In Honor of Black History Month:

A few facts for you to think about.  Did you know....

• Mae Jemison was the first African American woman to travel in space in August of 1988
• She was the 5th black astronaut
• Willie Thrower was the first black quarterback in the NFL
• He played for the Chicago Bears in 1953
• James Derham was the first African American to formally practice medicine in the United States
• In 1783, without a M.D. degree. He was known for saving more yellow fever victims than any other physician in colonial Philadelphia.
• Vanessa Williams was the first black Ms. America
• In 1984
• Count Basie & Ella Fitzgerald were the first African American Grammy winners
• Both won in 1958
• Autherine Lucy was the first African American to be enrolled at the University of Alabama



Autherine Lucy

• Accepted in 1952, but denied when her race was discovered.  After a 3 year battle in court, she was re-admitted in 1956.  She moved to Texas when she married divinity student, Hugh Lawrence Foster. He had attended Miles College. They eventually returned to Alabama when he became the pastor of New Zion Baptist church in the city that Dr. Harper currently practices in, Bessemer, Alabama. 
• Bessie Coleman was the first licensed African American pilot in the world on June 15, 1921
• Received her aviation instruction in France, as she couldn't be admitted in the U.S. because of her sex and race.
• The first black Billionaire was Robert Johnson in 2001, owner Black Entertainment Television
• The second was Oprah Winfrey in 2003