A life-long entertainer, Iverson started out with the Boys Choir of Harlem performing before world leaders and dignitaries. By the age of 18, he had shared the stage with artists such as Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder and Tony Bennett. Iverson made national headlines in 1999 when he was appointed as Ringling Bros./Barnum and Bailey Circus’ first African-American Ringmaster. His ap- pearance would set box office records for attendance during his tenure.

Jonathan Lee Iverson American track star James Cleve- land Owens set three world records in track and field that has never been equaled. He gained interna- tional fame when he won four gold medals at the 1936 Summer Olym- pics in Nazi-controlled Berlin, Ger- many. As a black man, he was credited with single-handedly crushing Adolph Hitler’s myth of Aryan supremacy in sports.

Jesse Owens Before the Xbox...before the Playstation...before even the NES there was the Fairchild Channel F video entertainment system. Developed in the 70’s by electronic engineer Gerald Lawson, the console was the first to employ removable cartridges to expand playability. He would go on to create Videosoft, a development company to develop games for the emerging Atari 2600 system.

Gerald Anderson Lawson Eugene Bullard was the first African-American pilot al- though he flew in World War I and II for the French Foreign Legion and the French Air Service. He sought to fly for the United States when it entered WWI, but was refused ad- mittance because of his race. In 1994, thirty-three years after his death, he was posthumously commissioned a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Air Force.

Eugene Jacques Bullard The first African-American female self-made millionaire, Sarah Breedlove became one of the wealthiest women ever through her development of beauty and hair products. She would go on to play an important role in philanthropy and activism. At the height of her success, Madam C.J. Walker Manufactur- ing had expanded to Cuba, Ja- maica, Haiti, Panama and Costa Rica training nearly 20,000 women.

Madam C.J. Walker In April of 1939, Congress passed a bill authorizing funds to train African-American pilots after years of rejection. The Tuskegee Airmen actually refers to the navigators, mechanics, nurses, in- structors and other support personnel for the newly formed 332nd Fighter Group and 477th Bombardment Group of the US Army Air Forces. Despite ongoing discrimination within and out- side the Army, the pilots would boast 1,578 combat missions with 179 bomber escort missions, losing a total of 27 bombers, as compared to an average of 46 among white pilot groups.

Tuskegee Airmen This painting was created by artist William Carlton and depicts a December 31, 1862 “Watch Meeting”, a group of African-American men, women and children waiting for the clock to strike midnight...the hour that the Emancipa- tion Proclamation would take affect making all American slaves free. Having hung in the White Houses of Presidents Bill Clinton and Barack Obama, the original print was presented to Abraham Lincoln in 1863.

“Waiting For The Hour” Founded by a Presbyterian minister and his Quaker wife in 1854, the Ashmun Institute was created as the country’s first degree-granting historically black university. Following the assas- sination of President Abraham Lincoln, the school was renamed in his honor.

Lincoln University As the 33rd President of the United States, he issued an executive order to desegre- gate the armed forces, estab- lished a Committee on Civil Rights and became the first U.S. president to address the NAACP’s national convention.

Harry S. Truman The first African-American woman elected to Congress, Representative Chisholm served New York’s 12 Congressional District. Her office staff consisted entirely of women with half of them Afri- can-American. In 1972, she became the first black candidate for a major party’s nomination for the presidency. She was also the first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination, leading the way for Hillary Clinton.

Shirley Chisholm Negro History Week was established by historian Carter G. Wood- son in 1926 with the hopes of encouraging coordinated teaching of American Black History in the schools. The expansion to a month-long recognition was proposed by Black student leaders at Kent State in 1969. Black History Month was officially recognized by the US gov- ernment during the United States Bicentennial in 1976. Black History Month Born right here in Guil- ford County, Quaker Levi Coffin provided transport for over 3,000 slaves on the Underground Railroad. His home in Fountain City, Indiana saw so much free- dom traffic that it was often called the railroad’s “Grand Central Station.”

Levi Coffin Folding Cabinet Bed Sarah S. Goode Carbon filament (for light bulb) Lewis Latimer Street Mailbox (hinged door) Philip B. Downing Railroad Engine Lubricator Elijah McCoy Potato Chips George Crum Many of the products that we use today were in Artificial Pacemaker Control Unit Otis Boykin fact created by an African Fireproof Safe Henry Brown American. See which ones Multiplex Telegraph Granville T. Woods you recognize! Cataract Laserphaco Probe Patricia Bath Super Soaker Lonnie Johnson Imaging X-Ray Spectrometer George E. Alcorn Mobile Refrigeration Frederick M. Jones Modern-Day Elevator Design Alexander Miles Cardiopad Arthur Zang Modern Lawnmower John Burr Home Security System Marie Van Brittan Brown Mechanical Clothes Dryer George T. Sampson Automatic Gearshift Richard Spikes Ice Cream Scoop Alfred L. Cralle African-American Inventions As a part-owner of Sears, Roebuck and Company, Rosenwald, a white man, helped build nearly 5000 schools and structures for Black children in the South. By 1928, one in every 5 schools for black students were his. He spent over $28 million serving over 663,000 students.

Julius Rosenwald No rapper could perform without the invention of James E. West. The Elec- troacustic Transducer Elec- tret Microphone which he developed with Gerhard Sessler was a ground-beaking audio component. Acoustically accurate and lightweight, 90% of the microphones in use today are based on their original concept.

James E. West