Eugene Ballard is considered to be the first African-American military pilot, although he never flew for the United States. Known as the “Black Swallow of Death,” the Columbus, Ga. native was born October 9, 1895. Born to a father who was a former slave, Ballard lived a troubled childhood and ran away from home several […]
The acting world last one of hits most regal leading ladies in Diahann Carroll, who passed last week. Carol Diahann Johnson was born on July 17, 1935 in The Bronx, and raised primarily in Harlem. She attended the Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts and was a classmate of […]
The Hon. Bernice B. Donald made history twice in the ‘80s, first by becoming the first Black female judge in Tennessee, and later becoming the first Black female federal bankruptcy judge in the country. The Mississippi native was born on September 17, 1951. Donald attended undergrad at Memphis State University in 1974, and earned her […]
Capt. William “Bill” Pinkney’s journey into becoming the first Black person to sail around the globe took some unlikely turns. The Chicago native was born September 15, 1935. Pinkney was trained as an x-ray technician before joining the U.S. Navy. After the military, Pinkney worked a variety of jobs, including becoming a professional limbo dancer […]
Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has been in show business for more than two decades, breaking several barriers and records along the way. The Houston, Texas native turns 38 today. Beyoncé Giselle Knowles was raised in the city’s Third Ward, showcasing her talents in singing and dancing early on in competitions and the like. Along with her close […]
Montana’s has one of the lowest Black populations nationwide but in 1974, Geraldine W. Travis shattered a political barrier there. Travis, the wife of a U.S. Air Force airman, was elected to the state’s House of Representatives, becoming the first Black official elected to Montana’s legislature. Geraldine Washington Travis was born September 3, 1931 in […]
Gertrude Rush became a legal pioneer after pioneer after becoming the first Black woman to practice law in Iowa, and the first Black woman to lead a national co-ed bar association. Rush was born August 5, 1880 in Navasota, Texas. Born Gertrude Elzora Durden, the future trailblazer moved with her family to the North as […]
Representation in the arts matters, as evidenced by presence of rising stars Nilah Magruder, the first Black woman to write for Marvel Comics, and Aphton Corbin, a storyboard artist for Pixar. These talented women have their own respective creative influences, but Jackie Ormes, the first Black nationally syndicated woman cartoonist, certainly paved the way. Ormes […]
This Saturday, the nation will be joined in celebration for the 50th anniversary of the Apollo 11 moon landing, which put the American space program on the world stage. If race relations were different, it was possible that sculptor Ed Dwight could have been the first astronaut for NASA. Dwight was born on September 9, […]
Frederic Morrow made history on July 9, 1955 after he was appointed as the first Black executive to serve in the White House. Under President Dwight Eisenhower, the New Jersey native was the Administrative Officer for Special Projects from 1955 to 1961. Morrow was born in 1909 in Hackensack, attending high school in the Bergen […]
While many across the nation will be enjoying grilling outdoors, vacation and family time, and of course fireworks, some will take time to honor the brave Black brothers and sisters of our nation’s military. U.S. Marine James B. Anderson Jr. became the first Black soldier to receive the military’s top honors in 1968. Anderson was […]
The late Wade H. McCree Jr. was the first Black judge appointed in Michigan, and the first Black federal judge appointed in the Eastern District of the state as well. Wade Hampton McCree Jr. was born July 3, 1920 in Des Moines, Ia. His father, Wade Sr., was the first Black pharmacist in Iowa who […]
