African Descent Archives - Page 12 of 51

Celia Cruz

Known worldwide as the “Queen of Salsa,” Cruz recorded more than 70 albums and received countless accolades.

Among the many African American families that moved to Washington were the Whitbys; Sarah Whitby worked as a laundress. She had nine children, and although she was herself illiterate, all of her children could read.

Georgia Nugent

In late 1903, Georgia organized a state-wide Black women’s clubs’ event with her sister Alice, Nannie Helen Burroughs, and other activists. On December 31, 1903, they formed the Kentucky Chapter of the Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs.

Vera Shoffner Russell

Vera Shoffner Russell graduated from West Virginia State College as a math and physics major in 1951. She took the government employment math test and was offered a position at the NSA. She reported to the Agency in 1951 and was assigned as a programmer on the early computers, ABNER 2, ATLAS 1, and ATLAS 2.

Dr May Edward Chinn

Dr. Chinn was the first African American woman to hold an internship at Harlem Hospital, the first woman to ride with the Harlem Hospital ambulance crew on emergency calls and the first African American woman to graduate from the University and Bellevue Hospital Medical College in 1926.

Dr Lucille C Norville Perez

Lucille Perez, M.D., was associate director of the Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration of the United States Department of Health and Human Services. She was a leading authority on substance abuse and HIV prevention, and headed the internationally renowned Faculty Department Program at CSAP.

Dr Joycelyn Elders

Dr. Joycelyn Elders was the first person in the state of Arkansas to become board certified in pediatric endocrinology and the first African American and only the second woman to head the U.S. Public Health Service.

Dr Margaret Hamburg

Margaret Hamburg, one of the youngest people ever elected to the Institute of Medicine (IoM, an affiliate of the National Academy of Sciences), is a highly regarded expert in community health and bio-defense, including preparedness for nuclear, biological, and chemical threats. As health commissioner for New York City from 1991 to 1997, she developed innovative programs for controlling the spread of tuberculosis and HIV/AIDS.

Dr Lena Frances Edwards

Dr. Lena Edwards was one of the first African American women to be board-certified as an obstetrician-gynecologist as well as to gain admission to the International College of Surgeons. Throughout her career she served the poor, lobbying for better health care for anyone who needed it, regardless of what they could afford.

Dr Lillian M Beard

Dr. Beard uses today’s mass communications technologies—television, the Internet, and print media—to reach her patients in their homes. Though Dr. Beard still values the one-on-one relationship with patients in her pediatrics practice, she also sees herself as a health educator, with the ability to reach millions of people at once.