Bonnie Watson Coleman has served as the U.S. House of Representatives for New Jersey’s 12th Congressional District since January 3, 2015. The 12th District includes Princeton University and major parts of the Middlesex and Mercer Counties. Coleman is the first African American woman to represent … Read MoreBonnie Watson Coleman (1945– )
Georgia Montgomery Davis Powers was an American politician and activist, and in 1967 she became the first black to be elected to the senate of the state of Kentucky. Powers, a close friend of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., also worked with Rev. Jesse Jackson … Read MoreGeorgia Davis Powers (1923-2016)
Congresswoman Alma Shealey Adams currently represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She is the 100th woman elected to that legislative body and the second African American woman, after Eva Clayton, to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Congress. … Read MoreAlma Shealey Adams (1946- )
Helene (Hilyer) Hale, the first African American woman elected to the Hawaii Legislature, was born March 23, 1918 in Minneapolis, Minnesota. Her father was an attorney in Minneapolis and her grandfather was one of the first African American attorneys to graduate from the University of … Read MoreHelene H. Hale (1918-2013)
Marco McMillian was known primarily as the first openly-gay African American man to seek mayoral office as a Democrat in his hometown of Clarksdale, Mississippi. On February 26, 2013, McMillian was found dead the age of 34, having been beaten, dragged, and burned. Little is … Read MoreMarco McMillian (1979-2013)
Charles Rolland was the first African American chair of a major political party in Washington State. Roland served as chair of the Washington State Democratic Party during the years 1993-1995. He won his campaign through the labor-intensive task of personally driving hundreds of miles across … Read MoreCharles Rolland, III (1951-2012)
Terrycina “Terri” Sewell, the current U.S. Representative for Alabama’s 7th district, was born January 1, 1965 in Huntsville, Alabama to Andrew and Nancy Sewell. Sewell grew up in Selma, Alabama where both of her parents were employed by the local school district. Her father, Andrew, … Read MoreTerri Sewell (1965- )
William Thomas Scott, also known as W.T. Scott, was a tavern/ hotel owner, newspaper owner/ editor, and politician in the latter half of the 19th century and the first decade of the 20th century. He was the first African-American selected by the convention of a … Read MoreWilliam Thomas Scott (1839-1917)
Clarence Ray Nagin, Jr., the mayor of New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina, was born June 11, 1956 at Charity Hospital in the city. His father worked three jobs in order to support the family, starting his days as a fabric cutter at a factory and … Read MoreClarence Ray Nagin, Jr. (1956- )
Grace Towns Hamilton was the first African American woman elected to the Georgia General Assembly. She was a lifelong advocate of rights for the disadvantaged, and was instrumental in key district reapportionment efforts and black voter registration that helped bring minority representation into Georgia politics. … Read MoreGrace Towns Hamilton (1907-1992)
