During Black History Month, Orchard Middle School Students Sent Daily Emails to The Community
What is MS advisory?
Parent portal users click here to view the pictures and captions that were researched or written by our students.
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February 1, 2019: Justin Burris’ 6th grade advisory | Martin Luther King, Jr.
The stories that get told, and those left untold, are an expression of values. This month we hope to tell some untold stories. Part of the idea is to find photos and events that are “in between” the mainstream. African-American History took place as part of American History and the idea of the month of February being so dedicated is to intentionally recognize the history. “I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” – On August 28, 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered a speech to a massive group of civil rights marchers gathered around the Lincoln Memorial in Washington, D.C. King’s voice was arguably the most influential in attempting to end segregation laws during the American Civil Rights Movement.
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February 2, 2019: Angie Brothers’ 6th grade advisory | Second Great Migration
The second great migration took place from 1940 - 1970. During this time approximately 5 million African Americans moved from the south to the north for job opportunities and the hope of a better life with less discrimination. World War II contributed to the exodus of 1.5 million African Americans from the South in the 40s.
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February 3, 2019: Ann Maitzen’s 6th grade advisory | Madame CJ Walker
Madame CJ Walker is one of the first African American self-made millionaires. Walker, however, was not the first black millionaire, a title which is often attributed to her. In fact, it was an earlier black millionaire named Annie Malone who gave Walker her start in the hair care business. Her real name was Sarah Breedlove. She was born on a cotton plantation December 23, 1867 in Delta, Louisiana. She had a job in St. Louis that made $1.50 a day. After suffering from a scalp ointment that resulted in her own hair loss, she created a line of African American hair care products including vegetable shampoo in 1905. When she died at the age of 51, she was the wealthiest African American woman in the United States.
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February 4, 2019: Gail Emerich’s 7th grade advisory | Muhammad Ali (Cassius Clay)
Cassius Clay, Jr., who later took the name Muhammad Ali, is shown here after he won a gold medal at the Olympics in 1960. He was born on January 17, 1942, in Louisville, Kentucky. He was an American professional boxer, who started at the age of 12 when someone stole his bike. A Louisville policeman told him he should take up boxing. At first, Clay wasn’t very good at boxing but he won his first match in 1954, six weeks after he started. Clay’s dad was so impressed by his son that he predicted he would be world champion one day. In 1960, Clay won a spot at the Summer Olympics in Rome, almost deciding not to go because he was afraid of flying in airplanes. He wore a parachute the entire time he was in the air. At the Olympic Village, Clay engaged with athletes from all over the world and was more well known for being nice than being good at boxing. He surprised many by winning a gold medal against Polish boxer Zbigniew Pietrzykowski. After the Olympics, Clay decided to turn professional, vowing to win the heavyweight championship of the world. In 1961, Clay went up against a fighter named Gorgeous George, learning that the more he talked, the more people watched him fight. He also became increasingly political, converting to the Nation of Islam and, in 1964, taking the name Muhammad Ali.
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February 5, 2019: Brendan Chandler’s 7th grade advisory | Iesha and Black Lives Matter
The woman in this picture is being arrested for breaking a police line at a protest. The police said that if you cross this line you will be arrested. This photo is taken in Baton Rouge. Iesha is the woman in the photo. She was arrested and detained by authorities. The protest began in the aftermath of the shooting by police of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile. She did this because she wanted to take a stand to the police and promote the Black Lives Matter movement. Patrisse Khan-Cullors, Alicia Garza, and Opal Tometi are the co-founders of the Black Lives Matter movement. They started Black Lives Matter because Trayvon Martin was wrongly killed, and he was African American so, on Facebook Alicia posted that she loves black people and that they matter. Patrisse responded and made the quote #blacklivesmatter, then Opal agreed with it, and they all started working at Black Lives Matter. Black Lives Matter is about finding equal rights and to help stop police brutality and racism. The Black Lives Matter movement is also about stopping shootings that are unnecessary. To help with the Black Lives Matter movement there are many protests in response to racism. The protests are mainly against police brutality because that is where most aggressive racism occurs. Black Lives Matters is also about building power to intervene in any violence that occurs in black communities. Many African Americans are part of the protests to fight for their lives.
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February 6, 2019: Lisa Pryor’s 8th grade advisory | Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Dandridge was an American film and theatre actress, singer, and dancer from Ohio. Born on November 9th, 1922, she was the daughter of African American entertainer, Ruby Dandridge. Dorothy and her older sister, Vivian, were known as the “The Wonder Children.” The Wonder Children sang in black churches around the country during the great depression. Ruby decided to move her family to Hollywood during the depression, believing that they may find more work, especially in the entertainment industry. Dorothy appeared in her first film in 1937, called A Day at the Races. In 1954 she starred in the all black production of Carmen Jones. The film earned her an Academy Award nomination for best actress; however, she did not win. With the nomination for Carmen Jones, Dorothy became the first black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for best actress in a leading role. A black actress would not win an Academy Award for best actress until 48 years later when Halle Berry, who played the role of Dorothy in a biopic film in 1999 about her life, would win for the film Monster’s Ball. Berry thanked Dorothy in her acceptance speech for being a trailblazer and paving the way for her career. Dorothy was also the first African American woman to grace the cover of Life Magazine and she was one of the first African American actresses to have a successful Hollywood career. In honor of her accomplishments, she has a star on the Hollywood walk of fame.
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February 7, 2019: Reegan Homburg’s 5th grade advisory | Denzel Washington
Denzel Washington is an actor, director, and producer. He has won multiple awards: including three Golden Globes, one Tony, and two Oscars. In 2016, he won the Cecil B. DeMille award for his outstanding contribution to the world of entertainment. When he won his Oscar in 2002, Halle Berry also won an Oscar for Best Actress, making it the first time both awards were won by African Americans. Denzel Washington has been an avid supporter of the Boys and Girls Club. His contribution to the acting community will continue to serve as an inspiration to future generations.
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February 8, 2019: Dustin Klein’s 6th grade advisory | Segregation in Schools
The decision of Brown vs. the Board of Education states that separate educations are unequal. All nine white court justices agreed that racial segregation in public schools violates the 14th amendment. This court case declared that there would be no more segregation in schools. The Topeka Junior High Schools have been integrated since 1954.
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February 9, 2019: Ragen Mitchell’s 6th grade advisory | Thurgood Marshall
Born in Baltimore, Maryland on July 2, 1908, Thurgood Marshall was the grandson of a slave. His father, William Marshall, instilled in him from youth an appreciation for the United States Constitution and the rule of law. After completing high school in 1925, Thurgood followed his brother, William Aubrey Marshall, to the historically black Lincoln University in Chester County, Pennsylvania. His classmates at Lincoln included a distinguished group of future Black leaders, such as the poet and author Langston Hughes, the future President of Ghana, Kwame Nkrumah, and musician Cab Calloway. Just before graduation, he married his first wife, Vivian "Buster" Burey. Their twenty-five-year marriage ended with her death from cancer in 1955.
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February 10, 2019: Allie Green’s 5th grade advisory | Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was a talented poet, singer, and civil rights activist. She put her mind to many things that were challenging and did them well. She is best known for her memoir, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, about her childhood and young adult life. This book made literary history by being the first best-selling non-fiction story by an African American woman. During her life, Maya Angelou won 55 awards, 22 honorary degrees, and 74 citations.
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February 11, 2019: André Kirtz's 8th grade advisory | John Lewis
John Lewis is currently a U.S. Representative from Georgia and has been serving in Congress since 1987. As a civil rights activist, Mr. Lewis was very active in a host of civil rights events during the 1960’s. Pictured here he, along with Hosea Williams, is leading a group of marchers across the Edmund Bettus Bridge in Selma, Alabama on March 7, 1965. The bridge over the Alabama river is named after a confederate brigadier general and grand dragon in the KKK. It served as the flashpoint for what became known as Bloody Sunday. The Selma marches were to increase voter registration and raise national awareness of the effects of segregation policies in the south. The marches were being thwarted by the Alabama authorities. Soon after this photo was taken, the marchers were ordered to disperse, but instead began to hold a group prayer on the far side of the bridge. They were tear gassed and attacked with night sticks. Mr. Lewis suffered a fractured skull during the event and the crowd retreated to a nearby church. Before being taken to the hospital, Mr. Lewis made a televised address calling for President Lyndon Johnson to intervene in what was happening in Alabama.
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February 12, 2019: Scott Weaver’s 6th grade advisory | Woolworth Co. in Greensboro, North Carolina
On February 1, 1960 at a Woolworth’s lunch counter in Greensboro, North Carolina, that was designated “Whites Only.” The start of a movement began. Four college students devised a plan to sit peaceably and wait until they were granted the right to eat. The store closed and they had not been served. They returned the next day and sat all day without being served. On the third day 60 students showed up and were not served. On the fourth day over 300 showed up and were not served. The word and the idea of the peaceful sit-in spread rapidly. In late July of the same year Woolworth gave in and first served three black employees of the store at the newly desegregated counter. These four students showed us that you can fight for your right peacefully.
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February 13, 2019: Molly McCue’s 7th grade advisory | Frederick Douglass
Frederick Douglass was born to an African American mother and an unknown white father in 1818 in Maryland’s eastern shore. He was a slave until he escaped to Massachusetts on September 3, 1838. He used his voice and intellect to push for equality and end slavery. As an important leader in the Abolitionist movement, he believed that no one else should have the experience he did as a slave and all people should be free. Douglass believed that the U.S. Constitution could aid in the fight for emancipation. His hard work and dedication throughout the years made a significant impact on the fight to end slavery.
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February 14, 2019: Ryan Mossakowski’s 8th grade advisory | Sojourner Truth
Sojourner Truth was an African American evangelist, abolitionist, and women’s rights activist. Isabella Baumfree was her given name, she felt that her purpose was to speak the truth, which later caused her to change her name to Sojourner Truth. She was born to slave parents in 1797 and was sold for $100 to a man named John Neely. She was sold two more times. At the age of 13 she ended up with a man named John Dumont and his wife. Sojourner and her daughter, who was an infant, escaped from their slave owner and stayed with an abolitionist family, the Van Wageners. Truth gained her freedom, became a Christian, and spoke out to end slavery. Once the New York Anti-Slavery Law was passed, her previous owner illegally sold her son, but she was able to file a lawsuit to get him back. Months later, Truth won her case and regained custody. She was known as the first black woman to sue a white man in the U.S. and win. In 1844, Truth joined an abolitionist organization in Massachusetts, which launched her career as an equal rights activist. In 1851, she gave her most famous speech called “Ain’t I A Woman?” to show the discrimination she faced as a black woman. Her activism for the abolitionist movement gained the attention of President Abraham Lincoln, who invited her to the White House in October 1864.Truth left behind a legacy of courage, faith, and fighting for what’s right and honorable.
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February 15, 2019: Suellen Sharp’s 5th grade advisory | W.E.B. Du Bois
W.E.B. Du Bois was a civil rights activist. He graduated from Fisk University and went on to attend Harvard where he was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. Du Bois then received a scholarship to the University of Berlin. While there, he studied with some of the most well-known social scientists of his day. During his life, Du Bois helped lead the Niagara Movement and fought to eliminate racial violence. He died in Ghana, the day before the Civil Rights March, and was given a state funeral in Africa.
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February 16, 2019: Darren Lauria’s 6th grade advisory | Julius “Nipsey” Russell
Julius "Nipsey" Russell (1918 - 2005) was an American comedian, poet, and dancer. Mr. Russell served as a medic during World War II. He was one of the few African American soldiers to make the rank of captain during that era. He was best known for his appearances as a panelist on game shows from the 1960’s through the 1990’s, including “Match Game,” “Password,” “Hollywood Squares,” “To Tell the Truth,” and “Pyramid.” He had one of the leading roles in the film version of The Wiz as the Tin Man. He was a frequent guest on the Dean Martin Celebrity Roast series. Nipsey Russell died of stomach cancer in 2005. He was not buried, but his ashes were spread across the Pacific Ocean.
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February 17, 2019: Jeffrey Berry’s 8th grade advisory | Benjamin Banneker
Benjamin Banneker was a mathematician, astronomer, as well as an architect and surveyor. He was the son of slaves, but not a slave himself. Banneker created a very precise clock, out of wood, that would tick for decades. Although business ownership was uncommon for African Americans at the time, Banneker owned a watch and clock repair business. Banneker borrowed and studied astronomy books, and he was able to predict the 1789 solar eclipse. He also wrote an almanac, which contained calendars, statistics, phases of the moon, astronomical data and predictions, even including tide tables. His almanac also included comments about society and politics as well as anti-slavery speeches. The almanac was written at a time when African Americans were considered illiterate and incapable of science, math, and literature. In 1791, Banneker wrote a letter to Thomas Jefferson. Living in a time of slavery, Banneker encouraged Jefferson to abolish the practice. Jefferson believed that blacks were inferior, and Banneker told him that it was wrong to believe that whites were superior. He used Jefferson’s own words, “that all men are created equal,” to prove his point. Jefferson was impressed with Banneker, so he recruited him to be on a team to help design the U.S. capital district. After designing the layout, the lead designer ran off with the plans. Banneker was able to recreate the plans through memory, saving the project.
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February 18, 2019: Caroline Boarini’s 8th grade advisory | Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm was the eldest of four daughters. Her parents were immigrants from Barbados. She graduated from Brooklyn College and Columbia Teachers College and went on to be a teacher for six years. She was the second African American to be a member of the New York State Legislature. She is most famous for being the first woman elected to Congress in 1968 and she was the first woman and African American to run for president in 1972. Her life motto was “Unbossed and Unbought.”
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February 19, 2019: Erica Christie’s 7th grade advisory | Dr. Carter G. Woodson
Dr. Carter G. Woodson is considered the father of Black History Month. Woodson was born in New Canton, Virginia in 1875. He was the son of former slaves, neither of whom could read or write, and he had seven brothers and sisters. Though he had to work as a sharecropper, garbage truck driver, and coal miner during his youth, he managed to graduate from high school in less than two years. He attended Berea College, University of Chicago, and Harvard University, where he received a Ph.D. in history. He was the second African American person to graduate from Harvard with a doctorate. In 1915, Woodson founded the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History to preserve the history of African Americans in this country. Woodson wrote over twenty historical books, most notably “Mis-Education of the Negro,” and founded the Journal of Negro History, one of the nation’s oldest historical journals. In 1950, Woodson died suddenly of a heart attack. Woodson is remembered for his vision for a designated Black History Month. He believed that all Americans should celebrate and know the history of African Americans, not just African Americans themselves. He selected the month of February because it coincided with the birthdays of Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass. Woodson dreamed of a time when Black History Month would be unnecessary, when American history would include and celebrate the history of all people in its standard narrative. Woodson’s work continues to be an inspiration today; in 2016, President Barack Obama made his last proclamation in honor of Woodson.
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February 20, 2019: Syd Lindblom’s 8th grade advisory | Katherine Johnson
This is Katherine Johnson. She started high school at age 10 and went on to take every math class at West Virginia University. She graduated summa cum laude with degrees in mathematics and French at age 18. She applied to work at NASA and was first rejected, but she later started working there as a computer. While at NASA, she was one of few black women, yet she helped calculate orbital mechanics that helped with space flights. She is most known for helping with the mission of astronaut John Glenn, the first man to orbit the earth in 1962. Katherine Johnson demonstrates that black women can work just as well (if not better than) their white coworkers. She broke barriers for both African Americans and women working in STEM. You may recognize her from the 2016 movie Hidden Figures, based on the book by Margot Lee Shetterly of the same name. There is a statue of her at her Alma Mater, West Virginia University, and there is even a Barbie doll of her. In 2015, President Barack Obama awarded her the Medal of Freedom, America’s highest civilian honor. Today she is 100 years old and lives in Hampton, Virginia.
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February 21, 2019: Karen Dean’s 7th grade advisory | Emmett Till
In the summer of 1955, 14-year-old Emmett Till travelled from Chicago to visit relatives in Mississippi. While there he was accused of flirting with a store cashier, a young white female. The woman’s husband and another man broke into the house where Emmett was staying, kidnapped, and murdered him. His body was thrown off a bridge into the Tallahatchie River. The accused were acquitted of their crime by a jury of all white men. This murder and acquittal was one of the important catalysts that helped spark the civil rights movement. In 2004, the Federal Bureau of Investigation reopened the case, and a full autopsy was completed. A deathbed confession by an accomplice was discovered, but no new criminal charges were filed. Emmett Till was reburied in a new casket, and the original one was placed in storage at an Illinois cemetery and then forgotten. In 2009, the rusting casket was discovered and donated to the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture. In 2007, Congress passed the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act which authorized the Department of Justice to investigate violations of criminal civil rights laws before 1970. In 2016, the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crimes Reauthorization Act was enacted. This bill reauthorizes the Emmett Till Unsolved Civil Rights Crime Act of 2007 (Emmett Till Act) and expands the responsibilities of the Department of Justice and the FBI to include the investigation and prosecution of criminal civil rights statutes violations that occurred before 1980 and resulted in a death.
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February 22, 2019: Deb Brown’s 8th grade advisory | Jack Roosevelt Robinson
Jack Roosevelt Robinson (January 31, 1919 – October 24, 1972) was an American professional baseball player who became the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when the Brooklyn Dodgers started him at first base on April 15, 1947. When the Dodgers signed Robinson, they heralded the end of racial segregation in professional baseball that had relegated black players to the Negro leagues since the 1880s. Robinson was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1962. Robinson's character, his use of nonviolence, and his unquestionable talent challenged the traditional basis of segregation which then marked many other aspects of American life. He influenced the culture of and contributed significantly to the civil rights movement. Robinson also was the first black television analyst in MLB and the first black vice president of a major American corporation, Chock full o'Nuts. In the 1960s, he helped establish the Freedom National Bank, an African-American-owned financial institution based in Harlem, New York. After his death in 1972, in recognition of his achievements on and off the field, Robinson was posthumously awarded the Congressional Gold Medal and Presidential Medal of Freedom.
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February 23, 2019: Teressa Hart’s 5th grade advisory | Rosa Parks
This bus represents the power of nonviolent protest. Rosa Parks may have been weary on a day she was asked to sit in the back of this bus, but her refusal to do so secured her place in history as an important leader for civil rights. We are grateful for her work for equal rights for all people.
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February 24, 2019: Ana Grillo’s 6th grade advisory | Oprah Winfrey
Oprah Winfrey was born in 1954 in Mississippi, to a very poor teenage mother. Oprah was anchoring the news at Nashville's WTVF-TV when she was just 19, making her the youngest person and the first African-American woman to hold the position. Later, she moved to Chicago to host a morning talk show. The program was wildly successful, and she quickly became the most popular talk show host in America. She turned into one of the most influential people in the country, as well as the richest African American. Oprah donates to multiple charities, and established her own foundations, creating programs to help underserved communities. In 2013, Winfrey was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom (the nation's highest civilian honor) by President Barack Obama.
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February 25, 2019: David Oyama’s 5th grade advisory | Dr. Mae Jemison
Dream big and don't let anyone stand in your way: Even as a little girl, Dr. Mae Jemison knew she would get to go to space. When she went to space, she brought symbols of minority groups with her so everyone would be a part of it.
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February 26, 2019: Bethanne Collins’ 7th grade advisory | The Harlem Hellfighters
The Harlem Hellfighters was a group of all black men who fought in World War One along with the French and British Army. The Harlem Hellfighters were from Harlem, New York. U.S. armed services did not allow black troops to fight along with them. The Hellfighters had no proper military training and had to train themselves. The French and British welcomed the Harlem Hellfighters to fight with them. Led by Pvt. Henry Johnson, this group was in France when they were attacked by a German unit. Henry Johnson, alone, fought off 30 Germans losing only four men in the regime. He suffered serious injuries. After this heroic effort, he was the first American, white or black, to receive the Croix de Guerre. The Croix de Guerre is the highest award that you can receive in the French Army. The Harlem Hellfighters advanced to occupy positions along the Rhine river and threatened to invade Germany property. After they were sent home, they did not get help nor recognition from the U.S. government. The men from Harlem Hellfighters comprise the most decorated combat regiment in U.S. History.
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February 27, 2019: Kate Bueltmann’s 7th grade advisory | Angela Davis
Angela Davis was born January 26, 1944 in Birmingham, Alabama and is still alive today. She attended University of California and graduated in the 1960’s. She is most famous for her involvement in a trial where there were multiple casualties. Jonathan Jackson was attempting to free prisoners in a Marin County courthouse using a variety of firearms. It was later found that many of these firearms were registers to Angela Davis. After spending 18 months in jail, she was acquitted of all charges. Davis was an active member of the Black Panthers and the communist party. She even ran for Vice President under the Communist party in 1980 and 1984. Her involvement in the communist party eventually got her fired from her job as a professor at UCLA. Davis has written several books including Women, Race, and Class; Angela Davis: An Autobiography; and Blue Legacies and Black Feminism: Gertrude “Ma” Rainey. Currently, she is a professor at the University of California where she teaches courses on the history of consciousness.
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February 28, 2019: Linda Gelhausen’s 5th grade advisory | Ruby Bridges
Ruby Bridges was very brave when she was the first black student to go to an all-white school in New Orleans in 1960. We can’t imagine how hard that would have been to face protesters every single day that yelled and threw things at Ruby. She had no friends to be with during lunch and recess. She never gave up and made a difference for all African Americans.
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Conclusion: Allison Housefield’s 5th grade advisory | Barack Obama & Kid President
In 2008, Barack Obama became our 44th president. Obama made history by becoming the first African-American commander-in-chief. In addition to his presidency and contributions while in office, Obama served as an inspiration for many, including Robby Novak aka Kid President. Novak has osteogenesis imperfecta, which makes him susceptible to bone damage. By age 11, Novak had broken over 70 bones. It would be easy for someone in his position to feel self-pity or be easily upset, but that’s just not his style. As an advisory, we learned a lot from these two. So, without further ado, here is our Top Six List of Things We Learned from this Dynamic Duo: 1. The world may be scary at times, but we can ALL play a role in making the world a better place. 2. The little things matter too. Smile at a stranger. Help a friend in need. 3. Treat people with kindness. It doesn’t matter where they are from, what color their skin is, what religion they may or may not practice...We are all human. 4. Even when things are hard or aren’t perfect, we still need to be on each other’s teams. 5. Representation matters. It’s important to have leaders who are different races, genders, ethnicities, religions, etc. You don’t know what you don’t know; people have different perspectives and experiences, and it’s important for all voices to be heard. 6. We all need to give the world a reason to dance. So, in the words of Kid President, “You don’t need a cape to be a hero. You just need to care.”
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