Black History Month

Page 12 — Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Black History Month

African-American firsts Continued from Page 11

Film and Theater First African American film company: Lincoln Motion Picture Company,

1916.

Film director: Oscar Micheaux, 1919.

First Oscar winner: Hattie McDaniel, 1940.

First Honorary Oscar:

James Baskett, 1948.

Tony Award Winner: Juanita Hall, 1950.

Oscar, Best Actor: Sidney Poitier 1963.

Director for a major

Hollywood studio: Gordon Parks, 1969.

Woman director for a major Hollywood Studio: Julie Dash, 1991.

Oscar, Best Actress: Halle Berry, 2001.

First President of the Academy of Motion Pic-

ture Arts and Sciences (The Oscars): Cheryl Boone Isaacs, 2013.

Radio and Television Radio broadcaster: Jack L. Cooper, 1925.

Black-owned radio sta-

tion: WERD, purchased

by Jesse B. Blayton, Sr., 1949.

Network television show host: Nat King Cole, 1956.

Star of a network television show: Bill Cosby, 1965.

Black-owned television station: WGPR-TV, 1975 First Evening New Anchor: Max Robinson, 1978.

Woman television show host: Oprah Winfrey, 1986.

Sports Jockey to Win Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis, 1875.

Professional baseball player: Moses Fleetwood Walker, 1884

BLACK H I S T O RY MONTH

Muskogee’s new Martin Luther King community center anticipated opening April 2016

February 7, 2016 Muskogee Phoenix Advertising Supplement

Page 2 — Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Black History Month

Evolution of Black History Month

Metro Creative

Metro Creative

Black History Month, sometimes referred to as African American History Month, is a federally recognized month-long commemoration of the achievements of African Americans and the roles they have played in shaping United States history.

Each February, Americans recognize notable African American individuals. Canada and the United Kingdom also observe Black History Month, with the UK celebrating in October rather than February.

Many deserving people are recognized during Black History Month, which no doubt serves to inspire African Americans and others who appreciate the role African Americans have played and continue to play.

One of the lesser known yet highly influential individuals to play a key role in the development of Black History Month was Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

Woodson was a son of former slaves who spent his childhood working in coal mines and quarries.

Self-taught in English and arithmetic, Woodson attended high school and completed the curriculum in two years.

He eventually received a Masters degree in History from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Harvard.

Woodson was disheartened that textbooks and American history largely ignored the achievements of Black Americans. Therefore, he began the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History

U.S. National Archives

Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

and founded a complementary journal.

According to The Freeman Institute Foundation, Woodson decided to launch a Negro History Week in 1926. He picked the second week of February to have the recognition fall between the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two pioneers of racial equality.

Although the first Negro History Week met with mild responses, eventually, the yearly tradition caught on and its popularity grew. It wasn’t until 1969, however, that Negro History Week transformed into Black History Month, after a proposition by

the leaders of the Black United Students at Kent State University.

In 1976, 26 years after Woodson’s death, Black History Month was officially recognized by the U.S. government.

Black History Month has grown considerably since Woodson first launched Negro History Week nearly a century ago. His words about why he felt African American history was so important still resonate today: “What we need is not a history of selected races of nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.”

Black History Month

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 — Page 11

Muskogee Phoenix

African-American firsts abound Government

Officeholder in colonial America: Matthias de Souza, 1641 State elected official: Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1836.

Municipal elected official: John Mercer Langston, 1855.

County sheriff: Walter Burton, 1869.

State Supreme Court Justice: Jonathan Jasper Wright, 1870.

City mayor: Robert Wood, 1870.

U.S. Representative: Joseph Rainey,1870.

U.S. Senator (appointed): Hiram Revels, 1870.

Governor (appointed): P.B.S. Pinchback, 1872.

Person to run for the presidency: George Edwin Taylor, 1904.

Woman legislator: Crystal Bird Fauset, 1938.

U.S Senator (elected) Edward Brooke, 1966.

U.S. cabinet member: Robert C. Weaver, 1966.

Mayor of major city: Carl Stokes, 1967.

Woman U.S. Representative: Shirley Chisholm, 1969.

Woman cabinet officer: Patricia Harris, 1977.

Governor (elected): L. Douglas Wilder, 1989.

Woman mayor of a major U.S. city: Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly, 1991.

Woman U.S. Senator: Carol Mosely Braun, 1992.

U.S. Secretary of State: Colin Powell, 2001.

Woman Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice, 2005.

Major party nominee for President: Sen. Barack Obama, 2008.

U.S. President: Barack Obama, 2009.

Woman U.S. Attorney General: Loretta E. Lynch, 2015.

Law

Admitted to the Bar: Macon B. Allen, 1845.

Woman admitted to the bar:Charlotte Ray, 1872.

Elected municipal judge: Mifflin W. Gibbs, 1873 Editor, Harvard Law Review: Charles Hamilton Houston, 1919.

Federal Judge: William Henry Hastie, 1946.

Woman federal judge: Constance Baker Motley, 1966.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice: Thurgood Marshall, 1967.

President of the American Bar Association: Dennis Archer, 2002.

Diplomacy

U.S. ambassador: Ebenezer D. Bassett, 1869.

Nobel Peace Prize winner: Ralph J. Bunche, 1950.

Woman U.S. ambassador:Patricia Harris, 1965.

U.S. Representative to the UN: Andrew Young, 1977.

Military

U.S Army unit to have black men comprise more than half of its troops: 1st Rhode Island Regiment, 1778.

Commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy: Robert Smalls, 1863.

Commissioned officer above the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army: Major Martin R. Delany, 1865.

West Point graduate: Henry O. Flipper, 1877.

Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy: Wesley A. Brown, 1949.

Congressional Medal of Honor winner: Sgt. William H. Carney, 1900.

Combat pilot: Eugene Jacques Bullard, 1917.

General: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., 1940.

Woman general: Hazel W. Johnson, 1979.

Woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy: Janie L. Mines, 1980.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Colin Powell, 1989–1993.

Woman Rear Admiral in the United States Navy: Lillian Fishburne, 1998.

Science and Medicine

Patent holder: Thomas L. Jennings, 1821.

Hospital dedicated to black patient care: The Georgia Infirmary, 1832.

M.D. degree: James McCune Smith, 1837.

M.D. degree from a U.S. Medical School: David Jones Peck, 1847.

Woman to receive an M.D. degree: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, 1864.

Woman patent holder: Judy Reed, 1884.

Female Dental Surgeon: Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, 1890.

Black-owned hospital: Provident Hospital founded by Daniel Hale Williams, 1891.

Heart surgery pioneer: Daniel Hale Williams, 1893.

Developer of the blood bank: Dr. Charles Drew, 1940.

Member of the National Academy of Sciences: David Harold Blackwell, 1965.

Astronaut: Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., 1967.

Implantation of heart defibrillator: Levi Watkins, Jr., 1980.

Astronaut to travel in space: Guion Bluford, 1983.

Head of the National Science Foundation: Walter E. Massey, 1990.

Woman astronaut: Mae Jemison, 1992.

President of the American Medical Association:

Lonnie Bristow, 1995 Space Shuttle Commander: Frederick D. Gregory, 1998.

Art and Literature

Poet: Lucy Terry, 1746.

Published autobiography: Briton Hammon, 1760.

Scholarship Poet (published): Phillis College graduate (B.A.): Wheatley, 1773.

Recognized artist: John Chavis, 1799.

Joshua Johnston, 1790, Graduate of an Ivy League School: Theodore portraiture.

Woman’s autobiograSedgewick Wright, 1828 phy: Jarena Lee, 1831.

College professor: Male Novelist: William Charles Lewis Reason, Wells Brown, 1853.

1849.

Woman novelist, HarriWoman to graduate from a college, Lucy Stan- ett Wilson, 1859.

Recognized photogton, 1850.

College president: Dan- rapher: James Conway Farley, 1885 iel A. Payne, 1856.

Pulitzer prize winner: Non-white public high Gwendolyn Brooks, 1950. school: Paul Lawrence Pulitzer prize winner in Dunbar High, 1870.

Drama: Charles Gordone, Ph.D.: Edward A. 1970 Bouchet, 1876. .

Poet Laureate: Robert Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, George Washing- Hayden, 1976.

Nobel Prize for Literaton Henderson, 1877. ture winner: Toni MorriRhodes scholar: Alain son, 1993.

L. Locke, 1907.

Woman Poet Laureate: Women Ph.D’s: GeorRita Dove, 1993. giana Simpson, Sadie Tanner Mossell and Eva Beatrice Dykes, 1921.

Newspapers and Ivy League University president: Ruth Simmons, Other Print Media Newspaper: Freedom’s 2001.

Journal, 1827.

Daily newspaper: New Orleans Tribune, 1864.

Mass Circulation Magazine: Ebony, 1945

Music and Dance

Published musical composition: Francis Johnson, 1817.

Theatrical company: The African Company, 1821.

Nationally recognized dance performer: William Henry Lane (Master Juba), 1845.

Member of the New York City Opera: Todd Duncan, 1945.

Member of the Metropolitan Opera Company: Marian Anderson, 1955.

Male Grammy Award winner: Count Basie, 1958.

Woman Grammy Award winner: Ella Fitzgerald, 1958.

Principal dancer in a major dance company: Arthur Mitchell, 1959, New York City Ballet.

(See Firsts, Page 12)

Page 10 — Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Black History Month

Black Business District touted as nation’s best Three Rivers has long history of rich cultural diversity

Even before the city of Muskogee came into existence, the Three Forks region was rich with cultural diversity.

A large African American presence has existed in the region since it became a part of the U.S. following the Louisiana Purchase.

Both free and enslaved blacks were a part of the Indian removals that brought members of the Creek and Cherokee tribes to the Indian Territory.

Interviews of Cherokee and Creek freedmen indicate that those held as slaves had a surprising amount of latitude.

They worked almost as tenant farmers, choosing their own home sites, earning money from skilled labor, even owning guns for hunting.

Schoats

Following the Civil War, many of the now freed tribal members returned to their former homes in the bottom lands of the Three Rivers.

They rebuilt their homes on land they could now Jonita claim as their own.

Mullins They also built inThree stitutions Rivers History such as schools, churches and farming cooperatives, like cotton gins.

The antebellum years also brought an influx of “state blacks,” those former slaves of the South seeking a better life in the Indian

vocating for the federal holiday at their own expense, because there was no budget for their efforts, she said.

Continued from Page 5 Schoats has received federal holiday hapseveral honors, includpen in the state of Okla- ing being named to the homa, and she started 2015 Oklahoma African in Muskogee. The American Hall of Fame, commission traveled named as a “legend” by all over Oklahoma ad-

nations. At first, there was some mistrust between the tribal freedmen and state blacks, but over time the two groups melded together.

When the mostly black and Indian community of Creek Agency became the new railroad town of Muskogee in 1872, the population continued to be dominated by freedmen. In Muskogee’s first municipal election, there were more black voters than white.

This gradually changed when the federal court was placed in Muskogee and an influx of attorneys came to town. The Dawes Commission also brought a battalion of government workers and shifted the demographics of the city.

Still, Muskogee’s black community was vibrant and successful.

Despite the injustices of segregation, which became the law at statehood in 1907, freedmen descendants built businesses, pursued quality education in their schools, established churches and organized civic clubs.

Though some black residents worked as general laborers, porters and domestics, just as many occupied skilled trades as plumbers, bricklayers, machinists, butchers, tailors and carpenters.

They owned small businesses such as grocery stores, millineries, livery stables, and blacksmith shops.

There were a number of African American members of the profes-

sions as well, working as lawyers, teachers, physicians, surgeons, dentists and pharmacists. Black entrepreneurs opened funeral homes, clothing emporiums, restaurants, hotels, newspaper offices and photography studios.

The black business district clustered along Second Street and Market Street and served the black neighborhoods that bordered these corridors.

Smaller businesses could also be found within those neighborhoods where elementary schools named Langston, Dunbar, Douglass and Wheatley were built.

A Negro Business Directory published in 1942 proudly proclaimed that Muskogee

and neighboring Taft had a black population of 15,000. Driven by a well-organized black businessmen’s club, the directory stated that “Muskogee Negroes enjoy a (prestige) unequaled anywhere else in America.”

Quoting a long-time Muskogee resident, the publication proclaimed, “There’s more Negro lawyers, doctors, realtors, etc., to the square foot than there is anywhere else in the world.”

The success and vibrancy of this part of Muskogee’s past should be celebrated as testimony to what a community can accomplish when it strives for the best.

the Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce and honored as a state teacher of the Oklahoma Black Teacher’s Association.

Schoats retired from Langston University as associate vice president for academic affairs.

Her teaching career

Staff photo by Mark Hughes

Dr. Virginia Schoats recalls Oklahoma during during segregation. “Growing up, there were no black theaters, only a white theater, and blacks had to go upstairs to see the movie through a back door,” Schoats said.

included teacher, counselor and assistant principal in the Muskogee school district.

She stays busy by working with children

and helping them develop positive attitude and hopes this helps kids stay out of trouble, she said.

“If we can reach the

roots, the tree will be all right.”

Reach Mark Hughes at (918) 684-2908 or mhughes@muskogeephoenix.com.

Black History Month

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 — Page 3

Muskogee Phoenix

Fraternity members’ goal to help others Alpha Phi Alpha was established in Muskogee in 1940

By Mark Hughes Phoenix Staff Writer

A fraternity established in 1911 continues to emphasize mentoring young men, making a difference in the community and helping others.

Alpha Phi Alpha’s first fraternity was established in 1911, according to their website.

Muskogee’s chapter was established Brackeen Dec. 1, 1940, said Michael Brackeen, an Alpha Phi Alpha member and city code enforcement Biglow officer.

But everything starts with the youth and the community, said businessman Keith Biglow.

“We have to work harder to prepare our youth to be productive citizens,” Biglow said.

“We have to impact our youth. They are our future,” he said. “We need to help them grow up to be responsible adults and responsible members of their community. “Regardless of their economic background or what they do for a living, they need to law abiding citizens, and as adults, we have to teach our children that.”

Biglow joined Alpha

Staff photo by Elizabeth Ridenour

Rudy Jenkins discusses Alpha Phi Alpha’s free Santa Claus breakfast for children with Mary Wynn and Helen Ingram. In cooperation with McDonald’s, the fraternity provided over 600 free breakfasts to children last year and has been providing this community service for 35 years, Jenkins said.

Phil Alpha fraternity as a freshman in college where he learned manly deeds, scholarship and love for all mankind.

“I’ve tried to govern myself accordingly in this community,” he said. “I’ve always tried to positively impact the lives of the youth in our community and to be an asset in my community be it business or community related.”

“APA is always involved in what’s going on in the community,” Brackeen said. “If there’s something going on, you can be assured that Alpha is involved

in the solution process.

They are pro-action in the cares and concerns of society.”

Brackeen joined the fraternity in November 1979 while in college.

“The aim of the fraternity is love of all mankind and manly deeds (meeting needs of mankind and doing good),” he said. “They bring an asset to society, they are a difference maker.”

The fraternity also works in education to encourage young people to finish high school and go to college, Brackeen said.

“It’s one thing to go to college and get a

degree, that’s fine,” he said. “But if you don’t learn to help people ... who are struggling, needing direction and you don’t go back and encourage them, you are not being productive.”

Fraternity members who have made a difference in Oklahoma, this community and the world includes Donald Simmons, an economist who took over Simmons Royalty Company; local educators, Dr. Charles Adams, Vernon Foshee, James Roy Johnson; and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Brackeen said.

APA have chapters all over the world, Brack-

een said, “and no doubt wherever you go there will be a chapter there.”

Rudy Jenkins was inspired as a student at Manual Training High School, he said.

“At that particular time, we had the “go to high school, go to college,” Jenkins said.

“And the high school principal was member of Alpha Phi Alpha.”

“A large number of us, we would go to college and be professionals and would contribute to the community,” he said.

Jenkins earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas and came back to work

at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Muskogee, he said.

As part of the fraternity’s emphasis on community service, Jenkins has been in charge of the annual Santa Claus Breakfast for the last 35 years, he said.

“McDonald’s provides all the food, and we had over 600 kids at the Muskogee High School cafeteria last year,” Jenkins said.

A second community project the fraternity sponsors is a scholarship for high school seniors with presentations being held this spring at Antioch Baptist Church, he said.

Four $500 scholarships are awarded to high school seniors who provided intentions and goals for next three to five years and their plans for contribution to society, Brackeen said.

“We look at their involvement in the community and extracurricular activities,” he said. “We’re looking for a well-rounded individuals who are involved in the community and will be a leader and a difference maker.”

Reach Mark Hughes at (918) 684-2908 or mhughes@muskogeephoenix.com.

Page 4 — Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Black History Month

Influential black figures made history Since 1926, Americans have recognized

the accomplishments and influences of vari-

ous individuals during the celebration of

Black History Month.

With February upon us once again, we focus on many of the people across the globe who have helped to shape black history.

• Iman — Born Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid in Somali, this internationally recognized supermodel and actress is also a successful entrepreneur. After 20 years of modeling, Iman began her own cosmetics company, focusing on shades that were geared toward ethnic women. The business now reports annual profits of $25 million. Additionally, Iman is actively involved in a number of charitable works, including the Enough Project to end global trade conflicts over minerals and gems.

• Guion Bluford — Bluford is Bluford a retired NASA astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force colonel. He participated in four space shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992. Bluford is known as the first African-American in space and holds honorary doctorate degrees from 14 different colleges and uniNjoroge versities.

• George Njoroge — Born in Kenya, Njoroge is a scientist who is the director of medicinal

chemistry at Merck Research Laboratories.

Njoroge was at the center of the development of the drug Victrelis, which was approved in 2011 by the FDA to treat Hepatitis C. Njoroge was inducted into the scientific Hall of Fame as a 2012 Hero of Chemistry by the Aberra American Chemical Society.

• Amsale Aberra — Aberra is an Ethiopian-born fashion designer and entrepreneur.

Her designs are known across the globe, and she has various couture shops, including one on Madison Avenue in New York. Television producers often turn to Aberra when they need beautiful fashions for television and movies. Her designs have been featured on “Grey’s Anatomy,” “27 Dresses” and “American Wek Wedding.”

• Alek Wek — Wek is the first African model to appear on the cover of “Elle” magazine, a distinction she earned in 1997. Born in South Sudan, Wek has been a popular catwalk model and has also appeared in Tina Turner’s music video for “Golden Eye.” Wek is a member of the U.S. Committee for Refugees Advisory Council and educates

others about the dire situation in Sudan and elsewhere in the world.

• Oprah Winfrey — This American entertainment mogul is best known for her long-running and award-winning talk show, which was the highest-rated program of its time Winfrey during its airing.

Winfrey also acts and produces and is a noted philanthropist. Winfrey has frequently ranked among the most powerful women in the world and the most influential black person of her generation. Winfrey is the only black billionaire in North America.

Mandela • Nelson Mandela — The world mourned the death of Nelson Mandela in late 2013. An anti-apartheid activist and philanthropist from South Africa, Mandela was the first black South African to hold the office of President and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison after leading a campaign against the apartheid government.

Source: www.blackpast.org

Black History Month

Muskogee Phoenix

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 — Page 9

Ex-educator recalls struggle for equality

By Mark Hughes Phoenix Staff Writer

Obtaining teaching jobs for black educators in the 1950s was almost impossible, says a Muskogee civil rights activist.

Dr. Virginia Schoats and her late husband, Albert, were graduated from Langston University with doctoral degrees. At the time, she said, there were no teaching jobs in Oklahoma for black educators.

“They were closing all the black schools and firing black teachers and putting black students in with whites,” Schoats said. “Our (graduate) students had to leave the state to find teaching jobs in Mexico, California, Kansas or Missouri; it was horrible, so much racism.”

Schoats said they were fortunate — she got a teaching job at the high school she attended in Ponca City, and Albert taught in Hugo, where he earned his high school diploma. They were separated for a year and got together on weekends.

“It was quite common for black couples (teachers) to live in separate towns to get a job,” Schoats said. “Quite common.”

Schoats was born in Bonham, Texas, moved to Pauls Valley, and then moved to Ponca City, which was rich, very progressive and had more opportunity.

“Growing up, there were no black theaters, only a white theater, and blacks had to go upstairs to see the movie through a back door,” Schoats said.

At the back of bus stations there were signs

Staff photo by Elizabeth Ridenour

Dr. Virginia Schoats spends time with Cherish Webster, 7, a student at Sadler Arts Academy. Schoats was an early civil rights activist who chaired the Oklahoma Martin Luther King Jr. Commission to establish a holiday in King’s name.

that read “colored,” where black people could buy their tickets, and they had to sit in the back of the bus, she said.

While in college, Schoats and some friends purchased bus tickets from Langston to Guthrie.

“There were no seats in the back, so one of her friends sat in the front by a white lady who said, ‘Hmmmmpf, n******,’ jumped up and stood the entire way,” Schoats said.

The Schoats married

in 1952 and moved to Muskogee in 1957.

“There’s been a big change since we came here in 1957,” said Schoats, who cares for her 100-year-old mother.

“Muskogee didn’t want the prosperity, they wanted to stay a small town.”

Schoats said that racism was so bad in Muskogee at the time that the Dallas department of the federal Civil Rights Commission came to Muskogee and conducted a review to see what racial prob-

lems the city had.

“At that time, Muskogee Police Department was shooting black kids in the back, and the only jobs blacks could get were city trash men,” she said.

One of the commission’s recommendations was to provide black churches with city job applications to distribute among their congregation.

“After that, we had an overflow of black applicants,” Schoats said.

The city manager, city councilors, police

chief and others worked together to hire more blacks to work in the fire and police departments.

“I would get up at 5 a.m. to meet with the fire and police departments and city workers to teach human and race relations,” she said.

Muskogee’s city manager and other city officials were” so respectful” in complying with the commission’s recommendations, she said.

“I love Muskogee.The people here are very courageous people and

hard workers,” Schoats said. “They worked for the community to lift the community up, and I’m so proud of them.”

When the movement began to create a federal holiday for Martin Luther King Jr., Schoats was tagged by the Oklahoma governor to be the first commissioner of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, she said.

As head of the commission, Schoats was in charge of making the (See Schoats, Page 10)

Robinson changes baseball world In baseball, the batting average is defined as the ratio of hits to at bats.

A batting average is a measure of a player’s ability to hit. A batting average over .300 is considered to be good, and an average over .400 a nearly unachievable goal. (The last player to hit that mark, with enough at bats to qualify for the batting championship, was Ted Williams of the Boston Red Sox, who hit .406 in 1941.)

aseball Hall of Famer, Jackie Robinson probably changed baseball more than any other player – not by skill alone, but by who he was as a person.

hen Jackie started school he found something he was very good at: sports. He liked to play hard. He liked to win. He found out that by winning in sports he got respect from the white children. He liked this feeling and vowed he would always work hard to gain respect.

Jackie Robinson’s career batting average of .311 is still one of the top 100 of all time.

The baseball statistics in the newspaper provide a fun way to practice math skills. Use the following to get yourself started.

• Always say as a three-digit whole number • Say the first digit as a single whole number • Combine the second and third digits to form a two-digit number For example: .274 = two seventy-four .309 = three oh-nine .075 = oh seventy-five

y the time he was in high school, Jackie led the football, basketball, baseball and track teams.

In 1938, when he was a student at Pasadena Junior College, Jackie led his college teammates to victory in a track meet and a baseball game held 40 miles apart on the same day!

fter college, Jackie went into the Army. When he got out he signed on with a baseball team in the Negro Leagues. At that time, black players were not allowed in the all-white Major Leagues.

Rickey said to Jackie …

Then, on October 23, 1945 Branch Rickey, the general manager of the Brooklyn Dodgers, asked Jackie Robinson to play for the Dodgers beginning in 1947. He said it would be difficult to be the first man to end segregation in Major League Baseball.

n 1947, Jackie Robinson was ahead of his time when it came to ending segregation in Major League Baseball. Use the code to find out the order in which the following were integrated.

What do you think he meant by that?

U.S. Armed Forces are integrated

Segregated schools declared illegal

The last Major League Baseball team is integrated *Biographical information on today’s page verified by the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum: www.baseballhalloffame.org

Select a photograph in today’s sports pages and try to imitate and hold the pose of a person in the photograph. Then, have a friend or family member give it a try.

ILLEGAL PASADENA BROTHER RESPECT MAJOR BRANCH FIRST DODGERS MOVIE SKIN JACKIE MILES ROOSEVELT POSE ROBINSON

What made Jackie Robinson great is not only what he accomplished for himself, but what he made possible for other people. Search the newspaper to identify individuals who are working to make life better for other people. Name the individuals and then summarize their actions and the possible benefits to others.

Find the words in the puzzle, then in this week’s Kid Scoop stories and activities.

• Batting averages are always three digits • If you have a two digit number place a zero on the end: .25 becomes .250 • If you have only one digit, place two zeros on the end: .3 becomes .300 • If you have more than three digits look at the fourth digit to determine if you should round the third digit up or keep it the same: .30119 becomes .301 .2348 becomes .235 • Batting Average (BA) = Hits (H) divided by At Bats (AB) or BA = H/AB • If you have a fraction: 1/5 that’s the same as saying 1 for 5 or 1 hit for 5 at bats • To determine the batting average 1/5 divide the numerator by the denominator to create a decimal.

Then say the answer as .200 • 3 for 8 or 3/8 = .375 • 1 for 4 or 1/4 = .250

• Add the hits from both games together and then add at bats from both games together, next divide the sum of the hits by the sum of the at bats.

• 1 for 4; 3 for 5, first add up the hits 1 + 3 = 4, next add up the at bats 4 + 5 = 9, then divide the sum of the hits 4 by the sum of the at bats 9 or four for nine or 4/9 = .444 • 0 for 2; 3 for 7 = 3 for 9 or 3/9 = .333 • 2 for 3; 1 for 4 = 3 for 7 or 3/7 = .429

J A B R R O J A M T L B R O T H E R L A A T A B P O S E F N G C N I C S V I

I E

E E C N K E I K R D L P H S S L S C S A L S M O V I E A T S I E O N R M O J B A N R S R E G D O D P

This week’s word:

SEGREGATION

The noun segregation means separating people into racial groups.

Making people sit in different parts of a theater or bus because if their skin color is racial segregation.

What is your favorite sport?

What about it makes this your favorite sport?

Science, technology achievements © 2015 by Vicki Whiting, Editor Jeff Schinkel, Graphics Vol. 32, No. 07

Are you an eagle-eyed reader? Read the story below and circle the seven errors you find. Then rewrite the story correctly.

Peanut Professor

George Washington Carver was born a slave, but he grew up to be one of America’s greatest scientist. He invented more than 300 products made from peanuts!

Have you ever ridden in an elevator, worn shoes, played with a Super Soaker or used a microphone? Then your life has been touched by an African-American scientist.

Photo: nanoman657

Follow the maze to match each inventor with their invention.

This NASA engineer is best known for inventing the Super Soaker water blaster.

The success of his invention has funded his own research and he now has more than 100 inventions to his name.

Use the code to discover this inventor’s name.

Carver wanted to help poor farmers. He told them to grew peanuts. The farmers thought peanuts were weeds.

Carver invited some farm to lunch. They had soup, mock chicken, creamed vegetables, bread, salad, ice cream, cookies and coffee.

up a If you love to pick sing out a microphone and glad this song, you will be ity and ectric scientist loved el nted a small ve physics. He in technology microphone. His ent of is used in 90 perc d in an y da microphones to baby s, cell phones, laptop aids. g in monitors and hear

He invented a machine that could quickly attach the top of a shoe to the sole. The machine made shoes ten times faster than by hand, making shoes more affordable.

Early elevato rs doors that ha had d to be opened and c losed by hand. Ele vator doors that op en close automa and tically made riding an elevator safe r.

it was hard for a black child to get into school when Carver was young but. He never gave up. He eventually finished skool and got a job as a teacher at a school in Alabama.

, this In 1914 ated a r cre invento od” which ho “safety olluted air e d ma p eath. This br safer to arly version e was an gas mask. e h t of

INVENTOR CODE

Imagines their surprise when Carver told them that everything was made with peanuts!

Replace the missing words.

Mae Jemison has always had big ________. Her big dreams took her into space! She is the first African-American female _______________ . In 1992, she flew aboard the space shuttle Endeavor.

Mae loved ___________ and dancing as a child. In Look through the college she decided to ___________ newspaper for ten medicine. After becoming a doctor, she words that describe went to Africa with the Peace Corps.

When she returned _____, she decided to inventors. Use these words to write follow another dream—to be an astronaut. a poem or a paragraph about inventors.

Standards Link: Research: Use the newspaper to locate information.

Watch the newspaper for articles and pictures about important men and women in the world of science. Write a short paragraph about each.

Keep all of your clippings and paragraphs in a notebook or folder called STEM Newsmakers.

MICROPHONE AMERICAN AFRICAN COLLEGE SCIENCE HISTORY INVENT DREAMS FEMALE PEACE HONOR BLACK HAND SONG AIR

B L T N E V N I A A

H O N O R K A Y F C S P E A C E C R E S

C K D A H O I O M M I S L N L C R T A A

E B O L A I E S L E

N T E N A H M I E R

C G S T G O A H R D

E N O H P O R C I M

ANSWER: Two tons of mashed potatoes.

Cut and paste these sentences in the correct order to discover the beginnings of Black History Month.

This week’s word:

AUTOMATIC

The adjective automatic means a device that acts or is set in motion by itself.

The grocery store doors opened automatically as I walked toward them.

Try to use the word automatic in a sentence today when talking with your friends and family members.

If it were possible for you to be anything in the world, what would you want to be?

What would you do if this happened to come true?

Page 4 — Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Black History Month

Influential black figures made history Since 1926, Americans have recognized

the accomplishments and influences of vari-

ous individuals during the celebration of

Black History Month.

With February upon us once again, we focus on many of the people across the globe who have helped to shape black history.

• Iman — Born Iman Mohamed Abdulmajid in Somali, this internationally recognized supermodel and actress is also a successful entrepreneur. After 20 years of modeling, Iman began her own cosmetics company, focusing on shades that were geared toward ethnic women. The business now reports annual profits of $25 million. Additionally, Iman is actively involved in a number of charitable works, including the Enough Project to end global trade conflicts over minerals and gems.

• Guion Bluford — Bluford is Bluford a retired NASA astronaut and retired U.S. Air Force colonel. He participated in four space shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992. Bluford is known as the first African-American in space and holds honorary doctorate degrees from 14 different colleges and uniNjoroge versities.

• George Njoroge — Born in Kenya, Njoroge is a scientist who is the director of medicinal

chemistry at Merck Research Laboratories.

Njoroge was at the center of the development of the drug Victrelis, which was approved in 2011 by the FDA to treat Hepatitis C. Njoroge was inducted into the scientific Hall of Fame as a 2012 Hero of Chemistry by the Aberra American Chemical Society.

• Amsale Aberra — Aberra is an Ethiopian-born fashion designer and entrepreneur.

Her designs are known across the globe, and she has various couture shops, including one on Madison Avenue in New York. Television producers often turn to Aberra when they need beautiful fashions for television and movies. Her designs have been featured on “Grey’s Anatomy,” “27 Dresses” and “American Wek Wedding.”

• Alek Wek — Wek is the first African model to appear on the cover of “Elle” magazine, a distinction she earned in 1997. Born in South Sudan, Wek has been a popular catwalk model and has also appeared in Tina Turner’s music video for “Golden Eye.” Wek is a member of the U.S. Committee for Refugees Advisory Council and educates

others about the dire situation in Sudan and elsewhere in the world.

• Oprah Winfrey — This American entertainment mogul is best known for her long-running and award-winning talk show, which was the highest-rated program of its time Winfrey during its airing.

Winfrey also acts and produces and is a noted philanthropist. Winfrey has frequently ranked among the most powerful women in the world and the most influential black person of her generation. Winfrey is the only black billionaire in North America.

Mandela • Nelson Mandela — The world mourned the death of Nelson Mandela in late 2013. An anti-apartheid activist and philanthropist from South Africa, Mandela was the first black South African to hold the office of President and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election.

Mandela spent 27 years in prison after leading a campaign against the apartheid government.

Source: www.blackpast.org

Black History Month

Muskogee Phoenix

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 — Page 9

Ex-educator recalls struggle for equality

By Mark Hughes Phoenix Staff Writer

Obtaining teaching jobs for black educators in the 1950s was almost impossible, says a Muskogee civil rights activist.

Dr. Virginia Schoats and her late husband, Albert, were graduated from Langston University with doctoral degrees. At the time, she said, there were no teaching jobs in Oklahoma for black educators.

“They were closing all the black schools and firing black teachers and putting black students in with whites,” Schoats said. “Our (graduate) students had to leave the state to find teaching jobs in Mexico, California, Kansas or Missouri; it was horrible, so much racism.”

Schoats said they were fortunate — she got a teaching job at the high school she attended in Ponca City, and Albert taught in Hugo, where he earned his high school diploma. They were separated for a year and got together on weekends.

“It was quite common for black couples (teachers) to live in separate towns to get a job,” Schoats said. “Quite common.”

Schoats was born in Bonham, Texas, moved to Pauls Valley, and then moved to Ponca City, which was rich, very progressive and had more opportunity.

“Growing up, there were no black theaters, only a white theater, and blacks had to go upstairs to see the movie through a back door,” Schoats said.

At the back of bus stations there were signs

Staff photo by Elizabeth Ridenour

Dr. Virginia Schoats spends time with Cherish Webster, 7, a student at Sadler Arts Academy. Schoats was an early civil rights activist who chaired the Oklahoma Martin Luther King Jr. Commission to establish a holiday in King’s name.

that read “colored,” where black people could buy their tickets, and they had to sit in the back of the bus, she said.

While in college, Schoats and some friends purchased bus tickets from Langston to Guthrie.

“There were no seats in the back, so one of her friends sat in the front by a white lady who said, ‘Hmmmmpf, n******,’ jumped up and stood the entire way,” Schoats said.

The Schoats married

in 1952 and moved to Muskogee in 1957.

“There’s been a big change since we came here in 1957,” said Schoats, who cares for her 100-year-old mother.

“Muskogee didn’t want the prosperity, they wanted to stay a small town.”

Schoats said that racism was so bad in Muskogee at the time that the Dallas department of the federal Civil Rights Commission came to Muskogee and conducted a review to see what racial prob-

lems the city had.

“At that time, Muskogee Police Department was shooting black kids in the back, and the only jobs blacks could get were city trash men,” she said.

One of the commission’s recommendations was to provide black churches with city job applications to distribute among their congregation.

“After that, we had an overflow of black applicants,” Schoats said.

The city manager, city councilors, police

chief and others worked together to hire more blacks to work in the fire and police departments.

“I would get up at 5 a.m. to meet with the fire and police departments and city workers to teach human and race relations,” she said.

Muskogee’s city manager and other city officials were” so respectful” in complying with the commission’s recommendations, she said.

“I love Muskogee.The people here are very courageous people and

hard workers,” Schoats said. “They worked for the community to lift the community up, and I’m so proud of them.”

When the movement began to create a federal holiday for Martin Luther King Jr., Schoats was tagged by the Oklahoma governor to be the first commissioner of the Martin Luther King Jr. Commission, she said.

As head of the commission, Schoats was in charge of making the (See Schoats, Page 10)

Page 10 — Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Black History Month

Black Business District touted as nation’s best Three Rivers has long history of rich cultural diversity

Even before the city of Muskogee came into existence, the Three Forks region was rich with cultural diversity.

A large African American presence has existed in the region since it became a part of the U.S. following the Louisiana Purchase.

Both free and enslaved blacks were a part of the Indian removals that brought members of the Creek and Cherokee tribes to the Indian Territory.

Interviews of Cherokee and Creek freedmen indicate that those held as slaves had a surprising amount of latitude.

They worked almost as tenant farmers, choosing their own home sites, earning money from skilled labor, even owning guns for hunting.

Schoats

Following the Civil War, many of the now freed tribal members returned to their former homes in the bottom lands of the Three Rivers.

They rebuilt their homes on land they could now Jonita claim as their own.

Mullins They also built inThree stitutions Rivers History such as schools, churches and farming cooperatives, like cotton gins.

The antebellum years also brought an influx of “state blacks,” those former slaves of the South seeking a better life in the Indian

vocating for the federal holiday at their own expense, because there was no budget for their efforts, she said.

Continued from Page 5 Schoats has received federal holiday hapseveral honors, includpen in the state of Okla- ing being named to the homa, and she started 2015 Oklahoma African in Muskogee. The American Hall of Fame, commission traveled named as a “legend” by all over Oklahoma ad-

nations. At first, there was some mistrust between the tribal freedmen and state blacks, but over time the two groups melded together.

When the mostly black and Indian community of Creek Agency became the new railroad town of Muskogee in 1872, the population continued to be dominated by freedmen. In Muskogee’s first municipal election, there were more black voters than white.

This gradually changed when the federal court was placed in Muskogee and an influx of attorneys came to town. The Dawes Commission also brought a battalion of government workers and shifted the demographics of the city.

Still, Muskogee’s black community was vibrant and successful.

Despite the injustices of segregation, which became the law at statehood in 1907, freedmen descendants built businesses, pursued quality education in their schools, established churches and organized civic clubs.

Though some black residents worked as general laborers, porters and domestics, just as many occupied skilled trades as plumbers, bricklayers, machinists, butchers, tailors and carpenters.

They owned small businesses such as grocery stores, millineries, livery stables, and blacksmith shops.

There were a number of African American members of the profes-

sions as well, working as lawyers, teachers, physicians, surgeons, dentists and pharmacists. Black entrepreneurs opened funeral homes, clothing emporiums, restaurants, hotels, newspaper offices and photography studios.

The black business district clustered along Second Street and Market Street and served the black neighborhoods that bordered these corridors.

Smaller businesses could also be found within those neighborhoods where elementary schools named Langston, Dunbar, Douglass and Wheatley were built.

A Negro Business Directory published in 1942 proudly proclaimed that Muskogee

and neighboring Taft had a black population of 15,000. Driven by a well-organized black businessmen’s club, the directory stated that “Muskogee Negroes enjoy a (prestige) unequaled anywhere else in America.”

Quoting a long-time Muskogee resident, the publication proclaimed, “There’s more Negro lawyers, doctors, realtors, etc., to the square foot than there is anywhere else in the world.”

The success and vibrancy of this part of Muskogee’s past should be celebrated as testimony to what a community can accomplish when it strives for the best.

the Greater Muskogee Area Chamber of Commerce and honored as a state teacher of the Oklahoma Black Teacher’s Association.

Schoats retired from Langston University as associate vice president for academic affairs.

Her teaching career

Staff photo by Mark Hughes

Dr. Virginia Schoats recalls Oklahoma during during segregation. “Growing up, there were no black theaters, only a white theater, and blacks had to go upstairs to see the movie through a back door,” Schoats said.

included teacher, counselor and assistant principal in the Muskogee school district.

She stays busy by working with children

and helping them develop positive attitude and hopes this helps kids stay out of trouble, she said.

“If we can reach the

roots, the tree will be all right.”

Reach Mark Hughes at (918) 684-2908 or mhughes@muskogeephoenix.com.

Black History Month

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 — Page 3

Muskogee Phoenix

Fraternity members’ goal to help others Alpha Phi Alpha was established in Muskogee in 1940

By Mark Hughes Phoenix Staff Writer

A fraternity established in 1911 continues to emphasize mentoring young men, making a difference in the community and helping others.

Alpha Phi Alpha’s first fraternity was established in 1911, according to their website.

Muskogee’s chapter was established Brackeen Dec. 1, 1940, said Michael Brackeen, an Alpha Phi Alpha member and city code enforcement Biglow officer.

But everything starts with the youth and the community, said businessman Keith Biglow.

“We have to work harder to prepare our youth to be productive citizens,” Biglow said.

“We have to impact our youth. They are our future,” he said. “We need to help them grow up to be responsible adults and responsible members of their community. “Regardless of their economic background or what they do for a living, they need to law abiding citizens, and as adults, we have to teach our children that.”

Biglow joined Alpha

Staff photo by Elizabeth Ridenour

Rudy Jenkins discusses Alpha Phi Alpha’s free Santa Claus breakfast for children with Mary Wynn and Helen Ingram. In cooperation with McDonald’s, the fraternity provided over 600 free breakfasts to children last year and has been providing this community service for 35 years, Jenkins said.

Phil Alpha fraternity as a freshman in college where he learned manly deeds, scholarship and love for all mankind.

“I’ve tried to govern myself accordingly in this community,” he said. “I’ve always tried to positively impact the lives of the youth in our community and to be an asset in my community be it business or community related.”

“APA is always involved in what’s going on in the community,” Brackeen said. “If there’s something going on, you can be assured that Alpha is involved

in the solution process.

They are pro-action in the cares and concerns of society.”

Brackeen joined the fraternity in November 1979 while in college.

“The aim of the fraternity is love of all mankind and manly deeds (meeting needs of mankind and doing good),” he said. “They bring an asset to society, they are a difference maker.”

The fraternity also works in education to encourage young people to finish high school and go to college, Brackeen said.

“It’s one thing to go to college and get a

degree, that’s fine,” he said. “But if you don’t learn to help people ... who are struggling, needing direction and you don’t go back and encourage them, you are not being productive.”

Fraternity members who have made a difference in Oklahoma, this community and the world includes Donald Simmons, an economist who took over Simmons Royalty Company; local educators, Dr. Charles Adams, Vernon Foshee, James Roy Johnson; and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., Brackeen said.

APA have chapters all over the world, Brack-

een said, “and no doubt wherever you go there will be a chapter there.”

Rudy Jenkins was inspired as a student at Manual Training High School, he said.

“At that particular time, we had the “go to high school, go to college,” Jenkins said.

“And the high school principal was member of Alpha Phi Alpha.”

“A large number of us, we would go to college and be professionals and would contribute to the community,” he said.

Jenkins earned a master’s degree from the University of Texas and came back to work

at the Bureau of Indian Affairs in Muskogee, he said.

As part of the fraternity’s emphasis on community service, Jenkins has been in charge of the annual Santa Claus Breakfast for the last 35 years, he said.

“McDonald’s provides all the food, and we had over 600 kids at the Muskogee High School cafeteria last year,” Jenkins said.

A second community project the fraternity sponsors is a scholarship for high school seniors with presentations being held this spring at Antioch Baptist Church, he said.

Four $500 scholarships are awarded to high school seniors who provided intentions and goals for next three to five years and their plans for contribution to society, Brackeen said.

“We look at their involvement in the community and extracurricular activities,” he said. “We’re looking for a well-rounded individuals who are involved in the community and will be a leader and a difference maker.”

Reach Mark Hughes at (918) 684-2908 or mhughes@muskogeephoenix.com.

Page 2 — Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Black History Month

Evolution of Black History Month

Metro Creative

Metro Creative

Black History Month, sometimes referred to as African American History Month, is a federally recognized month-long commemoration of the achievements of African Americans and the roles they have played in shaping United States history.

Each February, Americans recognize notable African American individuals. Canada and the United Kingdom also observe Black History Month, with the UK celebrating in October rather than February.

Many deserving people are recognized during Black History Month, which no doubt serves to inspire African Americans and others who appreciate the role African Americans have played and continue to play.

One of the lesser known yet highly influential individuals to play a key role in the development of Black History Month was Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

Woodson was a son of former slaves who spent his childhood working in coal mines and quarries.

Self-taught in English and arithmetic, Woodson attended high school and completed the curriculum in two years.

He eventually received a Masters degree in History from the University of Chicago and a Ph.D. from Harvard.

Woodson was disheartened that textbooks and American history largely ignored the achievements of Black Americans. Therefore, he began the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History

U.S. National Archives

Dr. Carter G. Woodson.

and founded a complementary journal.

According to The Freeman Institute Foundation, Woodson decided to launch a Negro History Week in 1926. He picked the second week of February to have the recognition fall between the birthdays of Frederick Douglass and Abraham Lincoln, two pioneers of racial equality.

Although the first Negro History Week met with mild responses, eventually, the yearly tradition caught on and its popularity grew. It wasn’t until 1969, however, that Negro History Week transformed into Black History Month, after a proposition by

the leaders of the Black United Students at Kent State University.

In 1976, 26 years after Woodson’s death, Black History Month was officially recognized by the U.S. government.

Black History Month has grown considerably since Woodson first launched Negro History Week nearly a century ago. His words about why he felt African American history was so important still resonate today: “What we need is not a history of selected races of nations, but the history of the world void of national bias, race hate, and religious prejudice.”

Black History Month

Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016 — Page 11

Muskogee Phoenix

African-American firsts abound Government

Officeholder in colonial America: Matthias de Souza, 1641 State elected official: Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1836.

Municipal elected official: John Mercer Langston, 1855.

County sheriff: Walter Burton, 1869.

State Supreme Court Justice: Jonathan Jasper Wright, 1870.

City mayor: Robert Wood, 1870.

U.S. Representative: Joseph Rainey,1870.

U.S. Senator (appointed): Hiram Revels, 1870.

Governor (appointed): P.B.S. Pinchback, 1872.

Person to run for the presidency: George Edwin Taylor, 1904.

Woman legislator: Crystal Bird Fauset, 1938.

U.S Senator (elected) Edward Brooke, 1966.

U.S. cabinet member: Robert C. Weaver, 1966.

Mayor of major city: Carl Stokes, 1967.

Woman U.S. Representative: Shirley Chisholm, 1969.

Woman cabinet officer: Patricia Harris, 1977.

Governor (elected): L. Douglas Wilder, 1989.

Woman mayor of a major U.S. city: Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly, 1991.

Woman U.S. Senator: Carol Mosely Braun, 1992.

U.S. Secretary of State: Colin Powell, 2001.

Woman Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice, 2005.

Major party nominee for President: Sen. Barack Obama, 2008.

U.S. President: Barack Obama, 2009.

Woman U.S. Attorney General: Loretta E. Lynch, 2015.

Law

Admitted to the Bar: Macon B. Allen, 1845.

Woman admitted to the bar:Charlotte Ray, 1872.

Elected municipal judge: Mifflin W. Gibbs, 1873 Editor, Harvard Law Review: Charles Hamilton Houston, 1919.

Federal Judge: William Henry Hastie, 1946.

Woman federal judge: Constance Baker Motley, 1966.

U.S. Supreme Court Justice: Thurgood Marshall, 1967.

President of the American Bar Association: Dennis Archer, 2002.

Diplomacy

U.S. ambassador: Ebenezer D. Bassett, 1869.

Nobel Peace Prize winner: Ralph J. Bunche, 1950.

Woman U.S. ambassador:Patricia Harris, 1965.

U.S. Representative to the UN: Andrew Young, 1977.

Military

U.S Army unit to have black men comprise more than half of its troops: 1st Rhode Island Regiment, 1778.

Commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy: Robert Smalls, 1863.

Commissioned officer above the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army: Major Martin R. Delany, 1865.

West Point graduate: Henry O. Flipper, 1877.

Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy: Wesley A. Brown, 1949.

Congressional Medal of Honor winner: Sgt. William H. Carney, 1900.

Combat pilot: Eugene Jacques Bullard, 1917.

General: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., 1940.

Woman general: Hazel W. Johnson, 1979.

Woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy: Janie L. Mines, 1980.

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Colin Powell, 1989–1993.

Woman Rear Admiral in the United States Navy: Lillian Fishburne, 1998.

Science and Medicine

Patent holder: Thomas L. Jennings, 1821.

Hospital dedicated to black patient care: The Georgia Infirmary, 1832.

M.D. degree: James McCune Smith, 1837.

M.D. degree from a U.S. Medical School: David Jones Peck, 1847.

Woman to receive an M.D. degree: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, 1864.

Woman patent holder: Judy Reed, 1884.

Female Dental Surgeon: Ida Gray Nelson Rollins, 1890.

Black-owned hospital: Provident Hospital founded by Daniel Hale Williams, 1891.

Heart surgery pioneer: Daniel Hale Williams, 1893.

Developer of the blood bank: Dr. Charles Drew, 1940.

Member of the National Academy of Sciences: David Harold Blackwell, 1965.

Astronaut: Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., 1967.

Implantation of heart defibrillator: Levi Watkins, Jr., 1980.

Astronaut to travel in space: Guion Bluford, 1983.

Head of the National Science Foundation: Walter E. Massey, 1990.

Woman astronaut: Mae Jemison, 1992.

President of the American Medical Association:

Lonnie Bristow, 1995 Space Shuttle Commander: Frederick D. Gregory, 1998.

Art and Literature

Poet: Lucy Terry, 1746.

Published autobiography: Briton Hammon, 1760.

Scholarship Poet (published): Phillis College graduate (B.A.): Wheatley, 1773.

Recognized artist: John Chavis, 1799.

Joshua Johnston, 1790, Graduate of an Ivy League School: Theodore portraiture.

Woman’s autobiograSedgewick Wright, 1828 phy: Jarena Lee, 1831.

College professor: Male Novelist: William Charles Lewis Reason, Wells Brown, 1853.

1849.

Woman novelist, HarriWoman to graduate from a college, Lucy Stan- ett Wilson, 1859.

Recognized photogton, 1850.

College president: Dan- rapher: James Conway Farley, 1885 iel A. Payne, 1856.

Pulitzer prize winner: Non-white public high Gwendolyn Brooks, 1950. school: Paul Lawrence Pulitzer prize winner in Dunbar High, 1870.

Drama: Charles Gordone, Ph.D.: Edward A. 1970 Bouchet, 1876. .

Poet Laureate: Robert Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, George Washing- Hayden, 1976.

Nobel Prize for Literaton Henderson, 1877. ture winner: Toni MorriRhodes scholar: Alain son, 1993.

L. Locke, 1907.

Woman Poet Laureate: Women Ph.D’s: GeorRita Dove, 1993. giana Simpson, Sadie Tanner Mossell and Eva Beatrice Dykes, 1921.

Newspapers and Ivy League University president: Ruth Simmons, Other Print Media Newspaper: Freedom’s 2001.

Journal, 1827.

Daily newspaper: New Orleans Tribune, 1864.

Mass Circulation Magazine: Ebony, 1945

Music and Dance

Published musical composition: Francis Johnson, 1817.

Theatrical company: The African Company, 1821.

Nationally recognized dance performer: William Henry Lane (Master Juba), 1845.

Member of the New York City Opera: Todd Duncan, 1945.

Member of the Metropolitan Opera Company: Marian Anderson, 1955.

Male Grammy Award winner: Count Basie, 1958.

Woman Grammy Award winner: Ella Fitzgerald, 1958.

Principal dancer in a major dance company: Arthur Mitchell, 1959, New York City Ballet.

(See Firsts, Page 12)

Page 12 — Sunday, Feb. 7, 2016

Muskogee Phoenix

Black History Month

African-American firsts Continued from Page 11

Film and Theater First African American film company: Lincoln Motion Picture Company,

1916.

Film director: Oscar Micheaux, 1919.

First Oscar winner: Hattie McDaniel, 1940.

First Honorary Oscar:

James Baskett, 1948.

Tony Award Winner: Juanita Hall, 1950.

Oscar, Best Actor: Sidney Poitier 1963.

Director for a major

Hollywood studio: Gordon Parks, 1969.

Woman director for a major Hollywood Studio: Julie Dash, 1991.

Oscar, Best Actress: Halle Berry, 2001.

First President of the Academy of Motion Pic-

ture Arts and Sciences (The Oscars): Cheryl Boone Isaacs, 2013.

Radio and Television Radio broadcaster: Jack L. Cooper, 1925.

Black-owned radio sta-

tion: WERD, purchased

by Jesse B. Blayton, Sr., 1949.

Network television show host: Nat King Cole, 1956.

Star of a network television show: Bill Cosby, 1965.

Black-owned television station: WGPR-TV, 1975 First Evening New Anchor: Max Robinson, 1978.

Woman television show host: Oprah Winfrey, 1986.

Sports Jockey to Win Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis, 1875.

Professional baseball player: Moses Fleetwood Walker, 1884

BLACK H I S T O RY MONTH

Muskogee’s new Martin Luther King community center anticipated opening April 2016

February 7, 2016 Muskogee Phoenix Advertising Supplement