Black History Quotes

 

Black History” Oliver Lewis”

 In 1875,Oliver Lewis became the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby, America’s longest continuous sporting event. Lewis was born in 1856 in Fayette Country, Kentucky, to his parents Goodson and Eleanor Lewis. Lewis was born free, but there is little known about his parents or family.Lewis was only 19 years old when he entered the first Kentucky Derby. The race was held at what was then the Louisville Jockey Club on May 17, 1875, but is now known as Churchill Downs. Ten thousand spectators watched this first race. Lewis rode a horse named Aristide, which was one of two colts entered by their owner, H. Price McGrath of Jessamine, Kentucky. The other horse, Chesapeake, was ridden by William Henry. Although the same owner entered both horses, Chesapeake was favored to win the $2,850 purse, and Lewis was told that his job was to lead most of the race to tire out the other horses.

 Out of the fifteen jockeys in the field, at this first Kentucky Derby, thirteen of them were African American. Aristide’s trainer, Ansel Williamson, was also an African American.Oliver Lewis followed his instructions and was pushing most of the field while trailing a horse named Volcano for most of the race. However, in the last stretch, Chesapeake was unexpectedly far back in the pack while Aristide and Volcano were running neck and neck for first place. Lewis and Aristide pulled away near the finish line and won the race by two lengths. With that victory Lewis became the first jockey to win the Kentucky Derby. Later that season, Lewis came in second in the Belmont Stakes in New York and won three more races at the Louisville Jockey Club, riding Aristide in all of them. 

He would never ride in the Kentucky Derby again, however, and would retire after that racing season for unknown reasons.

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Black History”Fun Fact🫶🏾”

 In 1937 the first triplets born in Longview, Texas were born to Neater and Lillie Mae Jones. Dr. James D. Grant, the only Longview African American physician in 1930,(in the muddle).

Franklin 1937-1990; Delano 1937-2017; and Roosevelt 1937-2024.

Source: Portal to Texas History

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Black History “Joan Dorsey”

 In 1963,Joan Dorsey broke barriers as American Airlines' first African American hire. After earning an education degree from the University of Arizona, she excelled at Stewardess College, graduating at the top of her class. Dorsey began her pioneering career in New York and retired from American Airlines in 1999 after 36 years of dedicated service.

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Black History Quotes

 

Black History” Mary Elliott Hill”

 (January 5, 1907 – February 12, 1969) was one of the earliest Black American women to become a chemist. She was known as both an organic and analytical chemist. 

Hill worked on the properties of ultraviolet light, developing analytic methodology, and, in collaboration with her husband Carl McClellan Hill, developing ketene synthesis which supported the development of plastics. She is believed to be one of the first Black American women to be awarded with a master's degree in chemistry. 

Hill was an analytical chemist, designing spectroscopic methods and developing ways to track the progress of the reactions based on solubility. 

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Black History” Engine Company #21”

This is another amazing memory of growing up in Chi’Town was catching the CTA and L Train to the Beverly Public Library off of 95th for their Black History Month events. This is where I first heard about this revolutionary moment in Black History🤟🏾!

The Engine Company #21,organized in 1872, was the first all-black fire Chicago Fire Department. The fire pole was invented by members of the company in 1888. 

After their invention Engine Company #21 had the fastest response time in the city!!! However the iconic sliding pole started out as wood,but that design was discontinued because of splinters,later Boston patented the brass fire pole.

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