-
Bessie Coleman was born into poverty and picked cotton to help support her family. As WWI ended, her dream was to fly, but every flying school turned her down because of her gender and race.More >> African-Americans have contributed to American society in every walk of life, and one purpose of Black History Month is to call attention to some of those who may have escaped notice. Here are 10 brief biographies from the Profile America series produced by the U.S. Census Bureau.More >> Zora Neale Hurston was one of the great talents of the Harlem Renaissance - but had to work as a manicurist to support herself.More >> A century ago, bread bought at stores was hand-made, a time intensive process. That changed when a baker from Boston, Joseph Lee, invented the automatic bread-making machine.More >> Thousands of Americans owe their lives to the inventions of Garrett Morgan. The son of former slaves, Morgan invented the gas mask.More >>
-
Bakari Sellers is just 25, but he's already made it into the history books. In 2006, at the tender age of 22, Sellers was elected to the South Carolina General Assembly.More >>
From the U.S. Census Bureau
Zora Neale Hurston was one of the great talents of the Harlem Renaissance - but had to work as a manicurist to support herself.
Even though she went to Howard University and was an accomplished author and anthropologist, she could not make a living from her writings. Her works include short stories, novels, anthropological folklore, an autobiography and at least one play.
Hurston died in a welfare home in 1960 and is buried in an unmarked grave. However, the power of her imagery and the richness of the culture which come to life in her works, have found her enthusiastic new audiences in recent years.
Today, there are 122-thousand people who make their living as authors -- 5 percent of them African American.
This profile is adapted from Profile America, a radio series produced by the U.S. Census Bureau in 2004.
