Did you come to the Media Center to check out the museum put together for Black History Month? The exhibit was made by Museums in motion. Here is some information on some of the displays put up.
One of the displays was about Lena Horne, the first African-American to perform and travel with an all white jazz band. She was known for her fabulous beauty, her amazing voice and her remarkable style. She can also be credited for being the first African-American performer to have a long-term contract by a major studio in Hollywood. She made records and performed in New York City’s Café Society jazz club, which was the first club in U.S. without racial segregation. During this time many nightclubs had black performers but they wouldn’t permit any black people to be present in the audience.
These two African-American astronauts created history and lead the way for people 
from many other races to get involved in the Space Race. Guion (Guy) S. Bluford was born and grew up in Philadelphia. He was the mission specialist above the Challenger in the year of 1983. This made him the first African-American to travel to space. The woman in the picture is Mae Jemison and she became the first African-American woman in space in 1992 when the Endeavour launched and started circling the Earth’s orbit.
This exhibit with a lovely ivory colored dress caught people’s eyes as they walked by. This was part of the exhibit that showcases Madam C.J. Walker, an entrepreneur and Madam Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower that made her a millionaire. The name her parents gave her was Sarah Breedlove but she changed it when she got married for the second time. She was born on a winter day in Louisiana on December 23, 1867 on a cotton plantation and lived there for fourteen years working for her sister and brother in law. She escaped the oppressive treatment of her brother in law by marrying a man named Moses McWilliam but a few years after their daughter was born, Moses died. She moved to Chicago where she soon met her next husband who would help in advertising her product and whom she would divorced a while later. At an early age, Sarah had developed a disease that made her lose her hair so she tried mixing home treatments and ointments sold in shops. After more experimenting she created the thing that would make her a millionaire, she had created Madam CJ Walker’s Wonderful Hair Grower. She widely recognized as the first American women to become a millionaire.(Click For More Info about Madam CJ Walker)
Another displayed showcased the Tuskegee Airmen. They were the first African-Americans military pilots in World War 2 and they were part of many successful missions. There were 932 people who went through the program and only 335 of them were sent overseas for combat missions. They destroyed 261 aircrafts, damaged 148, flew 311 missions and earned 95 Distinguished Flying Crosses(Click for Website with Info).
One talked about Garrett Morgan, the man who invented the modern stoplight. He was the first person to patent the T shaped design pole with three different lights. The stoplight was inexpensive to make and Garrett sold the rights of his design to General Electric for $40,000. He is also known for inventing the gas mask. He was one of America’s most successful black inventor but did you know that he was only in school till 6th grade.(For more info about Garrett Morgan and For more about Traffic Lights and Their Inventors)
These were some of the people the exhibit showcased. Some of the others were Muhammad Ali, Haben Girma and some other influential African Americans.
Grover Middle School's Jagazine 