George Henry White, Sr. was born on December 18, 1852 in Rosindale, North Carolina.  Although George was born FREE, he realized at an early age that his FAITH and EDUCATION would lay the foundation for his path in life.  He was educated through the public schools in rural N.C. and upon graduating he continued his education at Howard University in Washington, D.C. where he became an attorney.  With the knowledge that he acquired, he became an educator and school principal so that he could share his love of knowledge with others.  This was not the end of his long list of accomplishments, do you remember when I mentioned his FAITH, George also was the founder of Ebenezer Presbyterian Church in New Bern, N.C. and Mr. White didn’t stop there, he went on to become the North Carolina State Representative and Senator, one of the last Republican African American Congressmen who was elected during Reconstruction, most noted for introducing a bill to make lynching a Federal Crime (it dies in committee), he served two terms.  Afterwards, Mr. White became a banker in Philadelphia, PA and in Whitesboro, New Jersey which is an African-American community he co-founded.  On December 28, 1918, George Henry White passed at the age of 66.

Pennsylvania received U.S. patent #1,362,823 on December 21, 1920 for an improved comb that straightened hair. The Sammons patent notes he invented a heated comb that removed kinks from the hair.  The hot comb also known as the pressing and straightening comb, is a metal comb which creates a smooth texture when heated and combed through the hair. Sammons designed it to straighten the hair from root to tip. When the hot comb was first invented, it was heated on top of the stove. Today’s models are heated by electricity.  Although Sammons originally designed the hot comb for the African-American community, other women have also taken to it to achieve straighter, sleeker locks as well as to create different hairstyles

On February 12, 2019, the NAACP marked its 110th anniversary. Spurred by growing racial violence in the early 20th century, and particularly by 1908 race riots in Springfield, Illinois, a group of African American leaders joined together to form a new permanent civil rights organization, the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). February 12, 1909, was chosen because it was the centennial anniversary of the birth of Abraham Lincoln.