We Made It
He patented the traffic signal (1923) included a warning light, while his gas mask saved countless lives during World War I and industrial accidents.
Who is Garrett Morgan?
He was the founder of Negro Digest-1942, Ebony-1945, and Jet-1951 magazines, headquartered in Chicago.
Who is John H. Johnson?
They were considered "The Big Four" and Core poets and novelists of the Harlem Renaissance Era.
Who are:
Known as the "Moses of her people," she escaped slavery and returned to the South roughly 13 times to guide dozens of enslaved people to freedom via the Underground Railroad.
Who is Harriett Tubman?
Lorraine Hansberry was the first Black American female author to have a play performed on Broadway. Her best-known work, the play, highlights the lives of Black Americans in Chicago living under racial segregation.
What is "A Raisin in the Sun"?
This iconic water gun was a result of Lonnie Johnson's work on a heat pump, demonstrating how scientific exploration leads to fun inventions.
What is the Super Soaker?
Chicago was officially incorporated as a city on March 4, 1837. While its city charter is dated 1837, the area was established as a town in 1833 and first settled by a non-indigenous trader.
Who is Jean Baptiste Point du Sable?
The philosopher and educator known as the "dean" of the movement. He edited the foundational anthology The New Negro (1925).
Who is Alaine Locke?
In 1879, she became the first Black American to earn a professional nursing license. According to a 2017 article written by Dr. Kelly A. Spring for womenshistory.org, she worked for decades as a private nurse and then became the director of The Howard Orphanage Asylum for Black children in Long Island, New York.
Who is Mary Eliza Mahoney?
She won 13 GRAMMY Awards, a Recording Academy Lifetime Achievement Award, and has eight recordings inducted into the GRAMMY Hall of Fame. She holds the distinction of being the first African-American to ever receive a GRAMMY Award.
Who is Ella Fitzgerald?
This ingenious inventor has 887 patents for automatic doors that improved safety and efficiency in elevators.
Who is Alexander Miles?
A wealthy Philadelphia sailmaker, abolitionist, and prominent businessman who funded The Liberator newspaper.
Who is James Forten?
The poet and playwright who hosted a weekly salon for writers in Washington, D.C.
Who is Georgia Douglass Johnson?
After flying schools in the United States denied her entry, she learned French and moved to France to attend Caudron Brothers’ School of Aviation. According to a 2021 article on biography.com, she was the first Black woman to receive a pilot’s license, which she earned in just seven months.
Who is Bessie Coleman?
Ernie Davis became the first black athlete to be awarded the highest individual honor in collegiate football.
What is the Heisman Trophy?
The inventor of this 1892 patent for an adjustable, reversible ironing board made ironing much easier for everyone.
Who is Sarah Boone?
He is known as the "Father of Black History" and established the Association for the Study of Negro Life and History (ASALH), which launched the precursor to Black History Month.
Who is Carter G. Woodson?
A pivotal composer, bandleader, and pianist who gained fame at the Cotton Club and wrote over 1,000 compositions.
Who is Duke Ellington?
According to an article about her on biography.com, she ultimately became the first Black tennis player to compete in the U.S. National Championships in 1950 and at Wimbledon (the oldest tennis tournament in the world) in 1951.
Who is Althea Gibson?
For her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939), she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress, becoming the first African American to win an Oscar.
Who is Hattie McDaniel?
In an irritated fit, he cut the potatoes as thinly as possible, fried them until they were burnt crisps, and threw a generous handful of salt on top.
Who is George Crum?
Is the Founder of Black Entertainment Television (BET), the first African American billionaire.
Who is Robert Johnson?
A legendary trumpeter and vocalist who moved to New York to play with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra at the Roseland Ballroom.
Who is Louis Armstrong?
A voting rights activist who co-founded the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party and fought against voter suppression.
Who is Fannie Lou Hamer?
She won the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry on May 1, 1950, for "Annie Allen", making her the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize.
Who is Gwendolyn Brooks?