Meet Madame C. J. Walker and Charles Richard Drew, innovators who are often overlooked, but who significantly impacted the world we live in today. These two amazing stories kick off our new series, Black Inventors, with more episodes coming soon.
Black Inventors
Meet the unsung heroes who made history with a new series that shines a light on Black inventors.
01: Hair Care and Madam C. J. Walker
She was the first female self-made millionaire, building an empire up from a dirt-poor childhood in the rural South. The daughter of former slaves, her determination, drive, and business savvy secured her a life of glamor and high society in New York. Meet Madame C. J. Walker, a powerful woman who helped to establish the foundations of the modern Black hair care industry.
16 min
02: The Blood Bank and Charles Drew
Blood transfusions are performed every two seconds in the United States, and a large part of that is due to the work of one man. Denied admission at the Mayo Clinic due to his race, he and his colleagues persevered to achieve major breakthroughs in isolating and extracting plasma from blood, extending the storage life by ten-fold, and building the foundation for modern medical methods that save lives daily. Meet the “Father of the Blood Bank,” a pioneering surgeon and medical scientist named Charles Richard Drew.
15 min
Overview Course No. 90108
