Meet an Ohio State researcher introducing students to Black mathematicians through history
Kendall Bell and her cousin Brynn Espy stared at the bulletin board with perplexity.
Their task seemed simple enough. The girls were trying to solve a Picture-Hanging Puzzle: A piece of string with binder-clip weight, tied in a loop, hung on the bulletin board between two thumbtacks. Their goal was to wrap the string around in such a way that if they removed either of the thumbtacks, the weight and string would fall.
Bell, 14, and Espy, 13, wrapped the string every which way with chagrin. The eighth graders weren't alone. Nearly a dozen middle schoolers attending the Hidden Figures Revealed workshop toyed with their own puzzles as the sun set Monday, filling Ohio State University's STEAM Factory with golden light.
Finally, Bell and Espy seemed to solve the puzzle
"I think we got it, but I don't know what this has to do with math," Bell mused.
That would be up to Ranthony A.C. Edmonds to make the connection.
Edmonds, a National Science Foundation postdoctoral researcher in mathematics at Ohio State University, and her colleagues, Hannah McDavid and Thomas Weighill, explained to the students how the puzzle demonstrated an algebraic concept known as group theory.
Groups are often used in advanced mathematics and can appear in puzzle modeling and analysis, for instance, in solving a Rubik's Cube. But discussing the theory was significant for another reason: It is related to the work of a Black Ohio State mathematician.
Guy Hogan, the third Black person to earn a doctorate in mathematics for Ohio State, explored group theory as part of his dissertation. Hogan was also the focal point of this month's Hidden Figures Revealed workshop, a university-sponsored series that teaches middle schoolers STEM lessons by highlighting the stories of Black Ohio State mathematicians.
'Hidden Figures' in Ohio State history
"Hidden Figures Revealed: Dynamic Narratives and History of Black Mathematicians from The Ohio State University" is the first comprehensive study of Black mathematicians at a single U.S. institution. Edmonds, who is the project's principal investigator, began her research in 2019 in hopes of answering the question: Why are there so few Black math researchers in academia?
In 2020, Ohio State had 30 students enrolled in a math major who identified as Black or African American, according to data from the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System. By comparison, there were 644 white students, 125 Asian students and 43 Hispanic students that same year.
From a greater perspective, the Hidden Figures Revealed research aimed to inspire institutional, regional and national reform in both the representation and educational experience of Black people in mathematics and other sciences.
"There's sort of a scarcity (in this field) that I recognize will make my journey being from this demographic quite lonely," Edmonds said. "I will more likely than not always be the only Black females in a room, and maybe one of a few Black people. So the question is why?"
Edmonds liked the idea of looking at history to investigate this question and look at people's stories to understand why there were so few Black mathematicians coming out of Ohio State over time. The project's title alludes to the book and subsequent film "Hidden Figures: The American Dream and the Untold Story of the Black Women Who Helped Win the Space Race" by Margot Lee Shetterly.
Edmonds and the project's other researchers found nearly 200 Black mathematicians who earned degrees from Ohio State since the early 1960s. In this time, seven were awarded doctoral degrees, 24 earned master’s degrees, and 141 received bachelor's degrees.
The team also gathered background information on the alumni through interviews and archival materials, and divided them into three time periods based on when they received their degrees: 1963 to 1984, 1985 to 1998, and 1999 to present.
Understanding the historical and cultural environment that alumni were in during their time at Ohio State helped the team understand what their experience might've been like on campus, and what support or barriers they potentially experienced. That historic understanding can help Ohio State and other institutions better support Black STEM students, Edmonds said.
"I find that some of the explanations to be a bit superficial or very individual, like this person just didn't have what it took or something like that," she said. "But I find that a lot of programs aren't as in touch with how students are experiencing them."
If a university wants Black math researchers, she said, then it needs to be proactive in supporting their Black math graduate students and Black math undergrads.
Workshops teach students about Black mathematicians with a focus on resiliency
Understanding the historical role of research universities in the development of Black math talent is just one facet of the research led by Edmonds, who later this year will continue her academic work at Duke University. It also explores solutions to reversing this underrepresentation.
Ohio State's Black math graduates have gone on to become researchers, authors, teachers, economists, academics, lawyers and university presidents, and yet Edmonds said many of their stories remain “hidden.”
One way to bring these stories into the light was to create educational resources for K-12 teachers and host a workshop to share these stories directly with students.
Edmonds and her team began hosting its first series of workshops last spring. Each session begins with a discussion about an Ohio State "hidden figure," then students work on a hands-on math activity inspired by that mathematician's work.
The workshop, which was initially open to any Columbus middle schooler, partnered this semester with Made for Medicine, a pipeline program for local Black students interested in pursuing careers in medicine and STEM.
Amina Salah, a seventh grader at Metro Early College Middle and High School, isn't the biggest fan of math. But she loved working through the Picture-Hanging Puzzle with the other students.
"I actually thought it was really creative," Salah said. "I really wanted to figure out how to get it done."
London Stewart enjoyed the satisfaction of completing the puzzle.
Stewart, a seventh grader at Berwick Alternative K-8 School, said that math is not her favorite subject, even though she pointed out she is in accelerated math. "Not to flex," she added with a laugh.
But Stewart said she loved how the workshop intertwined STEM with Black history.
"I thought the workshop was going to be about the movie, but it ended up being a lot of fun," she said.
'I can see myself in them'
Edmonds said she often considers herself an "accidental mathematician."
Originally a pre-med major, she switched her major to math in the second semester of her junior year at the University of Kentucky. Edmonds said switching her major late in the game meant she struggled at first to find community and felt isolated as the only Black woman in her math classes.
Edmonds said mentorship and persistence in her studies helped her create a network of support in time.
Now, through "Hidden Figures Revealed" and her other research endeavors, Edmonds is creating spaces and exposing learners of all ages to other mathematicians like her.
"Black history is interesting; it's present and it's happening now," she told the middle schoolers at Monday's workshop.
"I'll look up other Black people who studied math before me, and it makes me want to learn more because I can see myself in them."
Sheridan Hendrix is a higher education reporter for The Columbus Dispatch. Sign up for her Mobile Newsroom newsletter here and Extra Credit, her education newsletter, here.
shendrix@dispatch.com
@sheridan120
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio State researcher teaches students about Black mathematicians
