African American Firsts – Scholarship
Otha Edward Thornton, Jr. (1967- )
Otha Edward Thornton, Jr., the first African American President of the National Parent Teacher Association (PTA), was born in October...
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School (1870- )
Paul Laurence Dunbar High School was established in 1870 as the Preparatory High School for Colored Youth with 45 students...
George Washington Henderson (ca. 1850-1936)
Born a slave in Clark County, Virginia, George Washington Henderson graduated from the University of Vermont in 1877 and became...
Lucy Stanton Day Sessions (1831-1910)
Educator and abolitionist Lucy Stanton Day Sessions is believed to be the first African American woman to graduate from college,...
Sadie T. M. Alexander (1898-1989)
Born two decades before American women won the right to vote, Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander overcame obstacles as a woman...
Ruth Simmons (1945- )
Ruth Simmons is the first African American to be named President of an Ivy League university. She is also the...
Georgiana Simpson (1866-1944)
Georgiana R. Simpson was the second black women to be awarded a Ph.D. in the United States. She received her...
Eva Beatrice Dykes (1893-1986)
In 1921 Eva Beatrice Dykes became the first black woman in the United States to complete the required coursework for...
Daniel Alexander Payne (1811-1893)
Born on February 24, 1811 to free Black parents London and Martha Payne in Charleston, South Carolina, Daniel Alexander Payne...
