Couple’s collection helps give credit where it’s due
Exhibit at Monmouth University highlights black inventors
BY GLORIA STRAVELLI
Staff Writer
CHRIS KELLY staff Thomas and Maxine Daniels, Ocean Township, founded the African American Heritage Association of Monmouth County to promote knowledge of black history. Black inventors have conjured new ideas ranging from ice cream to space-age technology, but for centuries their contributions have largely gone unrecognized, according to an Ocean Township couple.
In fact, according to Maxine and Thomas Daniels, black inventiveness dates back at least 10,000 years to the dawn of civilization in Africa. But, they note, there is little public awareness of advances developed by African and African American men and women, particularly those developed by slaves, who were not permitted to own property and thus could not register patents.
"All of them have been overlooked," said Maxine Daniels, who, along with her husband, co-founded the African American Heritage Association of Monmouth County.
For the third consecutive year, the Daniels have been invited to present an exhibit at Monmouth University in West Long Branch for Black History Month. This year the exhibit will highlight black inventors and will take place at Anacon Hall on Feb. 11 from noon to 4 p.m.
The exhibit, culled from the Daniels’ extensive black history collection, begins with the development of writing, math and engineering and the calendar by Africans some 2,000-3,000 years ago and takes those who view the exhibit through the centuries right up to an attachment for the space shuttle arm used to catch satellites invented by black scientist William Harwell.
Included are agricultural, industrial and household products invented by blacks, including some surprises like ice cream, invented by Augustus Jackson in 1832, the clothes dryer, invented by G.T. Sampson in 1892, and improvements to the telephone patented by Granville Woods in 1884.
According to the Daniels’ research, inventions by African American are counted among the devices that have changed life in America including the electric lamp, traffic signal, bicycle frame, fountain pen, pencil sharpener, baby carriage, golf tee, luggage carrier, letter box, fire extinguisher, player piano, typewriter, postmarking machine, window cleaner, guitar and riding saddle.
Maxine Daniels, a retired guidance director and educator, and Tom Daniels, a retired Pentagon aerospace engineer, began to collect articles on black history and the achievements of blacks when they realized the material was not included in the curriculum at the local schools their seven children attended.
"We became involved as our children were going through school and we were seeing there was a dual educational system," explained Maxine Daniels. "Here it was supposedly integrated and inclusive but the needs of all children were not always met."
"A lot of it was very subtle," added her husband. Discrimination could be as subtle as not encouraging black students to pursue careers in science and technology, he noted.
"We started to see patterns but it didn’t discourage us," he said. "We wanted to make sure our children got the most out of our school system. We even had a science club in our basement."
Raised in the South — Maxine is a native of Texas and Tom hails from Kentucky — the couple were accustomed to being steeped in black heritage as they were growing up.
"We have collected information on black history because coming from the South, we got the oral history and we had role models, especially in college," explained Maxine.
She encouraged her husband to focus on black engineers and scientists to compensate for an educational system which they perceived was shortchanging black students.
"We were seeing that black children were having trouble in science," she explained. "What really brought the focus home to me was working in elementary schools and seeing that when our children went to high school, they were failing science and math."
"They were discouraged from going into science or math because people didn’t think they could do it," added Tom Daniels. "And that’s still going on. The tendency here is that people believe certain children can’t learn or should be in certain career fields."
The couple also worked with educators to make curriculum more inclusive.
"We knew school systems were doing a poor job on black history," said Tom Daniels. "So we sat down with officials in our school district and explained to them where they could get curriculum in black history and teachers."
By 1984, the Daniels realized their extensive collection needed to be shared with others and founded the African American Heritage Association of Monmouth County to carry out that mission.
"We looked at all the materials we had and realized it wasn’t helping anybody else. We wanted to do something where we could share it," Maxine Daniels said.
The Daniels cull information about the black community from numerous sources including local and regional newspapers, books on black history, magazines, maps, even friends who send articles of interest.
Their collection encompasses black history from antiquity to present day and includes a collection on the contributions of local community leaders. The association, which can be reached at P.O. Box 161, Oakhurst 07755, will lend displays and other materials on a short-term basis.
Resources compiled by the Daniels and available through the association include units in history and other subjects for teachers of multiculturalism; seminars on African American history, culture and contributions; presentations to schools, churches and community groups; and displays and exhibits tailored to specific theme and needs.
By 1988, the Daniels’ mission had grown beyond collecting data to a vision of sharing their collection to create public awareness of black history.
They had purchased a small office building in Asbury Park as a business venture, and used it to also house the black history materials and provide space for lectures, demonstrations and exhibits.
"We papered the walls so that from the time you walked in the door, there were 5,000 years of African and African American history on display," Maxine said of the small building on Bangs Avenue.
The strategy worked.
"The walls were plastered with all this blackness and it drew people to it," Maxine Daniels recalled. "We had lectures and invited schoolchildren. People came off the street and we would given them a tour. Teachers from nearby schools would walk their classes there. We had people who came and sat down and took notes."
"When we began, we were among the first in the state to do this," said Maxine Daniels, noting that the couple’s outreach extended beyond local schools and civic groups to include state agencies like the state Department of Education.
"We feel very strongly that people should understand that black history is all-inclusive," she explained. "We have to realize each of us are doing something that contributes to what happens every day. There really shouldn’t be any such thing as black history. It’s about people who have contributed to something for the good of all."
"The truth is," she continued, "if you have grown up feeling here’s a group of people — African Americans — who have made no contribution whatsoever, if you don’t know, you tend to feel that way.
"But once you put up an exhibit showing achievements in arts, sports, medicine, science, religion, literature, history, you have categories everybody can relate to," Maxine Daniels continued.
"We include contributions by Africans and African Americans, both preslavery and after slavery. We try to make it complete so people can see black people didn’t just begin to contribute."