Curtis Powell papers 1935-2002 1968-2002

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Curtis Powell papers 1935-2002 1968-2002

http://archives.nypl.org/scm/22377

Curtis Powell, African-American scientist and Black Panther Party member, was born in Orange, New Jersey in 1935, and died in Queens, New York in 2002. After serving in the military, he studied Chemistry, first at Seton Hall University, then abroad before receiving his PhD from the University of Stockholm in 1968. Upon his return to New York, Powell joined the Black Panther Party (BPP). A year later, despite limited evidence, Powell and twenty other BPP members (eventually known as the "Panthers 21") were jailed for over two years before being acquitted. Following his release, Powell moved to Africa and developed a vaccine for Trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness). He returned to the United States in 1994 to try to bring his vaccine into production. The Curtis Powell Papers contain letters, research data, scientific reports (most in several drafts), published articles, presentations, and patent documentation for his vaccine, as well as copies of Black Panther Party documents and publications, including organization and planning documents for the BPP's 25th Anniversary Celebration.

.8 lin. ft. (2 boxes)

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Rare Books, Manuscripts, and Archives Section

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SNAC Resource ID: 6317382

Related Entities

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Black Panther Party

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6wx89m1 (corporateBody)

The Black Panther Party was founded in October 1966 by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale as an organization dedicated to protecting and uplifting the Black population of Oakland. As the organization grew this focus spread to the rest of the United States and even abroad. The armed militancy and Marxist rhetoric employed by the Black Panthers, along with their philosophy of Black self-government caught the attention of both local law enforcement authorities and the FBI. As a result, many in the Pant...

Powell, Curtis, 1935-2002

http://n2t.net/ark:/99166/w6526r3s (person)

Curtis Powell, African-American scientist and Black Panther Party member, was born in Orange, New Jersey in 1935, and died in Queens, New York in 2002. After serving in the military, he studied Chemistry, first at Seton Hall University, then abroad before receiving his PhD from the University of Stockholm in 1968. Upon his return to New York, Powell joined the Black Panther Party (BPP). A year later, despite limited evidence, Powell and twenty other BPP members (eventually known as ...