honors stem newsletter - East Orange STEM Academy

S T E M
A C A D E M Y
Month of February 2012
Inside Scoop
Inside you will be
amazed to learn about
many famous African
American scientists,
inventors, and engineers
that changed the course
of history. The various
essays filled with fun
facts will also intrigue
you.
What Black History Month
Means to Us
THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
From Past to Present
Garrett Morgan
Garrett Morgan was one of those
rare people who were able to come up with
extraordinary inventions, which had great
impacts on society. After wowing the world
with one great invention, he‟d then follow
that up with something else.
Garrett Morgan was born on March 4,
1877 in Paris, Kentucky. He was the seventh
of eleven children, born to Sydney and
Elizabeth Morgan. At 14, he decided to
move to Ohio to receive a better education.
He moved to Cincinnati and then to
Cleveland, working as a handyman in order
to survive. In Cleveland, he learned the
inner workings of the sewing machine and in
1907 opened his own sewing machine store,
selling new machines and repairing old ones.
In 1908 Morgan married Mary Anne Hassek
with whom he had three sons.
On July 25, 1916, Garrett Morgan
made national news for using his gas mask
to rescue 32 men trapped during an
explosion in an underground tunnel, 250
feet beneath Lake Erie. After the rescue,
his company received request from fire
departments around the country, which
wished to purchase the new gas masks.
Oddly enough, since Garret lived during the
days of the Jim Crow laws, people refused
to buy the masks after they found out that
a black man made it. They had rather die
than use it, but during World War 1, when
push came to shove, they had to turn to
Garret for his Gas Masks.
In 1920,
Garrett Morgan moved into the newspaper
business when he established the
Cleveland Call. After a few years, he
became a well-known businessman, and was
able to earn enough money to purchase a
home and an automobile. It was his time
spent, observing the traffic on the roads
in his automobile that inspired him to
invent an improvement to the traffic
signals.
In conclusion, Garret Morgan was a
key person in black history. Because of
him, many new ideas were able to come
around in order to better the world‟s
safety. I chose him because I‟ve always
wanted to know who invented the gas
mask, and I found it very interesting when
I found out that Garret Morgan was a
black man. The most interesting thing
that I found out when doing this essay
was that people preferred death to using
a black man‟s invention. This taught me
that society has come a long way from
where it use to be, and it made me more
appreciative of my life now.
By: Shani Williams
2
THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
Jan Matzeliger
was there, Matzeliger developed a liking for robotics
and mechanics.
At 19, he went to sea on an East Indian
merchant ship. When the ship docked in Philadelphia,
Matzeliger decided to live in the town. He worked at
odd jobs including that of shoemaker's apprentice, and
then moved to Boston in 1876. The following year, he
moved to Lynn, Massachusetts, and a manufacturing
center on the north shore of the Massachusetts Bay.
Matzeliger watched the hand lasters in the
shoe factory during the day. At night, with scraps he
Jan Matzeliger was a nineteenth-century inventor
salvaged from the factory, he tried to re-do
and machinist who revolutionized the shoemaking industry.
movements of the lasters. In private, Matzeliger made
Over a couple of years, he sacrificed everything for the
drawings. He tested a simple machine made of wire,
sake of his invention. Jan Matzeliger created a machine
wood, and cigar boxes. Matzeliger's employer offered
known as a shoe-lasting machine, and he eventually became
$50 for the machine. Matzeliger rejected the offer.
a stockholder in the company that manufactured it. As
He then tried making a lasting machine out of scrap iron,
excellent a creation as Eli Whitney's cotton gin or Elias
a project that took him four years. Matzeliger got an
Howe's sewing machine, Matzeliger's shoe-lasting machine
offer of $1,500 for his iron laster.
could produce 150 to 700 pairs of shoes a day--compared
He again refused the offer and continued to
with 50 pairs of shoes per day by hand-lasting methods.
perfect his lasting machine in a corner of the factory.
Jan Ernst Matzeliger was born on the northern
He spent only five or six cents a day on food in order to
coast of South America in Paramaribo, Dutch Guiana on
conserve money for his experiments, and he sacrificed
September 15, 1852. He was the son of a Dutch engineer
sleep. Matzeliger spent ten years in the development of
in charge of government machine shops and a Surinamese
his lasting machine and received little encouragement.
black woman, who was a slave. In 1855, Matzeliger went to
When the secret of his project became known, in fact,
live with his paternal aunt. At the age of ten, he was
the public laughed at him, but Matzeliger refused to be
taught in the machine shops run by his father. While he
discouraged.
3
THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
At a later date, Matzeliger found investors to help fund a patent, and explain the cost of demonstrating and
perfecting the machine. Charles H. Delnow and Melville S. Nichols agreed to provide capital for Matzeliger's
invention in return for two-thirds ownership of the device. With sufficient financial backing, Matzeliger applied for a
patent. The first diagrams of the machine that Matzeliger sent to the Patent Office in Washington, D.C. were too
difficult to solve. A representative from the patent office went to Lynn find out how it worked. On March 20, 1883
Matzeliger got a patent for the lasting machine, which could adjust a shoe, drive in the nails, and produce a finished
product in one minute.
Matzeliger continued to improve his machine until it was ready for an initial factory test. The first public
operation of the machine took place on May 29, 1885, when the machine broke a record by lasting 75 pairs of shoes.
65 years later, after taking a foothold in his financial industry, Matzeliger„s company made 65 billion dollars. In all,
Matzeliger was a determined person who made true engineering prowess.
Quick Facts
1. Jan ErnstMatzeliger wasborn on the
northerncoastofSouthAmericain
Paramaribo,DutchGuiana(now the
RepublicofSuriname)onSeptember 15,
1852.
2. The following year, he
moved to Lynn,
Massachusetts, and a
manufacturing center on
the north shore of
Massachusetts Bay.
4. On March 20, 1883 Matzeliger
got a patent for the lasting machine,
which could adjust a shoe, drive in
the nails, and produce a finished
product in one minute.
3. He then tried making a lasting machine out of
scrap iron, a project that took him four years.
Matzeliger got an offer of $1,500 for his iron laster.
He again refused the offer and continued to
perfect his lasting machine in a corner of the
factory.
4
By: Hakeem Marshall
THE LOREM IPSUMS
WINTER 2016
Bernard Harris
Bernard Harris was born on June 26, 1956 in Temple,
Texas. He graduated from Sam Houston High School in
1974, received a B.S. degree in Biology from University
of Houston in 1978 and then followed that up with a
doctorate in 1982, from the University School of
Medicine.
Bernard Harris is significant to history and to
the world, because he was the first African American
to walk in space. Selected by NASA in 1990, Dr. Harris
became an astronaut in July 1991. According to an
online article, “Later, Dr. Harris was the Payload
Commander on ST3-63, the first flight of a new joint
Russian-American Space Program. During this flight he
logged 198 hours, 29 minutes in space, completed 129
orbits, and traveled over 2.9 million miles.” By doing this
he accomplished is childhood dream of walking in space,
becoming the first African American to do so.
In the year of his departure from NASA, Dr.
Harris received a master‟s degree in biomedical science
and then later served as Chief Executive and VP of
Science and health services. In 1998, Dr. Harris
became the VP of Business Development for Space
Media Inc., establishing an international space
education program for students, the Harris Foundation.
Because of his many achievements,
Dr. Bernard Harris received many honors
and awards, including the 1996 Honorary
Doctorate of Science from the Morehouse
School of Medicine. He also received the
Medal of Excellence, NASA Award of
Merit 1996, NASA Equal Opportunity
Medal 1996 and others.
In conclusion, Dr. Bernard Harris is
a very influential man with high standards,
and through his examples and hard work,
he proved that diligence is the key to
success. I chose to write about him
because I thought he was an interesting
choice and I wanted to learn more about
him and his achievements.
Bernard and Michael Foale on space
shuttle
By: Shani Williams
5
MICHAEL JACKSON
The King of Pop!
By: Taylor Reed
Kenneth Chenault
Kenneth Chenault was born June 2, 1951 in
Mineola, N.Y. The son of a dentist and a dental hygienist,
Chenault grew up on Long Island and attended the
alternative Waldorf School, where he developed his first
leadership skills as senior class president and as a captain
of sports teams. He went to Harvard College in the early
1970‟s and graduated in 1976. As a recent graduate of
Harvard, Chenault had his choice of many employment
opportunities and at first followed the expected path by
joining the New York corporate law firm of Rogers &
Wells. It was not long, however, before he was tempted
by the theory and practice of business, and in the late
1970s Chenault accepted a position at the Boston-based
business-consulting firm of Bain and Company.
In these different careers he learned a great
deal about business and how to firmly a company, in 1981,
he was offered a job at American Express. He accepted
the job working in New York. Chenault picked an excellent
time to join Amex because they had made one of the
most grandiose expansions they have ever made. The
following year, at the age of 34, Chenault became the
general manager of merchandise services and senior vicepresident of that division's corporate umbrella, American
Express Travel-Related Services Company. As general
manager, Chenault had two jobs: to sell goods in the best
way possible to American Express members and maintain
the high level of trust that members of Amex enjoyed.
Amex tries its best to make members enjoy their
membership. Chenault really exemplified on that by
moving the range of merchandise further upscale and
emphasizing the relationship of card- member to club.
Under Chennault‟s leadership, the merchandise services
division made sure its customers knew the uniqueness of
American Express. With Chenault, carefully running the
industry, sales went up from 20 to 25 percent annually
during the mid-1980s, reaching approximately $400
million in 1986. Due to the prowess of his success, he was
promoted to executive vice-president of the Platinum
Card/Gold Card division of the Travel-Related Services
Company.
Chenault was also promoted to
vice chairman in 1995. Two years later,
he was named president and COO.
When Golub stepped down in 200,
Amex needed someone to take over.
Kenneth was that man. He took over as
CEO of Amex when Golub stepped
down. Order to continue to stay in the
top three, Am Ex began budget
overhauls, provided on-line services,
and continued to create new products,
including Private Payments and the
Black card. It also expanded financial
services to its international
cardholders. The company also
restructured its four business lines.
Overall, Chenault was a great
man with a promising career ahead of
him.
By: Hakeem Marshall
Sylvester James Gates
African Americans are making great
advances in science. I would like to acknowledge an
African American theoretical physicist. His name is
Sylvester James Gates. His work on scientific
theories has brought us closer to understanding the
universe. I believe Sylvester James Gates will
continue to strive in his studies and you‟ll see why.
Sylvester James Gates enjoyed science and
math as a child. He was born on December 15, 1950
in Tampa, Florida. Gates excelled in mathematics and
science. His father often brought books home for
him to read. Gates decided to do an extracurricular
activity.
As a ninth grader, Gates began playing chess
and soon became an outstanding player. He went to
an all-black school. His chess team never lost to an
all-white high school. He took a course in physics in
the 11th grade and immediately knew that this was
what he wanted to do for the rest of his life. Since
he thought he wouldn‟t get accepted in to any
colleges, he didn‟t apply for any. However, Gates
began to look for colleges after he graduated due to
the encouragement of his father.
He was accepted in to MIT and completed all
of his schooling there. Gates earned bachelor
degrees in math and physics. He went on to earn a
Ph.D. in physics. Gates began to work on string
theory and teach at universities. He creates and
solves mathematical equations to try to explain the
universe.
Science is a field in which contributions are
made every day. Sylvester James Gates is making
some of those contributions. The most interesting
fact I learned about Gates is that he earned many
awards and post-doctoral fellowships. From my
research about Sylvester James Gates, I learned
about theories such as the super symmetry, super
By: Shaheed Bryant
gravity, and superstring theories. Sylvester James
Gates is an accomplished individual.
Dr. Philip Emeagwali
Created the World’s Fastest Computer
Dr. Philip Emeagwali, who has been called the "Bill Gates of
Africa," was born in Nigeria in 1954. Like many African schoolchildren,
he dropped out of school at age 14 because his father could not
continue paying Emeagwali's school fees. However, his father
continued teaching him at home, and everyday Emeagwali performed
mental exercises such as solving 100 math problems in one hour. His
father taught him until Philip "knew more than he did."
Growing up in a country torn by civil war, Emeagwali lived in a
building crumbled by rocket shells. He believed his intellect was a way out of the line of fire. So he studied
hard and eventually received a scholarship to Oregon State University when he was 17 where he obtained a
BS in mathematics. He also earned three other degrees – a Ph.D. in Scientific computing from the University
of Michigan and two Masters degrees from George Washington University.
The noted black inventor received acclaim based, at least in part, on his study of nature, specifically
bees. Emeagwali saw an inherent efficiency in the way bees construct and work with honeycomb and
determined computers that emulate this process could be the most efficient and powerful. In 1989,
emulating the bees' honeycomb construction, Emeagwali used 65,000 processors to invent the world's
fastest computer, which performs computations at 3.1 billion calculations per second.
Dr. Philip Emeagwali's resume is loaded with many other such feats, including ways of making oil fields
more productive – which has resulted in the United States saving hundreds of millions of dollars each year.
As one of the most famous African-American inventors of the 20th century, Dr. Emeagwali also has won the
Gordon Bell Prize – the Nobel Prize for computation. His computers are currently being used to forecast the
weather and to predict the likelihood and effects of future global warming.
By: Taylor Reed
Mae Jemison
Mae Jemison once said, “Never be limited by other people‟s
limited imaginations…If you adopt their attitudes, then the
possibility won‟t exist because you‟ll have already shut it out…You can
hear other people‟s wisdom, but you‟ve got to re-evaluate the world
for yourself.” This is one of her most inspirational quotes. In this
quote she is saying that you should not let what others say
completely limit your own imagination because if you do then you too
will have a limited imagination. She encourages us to re-evaluate the
world for ourselves meaning for us to trust our own imagination and
judgment.
On October 17, 1956 Mae C. Jemison was born in Decatur,
Alabama. She was the youngest child of Charlie Jemison and Dorothy
(Green) Jemison. At the age of 3 the Jemison family moved to
Chicago, Illinois in search for better educational pursuits. Mae was a
very precocious child. She often spent most of her time in her school
library reading multiple books about science especially astronomy.
This is how she began to gain interest in the science field. Mae
attended Morgan Park High School. In 1973, she graduated Morgan
Park High School as an honor student. In addition to that, she
received a National Achievement Scholarship to Stanford University.
At Stanford, Mae pursued a double major and received a B.S.
in chemical engineering and a B.A. in African and African-American
Studies in 1977. Mae was the president of the Black Student Union.
She was very involved in extracurricular activities such as dance and
theater. After graduating Stanford in 1977, Jemison attended
Cornell University Medical College in efforts to earn a medical
degree. She had the amazing opportunity to study in Cuba, Kenya,
and work at a refugee camp in Thailand. In 1981 she received a M.D.
and became an intern at the University of Southern California
Medical Center. Mae was also involved with the Peace Corps in Sierra
Leone and Liberia where she worked as a medical officer.
Jemison returned to the United States in 1985 and she
applied for NASA‟s astronaut training program. She was accepted
among one of fifteen candidates who were chosen from about 2,000
people. Mae became the first African American woman ever
admitted into the astronaut-training program on June 4, 1987. This
was a remarkable accomplishment that changed not only Mae‟s life
but history as well.
She became an astronaut with the
title of science mission specialist a year later.
On September 12, 1992, Dr. Mae Jemison
went into space with six other astronauts
aboard the Endeavour on mission STS47.
After leaving the astronaut corps in March
1993, Jemison accepted a teaching fellowship
at Dartmouth.
As of today, Dr. Mae Carol Jemison
has received numerous awards and honors
for her achievements. She was honored with
the 1988 Essence Science and Technology
Award, The Ebony Black Achievement Award
in 1992, The Gamma Sigma Gamma Woman
of the Year 1990 and many more awards.
She even has a school named after her in
Detroit, Michigan--- The Mae C. Jemison
School. Mae continues to be a great role
model for young girls today. In fact, she is
one of my role models. During this project I
learned a lot about Mae Jemison and her
accomplishments. She kind of reminds me of
myself, hardworking and determined. From
this project I was able to truly realize the
importance of education. Mae Jemison took
her education very seriously and it has made
her the person that she is today. I am
inspired to follow in her footsteps.
By: Angel Osagie-Erese
Patricia Bath
Patricia Bath was born November 4, 1942, Harlem, New York. She is the daughter of Rupert
and Gladys Bath. Growing up her parents always motivated her academically. When she was in high
school she applied for and won a National Science Foundation Scholarship. This led to a research
project at Yeshiva University and Harlem Hospital Center on cancer. From that day forward she was
interested in medicine. Bath won the Merit Award of Mademoiselle magazine for her contribution to
the project in 1960.
Pat, short for Patricia graduated from high school early and in 1964 she received her
Bachelors in chemistry from New York‟s Hunter College. She then moved to Washington DC, and
attended Howard University College of Medicine and received her doctoral degree. During her years
at Howard she became president of the Student National Medical Association and received
fellowships from the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Mental Health.
Patricia went to Columbia University. She served her residency in ophthalmology at New York
becoming the first African American to do this in her field.
When she finally completed her education she was an assistant professor at Jules Stein Eye
Institute at UCLA and at Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science before she became
the first woman on faculty at the Eye Institute. She co founded the American Institute for the
Prevention of Blindness in 1978. Then in 1983 she was the head of a residency in her field at
Charles R. Drew. In 1993 she retired from UCLA, and then went to serve as a professor of
Ophthalmology at Howard University‟s School of Medicine. Also, she served as a professor of
Telemedicine and Ophthalmology at St. Georges University. She co founded the King-Drew Medical
Center.
Patricia holds four patents in the United States. Then in 1981 she conceived a medical
device, the Laserphaco Probe, used for ablating and removing cataract lenses. This was completed in
1986 after she researched lasers in Berlin and patented in 1988, becoming the first female doctor
to receive a patent for medical purposes. In 2000 she was established a patent for a method she
devised for using ultrasound technology to treat cataracts.
I picked Patricia Bath because I didn‟t know what it was she did and I was interested in
learning. Since she was an African American Woman and the history she made was science related I
thought it would be a good idea to choose her. She has been honored by two of the universities that
she attended. Hunter College placed her in its "hall of fame" in
By: Nneka-Ann Ajaghanna
1988. Howard University also declared her a "Howard University
Pioneer in Academic Medicine" in 1993.
Madam C.J. Walker
Sarah Breedlove–who later would become known to the world as Madam CJ
Walker-was born on December 23, 1867. The year had been a particularly
difficult one for her parents, Owen and Minerva Anderson Breedlove, who struggled
to farm the land as sharecroppers on the same Delta, Louisiana planation where they
had been enslaved. They died due to the yellow fever epidemic. Sarah was their first
child to be born into freedom after the Emancipation Proclamation was signed.
But the blessings soon turned to tragedy. Orphaned at seven, married at 14,
widowed at 20 with a two-year-old daughter, it seemed that Sarah Breedlove
McWilliams was destined to remain a poor, uneducated washerwoman.
Her decision in 1888 to move to St. Louis–where her brothers had become
barbers–would be the catalyst that forever transformed her life. As a member of St.
Paul African Methodist Episcopal Church, she was exposed to educated black woman
who helped her begin to envision better life for herself and her child, Lelia.
Around 1903, as scalp disease caused her to become nearly bald, she began
experimenting with ointments, medicinal agents and shampoos to restore her hair. In
1905 she moved to Denver. After a few months of selling a line of products created
by another black woman, she developed her own formulas. When she married, Charles
Joseph Walker, she adopted the name “Madam C. J. Walker.”
By the time, Madam CJ Walker died in May 1919, at her Irvington, New York estate;
she had become a millionaire and a pioneer of the modern hair care industry along with
women like Helena Rubenstein, Elizabeth Arden and Annie Malone, her fieriest competitor.
Equally as important, she provided employment and entrepreneurial opportunities for
thousands of African American women who otherwise would have been maids, laundresses
and sharecroppers. In 1917 Walker hosted a national convention of her sales agents in
Philadelphia. She used her wealth and influence as a philanthropist, a patron of the arts and
a political activist by supporting black colleges, commissioning the work of black artists and
musicians, and pledging $5000 to the NAACP‟s anti-lynching campaign.
Today Walker‟s family carries on her legacy through the Madam Walker/A „Lelia
Walker Family Archives, the world‟s largest private collection of Walker photographs,
letters, business records, clothing, furniture and personal artifacts. The family also remains
involved in the preservation of two National Historic Landmarks: the Madam Walker
Theatre Center-a cultural arts venue in Indianapolis–and Villa Leeward the Irvington-onHudson, New York mansion designed for Madam Walker by architect Vertner Tandy.
Walker‟s daughter, who would come to be known as A „Lelia was a central figure of the
Harlem Renaissance. Poet Langston Hughes called her “joy goddess of Harlem‟s 1920s”
because of the fabulous parties and the cultural salon she hosted.
One of Madam CJ
Walker products
A hair dryer
By: Dominique Turnage
George Washington
Carver
George Washington Carver was born on January
5, 1864 at Diamond, Missouri. He was the son of Mary and Giles who were
brought by their new master Moses Carver. Carver also had about 10
siblings, which had all died premature. As an infant George along with his
sister and mother were kidnapped by raiders but where later rescued
with the help of Moses Carver. Except that only George was recovered,
there is no trace to what happened to his mother. After slavery had
ended, Moses Carver and his wife treated George and his brother like
their own children. They gave them the best education that they could
muster and gave them all the opportunities that they could find. George
as a young boy had an interest in plant live and was nicknamed “The Plant
Doctor”.
Even though George had a bright future he was not able to go to school in his own
neighborhood. Schools back them were segregated and this made George go to school miles away
from his adoptive parents. He traveled to southwest Missouri and worked as a farmer and studied
at Newton County. He then enrolled at Minneapolis High School in Kansas. After finishing high
school, it was a struggle to get accepted into a good college because of his race. He finally got
accepted into Simpson College in Indianola, Iowa where he was the first black student. He studied
art and piano because the school didn‟t offer any kind of science courses.
George later went to Iowa Agriculture College to get a degree in science. He later gained a
Bachelors Degree in Science and a Master‟s of science in botany and agriculture. Botany is the
study of plants and their functions. After getting his degrees, George became the first African
American faculty staff at the Iowa State College of Agriculture and Mechanics. George then began
his adventures in Tuskegee with Booker T. Washington in 1897.George worked in Washington‟s
faculty in Washington Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute for Negroes. He worked there
until his last days in 1943.
It was at Tuskegee that Carver developed his crop rotation that helped farmers in the south. He
taught them how to use bad soil to create something richer in crops like soybeans, pecans, peas,
and peanuts. George had the perfect timing for his invention to come out to the public because the
states weren‟t doing very well. Southern farmers then adapted Carvers way of planting and got a
great result. Besides from helping farmers, Carver also developed 500 different types of dye and
in 1927 he invented a way to paint and stain soybeans.
George Washington Carver died January 5 1943. Before his death, Carver was awarded
many awards. He received The Spingarn Medal that was given every year by the National
Association for the Advancements of Colored People. He was also awarded the Roosevelt Medal for
his success in agriculture. The U.S president Franklin Roosevelt gave him his own national
monument on July 14 1943.Even today we still remember the great
achievements that he accomplished. Today we admire him for making
us believe that we can achieve what ever we put our mind into. George
By: Geidy Mendez
Tasha Inniss
Tasha Inniss was born and raised in New Orleans,
Louisiana. Tasha was an intelligent girl as a child and
recognized her love for mathematics at an early age. As a
fourth grader, Tasha saw math as a puzzle waiting for
someone to put it together. In her eyes, all it needed was
someone to find the right pieces. Although she realized her
skill for math, it was not until college that Tasha decided that
she wanted to be a math teacher. While an undergraduate at
Xavier University of Louisiana, Tasha began to understand
that anyone can learn math, and anyone can do math, but it
takes someone special to teach math. She learned this while
helping her friends and classmates with their course work in
college. Everyone seemed to always tell her that she had a unique gift for presenting math concepts in
a way that anyone could understand.
At this point in her life, Tasha knew that she wanted to pursue a career in mathematics, but she still
had many obstacles to overcome before reaching her goal. One of these obstacles is one that many
people may be able to neither understand nor appreciate. As a young African-American woman, Tasha
faced adversity in the shape of discrimination. At times, she felt that others did not want her to
succeed, nor did they encourage her to try. Tasha succeeded anyway, however, and went on to earn
her masters degree from the Georgia Institute of Technology and her doctorate degree from the
University of Maryland, where she again always felt that she had to prove that she was worthy of
earning a Ph.D. in math.
Every year, the numbers got bigger, more elusive. But she stuck with math, through her
bachelor's degree, and then her master's. With the finishing touches on programs called "Stochastic
Models for the Estimation of Airport Arrival Capacity Distributions", she made it to a PhD. But this
doctorate was more than a personal milestone. Innis‟s, along with Sherry Scot Joseph and Kimberly
Weems, became the first black women to receive PhDs in mathematics from the University of
Maryland. Three at once, which is all the more striking considering that of the 1,119 math PhDs across
the entire country last once only African American women received five. Numbers too small even for
long division.
In addition to her teaching, Dr. Innis is an affiliate member of the National Center of
Excellence for Aviation Operations Research and a visiting researcher for the Federal Aviation
Administration. Dr. Innis is currently conducting research for NEXTOR, which is commissioned by the
FAA. Part of her research deals with minimizing delay for aircraft landings at commercial airports
during inclement weather. This project includes forming statistic-based models that are used to
estimate airport capacities during undesirable weather. These models are then used to and find ways
to maximize and increase the effectiveness of that capacity. When severe weather strikes, fog, low
cloud cover, and thick precipitation causes the number of aircraft the airport can safely land to fall
well below the number of aircraft that need to land. Dr. Inness‟s research and work with NEXTOR will
help to alleviate this problem. Amazingly, Tasha Inniss still managed to find time to orchestrate and
run a club for female students at Trinity who are interested in math,
science, engineering, business, and many other fields.
By: Liliana Reyes
Today, Dr. Inniss is a Clare Boothe Luce Professor of Mathematics
at Trinity College in Washington, D.C. where she works sixty hours a week
Lewis Howard Latimer
Lewis Howard Latimer was born in
Chelsea, Massachusetts on September 4, 1848
as the youngest of the five children of Rebecca
Smith and George Latimer. George Latimer had
been the slave of James B. Gray of Virginia.
George Latimer ran away to freedom in Trenton,
New Jersey in October 1842, along with his
wife Rebecca, who had been the slave of
another man.
When Gray, the owner, appeared in
Boston to take them back to Virginia, it became
a noted case in the movement for abolition of
slavery, gaining the involvement of such
abolitionists such as William Lloyd Garrison.
Eventually funds were raised to pay Gray $400 for the freedom of George Latimer. Lewis
Latimer joined the U.S. Navy at the age of 15 on September 16, 1863, and served as a
Landsman on the USS Massasoit. After receiving an honorable discharge from the Navy on
July 3, 1865, he gained employment as an office boy with a patent law firm, Crosby
Halstead and Gould, with a $3.00 per week salary.
In 1876, Alexander Graham Bell employed Latimer, and then a draftsman at Bell's
patent law firm, to draft the necessary drawings required to receive a patent for Bell's
telephone. In 1879, he moved to Bridgeport, Connecticut with his brother, William, his
mother, Rebecca, and his wife, Mary. Other family members, his brother George A.
Latimer and his wife Jane, and his sister Margaret and her husband Augustus T. Hawley
and their children, were already living there.
Lewis was hired as assistant manager and draftsman for the U.S. Electric Lighting
Company. He married Mary Wilson Lewis on November 15, 1873 in Fall River,
Massachusetts. The couple had two daughters, Emma Jeanette, and Louise Rebecca. In
1874, he co-patented (with Charles W. Brown) an improved toilet system for railroad cars
called the Water Closet for Railroad Cars (U.S. Patent 147,363). Latimer received a patent
in January 1881 for the "Process of Manufacturing Carbons", an improved method for the
production of carbon filaments used in light bulbs.
Lewis Latimer had many interests. He was an inventor, draftsman, engineer, author,
poet, musician, and, at the same time, a devoted family man and philanthropist. He married
Mary Wilson on December 10, 1873. Lewis wrote a poem for his wedding entitled Ebon
Venus that was published in his book of poetry, Poems of Love and Life.
By: Nedjie Salomon
Meet the Writers
Dominique Turnage
Liliana Reyes
Nneka Ann Ajaghanna
Geidy Mendez
Shaheed Bryant
Shani Williams
Hakeem Marshall
Taylor Reed
Meet the Editors
Angel Osagie-Erese
Muhammed Waggeh
MEET THE
TEACHER
This is our wonderful teacher Mrs. Jones that
made this whole magazine possible.