List of African-American U.S. state firsts

African Americans are a demographic minority in the United States. African-Americans' initial achievements in various fields historically establish a foothold, providing a precedent for more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier."^[1][2]

See also: List of African-American firsts

In addition to major national- and international-level firsts, African-Americans have achieved firsts on a statewide basis.

19th century

• 1832

First governor of African descent in what is now the US: Pío Pico, an Afro-Mexican, was the last governor of Alta California before it was ceded to the US. Like all Californios, Pico automatically became a US citizen in 1848. He was elected to the Los Angeles Common Council in 1853, but he did not assume office.^{[citation needed]}

• 1868

First elected African-American lieutenant governor: Oscar Dunn, Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana

First 33 African-American legislators in Georgia: see Original 33

• 1870

First African-American senator from Mississippi: Hiram R. Revels (also first in U.S.)

First African-American acting governor: Oscar James Dunn of Louisiana from May until August 9, 1871, when sitting Governor Warmoth was incapacitated and chose to recuperate in Mississippi. (see also: Douglas Wilder, 1990)

• 1872

First African-American governor of Louisiana: P. B. S. Pinchback (Also first in U.S.) (non-elected; see also Douglas Wilder, 1990) (Also first elected senator but was denied seat)^[3]

• 1873

First African-American Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives, and of any state legislature: John R. Lynch

First African American elected to the Tennessee General Assembly: Sampson W. Keeble

• 1876

First African American elected to the Illinois General Assembly: John W. E. Thomas

• 1878

First African American elected mayor in New York State (village president of Cleveland): Ned Sherman

• 1879

First African American elected to the Wyoming Legislature: William Jefferson Hardin

First African American elected to the Ohio General Assembly: George Washington Williams

• 1880

First African American elected to the Indiana General Assembly: James Sidney Hinton^[4][5]

• 1885

First African American elected to the Rhode Island General Assembly: Mahlon Van Horne

• 1889

First African-American female principal in Massachusetts and the Northeast: Maria Louise Baldwin, supervising white faculty and a predominantly white student body at the Agassiz Grammar School in Cambridge (renamed the Maria L. Baldwin School in 2004).^[6][7]

• 1893

First African-American member elected to the Michigan House of Representatives: William Webb Ferguson

• 1898

First African-American member elected to the Minnesota House of Representatives: John Francis Wheaton^[8]

20th century

• 1906

First African-American elected to the Wisconsin Legislature: Lucian H. Palmer

• 1917

First African American to enter the University of Oregon: Mabel Byrd^[9]

• 1918

First African-American elected to political office in California: Frederick Madison Roberts, California State Assembly

• 1920

First African-American elected to the Missouri legislature: Walthall Moore

• 1924

First African-American elected to the Illinois Senate: Adelbert Roberts

• 1930

First African Americans elected as judges in the state of New York: James S. Watson and Charles E. Toney^[10]

• 1938

First African-American woman to be elected to the Pennsylvania General Assembly and to any state legislature: Crystal Bird Fauset

• 1939

First African-American woman to own a cosmetology school in Iowa: Pauline Brown Humphrey^[11]

• 1948

First African American elected to the Delaware House of Representatives: William J. Winchester

• 1950

First African-American woman to be elected to the West Virginia Legislature: Elizabeth Simpson Drewry

First African-American woman to be elected to the Michigan Legislature: Charline White

• 1952

First African American to graduate from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences: Edith Irby Jones^[12]

• 1955

First African-American woman elected to the New York State Legislature: Bessie A. Buchanan

First African-American elected to the Maryland State Senate: Harry A. Cole

• 1956

First African-American student to attend the University of Alabama: Autherine Lucy^[13] Her expulsion from the institution later that year led to the university's President Oliver Carmichael's resignation.^[14][15]

First African American to teach at college or university level in California: Betty Smith Williams.^[16][17]

• 1957

First African-American woman elected to the New Jersey Legislature: Madaline A. Williams

• 1958

First African-American women elected to the Maryland General Assembly: Verda F. Welcome and Irma George Dixon

First African-American woman elected to the Illinois General Assembly: Floy Clements

First African American to graduate from the University of Maryland: Elaine J. Coates^[18]

• 1959

First African American to graduate from the University of Maryland: Elaine J. Coates^[19]

• 1962

First African-American attorney general of Massachusetts: Edward Brooke. Also first African American to hold Massachusetts statewide office, and first African-American attorney general of any state.

• 1963

First African American elected to the Delaware Senate: Herman Holloway

• 1964

First African-American woman elected to the Indiana Legislature: Daisy Riley Lloyd

First African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate: Constance Baker Motley

• 1966

First African-American woman elected to the Texas Legislature: Barbara Jordan

First African American known lesbian state legislator: Barbara Jordan

First African-American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly: Grace Towns Hamilton

First African-American appointed to New York State Board of Regents: Kenneth Bancroft Clark

First African-American senator from Massachusetts: Edward Brooke. (Also first post-Reconstruction African American elected to the U.S. Senate and first African American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote).

First African-American woman in the California Legislature: Yvonne Brathwaite Burke

First African-American woman elected to the Tennessee General Assembly: Dorothy Lavinia Brown

First African-American woman elected to the Arizona Legislature: Ethel Maynard

• 1967

First African-American woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar: Marian Wright Edelman

First African-American woman elected to the Montana Legislature: Geraldine W. Travis

• 1968

First African-American elected to the Florida Legislature since Reconstruction: Joe Lang Kershaw

• 1969

First African-American elected mayor of a Mississippi city since Reconstruction: Charles Evers, in Fayette, Mississippi^[20]

• 1970

First African-Americans elected to the Alaska Legislature: Willard L. Bowman and Joshua Wright

First African-American woman elected to the Delaware General Assembly: Henrietta R. Johnson

First African-American woman elected to the Florida Legislature: Gwen Cherry

• 1971

First African-American woman elected to the Washington Legislature: Peggy Maxie

• 1972

First African-American elected to the Wisconsin Senate: Monroe Swan

• 1973

First African-American woman elected to the Massachusetts General Court: Doris Bunte

First African-American woman elected to the Connecticut General Assembly: Margaret E. Morton

• 1974

First African-American woman elected to the Michigan State Board of Education: Barbara Roberts Mason

First African-American man elected to the New Hampshire House of Representatives: Henry Richardson

• 1975

First African-American woman elected to the South Carolina Legislature: Juanita Goggins

• 1976

First African-American appointed as a judge in Federal District Court in Virginia: Robert H. Cooley III (1939–1998), appointed to the Eastern District^[21]

First African-American elected mayor in New Mexico: Albert Johnson^[22]

• First African-American mayor in New Mexico: Albert Johnson^[23]
• 1977

First African-American to serve on the California Supreme Court: Wiley W. Manuel

First African-American speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives, and of any state legislature in the United States since Reconstruction: K. Leroy Irvis

First African-American woman elected to the Wisconsin Legislature: Marcia P. Coggs

First African-American woman elected to the Illinois Senate: Earlean Collins

• 1978

First African-American appointed to the office of Michigan State Treasurer: Loren E. Monroe^[24]

First African-American woman elected to the Ohio Legislature: Helen Rankin

• 1979

First African-American elected to a statewide office in Illinois: Roland Burris, office of Comptroller

First African-American elected to a statewide office in Wisconsin: Vel Phillips, office of Secretary of State

• 1980

First African-American speaker of the California State Assembly: Willie Lewis Brown Jr.

• 1981

First African-American woman elected to the Arkansas General Assembly: Irma Hunter Brown

First African-American elected to the Utah Senate: Terry Lee Williams

• 1984

First African-American elected to a statewide office in Georgia: Robert Benham, Supreme Court of Georgia

First African-American woman to be elected to the Virginia General Assembly: Yvonne B. Miller

• 1985

First African-American woman to be elected to the Mississippi Legislature: Alyce Clarke

First African-American woman elected to the Oregon Legislature: Margaret Carter

• 1987
• First African-American justice of the Connecticut Supreme Court: Robert D. Glass
• 1988

First African-American elected to the Wyoming Legislature: Harriet Elizabeth Byrd

• 1990

First African-American governor of Virginia: Douglas Wilder (also first elected governor in US; see also P. B. S. Pinchback, 1872)

First African-American woman elected to the Alaska Legislature: Bettye Davis

• 1991

First African-American woman elected to the Louisiana State Senate: Diana Bajoie

• 1992

First African-American elected to a statewide office in Indiana: Pamela Carter, office of Attorney General

First African-American Minnesota Supreme Court justice: Alan Page

• 1993

First African-American senator from Illinois: Carol Moseley Braun. (Also first African-American woman elected to the United States Senate, the first African-American U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party, the first woman to defeat an incumbent U.S. Senator in an election, and the first female Senator from Illinois).

• 1994

First African-American woman elected to the Nevada Legislature: Bernice Mathews

First African-American woman elected to the Delaware Senate: Margaret Rose Henry

• 1996

First African-American woman elected to the Oregon Legislature: Avel Gordly

• 1998

First African-American woman elected State Treasurer and first African-American woman elected statewide in Connecticut: Denise Nappier^[25]

First African-American elected to office of Attorney General Georgia: Thurbert E. Baker

21st century

Official portrait of Kamala Harris, 2011

• 2001

First African-American woman elected to the Minnesota Legislature: Neva Walker

• 2002

First African-American lieutenant governor of Maryland and first elected to statewide office in Maryland: Michael Steele (see also: 2009)

• 2004

First African-American District Attorney in California: Kamala Harris (San Francisco) (see also: 2010, 2017)

First African-American Oklahoma Supreme Court justice: Tom Colbert

First African-American Wisconsin Supreme Court justice: Louis B. Butler

First African-American Auditor of Accounts of Vermont and first elected to statewide office in Vermont: Randy Brock

First African-American congresswoman elected in Wisconsin's history: Gwen Moore

• 2006

First African-American elected governor of Massachusetts: Deval Patrick

First African-American lieutenant governor of New York: David Paterson

• 2007

First African-American appointed State Treasurer of New Jersey: Michellene Davis

• 2008

First African-American woman elected Speaker of the California State Assembly: Karen Bass

First African-American governor of New York State: David Paterson (elected as lieutenant governor, succeeded on resignation of previous governor)

First African-American women elected to the Nebraska Legislature: Tanya Cook and Brenda Council

• 2009

First bicameral state legislature to have both chambers headed simultaneously by African Americans: Peter Groff and Terrance Carroll of Colorado.

• 2010

First African-American elected Attorney General of California: Kamala Harris (see also: 2004, 2017)

First African-American Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court: Roderick L. Ireland

First African-American elected to the Idaho Legislature: Cherie Buckner-Webb

• 2012

First African-American elected to the Idaho Senate: Cherie Buckner-Webb

• 2013

First African-American senator from South Carolina: Tim Scott^[26] (Also the first African-American to serve both houses of the U.S. Congress.)

First African-American woman to be appointed to a seat on the New York Court of Appeals: Sheila Abdus-Salaam.

First African-American senator from New Jersey: Cory Booker

• 2014

First African-American senator elected from the South since Reconstruction: Tim Scott^[27]

• 2015

First African-American elected Speaker of the New York State Assembly: Carl Heastie^[28]

First African-American Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky and first elected to statewide office in Kentucky: Jenean Hampton^[29][30]

First African-American woman elected to the Utah Legislature: Sandra Hollins

• 2017

First African-American United States Senator from California: Kamala Harris (see also: 2004, 2010)

First African-American elected lieutenant governor of New Jersey: Sheila Oliver^[31]

First African-American out trans woman to be elected to public office in the United States: Andrea Jenkins

• 2018

First female African-American major-party candidate for governor: Stacey Abrams, Georgia

First African-American elected Lieutenant Governor of Michigan: Garlin Gilchrist^[32]

First African-American Attorney General of New York: Letitia James^[33]

First African-American and First woman elected Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates: Adrienne A. Jones

First African-American elected Lieutenant Governor of Illinois: Juliana Stratton

• 2019

First African-American elected Attorney General of Kentucky: Daniel Cameron

First Surgeon General for the State of California: Nadine Burke Harris^[34]

• 2020

First African-American congresswoman elected in Missouri's history: Cori Bush^[35]

First African-American elected Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina: Mark Robinson

• 2021

First African-American senator from Georgia and first African-American Democratic Senator from the South: Raphael Warnock^[36]

First African-American woman to serve on the Supreme Court of Missouri: Robin Ransom^[37]

First African-American woman elected Lieutenant Governor of Virginia: Winsome Sears

First African-American woman to serve as Secretary of the State of Connecticut: Natalie Braswell^[38]

• 2022

First African-American elected Attorney General of Maryland: Anthony Brown

First African-American woman elected Attorney General of Massachusetts: Andrea Campbell

First African-American elected Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania: Austin Davis

First African-American congresswoman elected in Pennsylvania's history: Summer Lee

First African-American elected governor of Maryland: Wes Moore

First African-American elected Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives: Joe Tate

First African-American woman elected Secretary of State of Connecticut: Stephanie Thomas

First African-American elected Secretary of State of California: Shirley Weber

• 2023

First African-American woman elected Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives: Joanna McClinton^[39]

See also

• List of first African American mayors

References

1. Juguo, Zhang. W. E. B. Du Bois: The Quest for the Abolition of the Color Line, Routledge, 2001 - ISBN 0-415-93087-1
2. Herbst, Philip H. The Color of Words: an encyclopaedic dictionary of ethnic bias in the United States, Intercultural Press, p. 57, 1997 - ISBN 1-877864-97-8
3. Knight, Christina (November 7, 2013). "P.B.S. Pinchback. The Black Governor Who Almost Was a Senator". The African Americans: Many Rivers to Cross. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
4. Gregg, John (February 23, 2012). "Standing with Black trailblazer James S. Hinton". Indianapolisrecorder.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
5. Indiana Black History Public Art Legacy Project Archived 2013-03-16 at the Wayback Machine
6. Vogel, Nathaniel (April 2002). "The Mismeasure of Maria Baldwin". Peacework Magazine. Archived from the original on October 23, 2007. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
7. Dorgan, Lauren R. (May 22, 2002). "Committee Renames Local Agassiz School". The Harvard Crimson. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
8. Wheaton, John Frances "Frank, J. Frank", Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Accessed October 5, 2018.
9. "Untold Stories: Black History". University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives Blog. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016.
10. Judicial Friends Association. (n.d.). Heroic beginnings - judicial friends association. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from https://judicialfriends.org/heroic-beginnings/https://judicialfriends.org/heroic-beginnings
11. "IWF Celebrates Black History in Iowa: Pauline Brown Humphrey". The Iowa Women's Foundation. February 25, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021.
12. "University to Graduate First Negro Student". Hope Star. Hope, Arkansas. May 19, 1952. p. 3. Retrieved December 26, 2015 – via Newspapers.com.
13. "Civil rights pioneer Vivian Jones dies". USA Today. October 13, 2005. Retrieved November 23, 2007.
14. "Expelled in 1956, Autherine Lucy Foster Receives Honorary Doctorate from University of Alabama". May 6, 2019.
15. "Education: Goodbye to 'Bama". Time. November 19, 1956. Retrieved August 28, 2017.
16. Robison, Daniel. "Uniting Nurses of Color". Case Western Reserve University. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
17. Burnette, Margarette (March 30, 2013). "Celebrating Excellence: Past, Present and Future". Minority Nurse. Retrieved May 23, 2020.
18. Svrluga, Susan (May 24, 2019). "After a tumultuous year, U-Md. graduates celebrate new beginnings". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
19. Svrluga, Susan (May 24, 2019). "After a tumultuous year, U-Md. graduates celebrate new beginnings". The Washington Post. Retrieved August 7, 2020.
20. Neil R. McMillen, Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow, Chicago: University of Illinois, 1990, p.26
21. "Getting Word: African American Families of Monticello – Robert H. Cooley III". Charlottesville, VA: Monticello. Archived from the original on December 23, 2014.
22. "First black mayor". Albuquerque Journal. September 2, 1976. p. 53. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
23. "First black mayor". Albuquerque Journal. September 2, 1976. p. 53. Archived from the original on August 7, 2020 – via Newspapers.com.
24. "Loren Monroe, first black State Treasurer of Michigan, dead at 87". Michigan Chronicle. June 4, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
25. "Office of Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier". Archived from the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011.
26. "Tim Scott's swearing-in as senator caps his historic rise". McClatchy Newspapers. January 4, 2013. Archived from the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013.
27. "Political firsts: How history was made this midterm election". USA Today. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
28. "Carl E. Heastie". New York State Assembly. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
29. Phillips, Amber (November 4, 2015). "Meet Jenean Hampton, the first black statewide officeholder in Kentucky. And, she's a Republican". Washingtonpost.com. Retrieved October 25, 2017.
30. Fund, John (November 3, 2015). "Kentucky's New GOP Lt. Gov. Is Black Tea-Party Activist". National Review. Retrieved November 4, 2015.
31. Sheila Oliver becomes New Jersey's first Black lieutenant governor, New York Amsterdam News (November 8, 2017).
32. Eggert, David (November 7, 2018). "Democrat Gretchen Whitmer wins Michigan governor race, beating Bill Schuette". Chicago Tribune. Associated Press. Retrieved May 22, 2020.
33. Westerman, Ashley (January 1, 2019). "N.Y. Swears In New Attorney General After A Tumultuous Year For The Office". NPR. Retrieved February 13, 2021.
34. Crudup, Devin (April 6, 2020). "Meet the Black Woman Appointed as California's First-Ever Surgeon General". AfroTech. Retrieved May 15, 2020.
35. Derek Major. November 5, 2020. "Here Are The Black Americans That Have Made History In The 2020 Election" Black Enterprise. Retrieved January 27, 2021.
36. "'The new south': Raphael Warnock becomes Georgia's first Black senator". The Guardian. January 6, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021.
37. Kuang, Jeanne (May 24, 2021). "Parson appoints Robin Ransom, first Black woman to serve on Missouri Supreme Court". The Kansas City Star. Retrieved May 25, 2021.
38. Pazniokas, Mark (December 10, 2021). "Natalie Braswell to be named comptroller after Lembo steps down". CT Mirror. Retrieved February 7, 2022.
39. Scolforo, Mark (February 28, 2023). "McClinton voted Pa. speaker; first Black woman to win post". Associated Press. Retrieved February 28, 2023.