Part Two

Jupiter Hammon (1711-1806) First African American to publish poetry

Paul Cuffe (1759-1817) First African American to own a shipping fleet

Salem Poor (1758-?) Black soldier in the battle at Bunker Hill

Jarena Lee (1783 -?) Early female preacher in the AME church

John Horse (1812-1882) Afro -Native American leader during the Seminole Wars

Sojourner Truth (1797?-1883) African American abolitionist, women's rights advocate and orator

Elizabeth Keckley (1818-1907) Dressmaker and author of book about life in the White House

Freedom's Journal (1827) First black owned newspaper in the United States

Isaac Murphy (1861?-1896) First jockey to win three Kentucky Derby races

Sarah Mapps Douglass (1806-1882) Abolitionist, teacher, writer and public lecturer

Robert Smalls (1839-1915) U.S. Republican Congressman for five terms

P.B. S. Pinchback (1837-1921) First African American Governor

Lewis Latimer (1848-1928) Engineer and light bulb innovator

Mary Fields (1832-1914) First African American woman stagecoach driver for the postal service

Sissieretta Jones (1869-1933) First African American to sing at Carnegie Hall

Josephine Saint Pierre Ruffin (1842-1924) Publisher of the first magazine for African American women

John "Bud" Fowler (1854-1913) First African American professional baseball player

Nannie Helen Burroughs (1879-1961) Early civil rights leader and educator

Ernest E. Just (1883-1941) Biologist, the pioneer of cell division

Oscar Micheaux (1884-1951) First African American to produce a feature length film

Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972) Queen of gospel singers

George Herriman (1880-1944) Creator of the "Krazy Kat" cartoon strip

Eva Jessye (1895-1992) Choral Director for the original "Porgy and Bess "

Ralph J. Bunche (1904-1971) First African American Nobel Peace Prize winner

General Roscoe Robinson, Jr. (1928-1993) First African American Four-Star General.

Madame Lillian Evanti (1891-1967) Founder of the National Negro Opera Company

Althea Gibson (1927- present) First African American to win a major tennis tournament

Moneta Sleet, Jr. (1926-1996) First African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for Photography

Edith Sampson ( 1901-1979) First black woman elected a judge

Harry Belafonte (1927-present) Singer, Actor, Activist