Baritone opera singer Todd Duncan made history by becoming the first African-American to sing with a major American opera company, and the first to perform with an all-white cast. Duncan was also a music professor at Howard University during a period where his career was just beginning to take off. Born Robert Todd Duncan on […]
Susie King Taylor landed in the history books by becoming the Army’s first Black nurse, and the first and only Black woman to detail her experiences in the Civil War. Additionally, Taylor is the first Black woman to teach openly at a freedmen’s school in Georgia. Taylor was born August 6, 1848 into slavery in […]
Marlon D. Green has been considered the “Jackie Robinson of Aviation,” although he didn’t set out to make that distinction. The former Air Force pilot was determined to fly for a commercial airline but was denied because he was Black. Undaunted, he decided to sue for his right to fly. In 1963, the U.S. Supreme […]
Biddy Mason was born into slavery, enduring the hardships of labor and motherhood under terrible conditions. However, Mason would win her freedom in court on her way to becoming one of the first Black women to own land in the city of Los Angeles. Mason was born August 15, 1818 in Mississippi to owners Robert […]
Bishop Vashti Murphy McKenzie made history in 2000 when she was elected by the African Methodist Episcopal church as the first woman to serve as bishop. Bishop McKenzie made history once more five years later after she was named Titular Head of the A.M.E. Church as well. McKenzie was born into a prominent Baltimore family […]
Wanda Rogers might not known outside the confines of her position at the U.S. Treasury, but her story is worth sharing. Ms. Rogers achieved a series of firsts within the Treasury Department, rising from an entry-level position into one of the most powerful positions with the federal agency. A native of Pleasantville, N.J., Rogers graduated […]
Senior Officer Edward Thomas, a retired Houston police officer, was the Texas city’s first successful Black officer. The Houston Police Department honored Thomas late last month by naming its headquarters after him, capping a career than spans over 60 years. Thomas, now 94, was born near Shreveport, La. A former football player at Southern University, […]
Jedidah Isler is the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Yale University. Isler, who is currently a postdoctoral fellow at Vanderbilt University achieved her historic mark in 2014. Isler discovered a love of the skies and stars around 12 years old when she was growing up in Virginia Beach, Va. Her […]
CLEVELAND (AP) — The son and ex-daughter-in-law of late black golf pioneer Charlie Sifford were indicted Tuesday on charges they stole more than $1 million from him. Sifford in 1961 became the first black golfer to earn full-time playing privileges on the PGA Tour, paving the way for minorities to compete at the sport’s highest […]
Maggie Lena Walker was one of Richmond, Virginia’s most prominent Black businesswomen and is the first Black woman named as President of a banking institution. Along with that achievement, Ms. Walker was involved in several measures aimed at bettering the lives of African-Americans overall and women in particular. Born July 14, 1864, Walker’s mother […]
Tiger Woods told a group of reporters Tuesday not to count him out just yet. The golfer heads toward the British Open this week amid talk that he will never get back to the Tiger that once dominated the sport. “I’m still young. I’m not 40 yet,” said Woods, who has five months left in […]
Lani Guinier is best known as the first African-American woman to make tenure at the prestigious Harvard Law School. Today, Ms. Guinier is the Bennett Boskey Professor of Law at the institution, and has devoted much of her career to a variety of causes and how they relate with the laws of the land. But […]
