Prominent Women of Black History

It's that wonderful time of year again ... Black History month. This month is meant to look at some of the well-known and not so well known black women of Black History whose contributions changed not only America but also the world.

Some of the contributions the blacks have made are the stop light, the gas mask, the golf "T", the pencil sharpener, the baby carriage, the automatic gear shift and tons more. These contributions are staples in U.S. history.

There are many women that come to mind when we think of black history and many that aren't known. Some of these women are Sojourner Truth, Ida Bell Wells-Barnett, Madam C. J. Walker, Mary McLeod Bethune, Rosa Parks, Zora Neale Hurston and Ethel Hedgeman Lyle. All of these women have made contributions that were everlasting and still present in society today.

Sojourner Truth was born into slavery in 1797. A fact that many people don't know is that her real name was Isabella Baumfree. She was sold a number of times and in 1827 New York law emancipated the slaves but by then she had already run to freedom with her youngest child.

Later she learned that one of her sons, who was emancipated under the New York law, was sold back into slavery in Alabama, she sued the court and won his return. In 1843 she took the name Sojourner Truth because she thought is was a message from God and she became a traveling preacher on the "journey of truth". Throughout the 1840s and 1850's, she worked with abolitionists and spoke about women's suffrage.

Another great black woman in history is Ida Bell Wells-Barnett who was born in 1862. She became a well-known journalist most known for her anti-lynching campaigns in Memphis, Tenn. Where she lived, black men were getting lynched for being accused of raping white women. Wells-Barnett spoke out against these allegations and lynching by writing about them under the pen name "Iola".

She wrote for papers such as the Indianapolis Freeman, the Detroit Plaindealer, and the New York Sun. Wells-Barnett also was the first black to become probation officer in Chicago and she started a suffrage club for black women.

The amazing Madam C.J. Walker (Sarah Breedlove) was born in 1867. She is known for being the first self-made woman millionaire. She made her millions by creating a treatment for straightening hair. She sold her products door to door and gained popularity and her fortune. In 1905, Walker started her own business in Denver. She began traveling in the south, promoting and selling her products. It went so well she opened a second business in Pittsburgh in 1908. In 1910 both offices were transferred to headquarters in Indianapolis where a plant was built to make Walker's products. In 1918 Walker made a donation to the National Association of Colored Women to buy the home of Fredrick Douglass so it could be preserved.

Mary McLeod Bethune was born in 1875 in South Carolina. She founded the Daytona Normal and Industrial Institute for Negro Girls (Bethune-Cookman College) in 1904 and served as the schools president. She also was president of the NACW and served as a consultant to the U.S. Secretary of War for selection of the first female officer candidate. Bethune was also vice president of the NAACP.

"Rosa Parks comes to mind when I think about black history because she was the cause of African Americans to be able to sit at the front of the buses and she started a boycott," said junior Kenya Ayers.

Rosa Parks is well known as being the "Mother of the Civil Rights Movement". Parks was born in 1913 in Tuskegee, Ala. Later she moved to Montgomery and joined the local NAACP. She served as secretary from 1943 - 1956.

It was in 1955 when Parks boarded a city bus after a long days work and refused to give up her seat for a white man. Parks was arrested and this act began the bus boycott in Montgomery. This boycott helped to end the segregation of buses throughout the United States.

Author Zora Neale Hurston was born in 1903. Later she attended Howard University and in 1925 went to New York City and began writing fictional stories. She then attended Barnard College and after worked as an ethnologist.

She put together her talent of writing fiction with her background education in culture and began publishing poetry and fiction. Hurston is best known for her work published in 1937, Their Eyes Were Watching God, a novel that was controversial because it didn't portray the stereotypes of other black stories. Later she worked at NC College for Negroes (NCCU) in Durham.

Pioneer Ethel Hedgeman Lyle was born in 1885. It was this woman who thought up the idea of starting the first black Greek sorority in 1908 at Howard University. This sorority was called Alpha Kappa Alpha. This organization grew and gave rise to other black service oriented sororities. ECU has a chapter of this very sorority.

"A prominent black woman that I think of when it comes to black history is Oprah Winfrey. I think she is a perfect example of a successful black woman because she was the first black woman to have a talk show and have it expand in the way that it did. People respect her because she's so articulate and innovative," said LaToya Toney junior apparel merchandising major. Winfrey, the founder of Harpo, her broadcasting company and the host of the popular daytime talk show is a perfect example of how black women in history can influence someone to succeed.

All of these women have contributed their ideas, their thoughts and their hearts to black America and the world and we owe them our thanks not just for a month, but year round.

This writer can be contacted at features@theeastcarolinian.com.