Thursday, March 4, 2021
- Highlighting Women's History Month: Bessie Blount Griffin was an African American nurse, inventor and physical therapist. Most well known for her help with rehabilitating World War II veterans, in particular she helped those who were disabled to readjust to life in the stateside. She began to work on inventing an electronic feeding tube for people who had lost limbs. Then Bessie donated her invention to the French government which was used in military hospitals worldwide. She continued on to fight for desegregation of state-supported institutions. She wrote columns for New Jersey Herald News and Philadelphia Independent and joined NAACP doing public relations work. In 1969, she began to work as a forensic scientist for police departments of Vineland, Norfolk and Portsmouth. She assumed the role of chief document examiner until 1972 and later became the first American woman ever accepted into advanced studies at the Document Division of Scotland in the United Kingdom. For the next twenty years, she ran her own forensic science consulting business in the US examining active court cases, historical records, and civil war documents. Bessie Blount Griffin was an inspiration to us and we must continue to honor the impact she has had on so many people’s lives.
- The Minks (the ARHS Literary Magazine) is open and accepting all student work! Whether it’s an essay, poem, story, or any other piece of writing, email it to mi...@arps.org, and your work could be included in this year’s edition!
