African-American Achievements Quiz

Study Notes

Dr. Daniel Hale Williams performed the first heart surgery in 1893 without modern technology.
Born in Pennsylvania, received medical degree from Chicago Medical School in 1891.
Founded Provident Hospital, the first interracial hospital in Chicago, in 1895.
Performed life-saving surgery on a young black man named James Cornish, who recovered and lived for another 20 years.
George Washington Carver, born in Missouri, was a botanist, agricultural chemist, and inventor.
Carver discovered that certain crops returned nutrients to the soil.
Urged farmers to plant crops such as peanuts, sweet potatoes, soybeans, and cow peas in rotation with cotton.
Made over 300 products from peanuts, including ink, shampoo, soap, and candy.
Carver donated his life savings to establish the George Washington Carver Foundation and the Tuskegee Museum in his honor.
Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove in Louisiana, became the first African-American millionaire businesswoman in the US.
Orphaned at age six, became a widow at age 20 with a young daughter to support.
Suffered from alopecia and developed a hair growth treatment.
Sold hair products door-to-door and established a manufacturing company taking up an entire city block and employing over 3,000 people.
Donated generously to scholarship funds, organizations, and black colleges.
Garrett Morgan, born in Kentucky, was an African-American inventor.
Invented a gas mask that saved trapped workers during a Cleveland water works explosion in 1912.
Sold his belt fastener for sewing machines at age 26 and opened a tailoring shop at age 27.
Accidentally discovered a hair straightening substance in 1913 and established the G.A. Morgan Hair Refining Company.
Patented an automatic traffic signal in 1923.
Mae Jemison, born in 1956 in Alabama, was the first African-American woman astronaut.
Graduated from Stanford University at age 16 with a degree in chemical engineering and African and African American studies.
Received her doctorate from Cornell University Medical College in 1987.
Served as a medical officer in the Peace Corps in Sierra Leone and Liberia for two years.
Spoke multiple languages, including English, Swahili, Russian, and Japanese.
Became an astronaut in 1987 and served on the space shuttle Endeavour's second mission in 1992.
Founded The Jemison Group and the Dorothy Jemison Foundation for Excellence.
Advocated for public participation in space exploration.