This Week in History, October 24 - 30:
Contributions of African-Americans
   
Note: Here, learn about some of the African-Americans who have influenced history and contributed to the culture we now enjoy. To learn more about each individual, click on that person's name. Information for "This Week in History" is taken from the African American Registry.

October 24
On this day in 1896, African-American businesswoman and humanitarian Marjorie Stewart Joyner was born. The first African-American woman to receive a patent, she co-founded the United Beauty School Owners and Teachers Association in 1945 with Mary Bethune Mcleod.

October 25
On this day in 1925, African-American scientist and biochemist Emmett W. Chappelle was born. Among Chappelle's discoveries was a method of instantly detecting bacteria in water, which led to improved diagnoses of urinary tract infections.

October 26
On this day in 1919, politician and author Edward Brooke was born. He served as attorney general of Massachusetts, where he was a vigorous prosecutor of organized crime, before being elected to the United States Senate, where he became the first Black senator since the Reconstruction.

October 27
On this day in 1917, African-American attorney and politician Anna Langford was born. A prominent civil rights advocate, she was the first woman elected to the Chicago City Council. Also on this day in 1954, Colonel Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., Was promoted to Brigadier General, the first African-American to wear one star in the United States Air Force.

October 28
On this day in 1798, Levi Coffin was born. President and "conductor" of the Underground Railroad, he maintained that said "the Bible, in bidding us to feed the hungry and clothe the naked, said nothing about color, and I should try to follow out the teachings of that good book."

October 29
On this day in 1837, African-American folk artist Harriet Powers was born. Powers’ first Bible quilt is now part of the collection of the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, D. C., while her second narrative quilt, held by the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, was a centerpiece of a major exhibition of American Folk Art there in the summer of 2001.

October 30
On this day in 1750, Revolutionary War patriot Salem Poor was born. Poor's valor and gallantry at the Battle of Bunker Hill caused 14 officers, including Colonel William Prescott, to cite him with heroism.