Firsts in African-American history
This Black History Month, we’re showcasing the trailblazing African-Americans who reached new heights despite harsh limitations and the shackles of slavery. Test your knowledge of the past to identify the famous “firsts” who paved the way for the present.
Year: 1870
His legacy: He was born into slavery in a rice plantation state and went from owning a barbershop to earning a seat in the House during the South’s Reconstruction Era. He spoke on behalf of the Committee on Freedmen’s Affairs and advocated for civil rights for African-Americans and Native Americans.
Year: 1870
His legacy: He was an ordained minister in the A.M.E. church who served a single year in Mississippi’s U.S. Senate seat, a post previously held by a famed pro-slavery statesman. He later became the first president of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College
Year: 1893
His legacy: He opened the country’s first interracial hospital where he performed one of the first open-heart surgeries on record. He later became chief surgeon of Freedman's Hospital in Washington, D.C., and was the first African-American inducted into the American College of Surgeons.
Year: 1904
His legacy: He was a politically active journalist who represented the National Negro Labor Party . Among his platforms were pensions for ex-slaves and voting representation in Washington, D.C.
Year: 1908
His legacy: The “Galveston Giant” won the heavyweight title after he knocked out Canadian Tommy Burns.Two years later, he prevailed against “the Great White Hope” in the Fight of the Century.
Year: 1939
Her legacy: The radio and silver screen veteran won the Best Supporting Actress award for her role as a Southern servant in one of Hollywood’s most iconic films.
Year: 1947
His legacy: He’s widely recognized as the player who broke baseball’s “color barrier” (here’s the history-making team). He reached MVP status by 1949 and became a Hall of Famer in 1962. On April 15, 1997, MLB teams retired all No. 42 jerseys in his honor.
Year: 1948
Her legacy: This high school and college record-breaker from Georgia won her medal in the track and field high jump event during the 1948 Summer Olympics. She was the only American woman to win gold that year and was presented her medal by the king of England.
Year: 1950
Her legacy: She's known for such poems as "We Real Cool," but her second book of poetry, “Annie Allen,” earned her the most acclaim. In 1968, she was named poet laureate of her home state of Illinois (she grew up here) and was presented the National Medal of Arts in 1995.
Year: 1950
His legacy: This statesman played an important role in drafting the United Nations Charter and worked as a UN mediator in war-ravaged nations such as Congo and Yemen. He was the chief architect of armistice agreements between Israel and Arab States in 1949, which won him the Nobel Peace Prize.
Year: 1957
Her legacy: She made her U.S. Open debut in 1950, a time when the tennis world was largely segregated. In 1956, she became the first African-American player to win the singles title at the French Open and, after winning at Wimbledon in 1957, the Associated Press named her Female Athlete of the Year.
Year: 1958
His legacy: The jazz pianist and bandleader borrowed from the Kansas City and Harlem sounds to make one all his own. He worked closely with the likes of "Lady Day" and “The First Lady of Song” and booked such prestigious venues as New York’s Carnegie Hall.
Year: 1958
Her legacy: She debuted at the Apollo in 1934 and became famous for such ditties as “A-Tisket, A-Tasket.” She was one of the pioneers of jazz scatting and went on to eventually win 13 Grammy Awards during her career, including two in 1958.
Year: 1961
His legacy: Though this running back for Syracuse University was the first African-American to be named the most outstanding player in collegiate football and the No. 1 draft pick in 1962, he never got to play pro football. Leukemia claimed his life at age 23.
Year: 1963
His legacy: He tackled tough racial issues in such films as “Blackboard Jungle” and “No Way Out” and showed his funny side directing “Stir Crazy.” He was knighted in 1974, received an Honorary Academy Award in 2001 and a Presidential Medal of Freedom from President Obama in 2009.
Year: 1969
His legacy: Not to be confused with the first African comics hero , this character was Marvel’s high-flying, bird-lover from Harlem — aka, Sam Wilson — who debuted in the pages of Captain America.
Year: 1974
Her legacy: She switched gears from studying law to pursue a modeling career. She broadened the notion of beauty with her August 1974 appearance on the cover of “the fashion bible”
Year: 1987
Her legacy: This gospel singer-turned-rock & roll icon was the first woman of any ethnicity to be inducted at Cleveland’s musical mecca. She holds 18 Grammys (and two honorary statues), boasts numerous chart-toppers and sang at the 2008 presidential inauguration.
Year: 1988
His legacy: The MVP quarterback led his team to its big ’88 victory. He would eventually return to his alma mater to coach its football team, the Tigers.
Year: 1989
His legacy: This South Bronx native became a four-star general, national security advisor under Ronald Reagan and the first African-American Secretary of State. He has received two Presidential Medal of Freedom awards and was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993.
Year: 1992
His legacy: She went into orbit on NASA’s Space Shuttle Endeavour after serving as a Peace Corps medical officer in Sierra Leone and Liberia in the mid-’80s.She recalls one of the highlights of her space mission was looking down and seeing her hometown .
Year: 1993
Her legacy: She won a Pulitzer for her 1986 book of poems, “Thomas and Beulah,” wrote a play that graced the Kennedy Center stage and served as poet laureate from 1993 to 1995. She’s now commonwealth professor of English .
Year: 2001
His legacy: He is the founder of BET, former majority owner of an NBA franchise and the entrepreneur behind RLJ Companies. In 2001, Forbes put him in the spotlight as the first African-American mogul to break into billionaire status.
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