Player's Club
The first African American quarterback for the Chicago Bears (1953)
Who is Willie Thrower?
Pioneer in ophthalmology laser surgery for cataract removal
Who is Patricia Bath?
Fought for voting rights in the South; “I am sick and tired of being sick and tired.”
Who is Fannie Lou Hamer?
A journalist who wrote and fought against slavery, in 2020, she was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, more than 100 years after her death
Who is Ida B. Wells?
The first permanent non-Native settler of what would later become known as Chicago, IL, and is recognized as the city’s founder
Who is Jean-Baptiste Point du Sable?
The First African American clockmaker (1767)
Who is Peter Hill?
An African American speed skater who won the Gold in the Winter Olympics (2006)
Who is Shani Davis?
First to have successfully performed pericardium surgery (the sac surrounding the heart) to repair a wound, open heart surgery
Who is Daniel Hale Williams?
First African American woman elected to the United States Senate
Who is Carol Mosely Braun?
A civil rights and women’s rights activist, the President of the National Council of Negro Women for 40 years
Who is Dorothy I. Height?
An educator, civil rights leader, advisor to U.S. Presidents, and known for founding a private school for African Americans (Bethune-Cookman College)
Who is Mary McCleod Bethune?
Invented computer chips for semiconductors
Who is George Edward Alcorn?
The first black woman to win an Olympic gold medal in swimming (sprint freestyle 2016)
Who is Simone Manual?
A brilliant mathematician and aerospace technologist at NASA, a human computer; her calculations were vital for the success of U.S. manned spaceflights
Who is Katherine Johnson?
First African American appointed to the United States Supreme Court
Who is Thurgood Marshall?
At the age of 15, she refused to give up her bus seat in Montgomery, AL, 9 months before Rosa Parks
Who is Claudette Colvin?
Known as the “Father of Black History”, he lobbied extensively to establish Black History Month, which was first recognized by President Gerald Ford in 1950
Who is Carter G. Woodson?
Invented the wooden clock; an self-educated astronomer; wrote the farmers’ almanac
Who is Benjamin Banneker?
The first African American to win a bronze medal at the Winter Olympics for figure skating
Who is Debi Thomas?
Pioneering research chemist and entrepreneur who synthesized medicinalcompounds like cortisone and progesterone from plants to make these medicines more affordable
Who is Percy Lavon Julian?
First Black student to integrate an all-white school in New Orleans
Who is Ruby Bridges?
The civil rights leader who died in 2020 believed in making “good trouble” by fighting against police brutality and for voting rights
Who is John Lewis?
The founder of the “Me Too Movement.”
Who is Tarana Burke?
Invented the Super Soaker water gun
Who is Lonnie Johnson?
First African American woman to win three gold medals in a single Olympics after overcoming childhood polio that once paralyzed her left leg
Who is Wilma Rudolph?
Physician and the first African American woman to travel to space
Who is Dr. Mae Jemison?
First African American woman to be elected to the United States Congress and to run for President of the United States
Who is Shirley Chisolm?
A leading African American intellectual who founded Tuskegee Normal and Industrial Institute, now Tuskegee Institute, and was the first African American invited to the White House
Who is Booker T. Washington?
Invented hair care products for black women; first Black woman millionaire
Who is Madame C. J. Walker?
A chemist known for explosives research and the invention of a key TATB detection test
Who is Betty Harris?
The first African American woman appointed to the United States Supreme Court
Who is Katanji Brown Jackson?
Carver: invented over three hundred uses for the peanut
Who is George Washington Carver?
The first African American woman to become an aviation pilot and to hold an international pilot license
Who is Bessie Coleman?
The first African American mayor of Chicago
Who is Harold Washington?
Inventor of the folding chair
Who is Nathaniel Alexander?
First African American woman in the U.S. to earn a professional nursing license
Who is Mary Eliza Mahoney?
Civil rights activist, ordained minister, and founder of Operation Bread Basket, now Operation Push; marched with Dr. King
Who is Jessie L. Jackson?
Invented the heart pacemaker
Who is Otis Boykin?
A viral immunologist who played a key role in the development of the Moderna Covid19 vaccine
Who is Kizzmekia Corbett?
First African American to hold a patent---dry cleaning process
Who is Thomas L. Jennings?
The first African American woman to earn a medical degree (MD) in the U.S.
Who is Rebecca Lee Crumpler?
Invented the hair roller
Who is Solomon Harper?
“The father of modern blood banking” for his revolutionary techniques in blood plasma preservation, which saved countless lives during World War II
Who is Charles Richard Drew?
Invented the camera security system
Who is Marie Van Britton Brown?
renowned for her groundbreaking research on sickle cell disease that proved Penicillin prevents deadly infections in children, leading to national newborn screening programs
Who is Marilyn Hughes Gaston?
Invented the video game console
Who is Jerry Lawson?
The first African American woman neurosurgeon who cares for young patients facing life-threatening illnesses
Who is Alexa Irene Canady?
Invented DNA ancestry testing
Who is Rick Kittles?
Revolutionized Southern farming by promoting crop rotation and discovering hundreds of uses of peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans
Who is George Washington Carver?
Invented the elevator
Who is Alexander Miles?