Posts Archives - Page 4 of 4 - Ridgefield Allies

Today in “Hidden” History is a daily listing of important but little-known events illustrating the range of innovators, contributors, or incidents excluded from formal history lessons or common knowledge. Hidden history is intended not as an exhaustive review, but merely as an illustration of how popular narratives "hide" many matters of fundamental importance. Bookmark this page and check daily to quickly expand your knowledge. Suggest entries for Today in “Hidden” History by clicking the Contact Us link. Entries for August 14:

Date	Type	Event
1883		Dr. Ernest E. Just, one of the first African Americans to receive worldwide recognition as a scientist, primarily for his recognition of the fundamental role of the cell surface in the development of organisms, is born in Charleston, South Carolina. In 1896, Just was sent to attend the high school of the Colored Normal Industrial, Agricultural & Mechanical College (later named South Carolina State University). Believing that he would receive a superior education by attending a college preparatory school in the North, Just enrolled in Kimball Union Academy in New Hampshire in 1900. Although he was Kimball Union’s only black student, Just recalled being in a warm and welcoming environment where he excelled in social activities and academics. After graduation from Kimball Union, Just entered Dartmouth College in 1903. In contrast to his experience at Kimball Union, Just felt alone and socially isolated at Dartmouth. Nonetheless, he graduated magna cum laude in biology with a minor in history in 1907. He was also elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Just accepted a position at Howard University as an instructor of rhetoric and English. In 1910, he joined the Department of Biology and was appointed professor in 1912. Just worked for many years at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts. At the laboratory, Just realized that a doctorate in the sciences was key to his success, and he began a program of self-study at the University of Chicago. He earned a doctorate in zoology in 1916. Unable to find work at any major American university because of his race, Just continued his research in Naples, Italy and subsequently became the first American to be invited to conduct research at the Kaiser Wilhelm Institute in Berlin, Germany. Just published fifty scientific papers and two influential books, Basic Methods for Experiments on Eggs of Marine Mammals (1922) and Biology of the Cell Surface (1939). Learn more.
1894		Ada Beatrice Queen Victoria Louise Virginia Smith, better known as "Bricktop", is born in Alderson, West Virginia, the youngest of four children by a Black father and a mixed-race Black mother, who had been born into slavery two years before the Emancipation Proclamation. Smith was an American dancer, jazz singer, vaudevillian, and self-described saloon-keeper who owned the nightclub Chez Bricktop in Paris from 1924 to 1961, as well as clubs in Mexico City and Rome. She has been called "one of the most legendary and enduring figures of twentieth-century American cultural history". Learn more.
1908		A mob of white citizens gathered at the local jail in Springfield, Illinois, intent on lynching two Black men. When the mob learned that the men had been taken from the jail to another city, a violent riot broke out. The mob attacked police and militia stationed at the jail, destroyed the business of Henry Loper, a man rumored to have helped transport the prisoners from the jail, and then descended on homes and businesses in Springfield’s Black neighborhoods, stealing close to $150,000 worth of property and setting fire to whole blocks. The next day, white terrorists lynch two Black men. After Scott Burton tried to defend himself against the attackers, he was shot four times, dragged through the streets, then hanged and mutilated until the militia interceded. William Donegan, an 84-year-old Black man married to a white woman, was taken from his home and hanged from a tree across the street, where his assailants cut his throat and stabbed him. Mr. Donegan was still alive when the militia arrived at the scene but died the next morning. Police arrested 150 people suspected of participating in the violence and 117 were indicted. Of the three individuals indicted for murder, one committed suicide and two were acquitted. Learn more.
1914		Biophysics pioneer, education advocate, and activist Dr. Herman Branson is born in Pocahontas, Virginia. After a primary and elementary education, Branson attended Virginia College (now Virginia State University). After receiving a Bachelor of Science degree in 1936, Branson enrolled in the University of Cincinnati where he studied physics. In 1939, he received a Ph.D. and started a career in academia. From 1942 to 1943 he served as Assistant Professor of Physics and Chemistry at Howard University. Simultaneously, Branson also served as the Director of the Experimental Science and Mathematics Technology (ESMWT) Program in Physics. In 1944, Dr. Branson became a tenured professor of Physics and was named Chairman of the Physics Department of Howard University. He would serve, nearly uninterrupted, in this capacity from 1941 to 1968. In 1948, Branson entered into partnership with Linus Pauling at the California Institute of Technology, focusing on the structure of proteins. Branson pioneered the use of mathematics to determine possible helical structures that would fit the x-ray data, as well as chemical restrictions that had been outlined by Pauling. Branson narrowed the possible structures of two helices. The two coils were named Alpha and Gamma. Pauling initially dismissed Branson’s work, saying that the shape of Branson’s coil was impossible. Later, however, Pauling published the data in his own name, giving Herman Branson minor credit for his original research. In the initial press release from Caltech University, announcing the discovery of the Alpha Helix, Herman Branson’s name is excluded. When Linus Pauling received a Nobel Prize for his contribution to Chemistry in 1954, Branson was not credited for his contribution. After working with Pauling, Branson returned to his position at Howard University as a full professor of Physics and Chairman of the Physics Department. He stayed at Howard University for 27 years, teaching and directing. In 1968, he served briefly as the President of Central State University in Ohio. In 1970, Branson assumed the position of President at Lincoln University of Pennsylvania where he served until his retirement in 1985. Dr. Branson published more than one hundred articles in his lifetime on topics including physics, biology, science education, and the importance of Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Learn more.