[Congressional Record Volume 145, Number 32 (Tuesday, March 2, 1999)]
[Senate]
[Pages S2140-S2141]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     AFRICAN-AMERICAN HISTORY MONTH

 Mr. SANTORUM. Mr. President, the month of February has been 
designated as African-American History Month, however, African-American 
history is American history. The contributions of African-Americans to 
America encompass almost every area of American life. African-Americans 
are recorded in America as early as 1619, one year before the Mayflower 
landed at Plymouth Rock. The oldest established African-American family 
are descendants of William Tucker, born in Jamestown, Virginia in 1624.
  Unfortunately for many of our youth, African-American role models are 
limited to those known for their achievements in the world of sports 
and entertainment. Although their accomplishments in this field are 
substantial and important, few of our youth know, for instance, about 
the many African-Americans who, throughout history, displayed 
tremendous courage and honor in times of war. Cripus Attuk, an African-
American, was killed in the Boston Massacre in 1770, becoming the first 
casualty of the American Revolution. Most of the 5,000 blacks that 
fought in the Revolutionary War were slaves that fought in place of 
their owners. After the war had been won, they were immediately put 
back to work on their plantations, still slaves. More than 200,000 
African-Americans served in the Civil War. After the Civil War, many of 
these trained soldiers were sent west and were reorganized as the 9th & 
10th Cavalries, where they were called the ``Buffalo Soldier'' by the 
Indians they were fighting. The Tuskeegee Airmen of World War II, an 
air squadron, had the most impressive war record in their theater of 
action, never losing a bomber they were assigned to escort. Against 
almost insurmountable odds and racial discrimination, African-Americans 
have faithfully served America.
  Significant in another aspect of America's history are the African-
Americans whose endeavors helped fuel

[[Page S2141]]

the industrial revolution, contributing to the economic prosperity and 
standard of life all Americans enjoy today. George Washington Carver 
discovered over 500 products with the peanut, the sweet potato, and 
corn. Many important inventions were made by African-Americans with 
thousands of patents made that have benefitted not only America, but 
the world. Jan Matzeliger invented the first shoe making machine. 
Elijah McCoy had forty-two patents, most for lubricating different 
types of steam engines and machines, as well as the first graphite 
lubricating device. Garrett A. Morgan invented the three-way traffic 
light which he sold to General Electric. Frederick McKinley Jones 
invented a workable way to refrigerate trucks and railroad cars, as 
well as manufactured movie sound equipment. George R. Curruthers 
invented image converters for detecting electromagnetic radiation. He 
was also one of the two people responsible for the development of the 
lunar service ultraviolet camera/specter graph. Dr. Charles R. Drew is 
credited with the discovery of blood plasma which supplants blood in 
transfusions, as was the first person to set up and establish blood 
banks. Dr. Daniel Hale Williams is the first doctor to successfully 
perform open heart surgery.
  Some of the people mentioned played an important role in America's 
past wars. Many African-Americans I encounter today, however, are the 
unsung heroes of a different kind of war. They battle for the hearts 
and minds of our inner city youth. For example in Philadelphia, The 
Reverend Herb Lusk, and ``People for People,'' are providing welfare to 
work training, after school tutoring for grade school children, as well 
as GED and computer training for the poor and disadvantaged. The 
Reverend Dr. Ben Smith's Deliverance Church, which owns and operates a 
shopping mall and sixty-five outreach ministries, has long served the 
greater community. C. Delores Tucker currently organizes the largest 
Martin Luther King Center for Non-violence in the nation. One of the 
many things she does for the community is to arrange for many to gather 
and celebrate our great Civil Rights leader on his birthday at an 
annual luncheon.
  It is fitting that all Americans salute the invaluable services and 
contributions of African-Americans and the role that they have played 
and continue to play in American History.

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