African American Firsts
African American Men In Science
African American Women In Science
African American Authors
African American Mathematicians
100
This African American singer, actress, dancer, and activist was the first black cat woman.
Who is Eartha Kitt?
100
This African American scientist made valuable contributions in the fields of medicine, philanthropy, food science, and astrochemistry.
Who is Emmett Chapelle?
100
This African American Woman was the first black woman to become a neurosurgeon. In 1987 she went on to become the chief of neurosurgery at the Children's hospital of Michigan.
Who is Alexa Cody?
100
This American novelists, short story writer, folklorists and anthropologists is best known for her contributions to African American literature; her portrayal of racial struggles in the American South.
Who is Zora Neale Hurston?
100
This African American woman was an American mathematician and educator. She was the first African-American woman to gain a PhD in mathematics, from the Catholic University of America in 1943.
Who is Euphemia Haynes?
200
This director was the first African American woman to be nominated for Best Director by the Golden Globe Awards, for her film Selma.
Who is Ava Duvernay?
200
This inventor/engineer invented a control unit for the pacemaker.
Who is Otis Boykin?
200
This biologist worked to discover which compounds were the most damaging to cancer cells.
Who is Jewel Plummer Cobb?
200
This African American author rose to fame in 2017 for her young adult novel The Hate U Give. The novel focuses on a 16 year old African American teen's rise to activism, after witnessing a white police officer shooting her unarmed friend.
Who is Angie Thomas?
200
Born July 24, 1917, this African American man was the ninth African American to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics. He is credited with inspiring students and faculty at SUNY Potsdam to form the most successful United States undergraduate mathematics degree programs in the past century.
Who is Clarence F. Stephens?
300
This African American woman was the first woman to win a major sports title from the American Tennis Association.
Who is Lucy Diggs Slowe?
300
This inventor invented the multiple effect evaporator.
Who is Norbert Rillieux?
300
This New Jersey teen got accepted be all 8 Ivy League schools, to study biology and pursue a career in global health.
Who is Ifeoma White Thorpe?
300
This African American science fiction writer was a multiple recipient of both the Hugo and Nebula awards. In 1955, she became the first science fiction writer to receive the MacArthur Fellowship.
Who is Octavia Butler?
300
This African-American mathematician and professor studied properties of functions, as well as methods of teaching mathematics. She was the first African-American member of the faculty of Baylor University.
Who is Vivienne Malone?
400
This African American man was the first to be elected to the U.S House of Representatives in Illinois.
Who is Arthur W. Mitchell?
400
This organic chemist was the first African American to teach at the U.S Naval Academy.
Who is Professor Samuel Massie?
400
This psychologists alongside her husband Kenneth Clark founded the Northside Center for Child Development, in Harlem. She is also well known for her influential "doll test" study in the 1954 Brown V. Board of Education case.
Who is Mamie Phipps Clark?
400
This African American author's literature concerns racial themes, especially related to the plight of African Americans during the late 19th to mid-20th centuries, who suffered discrimination and violence in the South and the North. Literary critics believe his work helped change race relations in the United States in the mid-20th century
Who is Richard Wright?
400
This African American Professor of Mathematics received the National Association of Mathematicians Distinguished Service Award for his years of mentoring and teaching excellence.
Who is Abdulalim Shabazz?
500
This African American was the first black man to become an officer in the New York City Fire Department.
Who is Wesley Augustus Williams?
500
This African American general surgeon performed the second documented, successful pericardium surgery in 1893. He also founded Chicago's Provident Hospital, the first non-segregated hospital in the U.S.
Who is Daniel Hale Williams?
500
This chemist patented a test that identifies explosives.
Who is Betty Harris?
500
This African American author was an American writer and the author of the 1976 book Roots: The Saga of an American Family.
Who is Alex Haley?
500
This African American mathematicians was one of the first women to gain degrees in chemistry and mathematics, and a PhD in mathematics education. She was a major influence on her students, including Margaret Strickland Collins and Katherine Goble Johnson.
Who is Angie Turner King?
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