He was the first Black mayor of Cleveland, OH.
Carl Stokes
She is founder and president emerita of the Children's Defense Fund.
Marian Wright Edelman
He gave up a prestigious post at Iowa State to work at Tuskegee Institute at the behest of Booker T. Washington. He remained at Tuskegee for the rest of his life.
George Washington Carver
First Black actress nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress.
Dorothy Dandridge
Of his uneasy relationship with the town where he spent his professional career, a teammate said, "All I know is the guy... won 11 championships in 13 years, and they name a %#&#@ tunnel after Ted Williams."
Bill Russell
She was the first Black U.S. Surgeon General.
Joycelyn Elders
Longtime president and CEO of the Harlem Children's Zone.
Geoffrey Canada
This Black scientist improved on the early light bulb, devising a method to improve the bulb's lifespan.
Lewis Latimer
With a net worth tripling Beyonce and Jay-Z combined, she is still remembered for her role as "Miss Sofia" in The Color Purple.
Oprah
His brother, Johnnie, volunteered to serve an additional tour of duty in Vietnam so that he could maintain civilian status and win his first of three major championships.
Arthur Ashe
The first Black entertainer to win an Oscar, a Tony, an Emmy, and a Grammy (excluding honorary or lifetime awards).
Whoopi Goldberg secured her status in 2002 with a Best Musical Tony for the Broadway revival of Thoroughly Modern Millie, which she produced.
Her groundbreaking work in Chicago's public schools provided a blueprint to teach students labeled ineducable by the school system.
Marva Collins
After being denied entry into all U.S. flight schools because of race, this African American pioneer learned to speak French, and went to France to become the first African American to hold a pilot license and to earn an international pilot's license.
Bessie Coleman
Stax organist who wrote the soundtrack for the film, Uptight.
Booker T. Jones
At the age of 34, she signed with the Houston Comets and led them to the first four WNBA championships, named Finals MVP in each year.
Cynthia Cooper
On Feb. 25 1870, this Senator from Mississippi became the first Black member of Congress.
Hiram Rhodes Revels
Indianapolis is home to this high school, which counts Oscar Robertson, Wes Montgomery, and Meshach Taylor among their alumni. It is named for the first American Patriot to die in the Revolutionary War. Name the school.
Crispus Attucks High School
The first and only director of the new Hayden Planetarium.
Neil DeGrasse Tyson
His success as a popular artist who bridged gospel, blues and R&B positioned him to head his long-running UNCF telethon.
Lou Rawls
Like Wilt Chamberlain in basketball, this NFL megastar set records that would only be broken by players with longer careers. He retired after only nine seasons to become an actor and activist.
Jim Brown
In 1989, he became the first Black chairman of the Democratic National Committee. Seven years later, he would be killed in a plane crash over Croatia.
Ron Brown
Full name of the Principal portrayed in the movie Lean On Me.
Joseph Clark
First Black boxer to become world heavyweight champion
Jack Johnson, who can be seen on YouTube shaking white teeth out of his boxing glove while standing over fallen opponent, Stanley Ketchel.
At the height of her career, she commanded $10,000 a week to perform at the Apollo Theater.
Jackie "Moms" Mabley
Three home runs in a World Series-clinching game is this player's record which may never be broken, because who would let that happen again?
Reggie Jackson