Drs. W. E. Atkins, C. S. Bassette, Burl Bassette, J. J. Jones.
Harrisburg, Pa.
C. L. Carter, C. H. Crampton, M. H. Layton, A. L. Marshall, J. T. Warrick.
Hartford, Conn.
Dr. H. W. Furniss.
Helena, Ark.
Drs. A. D. Beacly, S. H. Horgoods.
Hopkinsville, Ky.
Dr. B. O. Moore.
Houston, Texas.
B. J. Covington, H. E. Lee.
Indianapolis, Ind.
Drs. H. W. Armistead, S. A. Furniss, J. H. Ward, H. L. Hummonds.
Jackson, Miss.
Dr. R. S. Johnson.
Jacksonville, Fla.
Drs. C. F. Duncan, M. F. McCleary, J. S. Hills, A. H. Kennibrew.
Jersey City, N.J.
Drs. G. E. Cannon, P. F. Ghee.
Kansas City, Kan.
Drs. J. N. Sohns, S. H. Thompson.
Kansas City, Mo.
Drs. E. C. Bunch, T. C. Brown, C. M.
Kane, J. E. Perry, J. F. Shannon, W. J. Tompkins, T. C. Unthank.
Knoxville, Tenn.
Drs. D. W. Crawford, S. M. Clark, H. M. Green.
Leavenworth. Kan.
Drs. C. M. Moates, Silas Jackson.
Little Rock, Ark.
Drs. J. T. Clowers, G. W. S. Ish, J. G. Thornton.
Los Angeles, Cal.
Drs. C. Ballard, Anna Leggett, J. S. Outlaw, L. Stovall.
Lexington, Ky.
Dr. J. E. Hunter.
Louisville, Ky.
Drs. J. M. Hammons, A. C. McIntyre, E. D. Wedbee, W. H. Pickett.
Memphis, Tenn.
Drs. A. N. Townsend, C. A. Terrell, J. T. Wilson
Milwaukee, Wis.
Drs. F. Boget, H. B. Stokes.
Mobile, Ala.
Drs. T. N. Harris, H. R. Williams.
Montgomery, Ala.
Drs. R. T. Adair, F. D.
Boswell, H. P. Dawson, F. C. Cuffey, J. A. Deramiur, Wm. Washington.
Mound Bayou, Miss.
Dr. D. H. Broomfield.
Muskogee, Okla.
Drs. H. L. Meckelroy, R. H. Watterford.
Nashville, Tenn.
Drs. L. A. Fisher, J. H. Hale,
A. L. Herron, J. T. Phillips, C. V. Roman, J. N. Holman, F. A. Stewart.
Newark, N.J.
Drs. S. S. Bruington, Green and Wolfe.
New Orleans, La.
Drs. A. W. Braizer, L. T. Burbridge, R. Fredricks.
Newport News, Va.
Drs. W. P. Dickerson,
C. A. Easton, W. T. Foreman, J. H. Robinson, C. W. Scott, P. S. Scott.
New York City, N.Y.
Drs. E. P. Roberts, York Russell, U. G. Vincent,
L. T. Wright, W. M. Wilson, A. S. Reed.
Norfolk, Va.
Drs. P. L. Barber, J. D. Jackson.
Omaha, Neb.
Drs. L. E. Britt, J. H. Hutten.
Philadelphia, Pa.
Drs. F. C. Antoine, Eugene Hinson,
Chas. Lewis, A. B. Jackson, N. F. Mossell,
P. J. Taylor, J. D. Turner, Minton, Lennon, McDougall, Sinclair.
Phoenix, Arizona.
Dr. W. C. Hackett.
Pine Bluff, Ark.
Drs. H. L. Jordan, J. W. Parker.
Pittsburgh, Pa.
Drs. F. F. Bishop, J. T. Allen, J. B. Shepard, G. G. Terfley, A. C. Kyles.
Portland, Oregon.
Dr. J. A. Merriman.
Portland, Me.
Dr. Herndon White.
Portsmouth, N. H.
Dr. C. A. Randolph.
Portsmouth, Va.
Dr. J. J. France, W. T. Jones.
Providence, R. I.
Drs. W. H. Higgins, J. Robinson, J. Birch.
Raleigh, N.C.
Drs. C. A. Dunston, L. E. McConley,
J. O. Plumber, H. A. Royster, P. F. Roberts, J. T. Northam.
Richmond, Va.
Drs. H. A. Allen, W. H. Hughes, M. B. Jones, J. H. Blackwell.
Roanoke, Va.
Drs. J. B. Claytor, J. H. Roberts.
San Antonio, Texas.
Drs. W. M. Drake, C. A. Whitten.
San Francisco, Cal.
Drs. R. N. Arthurton, W. W. Purnell.
Savannah, Ga.
Drs. O. C. Clayborne, F. S. Belcher,
W. C. Blackman, W. A. Harris, G. W. Smith.
Seattle, Wash.
Drs. D. T. Cardwell, C. F. Maxwell.
Shreveport, La.
Drs. E. B. Liddel, D. A. Smith.
St. Louis, Mo.
Drs. W. P. Curtis, J. T. Caston,
R. C. Haskell, W. L. Perry, S. P. Stafford,
D. Weaver, J. A. Grossland, C. L. Thomas.
St. Paul, Minn.
Drs. W. D. Bloom, V. Turner.
Tampa, Fla.
Dr. J. A. White.
Terre Haute, Ind.
Drs. A. L. Cabell, D. A. Bethea.
Washington, D.C.
Drs. S. L. Carson, E. A. Balloch,
A. M. Curtis, W. A. Warfield, E. D. Williston, R. A. Burton.
Wichita, Kanin.
Drs. J. E. Farmer, F. O. Miller.
Wilmington, Del.
Drs. C. Banston, S. G. Elbert, H. Murray.
Wilmington, N. C.
Drs. F. F. Burnett, S. M. Key.
Hospitals and Nurses
Although American Negroes own and conduct over one hundred modernly
equipped hospitals, even that number of buildings does not afford space
enough to properly house the three thousand Colored graduate nurses now
practicing in the United States, should all those angels of mercy at
the same time apply for accommodations in the above institutions.
The writer regrets that as hard and patiently as he researched he was
unable to secure a list of names of the Colored women doctors who
are to-day practicing medicine in the United States. It, therefore,
affords him great pleasure, at the very last moment on the eve of this
publication coming from the press, to be able to rush in his book from
the September 24, 1921, issue of the Chicago Defender, the following
article regarding the distinguished abilities and works of one of the
numerous Negro women physicians to-day following their profession in
America:
“WOMAN DOCTOR RECEIVES FRENCH MEDAL OF HONOR.”
“Newport, R. I., Sept., 23.--Dr. Harriet A. Rice, prominent in
Newport circles, received from the French government this week the
Reconnaissance Francaise, a bronze medal, awarded her in July 1919,
for her work overseas during the war. The medal reached her through
the French Embassy at Washington.
“Dr. Rice is a graduate of Wellesley College and of the Women’s
Medical College of New York. She served in the French military
hospital during the greater part of the war from 1915 to the
signing of the armistice, and it is for these services that she is
decorated. The medal was presented her by Prince de Bearn, charge
d’affaires of the French embassy.
“According to the citation which accompanied the medal, the woman
is honored by the French government because of “her devotion and
ability in caring for the French wounded during the war.”
IN DENTISTRY
THE TOOTHACHE MAN.
(The fellow who loves your tooth to jerk
And then with a smile, asks: “Did it hurt?”)
Yearly to him folks ought to go
To learn of holes they do not know;
So toughest steaks to finely grind
With nature’s teeth and not false kind.
--_Harrison._
Among the five hundred or more Colored dentists in America, who
are today practicing in offices furnished with their own surgical
instruments as well as gas, electrical and other modern appliances,
Drs. Chas. E. Bentley, Chicago, Ill., and Chas. H. Roberts, New York
City, according to competent judges are considered two of the most
prominent and best all-round authorities in their profession. And in
nearly every other large city there are similar expert and successful
dentists, a list of whom the writer was unable to get. (extracts from
Work’s Negro Year Book, 1918-1919 edition, pgs. 422-23-24).
IN INVENTIONS
NEW IDEAS--NEW THINGS.
Creative folks are oft jeered fools
For thinking things along new rules;
But when such folks invent things real
How foolish those who laughed must feel.
--_Harrison._
One of the chief reasons why the United States has made such rapid
and wonderful progress along all lines of industrial civilization and
today stands first among all countries in wealth is due mostly to the
original ideas and inventive powers of the American Yankee. And to
prove that the original ideas of Negroes have had a very important part
in helping to make the United States such a leading and resourceful
nation, the following citations are but a few of the two thousand and
more inventions that Colored people in America have had patented and
put on the market for practical use.
“The first Negro to receive a patent on an invention was Henry Blair,
of Maryland, who, in 1834 and 1836, was granted patents on a corn
harvester. He is supposed to have been a free Negro.”
“Benjamin Banneker,--Noted Negro Astronomer. Born free, November 9,
1731, in Baltimore County, Maryland. Received some education in a pay
school. Early showed an inclination for mechanics. About 1754, with
imperfect tools, constructed a clock which told the time and struck the
hour. This was the first clock constructed in America.”
“William B. Purvis, of Philadelphia, has inventions covering a variety
of subjects, but directed mainly along a single line of experiment and
improvement. He began in 1912, the invention of machines for making
paper bags, and his improvements in this line of machinery are covered
by a dozen patents. Some half dozen other patents granted Mr. Purvis,
include three patents on electric railways, one on a fountain pen,
another on a magnetic car-balancing device, and still another for a
cutter for roll holders.”
“Joseph Hunter Dickinson, of New Jersey, specializes in the line of
musical instruments, particularly playing the piano. He began more
than fifteen years ago to invent devices for automatically playing
the piano. He is at present in the employ of a large piano factory.
His various inventions in piano-player mechanism are adopted in the
construction of some of the finest piano-players on the market. He has
more than a dozen patents to his credit already, and is still devoting
his energies to that line of inventions.”
“Frank J. Ferrell, of New York, has obtained about a dozen patents for
his inventions, the larger number of them being for improvement in
valves for steam engines.”
“Benjamin F. Jackson, of Massachusetts, is the inventor of a dozen
different improvements in heating and lighting devices, including a
controller for a trolley wheel.”
“Charles V. Richey, of Washington, D.C., has obtained about a dozen
patents on his inventions, the last of which was a most ingenius device
for registering the calls on a telephone and detecting the unauthorized
use of that instrument.”
“The late Granville T. Woods, of New York, and his brother, Lyates took
out some fifty or more patents. Wood’s inventions principally relate
to electrical subjects, such as telegraph and telephone instruments,
electrical railways and general systems of electrical control.
Several are on devices for transmitting telegraphic messages between
moving trains. According to Patent Office Records, several of Woods’
patents have for valuable considerations been assigned to the foremost
electrical corporations, such as the General Electric Company, of
New York, and the American Bell Telephone Company, of New York. Mr.
Woods’ inventive faculty also worked along other lines. He devised an
incubator, a complicated amusement device, a steam boiler furnace and a
mechanical brake.”
“John Ernest Matzeliger, born Dutch Guiana, 1852, died, Lynn,
Massachusetts, 1889. He is the inventor of the first machine that
performed automatically all the operations involved in attaching soles
to shoes. This wonderful achievement marked the beginning of a distinct
revolution in the art of making shoes by machinery. Matzeliger
realized this, and attempted to capitalize it by organizing a stock
company to market his invention; but his plans were frustrated through
failing health and lack of business experience and shortly thereafter
he died. The patent and much of the stock of the company organized by
Matzeliger was bought up. The purchase laid the foundation for the
organization of the United Shoe Machinery Company the largest and
richest corporation of the kind in the world.”
“During 1917-1918, Negroes made a large number of inventions. Many
of these related to the war. Charles Stevenson of Amarillo, Texas,
invented a glass war bomb. It was reported that L. A. Hayden, a native
of Charlotte, North Carolina, invented an airship stableizer which
was adopted by the British Government and that he was commissioned
a Second Lieutenant in the British aviation corps. Julius Hart of
Columbus, Georgia, invented three war bombs which were reported to be
of great military value and that for one the War Department gave him
$15,000. Wm. D. Polite, of Charlotte, North Carolina, has patented an
anti-aircraft gun.”
“Jacob W. F. Berry of Decatur, Alabama, invented an electrically driven
submarine. H. A. Cooper of Sabetha, Kansas, invented a submarine
detector. Henry Grady of Westbourne, Tennessee, has had patented a
Torpedo-Catcher and a Mine Destroyer.”
“The ‘national safety helmet’ or hood, invented by Garrett A. Morgan of
Cleveland, is reported to have been used by the United States and the
Allies to combat poisonous gases and as a safety device on Submarines.
The ‘Safety Hood and Smoke Protector’ was originally invented for
firemen.
“In addition to seven American patents on this device, Mr. Morgan
holds patents for Canada, England, Germany and other countries.
This invention received a gold medal prize from the American Museum
of safety and the first grand prize at the second Inter-National
Convention of Safety and Sanitation which was held at New York City. In
1914, the Inter-National Fire chief’s Association in session in New
Orleans, voted Mr. Morgan a gold honorary membership badge. ‘The safety
hood’ is manufactured by the Safety Device Company of which Mr. Morgan
is the general manager. As a protection for firemen, it is in use in a
large number of cities.”
“H. C. Webb of Bradentown, Florida, is the inventor of the Webb
Palmetto Grubbing Machine, which removes the stumps from 5 to 10 acres
of land per day.”
C. J. Perry, of Cincinnati, O., has invented a hydro-carbon device
that saves 10 to 20 percent of coal fuel and also consumes 85 percent
of the smoke. This invention is now in use on the Milwaukee Railroad
and in the Metropole Hotel in Chicago, Ill. C. H. Jackson has invented
a diving outfit with which the world record for deep-sea diving has
been broken. Miss Alice H. Parker, of Washington, D.C., has received a
patent on a heating furnace. Wm. Solder, Boston, Mass., has been given
a patent on a cooking stove and water heater combined.
“The largest number of patents received on inventions, by a Negro,
was by Elijah McCoy, of Detroit, Michigan. McCoy obtained his first
patent in July, 1872, and his last one in 1917. During this period
of forty years he invented one thing after another and has some
fifty-eight patents to his credit. His inventions cover a wide range
of subjects, but relate particularly to the lubricating of machinery.
He was a pioneer in the art of steadily supplying oil to machinery in
intermittent drops from a cup so as to avoid the necessity for stopping
the machine to oil it. McCoy’s lubricating cup was famous thirty years
ago as a necessary equipment for all-up-to-date machinery.” (quotations
from Work’s Negro Year Book, 1918-1919 edition, pgs. 5-6-7-8-341-2-3-4)
IN POETRY
THE POETS
As the artists see, so the poets feel
Inspiring powers that make them steal
Away to write some pictured scene
So to help the world to get serene.
--_Harrison._
The first Colored poetess in America to win national and international
fame was Phyllis Wheatley, who was brought from Africa in 1761 and sold
as a slave in Boston, Mass. Finding Phyllis to be an unusually quick
and apt child to learn, her owner spared no pains to give her the best
of education. Her poetry writing began at an early age. She became
so intelligent and self-cultured that the most wealthy and refined
white people of the day entertained her. All the time she was writing
verses of the highest quality. Finally going to Europe her success
was even greater there to such an extent that she appeared before the
Royal Courts of England and received high honors. Her literary works
were reviewed by some of the best scholars in England where much of
her poetry was published in London under the title “Poems on Various
Subjects, Religious and Moral”.
The late Paul Lawrence Dunbar, Negro Poet-Laureate, is considered the
greatest poet the Negro race has produced. Starting as an elevator
boy he struggled through one disappointment after another to get an
education. All that time he was writing poetry and finally after his
works came under the notice of such great white writers as William Dean
Howells and James Whitcomb Riley, the genius of Dunbar and the value of
his writings became world known. He traveled all about giving recitals
of his poetry that took the country by storm. His prose works won just
as much admiration and comment. His writings were based on the American
Negro in and out of slavery and the pen pictures he has drawn are
masterpieces of literature. Chief among his compositions are; “Lyrics
of Lowly Life”, “Lyrics of The Hearthstone,” “Heart of Happy Hollow”,
“Folks From Dixie,” “Oak and Ivy”, “Uncalled”, “Love and Landry” and
“The Sports Of The Gods.”
William Stanley Braithwaite, as editor of “The New Poetry Review” of
Cambridge, author of “The Anthology of Magazine Verse”, editor of “The
Contemporary American Poets Series” and annual reviewer of the poetry
that appears in the leading magazines of America, is recognized as the
leading Colored poet and among the foremost world poets of today. A few
of his works are: “The House of Falling Leaves”, “The Book of Victorian
Verse”, “Life of Lyrics and Love”, “The Book of Georgian Verse”, “The
Book of Elizabethian Verse”, and “The Book of Restoration Verse.” He
was awarded the Spingarn Medal in 1918.
James Weldon Johnson is a poet and writer of first note, and his poem
“The Young Warrior,” that was set to music by Harry T. Burleigh, almost
became the national hymn of Italy during the World War. His poem
“Fifty Years” that appeared in many of the leading white magazines and
newspapers during the first part of 1913, brought forth high comment
from all parts of the country. His poems have appeared in the Century,
the Independent, the Crisis and other publications. He has published
some of his poetry in a book titled “Fifty Years and Other Poems.”
“Mr. Johnson is a young colored poet of America. Some of his verse is
in the cultivated English, some in the broken language of the American
Negro. The latter rings true. They express with singular intensity
the joys and sorrows of a subject race.” The above comment was made
by The London Literary World regarding the poetic abilities of Fenton
Johnson, Chicago, Ill. Aside from receiving high mentions from The New
York World, and Poetry, a magazine of Verse, some of his works were
also included in Braithwaite’s “Anthology of Magazine Verse for 1918”
and “The Chicago Anthology”. One of his recent volumes of poetry that
attracted praiseworthy attention on both sides of the ocean is “A
Little Dreaming.”
While the facts, that short stories of the highest order are constantly
flowing from her pen point (or typewriter) and that she is Literary
Editor of The Crisis, have gained for her the distinction of being a
foremost prose writer among Colored women in America today; Jessie
Redmon Fauset, on account of the numerous outputs and unusual high
quality of her poems, is also recognized as one of the best verse
writers among Colored people on both sides of the ocean.
The father and son poets, Jos. S. Cotter, Sr. and Jr., have produced
verse matter that stands among the best in the country among Colored
writers. Information regarding the works of these composers will be
found else-where in this book. But a praiseworthy mention regarding
Jos. S. Cotter, Jr., who died in his early twenties and for several
years before that had been confined on a bed of affliction, should be
made herein. While other poets have had their health, strength and
vigor to do their work, young Cotter was suffering almost constant pain
in bed while turning out his poetry that came from the depths of his
patient soul, and ring as true as a pure-cast bell.
Georgia Douglas Johnson was born in Atlanta, Ga., was educated in the
public schools and at the Atlanta University after which she took a
course of music at the Oberlin Conservatory. Her first book, “The Heart
of a Woman and Other Poems” with an introduction by William Stanley
Braithwaite, was published by the Cornhill Co. of Boston, Mass.,
three years ago; her second book, “An Autumn Love Cycle,” will be out
shortly. Her third book, “Shadow Song” is entirely different to the
other two, being entirely racial, treated in the over-tone style of
suggestion. This book will appear some months after the “Love Cycle.”
The above quotation is in part an editorial note that appeared in the
May 1921 issue of Music and Poetry. The high standard and amazing
numbers of Mrs. Johnson’s verses that appear in leading magazines are
attracting wide attention and have already placed her in a class among
the leading Colored writers before the public today.
Claude McKay, a poet of international reputation, enjoys the honor
of being one of the first Colored writers to be made an associate
editor on the staff of a white national magazine--The Liberator, which
is published in New York City. Mr. McKay has for several years been
writing poetry for many of the leading magazines in Europe as well as
for Colored and white periodicals in America. His book, “Spring in New
Hampshire and Other Poems” has brought forth high literary comment from
verse critics in both countries.
“Miscellaneous Poems” and “Sketches of Southern Life” are two titles
covering some of the verses produced by the poetess, Frances E. Harper,
who also wrote first quality prose. Jas. E. McGirth wrote “Some Simple
Songs” and other verse matter that has stood the test of the best
critics.
The late J. D. Corrothers gained much distinction as a prose and verse
writer and for several years his poems appeared in some of the leading
white magazines. George R. Margeston’s book of poems “Songs of Life”
has brought forth much favorable comment, and stamped him as a poet who
is fast forging to the front.
All verse critics who regularly read the close-to-nature, true-to-life,
heart-to-heart and cheerful little poems that weekly head the editorial
pages of the Chicago Defender, join in acclaiming Alfred Anderson the
Edgar A. Guest “Sunshine Poet” of the Negro Race. A few of the many
other Colored verse writers whose poems frequently appear in leading
magazines are Carrie C. Clifford, Sergt. Allen R. Griggs, Jr., Thos.
M. Henry, Sarah C. Fernandas, Leslie P. Hill, Roscoe Jamison, Chas.
Bertram Johnson, Winifred Virginia Jordan, Will Sexton and Lucian B.
Watkins, the last named writer being considered among the foremost
writers the race has produced during the past few years.
[Illustration]
AMONG THE ARTISTS
THE ARTIST.
In everything, real artists see
Some good therein God made pretty:
Such finds they gladly then set free
So all can share the new beauty.
--_Harrison._
According to page 331 of the 1918-1919 edition of Work’s Negro Year
Book, “Bannister, E. M., of Providence, Rhode Island, was one of the
first Negroes in America to achieve distinction as a painter. He was
the founder of the Providence Art Club, which is to-day the leading
art organization in Providence. “Its membership, mostly, if not wholly
white, includes many of the leading citizens of the city and state.”
One of Mr. Bannister’s pictures “Under the Oaks” was awarded a medal at
the Centennial Exposition of 1876. The picture became the property of
the Duffe Estate of New York City.”
Henry O. Tanner, born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and now living in Paris,
France, is the greatest artist in the Negro race and among the best
of all races. His early life along artistic lines was one of hard
struggles, constant ambitions, unshaken determinations and final
success, until today his works are known and treasured all over the
world. His most successful paintings are those describing different
incidents that are taught in the Bible. Among his many pictures that
have won fame and fortunes for him are; “The Banjo Lesson”, “Christ
Walking on the Sea”, “The Holy Family”, “Hills Near Jerusalem”, “Christ
at the Home of Lazarus”, “Mary and Elizabeth” and “The Hiding of
Moses.” Mr. Tanner is the son of Bishop B. T. Tanner.
“Mr. William Scott is considered by critics to be one of the foremost
artists in America. He excells alike in the difficulties of portrait
painting and in the cleverness and subtlety of his cartoon work. In
a time when artists are becoming more and more a necessity of modern
life, his ability bids fair to lift him even more to the top of his
profession. Mr. Scott led his class at the Chicago Art Institute.” This
quotation is extracted from the November-December 1920 issue of Fenton
Johnson’s Favorite Magazine.