Cynthia Shepard Perry, a Republican and 25 year career diplomat, has served three Republican presidents. President Ronald Reagan appointed her as Chief of Education and Human Resources of the U.S. Agency for International Development where she served from 1982 to 1986, and named her Ambassador … Read MoreCynthia Shepard Perry (1928- )
Susan Page is the first U.S. Ambassador to the newly formed nation of South Sudan. She was nominated by President Barack Obama on August 18 and confirmed October 18, 2011. Page arrived in the capital city of Juba on December 6, 2011. Page graduated in … Read MoreSusan Denise Page (1964- )
Barbara M. Watson, businesswoman, lawyer, government executive, and diplomat, was born in New York City, New York on November 5, 1918. She was the daughter of James S. Watson, the first black judge elected in New York State, and his wife, Violet Lopez Watson, one of the founders of the National Council of … Read MoreBarbara Mae Watson (1918-1983)
“Image Ownership: EneasMx” Politician, social and peace activist Piedad Córdoba was born in Medellin, Colombia, on January 25, 1955. She was the second of ten children of Zabulón Córdoba, an Afro-Colombian who rose from humble origins to become a sociology professor and university dean. … Read MorePiedad Esneda Córdoba Ruiz (1955- )
Anne Forrester Holloway was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Mali on November 6, 1979 by President Jimmy Carter. She was the first African American woman to hold that post. Forrester was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on June 2, 1941. She attended public schools in Philadelphia but then transferred … Read MoreAnne Forrester Holloway (1941-2006)
Marguerita Dianne Ragsdale was born in April 1948 in Richmond, Virginia to Lillie and Vernon Ragsdale and raised alongside her five sisters on a farm in McKenney, Dinwiddie County, Virginia. After starting her undergraduate work at Virginia State University in Petersburg, she transferred to American … Read MoreMarguerita Ragsdale (1948- )
Dr. Dorothy Lavinia Brown was a medical pioneer, educator, and community leader. In 1948-1949 Brown became the first African American female appointed to a general surgery residency in the de jure racially segregated South. In 1956 Brown became the first unmarried woman in Tennessee authorized … Read MoreDorothy Lavinia Brown (1919-2004)
“Image Ownership: Public Domain” At twenty years old, Petra Hoost, born January 16, 1976, in the city of Enkhuizen, Netherlands, became the first Afro-Dutch woman to win the Miss Netherlands pageant in 1996. She went on to represent Netherlands at the Miss World pageant held … Read MorePetra Hoost (1976- )
Malou Hansson, a Miss Universe competitor in Puerto Rico in 2002, was crowned Miss Sweden earlier that year. She had just turned 19 at the time. Miss Sweden was born Malou Mercedes Hansson on February 2, 1983, in Järfälla, a Stockholm suburb. Her mother is … Read MoreMalou Mercedes Hansson (1983- )
Eighteen-year-old Lola Odusoga was crowned Miss Finland in 1996 (Miss Suomi in Finnish). Her full maiden name is Iyabode Ololade (Lola) Remilekun Odusoga and she was born on June 30, 1977 in the coastal city of Åbo (Turku), Finland. Her father was born in Nigeria … Read MoreLola Odusoga (1977- )
