Black History Month honors the transformative contributions African Americans have made to the United States. From groundbreaking advances in medicine and science to lasting impacts on education, the following men and women have helped shape American history.

Dr. LaSalle D. Leffall Jr. (Late 20th century)

LaSalle D. Leffall Jr. was a surgical oncologist who spent his career ensuring that patients of all races had equal access to quality healthcare. To address cancer disparities in the African American community, he created programs to promote early diagnosis and prevention. These programs helped lower rates of lung, stomach, pancreatic, esophageal, and uterine cancers.

Thanks in part to Dr. Leffall Jr.’s leadership and advocacy, healthcare disparities have become a major focus for cancer programs around the world.

Marie Maynard Daly (1921–2003)

Marie Maynard Daly, a biochemist from New York, became the first Black woman in the United States to earn a Ph.D. in chemistry. While studying proteins, sugars, and cholesterol, she became the first researcher to find a clear correlation between increased blood pressure and high cholesterol levels in the blood.

Dr. Daly’s work marked a turning point in medical research and significantly advanced the way scientists understand how enzymes break down food and affect heart health.

Susie King Taylor (1860s)

Susie King Taylor is recognized as the first African American nurse in the Army during the Civil War. She also founded the first school for Black children in her community and became the first African American woman to teach in Georgia.

Years after the war, Taylor wrote and published Reminiscences of My Life in Camp, one of the most detailed accounts of daily life in a Civil War camp. This is also the only known Civil War memoir written by an African American woman.