Marie Louise Anderson Greenwood was the first African American teacher to obtain tenure in the state of Colorado. Greenwood was born in Los Angeles, California on November 24, 1912 to Joseph Anderson who worked as a railroad chef, and Sarah Garrett Anderson, a laundress. At … Read MoreMarie Louise Greenwood (1912- )
Ada Belle Huff Evans was the first African American elected mayor in Colorado. She was born on June 9, 1932 in Langley, South Carolina, a small town located in Aiken County. Much is unknown of her parents and earlier life. However, in 1951, she graduated … Read MoreAda Belle Evans (1932-2011)
Pioneering scholar in black women’s history, Rosalyn Marian Terborg-Penn was born in Brooklyn, New York, on October 22, 1941, to Jeanne Van Horn Terborg, a clerical worker, and Jacques Arnold Terborg, a jazz musician born in Suriname. Terborg and her brother Jacques Jr., spent their … Read MoreRosalyn Terborg-Penn (1941-2018)
Margaret Tynes is an African American opera, concert, and oratorio soprano and singing actress. Tynes was born on September 11, 1919 to parents Rev. and Mrs. J. W. Tynes, in Saluda, Virginia. She earned a Bachelor’s Degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University in 1939. While there she … Read MoreMargaret Tynes (1919-2024)
An accomplished mathematician, Eunice Gray Smith was among the first African American women hired to work at the Langley Memorial Aeronautical Laboratory (LMAL) in Hampton, Virginia during the 1940s. Over the course of a forty-year career at the laboratory and research center, which is part of National Aeronautics … Read MoreEunice Gray Smith (1923-2006)
An experimental psychologist, Gloria Twine Chisum is primarily known for developing protective eyewear for pilots in extreme conditions. Chisum was born in Muskogee, Oklahoma in 1930. She grew up in Muskogee but then attended Howard University where she earned an undergraduate degree in psychology in 1951 and completed an MS in psychology … Read MoreGloria Twine Chisum (1930- )
Amy Holmes is a news anchor and political commentator who appeared on Glenn Beck’s The Blaze TV, CNN, MSNBC, and Fox News. Holmes was born on July 25, 1973 in Lusaka, Zambia to an African father and white mother from Seattle, Washington. Her parents divorced … Read MoreAmy Holmes (1973- )
Sophia Angeli Nelson is an author, journalist, lawyer, and political strategist. Nelson was born on January 5, 1967, in Munich, Germany, where her father served overseas in the U.S. Army. She was raised in Somerdale, New Jersey, and attended San Diego State University (SDSU) in … Read MoreSophia Angeli Nelson (1967- )
Mary Winston Jackson was an American mathematician and aerospace engineer at the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), which would later become the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA). Jackson was born on April 9, 1921, in Hampton, Virginia, to Ella and Frank Winston. She … Read MoreMary Winston Jackson (1921–2005)
Dorothy Johnson Vaughan was a teacher who became a leading mathematical engineer in the first aerospace program with the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA), and the first African American woman promoted to supervisor in the program. Vaughan was born in Kansas City, Missouri, on … Read MoreDorothy Johnson Vaughan (1910-2008)
