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Phyllis Wheatley High School graduate Frank Mann (1908-1992) was just 11 when he met Howard Hughes on a Houston airfield. Mann went on to become a successful aeronautical and aerospace engineer, and worked for Hughes in California. A black child born in 1908 to an unwed mother, he defied the odds to achieve remarkable success in his field. H.T. Bryer, the author of “Hidden Genius: Frank Mann, the Black Engineer Behind Howard Hughes,” knew Mann personally. He and his brother Paul Bryer, who was Mann’s best friend and confidant, spent 20 years researching the book.   Continue reading →