February is halfway over, which means we’re already partially through Black History Month. The city’s population is 43% Black, and there have been many Black Philadelphians who have made an impact locally and beyond. While we can’t fit them all in one list, here are five Black Philadelphians you should know about.
Sadie T. M. Alexander
Sadie T.M. Alexander accomplished many firsts. She was one of the first three Black women to obtain a Ph.D in the United States. She was the first Black woman to graduate from Penn’s Law school, and the first Black woman to be admitted to the Pennsylvania Bar.
Alexander also served as Philadelphia's assistant city solicitor at a time when few women held official positions in local government.
A statue of Alexander is planned for the front of the Municipal Services Building in Center City. It will be the second public statue of a Black person in Philadelphia after the Octavius V. Catto statue was erected on the south apron of City Hall.
Guion Bluford
Philadelphians aren’t just making an impact on Earth. You may have heard of Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong, but have you heard the name Guion Bluford Jr.? Bluford was the first African American to go to space.
A graduate of Overbrook High School, he studied aerospace engineering at Penn State and became a NASA astronaut in 1979. In August 1983, his ST-8 mission sent him into space for the first time. Retiring in 1993, he spent more than 28 days in space over the course of four missions.
James Carroll
If you’ve ever hit the trails at John Heinz National Wildlife Refuge at Tinicum, you may have stopped at the James Carroll Observation Tower. The deck gives you a great view of the water and the birds flying overhead.
Carroll, the namesake of the deck, was a regular visitor to these marshlands. Born in the Eastwick neighborhood, where the refuge is located, he became the first caretaker for the new preserve in 1955, and he was so good at his job that he received a key to the city in 1963.
Carroll was also the first Black member of the Delaware Valley Ornithological Club. But due to segregation, he often faced discrimination when traveling with the group. His office at the Tinicum was burned down twice and ultimately replaced with a stone building that now sits near the entrance. When the preserve became a national refuge, he worked his way up to become a biological technician. Carroll died in 2001.
The deck stands where his original office was located. So the next time you’re there to enjoy the views, remember that it was named after a man who loved where he lived and worked.
Caroline LeCount
You may have heard that Taney Street has a new name. The street is thought to have been named to honor Supreme Court Justice Roger B. Taney, who wrote the Dred Scott decision. That ruling denied Black people the right to citizenship after slavery. Community members had organized to have the street name changed, and last year it was officially renamed to honor Caroline LeCount.
Who is Caroline LeCount? She became a teacher after graduating from the Institute for Colored Youth and was the first Black woman to pass Philadelphia’s teacher exam. LeCount later taught in schools in the city, like Wilmcot Colored School in Frankford, and was the long-time principal of a school for Black children and adults that was named after her late fiancé, the Octavius V. Catto School.
A well regarded poet and public speaker, in her early years she pushed back against streetcar segregation. A century before Rosa Parks, she protested by defiantly boarding a streetcar and refusing to get off. After years of organizing and the collective efforts of her and her colleagues, this discriminatory act was prohibited.
Dox Thrash
Dox Thrash is not originally from Philadelphia, but he left his imprint in the city he later called home. Hailing from Georgia, Thrash left home at 15 during the Great Migration and found work in Chicago, where he also attended the School of the Art Institute of Chicago. After serving in World War I, he continued his studies in Chicago and then moved to Philadelphia, perfecting his craft as a printmaker and painter. Thrash was the first Black artist to work for the Fine Print Workshop of Philadelphia.
Community members have been fighting for years to preserve his home in Sharswood and create a community space.
