Lawson State Community College Libraries / Learning Resource Centers

Reminder...

Join us for an Information Resources Fair, specially designed for students in Career and Technical Education (CTE) programs! Explore a wide range of library tools, databases, and services that support your hands-on learning and career goals. Drop in, ask questions, and leave better equipped for success in your program and beyond!

Is there a question that you have about technical programs?
We can help you with that!
Just scan the QR code below.
Or send an email to [email protected]

Lawson State Community College
Start Here, Go Anywhere!

A little inspiration for our S.T.E.A.M. / S.T.E.M Scholars! There are so many Birmingham natives that have changed the world.

Dr. Herbert Smitherman was Born in 1937 in Birmingham, Alabama. He was a senior chemical engineer at Procter & Gamble and a University Professor. He was responsible for the development and improvement of such products as, Crest toothpaste, Safeguard soap, Bounce fabric softener, Bix, Folgers Coffee, and Crush soda.
He went to segregated primary and secondary schools in Birmingham and graduated at the top of his class. After high school he received his BS and MS in Chemistry at Tuskegee University. After receiving his MS degree, he taught at Texas Southern University and did a two-year stint in the U.S. Army after which he enrolled at Howard University where he received his Ph.D. in physical organic chemistry.
In 1966 after receiving his Ph.D. he was hired at P & G thus becoming the first African American hired there with a Doctorate degree. He rose through the ranks becoming a senior chemical engineer where he was instrumental in P & G’s growth because of his innovation and creative product development.
Interesting Facts:
• He received dozens of patents for most of P & G’s most important products.
• He was instrumental in breaking down racial barriers paving the way for aspiring Black chemist and scientist could have an opportunity to be successful in STEM careers.
• One of his patents for toothpaste formula has been cited by 31 other patents, showing how his work aided other scientists.
• He was instrumental in recruiting minority STEM graduates for P&G.
• He helped to establish the Black Technical Ph.D. Group at P&G that advocated for Black scientist and engineers to be awarded, paid, and promoted for their contributions.
• He founded the National Organization for Black Chemist and Chemical Engineers.
• He was known as the “Jackie Robinson of Procter & Gamble”.
• All of his 6 children were college educated, one of his sons is a city councilman in Cincinnati, and his oldest son is a dean of medicine at Wayne State University.
• At the time of his death in 2010 he and his wife Barbara had celebrated their 51st wedding anniversary.

In observance of Hispanic Heritage Month, Lawson State Community College - Libraries would like to share some history about the celebration.

Somos Hispanos | Hispanic Heritage Month; Latino Folk Tales | Season 15 | Episode 1 The origins of National Hispanic Heritage Month. Latino Folk Tales exhibit at SVSU.

‘Lullaby for the Grieving’: Alabama’s poet laureate on her journey through loss and hope Ashley M. Jones was on a roll. It was 2022 and she had just been named the youngest and first Black poet laureate in Alabama. Soon after, her father died without warning.

We remember the children of September 15, 1963.

Sixty-two years ago, racial terror took six young lives in Birmingham. We speak their names:

• Addie Mae Collins (14)
• Denise McNair (11)
• Carole Robertson (14)
• Johnny Robinson (16)
• Virgil Ware (13)
• Cynthia Wesley (14)

Their dreams were unfinished, but their lives moved a nation toward justice. May we honor them not only with remembrance, but with courage, care for one another, and a commitment to tell the truth so that we may build a better future.

🖼️: “The Flowers of the Fall of 1963” by Ronald Scott McDowell