Black History Month is quickly approaching and we have a wonderful list of incredible African American women to introduce you so. Last year we started our Black History Month special feature and honestly, we just couldn’t cover enough of our favorite inspirations then, so we are going talk about several more over the next 8 weeks.
We’ll also be adding another special feature on African American Men and their Amazing Firsts.
Introducing the women who inspired us for Black History Month 2020
Alice Augusta Ball – In 1916 she developed the first effective treatment for Leprosy just before her untimely death in December later that year.
Harriet Tubman – Conductor of the Underground railroad, Abolitionist, Suffragist, and Union Spy.
Henrietta Lacks – Her cancer cells became the first ‘immortal’ human cell line. You can also read our discussion on The Ethics of Consent
Maya Angelou – Famous Poet, Singer and Activist. Her poetic memoir “I know why the caged bird sings” is taught across the country.
Mary Jane Patterson – The first African American woman woman to receive a Bachelors of Arts in 1862.
Maggie Lena Walker – She was the first African American woman to charter a bank and serve as its president in the United States
Phillis Wheatley – Wheatley was the first African-American woman to publish a book of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral published in London on September 1, 1773.
Honorary Mention
Wangari Maathai – First African and East African woman to win the Nobel Peace Prize and the first East African Woman to earn a PhD
Check out 2019’s Amazing African American Woman for Black History Month
Last year we celebrated these fine women. If not, take sometime and introduce yourselves to some of the most important and amazing African American women in history.
Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler, MD. – First African-American woman to receive her Doctor of Medicine (1864)
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman – First African-American and Native American Woman to get her Pilot’s License
Octavia Butler – African-American Science Fiction Author
Althea Gibson – African-American tennis player and 1st black athlete to cross the line of color in international tennis.
Shirley Jackson, Ph.D. – First African-American woman to get a doctorate from MIT, the first to be awarded the National Medal of Science, and the second to get a PhD in physics.
Katherine Johnson – African-American mathematician who worked for NASA and who’s orbital calculations were critical to the U.S. manned space flights.
Mildred Jefferson, MD.– First African-American woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School and the first woman to graduate in surgery there. She was a prominent physician and activist.
Mary Eliza Mahoney – First African-American Nurse
Josephine Baker – First African-American actress to star in a major motion picture. She also served as spy in World War II.
Marie M. Daly, Ph.D – First African-American woman to achieve a doctorate in Chemistry working with DNA.
Mae C. Jemison, MD. – First African-American woman astronaut to go travel in space.
