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Discover Black women's legacies month by month. Explore history's milestones and celebrate the remarkable achievements of influential figures.

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Showing 155 of 155
Jan 1
January
Medicine
Science
Dr. Jessie Isabelle Price
Dr. Price (1930-2015), the "Duck Doctor," was an eminent veterinary microbiologist and an authority on avian diseases, particularly those affecting ducks and other waterfowl. She conducted extensive research on parasites, infections, viruses, and microbial diseases that impacted these birds and developed vaccines to protect them against a spectrum of diseases. Dr. Price's vaccines have been used by duck, turkey, and pigeon farmers across North America.
Pennsylvania
Jan 1
January
Baptist
Civil Rights
Prathia Hall
Dr. Hall (1940-2003) was a pastor, educator, dynamic speaker and a powerful figure in the Civil Rights Movement. She challenged misogyny in the movement and was one of the first women field leaders in the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). While working with SNCC, she was shot at and jailed multiple times. On September 9, 1962, Hall led a prayer at Mt. Olive Baptist Church in 'Terrible Terrell' County, Georgia, where Martin Luther King Jr. was present. Her rhythmic repetition of 'I Have a Dream' during this prayer influenced King's famous 'I Have a Dream' speech at the March on Washington. After witnessing the traumatizing aftermath of Bloody Sunday she left SNCC in 1966. She eventually earned her Master of Divinity, Master of Theology, and Ph.D. from Princeton Theological Seminary, becoming a prominent womanist theologian who advocated for the intersection of race, gender, and faith in religious practice.
Pennsylvania
Jan 1
January
Military
Janie Mines
Mines (1958) is a former Naval officer who was the first Black woman to graduate from the United States Naval Academy. She earned her Masters of Business Administration from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and is and is a member of the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Services.
South Carolina
Jan 2
January
Law
Civil Rights
AME
Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
Dr. Mossell (1898-1989), hailing from the distinguished Mossell and Tanner family lines, was an attorney, civic servant, and humanitarian. She was the first black woman to graduate from University of Penn Law School and the first black woman admitted to the Pennsylvania bar (1927). She was also the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in Economics in the United States (University of Pennsylvania, 1921), and the first National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Pennsylvania
Jan 2
January
Law
Juanita Jackson Mitchell
First Black woman to practice law in the state of Maryland.
Arkansas
Jan 4
January
Singer
Educator
Grace Bumbry
Bumbry (1937-2023) was a mezzo-soprano and later, a soprano opera singer, and one of the most celebrated voices of 20th century opera. She exploded onto the international stage after she appeared as Venus in Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in Germany in 1961. She was the first black woman to perform at this festival and her appearance was met with outrage, scorn, and controversy. Post performance she was hailed the “magnificent ‘Black Venus’” and received 42 curtain calls and a 30-minute standing ovation.
Missouri
Jan 5
January
Singer
AME
Matilda Sissieretta Jones
Jones (1869-1933) was an internatioanally acclaimed soprano opera singer who notes were said to be as clear as a mockingbird’s with perfect annunciation. Her remarkable abilities led her to perform at the White House for four U.S. Presidents: Harrison, McKinley, Cleveland, and Roosevelt. Jones toured extensively across Europe, the West Indies, South America, Australia, India, and southern Africa, performing for notable figures including Albert Edward, the Prince of Wales and future King Edward VII of England, and Emperor Wilhelm II of Germany.
Virginia
Jan 5
January
Activist
Civil Rights
Educator
Ericka Huggins
Huggins (1948) is an educator, writer, human rights and community activist, and former Black Panther Party leader who helped establish innovative community education models in Oakland, California. While attending Lincoln University she met John Huggins. It was there that they were both deeply moved by a Ramparts magazine photo of a wounded Huey Newton shackled to his hospital bed and they decided to drive from the East Coast to Los Angeles to attend a Free Huey rally. A month later, in November 1967, they joined the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party.
Washington D.C.
Jan 5
January
Chemistry
Science
Educator
Mary Elliott Hill
Hill (1907-1969) was an organic and analytical chemist, educator, and one of the first Black women to earn a Master's in Chemistry. She co-authored over 40 research papers and published two textbooks with her husband, General College Chemistry and Experiments in Organic Chemistry.
North Carolina
Jan 6
January
Dancer
Film & TV
Michaela DePrince
DePrince (1995-2024) pirouetted her way into the hearts of Americans with her inspiring story and exceptional talent, beautifully showcased in the 2011 documentary "First Position."
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Jan 6
January
Entrepreneur
Cook/Culinarian
Art
Catholic
Leah Chase
Chase (1923-2019) was known as the "Queen of Creole Cuisine" and transformed Dooky Chase's Restaurant in New Orleans into a civil rights movement meeting place and a Black dining institution. While running one of the first upscale dining establishments for Black patrons in the segregated South, she served both civil rights leaders and local residents, making her restaurant a vital cultural and political center where leaders could meet to discuss strategy during the civil rights movement. Beyond her role in social justice, Chase was also renowned for her contributions to Creole cooking, her vast Black art collection displayed in the restaurant, and her influence on American culinary culture, inspiring the character Tiana in Disney's "The Princess and the Frog."
Louisiana
Jan 7
January
Author
Anthropology
Harlem Renaissance
Zora Neale Hurston
Hurston (1891-1960) was a novelist, poet, anthropologist, and folklorist who documented life across the African diaspora and stood as a central figure of the Harlem Renaissance. Her work focused on Black cultural traditions, spirituality, and the vibrant dynamics of Black communities across the Americas. Her most well known works were Their Eyes Were Watching God, Tell My Horse: Voodoo and Life in Haiti and Jamaica, and Mules and Men.
Alabama
Jan 10
January
Activist
Afeni Shakur
Shakur (1947-2016) was an activist and community organizer who held several high-ranking roles within the Black Panther Party including Section Leader of the Harlem Branch, Communications Secretary, and Press representative. She was also the mother of rapper and actor Tupac Amaru Shakur. She is most notably remembered for representing herself while pregnant in The Panther 21 Case, where she and twenty other Panthers faced charges of conspiracy to bomb New York City police stations, department stores and railroad tracks.
North Carolina
Jan 10
January
Actress
Model
Singer
Teresa Graves
Graves (1948-2002) made television history as the first Black woman to star in her own dramatic TV series when she played undercover police officer Christie Love in Get Christie Love! (1974-1975).1 After achieving success in both comedy (as a regular performer on Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In) and drama, she left Hollywood in the mid-1970s to devote herself to her religious faith as a Jehovah's Witness.
Texas
Jan 10
January
Film & TV
Jane "Jennie" Louise Van Der Zee Touissant Welcome
Touissant Welcome (1885-1956), the self described "Foremost Female Artist of the Race".
Massachusetts
Jan 11
January
Film & TV
Higher Learning
Higher Learning (1995), directed by John Singleton, follows the intersecting lives of three freshmen at the fictional Columbus University as they navigate racial tensions, identity struggles, and political radicalization, featuring Omar Epps, Tyra Banks, Kristy Swanson, Michael Rapaport, and Laurence Fishburne in key roles. The film explores themes of racism, sexual assault, and extremism through its portrayal of campus life, culminating in a tragic shooting that exposes the deep-seated social issues within the university community.
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Jan 13
January
Activist
Educator
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Incorporated, founded on January 13, 1913, at Howard University by 22 collegiate women, is one of the largest African American women's organizations with over 350,000 initiated members. The organization's first public act was participating in the Women's Suffrage March of 1913, setting the foundation for its ongoing commitment to social action.
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Jan 13
January
Author
Pinkie Gordon Lane
Lane (1923-2008) was an educator and poet who, in 1967, became the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. from Louisiana State University. She published five books of poetry: Wind Thoughts, The Mystic Female, I Never Scream: New and Selected Poems, Girl at the Window, and Elegy for Etheridge, with The Mystic Female earning a Pulitzer Prize nomination in 1979. While her contemporaries criticized her work for not explicitly focusing on Black themes or experiences, she maintained her artistic independence, writing extensively about nature, love, and universal human experiences. As the first woman to chair Southern University's English Department (1974-1986) and Louisiana's first Black Poet Laureate (1989-1992), she broke barriers in academia and literature and cemented her legacy as an influential literary voice. In recognition of her achievements and indelible mark, in 2022 LSU's Board of Supervisors unanimously voted to name its graduate school the Pinkie Lane Gordon Graduate School.
Pennsylvania
Jan 13
January
Abolitionist
Matilda McCrear
McCrear (c.1857-1940) was the last known survivor of the Clotilda and the last link to the transatlantic slave trade.
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Jan 14
January
Actress
Vonetta McGee
Lawrence Vonetta McGee (1945-2010) was a trailblazing film and television actress who rose to fame during the Blaxploitation film period.
California
Jan 16
January
Dancer
Actress
Entertainment
Educator
Debbie Allen
Allen (1950) is an actress, choreographer, director, producer, and founder of a performing arts academy. The TV series "Fame" (1982-1987) marked her entertainment breakthrough when she both played dance teacher Lydia Grant and choreographed the series. She also received three Golden Globe nominations and one win for Best Actress for her role in 'Fame.' She also earned multiple Emmy Award nominations, winning five, and making history as the first Black woman to receive the Emmys' prestigious Governors Award for significant contributions to television.
Texas
Jan 16
January
Military
Marcelite J Harris
Major General Harris (ret., 1943-2018) was the first Black woman to reach the rank of Major General in the U.S. Air Force. When she retired in 1997, she was the highest-ranking woman officer in the Air Force and the highest-ranking Black woman in the entire U.S. military. Prior to her retirement, she served as director of maintenance and deputy chief of staff for logistics at the U.S. Air Force Headquarters in Washington, D.C. She managed a workforce of over 125,000 personnel and oversaw a $260 billion Global Reach Global Power aerospace weapons system inventory. She also developed maintenance policy and determined an annual budget of more than $20 billion to the Office of the Secretary of Defense, Office of Management and Budget and Congress.
Texas
Jan 16
January
Science
Phyllis Bolds
Bolds (1932-2018) worked for the U.S. Air Force as a civilian for 30 years, including service at the United States Air Force Flight Dynamics Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. She was awarded with the Systems Command Certificate of Merit for her years of service and credited her with the enhancement of the Northrop Grumman B-2 Spirit "stealth" bomber. Wright-Patterson Air Force Base designated her as a "Hidden Figure," recognizing her place among pioneering African American women who advanced military aviation.
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Jan 17
January
Law
Government
Michelle Obama
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (1964), a graduate of Princeton University and Harvard Law School, began her career at the Chicago law firm Sidley & Austin before transitioning to public service roles including Chicago City Hall, Public Allies, the University of Chicago, and the University of Chicago Hospital. As the first Black First Lady of the United States (2009-2017), she launched signature initiatives focusing on childhood obesity prevention, education access, and support for military families, while later becoming a bestselling author and continuing her advocacy work after leaving the White House.
Illinois
Jan 17
January
Science
Jewel Plummer Cobb
Cobb (1924-2017) was a cell biologist and cancer researcher whose work led to her discovery that methotrexate was effective in treating certain skin cancers, lung cancers, and childhood leukemia. Beyond her scientific achievements, she broke barriers in academia as one of the first African American women to earn a Ph.D. in cell physiology and served as a dean at Connecticut College and Douglass College before becoming president of California State University, Fullerton, making her one of the first African American women to lead a major U.S. university.
Illinois
Jan 17
January
Actress
Singer
Activist
Eartha Kitt
Kitt (1927-2008) rose from poverty in South Carolina, where she lived with relatives, to attend the High School of Performing Arts in New York before launching her career with Katherine Dunham's dance company. She became an international star renowned for her distinctive purring voice, feline grace, and multilingual performances, establishing herself as a symbol of seduction and sophistication with hits like "Santa Baby" (1953) and "C'est Si Bon." Her diverse career spanned Broadway, film, and television, including her memorable role as Catwoman in the 1960s Batman series. Kitt's career faced a significant setback in 1968 when her anti-Vietnam War statements at a White House luncheon led to CIA surveillance and an effective blacklisting in the U.S., though she later triumphantly returned to Broadway and television.
South Carolina
Jan 19
January
Medicine
Anna Louise James
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Jan 20
January
Civil Rights
Activist
The Black Panther Party's Breakfast For Children Program
Community Service program run by the black panther party.
No items found.
Jan 20
January
Composer
Musician
Civil Rights
Eva Jessye
Dr. Jessye (1895-1992) was a preeminent Conductor, Choral Director, founder of the Eva Jessye Choir, and the first Black woman to earn international distinction as a director of a professional choral group. She was the first musical director for the original production of Porgy and Bess and, devoted to Civil Rights, Jessye and the Eva Jessye Choir were appointed by Dr. Martin Luther King the official choir of the 1963 March on Washington.
Kansas
Jan 21
January
Military
Science
Raye Montague
Arkansas
Jan 22
January
Aviation
Government
Educator
Civil Rights
Activist
Willa Brown
Brown was the first black woman to hold both a private (1937) and commercial (1939) pilot’s license in the United States and one of the first woman to hold a commercial pilot's license and a master aviation mechanic's certificate (1935). She co-founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics where she trained thousands of pilots, nearly 200 of which became Tuskegee airmen. She was also the first black woman to run for Congress.
Kentucky
Jan 23
January
Educator
Law
Activist
Blanche Armwood Perkins
Florida
Jan 23
January
Entrepreneur
Author
Susan Taylor
New York
Jan 25
January
Singer
Theatre
Florence Mills
Washington D.C.
Jan 25
January
Entrepreneur
Sheila Crump Johnson
Johnson (1949) is a businesswoman and philanthropist who co-founded Black Entertainment Television (BET) in 1980, the first cable television network focused exclusively on Black audiences. BET revolutionized media representation by showcasing Black music, culture, and entertainment at a time when mainstream television largely excluded Black talent. The network launched the careers of countless Black artists, created original programming that reflected Black experiences, and provided news coverage focused on issues important to the Black community, eventually reaching over 88 million households. In 2001, BET was sold to Viacom for $2.9 billion, making Johnson the first Black woman billionaire. Beyond BET, she serves as CEO and founder of the Salamander Collection, a luxury hotel company, and made history as the first Black woman to have ownership stakes in three professional sports franchises as a partner in Monumental Sports & Entertainment, which owns the NBA's Washington Wizards, NHL's Washington Capitals, and WNBA's Washington Mystics.
Pennsylvania
Jan 26
January
Aviation
Entrepreneur
Bessie Coleman
Texas
Jan 26
January
Activist
Angela Davis
Alabama
Jan 26
January
Entrepreneur
Entertainment
Ellen Armstrong
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Jan 29
January
Journalism
Entrepreneur
Actress
Oprah Winfrey
Mississippi
Feb 1
February
Fashion
Author
Elizabeth Keckley
Keckley (1818) was born enslaved in Virginia. She purchased freedom for herself and her son for $1200 in 1855. In 1861 she became the dressmaker and confidant of First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln. In 1868, she published her memoir, Behind the Scenes: Or, Thirty Years a Slave and Four Years in the White House.
Washington D.C.
Feb 2
February
Dancer
Raven Wilkinson
Wilkinson (1935-2018) was the first Black woman to join a major ballet company when she joined the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo in 1955.
New York
Feb 3
February
Military
6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion
No items found.
Feb 4
February
Science
Dr. Beth Brown
Motivated by her childhood love for Star Wars and Star Trek, Dr. Brown (1969-2008) became an Astrophysicist in the Sciences and Exploration Directorate at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center. She was also the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan's Department of Astronomy.
Virginia
Feb 4
February
Civil Rights
Rosa Parks
Civil Rights
Alabama
Feb 5
February
Civil Rights
Georgia Gilmore
Gilmore (1920-1990) was a midwife, cook, founder of The Club from Nowhere, and an unsung heroine of the Civil Rights Movement.
Alabama
Feb 6
February
Photography
Journalist
Educator
Vernie Merze Tate
Tate (1905-1996) was an intrepid adventurer, educator, author, polyglot, and international diplomacy expert. She was the first Black woman from the United States to attend Oxford University, earning her B.Litt. degree in 1935. She later became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in government and international relations from Harvard's Radcliffe College in 1941. She joined Howard University's history department in 1942, where she served as professor until 1977. Her scholarly work included five books on diplomatic history, extensive research across Asia, the Pacific, and Africa, and service as an advisor to then General Eisenhower on disarmament in the late 1940s. Tate's legacy also includes significant philanthropic contributions, notably a $1 million donation to establish the Merze Tate Student Education Endowment Fund as well as endowments for two Medallion Scholarships at Western Michigan University.
Michigan
Feb 7
February
Medicine
Dr. Emma Rochelle Wheeler
Dr. Wheeler and her husband opened a hospital.
Florida
Feb 8
February
Science
Valerie Thomas
Maryland
Feb 8
February
Law
Civil Rights
COGIC
Ada Lois Sipuel Fisher
Fisher (1924-1995) challenged the legal basis of segregated classes at the graduate level in the United States in Sipuel v Board of Regents of the University of Oklahoma (1948).
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Feb 8
February
Medicine
Rebecca Lee Crumpler
No items found.
Feb 9
February
Author
Alice Walker
Georgia
Feb 10
February
Singer
Leontyne Price
“My voice is what I think life is, my voice is beauty, my voice is America, my voice is my blackness, my voice is love, my voice is God.” Extraordinary spinto soprano and Prima Donna, Price (1927) is ...
Mississippi
Feb 10
February
Suffrage
Educator
Adella Hunt Logan
Georgia
Feb 10
February
Singer
Musician
Roberta Cleopatra Flack
North Carolina
Feb 11
February
Law
Florynce Rae "Flo" Kennedy
Missouri
Feb 12
February
Film & TV
School Daze
Starring Tisha Campbell
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Feb 12
February
Civil Rights
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP)
The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) was established in 1909 and is one of America's oldest civil rights organizations. While founded by a multi-ethnic group of activists, it focused on combating discrimination and violence against Black Americans. Mary White Ovington, a founding member, documented the organization's inception in her article "How the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Began". Published in The Crisis, her firsthand account is considered one of the most important primary sources about the NAACP's founding. In it, she describes the events that led to "The Call."
No items found.
Feb 14
February
Entrepreneur
Journalist
Civil Rights
Charlotta Spears Bass
Bass (1874-1969), is known as the first African American woman to own and operate a newspaper (The California Eagle) in the United States.
South Carolina
Feb 14
February
Entrepreneur
Educator
Singer
Mary Cardwell Dawson
Cardwell (1894-1962) was a Musician, Educator, and founder of the extraordinary National Negro Opera Company (Pittsburg, 1941), and the Cardwell School of Music.
North Carolina
Feb 14
February
Film & TV
Entertainment
Author
Jessie Maple Patton
Cinematographer, Director, Writer
Mississippi
Feb 16
February
Civil Rights
Evelyn Lowery
Lowery (1925-2013) was a founding member of the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).
Tennessee
Feb 17
February
Law
Activist
Government
Educator
Mary Frances Berry
Tennessee
Feb 18
February
Author
Educator
Toni Morrison
Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford (1931-2019), “Toni” Morrison was a Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize - winning novelist, editor, and professor. Her most notable works include “The Bluest Eye” (1970), “Song of Solomon” (1977), and “Beloved” (1987), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988.
Ohio
Feb 19
February
Activist
Lugenia Burns Hope
Hope (1871-1947) was a "race woman", life-long activist, community organizer, and lecturer who established programs and worked with institutions that advanced racial and social justice in the Black community. She worked tirelessly to improve the lives of Black families, women, and children in Atlanta through the Neighborhood Union, an organization she founded with either other women in 1908. During World War I, as Chair of the Women's Committee of the YWCA war work council (1917-1919), she worked with Black soldiers and their families at Camp Gordon, providing support and recreational services that they were denied by the United Services Organization (USO).
Missouri
Feb 20
February
Singer
Jazz
Nancy Wilson
No items found.
Feb 20
February
Educator
Ophelia Settle Egypt
Social worker and Educator.
Texas
Feb 21
February
Law
Government
Civil Rights
Barbara Jordan
Jordan (1936-1996) was a lawyer, State Senator, Congresswoman, enthralling orator, educator, and civil rights leader. During President Nixon's televised impeachment hearing, Jordan delivered a powerful 15-minute opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee. Her speech has been hailed as one of the most influential in 20th-century American history, playing a "decisive" role in "swaying public opinion in favor of impeachment".
Texas
Feb 21
February
Singer
Composer
Civil Rights
Nina Simone
North Carolina
Feb 23
February
Singer
Muriel Smith
New York
Feb 23
February
Entrepreneur
Educator
Jessie Vann
Owner and Publisher of the Pittsburgh Courier.
Pennsylvania
Feb 26
February
Educator
Sadie Peterson Delaney
Bibliotherapy advocate
New York
Feb 27
February
Singer
Marian Anderson
Pennsylvania
Feb 27
February
Medicine
Millie E. Hale
Hale (1881-1930) and her husband, John Henry Hale, converted their home into a hospital for black patients.
Tennessee
Feb 27
February
Author
Angelina Weld Grimké
Massachusetts
Feb 29
February
Art
Harlem Renaissance
Augusta Savage
Florida
Mar 1
March
Military
Aviation
Madeline Swegle
 In 2020 Swegle, a U.S. Naval Academy graduate, became both the U.S. Navy's second Black woman naval aviator to earn her wings of gold when she became the U.S. Navy's first Black woman tactical jet pilot.
Virginia
Mar 2
March
Activist
Civil Rights
Journalist
Elaine Brown
Brown (1943) is a prison and civil rights activist and was the first woman to lead the Black Panther Party as chairwoman (1974-1977).
Pennsylvania
Mar 3
March
Composer
Educator
Pianist
Methodist
Margaret Allison Bonds
Bonds (1913-1972) was an incomparable composer, pianist, and educator. She profoundly influenced 20th-century classical music by infusing her orchestral and chamber works with elements of spirituals, calypso rhythms, and other musical traditions from the African diaspora.
Illinois
Mar 3
March
Suffrage
1913 Women's Suffrage Procession
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Mar 4
March
Apartheid
Civil Rights
Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba was born near Johannesburg, South Africa on March 4, 1932. She was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, vocal apartheid opponent, civil rights activist, and UN Goodwill Ambassador. She was also known as the Empress of African Song. She became the first African artist to globally popularize African music.
No items found.
Mar 4
March
Dentistry
Ida Gray Nelson Rollins DDS
Rollins (1867-1953) was the first Black woman to become a dentist in the United States.
Tennessee
Mar 4
March
Singer
Roberta Alexandra
Virginia
Mar 4
March
Actress
Singer
Barbara McNair
Singer, Actress, and Host, McNair (1934-2007) was one of the first Black women to host a television show (1969-1971).
Illinois
Mar 6
March
Dancer
Educator
Carmen de Lavallade
Louisiana
Mar 6
March
Singer
Entrepreneur
Entertainment
Sylvia Robinson
Robinson (1936-2011) was a Singer, Songwriter, Record Producer, the Mother of Hip Hop, and a founder and the CEO of Sugar Hill Records.
New York
Mar 7
March
Dancer
Janet Collins
Louisiana
Mar 7
March
Civil Rights
Bloody Sunday
When state trooper James Fowler shot and killed deacon Jimmie Lee Jackson during a peaceful protest in Marion, Alabama, Civil Rights leaders responded by organizing the Selma to Montgomery march for Sunday, March 7, 1965. Key organizers included Amelia Boynton Robinson, Marie Foster, Annie Lee Cooper, SNCC leaders Diane Nash and John Lewis, and SCLC's Hosea Williams. The March 7th protest aimed to challenge voter suppression tactics including literacy tests, poll taxes, police brutality, and other systematic barriers preventing Black citizens from registering to vote and voting.
Alabama
Mar 7
March
Author
Abolitionist
Harriet Jacobs
Jacobs (1815-1897) escaped slavery, became an abolitionist, and wrote an autobiography that became one of the most significant American slave narratives - the first authored by a Black woman. Published in 1861 under the pseudonym Linda Brent, Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl provides a rare female perspective on slavery and demonstrates how enslaved women faced unique forms of oppression. Although she was very close to her first mistress who taught her to read and write - advantages denied to most enslaved people - Jacobs's narrative exposes slavery's fundamental inescapable violence. Her account, corroborated by her brother John S. Jacobs and George W. Lowther (a civil rights activist and Massachusetts state representative who knew her from childhood), focuses on her personal story of enslavement and surviving physical violence and sexual harassment from one of her enslavers, Dr. Flint. While Jacobs does not dramatize slavery's brutality, the system's horrors emerge through brief, matter-of-fact mentions throughout her narrative: a mother driven to madness after all seven of her children were sold away; a man bound to a cotton gin and left to be eaten by vermin, and enslavers fathering and selling their many children from enslaved women. Her narrative also documents the impact of the Fugitive Slave Act of 1850, which forced her and other fugitives in the North to live in constant fear of capture and re-enslavement. These scattered references, delivered without embellishment, serve to underscore the everyday inhumanity of the "peculiar institution."
North Carolina
Mar 8
March
Activist
Civil Rights
Addie L. Wyatt
Wyatt (1924-2012) was the first Black woman to hold an executive position in a labor union.
Mississippi
Mar 9
March
Educator
Activist
Margaret Murray Washington
Mississippi
Mar 10
March
Educator
Activist
Josephine Groves Holloway
South Carolina
Mar 10
March
Actress
Singer
Dancer
Baptist
Jasmine Guy
A quadruple threat as an actress, singer, dancer, and director, Guy's dynamic career spans from her early days as a dancer for the Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater to her continued work in television and film. Her versatility is evident in her two albums (Jasmine Guy and Try Me), Broadway performances in Grease!, Leader of the Pack, The Wiz, Dancin' in the Street, Bubbling Brown Sugar, and Chicago, and roles in Spike Lee's School Daze, Harlem Nights, Stompin' at the Savoy, and The Vampire Diaries.
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Mar 11
March
Theatre
Vinnette Carroll
New York
Mar 15
March
Author
Harriet E. Wilson
Wilson (1825) was the first Black woman to publish a novel in the US (1859), Our Nig or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black.
No items found.
Mar 17
March
Civil Rights
Government
Activist
Myrlie Evers - Williams
Mississippi
Mar 18
March
Entrepreneur
Jessica B. Harris
New York
Mar 19
March
Art
Educator
Nancy Elizabeth Prophet
Rhode Island
Mar 19
March
Film & TV
The Women of Brewster Place
Outstanding cast, based on a novel by Gloria Naylor.
No items found.
Mar 20
March
Singer
Songwriter
Musician
COGIC
Sister Rosetta Tharpe
Sister Rosetta Tharpe - the progenitor of rock-n-roll. Tharpe is known for her signature musical style which fused the worlds of gospel and secular music with a sprinkling of her electric guitar.
Arkansas
Mar 20
March
Military
Medicine
Catholic
Nadja West
Lieutenant General Nadja West (ret.) was the 44th Surgeon General of the United States Army.
No items found.
Mar 21
March
Educator
Aviation
Ida Van Smith
North Carolina
Mar 22
March
Singer
Alyne Dumas Lee
Tennessee
Mar 24
March
Aviation
Nursing
Janet Bragg
Georgia
Mar 24
March
Civil Rights
Medicine
Amanda Gray Hilyer
Kansas
Mar 24
March
Activist
Dorothy Height
Virginia
Mar 25
March
Composer
Musician
Educator
Julia Amanda Perry
Kentucky
Mar 25
March
Singer
Activist
Aretha Franklin
Franklin (1942-2018) was a singer, songwriter, and pianist whose distinctive vocals and fusion of gospel, soul, and R&B earned her recognition as the "Queen of Soul." She amassed extraordinary commercial and critical successes, selling more than 85 million records worldwide and earning 18 Grammy Awards and 44 nominations. Her achievements continued throughout her career, and in 1987, she made history as the first woman performer inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Rolling Stone magazine twice named her the greatest singer of all time.
Tennessee
Mar 26
March
Singer
Actress
Baptist
Diana Ross
Michigan
Mar 27
March
Jazz
Singer
Pianist
Baptist
Sarah Vaughan
New Jersey
Mar 29
March
Singer
Entertainment
Actress
Pearl Bailey
Virginia
Mar 30
March
Science
Chemistry
Alma Levant Hayden
Hayden (1927-1967) was a chemist who specialized in spectrophotometry and chromatography. She's believed to be the first Black scientist to work for the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). ⁣ She graduated from South Carolina State College (an HBCU) and earned a Master's degree in Chemistry from Howard University (an HBCU).⁣ In the 1950s she joined the National Institutes of Health, and in 1956 she joined the FDA as an analytical chemist. In 1963, she was named director of the Spectrophotometer Research Branch in the Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry.⁣
South Carolina
Mar 30
March
Model
Naomi Sims
Mississippi
Mar 31
March
Athlete
Educator
Nikki Franke
Head coach of Temple University's fencing team and the first Black woman to represent the United States in fencing in the Olympic games. In 2017, she was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame. She has also been inducted into the Temple University Hall of Fame and the United States Fencing Coaches Association Hall of Fame.
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Apr 1
April
Educator
Clara McBride Hale
North Carolina
Apr 4
April
Civil Rights
Art
Entertainment
Maya Angelou
“There is no greater agony than bearing an untold story inside you.” - I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings. Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. She and her older brother, Bailey Jr, who nicknamed her Maya, were born to Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse and card dealer. She was a poet, author, civil rights activist, and director.
Missouri
Apr 4
April
Photography
Catholic
Florestine Perrault Collins
Collins (1895 - 1988) chronicled life in Black New Orleans through her photography. She was born in New Orleans, Louisiana on January 20, 1895, and raised in a Creole Catholic family as the eldest of six children. At 14, she had to earn wages to supplement the family income and she started working in photography. When she began her career, she passed as white, allowing her to work as an assistant to white photographers and develop her skills.
Louisiana
Apr 4
April
Entrepreneur
Journalism
Eunice Johnson
Entrepreneur in fashion, journalism, and beauty. Founder of Ebony Fashion Fair Tour, Fashion Fair Cosmetics, and Ebony and Jet Magazine and The Negro Digest.
Alabama
Apr 4
April
Medicine
Mildred Fay Jefferson
The first Black woman to graduate from Harvard Medical School (1951) and the first woman employed as a surgeon at Boston University Medical Center. Pro Life.
Texas
Apr 7
April
Singer
Jazz
Billie Holiday
Pennsylvania
Apr 7
April
Film & TV
Sparkle (1976)
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Apr 8
April
Entertainment
Mary “Dee” Dudley
It is widely accepted that Mary Dee (1912-1964) was the first Black woman Disc Jockey. She was also one of the first black women admitted to the Association of American Women in Radio and Television.
Pennsylvania
Apr 9
April
Composer
Pianist
Florence Price
Arkansas
Apr 9
April
Science
Mary Jackson
Jackson (1921-2005) was a Mathematician and NASA's first Black woman engineer.
Virginia
Apr 9
April
Civil Rights
Irene Morgan
Irene Morgan v Commonwealth of Virginia, 328 U.S. 373 (1946) Morgan (1917 - 2007) worked for a defense contractor on the production line for B-26 Marauders in Baltimore, MD, supporting the World War II effort. She had been recuperating with her mother in Gloucester County, VA, after suffering a miscarriage. She wanted to return to work and needed to visit her doctor, so she boarded a Greyhound Bus bound for Baltimore, MD, on July 16, 1944. There were no Black or White seat designations on the bus, but a Black person could not sit next to or across from a White person. A White couple boarded the bus at the Middlesex County, VA, stop. The bus driver ordered Morgan and her seatmate to move. Morgan's seatmate moved, but Morgan refused. The driver got off the bus and summoned the sheriff. The sheriff presented Morgan with an arrest warrant. She tore it up and threw it out of the window. When the sheriff grabbed her to remove her, she kicked him in the groin. That sheriff left and another came on the bus. Morgan said she was going to bite him, but he looked dirty, so she clawed him instead. The sheriff said he would use his nightstick on her, and Morgan said, "We'll whip each other."
Maryland
Apr 10
April
Entrepreneur
Fashion
Ruth Carter
Massachusetts
Apr 11
April
Law
Civil Rights
AME
Jane Bolin
Bolin (1908-2007) was an attorney and judge. She was the first Black woman to graduate from Yale Law School. In 1939, when she was appointed to serve as a judge on the New York City Domestic Relations Court (later renamed Family Court), she became the first Black woman judge in the United States.
New York
Apr 12
April
Film & TV
Harlem Renaissance
Stompin' at the Savoy
Directed by Debbie Allen and set in 1930's Harlem, 'Stompin' at the Savoy' follows the lives of four friends as they navigate the complexities of love, friendship, and following their dreams in the vibrant world of jazz and swing dancing amidst the backdrop of World War II and the limitations imposed by class, gender, and racial prejudices.
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Apr 13
April
Author
Harlem Renaissance
Nursing
Nella Larsen
Larsen (1891-1964) was a nurse, librarian, novelist, key figure in the Harlem Renaissance, and the first black woman to graduate from the New York Public Library's Library School. She is best known for her two novels, "Quicksand" (1928) and "Passing" (1929), which explored complex themes of racial identity, mixed-race heritage, and the struggle for acceptance in both black and white communities. She also made history as the first Black woman to win a Guggenheim Fellowship for creative writing (1930).
Illinois
Apr 15
April
Architecture
Educator
Norma Merrick Sklarek
Sklarek (1926-2012) was the first African American woman to be licensed as an architect in the state of New York in 1954, and later, she became the first Black woman licensed as an architect in California in 1962. She was also the first Black woman member of the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA). These milestones shattered racial and gender barriers, blazing a trail for others to follow in the field of architecture.
New York
Apr 15
April
Art
Elizabeth Catlett
“I have always wanted my art to service my people—to reflect us, to relate to us, to stimulate us, to make us aware of our potential.”
Washington D.C.
Apr 15
April
Singer
Jazz
Harlem Renaissance
Baptist
Bessie Smith
Smith (1894 - 1937) was known as the Empress of the Blues and was preeminent during the Jazz Age and Harlem Renaissance.
Tennessee
Apr 15
April
Civil Rights
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee
The Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) was founded on April 15, 1960. After the student-led sit-ins at segregated lunch counters in Greensboro, North Carolina, and Nashville, Tennessee, ELLA BAKER, then a key figure in the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC), convinced the SCLC to invite student sit-in leaders to the Southwide Youth Leadership Meeting at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina, over Easter Weekend in 1960. SNCC was officially formed during this meeting.During the meeting, Baker advised the students to be wary of a "leader-centered orientation" and urged them to focus on grassroots organizing and collective leadership. Again, in 1961, Baker persuaded SNCC to divide its efforts into two wings: one focusing on direct action, such as sit-ins, freedom rides, and peaceful protests, and the other on voter registration, particularly in the rural South.
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Apr 16
April
Chemistry
Educator
Science
Dr. Marie Maynard Daly
Dr. Daly (1921-2003), an extraordinary biochemist and trailblazer, was the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Chemistry and the first Black person to receive a doctoral degree from Columbia University. Daly's pioneering research, spanning over 20 peer-reviewed publications, covered cardiovascular health, digestion, protein synthesis, and many other areas. Her work advanced the understanding of heart disease, cholesterol, and metabolic disorders.
New York
Apr 16
April
Film & TV
Love & Basketball
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Apr 16
April
Medicine
Georgie E. Lee Patton
Tennessee
Apr 17
April
Government
Law
Civil Rights
AME
Dovey Roundtree Johnson
Johnson (1914-2018), performed instrumental work as an attorney in repudiating the "separate but equal" doctrine in the landmark case Sarah Keys v Carolina Coach Company (1955).
North Carolina
Apr 17
April
Film & TV
Imitation of Life
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Apr 18
April
Science
Civil Rights
Mamie Phipps Clark
Clark (1917-1983) is well known for her groundbreaking "Doll Tests," conducted as part of her master's thesis at Howard University. Using black and white dolls, she asked children a series of questions to study the psychological effects of segregation on African American children.
Arkansas
Apr 22
April
Entrepreneur
Cathy Hughes
Hughes is the first Black woman to head a publicly traded corporation (Radio One, 1999).
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Apr 23
April
Law
Suffrage
Charlotte E. Ray
Charlotte E. Ray was the first African American woman lawyer in the United States as well as the first woman to be admitted to the District of Columbia Bar. Charlotte attended the Institution for the Education of Colored Youth in Washington, D.C. (now called the University of the District of Columbia) and excelled in her studies.
New York
Apr 23
April
Mathematics
Science
Annie Easley
Alabama
Apr 24
April
Medicine
Military
Aviation
Science
Yvonne Cagle
Cagle (1959) is a Physician, U.S. Air Force Colonel (ret.), NASA astronaut, and educator.
New York
Apr 25
April
Jazz
Singer
AME
Ella Fitzgerald
"The First Lady of Song", Ella Fitzgerald (1917-1996) was the 20th century's preeminent jazz vocalist renowned for her pure tone, impeccable diction, scat singing mastery, and critically acclaimed interpretations of the Great American Songbook. She was also the first black woman to win a grammy. Over her six-decade career, she set vocal excellence standards, influenced multiple genres, and amassed top accolades including 13 Grammys, 1 Grammy Lifetime Achievement award, and the National Medal of Arts.
Virginia
Apr 27
April
Journalist
Educator
AME
Author
Jessie R. Fauset
Pennsylvania
Apr 27
April
Journalist
Civil Rights
Alice Allison Dunnigan
Alice Allison Dunnigan was the first Black woman to receive White House press credentials, serving as Washington bureau chief for the Associated Negro Press from 1947 to 1961.
Kentucky
Apr 28
April
Law
Jewel Stratford Lafontant
Illinois
Apr 30
April
Military
Michelle J. Howard
Admiral Howard (ret.) was the first black woman to command a U.S. Navy ship. She was the first woman to be promoted to the rank of Four-Star Admiral in the U.S. Navy and the first African American and woman to serve as the Vice Chief of Naval Operations (2014).
California
May 1
May
Mathematics
Educator
Dr. Evelyn Boyd Granville
Dr. Granville (1924-2023) was the 2nd African American woman to earn a PhD in Mathematics. During her career, she made significant contributions to the mathematics, space technology, and computer programming fields, including developing software for NASA's project Apollo, working on the first mass-produced computer in the world, and writing computer programs for NASA's Project Vanguard and Project Mercury. During her storied career, she also mentored Dr. Vivienne Malone Mayes and Dr. Etta Zuber Falconer, the 5th and 11th Black women to receive their Ph.D.s in Mathematics, respectively.
Washington D.C.
May 1
May
Medicine
Science
Jane Hinton
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May 1
May
Art
Laura Wheeler Waring
No items found.
May 2
May
Civil Rights
Educator
Baptist
Activist
Entrepreneur
Nannie Helen Burroughs
Burroughs (1879-1961) was one of the most influential women of the early 20th century. She was a businesswoman, unbowed social and political activist, and a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement.
Virginia
May 3
May
Activist
Civil Rights
Educator
Septima Poinsette Clark
South Carolina
May 3
May
Film & TV
A Rage in Harlem
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May 4
May
Athlete
Renee Powell
Powell (1946) was the second Black woman to play on the LPGA tour.
No items found.
May 6
May
Civil Rights
Gloria Richardson
Maryland
No results found.
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