This Week In Black History

Jet, Jan 17, 2000

January 10, 1961

* Charlayne Hunter-Gault became the first Black woman student at the University of Georgia on this day. A native of Due West, SC, she graduated from Turner High School in Atlanta, determined to earn a degree in journalism. The segregated University of Georgia (UGA) was the only local university with a journalism school. A group, the Atlanta Committee for Cooperative Action, approached her and another student, Hamilton Holmes, to integrate the university. UGA resisted with legal maneuvering during which time Hunter-Gault attended Wayne State Univ. in Detroit. Finally, the federal court issued the integration order in January of 1961. Hunter-Gault graduated with a B.A. in journalism in 1963. In 1979 she debuted as a reporter for PBS' "MacNeil/Lehrer NewsHour," and worked until 1997 when the award-winning journalist became chief correspondent in Africa for National Public Radio in South Africa. In April of 1999 she became CNN's Johannesburg bureau chief.

January 16, 1978

* The National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) named three Blacks to take part in its space shuttle program on this day. The astronauts were: Dr. Ronald E. McNair (l), Major Frederick D. Gregory (r) and Major Guion S. Bluford. McNair, a physicist and mission specialist, was killed in an explosion aboard the space shuttle Challenger in January 1986. Bluford, a veteran Air Force pilot, served as a mission specialist on four shuttle flights. Now retired from NASA, he works for Federal Data Corporation in Bethesda, MD, as a vice president and general manager. Gregory, an Air Force pilot as well, commanded three space missions from 1985 to 1991. He remains at NASA working as associate administrator for Safety and Mission Assurance.