By Chester County Independent Editor Kendall Patterson
Gerald Lawson – Engineer
December 1, 1940 – April 9, 2011
All the gamers in the community should take the time to know this African American pioneer in the gaming industry.
Gerald Lawson developed a knack for electronics at a young age which led him to fixing neighbors’ small appliances as a hobby.
As his life went on, this hobby would lead him to designing one of the world’s first gaming consoles, the Fairchild Channel Fun.
The Fairchild Channel Fun, also known as Channel F, paved the way for the major gaming companies of Nintendo and Atari.
For those who grew up playing on consoles that used gaming cartridges, take note: Lawson led the team of engineers that invented video game cartridges in the 70’s.
Since I am a gamer myself, I appreciate this man’s work. I entered the world of gaming in the 90’s with the Nintendo 64 which used gaming cartridges. Now I, along with other Nintendo players, continue to use gaming cartridges on the Nintendo Switch.
That being said, Lawson being the leader in developing the game cartridge should not go unnoticed.
Guion Bluford – Astronaut
November 22, 1942 – Present
and
Mae Jemison – Astronaut
October 17, 1956 – Present
I’m a journalist now, but a neat little fact is that, as a child, I wanted to be an astronaut.
I was fascinated by the planets and the stars and desired to learn more about them and the universe beyond.
Though my life’s plans have changed since then, I still admire Guion Bluford and Mae Jemison.
In the 70’s Bluford soared across the skies as an Air Force pilot during the Vietnam War.
Later in the decade, Bluford joined NASA.
During NASA’s STS-8 mission in 1983, Bluford became the first African American in space.
Jemison made her mark in African American history not long after Bluford made his.
On June 4, 1987, Jemison became the first African American woman to be admitted into NASA’s astronaut training program. Then, in 1992, she flew into space aboard the Endeavour, becoming the first African American woman in space.
Bluford’s and Jemison’s accomplishments can be examples for the youth of the black community to show that they can do whatever they put their mind to, even reach the stars.
Katherine Johnson – Mathematician
August 26, 1918 – February 24, 2020
Katherine Johnson’s calculation abilities were out of this world.
Like Bluford and Jemison, Johnson made her impact in history while working for NASA.
Through her time at NASA, and also NACA, NASA’s predecessor, her calculations and analyses were a part of not only America’s first strides to outer space but also the world.
Some of the space projects/trips her math contributed to include: the 1957 launch of the Soviet satellite Sputnik, trajectory analysis for Alan Shepard’s May 1961 mission Freedom 7 (America’s first spaceflight), the complex orbital flight path of Glenn’s Friendship 7, helping sync Project Apollo’s Lunar Module with the lunar-orbiting Command and Service Module and much more.
My math skills only go so far, so I applaud Johnson’s mathematic abilities and the influence she had in the exploration of space travel.
