Timeline of African-American firsts

African-Americans are a demographic minority in the United States. African-Americans' initial achievements in various fields historically establish a foothold, providing a precedent for more widespread cultural change. The shorthand phrase for this is "breaking the color barrier."

One commonly cited example is that of Jackie Robinson, who became the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era, after years of resistance to Black players by Caucasian team-owners and the existence of the segregated Negro Leagues.

18th century

• 1761

First known African-American author: Jupiter Hammon (poem "An Evening Thought: Salvation by Christ with Penitential Cries", published as a broadside)

• 1770s

Jean Baptiste Pointe du Sable, popularly known as "The Father of Chicago", was the first known settler in the area which is now Chicago, Illinois.

• 1773

First known African-American woman to publish a book: Phillis Wheatley (Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral)

• 1777

First known African-American church congregation: The First Colored Baptist Church, renamed First African Baptist Church (Savannah), Georgia. This claim is contested by a church in Virginia and the Silver Bluff Baptist Church in Aiken County, South Carolina.

• 1778

First African-American U.S. military regiment: the 1st Rhode Island Regiment

• 1783

First African-American to formally practice medicine in the U.S.: James Derham, who did not hold an M.D. degree (See also: 1847)

• 1792

First major African-American Back-to-Africa movement: 1,200 slaves who escaped to settle in Settler Town, Sierra Leone.

• 1793

First African Methodist Episcopal Church established: Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church

19th century

• 1821

First African-American to hold a patent: Thomas L. Jennings

• 1823

First African-American to receive a degree from an American college: Alexander Twilight (See also: 1836)

• 1827

First African-American owned-and-operated newspaper: Freedom's Journal

• 1836

First African-American elected to public office and to serve in a state legislature: Alexander Twilight (See also: 1823)

• 1837

First African-American doctor: Dr. James McCune Smith from the University of Glasgow, Scotland) (See also: 1783, 1847)

• 1845

First African-American licensed to practice law in the United States: Macon Allen from the Boston bar

• 1847

First African-American to graduate from a U.S. medical school: Dr. David J. Peck (Rush Medical College) (See also: 1783, 1837)

First independent African-American nation and first African-American president of any nation: Joseph Jenkins Roberts, Liberia

• 1849

First African-American university professor: Charles L. Reason

• 1853

First novel written by an African-American: Clotel; or, The President's Daughter, by William Wells Brown.

• 1856

First university owned and operated by African-Americans: Wilberforce College

• 1858

First play written by an African-American is published: The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom by William Wells Brown

• 1859

First African-American female novelist, and first African-American ever to publish a novel in the U.S.: Harriet E. Wilson (1825-1900)

• 1865

First African-American field officer in the U.S. Army: Martin Delany

• 1866

First recorded African-American female in the U.S. Army: Cathy Williams

• 1868

First elected African-American lieutenant governor: Oscar Dunn (Louisiana)

• 1869

First African-American United States diplomat: Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett, minister to Haiti

• 1870

First African-American to vote in an election under the 15th Amendment to the United States Constitution, granting voting rights regardless of race: Thomas Mundy Peterson

January: First African-American elected to U.S. Congress: Senator Hiram Rhodes Revels (Republican, Mississippi)

December: First African-American elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Joseph Rainey (Republican, South Carolina)

• 1872

First African-American governor (non-elected): P.B.S. Pinchback of Louisiana

First African-American nominee for Vice President of the United States: Frederick Douglass by the Equal Rights Party.

• 1876

First African-American to earn a doctorate degree: Edward Alexander Bouchet (Yale College Ph.D., physics; also first African-American to graduate from Yale, 1874)

• 1877

First African-American graduate of West Point and first African-American commissioned officer in the U.S. military: Henry Ossian Flipper.

• 1881

First African-American whose signature appeared on U.S. paper currency: Blanche K. Bruce, Registrar of the Treasury.

• 1884

First African-American to play professional baseball at the major-league level: Moses Fleetwood Walker. (See also: Jackie Robinson, 1947)

• 1885

First African-American woman to hold a patent: Sarah E. Goode

• 1886

First African-American Roman Catholic priest: Augustine Tolton

• 1891

First African-American police officer in present-day New York City: Wiley Overton, hired by the Brooklyn Police Department seven years before the 1898 incorporation of the five boroughs into the city of New York. (See also: Samuel J. Battle, 1911)

• 1896

First African-American appointed to serve as U.S. Army Paymaster Richard R. Wright

20th century

• 1901

First African-American invited to dine at the White House: Booker T. Washington

• 1902

First African-American professional basketball player: Harry Lew (New England Professional Basketball League) (See also: 1950)

• 1903

First Broadway musical written by African-Americans, and the first to star African-Americans: In Dahomey

• 1904

First Greek-letter fraternal organization established by African Americans: Sigma Pi Phi

• 1906

First intercollegiate Greek-letter organization established by African Americans: Alpha Phi Alpha (ΑΦΑ)

• 1908

First African-American heavyweight boxing champion: Jack Johnson

First African-American Olympic gold medal winner: John Taylor (track and field medley relay team). (See also: William DeHart Hubbard, 1924)

First intercollegiate Greek-letter sorority established by African Americans: Alpha Kappa Alpha (ΑKΑ)

• 1910

First African-American millionaire: Madame C. J. Walker

• 1911

First African-American police officer in New York City: Samuel J. Battle, following the 1898 incorporation of the five boroughs into the city of New York, and the hiring of three African-American officers in the Brooklyn Police Department. Battle was also the NYPD's first African-American sergeant (1926), lieutenant (1935), and parole commissioner (1941). (See also: Wiley Overton, 1891)

• 1916

First African-American football player to play in the Rose Bowl game in the 1916 Rose Bowl: Fritz Pollard for the Brown University Bruins

First African-American football player named to a College Football All-America Team: Fritz Pollard for the Brown University Bruins to the Walter Camp All-American football team.

• 1917

First African-American police officer killed in the line of duty: Robert H. Holmes in New York City:

First African-American woman to win a major sports title: Lucy Diggs Slowe, American Tennis Association

• 1920

First African-American NFL football players: Fritz Pollard (Akron Pros) and Bobby Marshall (Rock Island Independents)

• 1921

First African-American woman to become a pilot, first American woman to hold an international pilot license: Bessie Coleman

First African-American NFL football coach: Fritz Pollard, co-head coach, Akron Pros, while continuing to play running back

First African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in the U.S.: Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander Ph.D. in Economics from University of Pennsylvania

• 1922

First intercollegiate Greek-letter sorority established by African Americans at a non African-American College or University :Sigma Gamma Rho (Sigma)

• 1924

First African-American to win individual Olympic gold medal: William DeHart Hubbard (Long jump, 1924 Summer Olympics, Paris). (See also: John Taylor, 1908)

• 1925

First African-American Foreign Service Officer: Clifton R. Wharton, Sr.

• 1926

First African-American woman to receive a degree (Ph.D.) from Yale University: Otelia Cromwell, who had previously been the first African-American graduate of Smith College.

• 1928

First post-Reconstruction African-American elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Oscar Stanton De Priest (Republican; Illinois)

• 1932

First African-American on a presidential ticket in the 20th century: James W. Ford (Communist Party USA, vice-presidential candidate running with William Z. Foster)

• 1934

First African-American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives as a Democrat: Arthur W. Mitchell (Illinois)

• 1935

First known interracial jazz group: Benny Goodman Trio (Benny Goodman, Teddy Wilson, Gene Krupa)

• 1936

First African-American to conduct a major U.S. orchestra: William Grant Still (Los Angeles Philharmonic)

• 1937

First African-American federal magistrate: William Henry Hastie (later the first African-American governor of the United States Virgin Islands)

• 1940

First African-American to win an Academy Award: Hattie McDaniel (Best Supporting Actress, Gone with the Wind, 1939)

First African-American to be portrayed on a US. postage stamp: Booker T. Washington

First African-American U.S. Army general: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.

• 1941

First African-American to give a White House Command Performance: Josh White

First African-American to achieve the rank of U.S. Army brigadier general: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr.

• 1942

First African-American to be awarded the Navy Cross: Dorie Miller

• 1944

First African-American commissioned officers in the U.S. Navy: The "Golden Thirteen"

First African-American commissioned as a U.S. Navy officer from the Naval Reserve Officer Training Corps: Samuel Gravely. Gravely was also the first African-American to command a U.S. Navy warship (1962), and the first promoted to the rank of admiral (1971).

• 1945

First African-American member of the New York City Opera: Todd Duncan

First African-American U.S. Marine Corps officer: Frederick C. Branch

• 1947

First African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era: Jackie Robinson (Brooklyn Dodgers). (See also: Moses Fleetwood Walker, 1884)

• 1948

First African-American male to receive an Academy Award: James Baskett (Honorary Academy Award for his portrayal of "Uncle Remus" in Song of the South, 1946) (See also: Sidney Poitier, 1964)

First African-American U.S. Navy aviator: Jesse L. Brown

First African-American composer to have an opera performed by a major U.S. company: William Grant Still (Troubled Island, New York City Opera)

First African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal: Alice Coachman

• 1949

First African-American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy: Wesley Brown

First African-American to hold rank of Ambassador of the United States: Edward R. Dudley, ambassador, and previously minister, to Liberia (See also: 1869)

• 1950

First African-American to win Pulitzer Prize: Gwendolyn Brooks (Book of poetry, Annie Allen, 1949)

First African-American to win Nobel Peace Prize: Ralph Bunche

First African-American NBA basketball players: Earl Lloyd (Washington Capitols), Chuck Cooper (Boston Celtics), and Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton (New York Knicks) (See also: 1902)

First African-American star of a network television show: Ethel Waters, Beulah

First African-American woman to compete on the world tennis tour: Althea Gibson

• 1952

First African-American woman elected to a United States state senate: Cora Brown (Michigan)

• 1953

First African-American basketball player to play in the NBA All-Star Game: Don Barksdale

• 1954

First African-American US Navy Master Diver: Carl Brashear

First African-American woman to be nominated for the Academy Award for Best Actress: Dorothy Dandridge (Carmen Jones, 1954). (At that time, nominations were announced in November of the year of release, instead of early the following year.)

First individual African-American subject on the cover of Life magazine: Dorothy Dandridge

• 1955

First African-American member of the Metropolitan Opera: Marian Anderson

First African-American male dancer in a major ballet company: Arthur Mitchell (New York City Ballet; also first African-American principal dancer, 1956)

• 1956

First African-American male star of a network television show: Nat King Cole, The Nat King Cole Show

First African-American Wimbledon tennis champion: Althea Gibson (doubles, with Englishwoman Angela Buxton); also first African-American to win a Grand Slam event (French Open).

• 1957

First African-American assistant coach in the NFL: Lowell W. Perry (See also: 1966)

• 1958

First African-American flight attendant: Ruth Carol Taylor (Mohawk Airlines)

• 1959

First African-American Grammy Award winners: Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie (two awards each)

• 1961

First African-American to win the Heisman Trophy: Ernie Davis

• 1962

First African-American coach in Major League Baseball: John Jordan "Buck" O'Neil (Chicago Cubs)

First African-American male professional wrestler to win a world heavyweight championship: Bobo Brazil (NWA)

• 1963

First African-American bank examiner for the United States Department of the Treasury: Roland Burris

First African-American in a televised commercial: Wisk Detergent. A little African American boy playing on a little league team with a white boy.

First African-American named as Time magazine's, Man of the Year: Martin Luther King, Jr.

• 1964

First movie with African-American interracial marriage: One Potato, Two Potato, actors Bernie Hamilton and Barbara Barrie, written by Orville H. Hampton, Raphael Hayes, directed by Larry Peerce

First African-American male to win the Academy Award for Best Actor: Sidney Poitier (Lilies of the Field, 1963) (See also: James Baskett 1948)

• 1965

First African-American title character of a comic book series: Lobo (Dell Comics). (See also: The Falcon, 1969, and Luke Cage, 1972)

First African-American star of a network television drama: Bill Cosby, I Spy (co-star with Robert Culp)

First African-American Playboy Playmate centerfold: Jennifer Jackson (March issue)

First African-American U.S. Air Force general: Benjamin Oliver Davis, Jr. (three-star lieutenant general)

First African-American female Ambassador of the United States: Patricia Roberts Harris, ambassador to Luxembourg

First African-American NFL official: Burl Toler, field judge/head linesman

• 1966

First African-American model on the cover of a Vogue (British Vogue) magazine: Donyale Luna

First post-Reconstruction African-American elected to the U.S. Senate (and first African-American elected to the U.S. Senate by popular vote): Edward Brooke (Republican; Massachusetts)

First African-American Cabinet secretary: Robert C. Weaver (Department of Housing and Urban Development)

First African-American major league umpire: Emmett Ashford

First African-American NFL broadcaster: Lowell W. Perry (CBS, on Pittsburgh Steelers games) (See also: 1957)

First African-American Fire Commissioner of a major U.S. City: Robert O. Lowery of the New York City Fire Department.

• 1967

First African-American mayor of a U.S. city: Robert C. Henry, (Springfield, Ohio)

First African-American mayor of a large U.S. city: Carl B. Stokes (Cleveland, Ohio)

First African-American appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States: Thurgood Marshall

First African-American selected for astronaut training: Robert Henry Lawrence, Jr.

First African-American to win a PGA Tour event: Charlie Sifford (1967 Greater Hartford Open Invitational)

• 1968

First African-American woman elected to U.S. House of Representatives: Shirley Chisholm (Democrat; New York)

First African-American man to win a Grand Slam tennis event: Arthur Ashe (US Open)

First African-American to start at quarterback in the modern era of professional football: Marlin Briscoe (Denver Broncos, AFL).

First African-American interracial kiss on network television: actors Nichelle Nichols and William Shatner

First African-American commissioned officer awarded the Medal of Honor: Riley L. Pitts

First fine-arts museum devoted to African-American work: Studio Museum in Harlem

First African-American woman to win the Grammy Award for Best R&B Female Vocal Performance: Aretha Franklin

• 1969

First African-American superhero: The Falcon, Marvel Comics' Captain America #117 (Sept. 1969). (See also: Lobo, 1965 and Luke Cage, 1972)

First African-American graduate of Harvard Business School: Lillian Lincoln

First African-American director of a major Hollywood motion picture: Gordon Parks (The Learning Tree)

First African-American mayor of a Southern city: Howard Nathaniel Lee, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

• 1972

First African-American to campaign for the U.S. presidency: Shirley Chisholm (See also: 1968)

First African-American superhero to star in own comic-book series: Luke Cage, Marvel Comics' Luke Cage, Hero for Hire #1 (June 1972). (See also: Lobo, 1965, and The Falcon, 1969)

First African-American interracial kiss in a mainstream comics magazine: "The Men Who Called Him Monster", by writer Don McGregor (See also: 1975) and artist Luis Garcia, in Warren Publishing's black-and-white horror-comics magazine Creepy #43 (Jan. 1972)

First African-American interracial male kiss: Sammy Davis Jr. and Carroll O'Connor in All in the Family

• 1973

First African-American to hold the plant manager position at a U.S. automobile company: Lowell W. Perry.

First African-American Mayor of Los Angeles, California: Tom Bradley

First African-American Bond Girl in a James Bond movie: Gloria Hendry (as Rosie Carver), Live and Let Die.

First African-American Bond villain: Yaphet Kotto, playing Mr. Big/Dr. Kananga, Live and Let Die.

First African-American comic-book creator to receive a "created by" cover-credit (Midnight Tales #1): Wayne Howard

First African-American woman mayor of a U.S. metropolitan city: Doris A. Davis, Compton, California

First African-American artistic director of a professional regional theater: Harold Scott (Cincinnati Playhouse in the Park)

• 1974

First African-American model on the cover of American Vogue magazine: Beverly Johnson

• 1975

First African-American manager in Major League Baseball: Frank Robinson (Cleveland Indians)

First African-American interracial kiss in a color comic book: Amazing Adventures #31 (July 1975), feature "Killraven: Warrior of the Worlds", characters M'Shulla Scott and Carmilla Frost, by writer Don McGregor (See also: 1972) and artist P. Craig Russell

First African-American model on the cover of ELLE magazine: Beverly Johnson

First African-American four-star general: Daniel "Chappie" James, Jr.

First TV-series cast with African-American interracial couple: The Jeffersons, actors Franklin Cover and Roxie Roker as Tom & Helen Willis; series creator: Norman Lear

First African-American to win Super Bowl MVP in NFL: Franco Harris (Pittsburgh Steelers), Harris was of mixed heritage and also the first Italian-American to win the award as well

First African-American game show host: Adam Wade (CBS' Musical Chairs)

First African-American women named as Time magazine's, Person of the Year: Barbara Jordan and Addie L. Wyatt

• 1976

First African-American woman Broadway director: Vinnette Justine Carroll (Your Arms Too Short to Box with God)

• 1977

First African-American, and first woman, appointed director of the Peace Corps: Carolyn R. Payton.

First African-American woman in the U.S. Cabinet: Patricia Roberts Harris, Secretary of Housing and Urban Development.

First African-American woman whose signature appeared on U.S. currency: Azie Taylor Morton, the 36th Treasurer of the United States (September 12, 1977, to January 20, 1981).

• 1978

First African-American broadcast network news anchor: Max Robinson (ABC World News Tonight)

• 1979

First African-American and first person ever to win the Emmy Award Best Supporting Actress in a Miniseries: Esther Rolle

• 1983

First African-American astronaut: Guion Stewart "Guy" Bluford, Jr. (Challenger mission STS-8).

First African-American mayor of Chicago: Harold Washington

First African-American Miss America : Vanessa L. Williams

First African-American WWE Tag Team Champions : Rocky Johnson and Tony Atlas

• 1984

First African-American to win a U.S. presidential primary/caucus: Jesse Jackson (Louisiana, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, Virginia and one of two separate Mississippi contests).

First African-American New York City Police Commissioner: Benjamin Ward

• 1985

First African-American to become a member of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels precision flying team: Donnie Cochran. Cochran was also the first African-American to command the team (1994).

• 1986

First African-American Formula One racecar driver: Willy T. Ribbs (See also: Ribbs, 1991)

• 1987

First African-American woman, and first woman, inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame: Aretha Franklin

• 1988

First African-American woman elected to a U.S. judgeship, and first appointed to a state supreme court: Juanita Kidd Stout

First African-American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics (a bronze in figure skating): Debi Thomas

First African-American quarterback to start in the Super Bowl: Doug Williams

First African-American NFL referee: Johnny Grier

• 1989

First African-American mayor of New York City: David Dinkins

First African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Colin Powell

• 1990

First African-American Playboy Playmate of the Year: Renee Tenison

First elected African-American governor: Douglas Wilder (Democrat; Virginia)

First African-American Miss USA: Carole Gist

• 1991

First African-American woman mayor of a large U.S. city: Sharon Pratt Kelly (Washington, D.C.)

First African-American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 auto race: Willy T. Ribbs (See also: Ribbs, 1986)

• 1992

First African-American World Heavyweight Champion of wrestling for a major promotion (World Championship Wrestling): Ron Simmons

First African-American woman astronaut: Dr. Mae Jemison M.D. (Space Shuttle Endeavour)

First African-American woman elected to U.S. Senate: Carol Moseley Braun (Democrat; Illinois)

First African-American to manage a Major League Baseball team to a World Series Championship: Cito Gaston (Toronto Blue Jays)

• 1993

First African-American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature: Toni Morrison

First African-American woman named Poet Laureate of the United States: Rita Dove; also the youngest person named to that position

First African-American elected mayor of St. Louis, Missouri: Freeman Bosley, Jr.

First African-American to be appointed as Surgeon General of the United States: Jocelyn Elders

• 1994

First African-American woman director of a major-studio movie: Darnell Martin (Columbia Pictures' I Like It Like That)

• 1996

First African-American U.S. Navy four-star admiral: J. Paul Reason

First African-American mayor of San Francisco: Willie Brown

• 1997

First African-American to win a Grand Slam event in golf: Tiger Woods (The Masters)

First African-American model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition: Tyra Banks

• 1998

First African-American U.S. Secretary of Labor: Alexis M. Herman

First African-American WWE Champion: The Rock

First African-American female to hold the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy: Lillian Fishburne

• 1999

First African-American to be awarded the International Grandmaster title in chess: Maurice Ashley

21st century

• 2001

First African-American Secretary of State: Colin Powell

First African-American president of the Unitarian Universalist Association: Rev. William G. Sinkford

First African-American woman to win the ASCAP Pop Music Songwriter of the Year award: Beyoncé Knowles

First African-American woman to be appointed National Security Advisor: Condoleezza Rice

First African-American billionaire: Robert L. Johnson, founder of Black Entertainment Television

• 2002

First African-American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress: Halle Berry (Monster's Ball, 2001)

First African-American Winter Olympic gold medal winner: Vonetta Flowers (two-woman bobsleigh). (See also: Shani Davis, 2006)

First African-American female combat pilot in the U.S. Armed Services: Marine Captain Vernice Armour

• 2004

First African-American to win Broadway theatre's Tony Award for Best Actress in a Play: Phylicia Rashad

• 2005

First African-American female appointed Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice

First African American female in the United States Coast Guard to earn the Coast Guard Aviation Designation: Jeanine McIntosh

• 2006

First African-American individual Winter Olympic gold medal winner: Shani Davis (men's 1,000 m speed skating).

First African-American interracial gay kiss on network television: Taye Diggs and Eric McCormack in Will & Grace.

First African-American elected to U.S. Congress from Minnesota,: Representative Keith Ellison (Democratic-Farmer-Labor Party, Minnesota)

First African-American Extreme Championship Wrestling (WWE) champion: Franklin Lashley a.k.a. Bobby Lashley

First African-American elected governor of Massachusetts: Deval Patrick

First African-American to command a United States Marine Corps division: Walter Gaskin

• 2007

First African-American NFL head coaches in Super Bowl: Tony Dungy (Indianapolis Colts) and Lovie Smith (Chicago Bears), Super Bowl XLI. Dungy's Colts won.

First African-American to win an Academy Award for his or her screen debut: Jennifer Hudson (Best Supporting Actress, Dreamgirls, 2006)

First known African-American woman to reach the North Pole: Barbara Hillary

• 2008

First African-American presidential primary candidate to win the Iowa caucus: Barack Obama

First African-American to referee a Super Bowl game: Mike Carey (Super Bowl XLII)

First African-American woman elected Speaker of a state House of Representatives: California Rep. Karen Bass