Arts + Culture
Founded the DuSable Museum of African-American History, located in Chicago, Illinois
Dr. Margaret
Burroughs
He is the director of Hayden Planetarium in New York City and a well-known speaker who helps the general public understand the importance of scientific topics.
In 2014, he hosted the popular television series Cosmos.
Neil deGrasse Tyson
Crispus Attucks (c. 1723–1770) is remembered as the first person killed in the Boston Massacre, making him the first casualty of the American Revolution. Believed to be of African and Native American descent, Attucks worked as a sailor and dockworker in Boston.
His death became a powerful symbol of resistance to British oppression and highlighted the crucial, often overlooked role of Black Americans in the fight for independence. Today, he is celebrated as a martyr for liberty and a pioneer in the struggle for freedom.
March 5, 1770
Crispus Attucks
In 2002, she became the first African American woman to hold the world No. 1 ranking.
She became the second African American to win Wimbledon in the Open Era, after Arthur Ashe.
She’s tied with her sister with four Olympic gold medals for singles tennis and three doubles gold medals.
Venus Williams
The institute that was founded by Booker T. Washington in 1881
Tuskegee Institute
He was one of the first Cape Verdean businessmen to move to Massachusetts and became a very successful whaling captain
He was born on December 16, 1858, on the island of Brava, Cape Verde Island,s and started working on whaling ships when he was 11
He became an American citizen on November 11, 1882
During his career, killed more than 140 whales, making the equivalent of $1.6 million worth of whale oil
His voyages included incredible survival stories from Arctic ice, 3 major hurricanes, an attack from a German U-boat submarine, and mutiny
Throughout all his voyages, he never lost a sailor
Captain John Theophilo
America’s most influential Creole chef, she cooked for presidents, civil rights leaders, and many famous people; Princess Tiana from “The Princess and the Frog” was based on Mrs. Chase
She opened her own restaurant, Dooky Chase’s. It became a gathering place for the Black community
She fed the Freedom Riders and countless civil rights activists, allowing Black and white activists to gather in her restaurant even though it was illegal
Leah Chase
A painting of an African American performer was unveiled in 1902 at the coronation of King Edward VII and exhibited at the Paris Expo
Dora Dean
He is the founder and CEO of Growing Power, a farm and community food center in Milwaukee, Wisconsin.
He is a leading authority on urban agriculture and issues of food policy in the U.S. today.
Will Allen
The Emancipation Proclamation was an order issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863 during the Civil War.
It declared that enslaved people in states fighting against the Union were free.
While it did not end slavery everywhere right away, it changed the purpose of the war and helped lead to the eventual abolition of slavery in the United States.
Emancipation Proclamation
He is the only professional player to score 100 points in a game.
A NBA center and 2-time NBA Champion and 4-time MVP.
He is widely considered one of the greatest pro basketball players of all time.
Norman Wilt Chamberlain
Angus A. Burleigh was the first adult African American to attend and graduate from what Kentucky college
Berea College
Founded the magazine Ebony
John H Johnson
Their restaurant, t, became a center for civil rights in Montgomery, AL, and they helped make the bus boycotts successful
Founders Larry and Jereline opened the restaurant in 1942, making it the oldest barbecue restaurant in Montgomery that’s still open
The restaurant became a safe place for activists to gather and plan, and they were able to eat and use the printer to print their flyers
Bethune Family’s Restaurant: Brenda’s Bar-B-Que Pit
Amanda S. C. Gorman is an American poet and activist.
Her work focuses on oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora
She is the youngest inaugural poet and National Youth Poet Laureate
amanda goreman
She was the first African American woman and first Native American woman to hold a pilot’s license.
She died in a test flight in 1926 at age 34.
In 2006, she was inducted into the National Aviation Hall of Fame.
Bessie Coleman
Brown v. Board of Education (1954) was a landmark Supreme Court case in which the Court declared that racial segregation in public schools was unconstitutional.
This historic decision overturned the “separate but equal” doctrine established by Plessy v. Ferguson and became a major victory for the Civil Rights Movement, paving the way for desegregation and greater efforts toward racial equality in education across the United States.
Brown vs Board of Education
In 1996, Dawes became the first African American to win an individual Olympic gymnastics medal.
She won a bronze medal in the floor routine.
She had also won a bronze medal as a member of the 1992 team.
Dominique Dawes
She was the first black woman elected to the U.S. Congress in 1968.
In 1972, she ran for President, becoming the first black candidate for a major party presidential nomination.
The first woman to run for the Democratic Party’s nomination.
Shirley Chisholm
Sales of innovative beauty products sold throughout the United States and the Caribbean led her to become the first African American female millionaire
Madam Cj Walker
is a farmer, seedkeeper and educator who has worked in agriculture and food justice since 2007
grew up in around Boston and began her farming journey at The Food Project
She holds a B.S. in Horticulure from Temple University and worked with Truelove Seeds for 4 years!
In 2021, founded Sistah Seeds to connect Black and brown growers to culturally-important seeds. It is one of the first Black-owned seed businesses in the U.S.
Amirah Mitchell
Was the chairman and executive officer of B.E.T.
The first African American to be principal owner of a North American major league sports franchise (acquiring the Charlotte Bobcats in 2004).
Robert L. Johnson
Founder of BET
In 1891, he opened Provident Hospital, the first hospital with a racially integrated staff.
He performed the first successful open-heart surgery in 1893.
Daniel Hale Williams
The first recorded group of enslaved Africans arrived in what would become the United States, landing in Virginia.
This event marked the beginning of chattel slavery in English North America, setting the stage for centuries of systemic racial oppression and exploitation.
1619
He was the first African American to win the Masters Golf Tournament.
He has won 14 major tournaments and was the youngest golfer to complete the “career Grand Slam,” having won all four of the different major tournaments.
He has spent the most weeks atop the world rankings of any golfer.
Eldrick Tiger Woods
In 1872, he became the first African American governor of a U.S. state ever - in Louisiana.
He was appointed governor for a short time, then was elected to the state legislature.
There would not be an African American governor of a U.S. state again until 1990.
PBS Pinchback
He was a Black and Wampanoag sailor and whaler born on Nantucket in 1785
He became the first Black whaling captain to sail with an all-Black crew on his ship The Industry
He owned an inn and multiple stores
He used his wealth and influence to support the abolitionist movement on Nantucket and successfully desegregated Nantucket public schools in 1845
Absalom Boston
Known as the “Mother of Environmental Justice”
After her husband died of cancer in 1969, she learned that her community had the highest concentration of hazardous waste sites in the entire country, meaning toxic chemicals were being dumped into the air, river, and ground where she lived every day
In 1982, she founded the organization People for Community Recovery
With her organization, pushed for new legislation to protect her community and others from industrial pollution and shut down the company that was polluting in her neighborhood
Hazel Johnson
A well-known African American actor for much of the 20th century.
He was the first black man to win an Oscar when he won best actor in 1964 for Lillies of the Field.
He patented the lubricating cup for steam engines in 1872.
It was the most profitable of his more than 58 patents, which included the folding ironing board and an automated sprinkler.
Elijah J McCoy
was an important war in U.S. history fought between the Northern states, called the Union, and the Southern states, called the Confederacy.
The war began because the states strongly disagreed about slavery, states’ rights, and how the country should be run.
Although people lost their lives, the war ended with the Union staying together & slavery being abolished, which changed the nation.
Civil War 1861-1865
Was part of the winning bobsled team at the 2002 Winter Olympics.
She became the first African American to win a gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
Vonetta Flowers
She led the fight to desegregate Boston Public Schools in the 1970’s.
Was a lifetime advocate for equal educational opportunities for black students in Boston.
She was a leader in the Boston NAACP and METCO.
Ruth Batson
Born in Geneva, KY, became the owner of the first black radio station in Detroit in 1964
In 1975, became the first African American to own and operate a television station in the United States, WGPR-TV in Detroit, MI.
William Venoid Banks
This person is famous for her abolitionist work during the period of enslavement. However, she was an important herbalist of her time!
She used her herbal knowledge as a Union nurse during the Civil War, helping to cure soldiers of dysentery and treating infections
When she later lived in New York, she used herbs from her garden and foraged in the woods for healing remedies.
Harriet Tubman