List of African-American firsts

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

United States citizens of African descent, African-Americans, make up a demographic minority of a national population composed primarily of those of European-Caucasian ancestry. As this demographic has historically faced social and legalistic obstacles to cultural equality, including racial segregation, African-Americans' initial achievements in various fields historically establish a foothold, providing a precedent for more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier".

One commonly cited example is that of Jackie Robinson, who in becoming the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era, after years of resistance to Black players by Caucasian team-owners and the existence of the segregated Negro Leagues, helped provide the rationale to employ subsequent African-Americans.

• 1761

First known African-American author: Jupiter Hammon (poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries", published as a broadside)

• 1773

First known African-American to publish a book: Phillis Wheatley (Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral)

• 1793

First African-American church: Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church

• 1821

First African-American to hold a patent: Thomas L. Jennings^[1]

• 1823

First African-American to receive a degree from an American college: Alexander Twilight

• 1827

First African-American owned-and-operated newspaper: Freedom's Journal

• 1837

First professionally trained African-American doctor: James McCune Smith

• 1845

First African-American licensed to practice law in the United States: Macon B. Allen (Massachusetts bar)^[2]

• 1853

First novel written by an African-American: Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, by William Wells Brown^[3].

• 1855

First African-American elected to public office: John Mercer Langston (Town Clerk, Brownhelm Township, Ohio)

• 1865

First African-American field officer in the U.S. Army: Martin Delany

• 1868

First elected African-American lieutenant governor: Oscar Dunn (Louisiana)

• 1870

First African-American to vote in an election under the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting voting rights regardless of race: Thomas Mundy Peterson

January: First African-American elected to U.S. Congress: Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels ((Republican, Mississippi)^[4]

December: First African-American elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Joseph Rainey (Republican, South Carolina)^[5]

• 1872

First African-American governor (non-elected): P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana

• 1876

First African-American to earn a doctorate degree: Edward Alexander Bouchet (Yale College Ph.D., physics; also first African-American to graduate from Yale, 1874)^[1]

• 1877

First African-American graduate of West Point and first African-American commissioned officer in the U.S. military: Henry Ossian Flipper

• 1884

First African-American to play professional baseball at the major-league level: Moses Fleetwood Walker. (See also: Jackie Robinson, 1947)

• 1885

First African-American woman to hold a patent: Sarah E. Goode^[6]

• 1886

First African-American Roman Catholic priest: Augustus Tolton^{[citation needed]}

• 1891

First African-American police officer in present-day New York City: Wiley Overton, hired by the Brooklyn Police Department seven years before the 1898 incorpation of the five boroughs into the city of New York.^[7] (See also: Samuel J. Battle, 1911)

• 1903

First Broadway musical written by African-Americans, and the first to star African-Americans: In Dahomey

• 1906

First intercollegiate service fraternity established by African Americans: Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ)

• 1908

First African-American heavyweight boxing champion: Jack Johnson

First African-American Olympic gold medal winner: John Taylor (track and field medley relay team). (See also: William DeHart Hubbard, 1924)

• 1911

First African-American police officer in New York City: Samuel J. Battle, following the 1898 incorpation of the five boroughs into the city of New York, and the hiring of three African-American officers in the Brooklyn Police Department. Battle was also the NYPD's first African-American sergeant (1926), lieutenant (1935), and parole commissioner (1941).^[7] (See also: Wiley Overton, 1891)

• 1920

First African-American NFL football players: Fritz Pollard (Akron Pros), and Bobby Marshall (Minneapolis Marines)

• 1921

First African-American woman to become a pilot, first American woman to hold an international pilot license: Bessie Coleman

First African-American NFL football coach: Fritz Pollard, co-head coach, Akron Pros, while continuing to play running back

• 1924

First African-American to win individual Olympic gold medal: William DeHart Hubbard (Long jump, 1924 Summer Olympics, Paris). (See also: John Taylor, 1908)

• 1925

First African-American Foreign Service Officer: Clifton R. Wharton, Sr.^[8]

• 1926

First African-American woman to receive a degree (Ph.D.) from Yale University: Otelia Cromwell, who had previously been the first African-American graduate of Smith College.

• 1928

First post-Reconstruction African-American elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Oscar Stanton De Priest (Republican; Illinois)

• 1932

First African-American on a presidential ticket in the 20th century: James W. Ford (Communist Party USA, vice-presidential candidate running with William Z. Foster)

• 1934

First African-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat: Arthur W. Mitchell (Illinois)

• 1935

First known interracial jazz group: Benny Goodman Trio (Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa)^[9]

• 1936

First African-American to conduct a major U.S. orchestra: William Grant Still (Los Angeles Philharmonic)

• 1937

First African-American federal magistrate: William Henry Hastie (later the first African-American governor of the United States Virgin Islands)

• 1940

First African-American to win Academy Award: Hattie McDaniel (Best Supporting Actress, Gone with the Wind, 1939)

First African-American to be portrayed on a U.S. postage stamp: Booker T. Washington

First African-American U.S. Army general: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.

• 1944

First African-American commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy: The "Golden Thirteen"

• 1945

First African-American member of the New York City Opera: Todd Duncan

• 1947

First African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era: Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn Dodgers). (See also: Moses Fleetwood Walker, 1884)

• 1948

First African-American male to receive an Academy Award: James Baskett (Honorary Academy Award for his portrayal of "Uncle Remus" in Song of the South, 1946)

First African-American U.S. Navy aviator: Jesse L. Brown

First African-American composer to have an opera performed by a major U.S. company: William Grant Still (Troubled Island, New York City Opera)

• 1949

First African-American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy: Wesley Brown^[10]

• 1950

First African-American to win Pulitzer Prize: Gwendolyn Brooks (Book of poetry, Annie Allen, 1949)

First African-American to win Nobel Peace Prize: Ralph Bunche

First African-American NBA basketball players: Earl Lloyd (Washington Capitols), Chuck Cooper (Boston Celtics), and Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (New York Knicks)^[11]

First African-American star of a network television show: Ethel Waters, Beulah

• 1952

First African-American woman elected to a United States state senate: Cora Brown (Michigan)

• 1953

First African-American basketball player to play in the NBA All-Star Game: Don Barksdale

• 1954

First African-American U.S. Navy Master Diver: Carl Brashear

• 1955

First African-American member of the Metropolitan Opera: Marian Anderson

First African-American male dancer in a major ballet company: Arthur Mitchell (New York City Ballet; also first African-American principal dancer, 1956)

• 1956

First African-American male star of a network television show: Nat King Cole, The Nat King Cole Show

First African-American Wimbledon tennis champion: Althea Gibson (doubles, with Englishwoman Angela Buxton); also first African-American to win a Grand Slam event (French Open).

• 1958

First African-American NHL hockey player: Willie O'Ree (Boston Bruins)

First African-American flight attendant: Ruth Carol Taylor (Mohawk Airlines)

• 1962

First African-American coach in Major League Baseball: John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil (Chicago Cubs)

• 1964

First movie with African-American interracial marriage: One Potato, Two Potato,^[12] actors Bernie Hamilton and Barbara Barrie, written by Orville H. Hampton, Raphael Hayes, directed by Larry Peerce

First African-American male to win the Academy Award for Best Actor: Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, 1963) (See also: James Baskett 1948)

• 1965

First African-American title character of a comic book series: Lobo (Dell Comics).^[13] (See also: The Falcon, 1969, and Luke Cage, 1972)

First African-American star of a network television drama: Bill Cosby, I Spy (co-star with Robert Culp)

First African-American Playboy Playmate centerfold: Jennifer Jackson (March issue)

First African-American U.S. Air Force general: Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. (three-star lieutenant general)

• 1966

First African-American model on the cover of Vogue magazine: Donyale Luna

First post-Reconstruction African-American elected to U.S. Senate: Edward Brooke (Republican; Massachusetts)

First African-American Cabinet secretary: Robert C. Weaver (Department of Housing and Urban Development)

• 1967

First African-American mayor of a U.S. city: Robert C. Henry, (Springfield, Ohio)

First African-American mayor of a large U.S. city: Carl B. Stokes (Cleveland, Ohio)

First African-American appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States: Thurgood Marshall

• 1968

First interracial kiss on U.S. television: Star Trek: "Plato's Stepchildren", actors William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols, written by Meyer Dolinsky, directed by David Alexander.

• 1969

First African-American superhero: The Falcon, Marvel Comics' Captain America #117 (Sept. 1969).^[13] (See also: Lobo, 1965 and Luke Cage, 1972)

First African-American mayor of a California city: Douglas Dollarhide (Compton, California)

First African-American graduate of Harvard Business School: Lillian Lincoln

First African-American woman elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Shirley Chisholm (Democrat; New York)

First African-American director of a major Hollywood motion picture: Gordon Parks (The Learning Tree)

• 1971

First African-American U.S. Senate staffer: Tom Moss

First African-American U.S. Navy admiral: Samuel Gravely

• 1972

First African-American superhero to star in own comic-book series: Luke Cage, Marvel Comics' Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972).^[13] (See also: Lobo, 1965, and The Falcon, 1969)

First interracial kiss in a mainstream comics magazine: "The Men Who Called Him Monster", by writer Don McGregor and artist Luis Garcia, in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazine Creepy #43 (Jan. 1972)

• 1975

First interracial kiss in a color comic book: Amazing Adventures #31 (July 1975), feature "Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds", characters M'Shulla Scott and Carmilla Frost, by writer Don McGregor (see immediately above) and artist P. Craig Russell

First African-American model on the cover of ELLE magazine: Beverly Johnson^[14]

First African-American four star general: Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr.

First TV-series cast with African-American interracial couple: The Jeffersons, actors Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker as Tom & Helen Willis; series creator: Norman Lear

• 1976

First African-American woman Broadway director: Vinnette Justine Carroll (Your Arms Too Short to Box with God)

• 1977

First African-American, and first woman, appointed director of the Peace Corps: Carolyn R. Payton

• 1983

First African-American astronaut: Guion Stewart "Guy" Bluford, Jr.

First African-American Mayor of Chicago Harold Washington

• 1984

First African-American Miss America: Vanessa Williams

• 1986

First African-American Formula One racecar driver: Willy T. Ribbs^[15] (See also: Ribbs, 1991)

• 1988

First African-American woman elected to a U.S. judgeship, and first appointed to a state supreme court: Juanita Kidd Stout

• 1989

First African-American mayor of New York City: David Dinkins

First African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Colin Powell

• 1990

First African-American Playboy Playmate of the Year: Renee Tenison

First elected African-American governor: Douglas Wilder (Democrat; Virginia)

• 1991

First African-American woman mayor of a large U.S. city: Sharon Pratt Kelly (Washington, D.C.)

First African-American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 auto race: Willy T. Ribbs (See also: Ribbs, 1986)

• 1992

First African-American woman astronaut: Dr. Mae Jemison M.D. (Space Shuttle Endeavour)

First African-American woman elected to U.S. Senate: Carol Mosely Braun (Democrat; Illinois)

• 1993

First African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for literature: Toni Morrison

First African-American woman named Poet Laureate of the United States: Rita Dove; also the youngest person named to that position

• 1994

First African-American woman director of a major-studio movie: Darnell Martin (Columbia Pictures' I Like It Like That)

• 1996

First African-American U.S. Navy four-star admiral: J. Paul Reason^[16]

• 2001

First African-American Secretary of State: Colin Powell

• 2002

First African-American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress: Halle Berry (Monster's Ball, 2001)

• 2005

First female African-American Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice

• 2006

First African-American interracial gay kiss on television: Will & Grace: "I Love L. Gay", actors Eric McCormack, Taye Diggs, written by Steve Gabriel, directed by James Burrows^[17]

First Black Muslim, and first Muslim, elected to U.S Congress: Representative Keith Ellison (Democrat, Minnesota)

[edit] Footnotes