Women

Kamala Harris

2020-08-29T07:00:00+00:00

Kamala Harris, junior United States senator, is the first African-American, the first Asian-American, and the third female vice presidential running mate on a major party ticket.

Simone Biles

2019-10-29T07:00:00+00:00

As of the 2019 World Championships, Biles is the gymnast with the most World medals (25) and most World gold medals (19) of any gender, as well as the female gymnast with the most World all-around titles (5). Biles is the sixth woman to win an individual all-around title at both the World Championships and the Olympics, and the first gymnast since Lilia Podkopayeva in 1996 to hold both titles simultaneously.

She is the tenth gymnast and first American gymnast to win a World medal on every event, and the first gymnast since Daniela Silivaș in 1988 to win a medal on every event at a single Olympic Games or World Championships, having accomplished this feat at the 2018 World Championships.

Olympic Champion Mary Lou Retton called Biles the "greatest gymnast ever" and multiple other observers have echoed the sentiment.

Venus Williams

2019-10-23T07:00:00+00:00

Venus Williams has won four Olympic gold medals. A former world No. 1, Williams is generally credited with ushering in a new era of power and athleticism on the women's professional tennis tour. Williams has been ranked world No. 1 by the Women's Tennis Association on three occasions, for a total of 11 weeks. She first reached the No. 1 ranking on February 25, 2002, the first African American woman to do so in the Open Era, and the second all time.

Serena Williams

2019-10-23T07:00:00+00:00

In 2015, she became the first black female athlete to have a picture by herself on the cover of Vogue, which she did for the April 2015 issue. Serena Williams is hailed by many coaches, players and sportscasters to be one of the best female tennis players of the Open Era. Her numerous victories on court have been a positive influence on young girls and boys who see Williams as a role model and an ambassador of tennis. Some commentators, players and sports writers regard Williams as the greatest female tennis player of all time.

Anna J Cooper

2019-10-21T06:42:18+00:00

She was an American author, educator, sociologist, speaker, Black Liberation activist, and one of the most prominent African-American scholars in United States history. Born into slavery in 1858, Cooper triumphed against the odds of gender and race to receive a world-class education and claim power and prestige in academic and social circles.

Mae Jemison

2019-10-21T06:42:18+00:00

She became the first black woman to travel in space when she served as a mission specialist aboard the Space Shuttle Endeavour. Jemison joined NASA's astronaut corps in 1987 and was selected to serve for the STS-47 mission, during which she orbited the Earth for nearly eight days on September 12–20, 1992.

Helen Appo Cook

2019-10-21T05:00:28+00:00

Helen Appo Cook was a wealthy, prominent African American community activist in Washington, D.C. and a leader in the women's club movement. Cook was a founder and president of the Colored Women's League, which consolidated with another organization in 1896 to become the National Association of Colored Women (NACW), an organization still active in the 21st century.

Marie Van Brittan Brown

2019-10-20T06:21:02+00:00

She was the inventor of the home security system in 1966, along with her husband Albert Brown. In the same year they jointly applied for a patent, which was granted in 1969. Brown was born in Jamaica, Queens, New York; (October 30, 1922 – February 2, 1999).

Miriam E. Benjamin

2019-10-20T05:21:42+00:00

Miriam E. Benjamin (September 16, 1861 – 1947) was an American school teacher and inventor from Washington, D.C. On July 17,1888 she obtained a patent for her invention, the Gong and Signal Chair for Hotels.

Lyda D. Newman

2019-10-20T04:23:14+00:00

Lyda D. Newman was an African American inventor. She invented a hairbrush that could be taken apart easily for cleaning. She was granted U.S. Patent 614,335 on November 15, 1898.

Marjorie Joyner

2019-10-20T03:40:20+00:00

She was born in 1896, in Monterey, Virginia. she was the granddaughter of a slave and a white slave-owner. She moved to Chicago in 1912, and shortly thereafter, she began studying cosmetology. She graduated A.B. Molar Beauty School in Chicago in 1916, the first African American to achieve this.

Shirley Chisholm

2019-10-18T07:00:00+00:00

In 1968, she became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress, and she represented New York's 12th congressional district for seven terms from 1969 to 1983. In 1972, she became the first black candidate for a major party's nomination for President of the United States, and the first woman to run for the Democratic Party's presidential nomination, as well as the first woman to appear in a United States presidential debate.

Barbara Jordan

2019-10-18T07:00:00+00:00

In 1966, Barbara Jordan became the first black woman elected to the United States Congress. A groundbreaking African-American politician, Barbara Jordan worked hard to achieve her dreams. She grew up in a poor black neighborhood in Houston, Texas. The daughter of a Baptist minister, Jordan was encouraged by her parents to strive for academic excellence. Her gift for language and building arguments was apparent in high school, where she was an award-winning debater and orator.

Maggie L. Walker

2019-10-18T07:00:00+00:00

The first American female bank president to charter a bank in the United States. As a leader, she achieved successes with the vision to make tangible improvements in the way of life for African Americans and women. Disabled by paralysis and limited to a wheelchair later in life, Walker also became an example for people with disabilities.

Bessie Coleman

2019-10-14T20:58:25+00:00

Bessie Coleman was the first woman of African American descent, and the first of Native American descent, to hold a pilot license. She earned her pilot license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921 in France, and was the first black person to earn an international pilot's license.

Sojourner Truth, Free eBook, and Autobiography Recording

2019-10-14T05:31:43+00:00

A former slave, Sojourner Truth became an outspoken advocate for abolition, temperance, and civil and women’s rights in the nineteenth century. She never learned to read or write. In 1850, she dictated what would become her autobiography—The Narrative of Sojourner Truth—to Olive Gilbert, who assisted in its publication. Truth survived on sales of the book, which also brought her national recognition.

Mary Fields

2019-10-07T05:31:43+00:00

Mary Fields was the first African-American female star route mail carrier in the United States, also known as Stagecoach Mary and Black Mary. Like many slaves separated as children, she did not know her birthday. She was a respected public figure in Cascade, and the town closed its schools to celebrate her birthday each year.

Josephine Baker

2019-10-07T05:31:43+00:00

Josephine Baker refused to perform for segregated audiences in the United States and is noted for her contributions to the Civil Rights Movement. Baker was an American-born French entertainer, French Resistance agent, and civil rights activist. Her career was centered primarily in Europe, mostly in her adopted France. She was the first African-American to star in a major motion picture, the 1927 silent film Siren of the Tropics, directed by Mario Nalpas and Henri Étiévant.

Nina Simone

2019-10-07T05:31:43+00:00

Nina Simone was an American singer, songwriter, musician, arranger, and civil rights activist. Her music spanned a broad range of musical styles including classical, jazz, blues, folk, R&B, gospel, and pop.

C. Delores Tucker

2019-10-07T05:31:43+00:00

C. Delores Tucker was the convening founder and chair of the National Political Congress of Black Women and the first female African American Secretary of State in the nation, serving the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania from 1971-1977.

Stacey Abrams

2019-10-04T23:53:38+00:00

Stacey Abrams became first black woman to gain major U.S. party nomination for governor of Georgia in 2018. In February 2019, she became the first African-American woman to deliver a response to the State of the Union address. On August 17, 2019, Abrams announced the founding of Fair Fight 2020, an organization that will assist Democrats financially and technically to build voter protection teams in 20 states. Abrams is Fair Fight 2020's chair.

Ida Bell Wells-Barnett

2019-03-10T07:10:03+00:00

The uniqueness of the African-American female's situation is that she stands at the crossroads of two of the most well-developed ideologies in America, that regarding women and that regarding the Negro. Occupying both female and black identities, enslaved African women faced the double oppressions of racism and sexism.

Sophia Charlotte of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of England

2019-03-09T15:00:00+00:00

Queen Charlotte’s Legacy: The city of Charlotte in North Carolina is named after Queen Charlotte and nicknamed The Queen City. Additionally, the Queen Charlotte Maternity hospital was established in London.

Meghan, Duchess of Sussex

2019-03-09T15:00:00+00:00

Meghan Markle worked as a freelance calligrapher to support herself between early acting jobs. Her first appearance on screen was a small role as a nurse in an episode of the daytime soap opera General Hospital. She is to become a member of the British royal family upon her appending marriage to Prince Harry on 19 May 2018.

Toni Morrison

2019-03-09T08:00:00+00:00

She is an American novelist, editor, and professor. Her novels are known for their epic themes, vivid dialogue, and richly detailed characters.

Oprah Winfrey

2019-03-09T08:00:00+00:00

She is best known for her talk show The Oprah Winfrey Show, which was the highest-rated television program of its kind in history and was nationally syndicated from 1986 to 2011 in Chicago, Illinois.

Misty Copeland

2019-03-09T08:00:00+00:00

Misty Copeland named principal dancer, the first African American ballerina to get that title at American Ballet Theater.

Maya Angelou

2019-03-09T08:00:00+00:00

Maya Angelou was an American author, poet, dancer, actress, and singer. She published seven autobiographies, three books of essays, and several books of poetry, and was credited with a list of plays, movies, and television shows spanning over 50 years. She received dozens of awards and more than 50 honorary degrees.

Michelle Robinson Obama

2019-03-09T08:00:00+00:00

Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama is the wife of the 44th and incumbent President of the United States, Barack Obama, and the first African-American First Lady of the United States. She met Barack Obama when they were among the few African Americans at their law firm, Sidley Austin, and she was assigned to mentor him as a summer associate.

Whitney Houston

2019-03-09T08:00:00+00:00

American recording artist, singer, actress, producer, model and the Guinness World Records cited for the most awarded female act of all time.

Mary J. Blige

2019-03-09T08:00:00+00:00

My Life is considered among the greatest albums ever recorded according to Rolling Stone, Time and Vibe. Billboard ranked Blige as the most successful female R&B artist of the past 25 years.

Tina Turner

2019-03-09T08:00:00+00:00

She is known by her stage name Tina Turner, a singer, dancer, actress, and author, whose career has spanned more than half a century, earning her widespread recognition and numerous awards

Lauryn Hill

2019-03-08T16:00:00+00:00

She is best known for being a member of the Fugees and for her critically acclaimed solo album The Miseducation of Lauryn Hill, which won numerous awards and broke several sales records.

Gwen Ifill

2019-03-08T16:00:00+00:00

Gwen Ifill became the first African American woman to host a major political TV show with Washington Week in Review. She was the moderator and managing editor of Washington Week and co-anchor and co-managing editor, with Judy Woodruff, of PBS NewsHour, both of which air on PBS.

Loretta Lynch

2019-03-08T15:00:00+00:00

Loretta Elizabeth Lynch[1] (born May 21, 1959) is the 83rd and current Attorney General of the United States, having recently served as United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York. Her tenure as U.S. Attorney began in 2010, and she previously held the position from 1999 to 2001.

Jennifer Hudson

2019-03-08T08:00:00+00:00

She rose to fame in 2004 as a finalist on the third season of American Idol, coming in seventh place. In 2013, she received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.

Madam C. J. Walker

2019-03-08T08:00:00+00:00

Sarah Breedlove (December 23, 1867 – May 25, 1919), known as Madam C.J.Walker, was an American entrepreneur and philanthropist, regarded as the first female self made millionaire in America. She made her fortune by developing and marketing a successful line of beauty and hair products for black women under the company she founded, Madam C.J. Walker Manufacturing Company.

Etta James

2019-03-08T08:00:00+00:00

Etta James is regarded as having bridged the gap between rhythm and blues and rock and roll.

Janet Jackson

2019-03-08T08:00:00+00:00

She is known for a series of sonically innovative, socially conscious and sexually provocative records, as well as elaborate stage shows, television appearances, and film roles.

Mariah Carey

2019-03-08T08:00:00+00:00

Carey's vocal style and singing ability have significantly impacted popular and sold more than 220 million records worldwide, making her one of the best-selling music artists of all time.

Jordin Sparks

2019-03-08T08:00:00+00:00

As of February 2012, she has sold 1.3 million albums and 10.2 million singles in the United States alone, making her one of the most successful American Idol contestants of all time.

Billie Holiday

2019-03-07T08:28:14+00:00

Billie Holiday popular jazz standard "Summertime, was listed on the available pop charts at number 12, the first time the jazz standard charted under any artist.

Diana Ross

2019-03-07T08:00:00+00:00

She is a founding member and lead singer of The Supremes during the 1960s. In 1993, the Guinness Book of World Records declared Ross the most successful female music artist in history.

Condoleezza Rice, PhD

2019-03-07T08:00:00+00:00

Condoleezza Rice (pron.: /ˌkɒndəˈliːzə/; born November 14, 1954) is an American political scientist and diplomat. She served as the 66th United States Secretary of State, and was the second person to hold that office in the administration of President George W. Bush.

Beyonce

2019-03-07T08:00:00+00:00

American singer, songwriter, actress and rose to fame in the late 1990s as lead singer of R&B girl-group Destiny's Child.

Alicia Keys

2019-03-07T08:00:00+00:00

She became the best-selling new artist and best-selling R&B artist of 2001, pianist and has sold over 65 million records worldwide.

Donna Summer

2019-03-07T08:00:00+00:00

Summer has reportedly sold over 130 million records, making her one of the world's best-selling artists of all time.

Aretha Franklin

2019-03-07T08:00:00+00:00

Franklin achieved commercial acclaim and success with hits to gain the title The Queen of Soul by the end of the 1960s decade.

Rihanna

2018-06-01T07:00:00+00:00

Barbadian was nominated for nine Grammy Awards, sold more than 30 million albums and 120 million singles worldwide, making her one of the best-selling artists of all time.