You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 28th day of Black History Month. As a youngster, the first love of Simmie Knox was baseball. But an eye injury forced him to give up playing for a while, and, at a doctor’s urging, he took up drawing to help him regain the ability to focus. It turned out to be his life’s work. Knox taught art for many years before turning to painting portraits. His work quickly drew praise, and his commissions have included Supreme Court justices, cabinet members, and key sports and entertainment personalities. His biggest commission was to paint the official White House portraits of President Clinton and his wife, Hillary — the first by an African-American artist. There are more than 225,000 artists in the U.S., just over 2½ percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 596
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 27th day of Black History Month. Watching fire fighters struggle to unload heavy ladders to reach fires as buildings grew increasingly taller led one man to an invention that has saved many lives. He was African-American inventor Joseph Winters, who patented a folding ladder mounted directly on fire wagons in 1878 for the city of Chambersburg, Pennsylvania. His invention allowed firemen to quickly and easily reach upper floors to rescue trapped people and spray water where it was needed. Winters’ invention proved itself in a big fire in Baltimore in 1904 that burned many businesses and homes. In the U.S. today, there are 253,000 firefighters, 10 percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 596
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 26th day of Black History Month. Mabel Keaton Staupers was born in Barbados in the West Indies in 1890 and immigrated to Washington, D.C., with her parents at the age of 13. Upon graduating from nursing school, she began a life-long struggle to break down color barriers in health care and especially the nursing profession. Her most notable achievement came during World War II, when she successfully led the movement to gain full integration of black nurses into the armed forces. For this effort, Mabel Staupers was inducted into the Nursing Hall of Fame in 1996. There are more than 2.5 million registered nurses in the U.S., 10 percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 596
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 25th day of Black History Month. While everyone knows that Jackie Robinson broke the color barrier in Major League Baseball in 1947, it is largely forgotten that the groundwork for that event was laid more than 40 years earlier. In 1903, the Ohio Wesleyan baseball team played an away game against Notre Dame. The team’s catcher was a young African-American, Charles Thomas. When he was denied lodging at the team’s hotel in South Bend, Indiana, the Ohio Wesleyan baseball coach, Branch Rickey, had Thomas share his room. Years later, Rickey said the painful segregation incident was his inspiration to sign Jackie Robinson with the Brooklyn Dodgers. Today, African-Americans are part of all Major League Baseball teams, which draw over 80 million fans each year to their games. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1205
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 24th day of Black History Month. Willa Brown was the first African-American woman to earn a commercial pilot’s license. Her love of flying was such that when she started taking flying lessons, she bought her own airplane. She received her pilot’s license in 1938, along with a master’s degree from Northwestern University. The next year, Willa Brown started her own flying school, training some 200 African-American pilots through 1945. Some of these pilots later became part of the Tuskegee Airmen, the famous African-American fighter squadron in World War II. Today, nearly 600,000 Americans hold pilots’ licenses, some 36,000 of them women. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: National Air and Space Museum
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1042
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 23rd day of Black History Month. On the list of those who have been awarded the nation’s highest honor is Milton Olive III, a slightly built young man from the South Side of Chicago. PFC Olive was a member the Army’s 173rd Airborne Brigade fighting in Vietnam. As he and four fellow soldiers were pursuing the enemy through the jungle, a grenade suddenly landed in their midst. Olive saved the lives of his fellow soldiers by throwing himself on top of the grenade, his body absorbing its full blast. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for this extraordinary heroism by President Johnson. Recent figures show the U.S. Army today has just over 500,000 men and women serving on active duty. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 494
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 22nd day of Black History Month. Renee Powell grew up with golf. Her father, William, developed the Clearview golf course in Canton, Ohio, after being denied admission to existing courses. Clearview was the first course designed, constructed, owned and operated by an African-American, and is now on the national register of historic places. Powell’s daughter Renee began competing as a golfer at age 12, and became one of only three African- American women to play on the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour. Noted for her work to bring youngsters into the game, she received the First Lady of Golf award from the Professional Golfers Association. There are just under 16,000 golf courses across the nation. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1203
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 21st day of Black History Month. When Johnny Mack Brown’s sharecropper father died, he and his brothers decided to finish college and go into business to take care of their mother, who had raised 12 children. Turned down for a small business loan, Brown saw an opportunity in a failing Chicago store, and became the first African-American dealer for a well known brand of tires. A few years later, Brown bought the store and built the business into a very successful operation. Now, there are multiple locations of the Brown Tire Corporation in Chicago, Atlanta and Cleveland. African-Americans own nearly 1.2 million businesses, and they generate close to $90 billion in revenue annually. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 20th day of Black History Month. This year marks the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the North Pole. Most credit for the accomplishment was given to Robert Peary. His co-explorer, African-American Matthew Henson, was a key element in the expedition’s success, learning the Inuit language and cold weather survival techniques, as well as handling the sled dogs and breaking the trail. Henson belatedly gained wide recognition for his role, including honors from Congress and two presidents. His 1912 book, “A Negro Explorer at the North Pole,” was recently republished and will be among the $60 billion worth of books expected to be sold this year. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1097
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 19th day of Black History Month. As president of Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, Ruth Simmons is the first African-American to lead an Ivy League school. Daughter of a sharecropper, Simmons earned her Ph.D. at Harvard, became a dean at Princeton, and then president of Smith College. She was selected as president of Brown in 2001, and has been named by Time magazine as the best college president in the nation, and was rated by Newsweek as its Woman of the Year. Surveys show she is highly regarded by the student body at Brown. About one-in-five African-American adults have at least a bachelor’s degree and 1.2 million hold advanced degrees. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 18th day of Black History Month. The first radio station owned and operated by African-Americans went on the air 60 years ago — WERD in Atlanta, owned by Jesse Blayton Sr. and featuring popular black DJ Jack Gibson. A radio news network aimed at African-Americans was the National Black Network, started in 1973, now known as the American Urban Radio Networks. Today’s radio dial is fragmented according to the format of stations listeners prefer. The most popular format is country music, closely followed by stations appealing to African-Americans, known in the industry as urban radio. There are just over 11,000 radio stations across the nation, about 60 percent broadcasting on FM. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Radio Hall of Fame
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1090
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 17th day of Black History Month. Thurgood Marshall, the first African- American to sit on the U.S. Supreme Court, was born in 1908 in Baltimore, where the international airport now bears his name. As an attorney, he argued 32 cases before the Supreme Court, winning 29 of them. His greatest victory came in the landmark 1954 Brown vs. Board of Education decision, which ended segregation in the school systems of 21 states. Marshall was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1967 and served for 24 years before retiring in 1991, building a record of strong support for individual rights. Today, there are more than a million lawyers in the U.S., nearly 5 percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 596
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 16th day of Black History Month. One of the earliest African-American singing stars made her first recording on this date in 1923. Bessie Smith’s “Down Hearted Blues” sold 800,000 copies and started her on the road to fame. From shellac records to downloading songs from the Internet, black female singers have given pleasure to generations of Americans. The names include Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald in jazz, Mahalia Jackson and Odetta in gospel and folk, and Marian Anderson and Leontyne Price in classical music. Today, stars such as Mary J. Blige and Beyonce continue the tradition. We spend nearly $10.5 billion on sound recordings each year — with digital downloads moving up quickly among popular formats. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1102
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 15th day of Black History Month. Daisy Bates is best remembered as the mentor of the Little Rock Nine during the high school desegregation crisis in the Arkansas city in 1957. While the situation unfolded into one of national scope, the students gathered at her home for advice on how to handle the dramatic events. Her impact was such that there is now an elementary school in Little Rock named for her, as well as a street, and she is honored as part of the state holiday for Washington’s birthday each February. In 1957, just under 24 percent of African-American adults had completed high school. Today, that figure is 82 percent. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 380
Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 14th day of Black History Month. When Maurice Ashley was 14, he was soundly beaten in a pickup game of chess. He picked up a paperback book on the game, intending to learn a trick or two. Instead, he was stunned by the beauty and complexity of chess. Since then, he has focused his life on the game. Along the way to becoming a national master, he discovered another love — coaching youngsters to play the game. Ten years ago, Maurice Ashley reached his goal of becoming an international grand master — one of only 900 in the world and the first African-American to achieve the distinction. More than 7 million Americans enjoy the intellectual challenge of chess, nearly 650,000 of them playing at least twice a week. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1200
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 13th day of Black History Month. Lorraine Hansberry — the first African-American woman to have a play produced on Broadway — was greatly influenced by her realtor father. His landmark suit to overturn restrictive covenants that barred blacks from white neighborhoods in Chicago was successfully argued before the Supreme Court in 1940. Hansberry tried college, and worked for a while for a magazine, but quit to work full time as a playwright. The result was “A Raisin in the Sun,” which opened on Broadway in 1959. The play won the New York Drama Critics’ Circle Award, making Hansberry the youngest American and the first black to receive the prestigious award. Nearly 40 new productions open on Broadway each year, drawing an audience of 12 million people. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1194
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 12th day of Black History Month. One of the nation’s major civil rights organizations is 100 years old today — the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, much better known as the NAACP. The group has worked to combat lynching and the segregation of public facilities and transportation. One of its most telling moments came with the 1954 Supreme Court ruling in Brown vs. Board of Education, which desegregated the nation’s schools. The lawyer who argued that case, Thurgood Marshall, became the first African-American Supreme Court justice. When the NAACP was founded, there were 9.8 million African- Americans in the U.S. Today, that number is nearly 41 million. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 126
Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 17 (1910)
Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 11th day of Black History Month. Wilma Rudolph’s story is hard to believe. As a child, she had many illnesses, including polio and could not walk without braces until the age of 12. Just a few years later, in the 1960 Olympics in Rome, she earned the title of the “World’s Fastest Woman,” winning gold medals for the 100 and 200 meter dash, and anchoring the 400-meter relay. After retiring as a runner, Rudolph worked for a youth foundation in Chicago to develop girls’ track and field teams. In 1974, she was inducted into the U.S. National Track and Field Hall of Fame. Across the U.S., nearly 445,000 high school girls take part in track and field. Over 21,000 continue the sport in college. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1208, 1220
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the 10th day of Black History Month. Even with the recent disturbing developments in the housing and mortgage industries, the American dream is still defined by many as owning your own home. Across the U.S., just shy of 69 percent of householders own their homes, a rate that has been growing slowly over the years. Among the 50 states, the highest percentage of home ownership is in West Virginia, at more than 77 percent, while the lowest rate is in New York, at less than 56 percent. Nationally, 46 percent of African-Americans live in their own homes. In Mississippi, the rate is almost 60 percent. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 951
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html
Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the ninth day of Black History Month. One of the pioneers who moved West in 1844 was an African-American named George Washington Bush. His hope was to escape the discrimination of Missouri, but when he arrived in the Oregon territory, he found things were the same. So he moved north across the Columbia River into the British-controlled area in search of good land — into what is now the state of Washington. The success of his settlement drew other Americans and some historians say their presence was a factor that strengthened the successful U.S. claim to the area. In 1850, the area that is now Washington state had a population of 1,000. Now, the state is home to nearly 6.5 million people about 215,000 of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Historical Statistics of the United States: Colonial Times to 1970, p. 36
U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder
http://factfinder.census.gov/home/saff/main.html?_lang=en

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the eighth day of Black History Month. When noted opera singers in the world are discussed, the name Leontyne Price is sure to come up. For years, she sang in the great opera houses of the world but got her start as a child singing in her church choir. She first came to public notice in 1957, with the San Francisco Opera. She became one of the most popular sopranos in the country, and in appearances around the world. In 1961, she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, where she went on to become one of the company’s leading sopranos. Among her many honors are 15 Grammy Awards and the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In the U.S. today, there are 110 opera companies, and their performances are seen by more than 5 million people a year. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1194
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the seventh day of Black History Month. Recent comparisons show a rise in median income for African-American households of just over $1,000 in one year. Figures for 2007 — the most up-to-date available, show these households earned just shy of $34,000 annually. Another positive sign was that the percentage of African-Americans who did not have health insurance dropped by a full percentage point to 19½ percent. However, the poverty rate for blacks remained at 24½ percent. The official poverty threshold for a family of four was $21,203. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html
U.S. Census Bureau, Press Release CB08-129
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/income_wealth/012528.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the sixth day of Black History Month. The surviving pilots and ground crewmen of the noted Tuskegee Airmen were invited guests at President Obama’s inauguration last month — and movie industry buzz is that George Lucas is working on a movie about the African-American squadron, to be called “Red Tails.” The pioneering unit fought in North Africa, Sicily and Europe as the 332nd Fighter Group. They shot down more than 100 German aircraft and were awarded two distinguished unit citations, as well as many individual medals. Among the nation’s nearly 24 million veterans, 2.4 million are African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 182
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 502
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html
Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the fifth day of Black History Month. Many homes have a hide-a-bed to accommodate extra visitors. Those guests have Sarah Goode to thank for their comfort. Goode lived in Chicago, where she started a furniture store. Noting that many apartment dwellers had little space for beds, she invented a bed that folded up into a cabinet, which then served as a desk. The idea was so popular that she applied for a patent — and in 1885, Sarah Goode received the first patent ever granted to an African-American woman. Each year in the U.S., nearly 183,000 patents are granted. Less than 14,000 of them go to individuals, the rest are granted to U.S. and foreign corporations. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Souces: Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 748
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the fourth day of Black History Month. Paul Williams was orphaned at the age of 4 and no one paid much attention to the child’s artistic talent. But he earned his engineering degree, and against all advice, opened his own architecture practice. His talent made him one of the nation’s premier architects, designing the Los Angeles International Airport, the General Hospital in Los Angeles and the Beverly Hills Hotel. Williams also designed more than 2,000 homes in Southern California, including some of the most beautiful in Hollywood. His clients included Cary Grant, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Frank Sinatra and Desi Arnaz. There are 240,000 architects in the U.S. today, just over 4 percent of them African-American. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 596
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the third day of Black History Month. A coach in the National Football League has to earn the respect of his players and fashion a winning team while operating under pressure from the fans, the media and the club owner. One man who has accomplished this balancing act is Tony Dungy, who retired in January after seven seasons with the Indianapolis Colts, and won Super Bowl 41 against Chicago. A star college quarterback at Minnesota, Dungy was the NFL’s youngest assistant coach at the age of 25 in Pittsburgh, then went to Tampa Bay as head coach. The Colts are one of 32 teams in the NFL, whose games are witnessed by more than 22 million fans each year. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 1204
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the second day of Black History Month. Phyllis Wheatley was brought to Colonial America as a young slave from Senegal and was purchased by a Boston tailor. Unusual for the time, he allowed her to learn to read and write, and she wrote her first poetry at age 14. The first volume of her work, called “Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral,” was published in England when she was 20, and was well received in Europe and the U.S. General George Washington invited her to visit his headquarters after he read a poem she had written about him in 1776. Today, African-American authors, such as Toni Morrison, are a key part of the projected $60 billion worth of books to be sold in the U.S. this year. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 110
Statistical Abstract of the United States 2009, t. 197
http://www.census.gov/compendia/statab/2009edition.html
Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html

You may Listen or download this story in .mp3 format. or as a .wav file

Profile America for the first day of Black History Month. This is a time to recall and honor the many positive contributions to our nation made by people of African descent. Started as a special week 83 years ago by historian Carter G. Woodson, the observance is now a full month of activities across the country. African-Americans are approaching 41 million in the U.S., about 13½ percent of the total population. They are the largest minority group in 24 states. Among the states, the largest number of blacks — 3.5 million — live in New York, followed by Florida and Texas. Mississippi is the state with the highest proportion of African-Americans — 38 percent. This special edition of Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.

Sources: Chase's Calendar of Events 2009, p. 110
Census Bureau, Facts for Features, CB09-FF.01
http://www.census.gov/Press-Release/www/releases/archives/facts_for_features_special_editions/013007.html