Lesser Known Women of Color
This woman was the first black lawyer in the US
This woman is the first multiracial woman of color of to be elected as Vice President of the United States of America.
Who is...Kamala Harris
This African American woman was the first to represent North Carolina in Congress
Who is...Eva Clayton?
This African American Women started the first African American Women's System Resource Group at Atrium Health and recently celebrated it's 1 year anniversary.
Who is...Monifa Drayton
Nelson Mandela referred to this South African woman as "Mama Africa" "mother to our struggle" and "South Africa's first lady of song" and spoke out for decades about Apartheid.
Who is...Miriam Makeba
This Woman was the first black woman to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry
Who is...Gwendolyn Brooks?
This African American woman was the first to go to space in September 1992 and conducted experiments on weightlessness and motion sickness.
Who is... Dr. Mae Jemison
In 2012, this woman became the first African American Chief Justice.
Who is...Cherie Beasley?
This woman is a mother, step mother and politician. She is also the first African American woman to serve as city administrator and was elected as mayor in 2017 following the Keith Lamont Scott shooting.
Who is...Viola "Vi" Lyles?
This woman is an advocate for food justice and started an organization to empower mothers through education about politics and issues faced by women.
Who is...Monifa Bandele?
This woman was the 1st black woman to attend Yale Law School and the 1st black female judge in the US
Who is... Jane Bolin?
In 1896 this woman was the first president and founder of the National Association of Colored Women.
Who is...Mary Church Terrell
This woman was a native of Tryon, North Carolina, a talented musician, arranger, singer/songwriter and attended Julliard School of Music in New York City
Who is...Eunice Kathleen Waymon BKA Nina Simone
Who is...Debra Plousha Moore?
This Chinese-American woman was known for riding a white horse at the start of the women's suffrage march in New York City, and she wore a three-cornered hat in the colors of the British suffrage movement: purple to symbolize that the cause of suffrage was noble; white for purity; and green, the color of spring, as a symbol of hope.
Who is...Mabel Ping-Hua Lee
This was the first African American woman to compete at Wimbeldon in 1951 and won titles at the U.S. Open & Female Athlete of the Year in 1957 & 1958
Who is...Althea Gibson
This African American woman was the first to receive a US patent in 1885 for inventing a folding cabinet bed.
Who is...Sarah E. Goode
In 1947, this woman became the first woman licensed as a lawyer in North Carolina
Who is...Elreta Alexander?
This African American nurse has been a pioneer in Charlotte for more than 8 decades and attended West Charlotte High School and Johnson C. Smith University
Who is... Thereasea Clark Elder (aka T.D.)
This woman is the first female neurosurgeon in Nepal
This woman was the first indigenous (Pueblo Indian) appointed as the US Secretary of the Interior
Who is...Debra Anne Haaland?
This African American Woman was the first to be an EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar and Tony) Award Recipient
Who is...Whoppi Goldberg?
This woman was born in Greensboro and became the 1st Attorney General of US
Who is...Loretta Lynch?
This African American woman has played a large role in social change in Charlotte serving on the General Assembly, chair of the NC Legislative Black Caucus, Black Political Caucus of Mecklenburg and the Democratic Women of Mecklenburg
Who is...Hon. Alma S. Adams?
This woman was a prominent writer and activist who worked closely with black power and Marxist leaders
Who is... Grace Lee Boggs?