Dorothy Dandridge: The Iconic Leading Actress
“America was not geared to make me into a Liz Taylor, a Monroe, a Gardner.” ~Dorothy Dandridge Dorothy Dandridge was the first African-American woman to...
Category : Black Firsts
George Poage: The first African-American athlete to win a medal in the Olympic Games
George Coleman Poage was the first African-American athlete to represent the United States in the Olympic Games, winning two bronze medals at the 1904 games...
Patricia E. Bath: World-famous Ophthalmologist
Patricia E. Bath discovered and invented the Laserphaco Probe, a new device for cataract surgery. Bath is also the first Black woman doctor to receive...
Fredrick L. McGhee: One of the founders of the Niagara Movement
Fredrick L. McGhee was a Black civil rights activist and one of America’s first African American lawyers. McGhee was born on October 28, 1861, in...
Peter Tosh: Reggae Icon
Peter Tosh was the most militant member of the world’s greatest reggae band, The Wailers (1963–1974). Along with Bob Marley and Bunny Wailer, Tosh created...
Fanny Jackson Coppin: The Matriarch of Coppin State University
Fanny Jackson Coppin was an African-American educator and missionary and a lifelong advocate for female higher education. Fanny Jackson was born enslaved in Washington D.C....
Mary Ann Shadd: The first Black woman publisher in North America
Mary Ann Shadd, was the first Black woman in North America to publish a newspaper and the first woman to study for a law degree...
John Armstrong Howard: The First Black Canadian Olympic Athlete
John Armstrong Howard was the first Black Olympic athlete from Canada, competing in the 1912 Summer Olympics. The Winnipeg-raised First World War veteran dominated Canadian...
Thomas Mundy Peterson: The first African American voter
Thomas Mundy Peterson (October 6, 1824 – February 4, 1904), a school custodian from Perth Amboy, New Jersey was the first African American to vote...
David Pitt: Founder of Britain’s first civil rights organization
David Thomas Pitt, Baron Pitt of Hampstead, was a Black British politician, general practitioner and political activist, who was the longest serving Black Parliamentarian in...