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<\/a>The movie \u201cHidden Figures\u201d was based on the book \u201cHidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Mathematicians Who Helped Win the Space Race\u201d by Margot Lee Shetterly.<\/p>\nThe book is a set of oral histories about four African-American women (Dorothy Vaughan, Mary Jackson, Katherine Johnson and Christine Darden) who worked for NASA in the 1960s as mathematicians and engineers and whose calculations and problem-solving were vital to the success of the American space program.<\/p>\n
The book not only tells the tales of their scientific achievements, but discusses their personal lives and their struggles with the stifling rules of Jim Crow at the same time.<\/p>\n
Author Spencie Love wrote a book about his life, \u201cOne Blood: The Death and Resurrection of Charles R. Drew,\u201d with a unique focus.<\/p>\n After Drew\u2019s death, an urban legend sprang up in which Drew allegedly died because he could not get treated at the local \u201cwhites-only\u201d hospital. Love refutes this claim, but tells the stories of other African-Americans from that era who died because of a racist medical system.<\/p>\n Known for his skills with a gun and a penchant for disguises, Reeves is credited with over 3,000 arrests, and there are some who think that the fictional character the Lone Ranger was actually based on his exploits.<\/p>\n His tales of adventure are told in \u201cBad News for Outlaws\u201d by Vaunda Micheaux Nelson.<\/p>\n Locally, we have San Diego civil rights pioneer Dr. Carrol Waymon. He helped found the city\u2019s Citizens Interracial Committee to look at relations between the white, Latino and African-American communities.<\/p>\n The committee\u2019s work eliminated a host of discriminatory ordinances and traditions regarding employment, education and commerce, enabling people of color to live in any neighborhood and attend any school in San Diego. His only book, \u201cOn Being Black in San Diego\u2014Anytown USA,\u201d is hard to find, but can be ordered through the library.<\/p>\n<\/a>In the 1930s and 1940s, Dr. Charles Richard Drew focused on advancing the field of blood transfusion and preservation. His research made the creation of blood banks possible, his efforts saved thousands of lives during WWII, and he became the first director of the American Red Cross Blood Bank. Tragically, he died young in a car accident in 1950.<\/p>\n<\/a>Going back to an earlier century, we have a fascinating tale of larger-than-life lawman Bass Reeves. Born in Arkansas in the 1830s, he escaped from slavery into Indian Country as a young man. He became a successful farmer and rancher, but in the 1870s was recruited as a deputy U.S. marshal to track down outlaws on the run.<\/p>\n