Page 2
February 28,2001
National Black History
Focus
A
S U P P L E M E N T
O F
(T h e
(Ehe ;)ßortbuih ©bsœruer
Mk,
The contributions of Afri
can Americans has been tre
mendous and of benefit to all
Americans. Thi s is the 75* year
that our nation has officially
marked the achievements and
accomplishments of African
Americans. Observed annually,
this special period honoring Af
rican Americans was launched
in 1926 by Dr. C arter G.
Woodson, a noted American
educator and historian. Join us
as we present Black History
Month, profiling notable firsts
and heroines.
^ 9 n r tla « h
(© b a er ü e r
Editor in Chief,
Publisher
Charles H. Washington
Editor
LarryJ. Jackson, Sr.
Copy Editor
Joy R am os
Famous African American Firsts
By R os W eber for T he P or i -
i , am > O bserver
Education
From the earliest oftim es, educa
tion for A frican Am ericans in this
country has been a struggle. Black
churches and sym pathetic whites
were often the only w ay a black
child could read. Q uaker churches
and northern w hite w om en played a
huge role in the education o f black
children in the nineteenth century.
A Q uaker nam ed A nthony Benezet
established a school in his hom e that
operated at night during the mid-
1700’s. In 1787, the Manumission
Society founded a school for A frican
American children nam ed the New
York A frican Free School.
F o u n d in th eh u llo fash ip in 1761,
a slave girl o f unknow n origin was
only about six years old w hen she
w as found. B ought by a rich w hite
w om an, she w as n am ed Phillis
W heatley. U nder her m aster’s tute
lage, she was given a fine education
and becam e the first black female
poetess in this country. A lthough
she had an early death, she w ent on
to publish a book o f poem s and
stunned the literary w orld by w rit
ing aw a rd -w in
ning poetry at the
age o f 14. Though
m a n y S o u th ern
w hites w orried,
not w anting their
slaves and their
fam ilies to b e
co m e w ell-ed u
cated. Christians
an d o th e r c o n
c e r n e d A m e r i
cans struggled to
d o e v e r y th in g
they could to edu
c a te
A fric a n
Americans.
Mt. Hood
Community
College salutes
the contributions
African-Americans
have made to
our community
and looks
forward to the
achievements o f
1/
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Gary Ann Taylor
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Robert Parker
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I AAA
- l rT
l IB
l i- M
- - - I »
- <
-i ■
IT
T’ I IX > r - O
H J O rW s/U
Larry Dawkins
Dr. Paul Killpatrick
MHCC
Speech Instructor
MHCC
Vice President
“Black history is about Americans
recognizing that we are great because of the
contributions of all o/ our brothers and
sisters be they black, brown, red, yellow or
while. Black history says that this country
can tell the truth about its history. We no
longer need to tell ¡airy tales because we are
afraid that it might frighten the children."
“While we have come far in educating
our children our system is still in
need of more teachers of color.
I encourage you to consider becoming
an educator, a role model for our
students. MHCC is committed to
attrac ting a staff that is representative
of our community.''
R e g i s t r a t i o n f o r s p r i n g t e r m b e g in s M a r c h 7 .
F O R M O R E IN F O R M A T IO N C A L L 5 Q 3 - 4 9 1 - S 4 2 2
o
M T . H O O D C O M M U N IT Y C O L L E G E
2 6 0 0 0 S .E . S T A R K S T R E E T - G R E S H A M . O R E G O N
Y O U R
FU TU R E
S T A R T S
H ER E!
S cien ce
and
Technology
S cie n ce is
one o f the ar
eas least ex
plored by A f
rican A m eri
c a n s in th e
early develop
m en tal years
o f this coun
try. W hen the
In d u s tria l
R e v o lu tio n
came into play,
th o s e d o o rs
slow ly began
to
open.
W
h e n
A le x a n d e r
(iraham Bell in
vented the tele
phone,
he
c h o s e L ew is
Latimertodraft
th e
p la n s .
Latimerwould
go on to be-
.ip
1
Ralph IF Ellison novel "Invisible
M an " was a fir st fo r describing the
racial attitudes tow ard black men
in Am erican society, fro m the
perspective o f an African
American.
invented the telephone, he chose
Lewis Latim er to draft the plans.
Latim er w ould go on to becom e a
m em ber o f the Edison Pioneers, a
group o f inventors who worked for
Edison from 1884 to 1912.
A nother early black pioneer in
science was Benjam in Banneker.
W hile living as a free man in the
17OO’s, he was considered the first
A frican Am erican scientist. He stud
ied m athem atics and astronom y and
was a close friend with a white Quaker
neighbor. Banneker invented w hat
Me
Jemison was
the first African American
woman to enter NASA 's astronaut
program in June o f 1987. H er
specialty was conducting
experiments on the Endeavor ship,
using biofeedback in countering
motion sickness, the effects o f
space on human calcium levels,
and the effects o f weightlessness on
the development o f other
organisms.