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Feb 1, 2022 · Madeline Merinuk. Sarah Lemire. Learn about these trailblazing Black women in history including luminaries like Kamala Harris, Maya Angelou, Michelle Obama, Aretha Franklin and Rosa Parks.
- Jone Johnson Lewis
- Marian Anderson (Feb. 27, 1897–April 8, 1993) Contralto Marian Anderson is considered one of the most important singers of the 20th century. Known for her impressive three-octave vocal range, she performed widely in the U.S. and Europe, beginning in the 1920s.
- Mary McLeod Bethune (July 10, 1875–May 18, 1955) Mary McLeod Bethune was an African American educator and civil rights leader best known for her work co-founding the Bethune-Cookman University in Florida.
- Shirley Chisholm (Nov. 30, 1924–Jan. 1, 2005) Shirley Chisholm is best known for her 1972 bid to win the Democratic presidential nomination; she was the first Black woman to make this attempt in a major political party.
- Althea Gibson (Aug. 25, 1927–Sept. 28, 2003) Althea Gibson started playing tennis as a child in New York City, winning her first tennis tournament at age 15.
Dec 30, 2021 · Katherine Dunham | Known as: Dancer, choreographer – Life: 1909-2006 | Katherine Dunham was a change agent in American dance in the 1930s, tapping into the origins of Black dance and Caribbean ...
- The name to know: Isabel de Olvera, explorer, early 1600s. Her story in brief: Isabel de Olvera was born in Querétaro, Mexico, in the late 1500s to an African father and an Indian mother.
- The name to know: Monemia McKoy, mother of twins Millie and Christine, 1830’s – ? Her story in brief: Enslaved couple Monemia and Jacob McKoy lived in North Carolina in the mid-19th century.
- The name to know: Frances Thompson, transgender advocate, 1840 – 1876. Her story in brief: Although born into slavery in Alabama and assigned male at birth, by the age of 26 Frances Thompson was freed and living according to her own gender identity in a booming Black community in Memphis, Tennessee.
- The name to know: Augusta Savage, artist, 1892 – 1962. Image credit: Archives of American Art, Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons. Her story in brief: Born to the family of a conservative Methodist minister in Green Cove Springs, Florida, Savage exhibited a passion and a talent for art from an early age, in particular for molding objects out of clay.
- Daisy Bates: A Civil Rights Hero. Daisy Bates was a complex, unconventional and largely forgotten heroine of the civil rights movement who led the charge to desegregate the all-white Central High School in Little Rock, Ark., in 1957.
- Sister Rosetta Tharpe: The Godmother of Rock & Roll. Despite not being a household name today, Sister Rosetta Tharpe is one of the most influential artists of the 20th century.
- Harriet Tubman. "I was conductor of the Underground Railroad for eight years, and I can say what most conductors can't say – I never ran my train off the track and I never lost a passenger."
- Maya Angelou. Learn how Dr. Maya Angelou began writing and reading poetry as a child.
Aug 29, 2022 · A Smithsonian magazine special report. At the Smithsonian | August 29, 2022. These Black Women Changed America. Thirty years ago, photographer Brian Lanker made indelible images of historical ...
Feb 3, 2021 · 4. Sonia Sanchez. Born on September 9, 1934, in Birmingham, Alabama, Sonia Sanchez has inspired generations of women and African Americans through poetry, teachings, plays, and activism. As a prominent member of the Black Arts Movement, she made a name for herself by centering Black pride in creative expression.
