Thomas Daniels discusses his efforts to promote awareness of the contributions African-Americans have made to society. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR I t was just after suppertime on a lazy summer evening three-quarters of a century ago when Thomas Daniels’ grandfather gave him a piece of advice he would never forget.
“He would sit [me and my brothers and sisters] all around a tree out in the front yard and tell us stories in parables. In his talking, he told me to always believe in education. Education is the key,” he said. A young Daniels took that piece of advice to heart and, with several decades of hindsight, now fully fathoms the implications his grandfather’s words have for the well-being of all people, particularly for African-Americans.
Daniels dedicated his young life to educating himself and quickly realized that education was, as his grandfather suggested, a great leveler in an era when inequality and discrimination were everyday realities.
Thomas and Maxine Daniels founded the African American Heritage Association of Monmouth County to foster an environment where African-Americans can learn and feel good about their history and contributions to society. STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER ERIC SUCAR While much progress has been made since then, Daniels said there is still a long way to go. The surest way to arrive at a more just society is to make sure everyone receives an education.
That’s why Daniels, a retired Pentagon aerospace engineer living in Ocean Township, spends so much of his time paying forward his grandfather’s wisdom to future generations with the African American Heritage Association of Monmouth County, which he founded with his wife Maxine.
The organization aims to do each day what Black History Month does for just a few weeks each year — foster an environment where African-Americans can learn and feel good about their history, accomplishments and contributions to society.
Daniels said such an environment was hard to find when he was growing up.
“So, when my wife and I got married, the first thing we agreed on was that we would send all of our children to college,” he said.
But even as their children entered elementary school, the couple noticed that “school systems weren’t giving the true history of black achievements and accomplishments,” he said.
The implications of those history lessons were enormous. Leaving black inventors, scientists, engineers and activists out of the curriculum gave students the impression that blacks were a lesser group. Daniels said this fueled a regressive cycle, leading blacks and other demographic groups to believe what many felt was being suggested in the classroom — that blacks were “lazy and shiftless.”
“If they continued to give us the impression that we were good for nothing … we’d begin to believe it,” Daniels said.
The impression, he said, was “created deliberately by people who wanted to control us, and one of the best ways to [exercise control] is to prevent African-Americans from becoming educated.”
African-Americans were barred from a decent education for centuries, but even after their release from slavery, the segregated education they received was shoddy and perpetuated false stereotypes and a poor self-image, said Hettie Williams, professor of African-American history at Monmouth University.
The African American Heritage Association of Monmouth County sets out to ensure that all African-Americans receive a comprehensive education that will disprove negative perceptions, increase self-esteem and fill in gaps the public education system leaves behind.
“We created that company to go around giving black history lectures and exhibits on black history. We started collecting information on contributions made by Africans and African-Americans to the improvement of life here on Earth,” Daniels said.
What they found was inspiring.
Aside from the popular contributions African-Americans have made to arts, culture and, most notably, civil rights, the couple’s research showed that blacks patented items that added to life’s simple comforts and became some of science’s crowning achievements.
According to the Robert R. Taylor Network, a nonprofit organization that works to increase minority participation in science, engineering and mathematics, African-American minds conjured surprises such as 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.
A timeline of black contributions compiled by the organization shows an explosion of inventiveness in the late 1800s, directly following slave emancipation, when African-Americans were finally allowed to receive their own patents.
From 1870 to 1890, African-American innovators patented the fire extinguisher, scaffolding, caster wheel, fire escape ladder, self-cooling refrigerator, filing cabinet, corn husking machine, egg beater, fireproof briefcase, guitar, elevator, car wash, lawn mower, fountain pen and ventilating shoes, among others.
During the same timeframe, Edward Alexander Bouchet became the first African-American graduate of Yale University and went on to become the first African-American to earn a doctorate from an American university; Mary Eliza Mahoney became the first African-American to graduate from a nursing school; and Michael Healy became the first African- American to command a U.S. military ship. Sarah E. Goode also became the first African-American woman to earn a patent when she invented the cabinet bed.
If more attention was paid to these accomplishments, it would likely help to combat stereotypes, according to Wayne Glasker, director of the Department of History at Rutgers University, Camden.
“There’s a stereotype out there that says … black people can be dancers, singers and entertainers, but they can’t do science, technology and math,” he said.
That stereotype came about because African-Americans were denied access to certain professional fields — not because they lacked skills in any particular area, said Patricia Reid-Merritt, distinguished professor of social work and Africana studies at Richard Stockton College.
“When they’ve had the opportunity to participate, they’ve made tremendous contributions,” she said.
African-American scientist Henry Sampson invented the gamma electric cell in 1971, paving the way for cellphone technology, Glasker said. In the 1880s, African- American scientist Lewis Latimer developed the filament that enabled Thomas Edison’s light bulb to burn for much longer than it originally could.
“This stuff needs to be in the textbooks — maybe even in commercials. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if cellphone companies ran commercials about Henry Sampson, or if the people who are selling light bulbs would mention Lewis Latimer?” he said.
Attention to African-American contributions should not be marginalized to Black History Month, Reid-Merritt said.
“If we’re going to teach American history in an accurate way, then it must include the contributions African-Americans have made over time,” she said.
History shows that African-Americans have “made as many contributions as any other race,” Daniels said, and making sure the world knows this is an important step to take toward a more equal world.
“It makes us feel that we have people out there doing significant things. It gives young people somebody to look up to,” he said. “We believe that if the correct information is given about black history, blacks will have a much different feeling about who we are and what we’ve done.”
Thomas and Maxine Daniels know that telling the truth sometimes means taking matters into their own hands. When they found that black children were not being taught computer science in proportionate numbers to other groups in the 1980s, they took direct action instead of lobbying for change.
“We didn’t wait for schools to correct the problem. We partnered with Monmouth University and designed a program in computer science for minorities,” Daniels said.
Now in its 29th year, the computer science program is a shining achievement for Daniels, who said he is proud of its legacy.
“There isn’t a day that goes by when my wife and I are out in the shopping centers and somebody comes up to us and says, ‘Remember me? I went on to college and became a scientist or an engineer or a doctor, and I appreciate the things you and your wife said to me.’ It makes us feel good that they pass on the word,” Daniels said.
Passing on the word is education’s bottom line, he said.
“In my life, I’ve learned that other people paved the way for us,” he said. “People like my grandfather pass on the word and open doors for us to walk through. You’ve got to do whatever you can to open the door for others.”