“To control a people, you must first control what they think about themselves and how they regard their history and culture. And when your conqueror makes you ashamed of your culture and your history, he needs no prison walls and no chains to hold you.”—John Henrik Clarke (1915 -1998)
Jane Cooke Wright was born on April 20, 1919, in New
York City into a family of people who stressed education and community service.
Her father, Dr. Louis T. Wright, was a prominent surgeon and one of the first
Black physicians to gain national recognition; her mother, Myrtle (Hilliard)
Wright, supported the family’s commitment to education. Jane Wright graduated
from Girls’ High School of Brooklyn and earned her Bachelor of Science degree
from New York University in 1940. She went on to receive her medical degree
from New York Medical College in 1945, graduating during an era when few
women—and especially few Black women—entered medicine.
Early Career and Breakthroughs
After completing residency training and clinical work,
Dr. Wright joined the staff at the Harlem Hospital and later the cancer
research center at New York Medical College. In the late 1940s and 1950s, she
became one of the first physicians to systematically evaluate chemotherapy
drugs in clinical settings using innovative methods for testing and
administering antitumor agents.
Key Contributions to Oncology
Development of
Chemotherapy Testing Methods: Dr. Wright refined tissue
culture techniques that allowed clinicians to test how a patient’s own tumor
cells responded to different chemotherapeutic agents. This approach contributed
early steps toward what would later be called personalized or precision
therapy—choosing treatments based on how a patient’s cells individually react
rather than using a one‑size‑fits‑all regimen.
Clinical Trials and Drug Evaluation:
She conducted and supervised clinical trials that assessed the safety and
efficacy of various antitumor drugs. Her careful clinical observations and
systematic testing helped establish protocols for dose scheduling and
combinational chemotherapy.
Leadership in Cancer Centers:
Dr. Wright served in leadership roles—most notably as head of the Cancer
Chemotherapy Department at the New York Medical College’s Cancer Research
Foundation—where she led multidisciplinary teams of physicians and scientists
in translating laboratory findings to patient care.
Scientific Approach and Significance
Dr. Wright combined laboratory science and clinical
medicine. By using explant and culture techniques to expose tumor cells to
drugs in vitro, she collected data that informed treatment decisions for
patients. Her techniques emphasized empirical testing and careful record‑keeping,
helping to raise standards for how chemotherapeutic compounds were evaluated
clinically. In doing so, she helped shift oncology toward more rigorous,
evidence‑driven approaches.
Impact on Medicine and Representation
Beyond her scientific contributions, Dr. Wright was a
role model who broke barriers for women and Black physicians in medicine and
research. At a time when both racial and gender discrimination limited
opportunities for many, her achievements demonstrated the vital contributions
of diverse physicians in advancing medical knowledge. Her leadership inspired
later generations of oncologists and researchers who continued to expand the
tools available to treat cancer.
Selected Honors and Professional Activities
Leadership
positions in hospital and academic settings where she directed
chemotherapy research programs.
Publications
and presentations describing clinical methods for testing antitumor agents
and reporting patient outcomes in clinical trials.
Recognition
among peers for combining patient care with translational research that
linked bench science to bedside treatments.
Lasting Legacy
Dr. Jane Cooke Wright’s work contributed to the
foundations of modern chemotherapy practice and the early idea that treatment
should be tailored to patient‑specific tumor responses. Her career exemplifies
how clinical insight, laboratory methods, and careful clinical trials can work
together to improve patient care. She also stands as an important historical
figure in widening access and opportunity in medicine, showing that excellence
in scientific research and compassionate clinical practices are strengthened by
diverse perspectives.
Speed skating has been a sport in the Winter Olympics since
1924. However, women only began competing in 1960. In 2022, at the Winter
Olympics in Beijing, China, Florida native and UF alumna, Erin Jacksonmade
history by becoming the first Black woman to win an individual gold medal for
the 500-meter event with a time of 37.04 seconds. #BlackHistory365 #BlackHistoryGuardians
Story by Kevin
Bell (2026) and Edited by Corendis Hardy
Clara Brown was born into slavery around 1800 in Virginia.
Like most Black people during that time immediately confronted with the
cruelties of bondage, harsh environments, and discrimination in the antebellum
South. Brown once shared that her earliest memories of childhood involved being
sold on the auction block, torn from familiar surroundings and thrust into the
possession of new enslavers.
By age nine, she and her mother had been sold to Ambrose
Smith, a tobacco planter whose relocation to Kentucky uprooted her once again.
These early movements laid the foundation for the uncertainty that would shape
her life. Thus, exposing her to the trauma of family separation long before she
understood its permanence.
While in Kentucky, Brown endured both the physical and
emotional pains of enslavement; she labored both in the fields and within the
household. When she was eighteen years old, she married an enslaved carpenter
named Richard. Together, they welcomed four children, but this semblance of
family stability proved fragile. When Smith died in 1835, his estate was
divided. Clara’s husband and children were auctioned off to separate buyers.
She never saw most of them again. Only one daughter, Eliza Jane, remained in
her memory as a distant hope—a child whose fate she vowed to uncover no matter
how long it took.
Clara was sold to George Brown, a Kentucky hat maker whose
surname she would use for the rest of her life. For the next two decades she
raised his children, performed domestic labor, and developed skills as a
cook, laundress, and midwife. These abilities would become her tools of
survival and prosperity in the years ahead.
No matter how difficult times got, Brown kept the dream of
reuniting with her stolen children in her heart; the loss of her family never
stopped shaping her choices. Behind every task she performed lay a singular
motivation: one day, she would search for the beloved children and find them.
Clara Brown’s life had a major pivot in her mid-50’s after
the death (1856 or 1857) of George Brown, her enslaver. His will stipulated that she be freed, and his
family honored this directive and granted her legal independence. Despite
this, Kentucky’s laws came with sharp constraints. The state required freed
Black people to leave within a set period of time or risk re-enslavement.
Forced to uproot herself yet again, Brown left the state and began searching
for her scattered loved ones, traveling through Kentucky, Missouri, and Kansas
while taking work as a cook and midwife.
Her search was grueling and often fruitless. Records were
scarce, information unreliable, and the people she sought had been absorbed
into different corners of the country without documentation. Still, she
persisted, writing letters through literate friends and following leads even
when they seemed improbable. Freedom introduced new obstacles: finding shelter,
earning wages, and navigating a society still deeply hostile to Black
independence. Despite these challenges, the desire to reunite with her children
remained her guiding force.
In April 1859, Brown joined a wagon train departing from
Leavenworth, Kansas, for the Rocky Mountains. At fifty-nine years old, she
walked most of the nearly 700-mile journey. Thus, enduring physical strain,
extreme weather, and racial hostility from some travelers. The wagon train
passed through Kansas and Missouri before approaching the rugged terrain
surrounding Denver. Back then, composed of competing settlements like Auraria
and Cherry Creek. The trip took eight weeks, and Clara arrived as one of the
first Black women to reach the region during the Gold Rush era.
Upon arrival, Brown began working at the City Bakery and
later followed miners into nearby mountain towns, eventually settling in
Central City in Gilpin County. The chaotic mining environment presented both
exploitation and opportunity. In a community dominated by men seeking fortune, Brown
leveraged her domestic skills to create financial stability. She cooked,
laundered clothing, nursed the sick, and delivered babies—roles that made her
indispensable in a frontier town lacking organized institutions.
Brown’s reputation spread quickly. Miners depended on her
services, and her earnings grew steadily. Central City became the starting
point for her entrepreneurial journey, but it also became her new base of hope.
Even as she built a life surrounded by strangers, her private mission endured:
if her daughter had indeed traveled west, this was where she might someday be
found.
Building Wealth and Becoming a Business Leader in the
Colorado Territory
Clara Brown’s success as a laundress in Central City allowed
her to pursue opportunities few Black women of the era could access. She
partnered with others to expand her operations, turning a single laundry
service into a thriving business. Miners relied on her consistency, and she
became known for reliability during a time when stability in the camps was
rare. Using her earnings wisely, she invested in mining claims, real estate,
and property across the state. Therefore, acquiring fourteen to sixteen lots in
Denver and several houses throughout Central City.
By the end of the Civil War (1866), Clara Brown has
built a net worth exceeding $10,000—an extraordinary fortune for a formerly
enslaved woman. Her investments spanned mountain towns and growing urban
centers, making her one of the most financially successful Black women in the
Colorado Territory. Her wealth, however, was never treated as a privilege for
personal comfort. Instead, she viewed it as a tool to uplift formerly enslaved
people seeking refuge and opportunity in the West.
Clara Brown financed wagon trains to bring former enslaved
families to Colorado, paying fares, arranging employment, and providing shelter
for people with nowhere else to turn. Her home doubled as a boarding place, a
clinic, and a sanctuary. Her business ventures funded a humanitarian mission
that stretched far beyond her own needs, solidifying her reputation as an
economic force and a community pillar.
The “Angel of the Rockies:” A Life Devoted to Service and
Community Care
Clara Brown’s success set the stage for her transformation
into a beloved community figure known as the “Angel of the Rockies.” Her home
in Central City became a refuge where miners, travelers, and neighbors found
food, shelter, and medical care. She nursed the sick, delivered babies, and
buried the dead. Therefore, offering compassion in a rugged environment where
institutional support did not yet exist. Her generosity extended to people of
all races, making her an anomaly in a region marked by discrimination and
social hierarchy.
Clara Brown’s philanthropy included supporting churches of
multiple denominations. She contributed money to build what became the first
Protestant church in the Rockies and later supported a Catholic congregation as
well. Her home hosted Methodist services and Sunday school classes before
formal buildings could be established. Her contributions shaped Central City
into a more structured and caring community, bridging social divides during a
period of rapid growth.
Beyond local charity, Brown funded education and advancement
for others. She paid for young women to attend Oberlin College and supported
charitable foundations throughout Colorado. Her belief in collective uplift was
so strong that, in 1879, Governor Frederick Walker Pitkin appointed her to help
recruit Black Exodusters struggling in Kansas, urging them to resettle in
Colorado. Once again, she used her own money and energy to help displaced
families build new lives.
Despite her success in Colorado, Brown’s heart remained
tethered to the family she lost decades earlier. She spent years writing
letters, visiting states, and following leads in the hope of finding her
children. While she located extended relatives in the South after the Civil
War, the whereabouts of her daughter Eliza Jane remained unknown. Brown learned
that her son and another daughter had died, deepening the urgency of her search
for the surviving child.
A Family Reunion Against All Odds
In 1882, nearly half a century after their forced
separation, Brown received word of a woman in Iowa matching Eliza Jane’s
description. Friends in Colorado helped fund her journey. When the two met,
they confirmed their connection—a reunion that newspapers described with
reverence. Brown, then in her eighties, returned to Colorado with her daughter
and granddaughter, forming a family unit long imagined but finally realized.
The reunion symbolized the culmination of Clara Brown’s
lifelong mission. Her perseverance through loss, migration, and hardship
reflected the experiences of countless Black families fractured by slavery. By
restoring her own family, even late in life, she reclaimed a piece of what had
been taken from her and demonstrated the indomitable force of love and survival.
(Pictured: Bronze Statue of Clara Brown aka “Aunt Clara”
located in the National Museum of African American History and Culture)
A Bittersweet Ending
Clara Brown’s life stands as one of the most extraordinary
stories of resilience in American history. Born into slavery, she endured
separation, loss, and displacement before forging a new path on her own terms.
As one of Colorado’s first Black settlers, she built businesses, amassed
wealth, and used her success to uplift others. Her home became a center of
care, hope, and refuge during the Gold Rush era, earning her the legacy of the
“Angel of the Rockies.”
Her forty-year search for her daughter revealed a devotion
that transcended time and circumstance. Clara Brown demonstrated that freedom
was not simply the absence of enslavement but the ability to rebuild, nurture,
and heal. Through entrepreneurship, philanthropy, and unwavering love, she
reshaped the frontier and ensured that her story would endure long after her
passing. Her example remains a reminder of how one woman transformed suffering
into service and turned personal tragedy into a legacy of community and
restoration.
Clara Brown died on October 23, 1885, in Denver Colorado.
Her funeral was attended by local and state dignitaries. In 1989, she was posthumously
inducted to the Colorado’s Women Hall of Fame and in 1922, she was inducted to
the Colorado Business Hall of Fame. There is a permanent memorial chair in her
name at the City Central Opera House.
In 1954, Sylvia "Rideoutt" Bishop (1920 - 2004) became the first Black woman to train Thoroughbreds in the United States. She made history when the West Virginia legislature authorized her with a license for training racehorses. During her 60-year career in horse racing, she trained approximately 200 steeds. Between 1987 - 2000, Sylvia "Rideout" Bishop's horses won 44 races.
Bishop's long horse-training career began when she was 14-years old, and she began working at the Charles Town Racetrack in Virginia. She learned on the job through various duties including mucking stalls, grooming the horses and hot walking them. Bishop began training horses in the 1940s. In 1954, Bishop was officially granted a trainer's license from the state of West Virginia, making her the first Black woman in the country to become an official Thoroughbred trainer.
In 1959, Bishop made history when she officially became the first Black woman to train the winner of a Thoroughbred race.
Outside of racing, Bishop also managed the restaurant inside Charles Town's landmark Payne's Hotel, later owning the hotel and restaurant from 1962-1999 after Lavinia Payne willed it to her.
Bishop left horse training for more than a decade as financial strains caused her to pick up work with the Doubleday publishing house in Virginia. From her return to the track in 1987 until 2000, it is estimated her horses won 44 races and earned $166,633. Bishop won her final race in 2000 and retired from training horses that same year. She died in Charles Town in 2004. Charles Town Races inducted her into their Hall of Fame in 2008. Following this recognition, the "Sylvia Bishop Memorial" race was introduced into the track's annual stakes schedule and continues to this day. Learn more!
Scientist, Educator, and Advocate for Sustainable Agriculture
Early Life and Education
George Washington Carver is
best known for his long-lasting and significant contributions to agriculture, botany
and mycology. Through scientific research, he discovered and developed over 300
ways to use peanuts, including for treating soil depletion, as well as using
them for makeup, soaps, and dyes.
Carver was born into
slavery around 1864 in Diamond, near Newton County, Missouri. Orphaned as an
infant and raised by Moses and Susan Carver after being kidnapped, Carver faced
physical disabilities and racial barriers but developed an early curiosity
about plants and nature. He pursued educationpersistently, attending several
schools before enrolling at Simpson College in Iowa to study art and piano. He
later transferred to Iowa State Agricultural College (now Iowa State
University), where he became the first Black student and later the first Black
faculty member. There he earned a Bachelor of Science in 1894 and a Master of
Science in 1896, specializing in botany and mycology.
Career and
Scientific Contributions
In 1896 Carver accepted Booker T. Washington’s invitation to join the Tuskegee
Institute (now Tuskegee University) in Alabama. At Tuskegee he led the
agricultural department and established an agricultural extension program that
taught poor Southern farmers sustainable farming techniques. Carver’s research
focused on crop rotation, soil improvement, and alternatives to cotton monoculture.
He promoted planting nitrogen-fixing legumes—especially peanuts, sweet
potatoes, and soybeans—to restore soil depleted by repeated cotton cultivation.
Carver developed hundreds
of practical uses and products from peanuts and sweet potatoes (such as dyes,
plastics, and cosmetics) primarily to demonstrate the crops’ economic value to
farmers. His work emphasized applied science: creating low-cost, locally
appropriate solutions to improve small farmers’ livelihoods and soil health.
Teaching, Outreach, and Philosophy
Carver was a dedicated teacher and extension agent. He traveled widely across
the South, conducting demonstrations and offering hands-on instruction for farmers.
He published bulletins
with clear, practical guidance and recipes for soil amendments, crop
rotations, and home-based value-add processes—making scientific knowledge
accessible. Carver’s approach combined scientific rigor with moral purpose: he
believed in stewardship of the land, self-sufficiency, and
education as tools for empowerment.
In 1906, George Washington
Carver began using “The Jesup Agricultural Wagon”, a mobile classroom that
allowed him to teach farmers and sharecroppers how to grow crops, such as peanuts,
sweet potatoes, pecans and soybeans. The wagon’s name originates from Morris
Jesup, a New York banker who financed the project. However, it was Carver
himself who designed the wagon, selected the equipment, and developed the
lessons for farmers.
Legacy and
Recognition
Carver became a prominent public figure during his lifetime, receiving national
recognition for his scientific and humanitarian work. He advised presidents,
consulted for industry, and was awarded numerous honors. His legacy lies in
sustainable agriculture, agricultural education, and the model he set for
science serving community needs. Institutions, scholarships, and research
centers continue to bear his name.
Significance for Today George Washington Carver’s
emphasis on soil health, crop diversity, and context-sensitive innovation
resonates with contemporary concerns about sustainable agriculture and climate
resilience. His career exemplifies how scientific research, when paired with
community-centered education and practical application, can foster long-term
social and environmental benefits.
Dr. Gladys West: The Mathematician Who Helped Map the World
Early life and education
Gladys Mae Brown was born in 1930 in Sutherland, Virginia, during an era of segregation and limited opportunities for Black women in science and mathematics. Raised on a family farm, she developed an early appreciation for hard work, precision, and problem solving. Her teachers recognized her aptitude for mathematics, and she earned a scholarship to Virginia State College (now Virginia State University), where she graduated in 1952 with a degree in mathematics and a minor in English. After teaching briefly at public schools, she pursued further study, eventually earning a master’s degree in public administration while working full time.
Career and contributions to geodesy
In 1956 Dr. West joined the U.S. Naval Proving Ground (later the Naval Surface Warfare Center) in Dahlgren, Virginia, as one of a small group of mathematicians and programmers. Her early work involved calculating ballistics trajectories and developing mathematical models—tasks that required careful numerical analysis and attention to detail. As computing technology advanced, so did the complexity of the problems she tackled: processing satellite data, building algorithms, and refining models used to represent Earth’s shape.
Dr. West’s most significant contributions were in precise geodesy—the science of measuring Earth’s size and shape. Satellite signals do not travel over a perfectly spherical planet; Earth's surface is an irregular, oblate spheroid with local variations. To turn raw satellite measurements into accurate positions, mathematicians must model the Earth’s gravitational field and its changing surface. Dr. West led and contributed to programs that developed mathematical representations (geodetic models) of Earth’s shape and refined algorithms that corrected for small errors in satellite orbits and timing. These models reduced positional errors and helped make satellite navigation accurate enough for practical use.
Role in the development of GPS
Global Positioning System (GPS) technology depends on a combination of satellites, precise clocks, and accurate mathematical models that translate timing measurements into locations on Earth. Dr. West’s research advanced the understanding and modeling of the Earth’s geoid (the equipotential surface that approximates mean sea level globally) and improved the interpolation and correction methods used in satellite orbital calculations. Her work on numerical analysis and data processing contributed to the software and computations that underpin GPS accuracy. While GPS was the result of many engineers, scientists, and government programs over decades, Dr. West’s contributions to geodetic models and software development were essential pieces in that collective achievement.
Recognition and legacy
For many years Dr. West’s role remained little known outside technical circles. In the 21st century, historians, journalists, and the scientific community began to highlight her accomplishments and the broader contributions of women and people of color to science and technology. She received multiple honors later in life, including induction into halls of fame and public recognition for her part in the groundwork that made GPS possible. Her story offers a clear lesson about persistence, rigor, and the cumulative nature of scientific progress.
Why her story matters
Dr. Gladys West’s life illustrates how fundamental research—careful mathematics, patient data analysis, and meticulous programming—can enable transformative technologies used by billions every day. GPS powers everything from navigation apps and air-traffic control to scientific research and disaster response. Her career also challenges narrow stereotypes about who does foundational scientific work, demonstrating that talent and dedication can overcome many social barriers. For students, her example underscores the value of discipline in STEM study, the importance of collaboration across fields, and the real-world impact of abstract mathematical work.
Further Reflection
Consider how abstract models and small numerical corrections can produce technologies with outsized social and economic effects. Think about what it means to work on problems whose value may not be fully recognized until years later. Dr. West’s biography is both a technical story about geodesy and algorithms and a personal story about perseverance—an instructive combination for university students preparing to enter research, engineering, or policy fields.
In 1981, Dr. Alexa Irene Canady became the first Black woman in the United States to become certified by the American Board of Neurological Surgery. Dr.
Canady’s clinical work centered on pediatric neurosurgery. She joined the staff
at the Children’s Hospital of Michigan in Detroit, where she served for more
than two decades and ultimately became chief of neurosurgery in 1987—the first
woman to hold that position at the hospital. Her practice included treating
congenital anomalies, spinal disorders, tumors, hydrocephalus, and traumatic
brain injuries in children.
Dr. Canady was born in Lansing, Michigan on November 7, 1950. Her father, Dr. Clinton Canady, Jr. was a World War II veteran and dentist. Her mother, Elizabeth Canady was an educator and civil rights activist. Dr. Canady graduated from Lansing Everett High School with honors and later, the University of Michigan in 1971 with honors with a degree in zoology. It was during her undergraduate studies that she attended a summer program in genetics for minority students and fell in love with medicine.
Throughout her
career Dr. Canady received numerous honors and professional recognitions for
clinical excellence and community service. She published clinical observations
and contributed to the professional discourse in neurosurgery and pediatric
care. Beyond operative skill, her influence extended to institutional
leadership, public speaking, and mentoring. By occupying visible leadership
roles, she challenged stereotypes about who belongs in surgical specialties and
demonstrated how excellence in care could coincide with advocacy for equity and
inclusion in medicine.
Concluding Reflection
Dr. Alexa Canady’s life and career combine clinical virtuosity with quiet leadership and a commitment to service. As the first Black woman board‑certified neurosurgeon in the United States, she expanded the boundaries of who could practice and lead in medicine. Her work in pediatric neurosurgery saved and improved lives; her mentorship helped diversify the pipelines into medicine; and her example continues to teach students and professionals about perseverance, compassion, and the importance of opening doors for others.
