of geologists is low because there are still
very few African Americans in that specialty.
It should also be noted that the engineers and
medical doctors were included because of
their accomplishments as researchers rather
than as practitioners of their professions. The
two anthropologists might be considered so-
cial scientists rather than physical scientists,
but their work cuts across such boundaries.

It should be emphasized that there are
many additional distinguished--even out-
standing--African American scientists and
engineers who have not been included for a
variety of mundane reasons. Specifically,
some who were invited to participate were
simply too deeply engaged in their research
and other work to spend the rather signifi-
cant time required to prepare the informa-
tion upon which the biographies were con-
structed. We feel, however, that our set of
biographies represents a good cross-section
of distinguished African American partici-
pation in scientific professions.

When available, a photograph of the pro-
filed scientist was included with his or her
entry. In some cases, however, photographs
were unavailable and illustrations have been
used.

In addition, it should be noted that in pre-
paring this volume, we served mainly as
scribes and compilers. The true authors are
the people who lived the lives and understood
the struggles. In fact, when possible, the bi-
ographies were reviewed by the subjects
themselves.

The reader will notice that overcoming
obstacles is the underlying theme tying to-
gether these 100 stories of African Ameri-
can scientists. Anyone who seeks to become
a scientist, engineer, or research physician
must be able to handle adversity and resist
the depressing effects that can come from
what, at times, seems like an endless struggle
just to get to the bottom of the ladder. When
the ordinary tribulations of research are com-
pounded by minority status, the path to suc-
cess can be steeper still. All the people who
succeed in reaching such career goals must
be talented--with high aptitudes for their
chosen careers. They must also be persistent.
Persistence is, perhaps, the more important
trait. When reading these life stories, there-
fore, one comes finally to an inescapable po-
sition of considered respect for those who
achieved what they set out to achieve.

We thank Golda Haines for her help in get-
ting the project off the ground by preparing
a large batch of solicitation letters in the
1992-93 time frame. In addition, very help-
ful research support and aid was provided
by Dr. Arthuree Wright of the Freedmen's
Library at Howard University, by the staff at
the Moorland-Spingarn Research Center on
the Howard campus, by Gabrielle Morris at
the Regional Oral History Office, Bancroft
Library, University of California at Berke-
ley, and by the staff at the Martin Luther King
Memorial Library in the District of Colum-
bia. We also thank the staff of the Schomburg
Center for Research in Black Culture at the
New York Public Library and the scholarly
workers at the Anacostia Museum in the Dis-
trict of Columbia.

The faculty and staff of the College of
Library and Information Services at the Uni-
versity of Maryland, College Park, also de-
serve gratitude. In particular, Drs. Claude
Walston, Anne MacLeod, Ann Prentice, and
Diane Barlow gave both formal administra-
tive and informal moral support to the
project.

Our illustrator, Sigrid Berge, did an out-
standing job of capturing the quality of her
subjects in her composite portraits. These il-
lustrations and most of the various forms of
photographic materials were scanned into the
computer and artfully processed by Alyce
Neukirk.

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