980: Bessie Coleman The First Female African American & the First Female Native American to Receive a Pilot’s License Born: 26 January 1892, Atlanta, Texas, United States of America Died: 30 April 1926, Jacksonville, Florida, United States of America Original Name: Elizabeth Coleman Bessie was also the first African American person to earn a civilian…
941: Irene Morgan Kirkaldy Now That’s How You Make Your Mark Born: 9 April 1917, Baltimore, Maryland, United States of America Died: 10 August 2007, Hayes, Virginia, United States of America Eleven years before Rosa Parks refused to leave her seat on a public bus, Irene was forcibly removed from a Greyhound going from Gloucester,…
940: Elizabeth Jennings Graham Rosa Parks Who? Born: c.1830*, New York, United States of America Died: 5 June 1901, Manhattan, New York, United States of America Elizabeth is known for being the first African American woman to be denied a seat on public transportation and whose case later made national news in the United States…
“My head was just too full of black history, you know, the oppression that we went through.” 919: Claudette Colvin Refused to Give Up Her Bus Seat Nine Months Before Rosa Parks Born: 5 September 1939, Montgomery, Alabama, United States of America Claudette’s act of bravery occurred on the Montgomery bus lines too no less!…
“Love all, trust few, and do right.” 904: Dr. Olivia Hooker The First African American Woman to Enter the US Coast Guard Born: 12 February 1915, Muskogee, Oklahoma, United States of America Died: 21 November 2018, White Plains, New York, United States of America Olivia enlisted in 1945 and worked in the SPARs Program, also…
900: Rear Admiral Lillian E Fishburne The First African American Woman to Hold the Position of Rear Admiral in the United States Navy Born: 25 March 1949, Patuxent River, Maryland, United States of America Lillian was appointed to the position by President Bill Clinton in 1998. She was the nineteenth African American rear admiral overall,…
“She would also not waiver from her rules to appease her white customers in face of lost revenue; she demanded that employers treated her laborers with dignity” -Carrie’s son, Melvin 895: Carrie Crawford Smith Now This is How You Help the Unemployed Born: 1877, Nashville, Tennessee, United States of America Died: 1954, Evanston, Illinois, United…
“I made up my mind that if the army wanted nurses, they would be glad of me…I would go to the Crimea; and go I did, as all the world knows.” 890: Mary Seacole Nurse during The Crimean War Born: 14 October 1805, Kingston, Jamaica Died: 14 May 1881, Paddington, Greater London, United Kingdom Mary…
859: Roger Arliner Young The First African American Woman to get a PhD in Zoology Born: 1899, Clifton Forge, Virginia, United States of America* Died: 9 November 1964, New Orleans, Louisiana, United States of America Roger worked as a zoologist, biologist, and marine biologist. She published her first scholarly article in 1924 and received her…
“I’d rather be a corpse than a coward.” 854: Mary Ellen Pleasant African American Entrepreneur & Abolitionist Born: 19 August 1814, Augusta, Georgia, United States of America* Died: 11 January 1904, San Francisco, California, United States of America Mary Ellen listed ‘Capitalist by Profession’ as her official career description in the 1890 Census. Hell yeah…