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Dr. Evelyn Boyd Granville (May 1924 – Present) For Day 17 of Black History month, we’d like to highlight Dr. Evelyn Boyd Granville, an American computer scientist, mathematician and educator who was the second African American woman to graduate with a PhD in Mathematics from an American university (Yale).  After college she worked as a research assistant and taught mathematics at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She relocated back to Washington D.C. and worked for the National Bureau of Standards, using math in the research and development of fuses for missiles. She then went on to work for IBM, who...

761st Tank Battalion Today we decided to take a slightly different approach, and instead of highlighting an individual, we decided to highlight a group of men. For day 16 of Black History Month, we highlight the 761st Tank Battalion a group of American soldiers and the first African American tank squad that saw combat during World War 2. They were known as the “Black Panthers” and their motto was “Come Out Fighting.” The “Black Panthers” were commanded by Lt. Colonel Paul L. Bates, who understood the racist attitudes towards African American soldiers at the time, and pushed the battalion to be better...

Selma Burke (December 31, 1900 – August 29, 1995) For day 15 of Black History Month, we’d like to highlight Selma Burke, an American artist, sculptor and educator, who was a part of the Harlem Renaissance movement. She is self-described as “a people’s sculptor” and created many public pieces of art that focused on prominent African American figures such as, Duke Ellington, Mary McLeod Bethune and Booker T. Washington (pictured). One of the works she is best known for, is her portrait in bronze of President Franklin D. Roosevelt, which she competed in a national competition, for an opportunity to do the sculpture....

Morris (Morrie) Turner (December 1923 – January 2014) For day 11 of Black History Month, we’d like to highlight Morrie Turner, an American artist, cartoonist and creator of the comic strip “Wee Pals”, the first American syndicated comic strip with an integrated cast of characters. Morrie Turner was raised in Oakland, California and attended school at Cole Elementary,  McClymonds High School and Berkeley High School. After graduating high school, he enlisted in the military during World War 2, and served as a mechanic with the Tuskegee Airmen. During his time in the military, he also did illustrations that ended up being picked up...

Dr. Alexa Canady (November 1950 – present) For day nine of Black History Month, we’d like to highlight Dr. Alexa Canady, an American medical doctor and educator, who specialized in pediatric neurosurgery and was the first African-American woman to become a neurosurgeon. Her career initially got off to a rough start, as she almost dropped out of college due to what she describes as, “a crisis of confidence.” She first attended the University of Michigan and it was there, that she got an opportunity to work in a genetics lab and found her love for medicine. After graduating with her Bachelor of...