Black History Month is always a great opportunity to recognize the incredible contributions of many African Americans throughout U.S. history during the month of February. Below we remember and celebrate 12 great African Americans who have made their contributions to the African American population in the United States:

1. Walter Samuel McAfee (1914–1995): The theoretical physicist, professor, and civil servant who provided the theoretical calculations; making it possible for scientist to receive echoing signals between the Earth and the moon.
2. Justice Bernette Joshua Johnson: A retired Chief Justice of Louisiana Support Court, was the first African American woman to serve on the Louisiana Supreme Court.
3. Charles Banks (1873 -1923): Once said to be the “most influential businessman in the United Staes” by Booker T. Washington. In 1904, he became the first African American to become a bank owner, the Bank of Mound Bayou, in the all-Black town of Mound Bayou, Mississippi.
4. Emery Neal Brown: Recognized and credited for transforming the discipline of anesthesiology a precise, scientific discipline at the molecular level. Also, Dr. Brown is the only African American to be on staff at three STEM academic organizations: the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, and the National Academy of Engineering.
5. Isadore Banks (1895–1954): A former United States Army veteran, Mr. Banks owned more than 1,000 acres of land and several businesses in Crittenden County, Arkansas. Making him one of the wealthiest landowners in Arkansas. With his wealth, he played a pivotal role in helping black farmers with financing to purchase farming seeds and equipment; as well as funding black schools to help them buy school supplies. On June 4, 1954, Mr. Banks left his house, after kissing his wife goodbye, and was discovered four (4) days later tied to a tree; mutilated and burned beyond recognition. His murder remains a unsolved to this very day.
6. Jacob Francis Wheaton (1835–1924): Born on February 14, 1835, as a free man, to Francis Wheaton and Mary Buckingham Wheaton; white (father) and black (mother) parents. During the Civil War Mr. Wheaton enlisted and assisted the union army by working as a nurse, even after the war ended. Also, he was the first African American to vote in the mayoral race in Hagerstown, Maryland following the end of the Civil War. Later, 1897, he became the first African American in Washington chosen to serve in a jury pool regarding a civil appeal case. Most notably, he is credited in helping combat the smallpox outbreak in 1963.
7. Captain Theresa Mae Claiborne: Born on May 25, 1959, Captain Claiborne is the first African American to become a U.S. Air Force pilot. Captain Claiborne remains one of a small group of pilots who are African Americans women.
8. George William Ford (1847–1939): Major George William Ford, to be exact, was one of the original soldiers. The Buffalo Soldiers were the 10th members of the 10th Calvary Regiment of the United States Army, created on September 21, 1866 to serve the U.S. government after the Civil War. Born on November 23, 1847 in Virginia, Major Ford at 19 years old, joined the Buffalo Soldiers in 1867; participated in providing protection for settlers, railroad construction crews, escorting stages and supply wagons. After service ten (10) years with the Buffalo Soldiers regiment, he retired with an honorable discharge.
9. Matt Whittico (1866–1939): Born on September 25, 1866, in Virginia, Mr. Whittico was a very prominent West Virginia publisher and politician. He created and ran his own newspaper called the McDowell Times; being both and editor and publisher. The newspaper ran for 17 years, was read by both black and white readers, and was the state of Virginia’s preeminent African-American newspaper at one point in time. Mr. Whittico promoted the benefit of home purchase, owning one’s own business, being educated, and building a kindly relation with white people.
10. Edwin L. Cooper: Born on December 23, 1936 in Oakland, Texas, is known internationally as the biologist and immunologist credited to founding the principle of comparative immunology.
11. Ida B. Wells-Barnett (1862–1921): Born on July 16th 1862, Ms. Wells-Barnett was an investigative journalist and civil rights activist in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. She used her pen to highlight the sufferings of African Americans in the South, under Jim Crow laws. Mainly, the atrocious lynching of black men at a very level in the South. Mrs. Wells-Barnett wrote an expose about a 1892 lynching that was so damming to the white community in her town that her press was burned to the ground and she was forced to leave Memphis. She was fearless and determined to fight racism and discrimination wherever she encountered it, without any apologies, till her last years of living here on this green planet.
12. Shirley Chisholm (1924–2005): Often forgotten and seldom mentioned, Ms. Chisholm was the first African American woman to be elected to Congress in 1968. Nevertheless, her biggest recognition was when she was immortalized into U.S. politics history as being the first woman, and African American woman, to seek the nomination for the President of the United States.