Before The Famous
Fifteen year old African American who refused to move to the back of the bus nine months before Rosa Parks
Who is Claudette Colvin
First female African American author to be published
Phyllis Wheatley- 1767, published her first poem at 14 y/o titled “On Messrs. Hussey and Coffin.”
First historically black public university to grant degrees in the U.S.
Lincoln University
How many steps and traditions are in programs such as NA/AA
Thomas L. Jennings invented a process for cleaning delicate clothing known as "dry scouring" which today we call _____
What is dry cleaning
Betty Boop, the iconic cartoon character, was inspired by what black jazz singer in Harlem
Who is Esther Jones
True or False: Hattie McDaniel, the first African American to win an Oscar, was allowed to attend Gone With the Wind's national premiere
False- McDaniel won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actress, but the premiere was held in Atlanta, where Jim Crow Laws prohibited her from attending
True or False: In 1951, Henrietta Lacks' cancer cells led to major discoveries in medical research
True!
One tragedy is that her family did not know about this until 1975; scientists were making discoveries and profits from her cells, while her children were living in poverty
What self-help recovery program is Christ-centered
What is Celebrate Recovery
Garrett Morgan was the inventor of this three-color light that we use every day while "out and about"
What is a traffic signal/light
With only an elementary school education and the son of an enslaved parent, Morgan came up with several inventions, including an improved sewing machine and the gas mask
Bessie Coleman, the first black female pilot, earned her license in 1921 in which country, due to no pilot in the U.S. being willing to teach her
France
One of showbiz's most iconic performers, left the United States in 1937 due to the overt racism she encountered. In 1940, she became a spy for the allies
Who was Josephine Baker
During her travels across Europe to perform, she would hide messages in her costumes and sheet music and use her status in society to eavesdrop at various events and balls
Dr. Daniel Hale Williams was the first to perform this surgery successfully in 1893
What is open heart surgery
He also founded the first hospital in 1891 that employed black healthcare workers
What recovery program is secular and science-based, using cognitive behavioral therapy and non-confrontational motivational methods
What is SMART Recovery
Marie Van Brittan Brown created an early version of this- it consisted of a motorized camera to record her home entryway and projected images onto a TV monitor. It also included a two-way microphone and a panic button to notify police in an emergency
What is the home security system
True/False: The practice of inoculation (introducing an infection to a person to help them become immune) was introduced to America by enslaved persons
TRUE! This was a centuries old practice in Africa that was utilized during a smallpox outbreak in Boston in 1721.
Martin Luther King was assassinated on this famous African American female poet's 40th birthday
Who is Maya Angelou
Henry Box Brown used this inventive method to gain his freedom
What is shipping
He shipped himself from Virginia to Philadelphia so that he could be free!
What is the name of the nation's largest grassroots mental health organization
NAMI - National Alliance on Mental Illness
Elijah McCoy is credited for the invention of a portable ironing board (his wife complained of having to iron on uneven surfaces) and the lawn sprinkler, but we know him best in what way
What is the phrase "the real McCoy"
His first invention, a lubricator for steam engines, worked so well that people would ask the for "the real McCoy"
This African American man is believed to be the real "Lone Ranger"
Bass Reeves- born a slave, but escaped West during the Civil War and lived in known Indian Territory. He eventually became a Deputy U.S. Marshall, was considered a master of disguise, an expert marksman, had a Native American companion, and rode a silver horse
Who is considered the first woman to lead a U.S. military operation
Harriet Tubman- in 1863, she led a regimen in the Raid on Combahee Ferry, which free 750 enslaved people
True or False: The Harlem Hell Fighters hold the record in World War I for the longest fight
True!
This American unit spent 191 days in the trenches. One of the most notable is Henry Johnson, who fought off soldiers on the frontline with a knife and his bare hands
In what year was Alcoholics Anonymous founded
1935 (Akron, Ohio)
Alice H. Parker was granted a patent in December 1919 for this invention which made use of natural gas for the first time to keep homes warm and toasty