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African Americans have endured a long and painful history of marginalization, racism and segregation in the United States, particularly during the late 19th and early 20th century. These injustices were deeply rooted in every part of the society, including higher education and the scientific community. African American scholars and scientists often faced barriers when trying to enter well-funded universities, gain access to research opportunities and receive recognition for their work.
Jim crow law
Jim crow law
(Capatosto 2020)
Jim Crow laws were a system of racial segregation and discrimination that developed in the United States after the end of Reconstruction in the late 1800s. Although Reconstruction (1865-1877) intially created civil rights protections for African Americans through laws such as Civil Rights Act of 1866 and the 14th and 15th Amendments, these gains were gradually reversed as white leaders regained political power. Jim Crow laws enforced racial segregation in public spaces, including schools, transportation, housing and workplaces, and were upheld by the Supreme Court in Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), which estalished "separate but equal " doctrine. In reality, African American were provided with inferior facilities, limited educational and economic opportunities, and were subjected to widespread discrimination and violence. While Jim Crow laws were strongest in the Southern United States, racial segregation and discrimination also existed in the Northern United States through hosuing, employment and social policies, creating systemic barriers that marginalized African Americans across the country.
Segregation within education
Segregation within education
(Gerber 1976)
Segregation in education was both physical and systemic, creating unequal opportunities for African Americans. Institutions like Wilberforce University were specifically created for Black students, reinforcing racial segregation in higher education. Despite providing students with an opportunity to learn, these institution were underfunded compared to white universities. Discriminatory funding practices and societal beliefs about the "place" of African Americans limited access to resources, faculty, and advanced academic programs, particularly in fields like science. Additionally, the existence of separated Black institutions was by some policymakers to justify restricting Black students from attending predominantly white universites. As a result, segregation not only divided education physically but also created lasting inequalities that shaped marginalization experienced by scientists like Ruth Ella Moore.
The Fifth Solvay Conference on Quantum Mechanics in 1927
The Fifth Solvay Conference on Quantum Mechanics in 1927
From back row to front, reading left to right: Auguste Piccard, Émile Henriot, Paul Ehrenfest, Édouard Herzen, Théophile de Donder, Erwin Schrödinger, Jules-Émile Verschaffelt, Wolfgang Pauli, Werner Heisenberg, Ralph Howard Fowler, Léon Brillouin, Peter Debye, Martin Knudsen, William Lawrence Bragg, Hendrik Anthony Kramers, Paul Dirac, Arthur Compton, Louis de Broglie, Max Born, Niels Bohr, Irving Langmuir, Max Planck, Marie Skłodowska Curie, Hendrik Lorentz, Albert Einstein, Paul Langevin, Charles-Eugène Guye, Charles Thomson Rees Wilson, Owen Willans Richardson.
None of the conference's scientists were people of colour, and only one was a woman.
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