Remembering the Past, Looking to the Future [President’s Column]

Happy February! Two of the most popular holidays observed during this month in the United States include Black History Month and Valentine’s Day. We typically take a day to celebrate those whom we love and use this month to recognize the accomplishments of history makers of African descent. In many instances, those leaders endured hardship due to the partiality of society during those times. Granville T. Woods is considered the first black electrical engineer, who received nearly 60 patents. Woods invented “telegraphony,” which was a method of combining the features of the telephone and telegraph. Patent US687098A enabled railway operators to send and receive messages more quickly than before. That patent was purchased by Alexander Graham Bell’s company, which was later acquired by AT&T [1].