Famous Alabamians: Others

Famous Alabamians: Others

N. Jan Davis

Born November 1, 1953 in Cocoa Beach, Florida, N. Jan Davis moved with her family to Huntsville, Alabama - the perfect place to be for a future astronaut.

Davis pursued her career in 1979 when she began work as an engineer for NASA's Marshall Space Flight Center. The year 1987 was an exciting one for Davis; along with her new position of lead engineer, she received the Marshall Space Flight Center Director's Commendation, and qualified to be an astronaut and mission specialist on Space Shuttle flight crews.

Davis had her first opportunity to travel to space in 1992. She was a mission specialist on STS-47, the Space Shuttle's 50th mission. During her eight days in space, Davis operated Spacelab and performed various experiments. Davis' second flight came on STS-60 in 1994. Davis shared this flight, launched on February 3, 1994, with the first Russian cosmonaut to be a Shuttle crew member. When Davis returned to earth on February 11, 1994 she had 389 hours in space under her belt.

Dr. Mae Jemison

Mae Jemison was born in Decatur, Alabama on October 17, 1956. She was the youngest of three children. When Mae was three, she moved to Chicago, Illinois.

Mae liked science when she was young. She was a very good student. By the age of sixteen she had received a scholarship to attend Stanford University. Mae Jemison received a degree in chemical engineering in 1977. She received a Doctor of Medicine degree in 1981.

NASA selected Dr. Jemison for astronaut training in 1987. Her first mission was aboard the Shuttle Endeavour in September of 1992. On this mission, Dr. Jemison became the first African-American woman into space.

In 1993, Dr. Jemison resigned from NASA. She now works on projects to advance technology in developing countries. She is also a professor at Dartmouth College.



Helen Keller
Historical figure, Tuscumbia

Helen Keller was born on June 27, 1880 in Tuscumbia, Alabama. She was a lively and friendly child until she caught a fever at the age of 18 months. Her illness, described as an acute congestion of the stomach, robbed her of her sight and her hearing. Keller created her own set of signs to make her wishes known to her parents; by age seven she had invented over 60 signs in order to communicate with her family.

Anne Sullivan came to the family in March of 1887. Sullivan began to teach Keller the manual alphabet; Keller's made her first connection between words and physical phenomenon when Sullivan taught her the word water. This moment has been memorialized not only on paper, but in numerous films chronicling Keller's life.

Keller's strength and courage made her an inspiration to many people throughout the world; she was able to advance the well being of disabled people across the globe. She spent the last years of her life raising funds for organizations working with the blind and deaf.

Keller died on June 1, 1968 in Westport, Connecticut. Her influence is still felt through Helen Keller International, an organization combating blindness in developing countries. Many books, plays and films were written about Keller's life, the best-known being the 1962 film The Miracle Worker.



Condoleeza Rice
Secretary of State, Titusville

Condoleeza Rice was born on November 14, 1954 in Birmingham, Alabama. She entered the University of Denver at age 15 and graduated in 1974 with a bachelor's degree in political science and went on to receive her master's, doctorate, and several honorary degrees.

From 1989 through March 1991, Rice served with the Bush Administration as Director of Soviet and East European Affairs in the National Security Council. She went on to be named Senior director and also served as a Special Assistant to President Bush for National Security Affairs.

Condoleeza Rice was named National Security Advisor for the Bush Administration on January 22, 2001.

On January 28, 2005, Rice was named Secretary of State.



David Satcher
Surgeon General, Anniston

Born in rural Anniston in 1941, David Satcher grew up on the family farm. Satcher decided to become a doctor after suffering through a bout of whooping cough at the age of two. His mother saved him with her special southern brand of home-grown medicine, and inspired David; he dreamed of being Anniston's first family doctor.

Satcher's parents stressed the importance of education and sent their son to Atlanta to study at Morehouse College. After graduation from medical school, Satcher pursued a career in epidemiology, disease research and academic medicine. He trained numerous medical students in the field of family medicine. Satcher climbed through the ranks of the profession to reach the position of president of Meharry Medical College and CEO of Meharry/Hubbard Hospital. Satcher was involved in the Civil Rights Movement in his college days, and has found himself confronting racial issues all through his medical career. As CEO of Meharry, Satcher oversaw the merger of White-controlled Metropolitan Nashville Hospital into the multi-racial Meharry/Hubbard system.

In 1993, Satcher was chosen to head the Center for Disease Control and Prevention in Altanta. The first African-American to run the Center, Satcher confronted the problems of AIDS, gun violence, and cigarette smoking. In 1997, Satcher found himself nominated for the post of Surgeon General of the United States. He was the third Black nominated for the position by President Clinton. Satcher's hearings went smoothly, although there were tough questions about his stand on gun violence and AIDS education. He was confirmed by the Senate in late October 1997.

On January 1, 1995, Helen Friedman Blackshear became the eighth Poet Laureate of Alabama. The office of Poet Laureate was established in 1931 by the state legislature. Every four years, the Writers' Conclave holds an election of the nominated candidates, in which the winner will be issued commission by the state governor.

Among Helen Friedman Blackshear's publications are: Mother Was a Rebel (non-fiction), The Creek Captives and Other Alabama Stories, Southern Smorgasbord (collection of essays). Also, she has 5 books of poems in publication. In addition to these credits, she has been published in the Georgia Review, as well as in publications. In 1993 she published From the Peddler to Philanthropist: The Friedman Story, which chronicle 3 generations of the Friedmans, her father's family.

Past Alabama Poet Laureate have been:
Ralph Hammond, 1992-1995
Morton Dennison Prouty, Jr. 1988-1991
Carl Patrick Morton, 1983-1987
William Young Elliott, 1975-1982
Bert Henderson, 1959-1974
Mary B. Ward, 1954-1958
Samuel Minturn Peck, 1930-1938