A Black History Mystery

Name(s) Research skills A Black History Mystery In celebration of Black History Month in February, test your knowledge of famous Black Americans with this riddle. First decide whether each statement is true or false. Use encyclopedias and other resources to help you. Then circle the letter in either the true or false column. Write the circled letter in the blank above the matching number at the bottom of the page. true false 1. Jackie Robinson played baseball for the Cincinnati Reds. A E 2. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a famous surgeon. I O 3. Matthew Henson was the fi rst man to set foot on the North Pole. A S 4. Althea Gibson was one of the world’s greatest skiers. T R 5. George Washington Carver developed over 300 uses for the peanut plant. M B 6. Langston Hughes wrote plays, stories, and poetry about Black life. H G 7. Shirley Chisholm was the fi rst Black woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. R N 8. Rosa Parks was an attorney who fought for civil rights. K F 9. Colin Powell earned the Bronze Star For Valor in the Vietnam War. E L 10. Jesse Jackson won four gold medals in swimming in the 1936 Olympics. W D 11. Dr. Ronald McNair was the fi rst Black U.S. Supreme Court justice. J O 12. Thurgood Marshall was a Baptist minister who ran for president in 1984. C T 13. Duke Ellington was a great jazz musician and composer. T P 14. Mary McLeod Bethune wrote the famous book Roots. Y O 15. Marian Anderson was the fi rst Black soloist with the Metropolitan Opera of D T New York City. 16. In 1753, Benjamin Banneker built a clock made entirely of wood. E C Harriet Tubman helped slaves escape on “ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ .” 12 6 9 7 14 3 10 13 2 8 4 16 1 15 11 5 Bonus Box: Rewrite each false statement above to make it true. Write your statements on the back of this sheet. ©The Mailbox • www.themailboxcompanion.com • February/March 2007 Answer Key for “A Black History Mystery” 1. False—E 2. False—O 3. True—A 4. False—R 5. True—M 6. True—H 7. True—R 8. False—F 9. True—E 10. False—D 11. False—O 12. False—T 13. True—T 14. False—O 15. True—D 16. True—E Answer to the riddle: “THE ROAD TO FREEDOM” Bonus Box answer: Answers will vary. Suggested responses include the following: 1. Jackie Robinson played for the Brooklyn Dodgers. 2. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., was a minister. He led peaceful protests and dedicated his life to ending segregation in America. 4. Althea Gibson was one of the world’s greatest tennis players. She was the fi rst Black to play at Wimbledon. 8. Rosa Parks protested the way Blacks were treated on the city buses in Montgomery, Alabama. She is called “the mother of the modern civil rights movement.” 10. Jesse Jackson is a civil rights activist, political leader, and Baptist minister. 11. Dr. Ronald McNair was one of seven astronauts who died when the space shuttle Challenger blew up in January 1986. 12. Thurgood Marshall was the fi rst Black American to serve on the U.S. Supreme Court. 14. Mary McLeod Bethune started a college for Black teachers that later became known as Bethune-Cookman University. ©The Mailbox • www.themailboxcompanion.com • February/March 2007.

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