Jill Elaine Brown became the first African American woman to serve as a pilot for a major U.S airline when she was hired by Texas international Airlines at the age of 28. Her passion for flying began as a teenager, leading her into the U.S. … Read MoreJill Elaine Brown
Simmons College of Kentucky, the state’s oldest African American college, was founded in 1879. The college was established by former slaves to train the sons and daughters of fellow African Americans. In August of 1865, Rev. Henry Adams led the effort to create the institution … Read MoreSimmons College of Kentucky (1879- )
Cecil Bassett Moore was a lawyer, civil rights activist and leader of the Philadelphia National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) from 1963 to 1967. A charismatic politician, Moore was able to mobilize large numbers of working class African Americans into direct political … Read MoreCecil Moore (1915-1979)
Benjamin Pelham was a powerful Detroit politician and journalist. He was the Wayne County accountant from 1906 until 1942 and the proprietor and editor of the first successful black newspaper in Detroit, the Plaindealer. Pelham, the youngest of six children born to Robert Pelham, a … Read MoreBenjamin Pelham (1862-1948)
William “Bill” Pinkney is the first African American, and only the fourth person in the world to circumnavigate the globe alone by boat. Pinkney was born on September 15, 1935, in Chicago, Illinois to Marion Henderson Pinkney and William Pinkney, Sr. He attended Tilden Tech … Read MoreWilliam “Bill” Pinkney (1935- )
The Savings Bank of the Grand Fountain United Order of True Reformers in Richmond, Virginia was the first bank owned by African Americans in the United States. It was founded on March 2, 1888 by Reverend William Washington Browne and opened on April 3, 1889. … Read MoreThe True Reformers Bank (1888-1910)
Norfolk State University (NSU), one of the largest historically black universities in the nation, was founded in 1935. The university began as the Norfolk State Unit, a branch of Virginia Union University in Richmond, Virginia. This college was the only predominantly black institution of higher … Read MoreNorfolk State University (1935- )
Perry Young Jr, an airplane and helicopter pilot, was the first African American person to be hired by a commercial airline with regularly scheduled passenger flights. Young was born to his parents Henry Young Sr. and Edith Lucille Young on March 12, 1919 in Orangeburg, … Read MorePerry Young Jr. (1919-1998)
Mother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, the first African Methodist Episcopal Church in the nation, was founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in 1794 by Richard Allen, a former slave. Allen founded Mother Bethel AME after the church he had been attending, St. George’s Methodist Episcopal … Read MoreMother Bethel African Methodist Episcopal Church [Philadelphia] (1794- )
Max Robinson was an American broadcast journalist for ABC News and served as a co-anchor for ABC World News Tonight. He was the first African American broadcast network news anchor in the history of American television. He was also one of the original founders of … Read MoreMax Robinson (1939-1988)
