A naturally gifted mechanic, Jones was self-taught, which helped him to invent a portable air-conditioning unit for trucks in 1938. Inventor Fred Jones’ contributions during his lifetime were momentous, and can be felt to this day. Lee Crumpler practiced throughout Boston and Virginia during her time as a physician, and cared for freed slaves after the end of the Civil War. Lee Crumpler the first female African-American physician, but her work led her to publish “Book of Medical Discourses in Two Parts” in 1883, which is widely regarded as one of the first medical texts written by an African American author. Rebecca Lee Crumpler have survived, her legacy has lived long past her time. His theories on how alternative crops (like peanuts and sweet potatoes) could be used to improve the quality of life of poor farmers were praised throughout the country, and he was even dubbed “Black Leonardo” by a 1941 issue of “Time” magazine. While Taylor’s case was dismissed twice in court, it is now considered a major step in the formation of the Civil Rights Movement.ĭespite being one of the most highly regarded scientists in American History, Carver’s contributions are today mostly unknown to the general public – a botanist and inventor, Carver was a leader in environmentalism, and promoted the usage of alternative crops. Her case, and its neglect by the Alabama government, soon brought the attention of the local African-American community and national NAACP. While returning home from church in 1944, Taylor was abducted and sexually assaulted by six white men, before being abandoned on a roadside. Recy Taylor’s story, though unpleasant, served as one of the first foundations for racial activism. Martin Luther King, Jr., and also helped to organize some of the movement’s largest events, like the 1963 March on Washington, and a 1947 Freedom Ride. A pacifist who practiced a philosophy of nonviolent resistance, Rustin went on to educate some of the Civil Rights Movement’s most well-known faces, such as Dr. Political activist Bayard Rustin was involved in politics from an early age – as a child, his family was involved in the local NAACP, and were friends with well-known Black political leaders like W.E.B.
Gayle, which declared bus segregation unconstitutional under the fourteenth amendment. Colvin was forcibly removed from the bus and arrested, but would later go on to be one of the principal plaintiffs in the Supreme Court case Browder vs. While many were taught that Rosa Parks was the first to famously refuse to give up a bus seat, nine months before her 1943 protest in Montgomery, Alabama, then fifteen year old Claudette Colvin was arrested for refusing to give her seat to a standing white woman after school.