Maggie Lena Walker: First Woman Bank President
In 1903, Maggie Lena Walker became the first woman bank president in the United States when she founded the Saint Luke Penny Savings Bank in...
Tag : Black Firsts
Vivian Malone: Civil rights hero who defied racial segregation
Vivian Juanita Malone Jones was one of the first two African American students to enroll at the University of Alabama in 1963 and the university’s...
Wole Soyinka: Noble Prize Literary Genius
Akinwande Oluwole “Wole” Babatunde Soyinka, born 13 July 1934, is a Nigerian playwright and poet. He was the first African to win the Nobel Prize...
Lucy Terry: Singer Of History
[dropcap size=small]L[/dropcap]ucy Terry Prince, known as Lucy Terry, (c. 1730–1821) was brought to Rhode Island from Africa. Her future husband purchased her freedom before their...
Herbert Henry “Herb” McKenley: A Jamaican Track and Field Hero
Herbert Henry “Herb” McKenley OM was a Jamaican sprint runner and the only athlete to reach an Olympic track final in all three of the...
Arthur Ashe: Tennis Champion
Arthur Ashe is the first African American, and is still the only, African-American male player to win the men’s singles at Wimbledon and the U.S....
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune: The First Lady of The Struggle
Mary Jane McLeod Bethune was an American educator, known as “The First Lady of The Struggle” because of her commitment to giving African Americans a...
William Harrison “Bones” Dillard: Olympic Hurdler
William Harrison “Bones” Dillard was an African-American Olympic track and field athlete. Dillard was the best hurdler of his time, and one of three male...
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...
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...