Phillis Wheatley

Phillis Wheatley (1753 - 1784), a poet, was the first published poet (Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in 1773), and was the first woman whose writing helped create the genre of African American literature.

Frances Harper

Frances Harper (1825 – 1911), was an abolitionist and author whose antislavery verse, Poems on Miscellaneous Subjects(1854), sold thousands of copies and The Two Offers(1859) was the first short story published by an African American.

Lucy Prince Terry

Lucy Prince Terry (1730–1821), a former slave and poet, authored the first and oldest known work of literature, Bars Fight, a ballad about an attack on two white families by Native Americans, preserved orally until its 1855 publication.

Harriet Wilson

Harriet Wilson (1825–1900), a pioneering writer, was the first to publish a novel, Our Nig: Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, in 1859. Her work is celebrated for its critical social commentary and lasting influence on African American literature.

Edmonia Lewis

Edmonia Lewis (1845 - 1872), an artist, was the first to become a professional sculptor in the U.S., during the 1860s.

Louise Beavers

Louise Beavers (1902 -1962), an actress, was the first actress to star in amajor film one of which was Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1927.

Nina Mae McKinney

Nina Mae McKinney (1912–1967), an actress, became the first Black movie star, with her leading role in Hallelujah and signing with MGM in 1929.

Nella Larsen

Nella Larsen (1891 - 1964), a novelist, was the first to win a Guggenheim fellowship for creative writing in 1930.

Hattie McDaniel

Hattie McDaniel (1895 - 1952) an actress, was the first woman to win an Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for her performance as Mammy in the 1939 film, Gone with the Wind.

Ann Petry

Ann Petry (1908 - 1997), an author, was the first to sell over one million copies of her book, The Street, which was published in 1946, using her writing to shed light on racial and social injustices.

Gwendolyn Brooks

Gwendolyn Brooks (1917–2000), a poet, was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry (Annie Allen) in 1949 and opened doors for African American voices in 20th-century literature.

Juanita Hall

Juanita Hall (1901–1968), an actress and singer, was the first woman to win a Tony Award in 1950 for South Pacific, becoming one of Broadway’s most celebrated performers of her era.

Mary Elizabeth Vroman

Mary Elizabeth Vroman (1925–1967), an playwright and educator, was the first African American woman to join the Screen Writers Guild for Bright Road in 1953.

Dorothy Dandridge

Dorothy Dandridge (1922 - 1965), an actor, was the first to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress Award for her role in Carmen Jones in 1954.

Alice Childress

Alice Childress (1916 - 1994), a novelist, playwright and actress, was the first to win an Obie in 1955, for the best off-Broadway play, which she produced "Trouble in Mind".

Lorraine Hansberry

Lorraine Hansberry (1930 - 1965), a writer and author, was the first woman to receive the New York Drama Critics Circle Award for A Raisin in the Sun in 1959.

Jackie Moms Mabley

Jackie Moms Mabley (1894 - 1975) a comedian, was the first to establish herself as a single act in standup comedy, during the early 1960s.

Ruby Dee

Ruby Dee (1924–2014), was the first to play major roles at the Shakespeare Festival, portraying Kate in Shrew and Cordelia in King Lear.

Maya Angelou

Maya Angelou (1928 – 2014), ) was the first Poet to read at a Presidential Inauguration (William Jefferson Clinton 1993).

Virginia Hamilton

Virginia Hamilton (1934 - 2002), a writer and author, was the first to win the John Newberry Medal in 1975 for M.C. Higgins, the Great.

Alice Walker

Alice Walker (b. 1944), a writer and author, was the first to win the National book Award and the Pulitzer Prize in 1983 for her novel, The Color Purple.

Julie Dash

Julie Dash (b. 1952), a director, was the first to direct a feature-length film for general theatrical release in the United States Daughters of the Dust in 1992.

Toni Morrison

Toni Morrison (1931–2019), a celebrated writer, was the first African American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Her Pulitzer-winning novel Beloved is a landmark work.

Rita Dove

Rita Dove (b. 1952), a poet, was the first and the youngest person to be name the U.S. Poet Laureate in 1952. She is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning author.