African Americans are a
demographicA demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment...
minority in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The
first achievements by African Americans in various fields historically establish a foothold, providing a precedent for more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier."
One commonly cited example is that of
Jackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, who was the first African American of the modern era to become a
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
player, ending 60 years of segregated leagues.
Discussion
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African Americans are a
demographicA demographic or demographic profile is a term used in marketing and broadcasting, to describe a demographic grouping or a market segment...
minority in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. The
first achievements by African Americans in various fields historically establish a foothold, providing a precedent for more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier."
One commonly cited example is that of
Jackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
, who was the first African American of the modern era to become a
Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
player, ending 60 years of segregated leagues. Segregated Negro Leagues had been established for decades, featuring many talented athletes.
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18th century
19th century: 1820s • 1830s • 1840s • 1850s • 1860s • 1870s • 1880s • 1890s
20th century: 1900s • 1910s • 1920s • 1930s • 1940s • 1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s
21st century
See also
References
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18th century
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- First known African-American published author: Jupiter Hammon
Jupiter Hammon was a Black poet who became the first African-American published writer in America when a poem appeared in print in 1760. He was a slave his entire life, and the date of his death is not known. He was living in 1790 at the age of 79, and had definitely died by 1806...
(poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries", published as a broadsideA broadside or occasionally broadsheet is a large sheet of paper printed on one side only and typically used as a poster to announce some event, proclamation or other matter. It also is used to describe newspapers printed on similarly sized paper...
)
-
- Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, popularly known as "The Father of Chicago", was the first known settler in the area which is now Chicago, Illinois
Chicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
.
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- First known African-American woman to publish a book: Phillis Wheatley
Phillis Wheatley Born about 1753 in West Africa, some where along the River Niger, present day Nigeria, she was kidnapped in 1761 and taken to America on a slave ship called "Phillis" . She was purchased in Boston by John Wheatley, a wealthy merchant...
(Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral)
- First separate African American church: Silver Bluff Baptist Church
The Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Aiken County, South Carolina, was founded by several enslaved African-Americans who organized under elder David George in 1773-1775....
, Aiken CountyAiken County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. In 2000, its population was 142,552; in 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that its population had reached 150,181...
, South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
-
- First African-American Baptist congregation: First Baptist Church
First Baptist Church was the first Baptist church in Petersburg; one of the first African-American Baptist congregations in the United States, and one of the oldest black churches in the nation. It also established one of the first local schools in the nation for black children. Its congregation...
, PetersburgPetersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of Richmond. The population was 33,740 as of the 2000 census. It is in Tri-Cities area of the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
-
- First known African-American church congregation: the First Colored Baptist Church, renamed First African Baptist Church, Savannah
Savannah is the largest city in, and the county seat of, Chatham County, Georgia, USA. Savannah was established in 1733 and was the first colonial and state capital of Georgia...
, GeorgiaGeorgia is a state in the United States. One of the original Thirteen Colonies that revolted against British rule in the American Revolution, it had been the last of the Thirteen Colonies to be established, in 1733. Georgia was the fourth state to ratify the United States Constitution, on January...
. This claim is contested by the First Baptist ChurchFirst Baptist Church was the first Baptist church in Petersburg; one of the first African-American Baptist congregations in the United States, and one of the oldest black churches in the nation. It also established one of the first local schools in the nation for black children. Its congregation...
, PetersburgPetersburg is an independent city in Virginia, United States located on the Appomattox River and south of Richmond. The population was 33,740 as of the 2000 census. It is in Tri-Cities area of the Richmond-Petersburg region and is a portion of the Richmond Metropolitan Statistical Area...
, VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
(1774) and historians of the Silver Bluff Baptist ChurchThe Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Aiken County, South Carolina, was founded by several enslaved African-Americans who organized under elder David George in 1773-1775....
(1773-1775) of Aiken CountyAiken County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. In 2000, its population was 142,552; in 2005, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that its population had reached 150,181...
, South CarolinaSouth Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
-
- First African-American U.S. military regiment: the 1st Rhode Island Regiment
The 1st Rhode Island Regiment was a Continental Army regiment from Rhode Island during the American Revolutionary War . Like most regiments of the Continental Army, the unit went through several incarnations and name changes. It became well-known as the "Black Regiment" because, for a time, it had...
-
- First African American to formally practice medicine in the U.S.: James Derham
James Derham was the first African-American to formally practice medicine in the United States though he never received an M.D. degree....
, who did not hold an M.D. degree (See also: 1847)
-
- First major African-American Back-to-Africa movement
The Back-to-Africa movement, also known as the Colonization movement, originated in the United States in the nineteenth century, and encouraged those of African descent to return to the African homelands of their ancestors...
: 1,200 slaves who escaped to settle in Settler Town, Sierra LeoneSettler Town, Sierra Leone or Settler Tong in Krio is the oldest part of Freetown, Sierra Leone and was the home of African American ex-slaves . Settler Town was established as a walled town in 1792 between Walpole and East streets...
.
-
- First African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the "AME Church", is a Methodist denomination founded by Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area that wanted independence from white Methodists...
established: Richard Allen founded Mother Bethel A.M.E. ChurchThe Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church was founded in 1794 by Richard Allen, an African-American Methodist minister. The church has been located at the corner of Sixth and Lombard Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, since that time, making it the oldest continuously-owned property...
, Philadelphia, PennsylvaniaPhiladelphia is the largest city in Pennsylvania and the sixth-most-populous city in the United States.In 2008, the population of the city proper was estimated to be over 1.4 million, while the metropolitan area's population of 5.8 million made it the country's fifth-largest...
-
- First African Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church , also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America , is the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States, Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
established: Absalom JonesAbsalom Jones , was an African-American abolitionist and clergyman. After founding a black congregation in 1794, in 1804 he was the first African-American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States...
founded African Episcopal Church of St. Thomas, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1800s
-
- First African American ordained as an Episcopal
The Episcopal Church , also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America , is the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States, Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
priest in the United States: Absalom JonesAbsalom Jones , was an African-American abolitionist and clergyman. After founding a black congregation in 1794, in 1804 he was the first African-American ordained as a priest in the Episcopal Church of the United States...
in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
-
- First African Presbyterian Church opened in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1810s
-
- First fully independent African-American denomination established: Richard Allen founded the African Methodist Episcopal Church
The African Methodist Episcopal Church, usually called the "AME Church", is a Methodist denomination founded by Rev. Richard Allen in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in 1816 from several black Methodist congregations in the mid-Atlantic area that wanted independence from white Methodists...
(AME) in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and was elected bishop. Several black congregations withdrew from the Methodist Episcopal ChurchThe Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
and created their own denomination.
1820s
-
- First African American to hold a patent
A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or their assignee for a limited period of time in exchange for a public disclosure of an invention....
: Thomas L. JenningsThomas L. Jennings was a leading abolitionist. He was a free black tradesman who operated a dry-cleaning business in New York City, New York and was the first African American to be granted a patent....
, for the "dry scouring" cleaning process
-
- First African American to receive a degree from an American college: Alexander Twilight
Alexander Lucius Twilight , born free in Vermont, was the first black to earn a bachelor's degree from an American college or university, at Middlebury College, Vermont. An educator, minister and politician, he was licensed as a Congregational preacher, and worked in ministry and education all his...
, Middlebury CollegeMiddlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Middlebury was the first American institution of higher education to grant a bachelor's degree to an...
(See also: 1836)
-
- First African-American owned-and-operated newspaper: Freedom's Journal
Freedom's Journal was the first African American owned and operated newspaper published in the United States. Published weekly in New York City from 16 March 1827 to 28 March 1829, the journal was edited by John Russwurm and co-editor, Samuel Cornish who contributed only through the 14 September...
1830s
-
- First African American elected to public office and to serve in a state legislature: Alexander Twilight
Alexander Lucius Twilight , born free in Vermont, was the first black to earn a bachelor's degree from an American college or university, at Middlebury College, Vermont. An educator, minister and politician, he was licensed as a Congregational preacher, and worked in ministry and education all his...
, Vermont (See also: 1823)
-
- First African-American doctor: Dr. James McCune Smith
James McCune Smith was an American physician, apothecary, abolitionist, and author. He is the first African-American in the United States to practice medicine, and to run a pharmacy. Smith wrote forcefully in refutation of the common misconceptions about race, intelligence, medicine, and society...
from the University of GlasgowThe University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest surviving university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities...
, ScotlandScotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
(See also: 1783, 1847)
1840s
-
- First African American licensed to practice law in the United States: Macon Allen
Macon Bolling Allen was both the first African American licensed to practice law in the United States and the first Black American Justice of the Peace.-Bio:...
from the Boston barA bar association is a professional body of lawyers. Some bar associations are responsible for the regulation of the legal profession in their jurisdiction; others are professional organizations dedicated to serving their members; in many cases, they are both.In many Commonwealth jurisdictions, the...
-
- First African American to graduate from a U.S. medical school: Dr. David J. Peck
David Jones Peck was an American physician. He was the first African American to receive an Doctor of Medicine from an American medical school....
(Rush Medical CollegeRush Medical College is the medical school of Rush University, a private university in Chicago, Illinois. Rush Medical College was chartered in 1837, two days before the city of Chicago was chartered, and opened with 22 students on December 4, 1843. Its founder, Dr. Daniel Brainard, named the...
) (See also: 1783, 1837)
- First independent African-American nation and first African-American president of any nation: Joseph Jenkins Roberts
Joseph Jenkins Roberts was the first and seventh President of Liberia. Roberts was born in Norfolk, Virginia, USA, and emigrated to Liberia in 1829. He opened a trading store in Monrovia, and later engaged in politics. When Liberia became independent in 1847 he became the first president and...
, LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2008 Census, the nation is home to 3,476,608 people and covers ....
-
- First African-American college professor: Charles L. Reason, New York Central College
1850s
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- First African-American member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits), Patrick Francis Healy
Father Patrick Francis Healy was born in Macon, Georgia to Irish-American plantation owner Michael Healy and bi-racial slave Mary Eliza....
. (See also 1866, 1874)
- First novel written by an African American: Clotel; or, The President's Daughter
Clotel; or, The President's Daughter is a novel by William Wells Brown, a fugitive from slavery and an abolitionist spokesman. It was published in London, England in December 1853 and is often considered the first African-American novel...
, by William Wells BrownWilliam Wells Brown was a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery in the Southern United States, Brown escaped to the North, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer...
.
-
- First African-American Roman Catholic priest: James Augustine Healy
James Augustine Healy was the first African-American Roman Catholic priest and first African-American Roman Catholic bishop in the United States, though at the time his background was not widely known...
. (see 1875 and 1886)
- First institute of higher learning created to educate African Americans
Historically black colleges and universities are institutions of higher education in the United States that were established before 1964 with the intention of serving the black community...
: Ashmun Institute in PennsylvaniaThe Commonwealth of Pennsylvania , often colloquially referred to as PA by natives and Northeasterners, is a state located in the Northeastern and Middle Atlantic regions of the United States...
, renamed Lincoln UniversityLincoln University is the United States' first degree-granting historically black university. It is located near the town of Oxford in southern Chester County, Pennsylvania. The university also hosts a Center for Graduate Studies in the City of Philadelphia. Lincoln University provides...
in 1866.
-
- First published play by an African American: The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom by William Wells Brown
William Wells Brown was a prominent abolitionist lecturer, novelist, playwright, and historian. Born into slavery in the Southern United States, Brown escaped to the North, where he worked for abolitionist causes and was a prolific writer...
- First African-American female college professor: Sarah Jane Woodson Early
Sarah Jane Woodson Early was an American educator, temperance activist and author. She was the first African-American woman college instructor.-Early life and education:...
, Wilberforce CollegeWilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts historically African-American university located in Wilberforce, Ohio, that is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and participates in the United Negro College Fund....
1860s
-
- First North American military unit with African-American officers: 1st Louisiana Native Guard
The 1st Louisiana Native Guard was a Confederate Louisiana militia of "free persons of color" formed in 1861 in New Orleans, Louisiana. It was disbanded in February of 1862; some of the members joined the Union Army's 1st Louisiana Native Guard regiment The 1st Louisiana Native Guard (CSA) was a...
of the Confederate Army
-
- First African-American US federal government civil servant: William Cooper Nell
William Cooper Nell was an American abolitionist, journalist, author, and civil servant. As an historical author his books, Services of Colored Americans in the Wars of 1776 and 1812 and Colored Patriots of the American Revolution became available to the public...
-
- First college owned and operated by African Americans: Wilberforce College
Wilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts historically African-American university located in Wilberforce, Ohio, that is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and participates in the United Negro College Fund....
, OhioOhio is a Midwestern state of the United States. The thirty-fourth largest state by area in the U.S., it is the seventh-most populous with nearly 11.5 million residents...
- First African-American college president: Bishop Daniel Payne
Daniel Alexander Payne was a United States clergyman, educator, college administrator and author. He became a bishop in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and was a major shaper of it in the 19th century. He was one of the founders of Wilberforce University...
, Wilberforce CollegeWilberforce University is a private, coed, liberal arts historically African-American university located in Wilberforce, Ohio, that is affiliated with the African Methodist Episcopal Church and participates in the United Negro College Fund....
- First recognized U.S. Army African American combat unit, the 1st South Carolina Volunteers
-
- First African-American field officer in the U.S. Army
The United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
: Martin DelanyMartin Robison Delany was an African-American abolitionist and arguably the first proponent of American black nationalism. He became the first African American field officer in the United States Army during the Civil War...
- First African-American attorney admitted to the bar of the US Supreme Court: John Swett Rock
John Rock was an American teacher, doctor, dentist, lawyer and abolitionist who originated the notion of "black is beautiful." Rock was one of the first black men to earn a medical degree...
-
- First African-American to earn a Ph.D.
Ph.D. or PHD may stand for:* Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group* Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip* PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian organization...
: Father Patrick Francis HealyFather Patrick Francis Healy was born in Macon, Georgia to Irish-American plantation owner Michael Healy and bi-racial slave Mary Eliza....
, S.J. (from University of Louvain, Belgium). (see also 1851, 1874)
- First African-American woman enlistee in the U.S. Army
The United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
: Cathay Williams
-
- First elected African-American lieutenant governor
A lieutenant governor or lieutenant-governor is a high officer of state, whose precise role and rank vary by jurisdiction, but often the deputy or lieutenant to or ranking under a governor - a "second-in-command." In many Commonwealth of Nations states, lieutenant governors are usually deputy heads...
: Oscar DunnOscar James Dunn was one of three African Americans who served as a Republican lieutenant governor of Louisiana during the era of Reconstruction....
(LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
)
-
- First African-American US diplomat
A diplomat is a person appointed by a state to conduct diplomacy with another state or international organisation. The main functions of diplomats revolve around the representation and protection of the interests and nationals of the sending state, as well as the promotion of information and...
: Ebenezer Don Carlos BassettEbenezer D. Bassett was an African American who was appointed U.S. ambassador to Haiti in 1869. He was the first African-American diplomat....
, minister to HaitiHaiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Creole- and French-speaking Caribbean country. Along with the Dominican Republic, it occupies the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago...
1870s
-
- First African American to vote in an election under the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution
The Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution prohibits each government in the United States from denying a citizen the right to vote based on that citizen's "race, color, or previous condition of servitude"...
, granting voting rights regardless of race: Thomas Mundy PetersonOn March 31, 1870, Thomas Mundy Peterson of Perth Amboy, New Jersey, United States, became the first African-American to vote in an election under the just-enacted provisions of the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution....
- January: First African American elected to either chamber of the U.S. Congress
The United States Congress is the bicameral legislature of the federal government of the United States of America, consisting of two houses, the Senate and the House of Representatives. Both senators and representatives are chosen through direct election....
: SenatorThe United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
Hiram Rhodes RevelsHiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate. Since he preceded any African American in the House, he was the first African American in the U.S. Congress as well. He represented Mississippi in 1870 and 1871 during Reconstruction...
(RThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
-Miss.Mississippi is a state located in the Southern United States. Jackson is the state capital and largest city. The state's name comes from the Mississippi River, which flows along its western boundary, and takes its name from the Ojibwe word misi-ziibi . The state is heavily forested outside of the...
)
- December: First African American elected to U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
: Joseph RaineyJoseph Hayne Rainey was the first African American person to serve in the United States House of Representatives and the second black person to serve in the United States Congress Joseph Hayne Rainey (June 21, 1832 – August 1, 1887) was the first African American person to serve in the...
(R-S.C.South Carolina is a U.S. state that borders Georgia to the south and North Carolina to the north. Originally part of the Province of Carolina, the Province of South Carolina was one of the 13 colonies that declared independence from the British Crown during the American Revolution. The colony was...
)
-
- First African-American governor (non-elected): P. B. S. Pinchback
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback was the first non-white and first person of African American descent to become governor of a U.S. state...
of LouisianaThe State of Louisiana is a state located in the southern region of the United States of America. Its capital is Baton Rouge and largest city is New Orleans. Louisiana is the only state divided into parishes, which are local governments equivalent to counties...
(See also: Douglas Wilder, 1990)
- First African-American nominee for Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term...
: Frederick DouglassFrederick Douglass Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, (born circa 1818 February 20, 1895) was an American abolitionist, women's suffragist, editor, orator, author, statesman and reformer...
by the Equal Rights PartyThe Equal Rights Party was the name for several different nineteenth century political parties in the United States.The first party was the Locofocos, during the 1830s and 1840s....
.
-
- First African-American president of a college/university: Father Patrick Francis Healy
Father Patrick Francis Healy was born in Macon, Georgia to Irish-American plantation owner Michael Healy and bi-racial slave Mary Eliza....
, S.J. of Georgetown College. (see also 1851, 1866)
-
- First African-American Roman Catholic bishop: Bishop James Augustine Healy
James Augustine Healy was the first African-American Roman Catholic priest and first African-American Roman Catholic bishop in the United States, though at the time his background was not widely known...
, of Portland, Maine. (see also 1854)
-
- First African American to earn a doctorate degree from an American university: Edward Alexander Bouchet
Edward Bouchet was the first black person to graduate from Yale in 1874. He completed his dissertation in Yale's Ph.D. program in 1876.Early life...
(Yale CollegeYale College was the official name of Yale University from 1718 to 1887. The name now refers to the undergraduate part of the university. Each undergraduate student is assigned to one of 12 residential colleges.-Residential colleges:...
Ph.D.Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
, physicsPhysics is a natural science; it is the study of matter and its motion through spacetime and all that derives from these, such as energy and force...
; also first African American to graduate from Yale, 1874) (see also 1866)
-
- First African-American graduate of West Point
The United States Military Academy at West Point is a four-year coeducational federal service academy located at West Point, New York. Established in 1802, USMA is the oldest of the United States's five service academies. The military garrison at West Point was occupied in 1778 and played a key...
and first African-American commissioned officer in the US militaryThe United States armed forces are the overall unified military forces of the United States.The history of the United States armed forces dates to 1775, even before the Declaration of Independence marked the establishment of the United States...
: Henry Ossian FlipperHenry Ossian Flipper was an American soldier and the first black American cadet to graduate from the United States Military Academy at West Point.-Biography:...
.
-
- First African American to graduate from a formal nursing school: Mary Eliza Mahoney
Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first black to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States, graduating in 1879....
, Boston, Massachusetts
1880s
-
- First African-American in command of a U.S. ship: Michael Healy
Michael Augustine Healy , of Macon, Georgia, was an American captain in the United States Revenue Cutter Service .Following US Secretary of State William H...
.
- First African American whose signature appeared on US paper currency: Blanche K. Bruce
Blanche Kelso Bruce was an American politician. Bruce represented Mississippi as a Republican U.S. Senator from 1875 to 1881 and was the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. Hiram R. Revels, also of Mississippi, was the first to ever serve in the U.S. Congress, but did...
, Registrar of the TreasuryThe Register of the Treasury was an office of the United States Treasury Department. In 1919, the Register became the Public Debt Service which, in 1940, became the Bureau of the Public Debt....
.
-
- First African American to play professional baseball
Baseball is a team sport which is played by several professional leagues throughout the world. In these leagues, and associated farm teams, players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system.-North America:...
at the major-league level: Moses Fleetwood WalkerMoses Fleetwood "Fleet" Walker was an American Major League Baseball player and author who is credited with being the first African American to play at the Major League level.-Baseball career:...
. (See also: Jackie Robinson, 1947)
-
- First African-American woman to hold a patent: Sarah E. Goode
Sarah E. Goode was the first African-American woman to receive a patent from the United States Patent and Trademark Office. However this claim is disputed by some that believe Marjorie Joyner to be the first African-American woman to receive a patent.A 43-year-old woman named Sarah E. Goode died...
, for the cabinet bed, Chicago, Illinois
-
- First African-American Roman Catholic priest publicly known at the time to be African-American: Augustine Tolton
Augustine John Tolton , or Augustus Tolton, was the first black Roman Catholic priest in the United States publicly known to be black at the time . A former slave who was baptized and reared Catholic, Tolton studied formally in Rome...
, Quincy and Chicago, Illinois (but see 1854)
1890s
-
- First African-American police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
in present-day New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
: Wiley Overton, hired by the BrooklynBrooklyn is one of the five boroughs of New York City, located southwest of Queens on the western tip of Long Island. An independent city until its consolidation with New York in 1898, Brooklyn is New York City's most populous borough, with 2.5 million residents, and second largest in area...
Police Department prior to 1898 incorporation of the five boroughs into the City of New York. (See also: Samuel J. Battle, 1911)
-
- First African American to sing at Carnegie Hall
Carnegie Hall is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City located at 881 Seventh Avenue, occupying the east stretch of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street and West 57th Street, two blocks south of Central Park....
: Matilda Sissieretta Joyner JonesMatilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones, known as Sissieretta Jones, was an African-American soprano. She sometimes was called "The Black Patti" in reference to Italian opera singer Adelina Patti...
-
- First African American to earn a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) from Harvard University
Harvard University is a private university located in Cambridge, Massachusetts and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1636 by the colonial Massachusetts legislature, Harvard is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States and currently comprises ten separate academic units...
: W.E.B. Du Bois
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- First African American appointed to serve as U.S. Army
The United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
Paymaster: Richard R. WrightRichard Robert Wright, Sr. was an American military officer, educator, politician, civil rights advocate and banking entrepreneur. Among his many accomplishments, he founded a high school, a college and a bank...
1900s
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- First African American invited to dine at the White House
The White House is the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue NW in Washington, D.C., it was built between 1792 and 1800 of white-painted Aquia sandstone in the late Georgian style and has been the residence of every...
: Booker T. WashingtonBooker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, orator, author, presidential advisor, and the dominant leader of the nation's African-American community from the 1890s to his death. Born into slavery and freed by the Civil War in 1865, he led the new Tuskegee Institute, then a teachers'...
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- First African-American professional basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
player: Harry LewHarry Haskell Lew African American, was the first to integrate professional basketball in 1902.-Family History:Harry "Bucky" Lew was born in Dracut, Massachusetts the son of William and Isabell Lew. A member of an African-American family with a long history in Massachusetts...
(New England Professional Basketball League) (See also: 1950)
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- First Broadway musical written by African Americans, and the first to star African Americans: In Dahomey
In Dahomey was a landmark American musical comedy, in that it was "the first full-length musical written and played by blacks to be performed at a major Broadway house." It featured music by Will Marion Cook, book by Jesse A. Shipp, and lyrics by Paul Laurence Dunbar...
- First African-American woman to found and become president of a bank: Maggie L. Walker
Maggie Lena Walker was an American teacher, businesswoman, and first african american woman bank president. She was the first woman to charter a bank in the United States,. As a leader, she achieved successes with the vision to make tangible improvements in the way of life for African Americans...
, St. Luke Penny Savings Bank (since 1930 the Consolidated Bank & Trust Company), Richmond, Virginia
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- First Greek-letter fraternal organization established by African Americans: Sigma Pi Phi
Sigma Pi Phi is generally considered to be the first African-American Greek-lettered organization. Sigma Pi Phi was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on May 15, 1904. The fraternity quickly established chapters in Chicago, IL and then Baltimore, MD. The founders included two doctors, a...
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- First intercollegiate Greek-letter organization established by African Americans: Alpha Phi Alpha
Alpha Phi Alpha is the first intercollegiate fraternity established by African Americans. Founded on December 4, 1906, on the campus of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, Alpha Phi Alpha has initiated over 185,000 men into the organization and has been open to men of all races since 1940...
(ΑΦΑ), at Cornell UniversityCornell University is a private university located in Ithaca, New York, USA, that is a member of the Ivy League.Cornell counts more than 255,000 living alumni, 28 Rhodes Scholars and 41 Nobel laureates affiliated with the university as faculty or students...
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- First African-American Greek Orthodox
The Greek Orthodox Church is the body of several churches within the larger communion of the Orthodox Church, sharing a common cultural tradition and whose liturgy is traditionally conducted in Koine Greek, the original language of the New Testament....
priest and missionary in America: Very Rev. Fr. Raphael MorganVery Rev. Raphael Morgan was a Jamaican-American priest of the Ecumenical Patriarchate, designated as "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies, later the founder and superior of the Order of the Cross of Golgotha, and thought to be the first Black Orthodox clergyman in America.He spoke...
(Robert Josias Morgan), "Priest-Apostolic" to America and the West Indies.
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- First African-American heavyweight
Heavyweight is a division, or weight class, in boxing. Fighters who weigh over 200 pounds are considered heavyweights by the major professional boxing organizations: the International Boxing Organization, the World Boxing Association, the World Boxing Council, and the World Boxing...
boxingBoxing is a combat sport where two participants, generally of similar weight, fight each other with their fists. Boxing is supervised by a referee and is typically engaged in during a series of one to three-minute intervals called rounds. There are three ways to win...
champion: Jack JohnsonJohn Arthur Johnson , better known as Jack Johnson and nicknamed the “Galveston Giant”, was an American boxer and arguably the best heavyweight of his generation. He was the first black world heavyweight boxing champion...
- First African-American Olympic gold medal
A gold medal is typically the highest medal awarded for achievement in a non-military field. The concept comes from the military, initially with a simple recognition of military rank, and later decorations for admission to military orders dating back to medieval times.Since the eighteenth century,...
winner: John TaylorJohn Baxter Taylor Jr. was an American track and field athlete, notable as the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal...
(track and fieldTrack and field athletics is a collection of sports events that involve running, throwing, jumping and walking. Organised athletics are traced back to the Ancient Olympic Games from 776 BC, and most modern events are conducted by the member clubs of the International Association of Athletics...
medley relay team). (See also: William DeHart Hubbard, 1924)
- First intercollegiate Greek-letter sorority established by African Americans: Alpha Kappa Alpha
Alpha Kappa Alpha is the first Greek-lettered sorority established and incorporated by African American college women. The sorority was founded on January 15, 1908, at Howard University in Washington, D.C., by a group of nine students, led by Ethel Hedgeman Lyle...
(ΑKΑ)
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- First African-American scholar to address the American Historical Association
The American Historical Association is the oldest and largest society of historians and teachers of history in the United States. Founded in 1884, the association promotes historical studies, the teaching of history, and the preservation of and access to historical materials...
: W.E.B. Du Bois
1910s
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- First African-American millionaire: Madam C. J. Walker
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- First intercollegiate Greek-letter organization established by African Americans in the Midwest: Kappa Alpha Psi
Kappa Alpha Psi is a collegiate Greek-letter fraternity with a predominantly African American membership. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never limited membership based on color, creed or national origin...
(ΚΑΨ), at Indiana University, Bloomington
- First African-American police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
in New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
: Samuel J. BattleSamuel Jesse Battle was the first black police officer in the city of Brooklyn, later New York City...
, following the 1898 incorporation of the five boroughs into the City of New York, and the hiring of three African American officers in the Brooklyn Police Department. Battle was also the NYPDThe New York City Police Department , established in 1845, is currently the largest police force in the United States, with primary responsibilities in law enforcement and investigation within the five boroughs of New York City...
's first African American sergeantSergeant is a rank used in some form by most militaries, police forces, and other uniformed organizations around the world. Its origins are the Latin serviens, "one who serves", through the French term Sergent....
(1926), lieutenantLieutenant is a military, naval, paramilitary, fire service, emergency medical services or police officer rank....
(1935), and paroleParole may have different meanings depending on the field and judiciary system. All of the meanings originated from the French parole, meaning " word". Following its use in late-medieval Anglo-French chivalric practice, the term became associated with the release of prisoners based on prisoners...
commissionerCommissioner is in principle the title given to a member of a commission, in the sense of a mandate, whether individually or shared, notably as member of a collegial commission....
(1941). (See also: Wiley Overton, 1891)
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- First African-American football player
American football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
to play in the Rose BowlOriginally titled the "Tournament of Roses football game," the second of what is now known as the Rose Bowl Game was played on January 1, 1916...
game: Fritz PollardFrederick Douglass "Fritz" Pollard was the first African American head coach in the National Football League . Pollard along with Bobby Marshall were the first two African American players in the NFL in 1920...
for the Brown UniversityBrown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III...
Bruins; also first African American football player named to a College Football All-America TeamThe College Football All-America Team is an honor given annually to the best American college football players at their respective positions. The original usage of the term All-America seems to have been to the 1889 College Football All-America Team selected by Casper Whitney and published in This...
(the Walter CampWalter Chauncey Camp was a sports writer and American football coach known as the "Father of American Football". With John Heisman, Amos Alonzo Stagg, Glenn Scobey Warner, Fielding H...
All-American football team)
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- First African-American police officer
A police officer is a warranted employee of a police force. Police officers are generally responsible for apprehending criminals, maintaining public order, and preventing and detecting crimes...
killed in the line of duty: Robert H. HolmesRobert H. Holmes was the first NYPD African-American officer to die in the line of duty. Robert Holmes was appointed to police officer on August 25, 1913. He was assigned to the 38th precinct in Harlem, New York. In 1917, Officer Holmes was shot to death while chasing a burglar.-Source:* at...
in New York CityNew York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
- First African-American woman to win a major sports title: Lucy Diggs Slowe
Lucy Diggs Slowe was one of the original sixteen founders of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Incorporated, the first sorority founded by African-American women. She was one of the nine original founders of the sorority in 1908 at Howard University. Her legacy of Alpha Kappa Alpha has continued to...
, American Tennis AssociationThe American Tennis Association is based in Largo, Maryland, and is the oldest African-American sports organization in the United States. The core of the ATA's modern mission continues to be promoting tennis as a sport for black people and developing junior tennis players, but the ATA welcomes...
- First African-American football All-American: Paul Robeson
Paul LeRoy Bustill Robeson was an internationally renowned American basso profundo concert singer, scholar, actor of film and stage, All-American and professional athlete, writer, multi-lingual orator and lawyer who was also noted for his wide-ranging social justice activism...
, Rutgers UniversityRutgers, The State University of New Jersey , is the largest institution for higher education in the state of New Jersey. It was originally chartered as Queen's College in 1766 and is the eighth-oldest college in the United States...
, 1917 and 1918
1920s
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- First African-American NFL
The National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
football playersAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
: Fritz Pollard (Akron ProsThe Akron Pros refers to a professional football team that played in Akron, Ohio from 1908–1926. The team originated in 1908 as a semi-pro team named the Akron Indians, however name was changed to the Pros in 1920 as the team set out to become a charter member of the American Professional...
) and Bobby MarshallRobert Walls "Bobby" Marshall was an American sports player. He was best known for playing football, however he also competed in baseball, track, boxing and ice hockey....
(Rock Island IndependentsThe Rock Island Independents was one of the first professional American football teams. They were based in Rock Island, Illinois, and played in the National Football League from 1920 to 1925 and in the American Football League of 1926. They played in Douglas Park and Browning Field. Walter Flanigan...
)
- First African-American bishops
A bishop is an ordained or consecrated member of the Christian clergy who is generally entrusted with a position of authority and oversight. Within the Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox Churches, in the Assyrian Church of the East, in the Independent Catholic Churches, and in the...
of the Methodist Episcopal ChurchThe Methodist Episcopal Church, sometimes referred to as the M.E. Church, was a development of the first expression of Methodism in the United States. It officially began at the Baltimore Christmas Conference in 1784, with Francis Asbury and Thomas Coke as the first bishops. Through a series of...
: Robert Elijah JonesRobert Elijah Jones was an American Bishop of the Methodist Episcopal Church and The Methodist Church in the U.S., elected in 1920. Along with Matthew Wesley Clair, Jones was one of the first African-American Bishops of the M.E. Church....
and Matthew Wesley ClairMatthew Wesley Clair was one of the first African-American bishops in the Methodist Episcopal Church.-Biography:...
.
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- First African-American woman to become a pilot
An aviator is a person who flies aircraft for pleasure or as a profession. The first recorded use of the term was in 1887 as a variation of the French 'aviation', from the latin 'avis', coined 1863 by G. de la Landelle in "Aviation ou Navigation Aérienne"...
, first American to hold an international pilot license: Bessie ColemanElizabeth “Bessie” Coleman was an American civil aviator. Popularly known as "Queen Bess", she was the first African American to become a licensed airplane pilot, and the first American of any race or gender to hold an international pilot license.-Early years:Coleman was born in Atlanta, Texas,...
- First African-American NFL
The National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
coachIn sports, a coach or manager is an individual involved in the direction, instruction and training of the operations of a sports team or of individual sportspeople.- Staff :...
: Fritz Pollard, co-head coach, Akron Pros, while continuing to play running backA running back is the position of a player on an American or Canadian football team who usually lines up in the offensive backfield...
- First African-American woman to earn a Ph.D.
Ph.D. or PHD may stand for:* Doctor of Philosophy, an academic degree* Ph.D. , a 1980s British group* Piled Higher and Deeper, a web comic strip* PhD: Phantasy Degree, a Korean comic series* Parisada Hindu Dharma, an Indonesian organization...
in the U.S.: Sadie Tanner Mossell AlexanderSadie Tanner Mossell Alexander was the first African American woman to receive a Ph.D. in the United States, the first woman to receive a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School, and was the first National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated.-Birth:She was born...
, Ph.D. in Economics from University of PennsylvaniaThe University of Pennsylvania is a private research university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States, and is one of several institutions that claims to have been the first university in America...
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- First African American to win individual Olympic
The Olympic Games are a major international event of summer and winter sports, in which thousands of athletes compete in a wide variety of events. The Games are currently held every two years, with Summer and Winter Olympic Games alternating. Originally, the ancient Olympic Games were held in...
gold medal: William DeHart HubbardWilliam DeHart Hubbard was a track and field athlete who was the first African American to win an Olympic gold medal in an individual event; the running long jump at the 1924 Paris Summer games....
(Long jumpThe long jump is an athletics event in which athletes combine speed, strength, and agility in an attempt to leap as far from the take-off point as possible....
, 1924 Summer OlympicsThe 1924 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the VIII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1924 in Paris, France...
, Paris). (See also: John Taylor, 1908)
-
- First African-American Foreign Service Officer
Foreign Service Officers are commissioned members of the U.S. Foreign Service. They are American diplomats who spend most of their careers overseas as members of U.S. embassies, consulates, and other diplomatic missions formulating and implementing the foreign policy of the United States. Within...
: Clifton R. Wharton, Sr.Clifton Reginald Wharton, Sr. was an American diplomat, and the first African American diplomat to become an ambassador by rising through the ranks of the Foreign Service rather than by political appointment such as Frederick Douglass...
-
- First African-American woman to receive a degree (Ph.D.
Doctor of Philosophy, abbreviated PhD , for the Latin , meaning "teacher of philosophy", or alternatively, DPhil, for the equivalent , is an advanced academic degree awarded by universities...
) from Yale UniversityYale University is a private research university in New Haven, Connecticut, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1701 in the Colony of Connecticut, the university is the third-oldest institution of higher education in the United States. Yale has produced many notable alumni, including five...
: Otelia CromwellOtelia Cromwell is the first African-American graduate of Smith College. The college later began the tradition of canceling afternoon and evening classes in her honor every November as a venue to talk about race and diversity....
, who had previously been the first African-American graduate of Smith CollegeSmith College is a private, independent women's liberal arts college located in Northampton, Massachusetts. It is the largest member of the Seven Sisters...
.
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- First African American to star in an international motion picture: Josephine Baker
Josephine Baker was an American expatriate entertainer and actress. She became a French citizen in 1937. Most noted as a singer, Baker also was a celebrated dancer in her early career. She was given the nicknames the "Bronze Venus" or the "Black Pearl", as well as the "Créole Goddess" in...
in La Sirène des tropiques.
-
- First post-Reconstruction African American elected to U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
: Oscar Stanton De PriestOscar Stanton De Priest was an American lawmaker and civil rights advocate who served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois from 1929 to 1935. He was the first African American to be elected to Congress in the 20th century....
(RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
; IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
)
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- First African-American sports broadcaster: Sherman Maxwell
Sherman Leander Maxwell was an American sportscaster and chronicler of the Negro league baseball league. Many believe that Maxwell was the first African American sports broadcaster in history. He was known by the nickname of Jocko...
, WNJRWNJR was a commercial radio station based in Newark, New Jersey, on 91 Halsey St. in Newark, NJ. The station broadcast on 1430 kHz with a transmitter power output of 5000 watts.-History:...
, Newark, New JerseyBrick City redirects here. For the township in Ocean County, see Brick Township, New Jersey.Newark is the largest city in New Jersey, and the county seat of Essex County. Newark has a population of 281,402, making it the largest municipality in New Jersey and the 65th largest city in the U.S...
.
1930s
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- First African American on a presidential ticket in the 20th century: James W. Ford
James W. "Jim" Ford was the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Communist Party USA in 1932, 1936, and 1940. A party organizer from New York City, Ford was the first African-American to appear on a presidential ticket in the 20th century....
(Communist Party USAThe Communist Party of the United States of America is a Marxist-Leninist political party in the United States.During the first half of the 20th century it was the largest and most widely influential communist party in the country, and played a prominent role in the U.S...
, as vice-presidential candidate running with William Z. FosterWilliam Foster was a radical American labor organizer and Marxist politician, whose career included a lengthy stint as General Secretary of the Communist Party USA...
)
-
- First African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
: Arthur W. MitchellArthur Wergs Mitchell was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. Mitchell was the first African American to be elected to the United States Congress as a Democrat....
(Illinois)
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- First known interracial jazz group: Benny Goodman Trio
Benjamin David Goodman was an American jazz musician, clarinetist and bandleader, known as "King of Swing", "Patriarch of the Clarinet", "The Professor", and "Swing's Senior Statesman"....
(Benny Goodman, Teddy WilsonTheodore Shaw "Teddy" Wilson was a jazz pianist from the United States born in Austin, Texas. His sophisticated and elegant style graced the records of many of the biggest names in jazz, including Louis Armstrong, Lena Horne, Benny Goodman, Billie Holiday and Ella Fitzgerald...
, Gene KrupaGene Krupa was an influential American jazz and big band drummer and composer, known for his highly energetic and flamboyant style.-Biography:...
)
-
- First African American to conduct a major U.S. orchestra
An orchestra is an instrumental ensemble, usually fairly large with string, brass, woodwind sections, and possibly a percussion section as well. The term orchestra derives from the name for the area in front of an ancient Greek stage reserved for the Greek chorus...
: William Grant StillWilliam Grant Still was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions. He was the first African-American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony of his own performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by...
(Los Angeles PhilharmonicThe Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September...
)
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- First African-American federal magistrate: William H. Hastie
Dr. William H. Hastie was both the first African American Governor of the United States Virgin Islands and the first African American judge on a Federal appeals court. He was considered by some as a pioneer of the civil rights movement in the United States.Hastie was born in Knoxville, Tennessee...
(later the first African-American governor of the United States Virgin IslandsThe United States Virgin Islands is a group of islands in the Caribbean that are an insular area of the United States. The islands are geographically part of the Virgin Islands archipelago and are located in the Leeward Islands of the Lesser Antilles.The U.S...
)
-
- First African-American network radio host: Hal Jackson
Harold Baron Jackson is an American disk jockey and radio personality who broke a number of color barriers in American radio broadcasting.-Early years:Jackson was born in Charleston, South Carolina and grew up in Washington, D.C...
, WINXWLXE is a radio station broadcasting on 1600 kHz in the mediumwave AM band. Its studios and transmitters are located in Rockville, Maryland, and it serves the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area. WLXE broadcasts music programming in the Spanish language...
-Washington, D.C.
1940s
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- First African American to win an Academy Award: Hattie McDaniel
Hattie McDaniel was an American actress and the first black performer to win an Academy Award. She won the award for Best Supporting Actress for her role of Mammy in Gone with the Wind ....
(Best Supporting ActressPerformance by an Actress in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
, Gone with the WindGone with the Wind is a 1939 American drama romance film adapted from Margaret Mitchell's 1936 novel of the same name and directed by Victor Fleming...
, 1939)
- First African American to be portrayed on a US postage stamp
A postage stamp is adhesive paper evidence of a fee paid for postal services. Usually a small rectangle attached to an envelope, the stamp signifies the person sending it has fully or partly paid for delivery...
: Booker T. WashingtonBooker Taliaferro Washington was an American educator, orator, author, presidential advisor, and the dominant leader of the nation's African-American community from the 1890s to his death. Born into slavery and freed by the Civil War in 1865, he led the new Tuskegee Institute, then a teachers'...
- First African-American U.S. Army
The United States Army is the branch of the United States Military responsible for land-based military operations. It is the largest and oldest established branch of the U.S. military and is one of seven uniformed services...
brigadier generalBrigadier General is the lowest ranking General Officer in some countries, usually sitting between the ranks of Colonel and Major General.The rank can be traced back to the militaries of Europe where a brigadier general, or simply a brigadier, would command a brigade in the field...
: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.Brigadier General Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. was an American general and the father of Benjamin O. Davis Jr. He was the first African-American general in the United States Army....
-
- First African American to give a White House Command Performance: Josh White
Joshua Daniel White , best known as Josh White, was a legendary American singer, guitarist, songwriter, actor, and civil rights activist. He was also known by the name "J King"....
-
- First African American to be awarded the Navy Cross
The Navy Cross is the highest medal that can be awarded by the United States Department of the Navy and the second highest award given for valor. It is normally only awarded to members of the United States Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard but could be awarded to all branches of United States...
: Doris MillerDoris "Dorie" Miller was a cook in the United States Navy noted for his bravery during the attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941...
-
- First African-American commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy
The United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
: The "Golden ThirteenThe Golden Thirteen were the thirteen African American enlisted men who became the first African American commissioned officers in the United States Navy.-History:...
"
- First African American commissioned as a U.S. Navy
The United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
officer from the Naval Reserve Officer Training CorpsThe Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps program is a college-based, commissioned officer training program of the United States Navy and the United States Marine Corps.-Origins:...
: Samuel Gravely. Gravely was also the first African American to command a U.S. Navy warship (1962), and the first promoted to the rank of admiral (1971).
- First African American to co-pastor with a white minister at the first interracial church: Dr. Howard Thurman
Howard Thurman was an influential American author, philosopher, theologian, educator and civil rights leader. He was Dean of Theology and the chapels at Howard and Boston universities for more than two decades, wrote 20 books, and in 1944 helped found the first racially integrated, multicultural...
with Dr. Alfred Fisk, Church for the Fellowship of All PeoplesThe Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples is an intercultural, interracial, interfaith and interdenominational organization dedicated to "personal empowerment and social transformation through an ever deepening relationship with the Spirit of God in All Life."-History:From its formal...
, San Francisco
-
- First African-American member of the New York City Opera
The New York City Opera is an American opera company and the second largest opera company, after the Metropolitan Opera, in New York City. The company was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
: Todd DuncanRobert Todd Duncan was an American baritone opera singer and actor.-Biography:Todd Duncan was born in Danville, Kentucky in 1903. He obtained his musical training at Butler University in Indianapolis with a B.A. in music followed by an M.A...
- First African-American U.S. Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
officer: Frederick C. BranchFrederick Clinton Branch was the first African-American officer of the United States Marine Corps.-Marine Corps career:...
-
- First novel by an African-American woman to sell a million copies published: The Street
The Street is an African-American novel by Ann Petry that was published in 1946. Set in Harlem in the 1940s, it centers on the life of Lutie Johnson...
-
- First African-American Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
player of the modern era: Jackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
(Brooklyn Dodgers). (See also: Moses Fleetwood Walker, 1884)
- First African-American consensus college All-American basketball player: Don Barksdale
Donald Angelo "Don" Barksdale was a professional basketball player. He was a pioneer with a number of African-American firsts to his credit.-Early life:...
-
- First African-American man to receive an Academy Award: James Baskett
James Baskett was an American actor known for his portrayal of Uncle Remus, singing the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" in the 1946 Disney feature film Song of the South, for which he was given an Honorary Academy Award, making him the first male performer of African descent to receive an Oscar in the...
(Honorary Academy Award for his portrayal of "Uncle RemusUncle Remus is a fictional character, the title character and fictional narrator of a collection of African American folktales adapted and compiled by Joel Chandler Harris, published in book form in 1881...
" in Song of the SouthSong of the South is a feature film produced by Walt Disney, released on November 12, 1946, by RKO Radio Pictures and based on the Uncle Remus cycle of stories by Joel Chandler Harris. The live actors provide a sentimental frame story, in which Uncle Remus relates the folk tales of the adventures...
, 1946) (See also: Sidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian-American actor, film director, author, and diplomat. He broke through as a star in acclaimed performances in American films and plays, which, by consciously defying racial stereotyping, gave a new dramatic credibility for black actors to mainstream film...
, 1964)
- First African-American U.S. Navy aviator: Jesse L. Brown
Jesse LeRoy Brown was the first African-American naval aviator in the United States Navy.Born in Hattiesburg, Mississippi, Brown enlisted in the Naval Reserve in 1946 and was appointed a Midshipman, at the Ohio State University NROTC the following year...
- First African-American composer to have an opera
Opera is an art form in which singers and musicians perform a dramatic work combining text and musical score. Opera is part of the Western classical music tradition. Opera incorporates many of the elements of spoken theatre, such as acting, scenery and costumes and sometimes includes dance...
performed by a major U.S. company: William Grant Still (Troubled Island, New York City OperaThe New York City Opera is an American opera company and the second largest opera company, after the Metropolitan Opera, in New York City. The company was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and...
)
- First African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal: Alice Coachman
Alice Marie Coachman is an American former athlete. She specialized in high jump, and was the first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal....
- First African American on an Olympic basketball team and first African American Olympic gold medal basketball winner: Don Barksdale, in the 1948 Summer Olympics
The 1948 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XIV Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was held in London, United Kingdom. After a hiatus of 12 years caused by World War II, these were the first Summer Olympics since the 1936 Games in Berlin...
- First African American in the Regular Army Medical Corps: Allan Oliver Wilson
- First African American to host a network television program: Solomon Lightfoot Michaux, "Elder Michaux" (DuMont
The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont...
)
-
- First African-American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy
The United States Naval Academy is an undergraduate college in Annapolis, Maryland, United States, that educates and commissions officers of the United States Navy and Marine Corps. The Academy often is referred to simply as "Annapolis". It is also called "The Academy", "The Boat School", or "Canoe...
: Wesley BrownWesley A. Brown was the first African American Graduate of the U.S Naval Academy. He served in the Korean War and the Vietnam War and served in the U.S Navy from May 2, 1944–June 30, 1969Locations of Service:...
- First African American to hold rank of Ambassador of the United States: Edward R. Dudley
Edward Richard Dudley was the first African-American to hold the rank of Ambassador of the United States, serving as Ambassador to Liberia from 1949 to 1953....
, ambassador, and previously minister, to LiberiaLiberia , officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the west coast of Africa, bordered by Sierra Leone, Guinea, Côte d'Ivoire, and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2008 Census, the nation is home to 3,476,608 people and covers ....
(See also: 1869)
- First African American to win an MVP award in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
: Jackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
(Brooklyn DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. The team is in the Western Division of the National League. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming the Brooklyn...
, National LeagueThe National League of Professional Baseball Clubs, known simply as the National League , is the older of two leagues constituting Major League Baseball, and the world's oldest extant professional team sports league...
) (See also: Elston Howard, 1963)
1950s
-
- First African American to win Pulitzer Prize
The Pulitzer Prize is a U.S. award for achievements in newspaper journalism, literature and musical composition. It was established by Hungarian-American publisher Joseph Pulitzer and is administered by Columbia University in New York City....
: Gwendolyn BrooksGwendolyn Elizabeth Brooks was an American writer. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1985.-Early years:...
(Book of poetry, Annie Allen, 1949)
- First African American to win Nobel Peace Prize
The Nobel Peace Prize is one of the five Nobel Prizes bequeathed by the Swedish industrialist and inventor Alfred Nobel.-Background:...
: Ralph BuncheRalph Johnson Bunche was an American political scientist and diplomat who received the 1950 Nobel Peace Prize for his late 1940s mediation in Palestine. He was the first person of color to be so honored in the history of the Prize. He was involved in formation and administration of the United...
- First individual African American as subject on the cover of Life
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine: Jackie Robinson, May 8, 1950
- First African-American NBA
The National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America . It is an active member of USA Basketball , which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body for basketball in the United States...
basketball players: Earl LloydEarl Francis Lloyd is a retired American basketball player. He was the first African-American to play in the National Basketball Association, in the 1950-51 NBA season...
(Washington CapitolsThe Washington Capitols were a charter Basketball Association of America team based in Washington, D.C. The team was coached from 1946 to 1949 by NBA Hall of Famer Red Auerbach....
), Chuck Cooper (Boston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a professional basketball club based in Boston, Massachusetts, playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team is owned by Wycliffe Grousbeck and coached by Doc Rivers, with Danny Ainge as the President of...
), and Nat "Sweetwater" CliftonNathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton was an American multi-sport athlete best known as the first African American to sign a contract to play in the National Basketball Association.-Early life:...
(New York KnicksThe New York Knickerbockers, known familiarly as the Knicks, are a professional National Basketball Association team based in New York City, and the most valuable franchise in the league, valued at $608 million...
) (See also: 1902)
- First African American star of a network television sitcom: Ethel Waters
Ethel Waters was an American blues and jazz vocalist and actress.She frequently performed jazz, big band, rock and roll and pop music, on the Broadway stage and in concerts, although she began her career in the 1920s singing blues...
, BeulahThe Beulah Show is an American situation-comedy series that ran in radio on CBS from 1945 to 1954, and in television on ABC from 1950 to 1953...
- First African-American woman to compete on the world tennis tour: Althea Gibson
Althea Gibson was a former World No. 1 American sportswoman who became the first African-American woman to be a competitor on the world tennis tour and the first to win a Grand Slam title in 1956...
-
- First African-American woman elected to a United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
state senate: Cora BrownCora Mea Brown , was the first African-American woman elected to a United States state senate, winning a seat in the Michigan State Senate in 1952.-Early life:...
, Democrat (MichiganMichigan is a Midwestern state of the United States of America. It was named after Lake Michigan, whose name is a French adaptation of the Ojibwe term mishigama, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
)
- First African-American U.S. Marine Corps aviator: Frank E. Petersen
Frank E. Petersen Jr. is a retired United States Marine Corps Lieutenant General. He was the first African-American Marine Corps aviator and the first African-American Marine Corps general....
- First African-American woman to be nominated for a national political office: Charlotta Bass
Charlotta Amanda Spears Bass was an American educator, newspaper publisher-editor, and civil rights activist. Bass was probably the first African American woman to own and operate her own newspaper in the United States; she published the California Eagle from 1912 until 1951...
, Vice President (Progressive Party- East Asia :* Progressive Party, a party founded in 1913 as a merger between three parties in the National Assembly of the Republic of China* Democratic Progressive Party, a major party in the Republic of China...
)
-
- First African-American basketball
Basketball is a team sport in which two teams of 5 players try to score points against one another by placing a ball through a
10 foot high hoop under organized rules...
player to play in the NBA All-Star GameThe National Basketball Association staged its first All-Star Game in the Boston Garden on March 2, 1951. From that year on, the game has matched the best players in the Eastern Conference with the best players in the Western Conference....
: Don Barksdale in the 1953 NBA All-Star GameThe 1953 NBA All-Star Game was played on January 13, 1953 in Fort Wayne, Indiana. George Mikan of the Minneapolis Lakers was the Most Valuable Player. Don Barksdale of the East, from the Boston Celtics became the first African-American to play and also score in an NBA All-Star game...
- First African American named as Dean of chapel at a majority white university: Howard Thurman at Marsh Chapel, Boston University
Boston University is a private nonsectarian university located in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. Although chartered by the Massachusetts Legislature in 1869, Boston University traces its roots to the establishment of the Newbury Biblical Institute in Newbury, Vermont in 1839...
-
- First African-American US Navy Master Diver: Carl Brashear
Carl Maxie Brashear was the first African American to become a U.S. Navy Master Diver in 1970. In 2000, Brashear's military service was portrayed by Cuba Gooding, Jr. in the film Men of Honor.-Biography:...
- First African-American woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
: Dorothy DandridgeDorothy Jean Dandridge was an American actress and popular singer. Dandridge was the first African American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.-Early life and career:...
(Carmen JonesCarmen Jones is a 1943 Broadway musical, later made into a 1954 musical film; the play also ran for a season in 1991 at London's Old Vic and most recently in London's Royal Festival Hall in the Southbank Centre in 2007. It is an updating of the Georges Bizet opera Carmen in an African American...
, 1954). (At that time, nominations were announced in November of the year of release, instead of early the following year.)
- First individual African-American woman as subject on the cover of Life
Life generally refers to three American magazines:*A humor and general interest magazine published from 1883 to 1936. Time founder Henry Luce bought the magazine in 1936 solely so that he could acquire the rights to its name....
magazine: Dorothy Dandridge, November 1, 1954
-
- First African-American member of the Metropolitan Opera
The Metropolitan Opera Association of New York City, founded in April 1880, is a major presenter of all types of opera including Grand Opera. Peter Gelb is the company's general manager. The music director is James Levine....
: Marian AndersonMarian Anderson was an American contralto and one of the most celebrated singers of the twentieth century. Music critic Alan Blyth said "Her voice was a rich, vibrant contralto of intrinsic beauty." Most of her singing career was spent performing in concert and recital in major music venues and...
- First African-American male dancer in a major ballet
Ballet is a formalized type of performance dance, which originated in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century French courts, and which was further developed in England, Italy, and Russia as a concert dance form...
company: Arthur MitchellArthur Mitchell is an African-American dancer and choreographer who created a training school and the first African-American classical ballet company, Dance Theatre of Harlem...
(New York City BalletNew York City Ballet is a ballet company founded in 1948 by choreographer George Balanchine and Lincoln Kirstein with musical director Leon Barzin and with founding choreographers Balanchine and Jerome Robbins...
; also first African-American principal dancer of a major ballet company (NYCB), 1956. (See also: 1969)
- First African-American singer to appear in a telecast opera: Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price is an American operatic soprano. She was best known for the title role of Verdi's Aida. Born in the segregated Deep South, she rose to international fame during a period of racial change in the 1950s and 60s, and was the first African-American to become a leading prima...
in NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
's production of ToscaTosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Victorien Sardou's drama, La Tosca. The work premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on January 14 1900. It is one of the world's most popular operas, a hit with audiences...
-
- First African American male star of a network television show: Nat King Cole
Nathaniel Adams Coles , known professionally as Nat "King" Cole, was an American musician who first came to prominence as a leading jazz pianist. Although an accomplished pianist, he owes most of his popular musical fame to his soft baritone voice, which he used to perform in big band and jazz...
, The Nat King Cole Show
- First African American Wimbledon
The Championships, Wimbledon, or simply Wimbledon, is the oldest tennis tournament in the world and is generally considered the most prestigious. It has been held at the All England Club in the London suburb of Wimbledon since 1877...
tennisTennis is a sport played between two players or between two teams of two players each . Each player uses a strung racquet to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over a net into the opponent's court....
champion: Althea Gibson (doubles, with Englishwoman Angela BuxtonAngela Buxton is an English tennis player. She won the women's doubles title at both the French Championships and Wimbledon in 1956 with Althea Gibson.-Tennis accomplishments:...
); also first African American to win a Grand Slam event (French Open). (See also: Arthur Ashe, 1968; Serena Williams, 2003)
- First African American to win the Cy Young Award
The Cy Young Award is an honor given annually in baseball to the best pitchers in Major League Baseball , one each for the American League and National League . The award was first introduced in 1956 by Baseball Commissioner Ford Frick in honor of Hall of Fame pitcher Cy Young, who died in 1955...
as the top pitcherIn baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is...
in Major League BaseballMajor League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
, in the award's inaugural year: Don NewcombeDonald Newcombe , nicknamed "Newk", is an American former Major League Baseball right-handed starting pitcher who played for the Brooklyn/Los Angeles Dodgers , Cincinnati Reds and Cleveland Indians .Newcombe is the only baseball player to have won the Rookie of the Year, Most Valuable Player and...
(Brooklyn DodgersThe Los Angeles Dodgers are a Major League Baseball team based in Los Angeles, California, USA. The team is in the Western Division of the National League. Established in 1883, the team originated in Brooklyn, New York, where it was known by a number of nicknames before becoming the Brooklyn...
)
-
- First African-American assistant coach in the NFL: Lowell W. Perry
Lowell Perry was the National Football League's first African American assistant coach, the first African American NFL broadcaster, and Chrysler's first African American plant manager...
(See also: 1966)
-
- First African-American flight attendant
Flight attendants or cabin crew are members of an aircrew employed by airlines primarily to ensure the safety but also the comfort of passengers aboard commercial flights as well as on select business jet aircraft.-History:The role of a flight attendant ultimately derives from that of similar...
: Ruth Carol Taylor (Mohawk AirlinesMohawk Airlines was an airline that operated in the Mid-Atlantic region of the United States, primarily the states of New York and Pennsylvania from the mid-1940s until its acquisition by Allegheny Airlines in 1972...
)
-
- First African-American Grammy Award
The Grammy Awards —or Grammys—are presented annually by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States for outstanding achievements in the music industry...
winners, in the award's inaugural year: Ella FitzgeraldElla Jane Fitzgerald , also known as "Lady Ella", and the "First Lady of Song", was an American jazz vocalist....
and Count BasieWilliam "Count" Basie was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. Widely regarded as one of the most important jazz bandleaders of his time, Basie led his popular Count Basie Orchestra for almost 50 years...
(two awards each)
- First African American television journalist
A journalist is a person who practises journalism, the gathering and dissemination of information about current events, trends, issues, and people while striving for viewpoints that are not biased.Reporters are one type of journalist...
: Louis LomaxLouis E. Lomax was an African-American journalist and author. He was also the first African-American television journalist.-Early years:...
1960s
-
- First African-American US presidential candidate: Rev. Clennon King
Clennon Washington King, Jr. was the first African-American man to run for the office of President of the United States, and whose attempts at civil rights actions and running for office as a perennial candidate caused him to be nicknamed "The Black Don Quixote."-Family:He was the eldest son of...
, on the Independent Afro-American party
-
- First African American to win the Heisman Trophy
The Heisman Memorial Trophy Award , named after the former college football coach John Heisman, is awarded annually by the Heisman Trophy Trust to the most outstanding player in collegiate football...
: Ernie DavisErnest Davis was an American football running back and the first African-American athlete to win the Heisman Trophy. Wearing number 44, Davis competed collegiately for Syracuse University before being drafted by the Washington Redskins, then almost immediately traded to the Cleveland Browns in...
-
- First African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame
The National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
: Jackie RobinsonJack Roosevelt "Jackie" Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era. Robinson broke the baseball color line when he debuted with the Brooklyn Dodgers in 1947...
(See also: Satchel Paige, 1971)
- First African-American coach in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
: John Jordan "Buck" O'NeilJohn Jordan "Buck" O'Neil was a first baseman and manager in Negro league baseball, most notably in the Negro American League with the Kansas City Monarchs. After his playing days, he became the first African American coach in Major League Baseball, and also worked as a scout...
(Chicago CubsThe Chicago Cubs are an American professional baseball team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the Central Division of Major League Baseball's National League. They are one of two Major League clubs based in Chicago , the Cubs are also one of the two remaining charter members of the...
)
- First African-American male professional wrestler to win a world heavyweight championship
World heavyweight championship may refer to:*World heavyweight boxing championship **World Colored Heavyweight Championship *World Heavyweight Championship **AWA World Heavyweight Championship...
: Bobo BrazilHouston Harris was an American professional wrestler, better known by his ring name, Bobo Brazil. Harris was credited with breaking down barriers of racial segregation in professional wrestling...
(NWAThe National Wrestling Alliance World Heavyweight Championship is a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship in the National Wrestling Alliance. Its lineage has been traced from the first "World Heavyweight Championship," which traces its lineage to Georg Hackenschmidt's 1905 title...
)
-
- First African American Airline Stewardess for a major airline Wanda Dorn
Wanda Dorn is an African American businesswoman.19631980...
- First African-American bank examiner for the United States Department of the Treasury
The Department of the Treasury is an executive department and the treasury of the United States federal government. It was established by an Act of Congress in 1789 to manage government revenue...
: Roland BurrisRoland Wallace Burris is the junior United States Senator from the state of Illinois and a Democrat. He is the third black U.S. Senator from Illinois, after Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama. Burris is currently the only African-American in the U.S...
- First company to use an African American in a televised commercial: Unilever
Unilever is a multinational corporation, formed of British and Dutch parentage, that owns many of the world's consumer product brands in foods, beverages, cleaning agents and personal care products...
, through its U.S. division of Lever Brothers, for Wisk detergent.
- First African American named as Time magazine's
Time is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
Man of the Year: Martin Luther King, Jr.Martin Luther King, Jr. was an American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the African-American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. King is recognized as a martyr...
- First African-American police officer of the NYPD to be named a precinct commander: Lloyd Sealy
Lloyd George Sealy was the NYPD's first African American officer to graduate from the FBI National Academy and the first African American officer in the NYPD to make rank as the commander of a police station in 1963 serving the 28th precinct in Harlem...
, commander of the NYPD's 28th precinct in Harlem.
- First African American to be named American League
The American League of Professional Baseball Clubs, or simply the American League , is one of two leagues that make up Major League Baseball in the United States and Canada. It developed from the Western League, a minor league based in the Great Lakes states, that eventually aspired to major league...
MVP: Elston HowardElston Gene Howard was an American catcher, left fielder and coach in Negro League and Major League Baseball who played most of his career for the New York Yankees...
(New York YankeesThe New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the borough of the Bronx, in New York City, New York and are a member of Major League Baseball's American League East Division...
) (See also: Jackie Robinson, 1949)
- First African-American chess master
A chess master is a chess player of such skill that he/she can usually beat chess experts, who themselves typically can nearly always prevail against most amateurs...
: Walter Harris
- First African American to appear as a series regular on a prime time dramatic television series: Cicely Tyson
Cicely Tyson is an American actress. A successful stage actress, Tyson is also known for appearances in the film Sounder and the television specials The Autobiography of Miss Jane Pittman and Roots.-Personal life:...
, "East Side/West Side" (CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
). Also the first African American woman to wear an afro hairstyleAn afro, sometimes shortened to "fro", is a hairstyle in which the hair extends out from the head like a halo, cloud or ball.- History :...
on a prime time series.
-
- First movie with African-American interracial marriage: One Potato, Two Potato, actors Bernie Hamilton
Bernie Hamilton was an American actor.Hamilton was born in East Los Angeles and attended Oakland Technical High School, where he first became interested in acting. In films from 1950, he laboured in bit roles for years before getting noticed in the film One Potato, Two Potato , the story of an...
and Barbara BarrieBarbara Barrie is an American actress and author of children's books.-Personal life:Barrie was born as Barbara Ann Berman in Chicago, Illinois, of Jewish heritage, the daughter of Frances Rose and Louis Berman. She was raised in Texas. Barrie is a widow and the mother of two children, Aaron and...
, written by Orville H. Hampton, Raphael Hayes, directed by Larry PeerceLarry Peerce is an American film and TV director whose work includes the theatrical feature Goodbye, Columbus, the early rock and roll concert film The Big T.N.T. Show, and One Potato, Two Potato , the first U.S...
- First African-American man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
: Sidney PoitierSir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian-American actor, film director, author, and diplomat. He broke through as a star in acclaimed performances in American films and plays, which, by consciously defying racial stereotyping, gave a new dramatic credibility for black actors to mainstream film...
(Lilies of the FieldLilies of the Field is a 1962 book by William Edmund Barrett which was made into a 1963 film and adapted for the musical stage with the title Look to the Lilies...
, 1963) (See also: James BaskettJames Baskett was an American actor known for his portrayal of Uncle Remus, singing the song "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" in the 1946 Disney feature film Song of the South, for which he was given an Honorary Academy Award, making him the first male performer of African descent to receive an Oscar in the...
, 1948)
-
- First African-American title character of a comic book
A comic book is a magazine made up of narrative artwork, often accompanied by dialog and often including brief descriptive prose...
series: LoboLobo is a fictional Western comic book hero who is the medium's first African-American character to headline his own series.-Publication history:...
(Dell ComicsDell Comics was the comic book publishing arm of Dell Publishing, which got its start in pulp magazines. It published comics from 1929 to 1973. At its peak, it was the most prominent and successful American company in the medium...
). (See also: The Falcon, 1969, and Luke Cage, 1972)
- First African-American star of a network television drama: Bill Cosby
William Henry "Bill" Cosby, Jr. is an American comedian, actor, author, television producer, musician and activist. A veteran stand-up performer, he got his start at various clubs, then landed a starring role in the 1960s action show, I Spy. He later starred in his own series, The Bill Cosby Show,...
, I SpyI Spy is an American television secret agent adventure series. It ran for three seasons on NBC from 1965 to 1968 and teamed Robert Culp as international tennis player Kelly Robinson with Bill Cosby as his trainer, Alexander Scott...
(co-star with Robert CulpRobert Martin Culp is an American actor and scriptwriter, perhaps best known for his work in television. Culp earned an international reputation for his role as Kelly Robinson on I Spy , the espionage series, where he and co-star Bill Cosby played a pair of secret agents and for playing Ray...
)
- First African-American cast member of a daytime soap opera
A soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
: Micki GrantMicki Grant is an American singer actress, writer and composer. She performed in Having Our Say , Tambourines to Glory and Jericho-Jim Crow, The Gingham Dog, Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope and has received three Tony Award nominations for her writing...
who played Peggy Nolan Harris on Another WorldAnother World is a television soap opera that ran on the NBC network from May 4, 1964 to June 25, 1999. It was created by Irna Phillips along with William J...
until 1972.
- First African-American Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best...
PlaymateA Playmate is a female model featured in the centerfold/gatefold of Playboy magazine as Playmate of the Month . The PMOM's pictorial includes nude photographs and a centerfold poster, as well as a short biography and the "Playmate Data Sheet", which lists her birthdate, measurements, turn-ons, and...
centerfoldThe centerfold of a magazine refers to a gatefolded spread, usually a portrait such as a pin-up or a nude, inserted in the middle of the publication, or to the model featured in the portrait...
: Jennifer JacksonJennifer Jackson is an American model who was chosen as Playboy magazine's Playmate of the month for the March 1965 issue...
(March issue)
- First African-American U.S. Air Force
The United States Air Force is the aerial warfare branch of the U.S. armed forces and one of the American uniformed services. Initially part of the United States Army, the USAF was formed as a separate branch of the military on 18 September 1947 under the National Security Act of 1947 - 80 P.L....
general: Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr.General Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. was a United States Air Force general and commander of the World War II Tuskegee Airmen....
(three-star lieutenant general)
- First African-American female Ambassador of the United States: Patricia Roberts Harris
Patricia Roberts Harris served as United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development, and United States Secretary of Health, Education, and Welfare in the administration of President Jimmy Carter...
, ambassador to LuxembourgLuxembourg , officially the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg , is a small, landlocked country in western Europe, bordered by Belgium, France, and Germany...
- First African-American NFL
The National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
officialIn American football, an official is a person who has responsibility in enforcing the rules and maintaining the order of the game.During professional and college football games, seven officials operate on the field...
: Burl TolerBurl Abron Toler, Sr. was a American football official in the National Football League for 24 seasons from 1965 to 1989. He served as a field judge and head linesman throughout his career and is most notable for being the first African-American official in the NFL...
, field judge/head linesman
- First African American to win a national chess
Chess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
championship: Frank Street, Jr. (U.S. Amateur Championship)
-
- First African-American coach in the National Basketball Association
The National Basketball Association is a professional basketball league, composed of thirty teams in North America . It is an active member of USA Basketball , which is recognized by the International Basketball Federation as the National Governing Body for basketball in the United States...
: Bill RussellWilliam Felton "Bill" Russell is a retired American professional basketball player who played center for the Boston Celtics of the National Basketball Association...
(Boston CelticsThe Boston Celtics are a professional basketball club based in Boston, Massachusetts, playing in the Atlantic Division of the Eastern Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team is owned by Wycliffe Grousbeck and coached by Doc Rivers, with Danny Ainge as the President of...
)
- First African-American mayor of a US city: Robert C. Henry
Robert Clayton Henry was mayor of Springfield, Ohio from 1966 to 1968. He was the first African-American mayor of an American city of any size, though this achievement is frequently overshadowed by fellow African American mayor Carl B. Stokes, who was elected mayor of Cleveland in 1967.Henry was...
, (Springfield, OhioSpringfield is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Clark County. The municipality is located in southwestern Ohio and is situated on the Mad River, Buck Creek and Beaver Creek, approximately 45 miles west of Columbus and 25 miles northeast of Dayton...
, appointed by city commission)
- First African-American model on the cover of a Vogue
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in 16 countries + Latin America by Condé Nast Publications. Each month, Vogue publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion, life and design.-Style and influence:...
(British VogueThe British edition of Vogue is a fashion magazine that has been published since 1916.When British Vogue was launched, it was the first overseas edition of an existing magazine. Under the magazine's first editor, Elspeth Champcommunal, the magazine was essentially the same as the American edition,...
) magazine: Donyale LunaDonyale Luna was the first notable African American model and the first black cover girl. She also appeared in several films, most notably as the title character in Salome, a 1972 film by director Carmelo Bene, and several films by Andy Warhol.-Birth and childhood:She was born Peggy Anne Freeman...
- First post-Reconstruction African American elected to the U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
(and first African American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular voteThe Seventeenth Amendment to the United States Constitution was passed by the Senate on June 12, 1911, the House of Representatives on May 13, 1912, and ratified by the states on April 8, 1913...
): Edward BrookeEdward William Brooke, III , is an American politician and was the first African American to be elected by popular vote to the United States Senate when he was elected as a Republican from Massachusetts in 1966, defeating his Democratic opponent, Endicott Peabody, 58%–42%...
(RepublicanThe Republican Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Democratic Party. Founded by anti-slavery expansion activists in 1854, it is often called the Grand Old Party or the GOP, despite being the younger of the two major parties. In the U.S...
; MassachusettsThe Commonwealth of Massachusetts is a state in the New England region of the northeastern United States. It is bordered by Rhode Island and Connecticut to the south, New York to the west, and Vermont and New Hampshire to the north; at its east lies the Atlantic Ocean. Most of its population of...
)
- First African American Cabinet
The United States Cabinet is composed of the most senior appointed officers of the executive branch of the federal government of the United States...
secretary: Robert C. WeaverRobert Clifton Weaver served as the first United States Secretary of Housing and Urban Development from 1966 to 1968. Weaver was born in Washington, D.C., on December 29, 1907, and received a Ph.D from Harvard University in 1934. He married Ella V. Haith in 1935, and they had one child...
(Department of Housing and Urban DevelopmentThe United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, also known by as HUD, is a Cabinet department in the Executive branch of the United States federal government...
)
- First African-American Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
umpire: Emmett AshfordEmmett Littleton Ashford , nicknamed "Ash", was the first African American umpire in Major League Baseball, working in the American League from 1966 to 1970....
- First African-American NFL broadcaster: Lowell W. Perry (CBS
CBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
, on Pittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are currently a member of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
games) (See also: 1957)
- First African-American fire commissioner of a major US City: Robert O. Lowery
Robert Oliver Lowery was sworn in as the 21st Fire Commissioner of the City of New York by Mayor John V. Lindsay on January 1, 1966 and served in that position until his resignation on September 29, 1973.Lowery was appointed as a fireman in 1941...
of the New York City Fire DepartmentThe New York City Fire Department or the Fire Department City of New York has the responsibility for protecting the citizens and property of New York City's five boroughs from fires and fire hazards, providing emergency medical services, technical rescue as well as providing first response to...
- First African American elected to president, American Psychological Association
The American Psychological Association is a professional organization representing psychologists in the U.S., with around 150,000 members and an annual budget of around $70m...
: Kenneth Bancroft ClarkKenneth Bancroft Clark and Mamie Phipps Clark were African-American psychologists who as a married team conducted important research among children and were active in the Civil Rights Movement. They founded the Northside Center for Child Development in Harlem and the organization Harlem Youth...
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- First African American elected mayor of a large US city: Carl B. Stokes
Carl Burton Stokes was an American politician of the Democratic party who served as the 51st mayor of Cleveland, Ohio. Elected on November 7, 1967, but took office on Jan 1, 1968, he was tied to be the first African American mayor of a major U.S. city with Mayor Richard G. Hatcher of Gary,...
(Cleveland, OhioCleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County, the most populous county in the state. The municipality is located in northeastern Ohio on the southern shore of Lake Erie, approximately 60 miles west of the Pennsylvania border...
)
- First African American appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States
The Supreme Court of the United States is the highest judicial body in the United States, and leads the federal judiciary. It consists of the Chief Justice of the United States and eight Associate Justices, who are nominated by the President and confirmed with the "advice and consent" of the Senate...
: Thurgood MarshallThurgood Marshall was an American jurist and the first African American to serve on the Supreme Court of the United States. Before becoming a judge, he was a lawyer who was best remembered for his high success rate in arguing before the Supreme Court and for the victory in Brown v. Board of...
- First African American selected for astronaut training: Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.
Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr. was a United States Air Force officer and the first African-American astronaut.-Early years:...
- First African American to win a PGA Tour
The PGA Tour is an organization that operates the main professional golf tours in the United States. It is headquartered in Ponte Vedra Beach, Florida, a suburb of Jacksonville...
event: Charlie SiffordCharles Sifford was an African American professional golfer who helped to desegregate the PGA of America.Sifford was born in Charlotte, North Carolina. He began work as a caddy at the age of thirteen...
(1967 Greater Hartford Open Invitational)
- First African-American interracial kiss on network television: entertainers Nancy Sinatra
Nancy Sandra Sinatra is an American singer and actress. She is the daughter of singer/actor Frank Sinatra from his first wife, Nancy Barbato, and remains known for her 1966 signature hit "These Boots Are Made for Walkin'".For her fourth birthday, Phil Silvers and Jimmy Van Heusen wrote the song...
(white) and Sammy Davis, Jr.Samuel George Davis, Jr. was an American entertainer.Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian, and became internationally famous for his performances on Broadway and Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's...
(African American) on Sinatra's variety special Movin' With NancyMovin' With Nancy was a television special featuring Nancy Sinatra in a series of musical vignettes featuring herself and other artists. It was originally broadcast on the NBC television network on December 11, 1967. It produced a soundtrack album, and is currently available on...
, airing December 11 on NBCThe National Broadcasting Company is an American television network and former radio network headquartered in the GE Building in New York City's Rockefeller Center with additional major offices in Burbank,California...
-
- First African-American woman elected to U.S. House of Representatives
The United States House of Representatives, commonly referred to as the "House," is the lower house of the bicameral United States Congress, the upper house being the United States Senate. The composition and powers of the House and the Senate are established in Article One of the Constitution...
: Shirley ChisholmShirley Anita St. Hill Chisholm was an American politician, educator, and author. She was a Congresswoman, representing New York's 12th Congressional District for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1968, she became the first black woman elected to Congress...
(DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
; New YorkNew York is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous. The state is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...
)
- First African-American man to win a Grand Slam tennis event: Arthur Ashe
Arthur Robert Ashe, Jr. was a professional tennis player, born and raised in Richmond, Virginia. During his career, he won three Grand Slam titles, putting him among the best ever from the U.S...
(US Open) (See also: Althea Gibson, 1956; Serena Williams, 2003)
- First African American to start at quarterback
Quarterback is a position in American and Canadian football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive team and line up directly behind the center, in the middle of the offensive line. Quarterbacks are the leaders of the offensive team, responsible for calling the play in the huddle...
in the modern era of professional footballAmerican football, known in the United States and Canada simply as football, and often as Gridiron or Tackle football outside North America, is a competitive team sport known for combining strategy with physical play. The objective of the game is to score points by advancing the ball into the...
: Marlin BriscoeMarlin Oliver Briscoe is a former professional American football wide receiver/quarterback who played for nine years...
(Denver BroncosThe Denver Broncos are a professional American football team based in Denver, Colorado. They are currently a member of the American Football Conference Western Division in the National Football League . The Broncos began play in 1960 as a charter member of the American Football League and joined...
, AFLThe American Football League was a major Professional Football league that operated from 1960 until 1969, when it merged with the established National Football League . The upstart AFL operated in direct competition with the more established NFL throughout its existence...
)
- First African-American commissioned officer awarded the Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor is the highest military decoration awarded by the United States government. It is bestowed on a member of the United States armed forces who distinguishes themselves "conspicuously by gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty while...
: Riley L. PittsRiley Leroy Pitts was a United States Army Captain and the first African American commissioned officer to be awarded the Medal of Honor. The medal was presented posthumously by U.S. President Lyndon B. Johnson on December 10, 1968 for actions in Ap Dong, South Vietnam.-Biography:Riley Leroy Pitts...
- First fine-arts museum devoted to African-American work: Studio Museum in Harlem
The Studio Museum in Harlem is an American contemporary art museum in the Harlem neighborhood of New York City, New York. It was founded in 1968 as the first such museum in the U.S. devoted in the art of African-Americans, specializing in 19th and 20th century work as well work of artists of...
- First African-American woman as Presidential candidate: Charlene Mitchell
Charlene Mitchell was a third-party candidate in the United States presidential election, 1968, and was the first African-American woman to run for President of the United States...
(See also: Shirley Chisholm, 1972)
- First African-American woman reporter for the New York Times: Nancy Hicks Maynard
Nancy Alene Hicks Maynard was an American publisher, journalist, former owner of The Oakland Tribune, and co-founder of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education...
-
- First African-American superhero
A superhero is "a fictional character of unprecedented powers dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest"...
: The FalconThe Falcon is a fictional comic book superhero in the Marvel Comics universe who first appeared in Captain America #117...
, Marvel ComicsMarvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
' Captain AmericaCaptain America is a fictional character that appears in comic books published by Marvel Comics. The character first appeared in Captain America Comics #1 , from Marvel Comics' 1940s predecessor, Timely Comics, and was created by Joe Simon and Jack Kirby...
#117 (Sept. 1969). (See also: Lobo, 1965 and Luke Cage, 1972)
- First African-American graduate of Harvard Business School
Harvard Business School is a graduate business school in Boston, Massachusetts. The school offers a full-time MBA program, doctoral programs, as well as many . The School owns Harvard Business School Publishing, which publishes business books, online management tools for corporate learning, case...
: Lillian LincolnLillian Lincoln Lambert is an African-American businesswoman. She is known for being the first African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Business School ....
- First African-American director of a major Hollywood motion picture: Gordon Parks
Gordon Roger Alexander Buchanan Parks was a groundbreaking American photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director...
(The Learning TreeThe Learning Tree is a 1969 drama film which tells the story of a young African American growing up in a rural setting in the early part of the 20th century, when racial discrimination was a social norm, legally sanctioned in parts of the United States....
)
- First African-American founder of a classical training school and company of ballet
Ballet is a formalized type of performance dance, which originated in sixteenth- and seventeenth-century French courts, and which was further developed in England, Italy, and Russia as a concert dance form...
: Arthur Mitchell, Dance Theatre of HarlemDance Theatre of Harlem is a ballet company and school of the allied arts founded in Harlem, New York City, USA in 1969 by Arthur Mitchell and Karel Shook...
(See also: 1955)
- First African-American woman to appear on the Grand Ole Opry
The Grand Ole Opry is a weekly country music radio program and concert broadcast live on WSM radio in Nashville, Tennessee, every Friday and Saturday night, as well as Tuesdays and Thursdays from March through December...
: Linda MartellLinda Martell, born Thelma Bynem , is an American rhythm and blues and country music singer. In August 1969, she became the first African-American woman to perform at the Grand Ole Opry.-Biography:...
1970s
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- First African-American member of the New York Stock Exchange
The New York Stock Exchange is a stock exchange located at 11 Wall Street in lower Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA. It is the largest stock exchange in the world by United States dollar value of its listed companies' securities...
: Joseph L. Searles IIIOn February 12 1970, Joseph L. Searles III became the first black floor member and floor broker in the New York Stock Exchange. He worked as a floor partner in the firm of Neburger, Loeb and Company. He graduated and played football at Kansas State University....
- First African-American basketball player to win the NBA All Star MVP, the NBA Finals MVP, & the NBA MVP all in the same season: Willis Reed
Willis Reed Jr. is a retired American basketball player. He spent his entire professional playing career with the New York Knicks, and was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 1982.-Early years:...
(New York KnicksThe New York Knickerbockers, known familiarly as the Knicks, are a professional National Basketball Association team based in New York City, and the most valuable franchise in the league, valued at $608 million...
)
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- First African American owners of a radio station: Hal Jackson and Percy Sutton
Percy Sutton is a civil rights activist, lawyer and entrepreneur.Born November 24, 1920, Percy Sutton is a San Antonio, Texas native. Percy Sutton was the last of fifteen children. His parents Samuel and Lillian were both educators with his father being one of the first blacks in Bexar County. He...
, WLIBWLIB is an urban contemporary gospel radio station located in New York City and owned by Inner City Broadcasting Corporation . Its transmitting towers are located in Lyndhurst, New Jersey....
-New York
- First African American pitcher
In baseball, the pitcher is the player who throwsthe baseball from the pitcher's mound toward the catcher to begin each play, with the goal of retiring a batter who attempts to either make contact with it or draw a walk. In the numbering system used to record defensive plays, the pitcher is...
to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of FameThe National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum is an American museum and hall of fame, located at 25 Main Street in Cooperstown, New York, operated by private interests serving as the central point for the study of the history of baseball in the United States and beyond, the display of...
: Satchel PaigeLeroy Robert "Satchel" Paige was an American baseball player whose pitching in several different Negro Leagues and in Major League Baseball made him a legend in his own lifetime...
(See also: Jackie Robinson, 1962)
- First African American president of the New York City Board of Education
The New York City Board of Education is the governing body of the New York City Department of Education. The members of the board are appointed by the mayor and by the five borough presidents.-Rise and fall of Mayoral Control:...
: Isaiah Edward Robinson, Jr.Isaiah Edward Robinson, Jr., is the first African American president of the New York City Board of Education. He chaired the Board's Decentralization Committee from May, 1969 to April, 1970...
-
- First African American to campaign for the U.S. presidency in a major political party and to win a U.S. presidential primary/caucus: Shirley Chisholm (Democratic Party
The Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
, New Jersey primary) (See also: 1968)
- First African-American superhero
A superhero is "a fictional character of unprecedented powers dedicated to acts of derring-do in the public interest"...
to star in own comic-book series: Luke CageLuke Cage, born Carl Lucas and also called Power Man, is a fictional superhero appearing in comic books published by Marvel Comics. Created by writer Archie Goodwin and artist John Romita, Sr., he first appeared in Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 .-Publication history: A streetwise youth, the man...
, Marvel ComicsMarvel Publishing, Inc., a company doing business as Marvel Comics, produces American comic books and related media. It forms a subsidiary of Marvel Entertainment, Inc....
' Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972). (See also: Lobo, 1965, and the Falcon, 1969)
- First African-American interracial kiss in a mainstream comics magazine: "The Men Who Called Him Monster", by writer Don McGregor
Donald F. McGregor is an American comic book writer, and the author of one of the first graphic novels.-Biography:-Marvel Comics:...
(See also: 1975) and artist Luis Garcia, in Warren PublishingWarren Publishing was an American magazine company founded by James Warren, who published his first magazines in 1957 and continued in the business for decades...
's black-and-white horrorHorror fiction is a genre of fiction in any medium intended to scare, unsettle and horrify the audience. Historically, the cause of the "horror" experience has often been the intrusion of a disturbing supernatural element into everyday human experience...
-comics magazine CreepyCreepy was an American horror-comics magazine launched by Warren Publishing in 1964. Like Mad, it was a black-and-white newsstand publication in a magazine format and thus did not require the approval or seal of the Comics Code Authority. The anthology magazine was initially published quarterly but...
#43 (Jan. 1972)
- First African-American interracial male kiss on network television: Sammy Davis, Jr.
Samuel George Davis, Jr. was an American entertainer.Primarily a dancer and singer, Davis was a childhood vaudevillian, and became internationally famous for his performances on Broadway and Las Vegas, as a recording artist, television and film star, and the only black member of Frank Sinatra's...
(African American) and Carroll O'ConnorJohn Carroll O'Connor , best known as Carroll O'Connor, was an American actor, producer and director whose television career spanned four decades...
(white) in All in the FamilyAll in the Family is an American situation comedy that was originally broadcast on the CBS television network from January 12, 1971 to April 8, 1979. In September 1979, the show was revamped, and given a new title, Archie Bunker's Place...
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- First African American to hold the plant manager position at a U.S. automobile company: Lowell W. Perry
- First African American elected mayor of Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
: Tom BradleyThomas J. "Tom" Bradley was a five-term mayor of Los Angeles, California, serving in that office from 1973 to 1993. He was the first and to date only African American mayor of Los Angeles. His 20 years in office mark the longest tenure by any mayor in the city's history...
- First African-American Bond Girl
A Bond girl is a character or actress portraying a love interest of James Bond in a film, novel, or video game. They occasionally have names that are double entendres, such as "Pussy Galore," "Mary Goodnight," "Plenty O'Toole," "May Day," "Xenia Onatopp," and "Holly Goodhead."Bond Girls are often...
in a James BondJames Bond 007 is a fictional character created in 1953 by writer Ian Fleming, who featured him in twelve novels and two short story collections. The character has also been used in the longest running and most financially successful English language film franchise to date, starting in 1962 with Dr...
movie: Gloria HendryGloria Hendry is an African-American actress. She is sometimes credited as "Gloria Henry."-Career:Hendry began her acting career in the 1968 Sidney Poitier film For Love of Ivy....
(as Rosie Carver), Live and Let DieLive and Let Die may refer to:*Live and Let Die , a James Bond novel by Ian Fleming*Live and Let Die , a 1973 film starring Roger Moore loosely based upon the novel*Live and Let Die , the soundtrack album of the 1973 film...
.
- First African American Bond villain: Yaphet Kotto
Prince Yaphet Frederick Kotto is an American actor, known for numerous film roles, and his starring role in the NBC television series: Homicide: Life on the Street.-Early life:...
, playing Mr. Big/Dr. KanangaMr. Big is a fictional character and the main antagonist in the James Bond novel and film Live and Let Die. In the film, Big is portrayed by actor Yaphet Kotto. The novel and film versions of Mr. Big are extremely different, with the film incarnation bordering on being a completely new character...
, Live and Let Die.
- First African-American comic-book creator to receive a "created by" cover-credit: Wayne Howard
Wayne Wright Howard was an African-American comic book artist best known for his 1970s work at Charlton Comics, where he became American comic books' first known cover-credited series creator, with the horror-anthology Midnight Tales blurbing "Created by Wayne Howard" on each issue — "a...
(Midnight Tales #1)
- First African-American woman mayor of a U.S. metropolitan city: Doris A. Davis
Doris A. Davis is a former mayor of Compton, California, who earned a place in history as the first African-American woman mayor of a metropolitan city in the United States.-Political career:...
, Compton, CaliforniaCompton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, south-southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city was incorporated in 1889. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 93,493....
- First African-American artistic director
An artistic director is the executive of an arts organization, particularly in a theatre company, that handles the organization's artistic direction. He or she is generally a producer and director, but not in the sense of a mogul, since the organization is generally a non-profit organization...
of a professional regional theater: Harold ScottHarold Russell Scott, Jr. was an American stage director, actor and educator, who broke racial barriers in American theatre...
(Cincinnati Playhouse in the ParkThe was founded in 1959 by college student Gerald Covell and was one of the first regional theatres in the United States. Located in Eden Park, the first play that premiered at the Playhouse on October 10, 1960, was Meyer Levin's Compulsion...
)
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- First African-American model on the cover of American Vogue
Vogue is a fashion and lifestyle magazine published in 16 countries + Latin America by Condé Nast Publications. Each month, Vogue publishes a magazine addressing topics of fashion, life and design.-Style and influence:...
magazine: Beverly JohnsonBeverly Johnson is an American model, actress, and businesswoman. She made history when she rose to fame as the first black model to appear on the cover of American Vogue in 1974, paving the way for black women in fashion, and future models like Naomi Campbell and Tyra Banks...
-
- First African American elected mayor, and first mayor, of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
: Walter WashingtonWalter Edward Washington, was an American politician, the first Home-Rule mayor of the District of Columbia. He was also the last appointed President of the Board of Commissioners of Washington, D.C....
- First African-American manager in Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
: Frank RobinsonFrank Robinson , is a former Major League Baseball player. He was an outfielder, most notably with the Cincinnati Reds and the Baltimore Orioles...
(Cleveland IndiansThe Cleveland Indians are a professional baseball team based in Cleveland, Ohio. They are in the Central Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Since , they have played in Progressive Field . The team's spring training facility is in Goodyear, Arizona...
)
- First African-American four-star general
In the United States Army, United States Air Force, and United States Marine Corps, general is a four-star general officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. General ranks above lieutenant general and below General of the Army or General of the Air Force; the Marine Corps does not have an...
: Daniel James, Jr.
- First African-American women named as Time magazine's
Time is an American newsmagazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong. As of 2009, Time no longer publishes a Canadian advertiser edition...
, Person of the Year: Barbara JordanBarbara Charline Jordan was an American politician from Texas. She served as a congresswoman in the United States House of Representatives from 1973 to 1979.-Biography:...
and Addie L. WyattAddie L. Wyatt is known for being the first African-American woman elected international vice president of a major labor union, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union. Wyatt began her career in the union in the early 1950s and advanced in leadership...
- First TV-series cast with African-American interracial couple: The Jeffersons
The Jeffersons is an American sitcom that was broadcast on CBS from January 18, 1975, through June 25, 1985, lasting 11 seasons and a total of 253 episodes produced by T.AT. Communications Company from 1975-1982 and Embassy Television from 1982-1985...
, actors Franklin CoverFranklin Edward Cover was an American actor most noted for starring on the sitcom The Jeffersons. His character, Tom Willis, was half of one of the first interracial marriages to be seen on prime-time television....
(white) and Roxie RokerRoxie Albertha Roker was an American actress, best known for her groundbreaking role as Helen Willis on the sitcom The Jeffersons, half of one of the first interracial couples to be shown on regular prime time television...
(African American) as Tom & Helen Willis; series creator: Norman LearNorman Milton Lear is an American television writer and producer who produced such '70s sitcoms as All in the Family, Sanford and Son, One Day at a Time, The Jeffersons, Good Times and Maude.-Early life:...
- First African-American model on the cover of ELLE
Elle may refer to:*Elle *Ellé, a river in the region of Brittany, France*Elle, Central African Republic*Elle of Sussex, a Saxon king*Elle, an orthographic unit consisting of ll in Spanish orthography...
magazine: Beverly Johnson
- First African American to win Super Bowl MVP
The Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award, or Super Bowl MVP, is an award presented annually to the most valuable player of the Super Bowl, the National Football League's championship game. The winner is chosen by a fan vote during the game and by a panel of 16 American football writers and...
in NFL: Franco HarrisFranco Harris is a former American football player best known for his career with the Pittsburgh Steelers.In the 1972 NFL draft he was chosen by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the first round, the 13th selection overall. His selection by the team was considered controversial at the time, as many...
(Pittsburgh SteelersThe Pittsburgh Steelers are a professional American football team based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. They are currently a member of the North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
). Of mixed heritage, Harris was also first Italian American to win the award.
- First African-American game show
A game show is a type of television program in which members of the public or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving problems usually for money and/or prizes. On some shows contestants compete against other players or another team while...
host: Adam WadeAdam Wade is an American singer, drummer and television actor. He is noted for his stint as the host of the CBS game show Musical Chairs, which made him the first African-American game show host.-Early career:Wade worked for a time as a lab assistant with Dr. Jonas Salk on the polio research team...
(CBSCBS Broadcasting Inc. is an American television network, one of television's original "big three", which also include NBC and ABC. Like NBC, CBS started out as a radio network. The name is derived from the initials of the network's former name, Columbia Broadcasting System...
' Musical Chairs)
- First African-American interracial kiss in a color comic book: Amazing Adventures
Amazing Adventures is the name of several anthology comic book series, all but one published by Marvel Comics.The earliest Marvel series of that name introduced the company's first superhero of the late-1950s to early-1960s period fans and historians call the Silver Age of Comic Books...
#31 (July 1975), feature "KillravenJonathan Raven, best known as Killraven, the "Warrior of the Worlds", is a fictional freedom fighter in a post-apocalyptic alternate future of the Marvel Comics universe. He first appeared in Amazing Adventures #18 , created by co-plotters Roy Thomas and Neal Adams, scripter Gerry Conway, and...
: Warrior of the Worlds", characters M'ShullaM'Shulla is a fictional freedom fighter in a post-apocalyptic alternate future of the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:M'Shulla first appeared in Amazing Adventures #19 , and was created by Gerry Conway and Howard Chaykin....
Scott and Carmilla FrostCarmilla Frost is a fictional freedom fighter in a post-apocalyptic alternate future of the Marvel Comics universe.-Publication history:Carmilla Frost first appeared in Amazing Adventures #21 , and was created by Don McGregor and Herb Trimpe.The character subsequently appears in Amazing Adventures...
, by writer Don McGregorDonald F. McGregor is an American comic book writer, and the author of one of the first graphic novels.-Biography:-Marvel Comics:...
(See also: 1972) and artist P. Craig RussellPhilip Craig Russell , also known as P. Craig Russell, is an American comic book writer, artist, and illustrator. His work has won multiple Harvey and Eisner Awards...
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- First African-American woman Broadway
Broadway Theatre, commonly called simply Broadway, is the theatre associated with the 40 large professional theaters with 500 seats or more located in the Theatre District, New York in Manhattan, New York City...
director: Vinnette Justine CarrollVinnette Justine Carroll was an American playwright, and the first African American woman to direct on Broadway, with the 1972 musical Don't Bother Me, I Can't Cope.- Life and Works :...
(Your Arms Too Short to Box with GodYour Arms Too Short to Box with God: A Soaring Celebration in Song and Dance is a Broadway musical based on the Biblical Book of Matthew, with music and lyrics by Alex Bradford and a book by Vinnette Carroll, who also directed. Micki Grant was credited for "additional music and lyrics."With this...
)
- First African-American woman elected officer of international labor union: Addie L. Wyatt
Addie L. Wyatt is known for being the first African-American woman elected international vice president of a major labor union, the Amalgamated Meat Cutters Union. Wyatt began her career in the union in the early 1950s and advanced in leadership...
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- First African American, and first woman, appointed director of the Peace Corps
The Peace Corps is an American volunteer program run by the United States Government, as well as a governmental agency of the same name. Each program participant, or Peace Corps Volunteer, is an American citizen who commits to working abroad in an assignment for the organization for a period of...
: Carolyn R. PaytonCarolyn Robertson Payton was appointed Director of the United States Peace Corps in 1977 by President Jimmy Carter. She was the first female and the first African American to be Peace Corps Director...
- First African-American woman in the U.S. Cabinet: Patricia Roberts Harris, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development
- First African-American woman whose signature appeared on U.S. currency: Azie Taylor Morton
Azie Taylor Morton served as Treasurer of the United States during the Carter administration . She remains the only African American to hold that office. Her signature was printed on U.S. currency during her tenure; this is an honor she shared with four African American men...
, the 36th Treasurer of the United StatesThe Treasurer of the United States is an official in the United States Department of the Treasury that was originally charged with the receipt and custody of government funds, though many of these functions have been taken over by different bureaus of the Department of the Treasury...
- First African-American publisher of mainstream gay publication: Alan Bell (Gaysweek
Gaysweek was New York City's first mainstream weekly lesbian and gay newspaper. It was founded by Alan Bell in 1977. Gaysweek began as an 8-page single-color tabloid and when it ceased publication in 1979 after 104 issues, it had grown to a 24-page two-color publication. Its monthly arts...
)
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- First African-American broadcast network news anchor: Max Robinson
Max Robinson was an American broadcast journalist, and ABC News World News Tonight co-anchor. He was the first African American broadcast network news anchor in the United States and one of the first television journalists to die of AIDS...
-
- First African American and first person to win the Emmy Award Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries: Esther Rolle
Esther Rolle was an American actress of stage and television. She was perhaps best known for her portrayal of Florida Evans in two 1970s television sitcoms, Maude and Good Times.- Biography:...
- First African American U.S. Marine Corps general officer: Frank E. Petersen
- First African-American man to win Daytime Emmy Award
The Daytime Emmy Awards are awards presented by the New York-based National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences and the Los Angeles-based Academy of Television Arts & Sciences in recognition of excellence in American daytime television programming....
for lead actor in a soap operaA soap opera, sometimes called "soap" for short, is an ongoing, episodic work of dramatic fiction presented in serial format on television or radio. The name "soap opera" stems from the original dramatic serials broadcast on radio that had soap manufacturers such as Procter & Gamble,...
: Al Freeman, Jr.Albert Cornelius "Al" Freeman, Jr. is an African-American actor and director.Freeman has made appearances in many films, such as My Sweet Charlie, Finian's Rainbow, and Malcolm X, and television series such as The Cosby Show, Law & Order, Homicide: Life on the Street and The Edge of Night...
(Ed Hall in One Life To LiveOne Life to Live is an American soap opera which has been broadcast on the ABC television network since July 15, 1968. Created by Agnes Nixon, the series was the first daytime drama to primarily feature racially and socioeconomically diverse characters and consistently emphasize social...
)
1980s
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- First African-American Channel Black Entertainment Television
Black Entertainment Television is an American cable network based in Washington D.C., and targets young African-American audiences in the United States. Robert L. Johnson founded the network in 1980...
- First African-American owners of a major metropolitan newspaper: Robert C.
Robert Clyve Maynard was an American journalist, and newspaper publisher and editor, former owner of The Oakland Tribune and co-founder of the Robert C. Maynard Institute for Journalism Education in Oakland, California....
and Nancy Hicks Maynard, The Oakland TribuneThe Oakland Tribune is a daily newspaper published in Oakland, California by the Alameda Newspaper Group, a subsidiary of MediaNews Group.-Origin:...
- First African American to play in the NHL
The National Hockey League is an unincorporated not-for-profit association which operates a major professional ice hockey league as a joint venture for its self perpetuating membership of 30 franchised member clubs located in the United States and Canada...
: Val JamesVal James is a retired American Professional Hockey left winger who played 2 seasons in the National Hockey League for the Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs.-Playing career:...
(Buffalo SabresThe Buffalo Sabres are a professional ice hockey team based in Buffalo, New York. They are members of the Northeast Division of the Eastern Conference of the National Hockey League .-Founding:...
)
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- First African-American male to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor
Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actor who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry. Since its inception, however, the...
: Louis Gossett, Jr.-Early life:Gossett, Jr. was born in Sheepshead Bay, Coney Island, Brooklyn, New York to Hellen Rebecca , a nurse, and Louis Gossett, Sr., a porter...
- First African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama
The Pulitzer Prize for Drama was first awarded in 1918.From 1918 to 2006, the Drama Prize was unlike the majority of the other Pulitzer Prizes: during these years, the eligibility period for the drama prize ran from March 2 to March 1, to reflect the Broadway 'season' rather than being the calendar...
: Charles FullerCharles H. Fuller, Jr. is an American playwright, best known for his play, A Soldier's Play for which he received the 1982 Pulitzer Prize for Drama.-Early years:...
for A Soldier's PlayA Soldier's Play is a drama by Charles Fuller. The play uses a murder mystery to explore the complicated feelings of anger and resentment that some African Americans have toward one another, and the ways in which many black Americans have absorbed white racist attitudes.-Plot synopsis:The story...
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- First African-American astronaut: Guion Stewart "Guy" Bluford, Jr.
Guion “Guy” Bluford, Jr. is an engineer, retired Colonel from the United States Air Force and a former NASA Astronaut. He participated in four Space Shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992...
(ChallengerSpace Shuttle Challenger was NASA's second Space Shuttle orbiter to be put into service, Columbia being the first. Its maiden flight was on April 4, 1983, and it completed nine missions before breaking apart 73 seconds after the launch of its tenth mission, STS-51-L on January 28, 1986, resulting...
mission STS-8STS-8 was a Space Shuttle mission carried out in late 1983; it conducted the first night launch and night landing of the program, and flew the first African-American astronaut...
).
- First African-American mayor
"Mayor" is a modern title used in many countries for the highest ranking officer in a municipal government....
of ChicagoChicago is the largest city in the U.S. state of Illinois, and with more than 2.8 million people, the 3rd largest city in the United States...
: Harold WashingtonHarold Lee Washington was an American lawyer and politician who became the first African American Mayor of Chicago, serving from 1983 until his death in 1987.- Background and early career :...
- First African-American Miss America
The Miss America pageant is a long-standing competition which awards scholarships to young women from the 50 states plus the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands...
: Vanessa L. WilliamsVanessa Lynn Williams is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Williams made history on September 17, 1983 when she became the first woman of African American descent to be crowned Miss America. Williams' reign as Miss America came to an abrupt end when scandal led to her subsequent...
- First African-American WWE Tag Team Champion: Tony Atlas
Anthony White better known by his ring name "Tony Atlas" is a bodybuilder, powerlifter, and professional wrestler who has held multiple titles and championships in each sport. He is also known by his bodybuilding title, "Mr. USA" , the nom de guerre the "Black Superman", as well as an alter ego...
- First African American to appear on MTV
MTV is a cable television network based in New York City and launched on August 1, 1981. The original purpose of the channel was to play music videos guided by on-air hosts known as VJs...
via music video: Michael JacksonMichael Joseph Jackson , known as the "King of Pop", was an American musician and one of the most commercially successful and influential entertainers of all time...
- First African American to play in the Ryder Cup
The Ryder Cup is a golf trophy, donated by Samuel Ryder, which is awarded biennially in an event called the "Ryder Cup Matches" between teams from Europe and the United States...
: Calvin PeeteCalvin Peete is an American golfer. He was the most successful African-American on the PGA Tour, with 12 wins, before the emergence of Tiger Woods....
(United States)
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- First African American to win a delegate-awarding U.S. presidential primary/caucus: Jesse Jackson
Jesse Louis Jackson, Sr. is an American civil rights activist and Baptist minister. He was a candidate for the Democratic presidential nomination in 1984 and 1988 and served as shadow senator for the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1997. He was the founder of both entities that merged to form...
(Louisiana, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, Virginia and one of two separate Mississippi contests).
- First African-American coach to win the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship
The NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship is a single elimination tournament held each spring featuring 65 college basketball teams. college basketball teams in the United States...
: John ThompsonJohn R. Thompson, Jr. is an American former basketball coach for the Georgetown University Hoyas. He is now a professional radio and TV sports commentator...
(Georgetown)
- First African-American New York City Police Commissioner: Benjamin Ward
Benjamin Ward was the first black New York City Police Commissioner. Ward was one of 11 children and was born in the Weeksville section of Brooklyn, New York.-Military and Police experience:...
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- First African American to become a member of the U.S. Navy
The United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
's Blue AngelsThe United States Navy's Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron, popularly known as the Blue Angels, first performed in 1946 and is currently the oldest flying aerobatic team...
precision flying team: Donnie CochranCaptain Donnie L. Cochran was the first African-American aviator assigned to the United States Navy Flight Demonstration Squadron in 1986. Cochran later assumed command of the Blue Angels in 1994.-Personal Biography:Donnie L...
. Also first African American to command the team (1994).
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- First African-American Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1, and currently officially referred to as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" in the name refers to a set of rules to which all participants...
racecarAutomobile racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports.- The beginning of racing:...
driver: Willy T. RibbsWilliam "Willy" Theodore Ribbs, Jr. is a racecar driver who competed in many forms of auto racing. After retiring, he became a sport shooter in the National Sporting Clays Association....
(See also: Ribbs, 1991)
- First African-American musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shores of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States, dedicated to recording the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, and other people who have in some major way influenced the music...
, in the inaugural class: Chuck BerryCharles Edward "Chuck" Berry is an American guitarist, singer, and songwriter.Chuck Berry is one of the pioneers of rock and roll music...
, James BrownJames Joseph Brown , originally James Joseph Brown, Jr., also known as "The Godfather of Soul", was an American entertainer. He is recognized as one of the most influential figures in 20th century popular music and was renowned for his vocals and feverish dancing...
, Ray CharlesRay Charles Robinson , known by his stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He brought a soulful sound to country music and pop standards through his Modern Sounds recordings, as well as a rendition of "America the Beautiful" that Ed Bradley of 60 Minutes called the "definitive version of...
, Sam CookeSamuel "Sam" Cook was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music....
, Fats DominoAntoine Dominique "Fats" Domino is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter.-Imperial Records era :...
, and Little RichardRichard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, pianist and recording artist, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s...
- First African American to die in spaceflight: Ronald McNair
Ronald Ervin McNair, Ph.D. was an African-American physicist and NASA astronaut. McNair perished during the launch of the Space Shuttle Challenger on mission STS-51-L....
- First African-American woman, and first woman, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin is an American singer, songwriter and pianist commonly referred to as "The Queen of Soul". Although renowned for her soul recordings, Franklin is also adept at jazz, rock, soul, blues, pop, R&B and Gospel music...
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- First African-American woman elected to a U.S. judge
A judge, or arbiter of justice, is a lead official who presides over a court of law, either alone or as part of a panel of judges. The powers, functions, method of appointment, discipline, and training of judges vary widely across different jurisdictions. The judge is like an umpire in a game and...
ship, and first appointed to a state supreme courtA supreme court is in some jurisdictions the highest judicial body within that jurisdiction's court system, whose rulings are not subject to further review by another court. The designations for such courts differ among jurisdictions...
: Juanita Kidd StoutJuanita Kidd Stout was a Justice of the Supreme Court of Pennsylvania from 1988-1989, and the first African-American woman elected to any judgeship in the United States and the first to serve on the Supreme Court of any state.Stout studied at the University of Iowa...
- First African-American candidate for President of the United States to obtain ballot access in all 50 states: Lenora Fulani
Lenora Branch Fulani is an American psychologist, psychotherapist, and political activist. She may be best known for her presidential campaigns and development of youth programs serving minority communities in the New York City area...
- First African American to win the Best Actor Award
The Best Actor Award is an award presented at the Cannes Film Festival. It is chosen by the jury from the 'official section' of movies at the festival. It was first awarded in 1946.- Award Winners :-External links:* * ....
at the Cannes Film FestivalThe Cannes Film Festival , founded in 1946, is one of the world's oldest and most prestigious film festivals. The private festival is held annually at the Palais des Festivals et des Congrès, in the resort town of Cannes, in the south of France.The 62nd edition started 13 May and ended 24 May 2009...
: Forest WhitakerForest Steven Whitaker is an American actor, producer, and director. Whitaker won an Academy Award for his performance as Ugandan dictator Idi Amin in the 2006 film The Last King of Scotland. Whitaker has also won a Golden Globe, and a BAFTA...
(BirdBird is a 1988 American film produced and directed by Clint Eastwood.The film is a biopic, a tribute to the life and music of jazz saxophonist Charlie "Bird" Parker, written by Joel Oliansky...
)
- First African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics (a bronze in figure skating): Debi Thomas
Debra Janine "Debi" Thomas , is an American figure skater and physician. She is the 1986 World champion and 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, having taken part in the Battle of the Carmens at those games.-Personal life:...
- First African-American quarterback to start (and win) in the Super Bowl: Doug Williams
- First African-American NFL
The National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
referee: Johnny GrierJohnny Grier was an American football official for 23 years in the National Football League from 1981 to 2004. He began in the NFL as a field judge before becoming the first African-American referee in the history of the NFL with the start of the 1988 NFL season...
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- First African-American mayor of New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States, and the center of the New York metropolitan area, which is among the most populous urban areas in the world. A leading global city, New York exerts a powerful influence over worldwide commerce, finance, culture, fashion and entertainment...
: David DinkinsDavid Norman Dinkins is a former politician from New York City. He was the Mayor of New York City from 1990 through 1993, being the first African American to hold that office.-Early life:...
- First African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff is by law the highest ranking military officer in the United States armed forces, and the principal military adviser to the President of the United States, the National Security Council, and the Secretary of Defense...
: Colin PowellColin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State , serving under President George W. Bush. He was the first African American appointed to that position...
- First African American, and first woman, ordained bishop in the Episcopal Church
The Episcopal Church , also known as the Protestant Episcopal Church in the United States of America , is the Province of the Anglican Communion in the United States, Honduras, Taiwan, Colombia, Ecuador, Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, the British Virgin Islands and parts of Europe...
: Barbara Clementine HarrisThe Rt. Rev. Barbara Clementine Harris was the first woman ordained a bishop in the Anglican Communion.-Education:...
- First African-American Chairman of the Democratic National Committee
The Democratic National Committee is the principal organization governing the United States Democratic Party on a day to day basis. While it is responsible for overseeing the process of writing a platform every four years, the DNC's central focus is on campaign and political activity in support...
: Ron BrownRonald Harmon Brown , was the United States Secretary of Commerce, serving during the first term of President Bill Clinton. He was the first African American to hold this position...
1990s
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- First elected African-American governor: Douglas Wilder
Lawrence Douglas Wilder is an American politician, the first African American to be elected as governor of a U.S. state, and the second to serve as governor. Wilder served as Governor of Virginia from 1990 to 1994. When earlier elected as Lieutenant Governor, he was the first African American...
(DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
; VirginiaThe Commonwealth of Virginia is a U.S. state on the Atlantic Coast of the Southern United States. Virginia is nicknamed the "Old Dominion" and sometimes the "Mother of Presidents" because it is the birthplace of eight U.S. presidents. The geography and climate of the state are shaped by the Blue...
) (See also: P. B. S. PinchbackPinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback was the first non-white and first person of African American descent to become governor of a U.S. state...
, 1872)
- First African American elected president of the Harvard Law Review
The Harvard Law Review is a journal of legal scholarship published by an independent student group at Harvard Law School.-Overview:The Review is one of the most cited law reviews in the United States. It is published monthly from November through June, with the November issue dedicated to covering...
: Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
(See also: 2008, 2009)
- First African-American Miss USA
The Miss USA beauty contest has been held annually since 1952 to select the United States entrant in the Miss Universe pageant. The Miss Universe Organization operates both pageants, as well as Miss Teen USA.-History:...
: Carole GistCarole Anne-Marie Gist was the first African American woman to win the Miss USA title. Gist first won the title of Miss Michigan USA and went on to win the Miss USA crown on March 2 1990 in Wichita, Kansas....
- First African-American Playboy
Playboy is an American men's magazine, founded in Chicago, Illinois in 1953, by Hugh Hefner and his associates, and funded in part by a $1,000 loan from Hefner's mother. The magazine has grown into Playboy Enterprises, Inc., with a presence in nearly every medium. Playboy is one of the world's best...
Playmate of the Year: Renee TenisonReneé Tenison is an American model and actress.Reneé has three older brothers and an identical twin sister, Rosie, who also works as a model...
-
- First African American nominated for a Best Director Academy Award. John Singleton
John Daniel Singleton is an American film director, screenwriter, and producer. A native of South Los Angeles, many of his films consider the implications of inner-city violence like the critically acclaimed and popular Boyz N the Hood, Poetic Justice, Higher Learning and Baby Boy...
for Boyz N The HoodBoyz n the Hood is a 1991 hood film, written and directed by John Singleton. Starring Ice Cube, Cuba Gooding, Jr., Morris Chestnut, Nia Long, Angela Bassett, Regina King, and Laurence Fishburne, the film depicts life in poor South Central Los Angeles, California, and was filmed and released in the...
- First African American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500
The Indianapolis 500-Mile Race, often shortened to Indianapolis 500 or Indy 500 or sometimes known simply as The 500, is an American automobile race, held annually over the Memorial Day weekend at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana...
auto raceAutomobile racing is a motorsport involving racing cars. It is one of the world's most watched television sports.- The beginning of racing:...
: Willy T. Ribbs (See also: Ribbs, 1986)
- First African-American woman mayor of Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C. , formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, the District, or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States, founded on July 16, 1790...
: Sharon Pratt KellySharon Pratt Kelly , formerly Sharon Pratt Dixon and now known as Sharon Pratt, was the third mayor of the District of Columbia from 1991 to 1995. Pratt was the first African-American woman to serve as mayor of a major American city.-Early life:She was born to D.C. Superior Court judge Carlisle...
- First all African-American band to win the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance
The Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance has been awarded since 1990. In 1989 it was presented as Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock/Metal Performance until the following year, when the Grammy Award for Best Metal Performance category was formed. From 1992 to 1994 the award was presented as the...
: Living ColourLiving Colour is an African American funk metal band from New York City, formed in 1983. Stylistically, the band's music is a creative fusion influenced by heavy metal, funk, hard rock, free jazz, hardcore punk and hip hop...
for "Cult of PersonalityA cult of personality arises when a country's leader uses mass media to create an idealized and heroic public image, often through unquestioning flattery and praise. Cults of personality are often found in dictatorships and Stalinist governments....
"
- First African-American NBA Coach of the Year
The National Basketball Association's Coach of the Year is an annual National Basketball Association award given since the 1962–63 NBA season. The winner receives the Red Auerbach Trophy, which is named in honor of the head coach who led the Boston Celtics to nine NBA Championships from 1956 to 1966...
: Don ChaneyDonald Ray Chaney is an American former professional basketball player and coach, most notable for his long stints as a player on the Boston Celtics.-Career as a player:...
(Houston RocketsThe Houston Rockets is an American professional basketball team based in Houston, Texas. The team plays in the Southwest Division of the Western Conference in the National Basketball Association . The team was established in 1967, and played in San Diego, California for four years, before being...
)
-
- First African-American WCW World Heavyweight Champion
The World Championship Wrestling World Heavyweight Championship was a professional wrestling world heavyweight championship and the top title contested for in World Championship Wrestling...
: Ron SimmonsRon Simmons is an American semi-retired professional wrestler and retired American football player. He was the first of only three African Americans to win the WCW World Heavyweight Championship, along with Booker T and The Rock...
- First African-American woman astronaut: Dr. Mae Jemison
Mae Carol Jemison is an African American physician and NASA astronaut. She became the first woman of recent African ancestry to travel in space when she went into orbit aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour on September 12, 1992....
(Space Shuttle EndeavourSpace Shuttle Endeavour is one of three currently operational orbiters in the Space Shuttle fleet of NASA, the space agency of the United States. Endeavour is the fifth and final spaceworthy NASA space shuttle to be built, constructed as a replacement for Challenger...
)
- First African-American woman elected to U.S. Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
: Carol Moseley BraunCarol Elizabeth Moseley Braun is an American politician and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first and, , the only, African-American woman elected to the United States Senate, the first woman to defeat an incumbent senator in an election,...
(DemocratThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
; IllinoisIllinois , the 21st state admitted to the United States of America, is the most populous and demographically diverse Midwestern state and the fifth most populous state in the nation...
)
- First African American to manage a Major League Baseball
Major League Baseball is the highest level of play in North American professional baseball. Specifically, Major League Baseball refers to the organization that operates the National League and the American League, by means of a joint organizational structure that has developed gradually between...
team to a World SeriesThe World Series has been the annual championship series of the highest level of professional baseball in the United States and Canada since 1903, concluding the postseason of Major League Baseball...
Championship: Cito GastonClarence Edwin "Cito" Gaston is the manager of the Toronto Blue Jays and a former outfielder in professional baseball. He is best known for managing the Toronto Blue Jays to their two World Series championships in 1992 and 1993. On June 20, 2008, Gaston returned as the manager of the Toronto Blue...
(Toronto Blue JaysThe Toronto Blue Jays are a professional baseball team located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Jays are a member of the Eastern Division of Major League Baseball 's American League.The "Blue Jays" name originates from the bird of the same name...
)
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- First African-American woman appointed U.S. Secretary of Energy: Hazel R. O'Leary
Hazel Reid O'Leary was the seventh United States Secretary of Energy, from 1993 to 1997. As of 2009 she is the first and only woman and first and only African American to hold the position.-Early life and education:...
- First African American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature: Toni Morrison
Toni Morrison is a Nobel Prize-winning American author, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed black characters...
- First African-American woman named Poet Laureate of the United States: Rita Dove
Rita Frances Dove is an American poet and author. She was appointed Poet Laureate Consultant in Poetry to the Library of Congress in 1993, the first African American to be appointed, and received a second special appointment in 1999...
, also the youngest person named to that position
- First African American appointed Surgeon General of the United States: Joycelyn Elders
Minnie Joycelyn Elders is an American pediatrician and public health administrator. She was a vice admiral in the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the first African American appointed as Surgeon General of the United States...
- First African-American woman to win a national chess
Chess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
championship: Kimberly McClelland
- First African-American appointed Director of the National Drug Control Policy: Lee P. Brown
Lee Patrick Brown had a long-time career in law enforcement, leading police departments in Atlanta, Houston and New York over the course of nearly four decades. During this time he helped to implement a number of techniques in community policing that appeared to result in substantial decreases in...
-
- First African-American woman director of a major-studio movie: Darnell Martin
Darnell Martin is a television and film director, screenwriter, and film producer.Martin was born in Bronx, New York. From the Bronx, she went on to Sarah Lawrence College and New York University Film School...
(Columbia PicturesColumbia Pictures Industries, Inc. is an American film production and distribution company. Columbia Pictures now forms part of the Columbia TriStar Motion Picture Group, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment, a subsidiary of the Japanese conglomerate Sony. It is one of the leading film companies...
' I Like It Like ThatI Like It Like That is a 1994 comedy-drama film about the trials and tribulations of a young Puerto Rican couple living in the poverty-stricken New York City neighborhood of the South Bronx...
)
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- First African-American inductee to the Radio Hall of Fame
-History:Although no physical building currently exists to house it, the National Radio Hall of Fame and Museum is a project of Bruce DuMont, CEO of the currently homeless Museum of Broadcast Communications, and is a museum dedicated to recognizing those who have contributed to the development of...
: Hal Jackson
- First African-American Sergeant Major of the Army
The Sergeant Major of the Army is a unique non-commissioned rank in the United States Army. The holder of this rank is the senior enlisted member of the Army, and is appointed to serve as a spokesman to address the issues of enlisted soldiers to the Army's highest positions. As such, they are the...
: Gene C. McKinneyGene McKinney was the 10th Sergeant Major of the Army of the United States, serving from July 1995 to October 1997. He was the first and to date the only African-American to reach that rank.-Biography:...
-
- First African-American mayor of San Francisco: Willie Lewis Brown, Jr.
Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. is an American politician of the Democratic Party. He served over thirty years in the California State Assembly, spending fifteen years as its Speaker, and afterward served as mayor of San Francisco, the first African American to do so...
(also first African-American Speaker of the California Assembly, 1980)
- First African-American U.S. Navy four-star admiral
In the United States Navy, the United States Coast Guard and the United States Public Health Service Commissioned Corps, admiral is a four-star flag officer rank, with the pay grade of O-10. Admiral ranks above vice admiral and below Fleet Admiral in the Navy; the Coast Guard and the Public Health...
: J. Paul ReasonJoseph Paul Reason was Commander in Chief, United States Atlantic Fleet from 1996 to 1999. Earlier in his career, as a commander, he was naval aide to the President of the United States, Jimmy Carter, from December 1976 to June 1979...
-
- First African American to win a men's major golf championship
The men's major golf championships, often referred to simply as "the majors", are the four most prestigious annual tournaments in professional golf. In order of their playing date, the current majors are:...
: Tiger WoodsEldrick Tont "Tiger" Woods is an American professional golfer whose achievements to date rank him among the most successful golfers of all time. Currently the World No...
(The MastersThe Masters Tournament, also known as The Masters, or The U.S. Masters outside of the United States, is one of the four major championships in professional golf. Scheduled for the first full week of April, it is the first of the majors to be played each year...
)
- First African-American model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition: Tyra Banks
Tyra Lynne Banks is an American media personality, actress, occasional singer, former model and businesswoman. She first became famous as a model in Paris, Milan, London, Tokyo and New York, but television appearances were her commercial breakthrough...
- First African-American actor to star in the lead role in a comic-book adaptation movie (Spawn
Spawn is a film adaptation of Todd McFarlane's creator-owned Image comic book of the same name. It was released in the United States on August 1, 1997. The film was directed and co-written by Mark A. Z. Dippé and executive produced by McFarlane and Alan Blomquist...
): Michael Jai WhiteMichael Jai White is an American actor and professional martial artist who has appeared in numerous films and television series...
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- First African American appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor: Alexis Herman
Alexis Margaret Herman was the 23rd U.S. Secretary of Labor, serving under President Bill Clinton. Prior to her appointment, she was Assistant to the President and Director of the White House Office of Public Liaison....
- First African-American woman to hold the rank of rear admiral
Rear Admiral is a naval commissioned officer rank above that of a Commodore and Captain, and below that of a Vice Admiral. It is generally regarded as the lowest of the "Admiral" ranks, which are also sometimes referred to as "Flag officers" and/or "Flag ranks"...
in the U.S. NavyThe United States Navy is the sea branch of the U.S. Armed Forces. It is one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. As of 31 December 2008, the U.S. Navy had about 331,682 personnel on active duty and 124,000 in the Navy Reserve. It operates 283 ships in active service and more than...
: Lillian FishburneLillian Elaine Fishburne was the first African-American female to hold the rank of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy. She was appointed to the rank of Rear Admiral by President of the United States Bill Clinton and was officially promoted on February 1, 1998...
- First African American Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard
The Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard is a unique non-commissioned rank in the United States Coast Guard.The holder of this rank and post is the senior enlisted member of the U.S...
: Vincent W. Patton IIIVincent W. Patton, III, Ed.D. is a retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard in the United States.- Career overview :A native of Detroit, Michigan, Vince Patton retired from the U.S. Coast Guard 1 November 2002, after serving 30 years of active duty...
- First African-American mayor of Houston: Lee P. Brown
Lee Patrick Brown had a long-time career in law enforcement, leading police departments in Atlanta, Houston and New York over the course of nearly four decades. During this time he helped to implement a number of techniques in community policing that appeared to result in substantial decreases in...
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- First African American to be awarded the International Grandmaster
The title Grandmaster is awarded to strong chess players by the world chess organization FIDE. Apart from "World Champion", Grandmaster is the highest title a chess player can attain....
title in chessChess is a board game played between two players. The current form of the game emerged in Southern Europe during the second half of the 15th century after evolving from a similar, much older game of Indian origin...
: Maurice AshleyMaurice Ashley is a chess grandmaster. He is the first and only African-American grandmaster. In the October 2006 rating lists, he had a FIDE rating of 2465, and a USCF rating of 2520 at standard chess, and 2536 at quick chess. Ashley is associated with Chesswise...
- First African American Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps
Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps is a unique non-commissioned rank and billet in the United States Marine Corps....
: Alford L. McMichaelSergeant Major Alford L. McMichael, USMC, was the 14th Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps , and was the 1st Senior Non-Commissioned Officer for Allied Command Operations for NATO...
- First African-American CEO of a Fortune 500
The Fortune 500 is an annual list compiled and published by Fortune magazine that ranks the top 500 U.S. closely held and public corporations as ranked by their gross revenue after adjustments made by Fortune to exclude the impact of excise taxes companies collect. The list includes publicly and...
company: Franklin RainesFranklin Delano "Frank" Raines is the former chairman and chief executive officer of the Federal National Mortgage Association, commonly known as Fannie Mae, who served as White House budget director under President Bill Clinton. His role leading Fannie Mae has come under scrutiny.-Early...
of Fannie Mae
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- First African American nominated for Vice President of the United States
The Vice President of the United States is the holder of a public office created by the United States Constitution. The Vice President, together with the President of the United States, is indirectly elected by the people through the Electoral College to a four-year term...
by an FECThe Federal Election Commission is an independent regulatory agency that was founded in 1975 by the United States Congress to regulate the campaign finance legislation in the United States. It was created in a provision of the 1975 amendment to the Federal Election Campaign Act...
-recognized and federally-funded political party: Ezola B. FosterEzola Broussard Foster is an American conservative political activist. Foster is president of Black Americans for Family Values, authored the book What's Right for All Americans, and was the Reform Party candidate for Vice President in the U.S. presidential election of 2000...
21st century
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- First African-American Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence. The current Secretary of...
: Colin PowellColin Luther Powell is an American statesman and a retired four-star general in the United States Army. He was the 65th United States Secretary of State , serving under President George W. Bush. He was the first African American appointed to that position...
- First African-American president of the Unitarian Universalist Association
Unitarian Universalist Association , in full the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in North America, is a liberal religious association of Unitarian Universalist congregations formed by the consolidation in 1961 of the American Unitarian Association and the Universalist Church of...
: Rev. William G. SinkfordThe Rev. William G. Sinkford was elected the seventh president of the Unitarian Universalist Association of Congregations in 2001. Sinkford was elected to his second and final term as president in 2005. His installation as president made him the first African American to lead the organization. He...
- First African-American president of an Ivy League
The Ivy League is an athletic conference comprising eight private institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. The term is most commonly used to refer to those eight schools considered as a group...
university: Ruth J. SimmonsRuth Jean Simmons , is the 18th president of Brown University and the first black president of an Ivy League institution. Simmons was elected Brown's first woman president in November 2000. Simmons assumed office in fall of 2001.Simmons holds appointments as a professor in the Departments of...
at Brown UniversityBrown University is a private university located in Providence, Rhode Island, and a member of the Ivy League. Founded in 1764 prior to American independence from the British Empire as the College in the English Colony of Rhode Island and Providence Plantations early in the reign of King George III...
, also the first permanent female president of Brown.
- First African-American woman to win the ASCAP
The American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers is a not-for-profit performance rights organization that protects its members' musical copyrights by monitoring public performances of their music, whether via a broadcast or live performance, and compensating them accordingly...
Pop Music Songwriter of the Year award: Beyoncé KnowlesBeyoncé Giselle Knowles , often referred to mononymously as Beyoncé , is an American R&B singer, songwriter, record producer, actress and model. Born and raised in Houston, Texas, she enrolled in various performing arts schools and was first exposed to singing and dancing competitions as a child...
- First African-American woman to be appointed National Security Advisor
The Assistant to the President for National Security Affairs, commonly referred to as the National Security Advisor , serves as the chief adviser to the President of the United States on national security issues...
: Condoleezza RiceCondoleezza Rice is a professor, diplomat, author, and national security expert. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and the second to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush...
(See also: 2005)
- First African-American billionaire
According to the 2009 Forbes International Billionaire List, Oprah Winfrey with a net worth of $2.7 billion is the richest black person in the world., and was once the world's only black billionaire Close behind is Nigeria's Aliko Dangote with $2.5 billion, Nigerian petroleum executive Femi Otedola...
: Robert L. JohnsonRobert L. "Bob" Johnson is an American businessman and founder of Black Entertainment Television , and is also its former chairman and chief executive officer. Johnson is currently chairman and founder of RLJ Development and majority-owner of the Charlotte Bobcats, a National Basketball...
, founder of Black Entertainment TelevisionBlack Entertainment Television is an American cable network based in Washington D.C., and targets young African-American audiences in the United States. Robert L. Johnson founded the network in 1980...
- First African-American female billionaire: Sheila Johnson
Sheila Crump Johnson is the team president, managing partner, and governor of the WNBA's Washington Mystics, a position she gained before the 2005 season. On May 24, 2005, Washington Sports and Entertainment Chairman, Abe Pollin, sold the Mystics to Lincoln Holdings LLC, where Johnson served as...
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- First African-American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress
Performance by an Actress in a Leading Role is one of the Academy Awards of Merit presented annually by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences to recognize an actress who has delivered an outstanding performance while working within the film industry...
: Halle BerryHalle Berry is an American actress, former fashion model, and beauty queen. Berry received an Emmy, Golden Globe, SAG, and an NAACP Image award for Introducing Dorothy Dandridge and won an Academy Award for Best Actress and was also nominated for a BAFTA Award in 2001 for her performance in...
(Monster's BallMonster's Ball is a American/Canadian drama film directed by Marc Forster, starring Billy Bob Thornton, Halle Berry, Heath Ledger and written by Milo Addica and Will Rokos. It was produced by Lions Gate and Lee Daniels Entertainment. The title comes from a custom in medieval England where...
, 2001)
- First African-American Winter Olympic
The Winter Olympic Games is a winter multi-sport event held every four years. They feature winter sports held on snow or ice, such as Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, bobsledding and ice hockey. Cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and...
gold medal winner: Vonetta FlowersVonetta Flowers is an American bobsledder and athlete. Flowers was a star sprinter and long jumper at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and originally aspired to make the U.S. Summer Olympic Team...
(two-woman bobsleigh). (See also: Shani Davis, 2006)
- First African American to hold the number #1 rank in tennis: Venus Williams
Venus Ebony Starr Williams is an American professional tennis player. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three separate occasions; as of October 19, 2009, she is ranked World No. 4...
, February 25, 2002.
- First African-American Arena Football League
The Arena Football League was founded in 1987 as an indoor American football by Jim Foster. It was played indoors on a smaller field than American football, resulting in a faster-paced and higher-scoring game...
head coach to win ArenaBowlThe ArenaBowl is the Arena Football League's championship game. From 1987 to 2004, the ArenaBowl was hosted by either the team with the better regular-season record or the higher seeding in the playoffs. From ArenaBowl XIX in 2005 until ArenaBowl XXII in 2008, the game was played at a neutral site...
: Darren ArbetDarren Arbet is an Arena Football League head coach for the San Jose SaberCats. He has a career record of 109-45, including 3 titles, ArenaBowl XVI, ArenaBowl XVIII, and ArenaBowl XXI.-High school years:...
(San Jose SaberCatsThe San Jose SaberCats were an Arena Football League team that began play as a 1995 expansion team. They played in the Western Division of the American Conference. Their final coach in the Arena Football League was Darren Arbet. The team has expressed interest to not fold and is likely to find a...
), ArenaBowl XVIArenaBowl XVI was played between the San Jose SaberCats and Arizona Rattlers in San Jose, California on August 18, 2002. A game with considerable expectations given the teams' intense rivalry and respective success that year, the SaberCats surprised everyone by posting the most dominant victory in...
- First African-American general manager
General manager is a descriptive term for certain executives in a business operation. It is also a formal title held by some business executives, most commonly in the hospitality industry.-Generic usage:...
in the National Football LeagueThe National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
: Ozzie NewsomeOzzie Newsome Jr. is a former American football tight end for the Cleveland Browns, an inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, and the current General Manager of the Baltimore Ravens.-College career:...
(Baltimore RavensThe Baltimore Ravens are a professional American football team based in Baltimore, Maryland. They compete in the AFC North Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League...
)
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- First African American to win a Career Grand Slam
The four Grand Slam tournaments, also called the Majors, are the most important tennis events of the year in terms of world ranking points, tradition, prize-money awarded, and public attention. They are: Australian Open French Open Wimbledon US Open...
in tennis: Serena WilliamsSerena Jameka Williams is an American professional tennis player and current World No. 1. She has been ranked World No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on four separate occasions...
(See also: Althea Gibson, 1956; Arthur Ashe, 1968)
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- First African American to win Broadway theater's Tony Award
The Antoinette Perry Awards for Excellence in Theatre, more commonly known as the Tony Awards, recognize achievement in live American theatre and are presented by the American Theatre Wing and The Broadway League at an annual ceremony in New York City. The awards are for Broadway productions and...
for Best Actress in a Play: Phylicia RashādPhylicia Rashād is an American actress, best known for her role as Clair Huxtable on the 1984-1992 NBC sitcom The Cosby Show....
- First African American General Manager for World Wrestling Entertainment: Theodore Long
Theodore R. "Teddy" Long is a former American professional wrestling referee and manager, who currently works for World Wrestling Entertainment on its SmackDown brand as its General Manager....
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- First African-American woman appointed Secretary of State
The United States Secretary of State is the head of the United States Department of State, concerned with foreign affairs. The Secretary is a member of the President's Cabinet and the highest-ranking cabinet secretary both in line of succession and order of precedence. The current Secretary of...
: Condoleezza Rice (See also: 2001)
- First African-American interracial gay
The term gay was originally used, until well into the mid-20th century, primarily to refer to feelings of being "carefree", "happy", or "bright and showy"; it had also come to acquire some connotations of "immorality" as early as 1637....
kiss on network television: Wayne BradyWayne Alphonso Brady is an actor, singer, comedian and television personality, known for his work as a regular on the American version of the improvisational comedy television series Whose Line Is It Anyway?, and as the host of the daytime talk show The Wayne Brady Show...
and Colin MochrieColin Andrew Mochrie is a Scottish Canadian actor and improvisational comedian.-Early life:Colin Mochrie was born in Kilmarnock, Scotland, as the oldest of three children...
in Whose Line Is It Anyway?Whose Line Is It Anyway? is a short-form improvisational comedy TV show. Originally a British radio programme, it moved to television in 1988 as a series made for the UK's Channel 4...
.
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- First African-American individual Winter Olympic
The Winter Olympic Games is a winter multi-sport event held every four years. They feature winter sports held on snow or ice, such as Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, figure skating, bobsledding and ice hockey. Cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping, and...
gold medal winner: Shani DavisShani Davis is an American speed skater who competes in both short track and long track speed skating....
(men's 1,000 meter speed skating) (See also: Vonetta Flowers, 2002)
- First African-American Extreme Championship Wrestling
Extreme Championship Wrestling was a professional wrestling promotion that was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1992 by Tod Gordon and closed when his successor, Paul Heyman, declared bankruptcy in April 2001...
champion: Bobby Lashley
- First African American to command a United States Marine Corps
The United States Marine Corps is a branch of the United States armed forces responsible for providing force projection from the sea, using the mobility of the United States Navy to rapidly deliver combined-arms task forces. It is one of seven uniformed services of the United States...
division: Walter GaskinMajor General Walter E. Gaskin is currently the Vice Director, Joint Staff. His previous command was 2nd Marine Division , and Commander, II Marine Expeditionary Force and Commanding General Multinational Force - West, Fallujah, Iraq.On May 1, 2009, it was announced that MajGen Gaskin was...
- First African American to reach the peak of Mount Everest
Mount Everest – also called Sagarmāthā , Chomolungma or Qomolangma or Zhumulangma – is the highest mountain on Earth, and the highest point on the Earth's crust, as measured by the height above sea level of its summit,...
: Sophia DanenbergSophia Danenberg is an American mountain climber best known as the first African American and the first black woman to climb to the summit of Mount Everest, the world's tallest mountain. She is biracial, with her father black and her mother Japanese.-Mount Everest:At 7 a.m. on May 19, 2006,...
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- First African-American Governor of Massachusetts
The Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts is the executive magistrate of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, United States. The current governor is Democrat Deval Patrick.-Constitutional role:...
: Deval PatrickDeval Laurdine Patrick is the Governor of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. He is the first African American to hold that office...
- First African-American NFL
The National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
head coach to reach the Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
: Lovie SmithLovie Lee Smith is the head coach of the Chicago Bears professional football team of the NFL. Smith has been to the Super Bowl twice, as the defensive coordinator for the 2001 Saint Louis Rams and as the head coach for the Chicago Bears in 2006....
(Chicago BearsThe Chicago Bears are a professional American football team based in Chicago, Illinois. They are members of the NFC North Division of the National Football Conference in the National Football League...
), Super Bowl XLISuper Bowl XLI was an American football game that featured the American Football Conference champion Indianapolis Colts and the National Football Conference champion Chicago Bears to decide the National Football League champion for the 2006 season...
- First African-American NFL
The National Football League is the largest professional American football league in the world. It was formed by eleven teams in 1920 as the American Professional Football Association, with the league changing its name to the National Football League in 1922. The league currently consists of...
head coach to win the Super BowlThe Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
: Tony DungyAnthony Kevin "Tony" Dungy is a former professional American football player and coach in the National Football League. Dungy was head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers from 1996 to 2001, and head coach of the Indianapolis Colts from 2002 to 2008...
(Indianapolis ColtsThe Indianapolis Colts are a professional American football team based in Indianapolis, Indiana. They are members of the South Division of the American Football Conference in the National Football League ....
), Super Bowl XLI
- First known African-American woman to reach the North Pole
The North Pole, also known as the Geographic North Pole or Terrestrial North Pole, is, subject to the caveats explained below, defined as the point in the northern hemisphere where the Earth's axis of rotation meets the Earth's surface...
: Barbara Hillary
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- First African American to be nominated as a major-party US presidential candidate: Barack Obama
Barack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
, Democratic PartyThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
- First African American to referee a Super Bowl
The Super Bowl is the championship game of the National Football League, the premier association of professional American football. In most years, the Super Bowl is the most-watched American television broadcast. Many popular singers and musicians have performed during the event’s pre-game and...
game: Mike Carey (Super Bowl XLIISuper Bowl XLII was an American football game that featured the National Football Conference champion New York Giants and the American Football Conference champion New England Patriots to decide the National Football League champion for the 2007 season...
)
- First African-American woman elected Speaker of a state House of Representatives: California Rep. Karen Bass
Karen Bass is the Speaker of the California State Assembly. She has represented the 47th district since she was first elected in 2004. She is the second woman and third African American to serve as Speaker.-Background:...
- First African-American governor of New York State: David Paterson
David Alexander Paterson is an American politician and the current Governor of New York. He is the first African American governor of New York and also the second legally blind governor of any U.S. state after Bob C...
(elected as lieutenant governor, succeeded on resignation of previous governorEliot Laurence Spitzer is an American lawyer and former politician of the Democratic Party. He served as Governor of New York from January 2007 until his resignation on March 17, 2008 in the wake of the exposure of his involvement in a high-priced prostitution ring...
)
- First African American to own a movie and TV studio: Tyler Perry
Tyler Perry is an American actor, director, producer, and author. , Tyler Perry's films have grossed just under $400 million worldwide, not including his plays.-Personal life:...
- First African American elected President of the United States
The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
: Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
- First African American to be appointed to the United States Senate
The United States Senate is the upper house of the bicameral United States Congress, the lower house being the House of Representatives. The composition and powers of the Senate and the House are established in Article One of the U.S. Constitution . Each U.S state is represented by two senators,...
by a state governor: Roland BurrisRoland Wallace Burris is the junior United States Senator from the state of Illinois and a Democrat. He is the third black U.S. Senator from Illinois, after Carol Moseley Braun and Barack Obama. Burris is currently the only African-American in the U.S...
-
- First African-American President of the United States
The President of the United States is the head of state and head of government of the United States and is the highest political official in the United States by influence and recognition...
: Barack ObamaBarack Hussein Obama II is the 44th and current President of the United States. He is the first African American to hold the office, as well as the first president born in Hawaii...
- First African-American First Lady of the United States
First Lady of the United States is the title of the hostess of the White House. Because this position is traditionally filled by the wife of the President of the United States, the title is most often applied to the wife of a sitting president...
: Michelle ObamaMichelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the forty-fourth President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the first African-American First Lady of the United States....
- First African-American Chairman of the Republican National Committee
The Republican National Committee provides national leadership for the Republican Party of the United States. It is responsible for developing and promoting the Republican political platform, as well as coordinating fundraising and election strategy. It is also responsible for organizing and...
: Michael S. SteeleMichael Stephen Steele is an American political figure, currently serving as the chairman of the Republican National Committee. He is the first African American to chair the Republican National Committee and the second to chair either major U.S. party's National Committee after Ron Brown, who...
- First African-American United States Attorney General
The United States Attorney General is the head of the United States Department of Justice concerned with legal affairs and is the chief law enforcement officer of the United States government. The Attorney General is considered to be the chief lawyer of the U.S. government...
: Eric HolderEric Himpton Holder, Jr. is the 82
nd and current Attorney General of the United States and the first African American to hold the position...
- First African-American woman United States Ambassador to the United Nations
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations is the leader of the U.S. delegation to the United Nations. The position is more formally known as the "Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, with the rank and status of Ambassador Extraordinary and...
: Susan Rice
- First African-American United States Trade Representative: Ron Kirk
Ronald "Ron" Kirk is the 16th United States Trade Representative, serving in the Obama administration. He served as mayor of Dallas, Texas from 1995 to 2002; he also ran for the United States Senate in 2002.-Early life and career:...
- First African-American woman Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency
The Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency is the head of the United States federal government's Environmental Protection Agency, and is thus responsible for enforcing the nation's Clean Air and Clean Water Acts, as well as numerous other environmental statutes...
: Lisa P. JacksonLisa Perez Jackson is an American chemical engineer and politician currently serving as the Administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency; she is the first African-American to hold this post. Previously, she worked at New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection for 6 years, first as...
- First African-American White House Social Secretary
The White House Social Secretary is responsible for the planning, coordination and execution of official social events at the White House, the official residence and principal workplace of the President of the United States.-Function:...
: Desirée RogersDesirée Glapion Rogers is an American public relations executive. In November 2008 she was selected by Barack Obama's office as the White House Social Secretary for the incoming administration, the first African American to serve in this function.-Biography:Rogers was born on June 16, 1959 in New...
- First African American honored on United States coin: Duke Ellington
Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington was an American composer, pianist, and big band leader.Duke Ellington became one of the most influential artists in the history of recorded music, and is largely recognized as one of the greatest figures in the history of jazz, though his music stretched into...
(District of Columbia quarterThe 50 State Quarters program is the release of a series of commemorative coins by the United States Mint. Between 1999 and 2008, it featured each of the 50 individual U.S. states on unique designs for the reverse of the quarter....
)
- First African-American Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration: Charles F. Bolden, Jr.
Charles Frank "Charlie" Bolden, Jr. is the current Administrator of NASA, a retired United States Marine Corps major general, and former NASA astronaut. A 1968 graduate of the United States Naval Academy, he became a Marine Aviator and test pilot...
- First African-American female rabbi
Rabbi is the term in Judaism for a religious teacher. The word rabbi derives from the Hebrew root word , rav, which in biblical Hebrew means ‘great’ in many senses, including "revered." The word comes from the Semitic root R-B-B, and is cognate to Arabic ربّ rabb, meaning "lord" Rabbi ' onMouseout='HidePop("19052")' href="http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Alysa_Stanton">Alysa Stanton
Alysa Stanton is an African-American Jew. On June 6, 2009, she was ordained the first Black female rabbi.Stanton was raised a Pentecostal Christian. She grew up in Cleveland, Ohio, and Denver, Colorado. When she was 24, Stanton converted to Judaism after considering several Eastern religions...
- First Female African-American CEO of a S&P 100 Company: Ursula Burns
Ursula M. Burns currently serves as CEO of Xerox Corporation, named to that position in June 2009., the first African-American woman to head a S&P 100 company. She previously served as president of the company's Business Group Operations, corporate senior vice president, and president.Burns...
See also
- List of first African American mayors
- Timeline of the African American Civil Rights Movement
- List of African American U.S. state firsts
External links