Celebrate black history year round
Did you know that 1952 Olympic silver medalist and Cornell alumnus Meredith “Flash” Gourdine was also an engineer and physicist with 70 patents dealing with thermal management and the conversion of gas to electricity?
Or that Bessie Coleman, the first African-American woman to earn a pilot’s license, was forced to earn her accreditation from a French flying school because no American flying school would accept her due to her race?
Or that chemist Percy L. Julian was the first African American inducted in the National Academy of Sciences?
Have you ever listened to recordings of jazz greats Dizzy Gillespie, Oscar Peterson, Charlie Parker, Ornette Coleman, John Coltrane or Marian Anderson?
If not, search Cornell University Library’s online catalog to find materials about these African Americans and more. Its collections include books, videos and sound recordings about the lives of notable African Americans and the contributions African Americans have made to American life and study.