Celebrating Black History
Ed Dwight sculpted a historic path to space
The oldest person to reach that height
By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American
In 1961, Ed Dwight was a decorated Air Force pilot with a dream of traveling into space. He was nominated as a candidate for NASA’s early astronaut corps in 1961, just as NASA’s Project Mercury crewed flights were beginning. Much of the Mercury technology was crafted by McDonnell Corp., in St. Louis, and astronauts were carried into space on six flights between 1961 and ’63. While qualified, NASA did not select Dwight for the astronaut class of 1963. The agency did not choose a Black astronaut until 1978, and a Black Astronaut would not venture into space until Guion Bluford made history in 1983. Dwight, if chosen, would have been
in the 1963 astronaut class that included Edwin “Buzz” Aldrin and Michael Collins.
On July 16, 1969, as Apollo 11 roared into space, Dwight could only look at the moon and wonder “what if?”
Apollo 11 astronauts Niel Armstrong and Edwin Aldrin were the first men to walk on the moon on July 20, 1969. Collins orbited the moon in the command module during the historic trip.
Dwight, an aeronautical engineer, Air Force captain and test pilot told BBC in England in 2019 that he received a letter from the Pentagon, authorized by President John F Kennedy, gauging his interest in becoming the first Black astronaut.
Above: Ed Dwight’s “Soldiers’ Memorial on the Lincoln University campus in Jefferson City, Mo., depicts the members of the 62nd and 65th United States Colored Infantry who, in 1866, founded Lincoln University. The work includes two soldiers and Capt. Foster, their white commander, who all are shown atop a pedestal. Another soldier, placed behind the main sculptural group, assists other soldiers as they ascend the pedestal. On the base of the pedestal is a bas relief group of soldiers.
Left: Ed Dwight could have been the only Black astronaut in the 1960s –but racial politics ended his dream of reaching space. On May 19, 2024, at the age of 90, he got his chance to go into orbit on Blue Origin Mission NS-25, taking off from the Blue Origin base near Van Horn, Texas.
Black history is being made each day throughout the St. Louis region by accomplished African Americans in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields. During Black History Month, the St. Louis American will be featuring individuals who are following the historic paths of great Black scientists, engineers, and educators and also paving a way for others with STEM interests who are destined for future accomplishments
Tiffanie Toles has engineered a STEM success story
‘Believe in yourself’
By Alvin A. Reid St. Louis American
Tiffanie Toles, a project manager with Kwame Building Group, learned early in her life she liked “how to go about doing things.”
It was the first of many steps that led her into the field of engineering where she earned several degrees before launching an impressive career that has brought her accolades and honors from throughout the nation.
While in elementary school in the Riverview Gardens School District, she had strong grades in math and science, and she participated in its REACH program.
“It’s where I found out I liked engineering,” Toles said.
She would attend Westview Middle School, which offered Project Lead the Way, and had her first experiences using Auto Cad, which helped students design their “dream car.”
“We built that vision,” Toles explained.
Describing herself as “a small young woman with a small amount of resources,” Toles began her high school educa-
tion at Lutheran North.
“My mom worked two jobs so I could go there. She gave so much of her life for my education,” she said.
Toles’ mom would lose one of her jobs and the decision was made for Toles to transfer to Hazelwood Central, which did not derail her journey to a future engineering degree.
“They understood my predicament and vowed to get me where I wanted to go,” she explained.
Knowing she would need scholarships to attend college, Toles and her mom feverishly researched and applied for numerous financial assistance opportunities. Before she knew what colleges to apply for, she realized that funding was the first priority. The Gates Millenium Scholarship, which offered a four-year full ride to
2025 BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS CALENDAR
Thurs., Feb. 6, 5:30 p.m., St. Louis Public Library Black History Month Film Series, “Hidden Figures,” Auditorium, St. Louis Public Library –Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.
Thurs., Feb. 6, 6 p.m., St. Louis County Library Black History Celebration with keynote speaker Victoria Christopher Murray, Author of “Harlem Rhapsody.” Tamia Coleman-Hawkins will receive the Frankie Freeman Inspirational Award during the program, St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 St. Lindbergh. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.
Sat., Feb. 8, 10 a.m., The Black Rep presents Jabari Dreams of Freedom. Follow Jabari through a world of rap and sketch as he dreams of Civil Rights leaders and role models that help him ace his social studies test at school. St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 St. Lindbergh. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.
Sat., Feb. 8, 1 p.m. Freedom Crossroads: The Importance of Cemeteries, Churches & Schools Featuring the expert panel of: Jeff Smith – Fr. Dickson Cemetery, Reverend Edmund Lowe - Churches, and Dr. Erma Reid – Schools., Chapel Hill Mortuary, 10301 Big Bend Rd. At the Big Bend and Highway 44 intersection. Across from Sam’s. Tickets: Free, Reservations Required. https://shorturl. at/n3qwc
Sat., Feb. 8, 1 p.m., St. Louis Public Library presents The African American Experience at the 1904
See Astronaut, D2
See Toles, D2
Photo courtesy of Blue Origin
Photo by Taylor Marriee/St. Louis American
Tiffanie Toles
Continued from D1
World’s Fair, St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.
Mon., Feb. 10, 6 p.m. Baseball & Black History (for kids), Learn about influential African American Baseball players through history and decorate your own baseball cap and personalized pennant. Supplies are limited, St. Louis Public Library –Cabanne Branch, 1106 N. Union. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.
Thurs., Feb. 13, 5:30 p.m., St. Louis Public Library Black History Month Film Series, “10,000 Black Men Named George,” Auditorium, St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.
Thurs., Feb. 13, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library welcomes bestselling author Walter Mosley to sign and discuss “Been Wrong So Long It Feels Right: A King Oliver Novel,” St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 St. Lindbergh. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.
Fri., Feb. 14, 10:30 a.m. West African Dance and
Dwight
Continued from D1
He thought it was a joke but later accepted the offer.
Dwight would later call it “a political move.”
Drumming with Afriky Lolo, St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, visit www. slpl.org.
Fri., 15, 10 a.m., West African Dance and Drumming with Afriky Lolo, St. Louis Public Library – Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid. For more information, visit www. slpl.org.
Sat., Feb. 15, 10 a.m. Black Missourians in STEM interactive exhibit. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd. St, Louis, MO 63112. For more information, visit https://mohistory.org.
Sun., Feb. 16, 1 p.m.
Family Sunday – We the People: A Black History Month Celebration, St. Louis Art Museum, 1 Fine Arts Drive, St. Louis, MO 63110. For more information, visit www.stlouis-mo. gov.
Sun., Feb. 16, 3 p.m. African American History Month Concert – Gateway Music Outreach, Olivet Missionary Baptist Church, 12200 New Halls Ferry Rd. Florissant, MO 63033. For more information, visit www.eventbrite. com.
Tues., Feb. 18, 6 p.m., “Eliza” Screening & Filmmaker Q&A, “Eliza” is a film based on the true story of Eliza Rone, an enslaved woman in
Thurs., Feb. 13, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library will welcome bestselling author Walter Mosley. He will discuss his latest book, ‘Been Wrong So Long It Feels Right: A King Oliver Novel.’
1856, who worked for the Campbells, the richest family in St. Louis. The viewing will be followed by a Q&A with director, writer and actor Delisa Richardson. St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.
Tues., Feb. 18, 7 p.m.
Emerson History & Genealogy Center presents Judith Giesberg, author of “Last Seen: The Enduring Search by Formerly Enslaved People to Find Their Lost Families,” St. Louis
County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 St. Lindbergh. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.
Thurs., Feb. 20, 5:30 p.m., St. Louis Public Library Black History Month Film Series, Fences, Auditorium, St. Louis Public Library –Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.
Thurs., Feb. 20, 6 p.m.
Histories Unbound: A Roundtable Discussion on Slavery In St. Louis Exhibit, St. Louis Public Library – Schlafly Branch,
225 N. Euclid. For more information, visit www. slpl.org.
Thurs., Feb. 20, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library welcomes Orvin Kimbrough, author of “Twice Over a Man: A Fierce Memoir of an Orphan Boy Who Doggedly Determined a Finer Life,” St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 St. Lindbergh. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.
Fri., Feb. 21, 7 p.m. St. Louis County Library welcomes Jennifer Jones,
author of “Becoming Spectacular: The Rhythm of Resilience from the First African American Rockette,” St. Louis County Library –Clark Family Branch, 1640 St. Lindbergh. For more information, visit www. slcl.org.
Sat., Feb.,22, 9 a.m. –5:30 p.m., Motorcoach Tours (5) and Mudd’s Grove Open House. Wallace Ward narrates five tours of cemeteries, churches and schools that represent Kirkwood Black History. Kirkwood Community Center and Mudd’s Grove Tickets: Free Reservations Required for the historical bus tour due to limited capacity. https://tinyurl. com/4te89zya or by calling the Kirkwood Historical Society at (314) 965-5151. Wed., Feb. 26, 7 p.m. St. Louis County Library welcomes Bestselling Young Adult author Ibi Zoboi, author of (S)kin,” St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 St. Lindbergh. For more information, visit www.slcl.org.
Thurs., Feb. 27, 5:30 p.m., St. Louis Public Library Black History Month Film Series, “Sorry to Bother You,” Auditorium, St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, visit www.slpl.org.
“The president went to NASA and said, ‘Would you train this guy?’ NASA says, ‘No, because you’ll destroy our program, you’ll destroy our tax base, and we’ll never get another dime from the public if you put a Black in this program right now.”
Seven selected in 1958 and featured in the movie “The Right Stuff.”
“The reputation of the first seven astronauts was that these guys were superheroes,” he said, referring to the famous Mercury
“If you would’ve placed a Black or a woman in the middle of this mix too soon these guys would be ordinary people again in the eyes of the world, especially the tax-paying public. So, the president had to invent another space program – a military
space program.”
Whether Dwight would have reached space through Kennedy’s military space program remains unknown.
Kennedy was assassinated on Nov. 22, 1963, one month after Dwight ended astronaut training.
“The day the president got killed, my life changed,” said Dwight. “22 November 1963 was literally the end of our project.”
A Kansas City, Kansas native, Dwight graduated from Kansas City Junior College with an engineering degree in 1953. He rose to the rank of captain in the Air Force before retiring. He joined IBM and started a construction company before earning a master’s degree in sculpture in the late 1970s.
display at the Quincy Jones Sculpture Park in Chicago, the Texas African American History Memorial in Austin, Texas, and the Tower of Freedom International Memorial to the Underground Railroad in Windsor, Ontario, Canada
In 2005, Lincoln University in Jefferson City, Mo., commissioned Dwight to create the Soldiers’ Memorial Plaza, which was completed by 2007.
The 18-foot tall, the sculpture captures the transformation of soldiers from the 62nd and 65th regiments into students, the first at Lincoln.
While chances of his traveling to space seemed to face astronomical odds, his dream came true more than 60 years after his NASA racial snub.
ing experience,” he said, moments after leaving the capsule.
“I thought I really didn’t need this in my life. But now, I need it in my life. I am ecstatic.
“Every time I started a project; I’ve got it finished. And here this thing came along, and it was a great big mysterious question mark sitting there. And so, the tendency for human beings in a situation like that is to blow it off and say you don’t need it.”
Dwight also said that every member of Congress should be required to travel to space and view the earth from that viewpoint. Age should not be a factor, Dwight proved it.
While he was not allowed to make history in the 1960s, Dwight accomplished something historic during his flight.
Just as with his military career and pursuit of being an astronaut, Dwight excelled as an artist. His works, which included sculptures of Black historical figures of Frederick Douglass, Denmark Vesey and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., were nationally acclaimed.
His works are on
the college of choice, was among the many that Toles applied for.
“They choose one person per state; and I actually won,” Toles said.
With the glee of landing the illustrious scholarship came the realization that Toles was late in the college application process. Her perseverance paid off when the University of Missouri – Science and Technology in Rolla, recognized as one of the leading engineering schools in the nation, accepted her.
“Blessed with the Gates Scholarship, I now have three degrees, all from S&T,” said Toles.
In May of 2016, she received her bachelor’s degree in petroleum engineering. Two years later, she earned a master’s degree in engineering management with a project management certificate. She received a doctoral
On May 19, 2024, traveling in a Blue Origin spacecraft, Dwight finally realized his dream of space travel. He and five other passengers skimmed into space on a roughly 10-minute flight, which included moments of weightlessness.
“It was a life-chang-
degree in engineering management with an emphasis in system engineering in May of 2023.
After securing her undergraduate degree and pursuing her master’s, Toles worked at Ameren as a reservoir gas engineer at the Johnston City (Illinois) Gas Storage Facility.
During her time researching her thesis, Tiffanie realized she could help small businesses increase sustainability efforts.
In Fall of 2018, she founded a catering business, Catering To A T LLC, alongside her family “to help build entrepreneurial skills for future generations.”
Now serving as a Kwame Group project manager, Toles says it is his responsibility “to make sure everything is buttoned up.”
“This is from concept to realization; from design to build up.”
Among the “cool projects” she is currently managing is the MetroLink
At 90, Dwight became the oldest person to ever travel to space. When he took his flight, he was two months older than actor 90-year-old William Shatner when he traveled on Blue Origin.
Green Line.
“It is going to bring so much to St. Louis. We have so much diversity here, and the (future) Green Line will help bring it to the forefront.”
Toles enjoys meeting and networking with new people who share the same interests in the industry.
“It is an honor to work with colleagues and professionals who have seen our city continually change with the new developments that are happening,” she said in a recent AEC magazine interview.
For young people, especially Black women, who seek a career in engineering, Toles offers this advice:
“Believe in your potential and embrace unique perspectives. We are considered to be underdogs, and that’s just the way of the world. We know better. The thing is to believe that we belong.
“STEM fields thrive on diverse perspectives. Tackle challenges every day. You will succeed!”
The 10 Black Commandments: A blueprint for shared economic power
By Orvin Kimbrough Chairman and CEO of Midwest BankCentre
Each year, I write or release thoughts on what Black history means. Occasionally, I find myself a guest at an organization, speaking on the topic. But this year, I want to take a step back—not just to reflect, but to refocus.
For the last ten years, I’ve been writing about shared economic progress—a simple yet powerful idea. If our cities, regions, and states are growing, if our
rience, from lived history, from what was passed down to me and so many others.
Think about it—what was the focus of Black people during slavery? They wanted to be seen. They wanted dignity. They wanted freedom. After slavery, during Reconstruction, what did Black people demand? They wanted land. They wanted equal protection under the law. They wanted the right to vote. Black leaders of the time debated fundamental strategies,
Guest Columnist Orvin Kimbrough
BL ACK HISTORY MON TH
Make some history of your own! Check out the Missouri History Museum’s website for Black History programming throughout the month. Take a winter stroll through the beautiful George Washington Carver Garden at Missouri Botanical Garden, an ode to the acclaimed scientist and inventor. Head to the National Blues Museum, where you can view artifacts and enjoy interactive exhibits that bring the blues music experience to life.
To plan your historic experience, visit www.explorestlouis.com
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