Anyone who passed John McWhorter on a St. Louis street in 1914 would not have assumed him to be an aviation pioneer. He earned a living as a postal worker. But just like his father before him, he made a life filled with invention and discovery.
He filed three patents for flying machines – one of them took off vertically with specs that resemble a helicopter, which was yet to be developed at the time of his patent.
He was one of many names an audience in the grand hall of the Missouri History Museum learned about during the Black Missourians in STEM presentation held Saturday morning.
Missouri History Museum K-12 Programs Manager Maria Russell started with McWhorter for a reason.
“There are some amazing and really famous Black scientists, architects and engineers that we want to remember,” Russell said. “But there are also some people we want to remember who didn’t become famous.”
As she talked, an old black and white image of a young boy perched on a contraption with a man smiling off in the distance was displayed on a projector screen. Turns out the man in the image was McWhorter. The boy was sitting on one of his flying machines.
“They didn’t become famous, but they lived every day with curiosity and invention,” Russell said. “And spent their time learning and creating and discovering science, technology, engineering and math.”
As an icebreaker, Russell asked the audience to take one minute and think of as many names of Black scientists that they possibly could.
When the minute elapsed, she asked how many could name one. Hands shot up like rockets. She asked for three, about half the hands went up in the room. One woman beamed with pride as she looked around and saw that her hand was the only one up when Russell called for five names. When Russell got to ten, everyone’s palms were facing the floor.
“There is a table back there with 28 Black Missourians involved in STEM,” Russell said. “If you could walk away remembering three people that you didn’t already know, I think that would be really cool.”
The talk was a fascinating roll call of Blacks from across the entire state – including the St. Louis region. Their contributions live on, even if their names have been forgotten.
There was WPT Jones. He was born into slavery – but escaped through the Underground Railroad to Canada. While in Canada he attended medical school and became a physician. He arrived in St. Louis in the 1870s, he became the first known Black physician to practice here. When he left St. Louis, he became the first Black man to practice medicine in Denver.
“The National Science Foundation doesn’t consider medicine a STEM career, because it is about applied science and not about understanding the world,” said Russell. “We have medical professionals that we are covering. They are working a lot with science, understanding our bodies. They are also working a lot with different technologies, and they are inventing new things. So, I personally must disagree with the National Science Foundation.”
The event included an exploration station devoted to esteemed Black doctors – like Dr. James Whittico Jr., Dr. Helen Nash and her brother Dr. Homer Nash – and the global impact of Homer G. Phillips Hospital. She also discussed the legacy of ophthalmologist Dr. Howard Venable, the first Black physician faculty member at Washington University – who paid for medical school by touring as a trumpet player.
The Missourians who heard Russell’s lecture now know of the individuals in our state that changed the world with respect to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics).
When Charles S. Baker and his family migrated from Savannah, Missouri to St. Joseph, one of the wheels on their wagon didn’t have enough oil. The friction caused heat, which produced steam when it began to rain. The moment inspired Baker to create a radiator that used friction instead of combustion.
“He demonstrated his invention at a number of expositions and fairs around the country,” Russell said. “He started a company called the Baker Friction Heater Company. It was a successful company. He changed the name to the Baker Revolutionizing Super Heating Molecule Union Developing Company, which is a mouthful.”
Tom Bass was a horse trainer from Mexico, MO. He grew up around horses, donkeys and mules, and he loved them. He wanted to take care of them. He wanted to make sure people could work with them – and be kind to them.
The bits that are used to control their motion can be hard and painful. He invented a bit that was designed to give the rider control, but without causing that pain.
“The Bass bit is still used today,” Russell said. “He never patented that design, which meant that he didn’t get exclusive rights to it and other people could make it without crediting him or paying him.”
Annie Malone was among the most recognizable names on Russell’s list, though Moddie Daniel Taylor might ring a bell. He was raised in St. Louis. He was a professor of chemistry at Lincoln University when he was recruited to join The Manhattan Project in 1943.
“He specialized in rare earth minerals, which get used sometimes for nuclear physics and nuclear energy,” Russell said.
She brought up second-generation architect Francis Rassieur Roberson, who designed the visitor center under the Gateway Arch. St. Louis Housing Authority stationary engineer Ivan C. James Jr., software engineer and Kinloch native Roy Clay, who is often referred to as “The Godfather of Silicon Valley” made the list too.
“When we do this work, we’re trying to get these names out to get more of them remembered – because a lot of them are forgotten,” Russell said. “Most of history is lost. The only way to keep it is by working to remember and to find things to commemorate them.”
