The Delany Sisters

(Annie Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany - L & Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany - R)

Sarah Louise "Sadie" Delany (1889-1999) and Annie Elizabeth "Bessie" Delany (1891-1995) - "The Delany Sisters" are credited by the Guinness Book of World Records as being the world's oldest authors at ages 103 and 105 in 1994.They co-authored two books, Having Our Say: The Delany Sisters' First 100 Years and The Delany Sisters' Book of Everyday Wisdom. After Bessie's passing, Sadie authored a third book, On My Own At 107: Reflections on Life Without Bessie. Prior to their work as authors, Sadie was a schoolteacher until retirement, and Bessie was dentist - being the second African-American woman to become licensed to practice dentistry in the state of New York. The sisters were the second and third eldest of ten children. Their mother, Nanny Logan Delany, was an educator; and their father, Henry Beard Delany, was born into slavery and later became the first African-American to be elected Bishop of the Episcopal Church in the United States.

Fingerprinting: The Interesting Case of Will West and William West

(Will West is believed to be pictured in the top photo and William West pictured in the bottom photo)

The story of Will West and William West continues to fascinate me! Unintentionally, these two played a major role with ushering in the process of fingerprinting as a means of identifying individuals. The story goes a little something like this:

In 1903, a prisoner named Will West arrived at Leavenworth Penitentiary.  A clerk who saw West's mugshot believed that he had seen him before, although West stated that he had never been to Leavenworth. The clerk pulled a record that contained West's mugshot and measurements. West believed himself to be the individual in the photo, but did not know how it got there since he had never been there before.

Well...the clerk and the Will West were both correct! Will West had never been to Leavenworth, and the clerk did have a file for West - William West! William West was already incarcerated and serving a life sentence for murder (I do not have the specifics of why Will West was sent to Leavenworth).

The measurements and mugshots of both prisoners were almost identical! Needless to say another means of identifying these two prisoners was necessary. After checking their fingerprints, it was discovered that they had different fingerprint patterns, and thus the process of fingerprinting became a more reliable process in identifying individuals (the Bertillon system was used previously).

It's Black History Month!!!

I'm so excited for Black History Month! This year, I've decided to highlight some lesser known individuals who have impacted and contributed to the black community. There are so many unknown figures whose stories should be shared, and that is what I aim to do! So I hope you'll follow along and enjoy as we share this time to explore a rich history which encompasses some exciting and influential figures!

And remember, Black History is Our History so take time to learn it past these 28 days. :-)