Lessons in Black History: February 28, 2015

Captain Ronald Radcliffe won the Distinguished Service Cross and the Silver Cross for his heroic service in the army during the Vietnam War. Part of the 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade, Radcliffe was awarded the Silver Cross on February 20, 1972 and the Distinguished Service Cross on April 28, 1972.

Captain Ronald A. Radcliffe was serving as Pilot of a Light Observation Scout helicopter with Troop F, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade, during a rescue mission in Viet Nam on February 20th, 1972. Radcliffe received a call for assistance when another scout helicopter from his Troop was shot down in the notoriously dangerous mushroom area near the Cu Chi, Republic of Vietnam. Captain Radcliffe began making low-level passes to mark the crash site with smoke grenades. He immediately began receiving machinegun and small arms fire, sustaining several hits in the aircraft. When his helicopter developed a severe vibration, he was forced to break station to check out his aircraft for damages.

Ascertaining that the helicopter was still flyable, Captain Radcliffe ordered his two crew members to stay behind. He immediately took off and continued to mark the crash site so ARVN recondos could be inserted to secure the area. After this was completed Radcliffe landed his own helicopter in the landing zone to extract the sole survivor of the crash. At the same time, he vectored a utility helicopter into the landing zone to extract the bodies of the two dead crew members. During the whole sequence of events, Captain Radcliffe flew through the heavily defended area approximately forty to fifty times, remaining under fire approximately 80% of the time. His crew killed an estimated ten to twelve enemy, knocked out a machinegun position, and his aircraft sustained twenty-nine hits.

Captain Ronald A. Radcliffe's courage, dogged determination and skilled expertise as a pilot proved to be the domineering force during the rescue efforts. Captain Radcliffe's extraordinary heroism and devotion to duty were in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service. Captain Radcliffe was given the distinguished Silver Star for his brave actions.

Only a few months later, on April 28th 1972, Captain Ronald A Radcliffe showed his heroism in Viet Nam and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his valiant efforts. Still a pilot of a Light Observation Scout helicopter with Troop F, 4th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Aviation Brigade, in the Republic of Vietnam, Captain Radcliffe faced hostile fire from the enemy. Almost immediately upon take off from Quang Tri City, Captain Radcliffe's helicopter began to receive sporadic enemy automatic small arms fire that was to last throughout the mission. Because the North Vietnamese Army units dispersed themselves among large groups of fleeing civilians, much of the hostile fire could not be returned for fear of injuring civilians.

Despite being unable to return the enemy fire, Captain Ronald Radcliffe volunteered to continue the mission. Observing tank tracks which led into a village, from which both gunships in Captain Radcliffe's flight were receiving automatic small arms fire, he followed the tracks into the village and discovered one Russian amphibious tank camouflaged with palm trees. He skillfully maneuvered his helicopter to a position where his door gunner could mark it with a smoke grenade.

Gunships rolled in and destroyed the enemy tank with heat rockets. Returning to the tank for a damage assessment, Captain Ronald Radcliffe observed a second tank. Immediately turning his attention to the new target, he maneuvered his aircraft so that his crew chief could drop one white phosphorus grenade into the open hatch and one next to the outside of the tank. The interior of the enemy tank burst into flames completely destroying it.

The second gunship in the flight began to take hits from intense ground fire. After radioing a distress call the gunship burst into flames, became inverted and crashed. With complete disregard for his own safety Captain Radcliffe flew to where the gunship had crashed. Arriving at the crash site, he noticed that while the pilot was dead and trapped inside the burning aircraft, the aircraft commander had been thrown clear and appeared to be alive.

Despite receiving small arms fire from a wood line approximately twenty-five meters distant, Captain Ronald Radcliffe landed only twenty feet from the gunship. Noticing that his crew chief was having trouble carrying the critically wounded aircraft commander through the knee-deep mud, he hovered his aircraft to within ten feet of the burning aircraft and its exploding ordnance. At this point the heat was so intense it burned the hair on Captain Radcliffe's face. After his crew chief and the mortally wounded gunship aircraft commander were on board, Captain Ronald Radcliffe directed his crew chief in applying first aid in an effort to save the life of his comrade, while evacuating him to an aid station in Quang Tri.

Other awards and honors given to Captain Ronald A Radcliffe include six Distinguished Flying Crosses, 4 Purple Hearts, 2 bronze Stars, 2 Army Commendation Medals, 1 Air Metal with “V” device, 58 Air Medals for flying over 1900 hours of combat assault flight time in Vietnam, 2 Vietnamese Crosses of Gallantry one with palm, The Vietnam Service Medal, The Vietnam Campaign Medal, and The Chicago Medal of Merit from Mayor Daley in 1972.

Top Financial Aid Tips: Tip 6 - Use Loans as a Last Resort

Unfortunately there are tons of scholarships that go unclaimed each year. Most of which are unclaimed because no one ever applies for them so before seeking out loans to pay for college consider researching scholarships and applying for as many as possible to help with your education or that of your child. 

If student loans are unavoidable, opt for subsidized loans when you can. The federal government pays the interest on such loans while you’re in school and during the grace period before repayment begins. For details, turn to theU.S. Department of Education’s Federal Student Aid Information Center, Nellie Mae and SallieMae. You also could consider applying for a loan through MyRichUncle.com. The entrepreneurs who started this Web site look beyond credit histories only and do a “holistic” examination of students’ grade-point averages, programs of study and test scores when deciding how to farm out loans.

See our previous blog on scholarships for more information by clicking here.

Lessons in Black History: February 27, 2015

The 761st Tank Battalion

The 761st Tank Battalion was the last of the three United States Army segregated combat tank battalion during World War II. The unit was made up of African Americans soldiers, who by Federal law were not permitted to serve alongside white troops. They were known as the “Black Panthers” and their unit's motto was “Come out fighting."

The Black Panther Tank Battalion was attached to the XII Corps' 26th Infantry Division, assigned to Gen. George S. Patton Jr.'s Third Army, an army already racing eastward across France. As a result of their great fighting abilities the 761st Tank Battalion spearheaded a number of Patton's moves into enemy territory. They forced a hole in the Siegfried Line, allowing Patton's 4th Armored Division to pour through into Germany. They Black Panthers fought in France, Belgium, and Germany, and were among the first American forces to link up with the Soviet Army (Ukrainians) at the River Steyr in Austria.

The most famous member of the 761st was Second Lieutenant Jack Robinson. During the 761st's training, a white bus driver told Robinson to move to the back of the bus, and Robinson refused. Although his battalion commander, Lieutenant Colonel Paul L. Bates, refused to consider the court-martial charges put forward by the arresting Military Policemen, the base commander transferred Robinson to the 758th Tank Battalion, whose commander was willing to sign the insubordination court-martial consent. Robinson would eventually be acquitted of all charges, though he never saw combat. He became famous a few months later when he was instrumental in the desegregation of professional baseball.

In March 1941, 98 black enlisted men reported to Fort Knox, Ky., from Fort Custer, Michigan for armored warfare training with the 758th Tank Battalion (light). The pioneer black tankers trained in light tank operations, mechanics and related phases of mechanized warfare, as enlisted men from other Army units joined their ranks.

The 758th trained on the M-5 light tank, which carried a crew of four. Powered by twin Cadillac engines, it could reach a maximum speed of 40 mph and had an open-road cruising range of 172 miles. It was armed with a .30 caliber machine gun mounted to fire along the same axis as the tank's main armament, a 37mm cannon. When the tracer bullets from the .30 caliber registered on a target, the cannon would be fired, hopefully scoring a direct hit. The M-5 was also armed with two more .30-caliber machine guns, one on the turret and one in the bow. The light tank was employed to provide fire support, mobility and crew protection in screening and reconnaissance missions.

The 5th Tank Group, commanded by Colonel LeRoy Nichols, was to be made up of black enlisted personnel and white officers. With the 758th Tank Battalion in place, two more tank battalions were needed to complete the 5th Tank Group.

On March 15, 1942, the War Department activated the 761st Tank Battalion (light) at Camp Claiborne, La., with a strength of 36 officers and 593 enlisted men. On September 15, 1943, the 761st Battalion moved to Camp Hood, Texas, for advanced training; there they changed from light to medium tanks.

General Ben Lear, Commander of the U.S. Second Army, rated the unit "superior" after a special review and deemed the unit "combat ready". After a brief deployment to England, the 761st landed in France via Omaha Beach on October 10, 1944. The unit, comprised of six white officers, thirty black officers, and 676 black enlisted men, was assigned to General George Patton's US Third Army at his request, attached to the 26th Infantry Division.

The tankers received a welcome from the Third Army commander, Lt. Gen. George S. Patton, Jr., who had observed the 761st conducting training maneuvers in the States: 'Men, you're the first Negro tankers to ever fight in the American Army. I would never have asked for you if you weren't good. I have nothing but the best in my Army. I don't care what color you are as long as you go up there and kill those Kraut sons of bitches. Everyone has their eyes on you and is expecting great things from you. Most of all your race is looking forward to you. Don't let them down and damn you, don't let me down!'


The 761st's mission was to take the German strong hold in the town of Tillet. Every other American unit assigned to take the town had been beaten back. Tanks, artillery, and infantry inside the Ardennes Forest had assaulted Tillet and all had failed to take it. The operations of the 761st in the Bulge split the enemy lines at three points--the Houffalize*Bastogne road, the St. Vith*Bastogne highway, and the St. Vith*Trier road--preventing the resupply of German forces encircling American troops at Bastogne. After a week of steady fighting against entrenched SS troops, the 761st took Tillet and drove the Germans out in full retreat.

Later, as the armored spearhead for the 103rd Infantry Division, the 761st took part in assaults that resulted in the breech of the Siegfried Line. From March 20 to 23, 1945, operating far in advance of friendly artillery and in the face of vicious German resistance, elements of the 761st attacked and destroyed multiple defensive positions along the Siegfried Line. The 761st captured seven German towns, more than 400 vehicles, 80 heavy weapons, 200 horses and thousands of small arms. During that three-day period, the battalion inflicted more than 4,000 casualties on the German army. It was later determined that the 761st had fought against elements of 14 German divisions.
The strength of the 761st Tank Battalion was proven during 183 days of continual fighting, including action in the Battle of the Bulge. Staff Sergeant Ruben Rivers posthumously received the Congressional Medal of Honor for his extraordinary heroism in action. Warren G. H. Crecy received a battlefield commission and a recommendation for the Medal of Honor while earning his reputation as the "Baddest Man" in the 761st. Eventually, after delays caused by the deep racial prejudices of the time, the unit was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation by President Jimmy Carter.

Top Financial Aid Tips: Tip 5 - You Must Complete the Form

There are so many parents who avoid the FAFSA for as long as possible because of what they remember as a complex form. Gone are the days of a long drawn out paper application (although they still have one) now you can complete the application in 3-5 days

According to the Federal Financial Aid Website:

To apply for federal student aid, you must complete and submit the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA).

By completing and submitting a FAFSA, you will automatically be considered for federal student aid. In addition, your state and college may use your FAFSA information to determine your eligibility for nonfederal aid.

Completing the FAFSA is an easy process, and it’s completely free. We recommend that you submit your FAFSA online using FAFSA on the Web, as your application will process within 3-5 days; alternatively, you can submit a paper FAFSA, which processes within 7-10 days.

For help with filling out the FAFSA, you can go to http://studentaid.ed.gov/resources#free-application-for.

Lessons in Black History: February 26, 2015

A slave who became a successful plantation owner, Blanche Kelso Bruce was the second African American to serve in the United States Senate and the first to be elected to a full term.

Blanche Bruce was born near Farmville, Virginia, on March 1, 1841. His mother, Polly Bruce, was a slave, and his father, Pettus Perkinson, was his mother’s owner and the son-in-law of her deceased former owner, Lemuel Bruce. Bruce’s first name was originally “Branch,” but he changed it to “Blanche” as a teenager. For unexplained reasons, he later adopted the middle name “Kelso.” One of 11 children, Blanche Bruce was a personal servant to his half brother William Perkinson. Even though he was a slave, Bruce was accorded a status nearly equal to the Perkinson children’s. Described by contemporaries as an eager learner, he studied with William’s private tutor.

Bruce escaped slavery at the opening of the Civil War and attempted to enlist in the Union Army. After the military refused his application, he taught school, briefly attended Oberlin College, and worked as a steamboat porter on the Mississippi River.

In 1864 Blanche Bruce settled in Hannibal, Missouri, and organized the state's first school for blacks. Five years later he moved to Mississippi where he entered local politics and established himself as a prosperous landowner. In quick succession he was appointed registrar of voters in Tallahatchie County, tax assessor of Bolivar County, elected sheriff and tax collector of Bolivar where he also served as supervisor of education. On a trip to the state capital of Jackson in 1870, Bruce gained the attention of powerful white Republicans who dominated Mississippi's Reconstruction government.

In February 1874, Bruce was elected by the state legislature to the Senate as a Republican. In the Senate, Blanche Bruce was a member of the committees on Pensions, Manufactures, and Education and Labor. He chaired the Committee on River Improvements and the Select Committee to Investigate the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. He supported desegregation of the army, protection of African American voting rights, and more humane treatment of Native Americans. Bruce encouraged increasing the disposition of western land grants to African Americans. On February 14, 1879, Bruce presided over the U.S. Senate becoming the first African-American (and the only former slave) to do so.

Blanche Bruce’s privileged background often alienated him from his poorer constituents. He and his wife, Josephine Beall Wilson of Ohio,the first black teacher in the Cleveland public schools and the daughter of a prominent mulatto dentist, whom he married on June 24, 1878, became fixtures in Washington, DC, high society.

Blanche Bruce worked devotedly to gain rights for African Americans. After leaving the Senate, he was appointed registrar of the U.S. Treasury by President James Garfield. At the Republican convention of 1888, Bruce received 11 votes for vice president. He was appointed recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia and later was a member of the board of trustees of Howard University.

In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed Blanche Bruce recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia; however, he left that office in 1893 after receiving an honorary LL.D. and joining the board of trustees at Howard University. Bruce returned to the Treasury post in 1897 after being considered for a Cabinet position in President William McKinley’s administration. He continued to reside in Washington until he succumbed to a kidney ailment due to complications from diabetes on March 17, 1898.

Top Financial Aid Tips: Tip 4 - Special Circumstances

Sometimes in life special circumstances arise that may change your families EFC which will change the amount of financial aid your child receives. Say for instance prior to your child entering school you are laid off from your job. If this happens then your income changes so your EFC will  decrease. Don't be ashamed make sure that the financial aid office of the school your child will attend knows of any special circumstances that could affect their aid.

Lessons in Black History: February 25, 2015

States Diplomat, a key member of the United Nations for more than two decades, and winner of the 1950 Nobel Prize for Peace for his successful negotiation of an Arab-Israeli truce in Palestine the previous year.

Ralph Johnson Bunche was born in Detroit August 7, 1903. His father, Fred Bunche, was a barber in a shop having a clientele of whites only; his mother, Olive (Johnson) Bunche, was an amateur musician. When he was a child, the family moved to Toledo, Ohio then in 1915, Albuquerque, New Mexico in an effort to improve his parents' health. His mother died in 1916 and his father three months later. Bunche and his sister, Grace, went to live in Los Angeles with their maternal grandmother, Lucy Taylor Johnson. Ralph Bunche worked to help the family's hard pressed finances by selling newspapers, serving as house boy for a movie actor, working for a carpet-laying firm, and doing what odd jobs he could find.

A good student, Ralph Bunche was the valedictorian of his graduating class at Jefferson High School in Los Angeles, where he had been a debater and all-around athlete competing in football, basketball, baseball, and track. An athlete scholarship paved the way for Bunche to attend UCLA, where he played varsity basketball on championship teams, and was active in debate and campus journalism. Ralph Bunche graduated in 1927, summa cum laude, valedictorian of his class, with a major in international relations.

With another scholarship in hand, he moved on to Harvard, where he began his graduate studies in political science. He completed his master's degree in 1928 and for the next six years alternated between teaching at Howard University and working toward the doctorate at Harvard. Ralph Bunche was the first African American to gain a PhD in political science from an American university. From 1936 to 1938, Ralph Bunche conducted postdoctoral research in anthropology at London School of Economics, and later at the University of Cape Town in South Africa.

In 1936, Bunche authored a pamphlet entitled A World View of Race. In it, Bunche wrote: "And so class will some day supplant race in world affairs. Race war will then be merely a side-show to the gigantic class war which will be waged in the big tent we call the world." From 1936 to 1940, Bunche served as contributing editor of the journalScience and Society: A Marxian Quarterly.

During World War II Ralph Bunche served in the U.S. War Department, the Office of Strategic Services, and the State Department. He was active in the preliminary planning for the United Nations at the San Francisco Conference of 1945, and in 1947 he joined the permanent UN Secretariat in New York as director of the new Trusteeship Department.

Ralph Bunche was asked by Secretary General Trygve Lie to aid a UN special committee appointed to negotiate a settlement between warring Palestinian Arabs and Jews, In 1948, he traveled to the Middle East as the chief aide to Sweden's Count Folke Bernadotte, who had been appointed by the UN to mediate the conflict. These men chose the island of Rhodes for their base and working headquarters. In September 1948, Bernadotte was assassinated in Jerusalem by members of the underground Jewish group Lehi.

Following the assassination, Dr. Bunche became the UN's chief mediator. The representative for Israel was Moshe Dayan who reported in memoirs that much of his delicate negotiation with Ralph Bunche was conducted over a billiard table while the two were shooting pool. Optimistically, Dr. Bunche commissioned a local potter to create unique memorial plates bearing the name of each negotiator. When the agreement was signed, Dr. Bunche awarded these gifts. After unwrapping his, Moshe Dayan asked Ralph Bunche what might have happened if no agreement had been reached. "I'd have broken the plates over your damn heads", Bunche answered.

For achieving the 1949 Armistice Agreements, Dr. Bunche received the Nobel Peace Prize in 1950. Bunche returned home to a hero's welcome. New York gave him a ticker tape parade up Broadway, and Los Angeles declared a "Ralph Bunche Day ". He was besieged with requests to lecture, was awarded the Spingarn Prize by the NAACP in 1949, and was awarded over thirty honorary degrees in the next three years.

Ralph Bunche continued to work for the United Nations, mediating in other strife-torn regions, including the Congo, Yemen, Kashmir, and Cyprus. He rose to the position of undersecretary-general in 1968.

Despite having won the Nobel Prize, Bunche continued to struggle against racism across the United States and in his own neighborhood. In 1959, he and his son, Ralph, Jr., were denied membership in the West Side Tennis Club in the Forest Hills neighborhood of Queens. After a great deal of publicity, the club offered an apology and invitation of membership and the official who initially rebuffed the Bunches resigned. Bunche refused the offer saying it was not based on racial equality and was only an exception based on his personal prestige.

Ralph Bunche was an active and vocal supporter of the civil rights movement, and participated in the 1963 March on Washington, where Martin Luther King gave his "I Have a Dream" speech, and also in the famous Selma to Montgomery, Alabama march that led to the passage of the landmark Voting Rights Act of 1965.

Throughout his career, Ralph Bunche has maintained strong ties with education. He chaired the Department of Political Science at Howard University from 1928 until 1950; taught at Harvard University from 1950 to 1952; served as a member of the New York City Board of Education, as a member of the Board of Overseers of Harvard University, as a member of the Board of the Institute of International Education, and as a trustee of Oberlin College, Lincoln University, and New Lincoln School.

Ralph Bunche was passionate in his belief that conflicts could be resolved through negotiation, without resorting to the use of force. He dedicated more than twenty years of his life to achieving the goal of international peace. Dr. Bunche worked tirelessly to resolve seemingly intractable conflicts in such varied places as Palestine, Yemen, Kashmir, Cyprus, Suez, the Congo, and Bahrain. In many cases, his negotiations prevented the outbreak of hostilities and as such did not make headlines.

Top Financial Aid Tips: Tip 3 - Know Your EFC

Prior to signing up for Financial Aid it is important to know what your EFC - Expected Family Contribution is. According to the Federal Financial Aid website The Expected Family Contribution (EFC) is a measure of your family’s financial strength and is calculated according to a formula established by law. Your family’s taxed and untaxed income, assets, and benefits (such as unemployment or Social Security) are all considered in the formula. Also considered are your family size and the number of family members who will attend college during the year.

The information you report on your Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) or your FAFSA4caster is used to calculate your EFC. Schools use the EFC to determine your federal student aid eligibility and financial aid award.

Your EFC is not the amount of money your family will have to pay for college nor is it the amount of federal student aid you will receive. It is a number used by your school to calculate the amount of federal student aid you are eligible to receive.

Some family's EFC is overwhelmingly high and some family's EFC is as low as $0.

You can find free EFC calculators on the following site:
https://bigfuture.collegeboard.org/pay-for-college/paying-your-share/expected-family-contribution-calculator 

Lessons in Black History: February 24, 2015

One of the most gifted editors and critics of the Harlem Renaissance, Wallace Thurman, though an initial supporter of the flourishing African American art scene of the 1920s, became one of its most virulent critics. Arriving in New York in 1925, during the second phase of the Harlem Renaissance, he helped launch two short-lived periodicals dedicated to black artists and wrote three novels and several plays. The leading bohemian figure of Harlem's literary circle, Thurman envisioned an African American literary movement owing itself, not to the patronage of elitist black intellectuals and white

Thurman was born on August 16, 1902, in Salt Lake City, Utah, to Beulah and Oscar Thurman. His father moved to California not long after the birth, leaving Thurman in the care of his mother. Though raised by Beulah, Thurman developed a loving bond to ‘Ma Jack’ (Emma Jackson), his maternal grandmother. A sickly child, Thurman spent many hours of his youth reading a wide variety of literature and watching Saturday matinee films which inspired him to write his own Hollywood scenarios.

In 1919, Wallace Henry Thurman enrolled at the University of Utah in Salt Lake City. After a couple of years there, he transferred to the University of Southern California. Although initially interested in medicine, at USC Thurman rediscovered an earlier enthusiasm for writing and literature.

Without finishing his education, Thurman turned his attention to writing the column Inklings for a black Los Angeles newspaper, and founding the short-lived magazine Outlet, a publication intended to initiate a literary movement on the West coast like that of New York City's Harlem Renaissance. In the early 1920s Thurman divided his time between journalistic endeavors and working as a part time postal clerk.

Unable to organize a literary group in California, Thurman moved to Harlem and arrived there on Labor Day in 1925, during the peak of the Harlem Renaissance. Thurman sought work at the New York Customs House, but instead found employment as an elevator operator a few blocks from Harlem. Despite his interest in pursuing a writing career, he gained notoriety as a talented editor who could read several lines of copy at once. In New York City he worked as a reporter and editor for the magazine, The Looking Glass, published by noted Harlem theater critic Theophilus Lewis.

The following year he became the editor of The Messenger, a socialist journal aimed at blacks. While at The Messenger, Thurman became the first to publish the adult-themed stories of Langston Hughes. Thurman left the journal in October 1926 to become the editor of a white-owned magazine called World Tomorrow. The following month, he collaborated in publishing the literary magazine Fire!! Devoted to the Younger Negro Artists, among whose contributors were Hughes, Zora Neale Hurston, Richard Bruce Nugent, Aaron Douglas, and Gwendolyn B. Bennett.

Only one issue of Fire!! was ever published. Fire!! challenged the ideas of W. E. B. Du Bois and many of the African American bourgeoisie, who, in their search for social equality and racial integration, believed that black art should serve as propaganda for those ends. The New Negro movement needed to show white Americans that blacks were not inferior.

But Thurman and others of the "Niggerati" (the deliberately ironic name Thurman used for the young African American artists and intellectuals of the Harlem Renaissance) wanted to show the real lives of African Americans, both the good and the bad. Thurman believed that black artists should be more objective in their writings and not so self-conscious that they failed to acknowledge and celebrate the arduous conditions of African American lives. As Singh and Scott put it, "Thurman's Harlem Renaissance is, thus, staunch and revolutionary in its commitment to individuality and critical objectivity: the black writer need not pander to the aesthetic preferences of the black middle class, nor should he or she write for an easy and patronizing white approval."

During this time, Thurman's rooming house apartment at 267 West 136th Street in Harlem became the main place where the African-American literary avant-garde and visual artists of the Harlem Renaissance met and socialized. Thurman and Hurston mockingly called the room "Niggerati Manor", in reference to all of the black literati who showed up there. The walls of Niggerati Manor were painted red and black, colors to be emulated on the cover of Fire!! Nugent painted murals on the walls, some of which contained homoerotic content.

In 1928, Thurman published another magazine called Harlem: a Forum of Negro Life, whose contributors included Alain Locke, George Schuyler, and Alice Dunbar-Nelson. The publication lasted for only two issues. Afterwards, Thurman became a reader for a major New York publishing company, the first African American ever in such a position.

On February 20, 1929, Thurman’s play, Harlem: A Melodrama of Negro Life in Harlem,(originally titled Black Belt) opened at the Apollo Theatre, and eventually completed a successful run on Broadway. Loosely based on Thurman’s short story “Cordelia the Crude,”Harlem was written in collaboration with Thurman’s white associate and lifelong friend, William Jourdan Rapp. Harlem centered on the experiences of a migrant family who, coming to New York with bright hopes of a better life, discover further hardship in adjusting to city life and the problems of unemployment.

In March of 1929 Thurman’s first novel, Blacker the Berry, was published. The novel, which he dedicated to his grandmother Emma Jackson was one of the earliest American novels which dealt with the subject of interracial prejudice.

Three years later Thurman published Infants of the Spring, a satire of the themes and the individuals of the Harlem Renaissance. He co-authored The Interne, a final novel with A.L. Furman, published in 1932.

Top Financial Aid Tips: Tip 2 - Start Early

One of the biggest mistakes we make is we worry about ACT's and SAT's, admission requirements, graduation and fail to concern ourselves with Financial Aid. So our first tip is to start early. Most parents think that they should wait until they have filed their taxes to apply for financial aid but most schools will tell you to file as early as January using your taxes from the previous year and then updating your information if necessary once you have filed your taxes. So we suggest that you start early. If you have not started your paperwork keep an eye out on our Facebook page www.facebook.com/nashvillelearn for an online seminar on Financial Aid 101 next month.


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Lessons in Black History: February 23, 2015

Gwendolyn Bennett, writer and artist, played an active role in the African-American arts Community for over twenty years. As an artist and teacher, she nurtured and fostered the talents of young African-American artists. Although Bennett never published her own volume of poetry, she was also one of the most revered poets of her era. Gwendolyn Bennett gave of herself to the Harlem community and helped energize the Harlem Renaissance. 

Gwendolyn Bennett was born to Joshua and Maime Bennett on July 8, 1902 in Giddings, Texas. They lived in Nevada on an Indian Reservation the first four or five years of her life. They then moved to Washington D.C.. Her parents divorced shortly after the move. Gwendolyn's father kidnapped her when she was seven. They didn't stay in any one place for very long, but didn't stray outside Pennsylvania.

Bennett did well in school. She was an honors student in high school. She attended Pratt Institute, as well as taking classes at Columbia University. She was working towards a career in the fine arts. Her studies at both of these institutions led to work as a graphic artist in 1925. She also worked at Howard University where she taught fine arts.

Bennett was an early participant in Harlem literary circles. In the early 1920s she studied fine art Pratt Institute and took writing classes at Columbia University. She served as an evening volunteer at Harlem’s 135th Street Library, helping to arrange poetry readings, book discussions, and other cultural events. In fact it was Bennett, along with her librarian friend Regina Anderson, who gave Charles Johnson the idea for the Civic Club dinner.

During her undergraduate education, Bennett’s poem “Nocturne” was published in Crisis in November, 1923, and in December of the same year, her poem “Heritage” was included in Opportunity, a magazine published by the National Urban League. In 1925, Bennett continued her fine arts education at Academic Julian and Ecole du Pantheon in Paris. During her studies there, Bennett worked with a variety of mediums, including watercolor, oil, woodcuts, pen and ink, and batik. This was the beginning of her development as a graphic artist. However, most of her pieces from this period were destroyed in 1926 in a fire at her stepmother’s home.

During 1923 to 1931, Gwendolyn Bennett started a support group that provided a warm, supportive place for the young writers of Harlem that provided sustained association with their peers. Included in this group were Langston Hughes, Countee Cullen, Eric Walrond, Helene Johnson, Wallace Thurman, Richard Bruce Nugent, Aaron Douglas, Alta Douglass, Rudolph Fisher and Zora Neale Hurston. The group was designed to motivate these young writers to support and encourage each other and were also, in turn, encouraged to aspire to the levels of more established scholars such as Charles S. Johnson, Alain Locke, W. E. B. Du Bois, Jessie Fauset, and James Weldon Johnson. Bennett said in a 1979 interview that, "nothing like this particular life in which you saw the same group of people over and over again. You were always glad to see them. You always had an exciting time when you were with them." This Harlem circle that Gwendolyn developed helped her sustain her steady connection with the Renaissance in New York throughout a period of her life.

Gwendolyn Bennett moved farther away from Harlem when she married Dr. AlBert Joseph Jackson in 1927 and moved to Eustis, Florida. Jackson died in 1936 and Bennett moved back to New York. In 1940, Bennett became involved in an interracial marriage with Richard Crosscup which was not socially acceptable at Bennett's time. Harlem was Bennett's passion however and during the late 1930s and the 1940s she remained in the arts and also served as a member of the Harlem Artists Guild in 1935. The Harlem Community Arts Center was under her leadership from 1939 to 1944. During this time, Bennett was also active on the board of the Negro Playwright's Guild and involved with the development of the George Washington Carver Community School.

Gwendolyn Bennett faded from the public eye during the late-1940s but she remained close to the hub of busy Harlem in New York and her fellow writers. She began working for the Consumers Union during the later years of her life. Her retirement occurred in 1968 and moved with her husband, Crosscup, to Kutztown, Pennsylvania where they opened an antique shop. Her husband died in 1980, due to heart failure, and Bennett died on May 30, 1981 at the Reading County Hospital.

Top Financial Aid Tips: Understand What Financial Aid Is

According to the Federal Financial Aid Website:

To apply for federal student aid, such as federal grants, work-study, and loans, you need to complete the Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA). Completing and submitting the FAFSA is free and easier than ever, and it gives you access to the largest source of financial aid to pay for college or career school.

In addition, many states and colleges use your FAFSA information to determine your eligibility for state and school aid, and some private financial aid providers may use your FAFSA information to determine whether you qualify for their aid.

To be eligible to receive federal student aid, you must:

• Be a citizen or eligible noncitizen of the United States.
• Have a valid Social Security Number. (Students from the Republic of the Marshall Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, and the Republic of Palau are exempt from this requirement.)
• Have a high school diploma or a General Education Development (GED) certificate, or have completed homeschooling. If you don’t, you may still be eligible for federal student aid if you were enrolled in college or career school prior to July 1, 2012. Go to http://studentaid.ed.gov/eligibility/basic-criteria for additional information.
• Be enrolled in an eligible program as a regular student seeking a degree or certificate.
• Maintain satisfactory academic progress.
• Not owe a refund on a federal student grant or be in default on a federal student loan.
• Register (or already be registered) with the Selective Service System, if you are a male and not currently on active duty in the U.S. Armed Forces. (Students from the Federated States of Micronesia, the Republic of the Marshall Islands and the Republic of Palau are exempt from registering; see www.sss.gov for more information.)
• Not have a conviction for the possession or sale of illegal drugs for an offense that occurred while you were receiving federal student aid (such as grants, work-study, or loans). If you have such a conviction, you must complete the Student Aid Eligibility Worksheet to determine if you are eligible for aid or partially eligible for aid.

Many types of federal student aid, such as the Federal Pell Grant or subsidized loans where the government pays the interest while you are in college, also require you to have financial need. Additionally, once you have a bachelor’s degree or a first professional degree, you are generally not eligible for Pell or Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG).

The U.S. Department of Education awards about $150 billion every year to help millions of students pay for college. This federal student aid is awarded in the form of grants, work-study funds, and low-interest loans.

Grants are typically awarded on the basis of need and generally do not have to be repaid. There are four types of federal student grants:

• Federal Pell Grants are usually awarded to undergraduate students who have not yet earned a bachelor’s degree. (In some cases, students enrolled in postbaccalaureate teacher certification programs may receive Federal Pell Grants.) The maximum Federal Pell Grant award for the 2015-2016 award year is $5,550; however, the actual award depends on the student’s financial need, the college’s cost of attendance, the student’s enrollment status, and the length of the academic year in which the student is enrolled. Students can receive the Federal Pell Grant for up to the equivalent of 12 semesters.
• Federal Supplemental Educational Opportunity Grants (FSEOG) are awarded to undergraduate students with exceptional financial need. The amount of the award is determined by the college’s financial aid office, and depends on the student’s financial need and the availability of funds at the college.
• Teacher Education Assistance for College and Higher Education (TEACH) Grants are awarded to students who intend to teach in a public or private elementary or secondary school that serves students from low-income families. If the service requirement is not fulfilled, it could turn into a loan.
• Iraq and Afghanistan Service Grants are awarded to students whose parents or guardians were members of the Armed Forces and died as a result of performing military service in Iraq or Afghanistan after Sept. 11, 2001. To qualify, a student must have been under 24 years of age or enrolled in college at the time of the parent’s or guardian’s death.

The Federal Work-Study Program enables students to earn money during the school year while also gaining valuable work experience, typically in part-time, career-related jobs.

Loans consist of money that the student borrows to help pay for college, and must be repaid (plus interest). There are two federal student loan programs:

• The Federal Perkins Loan Program is a campus-based program that provides low-interest loans to undergraduate and graduate students. The amount of the award depends on the student’s financial need, the amount of other aid the student receives, and the availability of funds at his/her college.
• The William D. Ford Federal Direct Loan Program enables students and parents to borrow money at low interest rates directly from the federal government. The Direct Loan Program includes Direct Stafford Loans, which are available to undergraduate and graduate students, and Direct PLUS Loans, which are available to parents of dependent students and to graduate and professional-degree students. A Direct Stafford Loan might be subsidized or unsubsidized. Direct PLUS Loans are always unsubsidized. Subsidized loans are based on financial need and are available only to undergraduate students. The federal government pays the interest on subsidized loans while the borrower is in college and during deferment. Unsubsidized loans are based on the student's education costs and other aid received. The borrower must pay all accrued interest on unsubsidized loans.

Other forms of financial aid that might be available to students include:

• State government aid. For more information, contact the state’s higher education agency. You can find the state agency’s contact information athttp://wdcrobcolp01.e d.gov/Programs/EROD/org_list.cfm?category_cd=SHE.
• Aid from the college. Students should contact the financial aid offices at the colleges they are considering for more information.
• Scholarships. Some states, local governments, colleges, community organizations, private employers, and other organizations award scholarships based on academic ability or other factors. For more information, visit StudentAid.gov.
• Tax credits for education expenses. For more information about theAmerican Opportunity Tax Credit and Lifetime Learning Tax Credit, visithttp://studentaid.ed.gov/types/tax-benefits.
• Aid for the military. For more information, visithttp://studentaid.ed.gov/types/grants-scholarships/military.

Lessons in Black History: February 22, 2015

Jefferson Franklin Long

Georgia's first African American congressman and the first African American to speak on the floor of the U.S. House of Representatives, Jefferson Franklin Long was born into slavery on March 3, 1836, in Alabama to a slave mother and a white father. By the 1840 U.S. census he was listed as a slave in the household of James C. Loyd, a tailor with modest land holdings in Knoxville, in Crawford County, Georgia. During the 1850s the Loyd family moved from Knoxville to Macon, taking Long with them. Not long after their arrival they sold Long to Edwin Saulsbury, a prominent businessman.

Long had taken well to the tailor trade and was soon set up in a shop by his new owner. The slave trade was alive and well in Macon, and Long had a front-row seat—his shop was across the street from the slave auction block. Fortunately for him, the shop was also next door to the local newspaper. When Long was not employed mending or sewing, he was beseeching the typesetters at the newspaper to set copy, an activity he observed closely as he taught himself to read and write. By 1860 Long had married Lucinda Carhart and had started a family.

By the end of the Civil War (1861-65), Long was a flourishing member of society. He was established in his own shop and was an active member of the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME) of Macon, headed by Henry McNeal Turner. Under Turner's influence Long made his first political appearance at a meeting of the Georgia Educational Association in 1867. Long may also have had a hand in the establishment of Georgia's Freedman's Savings Bank, a project led by Turner and established through the AME Church.

Long became a prominent member of the Republican Party in 1867 and was appointed as one of the party's key speakers and political organizers. He traveled throughout Georgia and much of the South, praising the passage of the Congressional Reconstruction Act of 1867 and urging former slaves to register to vote. Partially as a result of his efforts, thirty-seven African Americans were elected to the Georgia constitutional convention of 1867 and thirty-two to the state legislature, among them Turner.

In December 1870 Long became Georgia's first African American congressman when he was elected to fill a vacancy in the 41st Congress. He served from December 22, 1870, until the end of the session on March 3, 1871. The vacancy resulted when Congress refused to seat the Georgia representatives who were elected in 1869. They were rejected because they were eligible to serve in the 40th Congress but not in the 41st (elections were held to fill seats for both), and the situation left Georgia without representation in Congress from March 1869 until December 1870. Long spent much of his free time working to better the living conditions of his fellow man by organizing conventions that advocated public education, higher wages, and better terms for tenant farmers, or sharecroppers. He helped organize the Union Brotherhood Lodge, a black mutual aid society, in Macon. His advocacy as well as his public-speaking ability had made him a natural congressional candidate in the eyes of his party.

During his term in Congress Long made history yet again when, on February 1, 1871, he became the first African American to speak on the floor of the House of Representatives. An amnesty bill that would modify the oath required of former Confederates who sought public office had passed the Senate and was to be voted on by the House. Opposed to the measure, Long asked the assembly, "Do we, then, really propose here to-day, when the country is not ready for it, . . . when loyal men dare not carry the 'stars and stripes' through our streets, for if they do they will be turned out of employment, to relieve from political disability the very men who have committed these Ku Klux outrages?" Nonetheless, the bill passed later that day by a vote of 118 to 90.

As Reconstruction ended and the freedoms he had fought so hard for began to dwindle, Long became disenchanted with the political system. He never again held public office. He remained loyal to the radical wing of the Republican Party and served as a delegate to the national conventions through 1880, but the party was divided. The Bourbon Democrats had reclaimed the South, and Long began to realize that the only way to regain any of the ground blacks had lost was to organize an independent African American voting block. In 1880 Long put his theory into practice and supported Governor Alfred H. Colquitt, a member of the Bourbon Triumvirate, in his reelection campaign. With the support of the black Republican vote, Colquitt defeated his Democratic opponent, Thomas Norwood. White Democrats were split between Colquitt and Norwood, and white Republicans supported Norwood. (The Republican Party had failed to offer its own candidate.) Thus, Long successfully demonstrated that the black vote could be significant when whites were divided.

By 1884, however, African Americans had lost nearly all their power in the Republican Party and were no longer influential in state politics. Disillusioned, Long retreated from politics. He lived out the rest of his life as a private citizen, operating several businesses, including the first dry-cleaning establishment in Macon. He was not a rich man, but he owned property and managed to educate all six of his children. What free time he had was spent in his library, book in hand. Long died from influenza on February 4, 1901, and was buried in Macon's Linwood Cemetery.

How to Get College Scholarships Tip 7

Sending the Scholarship Package Off

Proofread a printed copy of your essay and the application for spelling and grammar errors. Make a photocopy of your application before mailing it. Send the application by certified mail, return receipt requested or with delivery confirmation better yet use FedEx so that you can stand out from the rest.

Lessons in Black History: February 21, 2015

David Nelson Crosthwait Jr., an African-American pioneer in the field of heating and air conditioning, is best known for heating up Radio City Music Hall.

Born in Nashville, Tennessee, on May 27, 1898, David Nelson Crosthwaite Jr. studied mechanical engineering at Purdue University before taking a job with the C.A. Dunham Company (now Dunham-Bush, Inc.). At Dunham, Crosthwait conducted innovative research, and designed the heat system for Rockefeller Center and Radio City Music Hall. He held 119 patents—39 in the U.S. and 80 internationally—all in relation to heating, cooling and temperature regulating technology.

Engineer, inventor and writer David Nelson Crosthwait Jr. was born on May 27, 1898, in Nashville, Tennessee. An African-American pioneer in the field of heating, ventilating and air-conditioning, Crosthwait attended Purdue University, where he studied mechanical engineering. After graduating in 1913, he took a job with the C.A. Dunham Company (now known as Dunham-Bush, Inc.).

During his time with the C.A. Dunham Company, David Crosthwait held many positions, including director of research. While at Dunham, he conducted research in several areas, including heat transfer and steam transport. His work led to many innovations in HVAC devices and technology, and he held more than 30 U.S. patents. Crosthwait designed HVAC systems, and the heating system at Radio City Music Hall in New York City is perhaps the best-known example of his work.

Besides research, product development and HVAC system design, Crosthwait also advanced his field by writing articles and revising sections of several editions of American Society of Heating and Ventilation Engineers Guide. Crosthwait's accomplishments were recognized by many in his field: He won a medal from the National Technological Association in the 1930s and was made a fellow of the American Society of Heating, Refrigeration and Air Conditioning Engineers in 1971—making him the first African American to receive the honor.

Crosthwait officially retired from Dunham in 1969, after serving as an advisor since 1930. He died on February 25, 1976, in West Lafayette, Indiana.

How to Get College Scholarships Tip 6

Essays, Essays, Essays:

If you have difficulty writing essays, try recording yourself as you answer the question out loud, and transcribe the recording later. Most people can think and speak faster than they can write or type. Create an outline afterward to organize your thoughts.

Personalize your essay and be passionate. Write about something of interest to you. Make your application stand out from the crowd. Talk about your impact on other people. Give examples and be specific.

Lessons in Black History: February 20, 2015

Elbert Frank Cox

In 1925, Elbert Frank Cox became the first African American to earn a PhD in mathematics. He taught for 40 years and inspired future Black mathematicians.

Born December 5, 1895, Elbert Frank Cox earned his undergraduate degree from the University of Indiana. In 1925, he became the first African American to earn a PhD in mathematics. He taught for 40 years at West Virginia State College and Howard University. After he retired, Howard established a scholarship fund in Cox's name to encourage future Black mathematicians.

Mathematician. Born December 5, 1895 in Evansville, Indiana. After graduating from the University of Indiana in 1917, Cox served in World War I and then pursued a career in teaching. In 1925, he earned his PhD in mathematics from Cornell University, becoming the first African American to earn the degree in the United States and, in fact, the world.

After earning his degree, Cox taught at West Virginia State College and then at Howard University, where he remained until his retirement in 1965. Ten years later, the Howard University Mathematics Department established the Elbert F. Cox Scholarship Fund to encourage young Black undergraduates to pursue mathematics studies at the graduate level. Cox died on November 28, 1969, and though he did not live to see his scholarship or the PhD program launched, it is certain that it was he who made it possible.

How to Get College Scholarships Tip 5

Look at Your Online Presence

You have probably heard your parents talk about your online presence. Or your parent may have prevented you from having accounts on social media sites and you never understood why.Well as much as we attempt to hide or disguise ourselves online if someone really wants to find us they can (even through all of our aliases). So the best thing for you to do is Google your name and make sure you have a professional online profile. Use a professional email address, such as firstname.lastname@gmail.com. Clean up the content of your Facebook account, removing inappropriate and immature material as well as any other social media account that you may have. Make sure your online presence is the best that it can be.

Lessons in Black History: February 19, 2015

Thomas L. Jennings (1791–1856) was an African American tradesman and abolitionist. He was a free black who operated a dry-cleaning business in New York City, New York and was the first African American to be granted a patent.

Jennings' skills along with a patent granted by the state of New York on March 3, 1821 for a dry cleaning process called "dry scouring" enabled him to build his business. He spent his early earnings on legal fees to purchase his family out of slavery, and supporting the abolitionist movement. In 1831, Jennings became assistant secretary to the First Annual Convention of the People of Color in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, which met in June, 1831.

Jennings' patent resulted in a considerable amount of controversy. The U.S. patent laws of 1793 stated that "the master is the owner of the fruits of the labor of the slave both manual and intellectual," thus slaves could not patent their own inventions, the efforts would be the property of their master. Thomas Jennings was able to gain exclusive rights to his invention because of his status of being a free man. In 1861 patent rights were finally extended to slaves.

How to Get College Scholarships Tip 4

Search Locally

A local scholarship is probably your best chance for getting a college scholarship. There are special scholarships just for locals, meaning it will be less competitive, as there are usually less applicants. Local banks, grocery stores, clubs, businesses, organizations, and churches are all potential sources for community scholarships. Also check State-funded scholarships. States have lots of money to disperse when it comes to providing education.

Lessons in Black History: February 18, 2015

Alexander Lucius Twilight is the first African American to graduate from a U.S. college (1823) and the first black American to win election to public office, joining the Vermont Legislature in 1836.

Born on September 23, 1795, in Corinth, Vermont, Alexander Lucius Twilight is the first African American to graduate from a U.S. college, receiving his bachelor's degree from Middlebury College in 1823. Also a pioneer in Vermont politics, Twilight became the first African American to win election to public office in 1836, joining his home-state legislature. He died in Brownington, Vermont, on June 19, 1857.


Born on September 23, 1795 (though sources vary on the month and day of his birth, with some saying September 26 and others noting July 15), in Corinth, Vermont, where he also grew up, Alexander Lucius Twilight was one of six children born to Ichabod and Mary Twilight. The Twilights were one of the few African-American families living in the area at the time. According to the Old Stone House Museum's website, Ichabod Twilight served in the American Revolutionary War.

At an early age, Alexander Twilight went to work on a nearby farm, where he learned some of basics of reading, writing and arithmetic. At the age of 20, in 1815, he began his formal education at the Orange County Grammar School (also known as the Randolph Academy) in Randolph, Vermont. In 1821, Twilight enrolled at Middlebury College, located roughly 30 miles east of Randolph. Two years later, he made history when he became the first African American to graduate from a U.S. college, earning a bachelor's degree from Middlebury (1823).

After completing his degree, Twilight was offered a teaching position in Peru, New York, a small community located in the northeastern part of the state, serving in that role for several years afterward. While in Peru, he met Mercy Ladd Merrill, whom he married in 1826. Twilight also had a strong interest in religion, eventually receiving credentials to become a preacher.

Returning to his home state, Twilight tended congregations in Vergennes and Brownington. In 1829, he became principal of the Orleans County Grammar School in Brownington (later known as Brownington Academy), also designing and helping the school construct a granite building named Athenian Hall (now known as the Old Stone House Museum). The structure housed classrooms and served as a dormitory.

Also a pioneer in Vermont politics, Twilight made history once again in 1836 when he joined his home-state legislature, becoming the first African American to win election to public office. He continued to thrive in his varied roles, educating and preaching until the late 1840s. During this same time, Twilight developed conflicts with both his school and church that ultimately led him to resign from his posts. He went on to teach in Quebec, Canada, for several years.

In 1852, Alexander Twilight returned to Brownington to work as a minister and to run the academy. He gave up his church duties after only a year into his new role, but stayed on at the school until ill health forced his retirement in 1855. He died two years later, on June 19, 1857, in Brownington.

How to Get College Scholarships Tip 3

Follow Instructions Carefully

One of the biggest mistakes that students make is that they do not follow instructions and not following instructions can get your scholarship rejected every single time. Make sure you are reading directions carefully and following them to a tee to avoid any issues or rejection. Remember a lot of scholarships are not awarded because no one qualifies. Not qualifying could simply mean not following directions. So if they ask that your scholarship application is typed in Comic Sans and you think that is not the correct font for something professional just do what is asked trust me there is a reason for the request. FOLLOW DIRECTIONS!!!

Lessons in Black History: February 17, 2015

Mary Fields

A Black gun-totin' female in the American wild west. She was six feet tall; heavy; tough; short-tempered; two-fisted; powerful; and packed a pair of six-shooters and an eight or ten-gauge shotgun. A legend in her own time, she was also known as Stagecoach Mary.

Mary Fields was born as a slave in Tennessee during the administration of Andrew Jackson -- a feisty sort with whom she shared driving ambition, audacity, and a penchant for physical altercation on a regular basis. She smoked rather bad homemade cigars.

Well after the Civil War loosened things up, as a free woman in 1884, having made her way to Cascade County (west central Montana) in search of improved sustenance and adventure, she took a job with the Ursuline nuns at their mission in the city of Cascade -- such as it was. (Cascade that is, not the job, although it was not much to speak of either.) Called St. Peter Mission, the nuns' simple frontier facility was relatively well funded, if remote, and the nuns did a thriving business converting heathen savages, and other disgusting customers, to the true path of salvation -- although not salvation from the white men.

Anyway, Mary was hired to do 'heavy work' and to haul freight and supplies to keep the nuns' operation functional and well fed. She chopped wood, did stone work and rough carpentry, dug certain necessary holes, and when reserves were low she did one of her customary supply runs to the train stop, or even to Great Falls, or the city of Helena when special needs arose.

On such a night run (it wasn't all that far, but it was cooler at night), Mary's wagon was attacked by wolves (maybe they wanted some of the dried beans or nun suits on board). The terrified horses bolted uncontrollably and overturned the wagon, thereby unceremoniously dumping Mary and all her supplies onto the dark prairie.

The more doubtful part of the story further says that Mary kept the wolves at bay for the whole of the night with her revolvers and rifle. How she could see them in the pitch black night is not explained however, but she did survive and eventually, when dawn broke, got the freight delivered, to the great relief of the nuns who had spent more than $30 on the goods in question (which was their principle concern). At the same time, they had no hesitation to dock Mary's pay for the molasses that leaked from a keg which was cracked on a rock in the overturn.

At least Mary was prepared for such inconveniences as wolves (or others -- such as drunken cowboys), being heavily armed at all times, and ready for a fist-fight at the drop of a hat. "Pugnacious" is not really an adequate word to describe her demeanor.

Since she did not pay particular attention to her fashion statement, and otherwise failed to look and act the part of a woman in the Victorian age (albeit on the frontier), certain ruffian men would occasionally attempt to trample on her rights and hard won privileges. Woe to all of them.

She broke more noses than any other person in central Montana; so claims the Great Falls Examiner, the only newspaper available in Cascade at the time.

Once a 'hired hand' at the mission confronted her with the complaint that she was earning $2 a month more than he was ($9 vs. $7), and why did she think that she was worth so much money anyway, being only an uppity colored woman? (His name, phonetically, was Yu Lum Duck.) To make matters worse, he made this same complaint and general description in public at one of the local saloons (where Mary was a regular customer), and followed that up with a (more polite) version directly to Bishop Filbus N.E. Berwanger himself (to no avail).

This was more than enough to boil Mary's blood, and at the very next opportunity the two of them were engaged in a shoot-out behind the nunnery, next to the sheep shed. (Actually it turned into a shoot-out, because when Mary went to simply shoot the man as he cleaned out the latrine -- figuring to dump his body in there -- she missed. He shot back and the fracas was on.)

Bullets flew in every direction until the six-guns were empty, and blood was spilt. Neither actually hit the other by direct fire, but one bullet shot by Mary bounced off the stone wall of the nunnery and hit the forlorn man in the left buttock, which completely ruined his new $1.85 trousers. Not only that, but other bullets Mary fired passed through the laundry of the bishop, which was hanging on the line, generously ventilating his drawers and the two white shirts he had had shipped from Boston only the week before. What his laundry was doing at the nunnery is not clear.

That was enough for the bishop; he fired Mary, and gave the injured man a raise.
Out of work and needing some, Mary took a stab at the restaurant business in Cascade. Unfortunately Mary's cooking was rather basic, which means that nobody would eat it, and the restaurant closed in short order. She was looking for work yet again.

In 1895, she landed a job carrying the United States Mail. Since she had always been so independent and determined, this work was perfect for her, and quickly she developed a reputation for delivering letters and parcels no matter what the weather, nor how rugged the terrain. She and her mule, Moses, plunged through anything, from bitterly raw blizzards to wilting heat, reaching remote miner's cabins and other outposts with important mail which helped to accommodate the land claim process, as well as other matters needing expeditious communication. These efforts on her part helped greatly to advance the development of a considerable portion of central Montana, a contribution for which she is given little credit.

Known by then as Stagecoach Mary (for her ability to deliver on a regular schedule), she continued in this capacity until she reached well into her sixties, but it wore her down. She retired from the mail delivery business, although she still needed a source of income. So, at the age of seventy, she opened a laundry service, also in Cascade.

Figuring that by now she deserved to relax just a bit, she didn't do a lot of laundry, but rather spent a considerable portion of her time in the local saloon, drinking whiskey and smoking her foul cigars with the sundry assortment of sweating and dusty men who were attracted to the place. While she claimed to be a crack shot, actually her aim toward the cuspidor was rather general, to the occasional chagrin of any nearby fellow patrons -- never mind, she did laundry.

One lout failed to pay his bill to her however (he had ordered extra starch in the cuffs and collar). Hearing him out in the street, she left the saloon and knocked him flat with one blow - at the age of 72. She told her wobbly drinking companions that the satisfaction she got from that act was worth more than the bill owed, so the score was settled. As luck would have it, the tooth of his that she knocked out was giving him trouble anyway, so there was no reprisal. Actually, he was grateful.

In 1914 she died of a failure of her liver. Neighbors buried her in the Hillside Cemetery in Cascade, marking the spot with a simple wooden cross which may still exist today.
In spite of her drinking, and cigar smoking, and occasional fisticuffs, townsfolk were hard pressed to believe that this mellow (!?) old woman of 80 was the hard shooting and short-tempered female character of earlier years they had heard so much about. But they were wrong, she was.

How to Get College Scholarships Tip 2

Choose and Prepare Your References

Most scholarships will ask you to provide them with references or recommendations. Some will state who these people should be and some will not. If it is not specified them you can ask anyone you want including your favorite teacher, a supervisor if you work or have worked during high school, a pastor or church leader, a long time family friend, or a guidance counselor. Make sure these references have a copy of your resume or a write up on who you are and what you do academically and outside of school as well as what you want to do and what you are good at. If the letter does not specify the scholarship you can use it for several different ones however in this age of technology a lot of scholarships require your references to complete a recommendation form online. Either way make sure they have all of the information early and that they are aware of the deadlines. It is also best to check with them two weeks out to make sure they have completed the recommendation or to warn them that time is running out so that they will take care of it as soon as possible.

Lessons in Black History: February 16, 2015

Joseph Searles III (born 1948) was elected as the first African American trader of the New York Stock Exchange.

Joseph Searles III graduated from Kansas State University in 1963 with a Bachelor's degree in Political Science. After graduation, Searles had went on to become a professional football player with the New York Giants. While working on a public policy research project, Searles met New York City Mayor John Lindsey in Washington, D.C. After completing his research, Searles became an aide to Mayor Lindsey where he served as Director of Local Business Development in the New York City Economic Development Administration.

After serving as an aide to Mayor Lindsey, Searles left public office temporarily to pursue the world of high finance and was hired as a floor trader for the emerging brokerage firm Newburger, Loeb, and Co. He became a general partner for the firm and was elected as the first African American trader of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The New York Times article announcing his proposed membership read, "The poised and assured Mr. Searles said that he had never owned any stocks or bonds and that his modest stake in the Newburger, Loeb partnership represented his first investment."

Although Searles was the first black trader on the exchange's floor, he was technically not its first black member. That distinction goes to Clarence B. Jones -- counsel and speechwriter to Martin Luther King Jr. -- who became an allied member of the exchange in 1967 when he was named a partner at Carter, Berlind & Weill Inc. As an allied member, Jones had voting stock in a member firm, but he didn't have floor access.

Searles was building on Jones's momentum, which was propelled by the 1964 enactment of Title VII of the Civil Rights Act prohibiting employment discrimination on the basis of sex, race, color, religion or national origin. Viewed through most of its history as a private club for white males, the stock exchange had a culture that was in a transition mode of sorts, after having admitted its first female member, Muriel Siebert, less than three years before he joined the trading community.

Contemporary accounts indicate that Searles's interest in the financial markets may have been more about breaking through the color barrier on Wall Street than about a professional ambition to enter the world of finance.

"It's a personal challenge to me as a black man to become part of the economic mainstream of this country," he told the New York Times. "I don't believe I'll become a token black. I think there will be more black members at the exchange. Hopefully, my presence will increase the credibility of the financial community, as far as blacks are concerned."

After being confirmed as a member of the NYSE, Searles noted: "It's a personal challenge to me as a black man to become part of the economic mainstream of this country. I think there will be more black members at the exchange. Hopefully, my presence will increase the credibility of the financial community, as far as blacks are concerned." Searles paved the way for African Americans, and later women, to participate on Wall Street, and is a shining example of African American progress.

How to Get College Scholarships: Tip 1

Start Early and Start As Soon As Possible

Unfortunately there are tons of scholarships that do not get awarded to any student each year and one of the main reasons is that students fail to start early. I remember when I was younger and my mother started talking about scholarships. I can remember her discussing the possibilities of attending college free of charge as early as the 7th grade and that was simply because she had done some research and found out that some scholarships were being awarded to students in middle school. So make sure that you start early on so that you can have as much financial support as possible when it is time to attend college.

What Can I do to Help My Child Improve Their Grades Tip 7

Tip 7: Use a Reward System to Motivate Your Children to Excel

Positive rewards help students to maintain the enthusiasm needed to excel in school. For some students this could be just a word of praise for others you may have to dig in your pockets a little. You can reward them with actual gifts like toys or games or with a dinner or lunch date at their favorite restaurant and for older students monetary rewards work well. In Tip 5 we discussed teaching your children to look at school as a job well if they are rewarded monetarily it will be easy to see it as a job and they will know that a job well done (A's and B's) will produce more of a monetary reward than (C's, D's, or F's). Let the teachers know about your incentive program as well because it gives them leverage in the classroom.

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Lessons in Black History February 15, 2015

1877-1970  Benjamin O. Davis, Sr. dedicated his entire life and career to the military, beginning at a time when African Americans were consigned to support service roles with no command authority over whites. He rose to the rank of full General, advised the Army on integration strategies, and in the process contributed to the dismantling of segregation policies and laws throughout America, making him a hero in both realms.

Davis was born on July 1, 1877 in Washington, D.C. Little is known about his early life, but his family was comfortably middle-class, he attended the M Street High School, and went on to enter college in 1897 at Howard University. The Spanish-American War was officially declared on April 25, 1898. Davis left school to volunteer for service, joining the 8th U.S. Volunteer Infantry as a First Lieutenant. The experience must have agreed with the young man, because immediately upon mustering out of the volunteer corps in 1899 he enlisted in the Regular Army, joining the 9th U.S. Cavalry as a Private. He was stationed at Fort Duchesne, Utah.

Davis made fast initial progress through the ranks, and received his commission as a Second Lieutenant in 1901. He was assigned to duty in the Philippine Islands, still with the 9th Cavalry, but was then reassigned to the 10th Cavalry and returned with that unit to the U.S. where he served as Adjutant at Fort Washakie, Wyoming. He was promoted to First Lieutenant in 1905, and in September of that year was appointed a Professor of Military Science and Tactics at Wilberforce University in Ohio. Davis remained there until 1909, followed by a brief tour of duty at Fort Ethan Allen in Vermont, when he was detailed to Monrovia, Liberia as Military Attaché.

Davis returned to the U.S. after three years duty in Africa in 1912, at which time he was posted to garrison and border patrol duty in the West, including Wyoming and the Arizona Territory. The year 1915 brought him back to Wilberforce. In 1917, he began another three-year tour of duty in the Philippines as Supply Officer, during which time he achieved the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

When Davis ended this Philippine tour in 1920, he was assigned to duty at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama, again as a Professor of Military Science and Tactics. He taught at Tuskegee exclusively for four years, and then became Instructor of the 372nd Infantry of the Ohio National Guard in Cleveland in 1924. After a brief year back at Wilberforce from 1929 to 1930, Davis was detailed on special duty with the U.S. Department of State for Liberian affairs, at which time he was promoted to Colonel. Subsequent teaching tours alternated between Tuskegee and Wilberforce and lasted intermittently for the next seven years. During this period, he was placed on occasional detached service in Europe with the Pilgrimage of War Mothers and Widows, for which he received a letter of commendation from the Secretary of War.

In 1937, Davis was assigned as an instructor and in 1938 Commanding Officer of the 369th Infantry of the New York National Guard, his first independent command. Two years later, in 1940, he was promoted to Brigadier General, becoming the first black soldier to hold the rank of General in the Army. In 1941 he reported for duty as a Brigade Commander with the 2nd Cavalry Division in Fort Riley, Kansas. Later that year, he was assigned duty as Assistant to the Inspector General in Washington, D.C. where he would continue to serve intermittently for the duration of his career. In 1942, with the arrival of U.S. forces in Great Britain and the escalation of World War II, Davis was assigned special duty with the European Theater of Operations and named Advisor on Negro Problems. He became Special Assistant to the Commanding General in the Communications Zone of the European Theater in 1944, stationed in Paris, France. He subsequently worked to monitor racial relations and conflicts both in Europe and at home, investigated disturbances, and boosted African American moral, ultimately persuading the Army to experiment with limited integration. 

Davis retired in 1948 with 50 years of loyal service. That same year, President Harry S. Truman issued an order which forbade discriminatory practices in the armed forces, relying on the foundation built by Davis’ work. He died in Chicago, Illinois on November 26, 1970, and was buried in Arlington National Cemetery in Virginia. He was awarded an honorary L.L.D. Degree from Atlanta University, the Croix de Guerre with Palm from France, and the Grade of Commander of the Order of the Star of Africa from Liberia. His decorations and honors included the Bronze Star and the Distinguished Service Medal for “…exceptionally meritorious service to the Government in a duty of great responsibility… on matters pertaining to Negro troops. The initiative, intelligence, and sympathetic understanding displayed by him in conducting countless investigations concerning individual soldiers, troop units and other components of the War Department brought about a fair and equitable solution to many important problems which have since become the basis of far-reaching War Department policy.”

Davis was one of just six black officers in the Regular Army in the 86-year period from the Civil War to World War II. There are now approximately 10,000 due in part to his efforts to secure just treatment and rewards for black soldiers, and despite a frustrating history of so-called “safe assignments” designed to keep him from command over white troops. Davis’ son, Benjamin O. Davis, Jr., became the fourth African American graduate of the U.S. Military Academy and America’s second black general officer, as a General of the U.S. Air Force and commander of the Tuskegee Airmen, a fitting legacy for a father and a great leader.