February 24, 2007
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Profile America for the 24th day of Black History Month. As a youngster, the first love of Simmie Knox was baseball. But an eye injury forced him to give up playing for a while and at a doctor's urging, he took up drawing to help him regain the ability to focus. It turned out to be his life's work. Knox taught art in public schools and colleges for many years before turning to painting portraits. His commissions have included supreme court justices, cabinet members, members of Congress, and key sports and entertainment personalities. His biggest commission was to paint the official White House portraits of President Clinton and his wife, Hillary the first by an African-American artist. There are more than 220,000 professional artists in the U.S., just over 2 percent of them African-American. This special Profile America for Black History Month is a public service of the U.S. Census Bureau.