Women in Black History
Who is the first African American to win an Oscar?
Hattie McDaniel
An enslaved Virginian man escaped to freedom by having himself mailed in a wooden crate in 1849 to abolitionists in Philadelphia
Henry Box Brown
Who was the first African American to play in Major League Baseball (MLB) in the modern era and broke the color line in 1947
Jackie Robinson
Who was the first Black woman to become a medical doctor in the U.S. and one of the first African Americans to write a medical book
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
Who designed an Elevator Safety Device in 1895 to prevent the start of the elevator if doors are open? His patent addressed the single most dangerous failure point in early elevators
J. Cooper
Who was the first woman inducted to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987
Aretha Franklin
The first African American to win the prestigious Oscar in 2018, winning the Academy Award for Best Original Screenplay for his film "Get Out"
Jordan Peele
He becomes the first African American male that achieved winning all four major American entertainment awards: an Emmy, a Grammy, an Oscar, and a Tony in 2018
John Legend
She was the first African American physician and public health official to serve as US. surgeon general 1993-94 and the second woman to hold that post.
Jocelyn Elders
Which woman is the first African American self-made millionaire?
Madam C.J. Walker
The first African American poet to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950
Gwendolyn Brooks
He was the first and only African American to serve three terms in the U.S. Congress, 1929
Oscar Stanton De Priest
He becomes the first African American coach in the NBA in 1966
Bill Russell
Who was the first African American and the first woman to deliver a keynote address at a Democratic National Convention? She also received the "Presidential Medal of Freedom" and the first African American woman to be buried in the Texas State Cemetery.
Barbara Jordan, lawyer, educator, politician
A prominent scientist & environmentalist who won the Spingarn Medal in 1923
George Washington Carver
Who is the first African American woman to have a symphony performed by a major American orchestra
Florence Price
He was the first African American admiral in the US Navy in 1962
Samuel L. Gravely
They were the only Black-owned automobile company in the United States that operated carriage, automobile, and bus manufacturing and repairs from 1839 to 1939
C. R. Patterson and Sons
Who is the first Black American to host a TV Show?
Nat King Cole
In 1893, he performed the first open-heart surgery, which was also the first time a chest cavity had ever been opened without the patient dying of an infection.
Daniel Hale Williams
Who was the first African and Native American woman to hold a domestic and international pilot license
Bessie Coleman
Coined the phrase "Black Power" in the 1960s
Stokely Carmichael
She was the first African American tennis player who dominated women's competition and won the French (1956), Wimbledon (1957-58), and U.S. Open (1957-58) singles championships
Althea Gibson
NAACP stand for what?
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
He was first African American astronaut to walk in space during the Space Shuttle Discovery in 1995
Dr. Bernard A. Harris, Jr.