DOCUMENT RESUME ID 176 9 3 SI 028 907 AUTHOR Jeukins, Edward p. Sd. TITLE American ElackiScientists and Inventors. INSTITUTION National Science Teachers Asscciation, WazhinIton, D.C. PUB DATE 75 NOTE 85p.; Not available in hard copy due to ccpyright restrictions AVAILABLE FROM' National Science Teachers Associaticn 1742 Connecticat Ave.. N.W., Washington, D.C. 20009 (Stock No. 471-14690; $2.50) EDRS PRICE MPO1 Plus Postage. PC Not Available-from EDRZ. DESCaIPTOgS Black Education; *Black Emplcyment; *BlackHi3tory; Blacki Leadership; Black Rcle; Blacks; Black Studies; . Innovation; *Inventions; Research; Science Education; *Science History; Scientific Personnel; Scientific Research; *Scientists; Technology ABSTRACT Presented are the stories of 12 notable black scientists and inventors. Each individual wasselected fox scientific and inventive excellence with theadded accounts of their excellence as citizens, family men,,andhumanitarian's. (Author/RE) ( *********************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDES are the best that canbe made from the original document. *****************************1***************************************** t "11. e' 1 AMERICAN BLACK SCIENTISTS AND INVENTORS , 0.41.0111! MR HOF :CHE ONO N L:1 ..1.77IYI {,f tt- IIP,Jc f.Ti()SFS k 'AWE k NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHERS ASSOCIATION "11 AMERICAN BLACK SCIENTISTS AND INVENTORS EDWARD S. JENKINS EdD, Editor Associate Professor of Science Education and Director of Educational Opportunity Program State University of New York at Buffalo GOSSIE HAROLD HUDSON PhD Professor of History and Chairman, Division School Sciences Lincoln University Jefferson City. Missouri '0 W. SHERMAN JACKSON PhD Assistant Profe'Ssor of Constitutional History Miami University of Ohio EXYIE C. RYDER PhD Associate Professor of Science Education Southern University Oaton Rouge. Louisiana Cover design and mit sketches for the chapter hea.is by Kathy Nichols, atUdent at Southern University in ;Baton Rouge. NATIONAL SCIENCE TEACHEF$ ASSOCIATION Copydght, 197. National Sdence Teachers Association Stock No. 471-14h90 Price Discount km oantity orders: RI or more, IO percent. Payment must accompanya1I orders except those on official purchase order forms.Prepaid ordeN shouki include 50 cents post- age aiJ !kindling. Shipping and handlingcharges will he added to all billed purchase orders. Nationa/ Science Teachers Aksociatkra 1742 Cot, steticut Avenut. NAV., Washington. C. 20009 4 CONTENT V INTRODUCTION 1 ERNEST E. JUSTCell Physiologist 10 GARREI I AUGUSTUS MORGANBig Chief Mason, Ingenious American 15 GEORGE WASHINGTON CARVER Agricultural Scientist 23 BENJAMIN BANNEKER Black Astronomer 27 PERCY L JULIAN --Soybean Chemist 37 GRANVILLE T. WOODS Railway Communications Wizard 40 CHARLES RICHARD DREWBlood Plasma Pioneer 47 CHARLES HENRY TURNERScientist, Teacher, Author, Humanitarian 53 MATTHEW A. HENSONFamous Explorer 59 LEON RODDYThe Spider Man 67 ELIJAH McCOY Invento,- 71 DANIEL HALE WILLIAMSPioneer Heart Surgeon Ill INTRODUCTION LACK men have served America well through theirscientific and Btechnological gifts to the nation's treasure of knowledge and capabil- ity. Moreover, they have done so over the years from as far back as colon- ial days. Their contributions while admirable in themselveshave been all the more remarkable because what they did was oftenaccomplished in the face of discour4ng social and political harrierscreated because of their race. Still, these men were able to summon up some unusualinner resources that enabled them to makeexceptional use of their consider- able mental taknts and imagination. They discovered, created,and in- vented in the arenas of communications, transportation,industry, agri- culture, health. housing. and clothing. Mankind hasbeen benefited by their contributions. Yet despite their accomplishments,black American scientists and inventors remain largely anonymous. This book gives the stories of twelve fascinatingscientists and in- ventors of color Each of them seemed to rossess someintuitive ability t? ask ihe right questions about the natureof things and of man and then t out on a determined path to find answers.While these twelve were lected for their scitntific and inventive excellence. one noteswith in- rest that they were also fami:y men, goodcitizens, and oft( n concerned Fabout the welfare of their feliowman. No attempt has been made to present the complete sagaof black American scientists, nor to treat in detail the technical aspectsof their special fields. Rather, the intent has been to enlighten,inspire, and speak to the social need of establishing,maintaining, and improving the "good" human environment that eocourages discovery andthe full development and utilization of the talents to which this countryhas given birth. With the possibility of a world famine a frighteningthreat, and dwindling and irreplaceable hydrocarbon sources of energy a starkpossibility, our needs demand no less. Edward S. Jenkins -Ark ERNEST E. JUST Cell Physiologist 1883-1941 Edward S. Jenkins HE tall.slenderblack teenager watched the docks grow smaller as Tthe ship steamed out into the Atlantic. He could hardly beblamed for feeling a mixture of excitement and apprehe..sion as he movedfarther from his native Charleston. South Caro linErnest Everett Just had been born in that city seventeen years earlier on a hot August 14.1883,NC had almost no chance to ever know his father because the elder Just, a jock worker, had died when Ernest was only four years old. With the principal breadwinner gone. Ernest had begun to work at a tender age. laboring long, sweaty hours in the fields to help his mother support the family. Though he could not have known it at the time, even as he culti- vated the grounds and harvested the crops, he was laying a foundation for a far different life. But as hard and as willingly as he worked in the tields to help the family. Ernest applied himself even more enthusiastically to his studies. His keen mind absorbed quickly what was taught him at school, and he seemeci to possess an unending curioF;ty for more knowledge. His mother, a school teacher, recognized her son'Sacademic talents and knew that he had to have a chance for a college education. So, when at seventeen the lad completed high school in Charleston. Ernest and his mother decided he should go north for further schooling. Considering the times, this was a courageous and farsighted deci- sion. For then a high school education was looked upon as a fine accom- plishment for a black youth. Besides, there were no scholarships and little, if any, encouragement to go off to college. To make matters worse. Ernest did not even have train fare to leave Charleston. But Ernest had spent all his life in Charleston. He knew that ships were corning to and going from the docksdocks his father hadhelped build. He decided to hire himself out to one of them, earn fare to New York, and there earn enough money to enroll in college. Thus, thc mix- ture of excitement and apprehensionexcitement because he believed that what he was doing was going to lead to new experiences, new knowl- edge: apprehension because he was leaving the only life he had known family. friends, the wharves, the soiland heading into a new life, to a c.ertain degree into the unknown. At Kimball Academy Young Ernest Just arrived in New York with $5 in ,his pocket. Seek- ing information on college enrollment, he learned that his educational background was simply too impoverished for him to meet entrance re- quirements. He was told about Kimball Union Academy in New Hamp- shire where he could upgrade his background but that it would take him jimr years to get ready for college. Undaunted, Ernest found a job and worked four feverish weeks for the registration fee to attend the school. At Kimball. Ernest plunged ink) his studies in characteristic fashion aggressively and energetica:ly. The record he established there was brilliunt. He served as president of the debate society and editor of the school's paper. He completed a four-year program in three years and graduated with honors. At Dartinouth Ernest Just entered Dartmouth College in New Hampshire as he had Kimballeager to learn. At first he did nol find the institution to his lik- ing Ilecause he had expected a greater seriousness among students than he found. Also. he was a bit dismayed over what he thought was an over- emphasis on football. But when he enrolled in a coufse in biology in a class taught by the noted biologist WilliArn Patten everything chlviged. More particularly, it was the teaching of Patten and the reading of an es- say on the biological cell that stirred_ hisimagination and profoundly challenged his disciplined mind. For Just. Dartmooth had now become the place to be. He had found what he was looking for. The past and the pmsent began to come info focuS. Now he began to understand how science and the plants and ani- mals in the fields of South Carolina were united. He knew what he must become, a research biologist, specializing in cytology, meaningSpecializ- ing in the study of cells. Although much was klready known about this marvelous microsc9pic living unit. it was the unknown about the cell that spurred Ernest on. After that, he took every course in- biology Dart- mouth College had to offer. During his senior year, Ernest spent a great deal of time in undergraduate research. In 1907, four years after he en- tered Dartmouth, he received the bachelor's degree. He had been elected to the Phi Beta kappa honorary fraternity, was awardedspecial honors in history and zoology, and was the only person in his class to graduate magna cum laude (with high praise). At Howard In October 1907 Ernest 'Just went to Howard University in Wash- 'ington. D. C., to teach biology at a salary of $4(X) per year. There he plunged into his work with his usual energy and dedication. In 1912 he became head of the Biology Department at a salary of $1200 undheld that Nst until his death in 1941: In the meantime.