Sibrina Speaks

Born in Tryon, North Carolina on September 9, 1907, Booker Taliafero Washington White was an agricultural chemist and one of several African Americans that earned a doctoral degree in chemistry from The Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio) between the years 1940 and 1970. Booker T. W. White began his college career at West Virginia State College (now know as West Virginia State University), an HBCU (Historically Black College and University) located in West Virginia. White completed his undergraduate degree in 1929. White pursued graduate studies in the Department of Agricultural Chemistry at The Ohio State University earning his M.S. degree from OSU in 1937. He attended OSU during the 1936-37 academic year and the 1941 - 1944 academic years. In 1941, an article entitled "Southern Educator Tries to Find Use for Buckeyes," was published in the student newspaper, The Lantern and briefly described White's research efforts. "Booker T. White, on leave of absence

Born in Tupelo, MS on March 9, 1912, E. Oscar Woolfolk, Jr. was an organic chemist and prolific researcher. The eldest child of  Rev. E.O. Woolfolk, Sr. and Irene, E. Oscar Woolfolk, Jr. had a younger sister named Katherine. Woolfolk began his college education at Talledega College in Alabama earning his undergraduate degree ( cum laude ) in 1934. He completed his M.S. degree at the Ohio State University (Columbus, Ohio) in 1939. Woolfolk's thesis was entitled, "Preferential Reaction of Grignard Reagents with Poly-functional Molecules." Grignard reagents are very useful for making important organic molecules (e.g. secondary alcohols). Woolfolk worked as a research assistant at OSU from 1938-1940 investigating  polynuclear hydrocarbons and the separation of rare earth elements. (Although there were few African Americans pursuing graduate degrees in chemistry during this time period, there was another African American graduate student, Thomas Nelson Baker, Jr. enrolled