To celebrate Black History Month, the UNMC Office of Human Resources offers these facts about some notable African-Americans and a quiz about African-American history.
Did you know?
- John Morton-Finney (June 25, 1889-Jan. 28, 1998) was a civil rights activist, lawyer, and educator who served in World War I as a Buffalo Soldier. He earned his law degree in 1911 and practiced law until 1997 at the age of 106, a period of nearly 85 years. Finney was believed to be the longest practicing attorney in the United States.
- Gladys Mae West is an American mathematician known for her contributions to the mathematical modelling of the shape of the Earth and was one of the team of mathematicians who worked on the development of the satellite geodesy models that were eventually incorporated into the Global Positioning System. West was inducted into the United States Air Force Hall of Fame in 2018.
- Matthew MacKenzie “Mack” Robinson was an American track and field athlete. He is best known for winning a silver medal in the 1936 Summer Olympics, where he broke the Olympic record in the 200 meters but still finished behind Jesse Owens. He was the older brother of Baseball Hall of Fame member Jackie Robinson.
- Marlin Oliver Briscoe is a former American football quarterback and wide receiver. In October 1968, after being drafted by the Denver Broncos, he became the first starting black quarterback in the American Football League and established a Denver rookie record of 14 touchdown passes that season. Marlin was born in Omaha and attended South High and Omaha University.
See more about UNMC’s Black History Month observances here.
Black History Trivia/Quiz
Test your knowledge of Black History and provide correct answers to the quiz below.
1) What Supreme Court decision decreed that public schools should be integrated?
2) What was Malcolm X’s birth name?
3) When is Martin Luther King Jr. Day celebrated?
4) She was the first African-American child to desegregate the all-white William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana. Who is she?
Submit your answers to Angela Hayes before 3:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 15, to be entered in a drawing for prizes donated by the UNMC Bookstore. Three people will be chosen at random from among those who answer all the questions correctly.