African-American History

African-American Firsts

1. Given the name "Isabella" and speaking Dutch from infancy , the first Black female professional anti-slavery orator, she has been given credit for a speech in English she never made. What was her stage name and what was the title of a litany written in her honor?

2. An African-American used clothing store owner in Boston authored the first nationally noticed political pamphlet by a person. Some locations made it a crime to possess this document. Identify the author and the pamphlet.

3. He helped Frederick Douglass edit the North Star, 1848, published a still cited book in 1852, led an exploratory party to Africa in 1859, and in 1865, he was the first Black during the Civil War to be appointed to a rank higher than sergeant. What were his rank and name?

4. She was the founder of her own college, the organizer of the premiere Black female public issue association in the 20th century, first African female administrator to head a federal office and made history down to the writing of her "Last Will and Testament." Who was she?

5. At the core of the institutional arrangements effecting the amount of credit and cash available in the United States, the Federal Reserve Board is to the American economy what the heart is to the human body: a pump whose decisions pulsate throughout the nation. Identify the first Black to head this unit of government?

6. While several African-American females hold congressional seats in our time, the very first Black woman to be elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1968 had already served in her state legislature. Identify that noted person.

7. In national recognition, this African-American educator achieved a "double first": he was the first to have a U.S. stamp issued (1940) bearing his likeness and the first to have a U.S. coin issued (1946) with his facial image. Identify him.

8. A major model for Blacks and whites in the 1940s, this educator achieved national renown for his scientific work and became the first African American to be honored with a federally-funded statue (1960) to his memory. Who was he?

9. While most enslaved Africans in the New World used to raise sugar cane, a free person of color was the first person to follow explicitly scientific methods in 1843 in the conversion of cane juice to crystallized sugar. Identify that person.

10. Before becoming the first African American to attain the rank of general in the U.S. Air Force, this serviceman was the first and only individual in recent military history to receive two promotions within 24 hours--from captain to major and lieutenant colonel. Identify him.

11. While astronauts are now seen as routine, few are aware of the first Black person to be selected for the exceedingly rigorous training required by the space program's Manned Orbiting Laboratory in 1967. What was that person' s name?

12. Mae C. Jemison, the first female astronaut, is known primarily for her role in the space program. Before entering this program in 1987, Ms. Jemison worked in Sierra Leone, Africa for two years in what capacity?

13. From its founding in 1867 to 1926, Howard University, the nation's best known most comprehensive predominantly Black university, had white presidents. What was the profession and full name of its first African-American president?

14. Able to write in English, French and German by his early twenties, this Philadelphia-born scholar was the first African American to be awarded, in 1907, a Rhodes scholarship, the world's most prestigious grant for advanced study at Oxford University. Identify him.

15. Who was the first African American to head The National Science Foundation?

Heroes and Heroines

16. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were among the most prominent national civil rights advocacy organizations in the Sixties. One individual served first as manager of SCLC and then of SNCC. Identify that person.

17. In the epoch-making arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks, which launched the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, Mrs. Parks had a "day job" as a professional seamstress in a department store. What was her far more significant "night job?"

18. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s predecessor at Montgomery's Dexter Avenue Baptist Church was perhaps more fearless than Dr. King, but his effort at confronting racism was perceived as being "ahead of his time." Identify this now legendary minister.

19. During the Civil Rights Movement, the NAACP was at the heart of protest movements on behalf of African Americans. Its most famous director switched from a career of recording news to one of making news when, in 1955, he became Executive Director of the NAACP. Who was he?

20. Dating from 1911, the National Urban League has been a major organization monitoring the economic and education status of African Americans. During the Civil Rights Movement, its Executive Director was a former social work professional who headed the League until his untimely demise in 1971. Identify him.

21. Affecting the speech and mannerisms of an aristocrat, this individual created Black America's most powerful labor union and was a pioneer in mass demonstrations. What was his name?

22. Daisy Gaston Bates, then a state NAACP advisor to the famed "Little Rock Nine" desegregating Little Rock, Arkansas' Central High School in 1957, lost her business in the struggle. Identify the business.

23. At the beginning of World War II, Navy Mess Attendant Dorie Miller shot down four Japanese planes. He was proclaimed a hero, returned to duty and lost his life in battle still a messman attendant. The United States Navy acknowledged his heroics by awarding him what special honor?

24. In a heroic congressional career of a quarter century, the first African-American Representative from New York proposed 50 different bills embodying the early concepts of equal opportunity and affirmative action, and saw each of them become law. Identity this lawmaker.

25. Gaining enduring national fame for her eloquent defense of the U.S. Constitution during hearings on whether or not then President Richard Nixon had perhaps violated it, this African-American member of the U.S. House of Representatives became a role model for females of both races. Identify the individual and state represented.

26. The 1963 March on Washington was notable for (a) its size--250,000 marchers, ( b) peaceful conduct and (c) the classic I Have a Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. The person commonly given credit for the logistics of the march was trained by Asa Philip Randolph, the master of marches. Identify this person.

Science, Technology and Inventions

27. After a distinguished career as teacher, research chemist and business entrepreneur, the renowned Dr. Perch L. Julian became a millionaire in 1961 by merging Julian Laboratories with the huge chemical company known by what name?

28. During the 1930s and 40s , Dr. Earnest E. Just gained international fame for his work on the dynamics of egg fertilization and cell structure and at age 22 received from the NAACP its highest recognition for the individual whose work contributed most to the advancement of African Americans. What is the name of this prestigious award?

29. Jan Ernest Matzeliger, the Black mechanical wizard whose shoe making machine placed America in the forefront of the shoe manufacturing business, migrated to North America in search of economic opportunity and found it here rather than in his native land. Where was his original home?

30. As a Black professional inventor. Elijah McCoy not only saved manufacturing concerns untold millions with his non-stop oil lubricating devices, but also earned a comfortable living from his own business which was advertised as what enterprise?

31. In a field where a microscopic mistake can generate major effects, Dr. Benjamin Carson routinely makes national news as a master neurosurgeon. Since 1984, Dr. Carson's professional base of operations has been at what hospital?

32. Calculating the trajectories of spacecraft for lunar or moon landings is work of very high precision and very low margins for error. An Afro-American female pioneering in the mathematics of interplanetary navigation spent 30 years at NASA and was honored with plaques containing her name. Identify her.

33. The holder of the B.A., the M.A. and the Ph.D. in mathematics before his 23rd birthday worked in the fields of statistics and probability theory. This famed professor had a distinguished career at the University of California-Berkeley. Name him.

34. From winning first place in Washington, D.C. high school science fairs to becoming the first Black female to earn a doctorate in physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of particle physics to being chosen president of the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute; this outstanding scientist has been a role model for many African-American students. Name this outstanding scientist.

35. African Americans are disproportionately liable to suffer from sickle cell anemia, a disease which can led to stroke, swollen hands and pneumonia. For five decades , the nation's leading researcher on this illness worked at Howard University. Name him.

36. While African Americans are still underrepresented in the field of medicine, the leading producer of Black undergraduates who eventually enter medical school upon graduating from a small private college in the South. Name the institution.

37. The Apollo 16 lunar landing vehicle placed on the moon an ultraviolet camera/spectrographic device to take unprecedentedly detailed images of stars in the making, billions of miles away. This feat fulfilled the childhood dream of its African-American designer. Name this designer.

38. The African-American co-inventor of the foil electric microphone element, which is used in nearly 90% of the world's phones, holds upwards of 40 patents in America and some 200 in Europe. These accomplishments have been recognized by the ultra selective National Inventors Hall of Fame. Identify this inventor.

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