People, Locations, Episodes

Phyllis Mae Dailey, Nurse and Officer born

*The birth of Phyllis Mae Dailey is celebrated on this date in 1920. She was a Black nurse and naval officer. From New York City, she was a graduate of the Lincoln School of Nursing in New York and a student of public health at Teachers College, Columbia University. Dailey initially wanted to enter the […]

The Black Cross Nurses Association is Formed

*On National Nurse Day, May 6, this date in 1920, affirms the Black Cross Nurses Association.  The organization was the women’s auxiliary of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African Communities League.   Officially the Universal African Black Cross Nurses, an international organization of nurses, was founded based upon the model of the Red Cross. They were established to provide health […]

Blanche Lawrence, Chemist born

*Blanche Lawrence was born on this date in 1920. She was a Black research chemist. Lawrence received her bachelor’s degree from Tuskegee University. Lawrence worked as a research assistant in the Chicago Met Lab’s health division during the Manhattan Project. She was the widow of Tuskegee Airman Capt—Erwin Lawrence of the 99th Pursuit Squadron. After […]

Henrietta Lacks, Cancer Cell Donor born

*Henrietta Lacks was born on this date in 1920. She was an African American housewife, mother and the involuntary donor of cells from her cancerous tumor, which were cultured to create an immortal cell line for medical research. This is now known as the HeLa cell line.

John Ramos Jr., Doctor, and School Board Member born

*John F. Ramos, Jr. was on this date in 1920. He was an African American Physician and School Board Member.

John Francis Ramos, Jr. was from Boston, MA. He received a bachelor’s degree from Seton Hall College in Newark, New Jersey and attended Meharry Medical College in Nashville, Tennessee. His internship and residency in radiology occurred at the old General Hospital No. 2, Kansas City’s hospital for Black Americans. He was the first resident to complete his training at the hospital and was certified by the American Board of Radiology in 1950.

Otis Boykin, Lab Assistant, and Inventor born

The birth of Otis Boykin in 1920 is marked on this date. He was an African American inventor.

Nancy Leftenant, Nurse and Officer born

*Nancy Leftenant was born on this date in 1920. She was a Black nurse and military officer. Also known as “Lefty,” she was born in Goose Creek, South Carolina, to James and Eunice Leftenant. She graduated from Amityville High School, Amityville, New York, in 1939 and New York’s Lincoln School of Nursing in 1941. She […]

Marie M. Daly, Biochemist born

Marie Daly was born on this date in 1921. She was an African American biochemist.

From Corona, NY, Marie Maynard Daly earned a Bachelor of Science degree from Queens College in 1942 and a Master of Science from New York University in 1943.

William Morgan, Dentist, and Tuskegee Airman born

*William Morgan was born on this date in 1921. He was an African American dentist and Tuskegee Airman.

William Bethel Morgan Jr. was from Wyano, Pennsylvania (Westmoreland County), a small coal mining community. His father was William Bethel Morgan, Sr., a coal miner, and his mother was Susie Harris Morgan a farmer. When he was just 8, in 1929, Morgan’s father died in a Wyano coal mining accident. Young Morgan and his mother moved onto a farm in Yukon, Pennsylvania as the only black family in town.

Helen E. Nash, Pediatrician born

*Helen Nash was born on this date in 1921.  She was a Black pediatrician and administrator.  Helen Elizabeth Nash was born to Homer Erwin Nash and Marie Antoinette Graves Nash. Her father returned from World War I and started a medical practice called Herndon Building in 1910. Helen was the third of six children in […]

Howard Jones, Engineer, and Inventor born

*Howard St. Claire Jones, Jr. was born on this date in 1921. He was an African American engineer.

One of three children Jones grew up in Richmond, Virginia. He stayed in his hometown to go to Virginia Union University, where he graduated in 1943 with a bachelor’s degree in mathematics and physics. After college, he moved to Washington, D. C. to be a government engineer. He came to Howard University’s government training program as a junior engineer and took a job at the National Bureau of Standards (NBS).

Ozzie Williams, Engineer born

*Ozzie Williams was born on this date in 1921. He was an African American Engineer.

Edith DeVoe, Naval Nurse born

*Edith DeVoe was born on this date in 1921.  She was a Black nurse.  Edith Mazie DeVoe was born in Washington, D. C. to Sadie Frances (née Dent) and Joseph Edward DeVoe. Her parents were employed in government service, and the family consisted of four children, Elizabeth, Edith, Joseph, and Sadie. Her brother died in 1934, […]

Wendell Cotton, Orthodontist born

*On this date in 1922, Wendell Cotton was born. He was an African American dentist and community activist and the first black Orthodontist to open a private practice west of the Mississippi River.

Benjamin F. Scott, Chemist born

*Benjamin Franklin Scott was on this date in 1922.  He was a Black chemist.  Born in Florence, South Carolina, he was the son of Benny and Viola Scott and had two older sisters, Mary and Rosa.  Scott earned his Bachelor of Arts in 1942 from Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. Scott continued his education at […]