LEFIOFCENIER

(it‘w it. tizznie‘rs

African
Americans
and their
inventions

PRIDAYKENTUCKY

 

KERNEL

 

 

A.J. Beard
Rotary Engine
July 5. 1892

AJ. Beard
Car-coupler
November 23. 1897

6.12. Becket
Letter Box
October 4, 1892

L Bell
Locomotive smoke
stack
May 23, 1871

ME. Benjamin
Gong and signal
chairs for hotels
July 17. 1888

A.L Cralle
Ice-cream mold
February 2. 1897

 

 

 

 

M.W. Binga
Street sprinkling
apparatus
July 22, 1879

AB. Blackburn
Railway signal
January 10, 1888

Henry Blair
Corn planter
October 14, 1834

Henry Blair
Cotton planter
August 31, 1836

Sarah Boone
Ironing board
April 26. 1892

CB. Brooks
Street-sweepers
March 17, 1896

0.E. Brown
Horseshoe
August 23. 1892

J.A. Burr
Lawn mower
May 9, 1899

 

-Source: http:/lwww.

ai.mlt.edu/~isbelllHFh
/blacklevents_and_peo
ple/009.aa_inventlons

Compiled by: Tracy
Kershaw

Toamrrow‘s
won that“

3%
4.3 2.1

Mother Nature faked
us out. Expect snow
soon.

Kentucky
Kernel
VOL. 8105 ISSUE #99

ESTABLISHED IN 1892
INDEPENDENT SINCE 1971

News tips?
Call: 257-1915 or write:

 

kernelOpop.uky.edu

Close to home

 

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FILE PHOTO

Carl Westmoreland, external affairs director of the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center, stands inside a jail once used to hold slaves,
which is inside a tobacco barn in Germantown, Ky. The slave jail will be displayed as one of the centerpieces of the museum. The advertisements
(right) from the 18005 offer rewards for fugitive slaves.

By Chris Markus
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

It is 1840. A Kentucky farmer sits on
the veranda of his modest home. watching
the last rays of the sun disappear behind
the distant hills ofthe horizon.

The only sounds are the chirps of

crickets and the low. distant croaking of
the bullfrogs.

The farmer is just about to retreat
from the hot. heavy haze of the summer
air into his house when he hears brisk
footsteps and heavy breathing.

From the dark shroud of night
emerges the figure of a black man. His
clothes are torn and dirty anti his face con-
veys the look of desperation.

The jaw of the farmer drops. and be—
fore he can speak. the figure says. “Mister.
I was wondering ifl might be able to stay
in your barn for the night?“

The farmer guesses from the man‘s ap-
pearance that he is a runaway slave. He
knows that according to the Fugitive Slave
Law. he may face fines or jail time for giv-
ing the ex-slave a place to sleep.

But. the look of desperate hope in the
man‘s eyes changes the way the farmer
looks at him. No longer does he see the

To learn more...

man as black or white. as slave or free
man. but rather as a human a human in
dire need of help.

The farmer nods his head say ing.
“Yeah. go ahead. stay in the barn for the
night. Just be out by dawn."

Without thinking about it. the farmer
just opened another depot on the under-
ground railroad.

History professor Mark Summers said
that the incident just described was a ti pi-
cal one from the nous to the ltltitls.

“It comes down to the individual deci-
sion: (Tan you send someone back to slav~
cry‘.’ And most people can‘t do that." Sum-
mers said.

Summers said that even though those
people who kept up the underground rail
road (lid it at the expense of their own
hides. in many cases of the underground
railroad. human compassion trumped
southern law.

"Most people can‘t morally send a
slave back because that makes them an ac-
complice to an institution that at heart
they know is wrong." Summers said.

(‘ontrary to popular belief. the under
ground railroad was not an organized. co-
hesive network of hiding places for es-
caped slaves. Instead. it was an unofficial.

The National l'ndcrground Railroad I’rccdom (‘cnter
is a multimedia. interactive Iiiuscilnt set to open in BIIIII-‘i at

:il! I‘Ilm St. t‘incinnati. ()hio 133w.

t‘urrcntly. the center is sponsoring a traveling exhibit
called. "I‘rce at Last." lllt' t‘Xlllltll (locuiiiciils the (li‘llillt‘
ti\t'l' slavery from the framing of the (‘onstitution to the

end ofthe t‘ivil \Var.
"I’i‘i-i' at last." \\ill he at
Indianapolis. Ind. on l’chruary Ill.
18771111; lost;

http:

Martin

uu\\.nndcrgrtiiindrailriiadcom Iiomchtml

l'nivcrsity in

loose organization whose only goal was
to give slaves something that every oth-
er American already enjoyed free-
than

The safe houses along the way could
be anything as elaborate as secret rooms

in houses. to a small shed on the edge of

a farmer's field.
The path of the underground rail-

road runs all the way from the heart of

the Dixie-Land to Canada.

Summers said that to this day there
still exist black communities on the
(‘anadian side of the Great Lakes whose
roots stem back to the days of the under
ground railroad.

According to Summers. both those
who used and those who housed the Lil]
dcrground railroad are American heroes
who stood up to a government and laws
that they knew were wrong.

Summers likened the heroes of the
underground railroad to the unknown
student who stood up to a tank in
'l‘iananmen Square. and to the German
citizens who dismantled lllt Berlin Wall.

“The underground railroad is some
thing that casts honor on anyone that
was involved in liclping it along." Suiti-
iners said.

Artists renditions of the interior and exterior of the Freedom Center.

”ninth is a time to reflect

By Tracy kershaw
ASSISTANT NEWS EDITOR

African-American History Month is a
time of reflection on the past accomplish-
ments of African Americans.

“African-American students are ex-
posed to their own culture and history he-
comes like a mirror." said Chester
Grundy. director of African-American stu-
dent affairs and director of the Martin
Luther King Cultural Center.

Keisha Carter. a political science ju—
nior. agrees with Grundy.

“It should be a month where everyone
reflects on the contributions those of
African descent have made on this coun-
try and the world." Carter said.

However. she does not think the
month accomplishes what it is meant to.

“More would be accomplished if peo-
ple in education would realize the impor-
tance of Airman—American history in their
daily lives." she said. “Every time you
stop at a stop light or pick up an ironing

board. you are experiencing the contribu-
tions of African Americans."

Grundy said it would take changes in
the curriculum for the month to accom-
plish its purpose.

"When we see the authentic story of
African history in the curriculum. then
the month will accomplish its mission." he
said.

Other students think AfricanAmeri»
can history should not be contained to just
one month.

“I celebrate African-American history
all year round. One month does not make
a difference. Black history is American
history." said Yvette (,‘lay. a political sci
ence junior.

This year the month is celebrated on
the heels of the 50th anniversary of deseg-
regation at UK.

Carter wonders why UK has not done
more to celebrate African-American Histo-
ry Month in light of the anniversary.

“It is a let down that the university
did not get more involved." (‘arter said.

The month originated as Negro HlSlti-
ry Week in 1926 by African-American
scholar l)r. (‘arter G. Vi'oodson.

Woodson established the week in re
sponse to what he saw as a negative. hos»
tile social environment for African Amcri
cans.

“From World War I until the mid to
late 192(1s. it was probably the most ditTi
cult period that African Americans experi
enced in this country trying to survive in
a hostile environment." Grundy said.

In the 196(ls. Negro History Week blos-
somed into Black History Month. The
name was later changed to African-Ameri-
can History Month.

According to Grundy. \‘Voodson want
ed the week to bring public awareness to
great contributions of African American
people.

Grundy said we study history to learn
what our possibilities are.

“History plays a powerful role in cm
ating a sense of equity in the world com
inunity," he said.

527

Some 45 years after Columbus landed
in the New World, Esteban was born in
Morocco. a country in Africa.

1758

Frances Williams publishes a

collection of latin poems. Williams is the
first African American to graduate from
college.

1844

Macon 8. Allen is admitted to the

bar in Maine, and becomes the first
licensed African American attorney in
the United States. In 1945, he was
admitted to the bar in Massachusetts.

1861

Confederate Troops attack Fort
Sumter, South Carolina, and the Civil
War begins.

1862

Slavery is abolished in
Washington, D.C.

1863

The Emancipation Proclamation is

signed by President Abraham Lincoln. On
January ist. slaves living in areas of the
south that were in rebellion were freed.

1866

Congress passes the Civil Rights

Act. This act granted citizenship to
African Americans, and was designed to
guarantee them equal rights.

1900

James Weldon Johnson writes the

lyrics for "Lift Every Voice and Sing."
The song, with music by Johnson‘s
brother J. Rosamond, becomes known as
the Negro National Anthem.

1909

Mathew Henson accompanies

Commander Robert Peary discovery of the
North Pole. Although Peary is given all

of the credit for the discovery, he admits
that he could not have made it without
Henson.

1915

Eleanor Fagan is born in East

Baltimore. Millions will come to know
her as "Billie Holiday," or "Lady Day," a
jazz and blues singer most remembered
for her songs, "God Bless the Child,"
“Strange Fruit," and "Lover Man."

1922

Colonel Charles Young, is the first African
American to become a colonel in the US.
Army.

1927

The Harlem Globetrotters, a
sensational and talented basketball team.
is formed by Abe Saperstein.

1955

Though the struggle for racial equality in
America began long before her act of defiance
that cold December day, to many Americans
Mrs. Rosa Parks started momentum when she
refused to give up her seat on a bus to a
white person.

1957

The Little Rock Nine The “Little

Rock Nine" were nine African American
students who were to attend the all white
Central High School in the fall of 1957.

1978

Muhammad All, known for his legendary
"float like a butterfly, sting like a bee,“
style. wins the world heavyweight boxing
championship for the third time when he
defeats Leon Spinks.

1988

Doug Williams, the first African
American quaterback to play a Super
Bowl Game. is named Most Valuable
Player for leading the Washington
Redskins to a 42-10 win over the
Denver Broncos.

1990

Lawrence Douglas Wilder of

Virginia becomes the first African
American to be elected governor in the
United States.

1995

1.5 million African American men converged
upon the nation's capitol for the Million Man
March. Called a "day of atonement and
reconciliation," the march was a catalyst
for unification and healing.

 

The Student Newspaper at the University of Kentucky, Lexington

 

 

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