List of African-American firsts.html



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See also: List of first African-American mayors for most mayor listings

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."¹²

One commonly cited example is that of Jackie Robinson, who became the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era, after years of resistance to Black players by Caucasian team-owners and the existence of the segregated Negro Leagues.³

18th century

• 1760

First known African-American published author: Jupiter Hammon (poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries", published as a broadside)

• 1770s

Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, popularly known as "The Father of Chicago", was the first known settler in the area which is now Chicago, Illinois.

• 1773

First known African-American woman to publish a book: Phillis Wheatley (Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral)

• 1777

First known African-American church congregation: The First Colored Baptist Church, renamed First African Baptist Church (Savannah), Georgia. This claim is contested by a church in Virginia and the Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Aiken County, South Carolina.

• 1778

First African-American U.S. military regiment: the 1st Rhode Island Regiment

• 1783

First African American to formally practice medicine in the U.S.: James Derham, who did not hold an M.D. degree (See also: 1847)

• 1792

First major African-American Back-to-Africa movement: 1,200 slaves who escaped to settle in Settler Town, Sierra Leone.

• 1793

First African Methodist Episcopal Church established: Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church

19th century

1820s

• 1821

First African American to hold a patent: Thomas L. Jennings

• 1823

First African American to receive a degree from an American college: Alexander Twilight, Middlebury College (See also: 1836)

• 1827

First African-American owned-and-operated newspaper: Freedom's Journal

1830s

• 1836

First African American elected to public office and to serve in a state legislature: Alexander Twilight, Vermont (See also: 1823)

• 1837

First African-American doctor: Dr. James McCune Smith from the University of Glasgow, Scotland (See also: 1783, 1847)

1840s

• 1845

First African American licensed to practice law in the United States: Macon Allen from the Boston bar ⁴

• 1847

First African American to graduate from a U.S. medical school: Dr. David J. Peck⁵ (Rush Medical College) (See also: 1783, 1837)

First independent African-American nation and first African-American president of any nation: Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia

• 1849

First African-American university professor: Charles L. Reason

1850s

• 1853

First novel written by an African American: Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, by William Wells Brown.⁶⁷⁸

• 1854

First institute of higher learning created specifically to educate African Americans: Ashmun Institute in Pennsylvania, renamed Lincoln University in 1866.

• 1856

First university owned and operated by African Americans: Wilberforce College, Ohio

• 1858

First play written by an African American is published: The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom by William Wells Brown

• 1858

First African-American female college professor Sarah Jane Woodson Early

1860s

• 1861

First North American military unit with African-American officers: 1st Louisiana Native Guard of the Confederate Army

First African American United States government civil servant: William Cooper Nell

• 1865

First African-American field officer in the U.S. Army: Martin Delany

First African-American attorney admitted to the bar of the US Supreme Court: John Sweat Rock

• 1866

First African-American woman enlistee in the U.S. Army: Cathay Williams

• 1868

First elected African-American lieutenant governor: Oscar Dunn (Louisiana)

• 1869

First African-American United States diplomat: Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, minister to Haiti

1870s

• 1870

First African American to vote in an election under the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting voting rights regardless of race: Thomas Mundy Peterson⁹

January: First African American elected to U.S. Congress: Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels (Republican, Mississippi)¹⁰

December: First African American elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Joseph Rainey (Republican, South Carolina)¹¹

• 1872

First African-American governor (non-elected): P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana (See also: Douglas Wilder, 1990)

First African-American nominee for Vice President of the United States: Frederick Douglass by the Equal Rights Party.¹²

• 1876

First African American to earn a doctorate degree: Edward Alexander Bouchet (Yale College Ph.D., physics; also first African American to graduate from Yale, 1874)

• 1877

First African-American graduate of West Point and first African-American commissioned officer in the U.S. military: Henry Ossian Flipper.

• 1879

First African American to graduate from a formal nursing school: Mary Eliza Mahoney

1880s

• 1881

First African American whose signature appeared on U.S. paper currency: Blanche K. Bruce, Registrar of the Treasury.

• 1884

First African American to play professional baseball at the major-league level: Moses Fleetwood Walker. (See also: Jackie Robinson, 1947)

• 1885

First African-American woman to hold a patent: Sarah E. Goode

• 1886

First African-American Roman Catholic priest: Augustine Tolton

1890s

• 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.¹³ (See also: Samuel J. Battle, 1911)

• 1892

First African American to sing at Carnegie Hall: Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones

• 1895

First African American to earn a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) from Harvard University: W.E.B. Du Bois

• 1896

First African American appointed to serve as U.S. Army Paymaster Richard R. Wright

20th century

1900s

• 1901

First African American invited to dine at the White House: Booker T. Washington

• 1902

First African-American professional basketball player: Harry Lew (New England Professional Basketball League) (See also: 1950)

• 1903

First Broadway musical written by African Americans, and the first to star African Americans: In Dahomey

• 1904

First Greek-letter fraternal organization established by African Americans: Sigma Pi Phi

• 1906

First intercollegiate Greek-letter organization established by African Americans: Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ), at Cornell University

• 1908

First African-American heavyweight boxing champion: Jack Johnson

First African-American Olympic gold medal winner: John Taylor (track and field medley relay team). (See also: William DeHart Hubbard, 1924)

First intercollegiate Greek-letter sorority established by African Americans: Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΑKΑ)

• 1909

First African-American scholar to address the American Historical Association: W.E.B. Du Bois

1910s

• 1910

First African-American millionaire: Madam C. J. Walker

• 1911

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 parole commissioner (1941).¹³ (See also: Wiley Overton, 1891)

• 1916

First African-American football player to play in the Rose Bowl game: Fritz Pollard for the Brown University Bruins; also first African-American football player named to a College Football All-America Team (the Walter Camp All-American football team)

• 1917

First African-American police officer killed in the line of duty: Robert H. Holmes in New York City

First African-American woman to win a major sports title: Lucy Diggs Slowe, American Tennis Association

1920s

• 1920

First African-American NFL football players: Fritz Pollard (Akron Pros) and Bobby Marshall (Rock Island Independents)

• 1921

First African-American woman to become a pilot, first American to hold an international pilot license: Bessie Coleman

First African-American NFL football coach: Fritz Pollard, co-head coach, Akron Pros, while continuing to play running back

First African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in the U.S.: Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Ph.D. in Economics from University of Pennsylvania

• 1924

First African American to win individual Olympic gold medal: William DeHart Hubbard (Long jump, 1924 Summer Olympics, Paris). (See also: John Taylor, 1908)

• 1925

First African-American Foreign Service Officer: Clifton R. Wharton, Sr.

• 1926

First African-American woman to receive a degree (Ph.D.) from Yale University: Otelia Cromwell, who had previously been the first African-American graduate of Smith College.

• 1927

First African-American to star in an international motion picture: Josephine Baker in La Sirène des tropiques.^{citation needed}

• 1928

First post-Reconstruction African American elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Oscar Stanton De Priest (Republican; Illinois)

1930s

• 1932

First African American on a presidential ticket in the 20th century: James W. Ford (Communist Party USA, vice-presidential candidate running with William Z. Foster)

• 1934

First African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat: Arthur W. Mitchell (Illinois)

• 1935

First known interracial jazz group: Benny Goodman Trio (Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa)¹⁴

• 1936

First African American to conduct a major U.S. orchestra: William Grant Still (Los Angeles Philharmonic)

• 1937

First African-American federal magistrate: William Henry Hastie (later the first African-American governor of the United States Virgin Islands)

• 1939

First African-American network radio host: Hal Jackson, WINX-Washington, D.C.

1940s

• 1940

First African American to win an Academy Award: Hattie McDaniel (Best Supporting Actress, Gone with the Wind, 1939)

First African American to be portrayed on a US. postage stamp: Booker T. Washington

First African-American U.S. Army general: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.

• 1941

First African American to give a White House Command Performance: Josh White

First African American to achieve the rank of U.S. Army brigadier general: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.

• 1942

First African American to be awarded the Navy Cross: Dorie Miller

• 1944

First African-American commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy: The "Golden Thirteen"

First African American commissioned as a U.S. Navy officer from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps: Samuel Gravely. Gravely was also the first African American to command a U.S. Navy warship (1962), and the first promoted to the rank of admiral (1971).

First African American to co-pastor with a white minister at the first interracial church: Dr. Howard Thurman with Dr. Alfred Fisk, Church for the Fellowship of All Peoples, San Francisco

• 1945

First African-American member of the New York City Opera: Todd Duncan

First African-American U.S. Marine Corps officer: Frederick C. Branch

• 1947

First African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era: Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn Dodgers). (See also: Moses Fleetwood Walker, 1884)

First African-American consensus college All-American basketball player: Don Barksdale

• 1948

First African-American man to receive an Academy Award: James Baskett (Honorary Academy Award for his portrayal of "Uncle Remus" in Song of the South, 1946) (See also: Sidney Poitier, 1964)

First African-American U.S. Navy aviator: Jesse L. Brown

First African-American composer to have an opera performed by a major U.S. company: William Grant Still (Troubled Island, New York City Opera)

First African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal: Alice Coachman

First African-American on an Olympic basketball team and first African-American Olympic gold medal basketball winner: Don Barksdale, in the 1948 Summer Olympics

• 1949

First African-American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy: Wesley Brown

First African American to hold rank of Ambassador of the United States: Edward R. Dudley, ambassador, and previously minister, to Liberia (See also: 1869)

1950s

• 1950

First African American to win Pulitzer Prize: Gwendolyn Brooks (Book of poetry, Annie Allen, 1949)

First African American to win Nobel Peace Prize: Ralph Bunche

First individual African-American as subject on the cover of Life magazine: Jackie Robinson, May 8, 1950

First African-American NBA basketball players: Earl Lloyd (Washington Capitols), Chuck Cooper (Boston Celtics), and Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (New York Knicks)¹⁵ (See also: 1902)

First African-American star of a network television show: Ethel Waters, Beulah

First African-American woman to compete on the world tennis tour: Althea Gibson

• 1952

First African-American woman elected to a United States state senate: Cora Brown, Democrat (Michigan)

First African-American U.S. Marine Corps aviator: Frank E. Petersen

• 1953

First African-American basketball player to play in the NBA All-Star Game: Don Barksdale in the 1953 NBA All-Star Game

First African American named as Dean of chapel at a majority white university: Howard Thurman at Marsh Chapel, Boston University

• 1954

First African-American US Navy Master Diver: Carl Brashear

First African-American woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress: Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones, 1954). (At that time, nominations were announced in November of the year of release, instead of early the following year.)

First individual African-American woman as subject on the cover of Life magazine: Dorothy Dandridge, November 1, 1954

• 1955

First African-American member of the Metropolitan Opera: Marian Anderson

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), 1956.¹⁶ (See also: 1969)

First African American singer to appear in a telecast opera: Leontyne Price in NBC's production of Tosca

• 1956

First African-American male star of a network television show: Nat King Cole, The Nat King Cole Show

First African-American Wimbledon tennis champion: Althea Gibson (doubles, with Englishwoman Angela Buxton); also first African American to win a Grand Slam event (French Open).

• 1957

First African-American assistant coach in the NFL: Lowell W. Perry (See also: 1966)

• 1958

First African-American flight attendant: Ruth Carol Taylor (Mohawk Airlines)

• 1959

First African-American Grammy Award winners, in the award's inaugural year: Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie (two awards each)¹⁷

1960s

• 1960

First African-American US presidential candidate: Rev. Clennon King, on the Independent Afro-American party

First African American United States Secret Service Agent: Abraham Bolden assigned to the White House Detail by President John F. Kennedy

• 1961

First African American to win the Heisman Trophy: Ernie Davis

• 1962

First African-American coach in Major League Baseball: John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil (Chicago Cubs)

First African-American male professional wrestler to win a world heavyweight championship: Bobo Brazil (NWA)

• 1963

First African-American bank examiner for the United States Department of the Treasury: Roland Burris

First company to use an African-American in a televised commercial: Wisk Detergent.^{citation needed}

First African American named as Time magazine's Man of the Year: Martin Luther King, Jr. ¹⁸

First African-American police officer of the NYPD to be named a precinct commander: Lloyd Sealy, commander of the NYPD's 28th precinct in Harlem.¹⁹

First African-American chess master: Walter Harris²⁰²¹

• 1964

First movie with African-American interracial marriage: One Potato, Two Potato,²² actors Bernie Hamilton and Barbara Barrie, written by Orville H. Hampton, Raphael Hayes, directed by Larry Peerce

First African-American man to win the Academy Award for Best Actor: Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, 1963) (See also: James Baskett 1948)

• 1965

First African-American title character of a comic book series: Lobo (Dell Comics).²³ (See also: The Falcon, 1969, and Luke Cage, 1972)

First African-American star of a network television drama: Bill Cosby, I Spy (co-star with Robert Culp)

First African-American Playboy Playmate centerfold: Jennifer Jackson (March issue)

First African-American U.S. Air Force general: Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. (three-star lieutenant general)

First African-American female Ambassador of the United States: Patricia Roberts Harris, ambassador to Luxembourg

First African-American NFL official: Burl Toler, field judge/head linesman

First African-American to win a national chess championship: Frank Street, Jr. (U.S. Amateur Championship)²⁴

• 1966

First African-American coach in National Basketball Association: Bill Russell (Boston Celtics)

First African-American mayor of a U.S. city: Robert C. Henry, (Springfield, Ohio, appointed by city commission)

First African-American model on the cover of a Vogue (British Vogue) magazine: Donyale Luna

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

First African-American Cabinet secretary: Robert C. Weaver (Department of Housing and Urban Development)

First African-American major league umpire: Emmett Ashford

First African-American NFL broadcaster: Lowell W. Perry (CBS, on Pittsburgh Steelers games) (See also: 1957)

First African-American Fire Commissioner of a major U.S. City: Robert O. Lowery of the New York City Fire Department

• 1967

First African American elected mayor of a large U.S. city: Carl B. Stokes (Cleveland, Ohio)

First African American appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States: Thurgood Marshall

First African American selected for astronaut training: Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.

First African American to win a PGA Tour event: Charlie Sifford (1967 Greater Hartford Open Invitational)

• 1968

First African-American woman elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Shirley Chisholm (Democrat; New York)

First African-American man to win a Grand Slam tennis event: Arthur Ashe (US Open)

First African American to start at quarterback in the modern era of professional football: Marlin Briscoe (Denver Broncos, AFL)

First African-American interracial kiss on network television: actors Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner ²⁵

First African-American commissioned officer awarded the Medal of Honor: Riley L. Pitts

First fine-arts museum devoted to African-American work: Studio Museum in Harlem

First African-American woman as Presidential candidate: Charlene Mitchell (See also: Shirley Chisholm, 1972)

First African-American woman reporter for the New York Times: Nancy Hicks Maynard

• 1969

First African-American superhero: The Falcon, Marvel Comics' Captain America #117 (Sept. 1969).²³ (See also: Lobo, 1965 and Luke Cage, 1972)

First African-American graduate of Harvard Business School: Lillian Lincoln

First African-American director of a major Hollywood motion picture: Gordon Parks (The Learning Tree)

First African-American founder of a classical training school and company of ballet: Arthur Mitchell, Dance Theatre of Harlem (See also: 1955)

1970s

• 1971

First African-American ownership of a radio station: Hal Jackson and Percy Sutton, WLIB-New York

First African-American president of the New York City Board of Education: Isaiah Edward Robinson, Jr.

• 1972

First African American to campaign for the U.S. presidency in a major political party: Shirley Chisholm (Democratic Party) (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).²³ (See also: Lobo, 1965, and The Falcon, 1969)

First African-American interracial 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)

First African-American interracial male kiss: Sammy Davis Jr. and Carroll O'Connor in All in the Family²⁶

• 1973

First African American to hold the plant manager position at a U.S. automobile company: Lowell W. Perry.

First African American elected mayor of Los Angeles, California: Tom Bradley

First African-American Bond Girl in a James Bond movie: Gloria Hendry (as Rosie Carver), Live and Let Die.

First African-American Bond villain: Yaphet Kotto, playing Mr. Big/Dr. Kananga, Live and Let Die.

First African-American comic-book creator to receive a "created by" cover-credit (Midnight Tales #1): Wayne Howard

First African-American woman mayor of a U.S. metropolitan city: Doris A. Davis, Compton, California

First African-American artistic director of a professional regional theater: Harold Scott (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park)

• 1974

First African-American model on the cover of American Vogue magazine: Beverly Johnson

• 1975

First African American elected mayor, and first mayor, of Washington, D.C.: Walter Washington

First African-American manager in Major League Baseball: Frank Robinson (Cleveland Indians)

First African-American four-star general: Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr.

First African-American women named as Time magazine's, Person of the Year: Barbara Jordan and Addie L. Wyatt ²⁷

First TV-series cast with African-American interracial couple: The Jeffersons, actors Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker as Tom & Helen Willis; series creator: Norman Lear

First African-American model on the cover of ELLE magazine: Beverly Johnson

First African American to win Super Bowl MVP in NFL: Franco Harris (Pittsburgh Steelers). Of mixed heritage, Harris was also first Italian American to win the award.

First African-American game show host: Adam Wade (CBS' Musical Chairs)

First African-American interracial kiss in a color comic book: Amazing Adventures #31 (July 1975), feature "Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds", characters M'Shulla Scott and Carmilla Frost, by writer Don McGregor (See also: 1972) and artist P. Craig Russell

• 1976

First African-American woman Broadway director: Vinnette Justine Carroll (Your Arms Too Short to Box with God)

First African-American woman elected officer of international labor union: Addie L. Wyatt

• 1977

First African American, and first woman, appointed director of the Peace Corps: Carolyn R. Payton

First African-American woman in the U.S. Cabinet: Patricia Roberts Harris, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development

First African-American woman whose signature appeared on U.S. currency: Azie Taylor Morton, the 36th Treasurer of the United States

• 1978

First African-American broadcast network news anchor: Max Robinson (ABC World News Tonight)

• 1979

First African American and first person ever to win the Emmy Award Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries: Esther Rolle

First African-American U.S. Marine Corps general officer: Frank E. Petersen

1980s

• 1981

First African-American ownership of a major metropolitan newspaper: Robert C. and Nancy Hicks Maynard, The Oakland Tribune

• 1982

First African American male to win the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor: Louis Gossett, Jr.

First African American to receive the Pulitzer Prize for Drama: Charles Fuller for A Soldier's Play

• 1983

First African-American astronaut: Guion Stewart "Guy" Bluford, Jr. (Challenger mission STS-8).²⁸

First African-American mayor of Chicago: Harold Washington

First African-American Miss America: Vanessa L. Williams

First African-American WWE Tag Team Champions: Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas

First African-American to appear on MTV via music video: Michael Jackson

• 1984

First African American to win a 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 New York City Police Commissioner: Benjamin Ward

• 1985

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).

• 1986

First African-American Formula One racecar driver: Willy T. Ribbs²⁹ (See also: Ribbs, 1991)

First African-American musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, in the inaugural class: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, and Little Richard

First African American to die in spaceflight: Ronald McNair

• 1987

First African-American woman, and first woman, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Aretha Franklin

• 1988

First African-American woman elected to a U.S. judgeship, and first appointed to a state supreme court: Juanita Kidd Stout

First African-American to win the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival: Forest Whitaker (Bird)

First African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics (a bronze in figure skating): Debi Thomas

First African-American quarterback to start in the Super Bowl: Doug Williams

First African-American NFL referee: Johnny Grier

• 1989

First African-American mayor of New York City: David Dinkins

First African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Colin Powell

1990s

• 1990

First elected African-American governor: Douglas Wilder (Democrat; Virginia) (See also: P. B. S. Pinchback, 1872)

First African American elected president of the Harvard Law Review: Barack Obama (See also: 2008)

First African-American Miss USA: Carole Gist

First African-American Playboy Playmate of the Year: Renee Tenison

• 1991

First African-American nominated for a Best Director Academy Award. John Singleton for Boyz N The Hood

First African American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 auto race: Willy T. Ribbs (See also: Ribbs, 1986)

First African-American woman mayor of Washington, D.C.: Sharon Pratt Kelly

• 1992

First African-American World Heavyweight Champion of wrestling for a major promotion (World Championship Wrestling): Ron Simmons

First African-American woman astronaut: Dr. Mae Jemison (Space Shuttle Endeavour)

First African-American woman elected to U.S. Senate: Carol Moseley Braun (Democrat; Illinois)

First African American to manage a Major League Baseball team to a World Series Championship: Cito Gaston (Toronto Blue Jays)

• 1993

First African American woman appointed U.S. Secretary of Energy: Hazel R. O'Leary

First African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature: Toni Morrison

First African-American woman named Poet Laureate of the United States: Rita Dove, also the youngest person named to that position

First African American appointed Surgeon General of the United States: Joycelyn Elders

First African-American woman to win a national chess championship: Kimberly McClelland

• 1994

First African-American woman director of a major-studio movie: Darnell Martin (Columbia Pictures' I Like It Like That)

• 1995

First African-American inductee to the Radio Hall of Fame: Hal Jackson

• 1996

First African-American mayor of San Francisco: Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. (also first African-American Speaker of the California Assembly, 1980)

First African-American U.S. Navy four-star admiral: J. Paul Reason³⁰

• 1997

First African American to win a Grand Slam event in golf: Tiger Woods (The Masters)³¹

First African-American model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition: Tyra Banks

• 1998

First African American appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor: Alexis M. Herman

First African-American WWE Champion: The Rock

First African-American woman to hold the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy: Lillian Fishburne

• 1999

First African American to be awarded the International Grandmaster title in chess: Maurice Ashley

First African American CEO of a Fortune 500 company: Franklin Raines of Fannie Mae³²

21st century

• 2001

First African-American Secretary of State: Colin Powell

First African-American president of the Unitarian Universalist Association: Rev. William G. Sinkford

First African-American president of an Ivy League university: Ruth J. Simmons at Brown University, also the first permanent female president of Brown.

First African-American woman to win the ASCAP Pop Music Songwriter of the Year award: Beyoncé Knowles

First African-American woman to be appointed National Security Advisor: Condoleezza Rice (See also: 2005)

First African-American billionaire: Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television

• 2002

First African-American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress: Halle Berry (Monster's Ball, 2001)

First African-American Winter Olympic gold medal winner: Vonetta Flowers (two-woman bobsleigh). (See also: Shani Davis, 2006)

• 2004

First African American to win Broadway theater's Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play: Phylicia Rashād

First African-American female billionaire: Oprah Winfrey

• 2005

First African-American woman appointed Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice (See also: 2001)

• 2006

First African-American individual Winter Olympic gold medal winner: Shani Davis (men's 1,000 meter speed skating) (See also: Vonetta Flowers, 2002)

First African-American interracial gay kiss on network television: Taye Diggs and Eric McCormack in Will & Grace.³³

First African-American Extreme Championship Wrestling champion: Franklin Lashley, also known as Bobby Lashley

First African American to command a United States Marine Corps division: Walter Gaskin

First African American to reach the peak of Mount Everest: Sophia Danenberg

• 2007

First African-American NFL head coach to reach the Super Bowl: Lovie Smith (Chicago Bears), Super Bowl XLI³⁴

First African-American NFL head coach to win the Super Bowl: Tony Dungy (Indianapolis Colts), Super Bowl XLI

First known African-American woman to reach the North Pole: Barbara Hillary³⁵

• 2008

First African American to be nominated as a major-party US presidential candidate: Barack Obama, Democratic Party

First African American to referee a Super Bowl game: Mike Carey (Super Bowl XLII)

First African-American woman elected Speaker of a state House of Representatives: California Rep. 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 to own a movie and TV studio: Tyler Perry

First African American elected president of the United States of America: Barack Obama

First African American to be nominated as United States Attorney General: Eric Holder

See also

• List of first African-American mayors
• List of African-American US state firsts

References