Chappelle, Emmett (1925- )

Emmett Chappelle, inventor, was born in Phoenix, Arizona on October 25, 1925.  His scientific research and the fourteen United States patents he received for his inventions make Chapelle's contributions vital to the scientific world.  Much about Chappelle's earlier life cannot be ascertained. He attended the University of California in 1950 and in 1954 received a Bachelor of Science degree.  Remarkably, without graduate training he then worked as an instructor of biochemistry for three years at Meharry Medical College in Nashville.  In 1953 he enrolled at the University of Washington where he pursued advanced degrees.  Chappelle earned a Master's in Science with a focus on biochemistry in 1954 but never completed a Ph.D.  Instead he worked for various companies as a biochemist and during that period received the first of the fourteen U.S patents. 

By 1966 Chappelle was employed at the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) where he was an exobiologist (someone who engaged in the search for extraterrestrial life and the effects of extraterrestrial surroundings on living organisms) and astrochemist (the chemistry of astronomical objects and interstellar space).  In 1977 Chappelle went on to work for the Goddard Space Flight Center where he was a scientific analyst responsible for monitoring remote sensing devices.

Some of his work includes the detection of adenosine triphosphate (ATP) an important compound in all living organisms.  Through the patented method he developed exobiologists are able to more speedily detect bacteria outside the earth's atmosphere.  The presence of bacteria is considered strong evidence for extraterrestrial life.  Chappelle also discovered a method for determining the health of forest vegetation.  His method measures the amount of fluorescence over a forest and monitors the amount of photosynthesis in a selected area.   Chappelle has also produced more than 35 peer-reviewed scientific or technical publications, nearly 50 conference papers, and co-authored or edited numerous publications.

Emmett Chappelle retired in 2001 and is now living with his daughter and son in law in Baltimore, Maryland.

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CLARENCE  PENDLETON, Jr.

November 10

Clarence M. Pendleton

On this date in 1930, Clarence Pendleton, Jr., was born. He was an African-American politician.

Born in Louisville, KY, Clarence McClane Pendleton was raised in Washington D.C., attended Dunbar High School. He received a B.S. from Howard University in 1954, and a masters degree in 1961 while coaching swimming, football, rowing, and baseball.

He served in the medical unit of the U.S. Army for three years. From 1968 to 1972, Pendleton was employed with the Baltimore Model Cities Program, director of the Urban Affairs Department of the National Recreation and Parks Association, and head of the San Diego Model Cities Program and that city's Urban League.

In 1980, his philosophy changed: He began to feel that African American reliance on government programs were trapping them in a cycle of dependence and welfare handouts. Pendleton believed that it was in African Americans' better interest to build strong relations with the expanding private sector and give up the more familiar ties with liberal bureaucrats and philosophies. To this end, he abandoned his self-described "bleeding-heart liberalism."

Pendleton went to work in support of Reagan's bid for the presidency. In 1981, President Reagan appointed him as the first black chairman of the Civil Rights Commission. As its chairman, Pendleton was an outspoken proponent of the Administration's "color-blind" philosophy on civil rights. From the time of his appointment he was at the center of a political storm, opposing busing for racial balance, and opposing affirmative action to achieve desegregation.

Clarence Pendleton died suddenly of a heart attack on June 5, 1988 while exercising at a health club. He was 57.
~~~~~

Charleston, Oscar (1896-1954)

Oscar Charleston was born October 14, 1896, in Indianapolis, Indiana. Growing up as a batboy for the local Indianapolis ABC’s, Charleston was a runaway who joined the Army at age 15. Stationed in the Philippines, Charleston was given the opportunity to play baseball and run track for the Army, where he ran the 220-yard dash in 23 seconds. While there, Charleston was allowed to play in the usually all-white Manila League.

Returning home in 1915, Charleston played for his hometown ABC’s. In one of many public outbursts resulting from his infamously bad temper, Charleston was suspended during his rookie season for arguing with an umpire, and was held on a $1000 bond. The next season, Charleston had a crucial role in the ABC’s Black World Series win over the Chicago American Giants, batting .360 in seven of the ten games.

After short stints with various teams from 1918-1920, Charleston would return to the ABC’s after the forming of the Negro National Leagues. In 1921, Charleston led the League in hitting (.426), triples (10), home runs (14), and stolen bases (28). Often compared to greats like Ty Cobb and Babe Ruth, Charleston dominated the League with his combination of hitting for both power and accuracy, his tremendous speed both in the outfield and while base running, and for his trademark intensity.

A number of brawls are reported to have been started by Charleston, including fights with opponents, teammates, umpires, agents scouting his teams, and even a number of Cuban soldiers. On one occasion, legend has it that Charleston ripped the hood off of a Ku Klux Klan member and dared him to speak.

Charleston’s career spanned over 40 years as a player, coach, and scout, and beginning in 1922 he would even serve as player-manager for several teams. While playing in 53 exhibition games against white Major League teams, Charleston batted .318 with 11 home runs.

The fast-growing group of millionaire private college and university presidents hit a new record in recent years, and it's likely more college leaders will make seven-figure salaries once the slumping economy rebounds.

A record 23 presidents received more than $1 million in total compensation in fiscal 2008, according to an analysis of the most recently available data published Monday by the Chronicle of Higher Education. A record one in four in the study of 419 colleges' mandatory IRS filings made at least $500,000.

Topping the list is Shirley Ann Jackson at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, N.Y., whose total compensation the Chronicle pegged at nearly $1.6 million. She was followed by David Sargent at Suffolk University in Boston, who made $1.5 million. However, one-third of his compensation had been reported as deferred compensation last year and counted as salary this year -- an example of the difficulty of making straightforward compensation comparisons.

Overall, median compensation for the group rose 6.5 percent to $359,000, and 15.5 percent at major private research universities, to $628,000. The figures essentially cover the 2007-2008 academic year.

Those averages have almost certainly flattened or perhaps fallen since then, with numerous presidents -- including Jackson -- taking voluntary pay cuts this year amid widespread budget-cutting at their institutions.

But experts say the upward trend will almost certainly resume eventually. It may frustrate parents who are paying higher tuition, but experts insist the salaries reflect supply and demand.

"The baby boomers are retiring," said Ray Cotton, a Washington D.C.-based lawyer and expert on presidential contracts and compensation. "Boards are in a scramble competing against each other for the remaining available talent."

But the 24-7 nature of the job and the stresses stemming from the recession have made it unappealing to prospective candidates.

"Some people just don't want anything to do with the job because it keeps them up at night," said Chronicle editor Jeffrey Selingo. "In order to attract and retain good talent they're going to have to pay for it. They may take a little break now because of the economy, but these pieces are still in place."

Still, colleges will have to absorb the public relations hit that comes with offering seven-figure compensation to an academic leader. The average price of tuition plus room and board at four-year private colleges surpassed $39,000 last year, according to the latest figures from the College Board.

The Chronicle noted that 58 institutions charged more than $50,000 this year, up from just five last year. A number of those schools pay their presidents more than $1 million, including New York University, Columbia and Vanderbilt.

The Chronicle also identified three former presidents who received compensation of more than $1 million in 2007-2008, topped by retired George Washington University president Stephen Trachtenberg, whose benefits package was valued at $3.67 million. It identified 85 colleges paying at least a former president or other high-ranking official at least $200,000, typically in deferred compensation and bonuses.

"You wonder if these colleges are giving away the store when they sign contracts with employees," said Sen. Charles Grassley, Rep.-Iowa, who has been a longtime critic of pay practices at not-for-profit institutions.

The latest survey does not include presidential salaries at public universities, which have been rising in recent years but are generally lower than at top private institutions. Last year, just one public university president, Ohio State's Gordon Gee, earned more than $1 million.

Nine private college presidents exceeded the $1 million mark in last year's survey of the 2006-2007 data.

Jackson, a physicist and former Clinton administration official, has clashed with Rensselaer faculty and been criticized for spending time away from campus to serve on six corporate boards. But she volunteered this year to return 5 percent of her base salary -- which the Chronicle reported at just more than $1 million in fiscal 2008 -- to be used for student scholarships. All salaries for senior administrators are frozen this year, RPI said.

Jackson received a strong statement of support from the university.

Applications to the school have doubled, research volume has tripled, and $690 million has in new construction and renovations have taken place in Jackson's decade as president, said William N. Walker, Vice President, strategic communications and external relations, in a statement issued by the school. A request to interview Jackson was denied.

"The value she contributes to the Institute far exceeds the amount she is paid," Walker said.

~~~~~

Allen, William G. (1820- ?)

WILLIAM  WELLS  BROWN:

November 6

William W. Brown

William Wells Brown was born on this date in 1814. He was a black antislavery lecturer, a groundbreaking novelist, a playwright, and a historian.

Brown was born on a plantation outside Lexington, KY, to a George Higgins, a white plantation owner and relative of the owner of the plantation where Brown was born, and an African slave mother.

Brown was sold multiple times before he was 20 years old. He spent the majority of his youth in St. Louis. There his masters hired him out to work on the Missouri River, then a major thoroughfare for the slave trade. He made several attempts to escape, and on New Year's Day in 1834, he successfully slipped away from a steamboat at a dock in Cincinnati. Brown moved to Buffalo, N.Y., and spent nine years there working simultaneously as a steam boatman on Lake Erie and as a conductor for the Underground Railroad.

In 1843, Brown began lecturing on his experiences in ending slavery for the Western New York Anti-Slavery Society, one of many American abolitionist groups. Brown eventually also became a lecturer on behalf of women's rights and temperance, but it was as a fugitive slave speaking on the evils of slavery that he was best known.

In 1847, Brown wrote the "Narrative of William W. Brown, a Fugitive Slave," which went through four American and five British editions in its first three years after publication. Between 1849 and 1854, he gave more than a thousand speeches in Europe and America and wrote two books. "Three Years in Europe; or, Places I Have Seen and People I Have Met" and "Clotel, or, the President's Daughter: A Narrative of Slave Life in the United States."

In 1854, some of Brown's friends raised enough money to purchase his freedom, allowing him to return to the United States," became the first drama published by an African-American. As the environment became increasingly dangerous for blacks in the 1850s, he became a proponent of African American emigration to Haiti. Like some other abolitionists, he also decided that more militant acts were necessary to gain progress in their cause.

Over the next two decades, he focused on historical works. These included two histories of the black race, another history on blacks and whites in the American South, and a rare military history of African-Americans in the American Civil War. Brown eventually settled in Boston and practiced medicine there until his death from cancer in Chelsea, MA, 1884.
~~~~~

ABSALOM  JONES:

November 6

Absalom Jones by Raphaelle Peale

On this date, we mark the birth of Absalom Jones in 1746, a black minister and abolitionist.

A house slave from Delaware, Jones taught himself to read out of the New Testament and other books. At the age of 16, he was sold to a store owner in Philadelphia, and he was soon attending a night school for blacks operated by Quakers. In 1766, he married another slave and purchased her freedom with his earnings, buying his own freedom in 1784.

t St. George’s Methodist Episcopal Church, Jones served as lay minister for its black membership. The active evangelism of Jones and that of his friend, Richard Allen, greatly increased black membership at St. George’s. This alarmed the vestry into segregating blacks into an upstairs gallery without notifying them. During a Sunday service when ushers attempted to remove them, the black congregation resentfully walked out as a group.

In 1787, black Christians organized the Free African Society, the first organized Afro-American society, and Absalom Jones and Richard Allen were elected overseers. Members of the Society paid monthly dues for the benefit of those in need. The Society established contact with similar black groups in other cities.

Five years later, the Society began to build a church, which was dedicated on July 17, 1794. The African Church applied for membership in the Episcopal Diocese of Pennsylvania on the following conditions: 1, that they be received as an organized body; 2, that they have control over their local affairs; 3, that Absalom Jones be licensed as a lay reader, and, if qualified, be ordained as minister. In October 1794 it was admitted as St. Thomas African Episcopal Church. Bishop White ordained Jones as deacon in 1795 and as priest on September 21, 1802.

Jones was a deep preacher. He denounced slavery, and warned the oppressors to “clean their hands of slaves.” To him, God was the Father who always acted on “behalf of the oppressed and distressed.” But it was his constant visiting and mild manner that made him beloved by his own congregation and by the community. St. Thomas Church grew to over 500 members during its first year. Known as “the black Bishop of the Episcopal Church,” Jones was an example of persistent faith in God and in the Church as God’s instrument. He died in 1818.

Painting by Raphaelle Peale around 1810.

           MURRAY  V.  PEARSON:

Murray v. Pearson (a.k.a. Murray v. Maryland) was a Maryland Court of Appeals decision which found "the state has undertaken the function of education in the law, but has omitted students of one race from the only adequate provision made for it, and omitted them solely because of their color." On January 15, 1936, the court affirmed the lower court ruling which ordered the university to immediately integrate its student population

Circuit court case

Donald Gaines Murray sought admission to the University of Maryland School of Law on January 24, 1935, but his application was rejected on account of his race. The rejection letter stated, "The University of Maryland does not admit Negro students and your application is accordingly rejected."^[2] The letter noted the university's duty under the Plessy v. Ferguson doctrine of separate but equal to assist him in studying elsewhere, even at a law school located out-of-state. Murray appealed this rejection to the Board of Regents of the university, but was refused admittance.

The Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity initiated Murray v. Pearson on June 25, 1935 and as part of its widening social program, and hired Belford Lawson to litigate the case. By the time the case reached court, Murray was represented by Charles Hamilton Houston and Thurgood Marshall of the Baltimore National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).^[3] Houston and Marshall used Murray v. Pearson as the NAACP's first case to test Nathan Ross Margold's strategy to attack the 'separate but equal' doctrine using the equal protection clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution. Margold concluded "such laws administering such a system were denying equal protection of law under the Yick Wo v. Hopkins ruling of 1886 and therefore were unconstitutional.

At the circuit court hearing, Marshall stated that Maryland failed to provide a 'separate but equal' education for Murray as required by the Fourteenth Amendment (using the legal standard at that time).^[2] Since laws differ from state to state, a law school located in another state state could not prepare a future attorney for a career in Maryland. Marshall argued in principle that "since the State of Maryland had not provided a comparable law school for blacks that Murray should be allowed to attend the white university"^[4] and stated

“

What's at stake here is more than the rights of my client. It's the moral commitment stated in our country's creed.[5]

”

The circuit court judge issued a writ of mandamus ordering Raymond A. Pearson, president of the university, to admit Murray to the law school

Appeal to Maryland Court of Appeals

The ruling was appealed to Maryland's highest court, the Court of Appeals. This court, in a unanimous decision, affirmed the lower court ruling in 1936.^[1] The decision did not outlaw segregation in education throughout Maryland, but noted the state's requirement under the Fourteenth Amendment, as it was understood at that time, to provide substantially an equal treatment in the facilities it provides from public funds. Since Maryland chose to only provide one law school for use by students in the state, that law school had to be available to all races.^[1]

 Impact of the decision

The decision of the Court of Appeals was never taken to the U.S. Supreme Court, and as such the ruling was not binding outside of Maryland; the Supreme Court addressed the same issue in 1938 in Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada. The NAACP's legal stategy of attacking segregation by demanding equal access to public facilities that could not be easily duplicated was followed in later lawsuits with mixed results. In Williams v. Zimmerman,^[6] a case appealed to the Maryland Court of Appeals, Marshall in 1937 failed in an effort to desegregate a high school in Baltimore County, which had no public high schools for black teenagers.^[7] The legal strategy was successful in the desegration of Baltimore Polytechnic Institute in 1952. It was not until 1954 until Brown v. Board of Education mandated desegregation across the whole of the United States.^[8] Brown also overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson 'separate but equal' standard as comporting with the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment as used in Murray.

~~~~~

CHAUNCEY  SPENCER:

November 5

Chauncey Spencer

Chauncey Spencer was born on this date in 1906. He was an African-American pilot and educator.

He was born in Lynchburg, VA, one of three children of Edward Spencer and noted Harlem Renaissance poet Anne Spencer. One of the most respected families in Lynchburg, visitors to the Spencer home included George Washington Carver, Paul Robeson, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, Clarence Muse, Dean Pickens, Adam Clayton Powell, Langston Hughes, Thurgood Marshall, and W.E.B. Dubois.

At the age of 11, he fell in love with flying, but after graduating from college, no aviation school in Virginia would admit him because of his color. Spencer moved to Chicago in 1934 and joined with a group of African American aviators in organizing the National Airmen Association of America (NAAA). Working for $16-a-week as a kitchen helper, he paid $11 an hour for flying lessons.

In May 1939, he and fellow aviator Dale Lawrence White, also an NAAA member, flew a rented Lincoln-Paige biplane with only two flight instruments on a ten-city tour that started in Chicago and ended in Washington, DC. Realizing that war in Europe was imminent, they demonstrated the aviation abilities of Negroes and lobbied Congress to include of people of color in the Civilian Pilot Training Program for the Army Air Corps. Their flight drew national attention and proved that African Americans could fly an airplane, contrary to the beliefs and opinions of most Army Air Corps and government leaders.

They met with Harry Truman and others in Congress, convincing them to support their cause. Later, while employed by the Army, Spencer worked with Judge William H. Hastie for fair treatment of African American air cadets being trained at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama and other air bases during World War II. He encountered considerable resistance from whites as well as blacks as the Civilian Personnel Employee Relations Officer at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio. Despite this, he persisted and made steady progress towards integration of the Air Force. In 1948, Spencer received the Exceptional Civilian Service Award for service during World War II, the highest honor the Air Force could bestow upon a civilian.

In 1953, the United States Air Force referred to his role in the integration of the military as "unique though strangely unsung." However, his refusal to drag his feet on integration created resentment among highly-placed officials who wished to see integration fail. Consequently, in 1953, Spencer was charged with disloyalty and accused of being a Communist. He was relieved of his position and his family suffered great humiliation and economic deprivation. In June 1954 the Air Force cleared him of all charges. Spencer and his family would never fully recover from this ordeal.

Despite ill-treatment, he continued to maintain his belief in the goodness and strength of mankind and America until his death on August 21, 2002.