From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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."
[1]
[2]
In addition to
major national- and international-level firsts , African-Americans have achieved firsts on a statewide basis.
19th century
First governor of African descent in what is now the US:
Pío Pico , an
Afro-Mexican , was the last
governor of Alta California before it was ceded to the US. Like all
Californios , Pico automatically became a US citizen in 1848. He was elected to the
Los Angeles Common Council in 1853, but he did not assume office.[
citation needed ]
First elected African-American
lieutenant governor :
Oscar Dunn ,
Lieutenant Governor of Louisiana
First 33 African-American legislators in
Georgia : see
Original 33
May: First African-American acting governor:
Oscar James Dunn of
Louisiana from May until August 9, 1871, when sitting Governor Warmoth was incapacitated and chose to recuperate in Mississippi. (see also: Douglas Wilder, 1990)
First African-American governor of Louisiana:
P. B. S. Pinchback (Also first in U.S.) (non-elected; see also Douglas Wilder, 1990)
First African-American Speaker of the
Mississippi House of Representatives , and of any state legislature:
John R. Lynch
First African American elected to the
Tennessee General Assembly :
Sampson W. Keeble
First African American elected to the
Illinois General Assembly :
John W. E. Thomas
First African American elected mayor in
New York State (village president of
Cleveland ):
Ned Sherman
First African American elected to the
Wyoming Legislature :
William Jefferson Hardin
First African American elected to the
Ohio General Assembly :
George Washington Williams
First African American elected to the
Indiana General Assembly :
James Sidney Hinton
[3]
[4]
First African American elected to the
Rhode Island General Assembly :
Mahlon Van Horne
First African-American female principal in Massachusetts and the Northeast:
Maria Louise Baldwin , supervising white faculty and a predominantly white student body at the Agassiz Grammar School in Cambridge (renamed the Maria L. Baldwin School in 2004).
[5]
[6]
First African-American member elected to the
Michigan House of Representatives :
William Webb Ferguson
First African-American member elected to the
Minnesota House of Representatives :
John Francis Wheaton
[7]
20th century
First African-American elected to the
Wisconsin Legislature :
Lucian H. Palmer
First African American to enter the
University of Oregon :
Mabel Byrd
[8]
First African-American elected to political office in California:
Frederick Madison Roberts ,
California State Assembly
First African-American elected to the Missouri legislature:
Walthall Moore
First African-American elected to the
Illinois Senate :
Adelbert Roberts
First African Americans elected as
judges in the state of
New York :
James S. Watson and Charles E. Toney
[9]
First African-American woman to be elected to the
Pennsylvania General Assembly and to any state legislature:
Crystal Bird Fauset
First African-American woman to own a cosmetology school in
Iowa :
Pauline Brown Humphrey
[10]
First African American elected to the
Delaware House of Representatives :
William J. Winchester
First African-American woman to be elected to the
West Virginia Legislature :
Elizabeth Simpson Drewry
First African-American woman to be elected to the
Michigan Legislature :
Charline White
First African American to graduate from the
University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences :
Edith Irby Jones
[11]
First African-American woman elected to the
New York State Legislature :
Bessie A. Buchanan
First African-American elected to the
Maryland State Senate :
Harry A. Cole
First African-American student to attend the
University of Alabama :
Autherine Lucy
[12] Her expulsion from the institution later that year led to the university's President
Oliver Carmichael 's resignation.
[13]
[14]
First African American to teach at college or university level in California:
Betty Smith Williams .
[15]
[16]
First African-American woman elected to the
New Jersey Legislature :
Madaline A. Williams
First African-American women elected to the
Maryland General Assembly :
Verda F. Welcome and
Irma George Dixon
First African-American woman elected to the
Illinois General Assembly :
Floy Clements
First African American to graduate from the
University of Maryland :
Elaine J. Coates
[17]
First African American to graduate from the
University of Maryland :
Elaine J. Coates
[18]
First African-American
attorney general of
Massachusetts :
Edward Brooke . Also first African American to hold Massachusetts statewide office, and first African-American attorney general of any state.
First African American elected to the
Delaware Senate :
Herman Holloway
First African-American woman elected to the
Indiana Legislature :
Daisy Riley Lloyd
First African-American woman elected to the
New York State Senate :
Constance Baker Motley
First African-American woman elected to the
Texas Legislature :
Barbara Jordan
First African American known lesbian state legislator: Barbara Jordan
First African-American woman elected to the
Georgia General Assembly :
Grace Towns Hamilton
First African-American appointed to
New York State Board of Regents :
Kenneth Bancroft Clark
First African-American
senator from Massachusetts:
Edward Brooke . (Also first post-
Reconstruction African American elected to the U.S. Senate and first African American elected to the U.S. Senate by
popular vote ).
First African-American woman in the
California Legislature :
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke
First African-American woman elected to the
Tennessee General Assembly :
Dorothy Lavinia Brown
First African-American woman elected to the
Arizona Legislature :
Ethel Maynard
First African-American woman admitted to the
Mississippi Bar:
Marian Wright Edelman
First African-American woman elected to the
Montana Legislature :
Geraldine W. Travis
First African-American elected to the
Florida Legislature since Reconstruction:
Joe Lang Kershaw
First African-American elected mayor of a
Mississippi city since Reconstruction:
Charles Evers , in
Fayette, Mississippi
[19]
First African-Americans elected to the
Alaska Legislature :
Willard L. Bowman and
Joshua Wright
First African-American woman elected to the
Delaware General Assembly :
Henrietta R. Johnson
First African-American woman elected to the
Florida Legislature :
Gwen Cherry
First African-American woman elected to the
Washington Legislature :
Peggy Maxie
First African-American elected to the
Wisconsin Senate :
Monroe Swan
First African-American woman elected to the
Massachusetts General Court :
Doris Bunte
First African-American woman elected to the
Connecticut General Assembly :
Margaret E. Morton
First African-American woman elected to the
Michigan State Board of Education :
Barbara Roberts Mason
First African-American man elected to the
New Hampshire House of Representatives :
Henry Richardson
First African-American woman elected to the
South Carolina Legislature :
Juanita Goggins
First African-American appointed as a judge in Federal District Court in Virginia: Robert H. Cooley III (1939–1998), appointed to the Eastern District
[20]
First African-American elected mayor in New Mexico:
Albert Johnson
[21]
First African-American to serve on the California Supreme Court:
Wiley W. Manuel
First African-American speaker of the
South Carolina House of Representatives , and of any state legislature in the United States since Reconstruction:
K. Leroy Irvis
First African-American woman elected to the
Wisconsin Legislature :
Marcia P. Coggs
First African-American woman elected to the
Illinois Senate :
Earlean Collins
First African-American appointed to the office of
Michigan State Treasurer :
Loren E. Monroe
[23]
First African-American woman elected to the
Ohio Legislature :
Helen Rankin
First African-American elected to a statewide office in
Illinois :
Roland Burris , office of
Comptroller
First African-American elected to a statewide office in
Wisconsin :
Vel Phillips , office of
Secretary of State
First African-American speaker of the
California State Assembly :
Willie Lewis Brown Jr.
First African-American woman elected to the
Arkansas General Assembly :
Irma Hunter Brown
First African-American elected to the
Utah Senate :
Terry Lee Williams
First African-American elected to a statewide office in
Georgia :
Robert Benham ,
Supreme Court of Georgia
First African-American woman to be elected to the
Virginia General Assembly :
Yvonne B. Miller
First African-American woman to be elected to the
Mississippi Legislature :
Alyce Clarke
First African-American woman elected to the
Oregon Legislature :
Margaret Carter
First African-American elected to the
Wyoming Legislature :
Harriet Elizabeth Byrd
First African-American
governor of Virginia:
Douglas Wilder (also first elected governor in US; see also P. B. S. Pinchback, 1872)
First African-American woman elected to the Alaska Legislature:
Bettye Davis
First African-American woman elected to the
Louisiana State Senate :
Diana Bajoie
First African-American elected to a statewide office in
Indiana :
Pamela Carter , office of
Attorney General
First African-American
Minnesota Supreme Court justice:
Alan Page
First African-American
senator from Illinois:
Carol Moseley Braun . (Also first African-American woman elected to the United States Senate, the first African-American U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party, the first woman to defeat an incumbent U.S. Senator in an election, and the first female Senator from Illinois).
First African-American woman elected to the
Nevada Legislature :
Bernice Mathews
First African-American woman elected to the
Delaware Senate :
Margaret Rose Henry
First African-American woman elected to the
Oregon Legislature :
Avel Gordly
First African-American woman elected
State Treasurer and first African-American woman elected statewide in Connecticut:
Denise Nappier
[24]
First African-American elected to office of
Attorney General
Georgia :
Thurbert E. Baker
21st century
Official portrait of
Kamala Harris , 2011
First African-American woman elected to the
Minnesota Legislature :
Neva Walker
First African-American
lieutenant governor of Maryland and first elected to statewide office in
Maryland :
Michael Steele (see also: 2009)
First African-American
District Attorney in
California :
Kamala Harris (
San Francisco ) (see also: 2010, 2017)
First African-American
Oklahoma Supreme Court justice:
Tom Colbert
First African-American
Wisconsin Supreme Court justice:
Louis B. Butler
First African-American
Auditor of Accounts of Vermont and first elected to statewide office in
Vermont :
Randy Brock
First African-American congresswoman elected in Wisconsin's history:
Gwen Moore
First African-American elected
governor of Massachusetts :
Deval Patrick
First African-American
lieutenant governor of New York :
David Paterson
First African-American appointed
State Treasurer of New Jersey :
Michellene Davis
First African-American woman elected
Speaker of the California State Assembly :
Karen Bass
First African-American governor of New York State:
David Paterson (elected as lieutenant governor, succeeded on resignation of previous governor)
First African-American women elected to the
Nebraska Legislature :
Tanya Cook and
Brenda Council
First
bicameral state legislature to have both chambers headed simultaneously by African Americans:
Peter Groff and
Terrance Carroll of
Colorado .
First African-American elected
Attorney General of California :
Kamala Harris (see also: 2004, 2017)
First African-American
Chief Justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court :
Roderick L. Ireland
First African-American elected to the
Idaho Legislature :
Cherie Buckner-Webb
First African-American elected to the
Idaho Senate :
Cherie Buckner-Webb
First African-American senator from
South Carolina :
Tim Scott
[25] (Also the first African-American to serve both houses of the
U.S. Congress .)
First African-American woman to be appointed to a seat on the
New York Court of Appeals :
Sheila Abdus-Salaam .
First African-American senator from New Jersey:
Cory Booker
First African-American senator elected from the South since Reconstruction:
Tim Scott
[26]
First African-American elected
Speaker of the New York State Assembly :
Carl Heastie
[27]
First African-American
Lieutenant Governor of Kentucky and first elected to statewide office in
Kentucky :
Jenean Hampton
[28]
[29]
First African-American woman elected to the
Utah Legislature :
Sandra Hollins
First African-American
United States Senator from
California :
Kamala Harris (see also: 2004, 2010)
First African-American elected
lieutenant governor of
New Jersey :
Sheila Oliver
[30]
First African-American out
trans woman to be elected to public office in the United States:
Andrea Jenkins
First female African-American major-party candidate for governor:
Stacey Abrams , Georgia
First African-American elected
Lieutenant Governor of Michigan :
Garlin Gilchrist
[31]
First African-American
Attorney General of New York :
Letitia James
[32]
First African-American and First woman elected
Speaker of the Maryland House of Delegates :
Adrienne A. Jones
First African-American elected
Lieutenant Governor of Illinois :
Juliana Stratton
First African-American elected
Attorney General of Kentucky :
Daniel Cameron
First Surgeon General for the State of California:
Nadine Burke Harris
[33]
This section needs to be updated . The reason given is: Missing firsts for 2020 and 2021.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2021 )
First African-American congresswoman elected in Missouri's history:
Cori Bush
[34]
First African-American elected
Lieutenant Governor of North Carolina :
Mark Robinson
This section needs to be updated . The reason given is: Missing firsts for 2020 and 2021.. Please help update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information. (January 2021 )
First African-American senator from Georgia and first African-American Democratic Senator from the South:
Raphael Warnock
[35]
First African-American woman to serve on the
Supreme Court of Missouri :
Robin Ransom
[36]
First African-American woman elected
Lieutenant Governor of Virginia :
Winsome Sears
First African-American woman to serve as
Secretary of the State of Connecticut :
Natalie Braswell
[37]
First African-American elected
Attorney General of Maryland :
Anthony Brown
First African-American woman elected
Attorney General of Massachusetts :
Andrea Campbell
First African-American elected
Lieutenant Governor of Pennsylvania :
Austin Davis
First African-American congresswoman elected in Pennsylvania's history:
Summer Lee
First African-American elected
governor of Maryland :
Wes Moore
First African-American elected
Speaker of the Michigan House of Representatives :
Joe Tate
First African-American woman elected
Secretary of State of Connecticut :
Stephanie Thomas
First African-American elected
Secretary of State of California :
Shirley Weber
First African-American woman elected
Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives :
Joanna McClinton
[38]
See also
References
^ Juguo, Zhang. W. E. B. Du Bois: The Quest for the Abolition of the Color Line , Routledge, 2001 -
ISBN
0-415-93087-1
^ Herbst, Philip H. The Color of Words: an encyclopaedic dictionary of ethnic bias in the United States , Intercultural Press, p. 57, 1997 -
ISBN
1-877864-97-8
^ Gregg, John (February 23, 2012).
"Standing with Black trailblazer James S. Hinton" . Indianapolisrecorder.com . Retrieved October 25, 2017 .
^
Indiana Black History Public Art Legacy Project
Archived 2013-03-16 at the
Wayback Machine
^ Vogel, Nathaniel (April 2002).
"The Mismeasure of Maria Baldwin" . Peacework Magazine . Archived from
the original on October 23, 2007. Retrieved September 24, 2017 .
^ Dorgan, Lauren R. (May 22, 2002).
"Committee Renames Local Agassiz School" . The Harvard Crimson . Retrieved September 24, 2017 .
^
Wheaton, John Frances "Frank, J. Frank" , Minnesota Legislative Reference Library, Accessed October 5, 2018.
^
"Untold Stories: Black History" . University of Oregon Special Collections and University Archives Blog. February 4, 2016. Retrieved February 4, 2016 .
^ Judicial Friends Association. (n.d.). Heroic beginnings - judicial friends association. Retrieved January 26, 2023, from
https://judicialfriends.org/heroic-beginnings/https://judicialfriends.org/heroic-beginnings
^
"IWF Celebrates Black History in Iowa: Pauline Brown Humphrey" . The Iowa Women's Foundation . February 25, 2021. Retrieved October 1, 2021 .
^
"University to Graduate First Negro Student" . Hope Star . Hope, Arkansas. May 19, 1952. p. 3. Retrieved December 26, 2015 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Civil rights pioneer Vivian Jones dies" . USA Today. October 13, 2005. Retrieved November 23, 2007 .
^
"Expelled in 1956, Autherine Lucy Foster Receives Honorary Doctorate from University of Alabama" . May 6, 2019.
^
"Education: Goodbye to 'Bama" . Time . November 19, 1956. Retrieved August 28, 2017 .
^ Robison, Daniel.
"Uniting Nurses of Color" . Case Western Reserve University . Retrieved May 23, 2020 .
^ Burnette, Margarette (March 30, 2013).
"Celebrating Excellence: Past, Present and Future" . Minority Nurse . Retrieved May 23, 2020 .
^ Svrluga, Susan (May 24, 2019).
"After a tumultuous year, U-Md. graduates celebrate new beginnings" .
The Washington Post . Retrieved August 7, 2020 .
^ Svrluga, Susan (May 24, 2019).
"After a tumultuous year, U-Md. graduates celebrate new beginnings" .
The Washington Post . Retrieved August 7, 2020 .
^
Neil R. McMillen, Dark Journey: Black Mississippians in the Age of Jim Crow , Chicago: University of Illinois, 1990, p.26
^
"Getting Word: African American Families of Monticello – Robert H. Cooley III" . Charlottesville, VA:
Monticello .
Archived from the original on December 23, 2014.
^
"First black mayor" .
Albuquerque Journal . September 2, 1976. p. 53.
Archived from the original on August 7, 2020 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"First black mayor" .
Albuquerque Journal . September 2, 1976. p. 53.
Archived from the original on August 7, 2020 – via
Newspapers.com .
^
"Loren Monroe, first black State Treasurer of Michigan, dead at 87" . Michigan Chronicle . June 4, 2019. Retrieved May 22, 2020 .
^
"Office of Connecticut State Treasurer Denise L. Nappier" . Archived from
the original on July 26, 2011. Retrieved April 4, 2011 .
^
"Tim Scott's swearing-in as senator caps his historic rise" . McClatchy Newspapers. January 4, 2013. Archived from
the original on December 20, 2013. Retrieved January 11, 2013 .
^
"Political firsts: How history was made this midterm election" . USA Today . Retrieved October 25, 2017 .
^
"Carl E. Heastie" . New York State Assembly. Retrieved October 25, 2017 .
^ Phillips, Amber (November 4, 2015).
"Meet Jenean Hampton, the first black statewide officeholder in Kentucky. And, she's a Republican" . Washingtonpost.com . Retrieved October 25, 2017 .
^ Fund, John (November 3, 2015).
"Kentucky's New GOP Lt. Gov. Is Black Tea-Party Activist" .
National Review . Retrieved November 4, 2015 .
^
Sheila Oliver becomes New Jersey's first Black lieutenant governor ,
New York Amsterdam News (November 8, 2017).
^ Eggert, David (November 7, 2018).
"Democrat Gretchen Whitmer wins Michigan governor race, beating Bill Schuette" . Chicago Tribune . Associated Press. Retrieved May 22, 2020 .
^ Westerman, Ashley (January 1, 2019).
"N.Y. Swears In New Attorney General After A Tumultuous Year For The Office" .
NPR . Retrieved February 13, 2021 .
^ Crudup, Devin (April 6, 2020).
"Meet the Black Woman Appointed as California's First-Ever Surgeon General" . AfroTech . Retrieved May 15, 2020 .
^ Derek Major. November 5, 2020. "
Here Are The Black Americans That Have Made History In The 2020 Election " Black Enterprise . Retrieved January 27, 2021.
^
" 'The new south': Raphael Warnock becomes Georgia's first Black senator" . The Guardian . January 6, 2021. Retrieved February 12, 2021 .
^ Kuang, Jeanne (May 24, 2021).
"Parson appoints Robin Ransom, first Black woman to serve on Missouri Supreme Court" .
The Kansas City Star . Retrieved May 25, 2021 .
^ Pazniokas, Mark (December 10, 2021).
"Natalie Braswell to be named comptroller after Lembo steps down" . CT Mirror . Retrieved February 7, 2022 .
^ Scolforo, Mark (February 28, 2023).
"McClinton voted Pa. speaker; first Black woman to win post" .
Associated Press . Retrieved February 28, 2023 .
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