Famous Firsts
He was a former Senator from Illinois who was elected in 2008 as the first African American President of the United States
Barack Obama
He said, "I'm young. I'm handsome. I'm fast. I can't possibly be beat."
Muhammad Ali
Homer Plessy, a man who is ⅛ black, attempts to sit in the “whites only” section of a train car. The Supreme Court rules that public facilities can be separated as long as they are equal. This case established “Separate but Equal” as legal in the U.S.
Plessy vs. Ferguson
He is a Grammy award winner and Academy Award nominated actor
Will Smith
Thought by some to be the first female millionaire, she started a line of hair care products for African American women.
Madam C.J. Walker
He was the first African American to start at quarterback and win the Super Bowl
Doug Williams
She said, "If you hear dogs, keep going. If you see the torches in the woods, keep going. If there's shouting after you, keep going. Don't ever stop. Keep going. If you want a taste of freedom, keep going."
Harriet Tubman
This case ruled that segregation in public schools violates the U.S. Constitution and makes segregation in public schools illegal.
Brown vs. Board of Education
He was a basketball coach at Sayre Jr. HS, Simon Gratz HS, Cheyney University, and Temple University.
John Chaney
She was the first African American woman to serve in Congress and spent 7 terms in the House of Representatives
Shirley Chisholm
He was the founder of the Tuskegee Institute and the first African American featured on a postage stamp
Booker T. Washington
He said, “You get freedom by letting your enemy know that you'll do anything to get your freedom; then you'll get it. It's the only way you'll get it.”
Malcolm X
Dred Scott, an enslaved man, sues for his freedom. This case goes all the way to the Supreme Court but the Supreme Court refuses to hear the case since Scott was not a citizen. Enslaved people were not considered citizens at that time.
Scott vs. Sanford
He was a lawyer and activist. A street and neighborhood in North Philadelphia were renamed in his honor.
Cecil B. Moore
A writer and educator, she best known for her work to end lynching
Ida B. Wells
He was the first African American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the first African American Secretary of State
Colin Powell
She said, “I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.”
Maya Angelou
This Supreme Court case strikes down state laws in Virginia and allows interracial marriage to now be legal across the United States.
Loving v. Virginia
A former slave, minister, and educator, he was responsible for starting Mother Bethel AME Church in Philadelphia
Richard Allen
An educator, she spent her life fighting for equal rights and served on FDR’s informal Black Cabinet
Mary McLeod Bethune
Author of “The Bluest Eye”, she was the first African American woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize in literature
Toni Morrison
She said, "if we merge mercy with might, and might with right, then love becomes our legacy and charges our children's birthright."
Amanda Gorman
This Supreme Court case ruled that restrictive covenants are prohibited to sell properties to African Americans in certain neighborhoods in Missouri.
Shelley v. Kraemer
A graduate of Penn’s architecture school, he designed the Philadelphia Museum of Art and Free Library
Julian Fraces Abele
She was an international Tennis Hall of Famer who won French Open, Wimbledon, and U.S. Open titles
Althea Gibson