Bernard Proctor Black History Scrapbook

Captain Bernard Proctor (1921-2013) was awarded three Presidential Citations, twelve Battle Stars, and a Tuskegee Airmen Congressional Medal of Honor in 2007 for his service, in the United States Army Air Force Reserve in the 0riginal 99th fighter squadron of the Tuskegee Airmen [1943-1958]. He was an officer who fought in the theaters of North Africa, Italy and France during World War II.

He was also Vice President of Cheyney University, and was the football and basketball coach at Wilberforce University and attended Ohio State University for graduate school. He taught industrial arts at several historically Black colleges and universities. He was a descendant of the West Indies and African Americans.

He compiled a Black history scrapbook with clippings from Joel August Rogers paperback series Your History, first published in 1940. This is a unique history which chronicles the accomplishments and tenacity of Black men and women. Also included is Negroes in the Halls of Congress by James M. Rosbrow, and illustrations from Ahmed Samuel Milai, and clippings from the Pittsburgh Courier.

Proctor was selected to be interviewed for the Library of Congress National Visionary Leadership Project as a noted African American leader. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1sXgWFA74ng&list=PLCwE4GdJdVRLH4E09gFhwTYyymDWTqfpf

Joel Augustus Rogers(1880-1966) was a Jamaican-American author, journalist, and amateur historian who focused on the history of Africa; as well as the African diaspora. After settling in the United States in 1906, he lived in Chicago and then New York City. He became interested in the history of African Americans in the United States. His research spanned the academic fields of history, sociology and anthropology. He challenged prevailing ideas about scientific racism and the social construction of race, demonstrated the connections between civilizations, and traced achievements of ethnic Africans, including some with mixed European ancestry. He was one of the earliest popularizers of African and African-American history in the 20th century.

Ahmed Samuel Milai, better known as Sam Milai, was an African American editorial and comic strip cartoonist who drew for the Pittsburgh Courier. From 1940–c. 1971, Milai illustrated "Your History", written by Joel Augustus Rogers.

The Pittsburgh Courier was an African American weekly newspaper published in Pittsburgh from 1907 until October 22, 1966. By the 1930s, the Courier was one of the leading black newspapers in the United States. It was acquired in 1965 by John H. Sengstacke, a major black publisher and owner of the Chicago Defender. He re-opened the paper in 1967 as the New Pittsburgh Courier, making it one of his four newspapers for the African American audience.

Sources: Wikipedia. Accessed 4/8/24