African Americans are an ethnic group in the United States. The first achievements by African Americans in diverse fields have historically marked footholds, often leading to more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier".[1][2]
First free African-American community: Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose (later named Fort Mose) in Spanish Florida[6]
1746
First known African American (and slave) to compose a work of literature: Lucy Terry with her poem "Bars Fight", composed in 1746[7] and first published in 1855 in Josiah Holland's "History of Western Massachusetts[8][7]
1760
First known African-American published author: Jupiter Hammon (poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries", published as a broadside)[9]
First African American to formally practice medicine: James Derham, who did not hold an M.D. degree.[17] (See also: 1847)
1785
First African American ordained as a Christian minister in the United States: Rev. Lemuel Haynes. He was ordained in the Congregational Church, which became the United Church of Christ[18]
The First African Baptist Church was the first African-American church west of the Mississippi River.[21] It had its beginnings in 1817 when John Mason Peck and the former enslaved John Berry Meachum began holding church services for African Americans in St. Louis.[22] Meachum founded the First African Baptist Church in 1827. Although there were ordinances preventing blacks from assembling, the congregation grew from 14 people at its founding to 220 people by 1829. Two hundred of the parishioners were slaves, who could only travel to the church and attend services with the permission of their owners.[21]
First African-American captain to sail a whaleship with an all-black crew: Absalom Boston[24] There were six black owners of seven whaling trips before Absalom Boston's in 1822.[25]
First formally trained African-American medical doctor: Dr James McCune Smith of New York City, who was educated at the University of Glasgow, Scotland, and returned to practice in New York.[32] (See also: 1783, 1847)
First African-American woman to serve as a professor: Sarah Jane Woodson Early; Xenia, Ohio's Wilberforce University hired her to teach Latin and English
First African-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives: John Willis Menard.[57] His opponent contested his election, and opposition to his election prevented him from being seated in Congress. (See also: 1870)
First African-American acting governor: Oscar James Dunn of Louisiana from May until August 9, 1871, when sitting Governor Henry C. Warmoth was incapacitated and chose to recuperate in Mississippi. (See also: Douglas Wilder, 1990)
First African-American president of a major college/university: Father Patrick Francis Healy, S.J. of Georgetown College.[38] (See also: 1851, 1863, 1866)
First African-American woman to earn a PhD. Nettie Craig-Asberry June 12, 1883, earns her doctoral degree in music from the University of Kansas one month shy of her 18th birthday.
First African American to record a best-selling phonograph record: George Washington Johnson, "The Laughing Song" and "The Whistling Coon."[97]
First woman and African American to earn a military pension for their own military service: Ann Bradford Stokes.[98]
1891
First African-American police officer in present-day New York City: Wiley Overton, hired by the Brooklyn Police Department prior to 1898 incorporation of the five boroughs into the City of New York.[99] (See also: Samuel J. Battle, 1911)
First African-American boxing champion: Joe Gans, a lightweight (See also: 1908)
1903
First Broadway musical written by African-Americans, and the first to star African-Americans: In Dahomey
First African-American woman to found and become president of a bank: Maggie L. Walker, St. Luke Penny Savings Bank (since 1930 the Consolidated Bank & Trust Company), Richmond, Virginia[108]
1904
First Greek-letter fraternal organization founded by African-Americans: Sigma Pi Phi
First African American to participate in the Olympic Games, and first to win a medal: George Poage (two bronze medals)[109]
First African-American police officer in New York City: Samuel J. Battle, following the 1898 incorporation of the five boroughs into the City of New York, and the hiring of three African-American officers in the Brooklyn Police Department. Battle was also the NYPD's first African-American sergeant (1926), lieutenant (1935), and parolecommissioner (1941).[99] (See also: Wiley Overton, 1891)
First African American to win a state high school basketball championship: David "Big Dave" DeJernett, star center on an integrated Washington, Indiana team.
1931
First African-American composer to have their symphony performed by a leading orchestra: William Grant Still, Symphony No. 1, by Rochester Philharmonic Orchestra[144]
First African-American women selected for the Olympic Games: Tidye Pickett and Louise Stokes.[150] Stokes did not compete; Picket competed in the 80-meter hurdles[151]:86
First African-American on an Olympic basketball team and first African-American Olympic gold medal basketball winner: Don Barksdale, in the 1948 Summer Olympics
First African American to receive a "lifetime" appointment as federal judge: William H. Hastie, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit[196]
First African-American woman to compete on the world tennis tour: Althea Gibson[197]
First African-American solo singer to have a #1 hit on the Billboard charts: Nat King Cole ("Mona Lisa"), topped "Best Sellers in Stores" chart on July 15 (See also: Mills Brothers, 1943; Count Basie, 1947; Tommy Edwards, 1958; The Platters, 1959)[citation needed]
First African-American woman to be nominated for a national political office: Charlotta Bass, Vice President (Progressive Party) (See also: 2000, 2020)[207]
First African-American male dancer in a major ballet company: Arthur Mitchell (New York City Ballet); also first African-American principal dancer of a major ballet company (NYCB), 1956.[214] (See also: 1969)
Marian AndersonFirst African American to serve as a presidential executive assistant: E. Frederic Morrow, appointed by President Eisenhower as Administrative Officer for Special Projects.[217]
1956
First African-American star of a nationwide network TV show: Nat King Cole of The Nat King Cole Show, NBC (See also: 1948)
First African American to serve on a U.S. district court: James Benton Parsons, appointed to the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois
First African-Americans inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame: New York Renaissance, inducted as a team. (See also: Bob Douglas, 1972; Bill Russell, 1975; Clarence Gaines, 1982)
First African-American actress to star in her own television series where she did not play a domestic worker: Diahann Carroll in Julia (see also: 1963)
First African-American woman as a presidential candidate: Charlene Mitchell (See also: Shirley Chisholm, 1972)
First African American to initiate the concept of free agency. He refused to accept a trade following the 1969 season, ultimately appealing his case to the U.S. Supreme Court. The trend of free agency expanded across the entire landscape of professional sports for all races and all cultures: Curt Flood (St. Louis Cardinals)[Note 19]
First African American to appear by herself on the cover of Playboy: Darine Stern (October issue)
First African American to become president of the Public Library Association: Effie Lee Morris[253]*1971 DAV Scholarship First African American to receive scholarship to Art Institute of Chicago Mary J. Weatherspoon[tribute 20 years Disable American Veterans Association]
1972
First African American to campaign for the U.S. presidency in a major political party and to win a U.S. presidential primary/caucus: Shirley Chisholm (Democratic Party, New Jersey primary) (See also: 1968)
First African-American superhero to star in own comic-book series: Luke Cage, Marvel Comics' Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972).[254][Note 17] (See also: Lobo, 1965, and the Falcon, 1969)
First African-American interracial romantic kiss in a mainstream comics magazine: "The Men Who Called Him Monster", by writer Don McGregor (See also: 1975) and artist Luis Garcia, in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazine Creepy #43 (Jan. 1972) (See also: 1975)[255]
First African-American inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame: Team-owner and coach Bob Douglas, in the category of "contributor" (See also: New York Renaissance, 1963; player Bill Russell, 1975; coach Clarence Gaines, 1982)
First African-American interracial couple in a TV-show cast: The Jeffersons, actors Franklin Cover (Caucasian) and Roxie Roker (African-American) as Tom and Helen Willis, respectively; the show's creator: Norman Lear
First African-American female elected officer of an international labor union: Addie L. Wyatt
First African American to become president of the American Library Association: Clara Stanton Jones, who served as its acting president from April 11 to July 22 in 1976 and then its president from July 22, 1976, to 1977[261]
Vanessa L. WilliamsFirst African-American Miss America: Vanessa L. Williams (A few weeks before the end of her reign as Miss America, Williams learned that Penthouse magazine would be publishing unauthorized nude photographs of her in an upcoming issue. Amid growing media controversy and scrutiny, Williams resigned as Miss America in July 1984 (under pressure from the Miss America Organization) and was replaced by first runner-up Miss New Jersey Suzette Charles, who was also African-American.)
First African-American artist to have a music video shown in heavy rotation on MTV: Michael Jackson[278]
1984
First African American to win a delegate-awarding U.S. presidential primary/caucus: Jesse Jackson (Louisiana, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, Virginia, and one of two separate Mississippi contests).
First African American to become a member of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels precision flying team: Donnie Cochran. Also first African American to command the team (1994).
First African-American (mixed-race) female general: Sherian Cadoria
First African-American woman (Shirley A. Ajayi) was given a part for 6 months on a TV show as a psychic in 1986 in Chicago, Illinois. Shirley had to audition with other psychics to get the part. She then was taught marketing at the John Hancock center by her boss who ran the TV show. For safety reasons she was renamed as "Aura!". Bio available-book: "Aura The Ebony Princess."
First African-American male In 1994, Virgil E. Watson was elected as the first African American to serve on the Stephens City Town Council. Watson served for one term, from 1994
First African-American (and Asian-American) to be nominated as a major party U.S. vice-presidential candidate: Kamala Harris, Democratic Party (See also: 2010 and 2021)[346][347]
First African American to be appointed as a military Chief of Staff and first African American to lead any branch of the United States Armed Forces: Charles Q. Brown Jr.
First African-American Professor of Poetry, first African-American woman Professor and first Distinguished Visiting Poetry Professor of the Iowa Writers' Workshop: Tracie Morris[351]
First African-American elected official to lie in state at the U.S. Capitol Rotunda: John Lewis[352] (See also: 1998, 2005)
Because it was published in the U.K., the book is not the first African-American novel published in the United States. This credit goes to one of two disputed books: Harriet Wilson's Our Nig (1859), brought to light by Henry Louis Gates, Jr. in 1982; or Julia C. Collins' The Curse of Caste; or The Slave Bride (1865), brought to light by William L. Andrews, an English literature professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and Mitch Kachun, a history professor at Western Michigan University, in 2006. Andrews and Kachun document Our Nig as a novelized autobiography, and argue that The Curse of Caste is the first fully fictional novel by an African American to be published in the U.S.
Rainey, a South Carolina state senator, was elected to fill the seat vacated by B. Franklin Whittemore. Rainey took his seat on December 12, 1870. John Willis Menard was actually the first African-American elected to the House (1868) but he was denied his seat.
L. Clifford Davis applied to the law school in 1946, and after several failed attempts was granted admission in September 1947, but was unable to enroll in classes. Hunt later enrolled on February 2, 1948.[183]
Clifton was the first to sign an NBA contract and subsequently play, Cooper was the first to be drafted by an NBA team, and Lloyd was the first to play in an NBA regular-season game because his team's opening game was one day before the others.
Harris's milestone came a year after Marlon Green, who had been rejected as a Continental Airlines applicant in 1957, won the United States Supreme Court case "Colorado Anti-Discrimination Commission v. Continental Airlines, Inc. 372 U.S. 714 no. 146", which found Green had been unlawfully discriminated against.[239]
The first Black superhero, Marvel's Black Panther, introduced in Fantastic Four #52 (July 1966), is African, not African-American. This is also true of the first Black character to star in his own mainstream comic-book feature, Waku, Prince of the Bantu, who headlined one of four features in the multiple-character omnibus series Jungle Tales (September 1954 – September 1955), from Marvel's 1950s predecessor, Atlas Comics.
At the time, the NCAA had not yet adopted its three-division system. Illinois State was in the NCAA University Division, which became Division I in 1973. The NCAA retroactively considers University Division members to have been Division I members.
Although Flood's legal challenge was unsuccessful, it brought about additional solidarity among players as they fought against baseball's reserve clause and sought free agency.
Lewis Hamilton became the first black Formula One racer in 2006, but he is a British citizen of Grenadan ancestry, and not an African-American. Ribbs did not compete in a race, but drove a Formula One car professionally in January 1986 as a tester for the Brabham–BMW at Estoril, Portugal.
Smith and Dungy both reached this milestone on the same day, although Smith was technically the first due solely to scheduling. The NFC and AFC Championship Games are always held on the same day. In the playoffs that followed the 2006 NFL season, the NFC game was played first.
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Cosham, Ralph H. (November 25, 1963). "Negro Comes to Television; Sponsors Happy". Nashville Banner. United Press International. p.29. Retrieved January 29, 2021– via Newspapers.com. …only one dramatic program features a Negro as a regular member of the cast. She is Cicely Tyson, who portrays a social worker in the new CBS series East Side, West Side.
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"Sammy's Visit". All in the Family. Season 2. Episode 34. February 12, 1972. CBS. In the comedy All in the Family, at the last moment as a picture is taken, Sammy Davis, Jr., playing himself, chides the bigoted but celebrity-fawning Archie Bunker with a humorous kiss on the cheek.
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