Celebrating Black History D1 • FEBRUARY 20 - 26, 2025 • ST. LOUIS AMERICAN Black history is being made each day throughout the St. Louis region by accomplished African Americans in the Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics fields. During Black History Month, the St. Louis American will be featuring individuals who are following the historic paths of great Black scientists, engineers, and educators and also paving a way for others with STEM interests who are destined for future accomplishments
Show Me STEM
Photo by Kenya Vaughn
Kirstan Riddle of the Missouri History Museum at a station devoted to Homer G. Phillips Hospital that paid tribute to the late Dr. James Whittico Jr. during their Black Missourians in STEM program on Saturday, Feb. 15. made a life filled with invention and become famous.” Black Missourians hediscovery. As she talked, an old black and white He filed three patents for flying image of a young boy perched on a conmachines – one of them took off verticaltraption with a man smiling off in the celebrated for ly with specs that resemble a helicopter, distance was displayed on a projector which was yet to be developed at the time screen. Turns out the man in the image their contributions of his patent. was McWhorter. The boy was sitting on He was one of many names an audione of his flying machines. ence in the grand hall of the Missouri “They didn’t become famous, but they to the field History Museum learned about during the lived every day with curiosity and invenBy Kenya Vaughn The St. Louis American Anyone who passed John McWhorter on a St. Louis street in 1914 would not have assumed him to be an aviation pioneer. He earned a living as a postal worker. But just like his father before him,
Black Missourians in STEM presentation held Saturday morning. Missouri History Museum K-12 Programs Manager Maria Russell started with McWhorter for a reason. “There are some amazing and really famous Black scientists, architects and engineers that we want to remember,” Russell said. “But there are also some people we want to remember who didn’t
tion,” Russell said. “And spent their time learning and creating and discovering science, technology, engineering and math.” As an icebreaker, Russell asked the audience to take one minute and think of as many names of Black scientists that they possibly could. When the minute elapsed, she asked how many could name one. Hands shot up like rockets. She asked for three, about
Buzzing with Black History
Saturday story time honored Sumner educator and pioneering entomologist
See STEM, D2
2025 BLACK HISTORY MONTH EVENTS CALENDAR Thurs., Feb. 20, 5 p.m., Thursday Nights at the Museum series by Washington University presents Black History Month: Joy, Arts, Community featuring 5 On Your Side Anchors Kelly Jackson and Brent Solomon in conversation about Black joy and the arts in the Gateway city with some of St. Louis’s groundbreaking leaders in dance, visual art, music, and writing. Missouri History Museum, 5700 Lindell Blvd. St, Louis, MO 63112. For more information, visit https://mohistory.org.
By Kenya Vaughn The St. Louis American As she heard the book being read about Charles Henry Turner, six-yearold Isla Smith’s eyes were as wide as her adorable afro puffs. With each new bit of information revealed in “Buzzing with Questions: The Inquisitive Mind of Charles Henry Turner,” her excitement became more palpable. She was oblivious to the toddlers scooting around her as Dr. Naomi Msengi of Washington University turned the pages and read more about Turner’s life. For this week, the reading for the recurring story time segment at The Missouri History Museum reflected the theme of the full-day Black Missourians in STEM program that was underway on Saturday, February 15. The first Black to receive a graduate degree from the University of Cincinnati and among the first to earn a PhD from the University of Chicago, Turner was also the first Black entomologist. He was a pioneer in the field thanks to his experiments to determine the cognitive abilities of arthropods, such as spiders
half the hands went up in the room. One woman beamed with pride as she looked around and saw that her hand was the only one up when Russell called for five names. When Russell got to ten, everyone’s palms were facing the floor. “There is a table back there with 28 Black Missourians involved in STEM,” Russell said. “If you could walk away remembering three people that you didn’t already know, I think that would be really cool.” The talk was a fascinating roll call of Blacks from across the entire state – including the St. Louis region. Their contributions live on, even if their names have been forgotten. There was WPT Jones. He was born
Thurs., Feb. 20, 5:30 p.m., St. Louis Public Library Black History Month Film Series, “Fences,” Auditorium, St. Louis Public Library – Central Branch, 1301 Olive St. For more information, visit www.slpl.org. Photo by Kenya Vaughn
Six-year-old Isla Smith peered through a microscope at cicadas following Saturday morning story time on February 15 at The Missouri History Museum.
and bees. He also examined different individuals within a species. His groundbreaking work was a precursor to the study of animal personality. And most of his experiments took place right here in St. Louis – where he spent most of his career as a science teacher at Sumner High School. “It was the first Black high school built west of the Mississippi,” the pro-
gram facilitator told the children. “He taught science there – and his students helped him do experiments.” Before Dr. Msengi read the book, the woman gave them a brief history lesson about him in a manner that was digestible for their young minds. “He loved bugs – and I love bugs See Museum, D3
Thurs., Feb. 20, 6 p.m. Histories Unbound: A Roundtable Discussion on Slavery In St. Louis Exhibit, St. Louis Public Library – Schlafly Branch, 225 N. Euclid. For more information, visit www.slpl.org. Thurs., Feb. 20, 7 p.m., St. Louis County Library welcomes Orvin Kimbrough, author of “Twice Over a Man: A Fierce Memoir of an Orphan Boy Who Doggedly Determined a Finer Life,” St. Louis County Library – Clark Family Branch, 1640 St. Lindbergh. For more information, visit www.slcl.org. See Calendar, D2