This is a collection of our many blog posts celebrating Black Americans. It is an exploration of some of the many incredible Black Americans who have
Maya Angelou – Famous Poet, Singer and Activist. Her poetic memoir “I know why the caged bird sings” is taught across the country.
Josephine Baker – First African-American actress to star in a major motion picture. She also served as spy in World War II.
Alice Augusta Ball – In 1916 she developed the first effective treatment for Leprosy just before her untimely death in December later that year.
Octavia Butler – African-American Science Fiction Author
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman – First African-American and Native American Woman to get her Pilot’s License
Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler, MD. – First African-American woman to receive her Doctor of Medicine (1864)
Marie M. Daly, Ph.D – First African-American woman to achieve a doctorate in Chemistry working with DNA.
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.
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.
Mae C. Jemison, MD. – First African-American woman astronaut to go travel in space.
Katherine Johnson – African-American mathematician who worked for NASA and who’s orbital calculations were critical to the U.S. manned space flights.
Mary Eliza Mahoney – First African-American Nurse
Henrietta Lacks – Her cancer cells became the first ‘immortal’ human cell line. You can also read our discussion on The Ethics of Consent.
Mary Jane Patterson – The first African American woman woman to receive a Bachelors of Arts in 1862.
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. Also, Phillis Wheatley and her life after Slavery and The Poetic Works of Phillis Wheatley.
Harriet Tubman – Conductor of the Underground railroad, Abolitionist, Suffragist, and Union Spy.
Explore our original blog posts for each year
- Amazing Firsts by African American Women – 2019
- Amazing Accomplishments by African American Women – 2020
