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  1. The Foundation
  2. THE TORCH
  3. Black History Month

Black History Month

By Riley Dominianni

This February, the Foundation celebrates Black History Month by honoring outstanding achievements in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) by Black Americans. Here are the inspiring stories of Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark, José Celso Barbosa, and Bessie Coleman, and their incredible contributions as leaders in the fields of psychology, public health, and aviation.

Visit our Ellis Island Passenger Search database to find the passenger manifests for these and other African American trailblazers.

Kenneth (1914-2005) and Mamie Phipps Clark (1917-1983)

Kenneth and Mamie Phipps Clark were a married pair of psychologists who, through their famous “Doll Study,” contributed greatly to our understanding of the impact of racial segregation on young Black children. Their findings were instrumental in the landmark Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court case, providing crucial evidence of the psychological harm caused by segregation.

Both of Afro-Caribbean descent, Kenneth and Mamie were, respectively, the first and second African Americans to receive PhDs in psychology from Columbia University. Kenneth was born in Panama and immigrated to the United States at five years old with his grandmother. Mamie was born in Arkansas to a father from Saint Kitts, then a part of the British West Indies.

Kenneth and his grandmother travelled aboard the SS Siboney in 1920 (Passenger ID 100227120104).

Mamie’s father arrived on the SS Etruria in 1904 (Passenger ID 102559110413).

José Celso Barbosa (1857-1921)

Every July 27, Puerto Rico celebrates the birthday of José Celso Barbosa, a trailblazer in politics and medicine. Most well-known as a senator and father of the Puerto Rican statehood movement, Barbosa started his career as a physician and sociologist who made many contributions to public health.

Born in the city of Bayamón, Barbosa immigrated to the United States at the age of 19 to study law. After a bout with pneumonia, he switched to medicine and became the first Puerto Rican and one of the first people of African descent to earn a medical degree in the United States. He returned home to provide medical care all over Puerto Rico and treated soldiers wounded during the Spanish-American War as a member of the Red Cross. Notably, he is credited with introducing the idea that employers should provide financial coverage for the future healthcare needs of their employees, a notion that would become the basis of the health insurance system.

Jose Celso Barbosa arrived in 1876 aboard the Charles A Hoard (Passenger ID: 9012208415775).

Bessie Coleman (1892-1926)

On June 15, 1921, Texas native Bessie Coleman achieved an incredible feat as the first Black woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license.

Coleman, born in Texas in 1892, discovered her passion for aviation while working as a manicurist at a Chicago barber shop. Fascinated by stories of aerial warfare from pilots returning home from World War I, she began saving money to one day attend flight school. At the time, American programs did not admit female nor Black students, so Coleman studied abroad and made history at the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale in France. Upon her return to the states, Coleman became a media sensation known as “Queen Bess” and “Brave Bessie” for participating in dangerous and thrilling air shows. She passed away at the age of 34 after a fatal accident during a practice flight.

Bessie Coleman came back to the United States from France in September of 1921 aboard the SS Manchuria (Passenger ID 105432120226).