DOE/Argonne National Laboratory
There was no relief against systemic racism for Blacks living in Mississippi, or elsewhere throughout the South, during the 1940s. Jim Crow laws that took root throughout the South had found their way across much of the nation by the early decades of the 1900s, many of them aimed at segregation, whether in the military, marriage, public facilities, restaurants or schools.
Yet, in a world clouded by apprehension, fear and suspicion, bright spots prevailed.
"I hope the people who receive the Fellowship, whether they stay at the lab or go elsewhere, see themselves as someone who can be a role model and a participant in increasing and enhancing the number of African Americans in science." -- Walter Massey