Famous Firsts in Black History

First African American to serve in the United States Senate

• Ralph J. Bunche

• Jackie Robinson

• Nat King Cole

• Hiram Revels

First African American millionaire - invented black hair care products

• Madame C. J. Walker

• Hiram Revels

• Thurgood Marshall

• James Meredith

First African American student to attend the University of Mississippi

• Madame C. J. Walker

• Guion Bluford

• James Meredith

• Ralph J. Bunche

First African American to be on a U.S. postage stamp

• Phillis Wheatley

• Booker T. Washington

• Hiram Revels

• James Meredith

First African American with his own network radio show - The Nat King Cole Show

• Phillis Wheatley

• Jackie Robinson

• Nat King Cole

• Madame C. J. Walker

First African American to publish a book - Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral

• Hiram Revels

• Thurgood Marshall

• Phillis Wheatley

• Jackie Robinson

First African American to play in the major leagues in the modern era

• Ralph J. Bunche

• Phillis Wheatley

• Jackie Robinson

• Thurgood Marshall

First African American to win a Nobel Peace Prize - for mediating the Arab-Israeli conflict

• Booker T. Washington

• Ralph J. Bunche

• James Meredith

• Madame C. J. Walker

First African American Supreme Court Justice

• Ralph J. Bunche

• Phillis Wheatley

• Hiram Revels

• Thurgood Marshall

First African American to go into space

• Madame C. J. Walker

• Hiram Revels

• Guion Bluford

• Thurgood Marshall