Have You Ever Heard Of Them?

OneEyedDiva

OneEyedDiva

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New Jersey
I’ve been meaning to do this every since Black History month but never did. Recently I got a message from Aneeda suggesting I do a post about Black people who have made important contributions. But she did mention others (non Blacks) could be included in the thread as well and I'm not opposed to that. The catalyst for Aneeda's suggestion was seeing Harriet (the movie about Harriet Tubman’s) and realizing she had never even heard of this great women. Harriet Tubman was a political activist who helped 70 or more slaves escape to freedom via what has become known as The Underground Railroad (part of which ran through my hometown). She was also a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War; brave and courageous woman.

What immediately came to my mind as I read Aneeda’s suggestion was a booklet I’d gotten when I took my young son to the African American museum in Philadelphia titled Black Contributors To Science and Energy Technology. There are many I had not heard about and they were certainly not taught about in our school system. Yet they are responsible for inventing many of the things we use today and probably take for granted. So I’d like to “talk” about them in this thread.

Have you ever heard the expression “The Real McCoy”? That expression referred to an invention by Elijah McCoy (1843-1929). Mr. McCoy, who was born in Canada was the son of runaway slaves. He was educated in Scotland to become a mechanical engineer. In 1872, he patented the first automatic machine lubricator. Inspectors of equipment back then wanted to know if the machines contained “the real McCoy”, meaning McCoy’s automatic oiling device. According to the booklet “this helped popularize an American expression meaning the “real thing”. Mr. McCoy also patented the “ironing table” and lawn sprinkler.

More to come. @Aneeda72 ...I thank you for being my catalyst!
 

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win231 said:
I've never heard of any of them. In fact, none of this was taught in school.
The only thing I ever learned about black history was on an episode of "The Jeffersons." George & Lionel made fun of a guest who was staying at their house for a couple of days. They called him an "Uncle Tom." The guest explained who the real "Uncle Tom" was - "Josiah Henson."
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Josiah_Henson
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Unfortunately when we were in school Win, the only things we were taught about Black people is that we were slaves and the George Washington Carver did something with peanuts...seriously! GWC accomplished so much more which I will cover at some point. We were never taught that there were great kings and queens in Africa. I had to find that out when Budweiser did a series on them complete with poster which was featured in Ebony magazine. Here's the YT video Budweiser sponsored.
 
I am very excited about this thread. Thanks so much for doing it. Everyone says we need to have a conversation about BLM. Learning about black history and talking about black history in a positive manner is so important.

As for Harriet, where did she get the courage? Such an amazing person.
 
After the war, Harriet ran an informal old folk home and attempted to start a home for aged and indigent *****es. In those years she used to rely on the donations of citizens in Auburn NY and the farm products that she and her wards could raise on her homestead.

Harriet was unable to raise the money needed to realize her dream and deeded the property to the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church in exchange for their opening and operating the facility. The facility operated from 1908 until the early 1920s. Harriet eventually became a resident of the home and lived there until her death in 1913.

 
There is so much I have learned in the past few years about the contributions of Afro-Americans that was never mentioned in school or in other platforms. The movie Hidden Figures opened my eyes to the contribution of the Afro-American women who helped contribute to the Apollo program. That is just one of many examples. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hidden_Figures
 
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Have you heard of Gerrit Smith?

gerrit-smith.jpg


Smith was a wealthy abolitionist that was involved in the underground railroad, slave rescues, and even attempted to create a community for black families on a 120,000-acre parcel of land that he made available in 40-acre plots for as many as 3,000 families.

The rescue of Harriet Powell.

https://library.syr.edu/digital/exh...d Owen devised a,place of refuge became known.

The Jerry Rescue.

http://www.nyhistory.com/gerritsmith/jerry.htm

The history of Timbuctoo.

https://www.adirondack.net/history/timbuctoo/
 
Jermain Wesley Loguen and his story are not well known outside of this area.

Loguen, a former slave, was an active school teacher and a “conductor” in the Underground Railroad. Settling permanently in Syracuse, Loguen built apartments on his property to serve as hiding posts and lodging for freedom seekers or runaway slaves. Many historians agree that Loguen’s own home was a widely known station on the Underground Railroad, and his basement was fitted with bunks and other equipment for fugitive slaves.

A month after the infamous Fugitive Slave Act was passed by Congress Loguen persuaded his adopted hometown, Syracuse, New York, to declare that city a refuge for liberated slaves.

https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/1850-rev-jermain-wesley-loguen-i-wont-obey-fugitive-slave-law/#:~:text=If you will give us,you are taken by surprise.

I was lucky enough to find an original copy of Loguen's book documenting his experiences that was published in 1859.

The Rev. J. W. Loguen, as a Slave and as a Freeman. A Narrative of Real Life:

Here is a link to the electronic version of that book.

https://docsouth.unc.edu/neh/loguen/loguen.html
 
Aneeda72 said:
I am very excited about this thread. Thanks so much for doing it. Everyone says we need to have a conversation about BLM. Learning about black history and talking about black history in a positive manner is so important.

As for Harriet, where did she get the courage? Such an amazing person.
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OneEyedDiva said:
I’ve been meaning to do this every since Black History month but never did. Recently I got a message from Aneeda suggesting I do a post about Black people who have made important contributions. But she did mention others (non Blacks) could be included in the thread as well and I'm not opposed to that. The catalyst for Aneeda's suggestion was seeing Harriet (the movie about Harriet Tubman’s) and realizing she had never even heard of this great women. Harriet Tubman was a political activist who helped 70 or more slaves escape to freedom via what has become known as The Underground Railroad (part of which ran through my hometown). She was also a spy for the Union Army during the Civil War; brave and courageous woman.

What immediately came to my mind as I read Aneeda’s suggestion was a booklet I’d gotten when I took my young son to the African American museum in Philadelphia titled Black Contributors To Science and Energy Technology. There are many I had not heard about and they were certainly not taught about in our school system. Yet they are responsible for inventing many of the things we use today and probably take for granted. So I’d like to “talk” about them in this thread.

Have you ever heard the expression “The Real McCoy”? That expression referred to an invention by Elijah McCoy (1843-1929). Mr. McCoy, who was born in Canada was the son of runaway slaves. He was educated in Scotland to become a mechanical engineer. In 1872, he patented the first automatic machine lubricator. Inspectors of equipment back then wanted to know if the machines contained “the real McCoy”, meaning McCoy’s automatic oiling device. According to the booklet “this helped popularize an American expression meaning the “real thing”. Mr. McCoy also patented the “ironing table” and lawn sprinkler.

More to come. @Aneeda72 ...I thank you for being my catalyst!
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Thank you OneEyedDiva & Aneeda72 for this revelation. This little known historical fact is golden.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_McCoy

https://patents.google.com/patent/US129843

Elijah-McCoy.jpg

20200206_McCoy-patent.jpg

b5dc24390e0b6c00b4fe9f0322107b29.jpgb5dc24390e0b6c00b4fe9f0322107b29.jpg

454f5ce2b81ac1c0fe69945be10aafc3.jpg


You ladies have done a wonderful thing.
 
OneEyedDiva said:
the only things we were taught about Black people is that we were slaves and the George Washington Carver did something with peanuts...seriously! GWC accomplished so much more which I will cover at some point. We were never taught that there were great kings and queens in Africa.
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Don't forget the "Ne gro spiritual" songs. 🙄 Having attended a white elementary school in the 1950s, I used to cringe and scrunch down in my chair. The other kids stared at me then quickly looked away.
 
FastTrax said:
Thank you OneEyedDiva & Aneeda72 for this revelation. This little known historical fact is golden.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elijah_McCoy

https://patents.google.com/patent/US129843

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You ladies have done a wonderful thing.
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Thank you everyone for contributing too and reading the thread. I can not tell you how many times I heard my older relatives use the expression that’s the real McCoy. It’s interesting to find out where that expression came from.
 
applecruncher said:
Don't forget the "Ne gro spiritual" songs. 🙄 Having attended a white elementary school in the 1950s, I used to cringe and scrunch down in my chair. The other kids stared at me then quickly looked away.
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I have a picture of my father in school when he was a young boy in rural Kansas. There are both black and white children in the picture in front of the school that they attended together. None of the children have shoes so you can imagine the poverty of the area.

😂 Just another random memory to share, but I am sure this is one of the reasons that dad was not prejudice in the least.
 
Thanks again for this thread. Prior to this thread, the only people mentioned that I had heard of were: Harriet Tubman and Fredrick Douglas. Because of this thread, I did read about the accomplishments of: Elijah McCoy, Josiah Henson, Gerrit Smith, and Jermain Wesley Loguen and found them to be interesting and accomplished people.

My only personal data point is that the first ship I was ever assigned to was the USS Jamestown and we were the last US Navy ship to pull into the South African port of Cape Town in 1964 while apartheid was still in effect. President Johnson (I believe) stopped all US Naval ships from visiting until this dreadful practice was ended and Nelson Mandela was released from prison. I was a young and dumb 21 year old, but even I was blown away by what I saw. Downtown Cape Town was a beautiful city, but step outside of it and the poverty, starvation, and living conditions matched I had seen in Aden, Yemen a few weeks earlier.

Everyone in South Africa was required to carry identification papers that specified if they were white, black, or mixed and they did have people on the streets who enforced this serious separation as one of my shipmates discovered when he was roughly handled for stopping to talk to a couple of young ladies on the street in broad daylight. These official thugs came out of nowhere and knocked him around pretty badly.

Nelson Mandela was not released until the 1990. He was a true hero by any measure. When the white government finally collapsed and he became President, he guided the country through a rough period that most people thought would turn into a bloodbath.
 
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I wonder how much that institutionalized racism has changed in South Africa. Not much in the news about that neck of the woods lately. Which is probably a good thing.

But even if the laws have changed, I wonder if people's prejudices have changed any? We don't have anyone from there on this forum, as far as I know, so there's nobody to ask.
 
Sunny said:
I wonder how much that institutionalized racism has changed in South Africa. Not much in the news about that neck of the woods lately. Which is probably a good thing.

But even if the laws have changed, I wonder if people's prejudices have changed any? We don't have anyone from there on this forum, as far as I know, so there's nobody to ask.
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A couple of years ago, I did have an in depth conversation with a white man who grew up in South Africa. He was a strong supporter of Nelson Mandela. From his comments, I gather that his entire family back in South Africa felt the same way.
Progress is being made, but it seems like a bumpy ride. We are sure in a bumpy era right now.
 
Sunny said:
I wonder how much that institutionalized racism has changed in South Africa. Not much in the news about that neck of the woods lately. Which is probably a good thing.

But even if the laws have changed, I wonder if people's prejudices have changed any? We don't have anyone from there on this forum, as far as I know, so there's nobody to ask.
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We do have a person who says/claims they are a racist, and others that sound like they have prejudices so the forum does reflect the position of the country, IMO. There is nothing wrong with being prejudice or racist-while it is Seriously frowned upon.

It’s America-you can be what you want to be to a certain extent. However, it is necessary to keep certain opinions to yourself on the forum, as there are rules. In real life, when in certain groups of people, most people go with the flow and keep their opinions to themselves as well.

I doubt anyone’s personal beliefs will change.
 
Sunny said:
I wonder how much that institutionalized racism has changed in South Africa. Not much in the news about that neck of the woods lately. Which is probably a good thing.

But even if the laws have changed, I wonder if people's prejudices have changed any? We don't have anyone from there on this forum, as far as I know, so there's nobody to ask.
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Trevor Noah, a native South African who was born in 1984, wrote Born A Crime. It's a fascinating, chilling account of what it was like growing up in South Africa as a mixed race child. I highly recommend it.
https://www.nytimes.com/2016/11/28/...oahs-raw-account-of-life-under-apartheid.html
 

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