Resources for Historical Background

Abstract

Many historians have written about the history of African Americans in science, but most of the articles focus only on the men and very little is written about the women. It would take additional research to find information pertaining only to the women. However, since both men and women lived through the same era, much of what affected the men also affected the women. The background information about black women chemists could probably fit into another book or at least a paper, but that was not within the scope of this book. Dr. Wini Warren, author of Black Women Scientists in the United States, did some extensive research on the background history of black women in science, which she planned to put into a future book; due to health problems it was never written. However, the Introduction to Dr. Warren’s book is well worth reading for some of the background history of the women. The endnotes in that chapter provide an extensive bibliography about the history of blacks in science. In addition, Dr. Warren includes an extensive discussion about the background history of black women scientists in the introduction of her thesis, “Hearts and Minds: Black Women Scientists in the United States 1900–1960.” Sisters in Science by Diann Jordan features author interviews of black women scientists, some of whom are chemists. The Introduction of her book, discusses the background history. Dr. Jordan also includes a history of black colleges in the section “The Role of the Black College in Educating African American Scientists.” Since many of the women in this book had their first college education in a black college, it is worth reading. Information about several of the African American women chemists in this book can be found in Contributions of Black Women to America, Volume 2. The Introduction and Chapter 1 in the “Science” section give some background information about the history of women in science.