883, he opened his own medical office in Chicago,

Because of primitive social and medical circumstances existing in that era, much of Williams early medical practice called for him to treat patients in their homes, including conducting occasional surgeries on kitchen tables. In doing so, Williams utilized many of the emerging antiseptic, sterilization procedures of the day and thereby gained a reputation for professionalism. He was soon appointed as a surgeon on the staff of the South Side Dispensary and then a clinical instructor in anatomy at Northwestern. In 1889 he was appointed to the Illinois State Board of Health and one year later set for to create an interracial hospital.

On January 23, 1891 Daniel Hale Williams established the Provident Hospital and Training School Association, a three story building which held 12 beds and served members of the community as a whole.

The school also served to train Black nurses and utilized doctors of all races. Within its first year, 189 patients were treated at Provident Hospital and of those 141 saw a complete recovery, 23 had recovered significantly, three had seen change in their condition and 22 had died. For a brand new hospital, at that time, to see an 87% success rate was phenomenal considering the financial and health conditions of the patient, and primitive conditions of most hospitals. Much can be attributed to Williams insistence on the highest standards concerning procedures and sanitary conditions.

Two and a half years later, on July 9, 1893, a young Black man named James Cornish was injured in a bar fight, stabbed in the chest with a knife. By the time he was transported to Provident Hospital he was seeking closer and closer to death, having lost a great deal of blood and having gone into shock. Williams was faced with the choice of opening the man’s chest and possibly operating internally when that was almost unheard of in that day in age. Internal operations were unheard of because any entrance into the chest or abdomen of a patient would almost surely bring with it resulting infection and therefore death. Williams made the decision to operate and opened the man’s chest. He saw the damage to the man’s pericardium (sac surrounding the heart) and sutured it, then applied antiseptic procedures before closing his chest. Fifty one days later, James Cornish walked out of Provident Hospital completely recovered and would go on to live for another fifty years. Unfortunately, Williams was so busy with other matters, he did not bother to document the event and others made claims to have first achieved the feat of performing open heart surgery. Fortunately, local newspapers of the day did spread the news and Williams received the acclaim he deserved. It should be noted however that while he is known as the first person to perform an open heart surgery, it is actually more noteworthy that he was the first surgeon to open the chest cavity successfully without the patient dying of infection. His procedures would therefore be used as standards for future internal surgeries.

In February 1894, Daniel Hale Williams was appointed as Chief Surgeon at the Freedmen’s Hospital in Washington, D.C. and reorganized the hospital, creating seven medical and surgical departments, setting up pathological and bacteriological units, establishing a biracial staff of highly qualified doctors and nurses and established an internship program. Recognition of his efforts and their success came when doctors from all over the country traveled to Washington to view the hospital and to sit in on surgery performed there. Almost immediately there was an astounding increase in efficiency as well as a decrease in patient deaths.

 

[Black Lightning]

C.R. Patterson & Sons Company (1893-1939)

The C.R. Patterson & Sons Company was a carriage building firm, and the first African American-owned automobile manufacturer. The company was founded by Charles Richard Patterson, who was born into slavery in April 1833 on a plantation in Virginia. His parents were Nancy and Charles Patterson. Patterson escaped from slavery in 1861, heading west and settling in Greenfield, Ohio around 1862.

At some point after his arrival in Ohio, Patterson went to work as a blacksmith for the carriage-building business, Dines and Simpson. In 1865 he married Josephine Utz, and had five children from 1866 to 1879. In 1873, Patterson went into partnership with J.P. Lowe, another Greenfield-based carriage manufacturer. Over the next twenty years, Patterson and Lowe developed a highly successful carriage-building business.

In 1893 Patterson bought out J.P. Lowe’s share of the business and reorganized it as C.R. Patterson & Sons Company. The company built 28 types of horse-drawn vehicles and employed approximately 10-15 individuals. While the company managed to successfully market its equine-powered carriages and buggies, the dawn of the automobile was rapidly approaching.

Charles Patterson died in 1910, leaving the successful carriage business to his son Frederick who in turn initiated the conversion of the company from a carriage business into an automobile manufacturer. The first Patterson-Greenfield car debuted in 1915 and was sold for $850. With a four-cylinder Continental engine, the car was comparable to the contemporary Ford Model T. The Patterson-Greenfield car may, in fact, have been more sophisticated than Ford’s car, but C.R. Patterson & Sons never matched Ford’s manufacturing capability.

Estimates of Patterson-Greenfield car production vary, but it is almost certain that no more than 150 vehicles were built. The company soon switched to production of truck, bus, and other utility vehicle bodies which were installed atop chassis made by major auto manufacturers such as Ford and General Motors. Its school bus bodies in particular became popular as Midwestern school districts began to convert from horse-drawn to internal-combustion-fired transportation by 1920.

Around 1920, the company reorganized as the Greenfield Bus Body Company but after ten years of steady, if unspectacular growth, the Great Depression sent the company into a downward spiral. Frederick Patterson died in 1932, and the company began to disintegrate in the late 1930s. Around 1938, the company moved to Gallipolis, Ohio, changing its name again to the Gallia Body Company in an attempt to restart its prior success. The attempt failed and the company permanently closed its doors in 1939. Like many other small auto manufacturers, the company was unable to compete with Ford, General Motors, Chrysler, and other large automobile manufacturers.

 

[Black Lightning]

 

[Black Haven]

Black Power/Pan-Africanism/Afrocentrism


As you know these were often intertwined

W.E.B. Du Bois – The father of modern Pan-Africanism?

​

W.E.B. Du Bois - The father of modern Pan-Africanism?


Pan-Africanism

​

Pan-Africanism

Wow I didn't know this about W.E.B Dubois.

 

[ridedolo]

cant stop, won't stop

 

[Thebadguy]

.
John Morton-Finney was born on June 25, 1889 in Uniontown, KY. He was the son of a slave whose ancestors migrated from Ethiopia to Nigeria. He grew up in a family of seven children where poetry readings and political debates were evening activities. His mother died when he was 14 so his father sent the children to live on their grandfather’s farm in Missouri.
Dr. John Morton-Finney

Morton-Finney served in the 24th U.S. Infantry Regiment from 1911-1914 and went to the Philippines. He rose to the rank of sergeant and applied for an officer’s commission. In 1913, his commander told him that, although he had the intelligence and the education to be an officer, he was disqualified due to his race. When the commander said that he wouldn’t be able to go to the officer’s club, Morton-Finney responded that he didn’t want to go to the officer’s club; he wanted to be an officer. He earned a citation from General John J. Pershing for his service in the Philippines.

Trooper Morton-Finney received an honorable discharge; then, earned his first college degree from Lincoln College in Missouri. He began teaching in a one-room schoolhouse but when World War I started, he returned to the military. He served in France in the American Expeditionary Force and saw the destruction; survivors of mustard gas, men spitting up parts of their lungs, and the graves of 30,000 Frenchmen.

After the war, he earned degrees in math, French, and history. At Lincoln College, he heard about a new French teacher, Pauline Ray, with a degree from Cornell University. Morton-Finney signed into her class and won her heart. They were married and moved to Indianapolis in 1922. He taught junior high math and social studies at Indianapolis Public Schools #27 and #17 where he also served as principal. In 1927, he was hired as one of the first teacher at all-black Crispus Attucks High School (CAHS). He served as head of the foreign language department - teaching Greek, Latin, German, Spanish, and French. Students also learned life skills such as how to set goals, plan their futures, and take responsibility for their actions. They learned that racism is an unacceptable excuse for failure and developed a deep respect for their history and culture. According to his daughter, Gloria, he invited presidents from black colleges to speak to the students. He made it possible for Crispus Attucks students to obtain scholarships to attend college. Students had a view of going someplace beyond CAHS.
During World War II, he was cited for directing the rationing tickets program for African American in Indianapolis. Various merchandise such as meats, sugar, butter, gasoline, and rubber were strictly rationed. Many items were especially scarce but rationing guaranteed that everyone received equal amounts of raw materials (Dolan, 1992).

John Morton-Finney’s love for learning remained constant. While at CAHS, he earned master’s degrees in French and education from Indiana University. In 1935, he earned his first law degree and four more after that. During his life, he read three or four books at a time. Twenty books would be stacked beside his bed with five sharpened pencils and the television turned to the news. During an interview with Wallace Terry on his 100th birthday (Terry, 1990), Morton-Finney said “I can get interested in so many things. There is so much to know in the world. And it is such a pleasure for me to learn. Besides, a cultivated man would never say - I finished my education - because he graduated from college. There is no end to learning.” ]He credited his grandfather with giving him advice that served him well. He believed that moderation in all matters is the key to a long life.

John Morton-Finney - educator, lawyer, and humanitarian - earned 12 degrees including a law degree from Indiana University and a degree from Butler University when he was 75 years old. He practiced law until he was 106 and died on January 28, 1998 at the age of 108. He received a full honor military memorial service and was laid to rest at Crown Hill Cemetery.
Indianapolis Public Schools Board honored this dedicated teacher who taught for 47 years. In 2000, they unanimously voted to rename the Center for Educational Services to the Dr. John Morton-Finney Center for Educational Services. Commander Carlton Philpot, who was the Chairman of the Buffalo Soldiers Monument committee at Fort Leavenworth, KS, was the keynote speaker for the dedication.

Other honors bestowed on John Morton-Finney include an honorary doctorate degree from Martin University in 1991. His photograph appears with a short sketch of his life on the wall of honor. Martin University is the only higher education institution in Indiana that specializes in serving adults. The student population is 98% African American. Father Boniface Hardin is the University’s founding president, which opened its doors in 1987.

In 1998, Congresswoman Julia Carson made a tribute to Trooper Morton-Finney on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives (Congress. Record, Feb. 4, 1998). In 2003, the IU Board of Trustees approved a residential house on the Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis campus to honor Dr. John Morton-Finney that opened in 2004. The campus is developing a community of houses named for past heroes and community leaders. They want to build a sense of community among the students, the university campus, and the Indianapolis community. The goal is to create a sense of belonging for students to recognize that in becoming a part of the IUPUI family, they are part of something larger than themselves. Dr. John Morton-Finney would agree with that philosophy.

http://www.buffalosoldiersresearchmuseum.org/research/books/morton-finney.htm

John Morton-Finney Earned 11 Degrees and Practiced Law Until He Was 106 Years Old | Black Then

John Morton-Finney - Wikipedia

 

[Black Barbie]

I know that people always have negative things to say about West Virginia, but there are places that ave historical meaning to us as AA's.
African Zion Baptist Church - Malden (I've personally been to this one)
Barnett Hospital and Nursing School, Huntington
Bethel AME Church, Parkersburg
Booker T. Washington High School, London
Camp Washington-Carver Complex, Clifftop
Canty House, Institute
Douglass Junior and Senior High School, Huntington
East Hall, Institute
Elizabeth Harden Gilmore House, Charleston
Garnet High School, Charleston
Halltown Colored Free School, Halltown
Halltown Union Colored Sunday School, Halltown
Hancock House, Bluefield
Henry Logan Memorial AME Church, Parkersburg
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park, Harpers Ferry
Storer College, Harpers Ferry
Jefferson County Courthouse, Charles Town
Kelly Miller High School, Clarksburg
Maple Street Historic District, Lewisburg
Mattie V. Lee Home, Charleston
Mount Pisgah Benevolence Cemetery, Romney
Mt. Pleasant School, Gerrardstown
Mt. Tabor Baptist Church, Lewisburg
Samuel Starks House, Charleston
Second Ward Negro Elementary School, Morgantown
Simpson Memorial United Methodist Church, Charleston
Trinity Memorial Methodist Episcopal Church, Clarksburg
Union Historic District, Union
Washington Place, Romney
West Virginia Colored Children's Home, Huntington
Weston Colored School, Weston
World War Memorial, Kimball

We also have WVSU (West Virginia State University, not to be confused with WVU, it happens) which is an HBCU, however it does have a large white population unfortunately, and I wish I could encourage more black people to go there.

Edit: @Meh I know you're not AA, but here some places to visit in WV

 

[Akata Man Bromo]

Im byke in this bytch #NoLosses

What happened to the last thread?

 

[Black Barbie]

Im byke in this bytch #NoLosses

What happened to the last thread?

I believe it was deleted.

 

[Akata Man Bromo]

I believe it was deleted.

Any reason why

 

[Black Barbie]

Any reason why

I have no idea. But I get that feeling was a reason why.

 

[Taharqa]

my african american brethren

in

 

[Rhapscallion Démone]

Any reason why

The poster who created it appears to have been banned. Also the mods had to delete a lot posts in the last thread because one poster came in boasting about backpage ads to derail the thread.

 

[IllmaticDelta]

Samuel L. Kountz

Dr. Samuel Lee Kountz, Jr. (October 30, 1930 – December 23, 1981) was an African-American kidney transplantation surgeon from Lexa, Arkansas. He was most distinguished for his pioneering work in the field of kidney transplantations, and in research, discoveries, and inventions in Renal Science. In 1961, while working at the Stanford University Medical Center, he performed the first successful Kidney transplant between humans who were not identical twins. Six years later, he and a team of researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, developed the prototype for the Belzer kidney perfusion machine, a device that can preserve kidneys for up to 50 hours from the time they are taken from a donor's body. It is now standard equipment in hospitals and research laboratories around the world.[1][2][3]

It was at Stanford that he studied the field of organ transplantation, and decided to make transplant surgery his life's work. He was still a resident in 1961, when he made medical history by performing the first kidney transplant using a non-twin donor. Among Kountz's other contributions were the discovery that large doses of the steroid drug methylprednisolone could reverse acute rejection of a transplanted kidney, and that re-implantation (the implantation of a second donor kidney at the earliest indication that the first might be rejected) could mean the difference between the death and survival for transplant patients. A tireless proponent of organ donation, he once performed a kidney transplant on live television, The Today Show, in 1976, inspiring some 20,000 viewers to offer their kidneys to patients who needed them. In addition, his groundbreaking research in the area of tissue typing helped improve the results of kidney transplantation and led to the increased use of kidneys from unrelated donors.

Kountz was appointed Professor of Surgery and Chairman of the Department at the State University of New York (SUNY), Downstate Medical Center in Brooklyn, New York beginning in 1972 and Surgeon-in-Chief of Kings County Hospital. The University of Arkansas awarded him the honorary Juris Doctor in 1973. He developed the largest kidney transplant research and training program in the country at the University of California, San Francisco.

At the time of his death, he had personally performed some 500 kidney transplants, the most performed by any physician in the world at that time.[6][7]