Iowa Local
Simon Estes, a world-renowned artist from Centerville, IA, is celebrated for his exceptional talent in what field?
Opera Singing
Will Keeps, a musician and activist, founded what program that focused on empowering Black youth through music and mentorship.
Starts right here
James Forten, a successful sailmaker and businessman from Philadelphia, used his wealth to support this movement, which helped enslaved people escape to freedom.
Underground Railroad
This media powerhouse became the first Black woman billionaire and one of the most influential television personalities in the world.
Oprah Winfrey
In 1989, this rap group became the first to have a rap album go platinum and played a major role in bringing national attention to police brutality, racial profiling, and systemic injustice through their music, particularly in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
N.W.A
From 1895 to 1920, Buxton, IA, was a fully racially integrated town centered around which industry?
Coal Mining
This program, based in Des Moines, provides scholarships and leadership opportunities for Black students pursuing higher education.
Evelyn K. Davis Scholarship Fund
This civil rights leader, whose legal bills were paid by A.G. Gaston, an Alabama-born multimillionaire who established businesses such as an insurance company, bank, and motel, was a key figure in the fight for racial equality in America.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.
In 1987, entrepreneur Don Thompson became the first African American to own and operate which nationally recognized fast-food franchise.
McDonald's
This "Queen of Soul" was the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.
Aretha Franklin
In 1907, E.A. Carter was the first black student to graduate from what University of Iowa College?
University of Iowa Medical College
What former (1920-1960's) NW downtown district was filled with Black-owned businesses, jazz clubs, and a thriving cultural scene before urban renewal projects led to its decline.
Center Street District
Recorded as the first female self-made millionaire in America by the Guinness Book of World Records, philanthropist Madam C.J. Walker rose to her success in what industry?
Beauty/Cosmetics
In 1950 Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African-American to receive annual award given to recognize achievement in journalism and arts.
Pulitzer Prize
This 1970s sitcom made history by featuring an all-Black cast and became the first show to reflect African American life in a modern setting.
Good Times
In what decade did Iowa become the first state to successfully desegregate public schools?
Which Des Moines-based newspaper served as a voice for the Black community in Iowa for over 50 years before ending in 2018?
The Iowa Bystander
This former NBA superstar has donated millions to education, including opening the "I PROMISE School" for at-risk youth in his hometown of Akron, Ohio.
LeBron James
Mary Jackson, who helped pave the way for diversity in STEM fields was the first Black female engineer at what science focused government agency?
NASA
This actress broke barriers as the first Black woman to win an Emmy for Best Lead Actress in a Drama Series for her role in How to Get Away with Murder.
Viola Davis
What social reform was legalized in Iowa in the year 1851?
Interracial Marriage
Which 1948 sit-in, led by Edna Griffin—often called the "Rosa Parks of Iowa"—helped ignite the early civil rights movement in the state?
Katz Drug Store sit-in
This prominent educator and philanthropist co-founded the NAACP and spent his career advocating for Black economic empowerment, education, and political rights.
W.E.B. Du Bois
Garrett Morgan invented the first-ever three-light traffic signal and also developed what other groundbreaking device?
Gas Masks
Composer Florence Price, whose work was featured earlier this month by the Des Moines Symphony, premiered her Symphony No. 1 in E minor during the 1933 World’s Fair in this city.
Chicago