Patricia Bath

BlackFacts Details

Patricia Bath

Born: 11/4/1942 Manhattan, New York

American ophthalmologist, inventor and academic. She has broken ground for women and African Americans in a number of areas. Prior to Bath, no woman had served on the staff of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, headed a post-graduate training program in ophthalmology, or been elected to the honorary staff of the UCLA Medical Center (an honor bestowed on her after her retirement). Before Bath, no black person had served as a resident in ophthalmology at New York University and no black woman had ever served on staff as a surgeon at the UCLA Medical Center. Bath is the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose. The holder of four patents, she also founded the company of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in Washington, D.C.

Business / Schooling:

UCLA Medical Center

Awards / Achievements:

Bath is the first African-American woman doctor to receive a patent for a medical purpose. The holder of four patents, she also founded the company of the American Institute for the Prevention of Blindness in Washington, D.C.

Source: Blackfacts.com

What Comes Naturally: The Loving v. Virginia Case in Historical Perspective

When Richard Loving and Mildred Jeter decided to get married in June 1958, laws banning interracial marriage had been in effect for nearly three centuries. The colonies of Maryland, Virginia, and Massachusetts had banned intermarriage in 1664, 1691, and 1705. After the American Revolution, states

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Source: Black Past

Jun

12

1967

Brooke, Edward, III (1919-2015)

Edward William Brooke III was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate. Brooke, an African American, Protestant Republican, won elective office in the overwhelmingly white, Catholic, Democratic state of Massachusetts and emerged as a leader in the US

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Source: Black Past

Spratlen, Pamela L. (1954- )

Her appointment followed upon three and a half years as ambassador to the Kyrgyz Republic, and before that a brief stint as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Astana, Kazakhstan. Previously she served as Consul General in Vladivostok, Russia from 2002 to 2004. From 2000 to 2002 she was

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Source: Black Past

Jul

14

1954

Keith, Kenton Wesley (1939- )

On May 26, 1992, career diplomat Kenton Wesley Keith was nominated by President George H.W. Bush to serve as U.S. ambassador to Qatar. After U.S. Senate confirmation, Keith arrived in Ad-Dawhah (Doha), the capital of Qatar and presented his credentials on September 2, 1992. He served until July

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Source: Black Past

Brown, Wesley (1927-2012)

Wesley Brown earned distinction in 1949 as the first African American to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. Wesley Brown grew up in Washington, D.C. and attended Dunbar High School. A “voracious reader,” Brown joined the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History

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Source: Black Past

Slater, Rodney (1955- )

Rodney E. Slater, former cabinet member, attorney, and state government official, was born in Marianna, Arkansas, on February 23, 1955. In 1977, Slater graduated from Eastern Michigan University. He earned his law degree in 1980 from the University of

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Source: Black Past

Feb

23

1955

The Best of Reclaiming Kin: Helpful Tips on Researching Your Roots

Genealogist Robyn Smith discusses the “roots” of her new book, The Best of Reclaiming Kin: Helpful Tips On Researching Your Roots.” The book is acompilation of posts from the popular website that focus on teaching family historians genealogical research skills and introducing them

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Source: Black Past

Bowie State University (1865- )

Founded in 1865, Bowie State University is Maryland’s oldest historically black university, and one of the ten oldest African American institutions of higher education in the United States. It is also one of eleven senior colleges and universities in the University of Maryland system. The

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Source: Black Past

James, Charles A. (1922- )

Ambassador Charles A. James was born in 1922 in Washington, D.C. and grew up in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania where he attended public schools. After high school, James enrolled at Westchester State Teachers College in Pennsylvania (now Westchester University) where he studied for one year before

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Source: Black Past

Sep

16

1976

Brown, Jesse (1944-2002)

Jesse Brown, wounded veteran and government official, was born on March 27, 1944 to Lucille Brown in Detroit, Michigan. His single-parent mother raised him in Chicago. Brown first attended Roosevelt University in Chicago and later graduated from Kennedy- King College in that same

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Source: Black Past

Dec

18

1992

Bell Smith, Leopoldine Emma Doualla (1939– )

Leopoldine Emma Doualla-Bell Smith is the world’s first black flight attendant. Smith was born in Cameroon which, at the time, France controlled. Smith was a princess of the royal Douala family of Cameroon. She was offered a rare after-school employment opportunity in her hometown of Douala, then

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Source: Black Past

Feb

11

1958

Philip Emeagwali

The early life of Philip Emeagwali seemed destined for poverty in his native land of Nigeria. He was the oldest of nine children and his father, who worked as a nurse’s aide, earned only a modest income. As a result, at age 14, Philip was forced to drop out of school in Onitsha. Because he had

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Source: Black History Resources

Nov

26

2012

Parker, Maurice S. (1949- )

Ambassador Maurice S. Parker is a career Senior Foreign Service Officer with the rank of Minister-Counselor at the U.S. Department of State. On April 30, 2007 Parker was nominated by President George W. Bush to serve as the U.S. ambassador to Swaziland. After U.S. Senate confirmation, Parker

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Source: Black Past

Child, Julia, 1912–2004, American cooking teacher, author, and television personality, b. Pasadena, Calif., as Julia Carolyn McWilliams. In the early 1940s both she and her husband-to-be, Paul Child, served in the Office of Strategic Services in Washington, D.C., Ceylon (now Sri Lanka), and

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Source: Fact Monster - Black History

Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was a renowned educator and African American leader of the 20th century. She was born on July 10, 1875 in South Carolina to parents who had been former slaves. She was one of 17 children in her family, and all of them, including Mary, worked at the cotton plantations along

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Source: Black History Resources

May

18

1955

Skinner, Elliot Percival (1924-2007)

Elliott Percival Skinner, a leading late 20th Century anthropologist, also served as the United States ambassador to the Republic of Upper Volta (the West African country renamed itself Burkina Faso in 1984). Skinner was born on June 20, 1924 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. During World War II, he

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Source: Black Past

Apr

1

2007

A. Philip Randolph

Asa Philip Randolph was born on April 15, 1889 in Crescent City, Florida, to a Methodist Minister, James Randolph. In 1891, the Randolph family, strong supporters of equal rights for African Americans, moved to

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Source: Black History Resources

May

16

1979

Reddick, Eunice S. (1951- )

Eunice S. Reddick, an American diplomat and United States Ambassador to the Republic of Niger, was born in 1951 in New York City, New York. Reddick received her Master’s degree in International Affairs from Columbia University’s School of International Affairs in 1975 and then worked for several

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Source: Black Past

Jarrett, Valerie (1956- )

Valerie Jarrett, senior advisor to President Barack Obama, was born on November 14, 1956. She is a Chicago, Illinois attorney, businesswoman, and community leader most prominently known for her role as one of the three campaign co-chairs of Barack Obama’s historic 2008 presidential

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Source: Black Past

Dinah Washington

Dinah Washington was a popular singer from the 1950s who sang jazz, blues, R&B and pop. Her birth name was Ruth Lee Jones. She was born on August 29, 1924 in Tuscaloosa, Alabama and moved to Chicago at a very young age. Her first exposure to music stemmed from the church, where she learned to

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Source: Black History Resources

Aug

29

1924

O’Hara, James Edward (1844-1905)

After the Civil War, James O’Hara taught at freedman’s schools in New Bern and Goldsboro, North Carolina. OHara also studied law at Howard University in Washington, D.C. Shortly after North Carolina’s 1868 Constitutional Convention which reorganized state government and authorized black male

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Source: Black Past

(2004) Bill Cosby, “The Pound Cake Speech”

On May 17, 2004, the NAACP staged a gala celebration at Constitution Hall in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the U.S. Supreme Court Decision in Brown v. Board of Education. Comedian, actor, and philanthropist Bill Cosby was asked to deliver the main address. Cosby

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Source: Black Past

May

17

2004

DePriest, James (1936-2013)

The African American conductor James DePriest is the nephew of the singer Marian Anderson. DePreist is the Permanent Conductor of the Tokyo Metropolitan Symphony Orchestra, Laureate Music Director of the Oregon Symphony, and Director of Conducting and Orchestral Studies at the Juilliard

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Source: Black Past

Marvin Pentz Gaye Jr. was a legendary singer and recording artist who came to be known as the “Prince of Soul”. Gaye was born on April 2, 1939 in Washington, D.C. He was raised by his father “Reverend Marvin Gay Sr.” who was a very strict guardian. Gaye was musically

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Source: Black History Resources

Apr

2

1939

Howard University (1867– )

Howard University has been labeled “the capstone of Negro education,” because of its central role in the African American educational experience. Among historically black colleges and universities (HBCUs) Howard has produced the greatest number of graduates with advanced

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Source: Black Past

Arthur Allen Fletcher, “The Father of Affirmative Action”

Arthur Allen Fletcher is known to many as the father of affirmative action. In the following account historian David Hamilton Golland describes the career of Fletcher, a Republican civil rights activist during the last half of the 20th

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Source: Black Past

Robert Pelham was born in January of 1859 in Petersburg, Virginia. His parents, Robert and Frances Pelham, moved the family to Detroit, Michigan in hopes of finding a more favorable atmosphere for their children to receive an education and opportunities for decent employment. While enrolled in

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Source: Black History Resources

Nov

26

2012

Jackson, Jesse Louis. Jr. (1965- )

Jesse Jackson, Jr., an African American Congressman, represented Illinois’ Second Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from December 12, 1995 to November 21, 2012. On March 11, 1965, in Greenville, South Carolina, in the middle of the voting rights campaign, Jesse

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Source: Black Past

(1875) Congressman John R. Lynch, “Speech on the Civil Rights Bill”

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Source: Black Past

54th Massachusetts Infantry (1863-1865)

The Fifty-fourth Massachusetts Infantry was the first Northern black volunteer regiment enlisted to fight in the Civil War. Its accomplished combat record led to the general recruitment of African-Americans as soldiers. They ultimately comprised ten percent of Union Army and Navy. The

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Source: Black Past

Science Facts

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