110 African American Firsts

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author/source: BlackPast.org

February is African American History month.   African American history is about much more than chronicling a series of "firsts."  The time and place of a breakthrough reflects not only remarkable individual achievement but is itself an indication of the progress or lack of progress of black people in realizing the centuries-old intertwined goals of freedom, equality, and justice.  Citation  blackpast.org and Wikipedia.org

 

George-Edwin-Taylor-First-African-American-to-run-for-presidencyAfrican-American Firsts: Government

 

African-American Firsts: Law

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Elected municipal judge: Mifflin W. Gibbs, 1873

African-American Firsts: Science

African-American Firsts: Medicine

African-American Firsts: Scholarship

African-American Firsts: Art and Literature

 

African-American Firsts: Newspapers and Other Print Media

Ella-Fitzgerald-First-Black-Woman-Grammy-WinnerAfrican-American Firsts: Music and Dance

African-American Firsts: Film and Theater

African-American Firsts: Radio and Television

Jack-Johnson-First-Black-World-Heavyweight-boxing-champAfrican-American Firsts: Sports

African-American Firsts: Religion

 

Black-Swan-RecordsAfrican-American Firsts: Business and Labor

Gloria-Dean-Randall-Scott-Girls-Scouts-Of-AmericaOther African-American Firsts:

Other Sources:
Jessie Carney Smith, Black Firsts: 4,000 ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events (Detroit, Visible Ink Press, 2003); Charles M. Christian, Black Saga: The African American Experience, A Chronology (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995); Factmonster.com, http://www.factmonster.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html