Charles Lang, 81; Promoted Science Careers for Blacks

Charles J. Lang, a Los Angeles educator who encouraged African American youths to pursue careers in science and aerospace and helped NASA recruit for the space shuttle program, has died. He was 81.

Lang, who taught English at West Los Angeles College from the school’s inception in 1969, died Friday at California Hospital Medical Center of complications from pneumonia. He had been in ill health for two years.

Combining his skills in photography, interest in flying and passion for encouraging young African Americans to “use their education and minds to achieve success,” Lang in 1963 created the multimedia filmstrip “Equal Opportunity in Space Science.”

The National Aeronautics and Space Administration made the filmstrip available to schools across the country and incorporated it into a publicity campaign.

In 1977, NASA asked Lang to help recruit minorities and women astronauts to work aboard the space shuttle. Lang achieved quick results: On Jan. 16, 1978, Dr. Ronald E. McNair, Maj. Guion S. Bluford Jr. and Maj. Frederick D. Gregory became the first blacks named to the space shuttle team.

For his work, Lang received a silver medal once carried into space by McNair. The Los Angeles Community College District had nominated Lang for the Teacher in Space program. The chosen teacher, Christa McAuliffe, and McNair died along with five other astronauts in the explosion of the Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986.

As a co-founder and associate director of the Watts Skills Center, established after the 1965 riots, Lang also used that venue to urge young blacks to pursue careers in science. There too, he worked to point them toward Southern California’s aerospace industry, which he had learned employed few minorities.

Lang, who grew up in Santa Barbara, earned his bachelor’s degree at Tuskegee Institute in Alabama. The future teacher earned master’s and doctoral degrees in education from UCLA.

During the Korean War, Lang became one of the Army’s first black combat photojournalists and commanded integrated infantry troops. After his service, Lang taught in Los Angeles elementary schools and worked on audio-visual materials for the Los Angeles Unified School District before starting the Watts Skills Center.

Among other awards, Lang earned Tuskegee’s Distinguished Alumni Merit Award in 1992.

Lang is survived by his wife, Agatha; one son, Keith; three daughters, Angele and Khadijah Lang and Twyla Lang-Gordon; one brother, Alfred; two sisters, Inez Booth and Claire Chisholm; and eight grandchildren