William Harrison “Bones” Dillard: Olympic Hurdler
William Harrison “Bones” Dillard was an African‑American Olympic track and field athlete. Dillard was the finest hurdler of his era and one of just three...
Category : Black Firsts
Margaret Walker: A Literary Mother
Margaret Walker was an African American poet and writer. She began her literary career in the 1930s and emerged as a “literary mother” to writers...
Satchel Paige: Baseball trailblazer
Leroy Robert “Satchel” Paige (July 7, 1906-June 8, 1982) was an African-American Negro league baseball and Major League Baseball (MLB) pitcher who became a legend...
John Wesley Gilbert: The first African-American Archaeologist
John Wesley Gilbert was a classical scholar who was the first African-American archaeologist. Gilbert discovered the ancient Greek city, Eretria, and produced the first map...
Viola Desmond: Black Canadian Civil Rights Pioneer
Viola Desmond was a Black Nova Scotian businesswoman and civil-rights pioneer whose 1946 challenge to segregation at the Roseland Theatre in New Glasgow became one...
Prince Hall: The Father of Black Masonry
“… for they know that they dare not face you man for man, but in a mob.” Prince Hall was an African American abolitionist, who...
Patrice Lumumba: The Best Son of Africa
Patrice Lumumba, was the first legally elected Prime Minister of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). He became a legend in his own life...
Thurgood Marshall: A Civil Rights Hero
Thurgood Marshall was an African-American lawyer, civil rights activist and the first African American member of the Supreme Court. As an attorney, Marshall successfully argued...
Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr.: The First Black General of the U.S. Army
Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr., was the first African-American general for the U.S. Army. His army career dated from the Spanish-American war to World War ll....
Robert Allen Cole: A Pioneering Black Composer
Robert Allen “Bob” Cole (July 1, 1868 – August 2, 1911) was an African-American composer, actor, playwright, and stage producer and director, who influenced the...