The following list provides the names of the first African Americans in a variety of areas of achievement in government, law, diplomacy, the military, science and medicine, sports, literature, and other fields.

• Officeholder in colonial America: Matthias de Souza, 1641
• State elected official: Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1836.
• Municipal elected official: John Mercer Langston, 1855.
• County sheriff: Walter Burton, 1869.
• State Supreme Court Justice: Jonathan Jasper Wright, 1870.
• City mayor: Robert Wood, 1870.
• U.S. Representative: Joseph Rainey,1870.
• U.S. Senator (appointed): Hiram Revels, 1870.
• Governor (appointed): P.B.S. Pinchback, 1872. 
• Person to run for the presidency: George Edwin Taylor, 1904.
• Woman legislator: Crystal Bird Fauset, 1938.
• U.S Senator (elected) Edward Brooke, 1966.
• U.S. cabinet member: Robert C. Weaver, 1966.
• Mayor of major city: Carl Stokes, 1967.
• Woman U.S. Representative: Shirley Chisholm, 1969.
• Woman cabinet officer: Patricia Harris, 1977.
• Governor (elected): L. Douglas Wilder, 1989.
• Woman mayor of a major U.S. city: Sharon Pratt Dixon Kelly, 1991.
• Woman U.S. Senator: Carol Mosely Braun, 1992.
• U.S. Secretary of State: Colin Powell, 2001.
• Woman Secretary of State: Condoleezza Rice, 2005.
• Major party nominee for President: Sen. Barack Obama, 2008. 
• U.S. President: Barack Obama, 2009.

African-American Firsts: Law

• Admitted to the Bar: Macon B. Allen, 1845.
• Woman admitted to the bar:Charlotte Ray, 1872. 
• Elected municipal judge: Mifflin W. Gibbs, 1873
• Editor, Harvard Law Review: Charles Hamilton Houston, 1919. 
• Federal Judge: William Henry Hastie, 1946.
• Woman federal judge: Constance Baker Motley, 1966.
• U.S. Supreme Court Justice: Thurgood Marshall, 1967. 
• President of the American Bar Association: Dennis Archer, 2002.

African-American Firsts: Diplomacy

• U.S. ambassador: Ebenezer D. Bassett, 1869. 
• Nobel Peace Prize winner: Ralph J. Bunche, 1950.
• Woman U.S. ambassador:Patricia Harris, 1965.
• U.S. Representative to the UN: Andrew Young, 1977.

African-American Firsts: Military

• U.S Army unit to have black men comprise more than half of its troops: 1st Rhode Island Regiment, 1778.
• Commissioned officer in the U.S. Navy: Robert Smalls, 1863.
• Commissioned officer above the rank of Captain in the U.S. Army: Major Martin R. Delany, 1865.
• West Point graduate: Henry O. Flipper, 1877.
• Graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy: Wesley A. Brown, 1949.
• Congressional Medal of Honor winner: Sgt. William H. Carney, 1900.
• Combat pilot: Eugene Jacques Bullard, 1917. 
• General: Benjamin O. Davis, Sr., 1940.
• Woman general: Hazel W. Johnson, 1979.
• Woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy: Janie L. Mines, 1980.
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff: Colin Powell, 1989–1993.
• Woman Rear Admiral in the United States Navy: Lillian Fishburne, 1998.

• Patent holder: Thomas L. Jennings, 1821.
• Hospital dedicated to black patient care: The Georgia Infirmary, 1832. 
• M.D. degree: James McCune Smith, 1837. 
• M.D. degree from a U.S. Medical School: David Jones Peck, 1847. 
• Woman to receive an M.D. degree: Rebecca Lee Crumpler, 1864.
• Woman patent holder: Judy Reed, 1884.
• Black-owned hospital: Provident Hospital founded by Daniel Hale Williams, 1891.
• Heart surgery pioneer: Daniel Hale Williams, 1893.
• Developer of the blood bank: Dr. Charles Drew, 1940.
• Member of the National Academy of Sciences: David Harold Blackwell, 1965.
• Astronaut: Robert H. Lawrence, Jr., 1967. 
• Implantation of heart defibrillator: Levi Watkins, Jr., 1980.
• Astronaut to travel in space: Guion Bluford, 1983.
• Head of the National Science Foundation: Walter E. Massey, 1990.
• Woman astronaut: Mae Jemison, 1992.
• President of the American Medical Association: Lonnie Bristow, 1995
• Space Shuttle Commander: Frederick D. Gregory, 1998.

African-American Firsts: Scholarship

• College graduate (B.A.): Alexander Lucius Twilight, 1823. 
• Graduate of an Ivy League School: Theodore Sedgewick Wright, 1828
• College professor: Charles Lewis Reason, 1849.
• Woman to graduate from a college, Lucy Stanton, 1850. 
• College president: Daniel A. Payne, 1856.
• Non-white public high school: Paul Lawrence Dunbar High, 1870.
• Ph.D.: Edward A. Bouchet, 1876. . 
• Elected to Phi Beta Kappa, George Washington Henderson, 1877.
• Rhodes scholar: Alain L. Locke, 1907.
• Women Ph.D's: Georgiana Simpson, Sadie Tanner Mossell and Eva Beatrice Dykes, 1921.
• Ivy League University president: Ruth Simmons, 2001.

• Poet: Lucy Terry, 1746. 
• Published autobiography: Briton Hammon, 1760.
• Poet (published): Phillis Wheatley, 1773. 
• Recognized artist: Joshua Johnston, 1790, portraiture.
• Woman's autobiography: Jarena Lee, 1831.
• Male Novelist: William Wells Brown, 1853.
• Woman novelist, Harriett Wilson, 1859.
• Recognized photographer: James Conway Farley, 1885
• Pulitzer prize winner: Gwendolyn Brooks, 1950.
• Pulitzer prize winner in Drama: Charles Gordone, 1970.
• Poet Laureate: Robert Hayden, 1976.
• Nobel Prize for Literature winner: Toni Morrison, 1993.
• Woman Poet Laureate: Rita Dove, 1993.

African-American Firsts: Newspapers and Other Print Media

• Newspaper: Freedom's Journal, 1827.
• Daily newspaper: New Orleans Tribune, 1864.
• Mass Circulation Magazine: Ebony, 1945

African-American Firsts: Music and Dance

• Published musical composition: Francis Johnson, 1817.
• Theatrical company: The African Company, 1821.
• Nationally recognized dance performer: William Henry Lane (Master Juba), 1845.
• Member of the New York City Opera: Todd Duncan, 1945.
• Member of the Metropolitan Opera Company: Marian Anderson, 1955.
• Male Grammy Award winner: Count Basie, 1958.
• Woman Grammy Award winner: Ella Fitzgerald, 1958.
• Principal dancer in a major dance company: Arthur Mitchell, 1959, New York City Ballet.

African-American Firsts: Film and Theater

• First African American film company: Lincoln Motion Picture Company, 1916.
• Film director: Oscar Micheaux, 1919.
• First Oscar winner: Hattie McDaniel, 1940.
• First Honorary Oscar: James Baskett, 1948.
• Tony Award Winner: Juanita Hall, 1950.
• Oscar, Best Actor: Sidney Poitier 1963.
• Director for a major Hollywood studio: Gordon Parks, 1969.
• Woman director for a major Hollywood Studio: Julie Dash, 1991.
• Oscar, Best Actress: Halle Berry, 2001.

African-American Firsts: Radio and Television

• Black-owned radio station: WERD, purchased by Jesse B. Blayton, Sr., 1949.
• Network television show host: Nat King Cole, 1956. 
• Star of a network television show: Bill Cosby, 1965.
• Black-owned television station: WGPR-TV,  1975
• First Evening New Anchor: Max Robinson, 1978.
• Woman television show host: Oprah Winfrey, 1986.

African-American Firsts: Sports

• Jockey to win the Kentucky Derby: Oliver Lewis, 1875.
• Professional golfer: John Matthew Shippen, Jr., 1896
• World cycling champion: Marshall W. "Major" Taylor, 1899.
• Olympic medalist (Summer games): George Poage, 1904.
• Olympic gold medalist (Summer games): John Baxter "Doc" Taylor, 1908.
• World Heavyweight boxing champion: Jack Johnson, 1908.
• NFL football coach: Fritz Pollard, 1922–1937.
• Professional Race Car Driver, Rajo Jack De Soto, 1923
• Olympic gold medalist (Summer games; individual): DeHart Hubbard, 1924.  
• Major league baseball player: Jackie Robinson, 1947.
• Woman gold medalist (Summer games; individual): Alice Coachman, 1948.
• NFL quarterback: Willie Thrower, 1953.
• Wimbledon tennis champion: Althea Gibson, 1957. 
• NHL hockey player: Willie O'Ree, 1958, Boston Bruins.
• NASCAR stock car driver to win a major race: Wendell Oliver Scott, 1963.
• Male tennis champion: Arthur Ashe, 1968.
• Professional Bowlers Association Champion: George Branham III, 1985
• Olympic medalist (Winter games): Debi Thomas, 1988.
• Golf champion: Tiger Woods, 1997.
• Chess Grandmaster: Maurice Ashley, 1999
• Olympic gold medalist (Winter games): Vonetta Flowers, 2002.
• Olympic gold medalist (Winter games; individual): Shani Davis, 2006.

African-American Firsts: Religion

• Baptist Church:David George and the Silver Bluff Baptist Church, 1773.
• African Episcopal (AME) Church: Mother Bethel AME Church, 1794.
• Church-Sponsored African American College: Wilberforce University, 1856.
• Episcopal Church Bishop: James Theodore Holly, 1879
• Pentecostal Faith Revival: William J. Seymour and the Azusa Street Revival, 1906.
• National Black Catholic Fraternal Order: Knights of St. Peter Claver, 1909.
• Woman Bishop in the Episcopal (Anglican) Church: Barbara Harris, 1989.
• Woman Bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church: Vashti Murphy McKenzie, 2000.
• President of the Southern Baptist Convention, Fred Luter, Jr., 2012

• Landowners: Anthony and Mary Johnson, 1640.
• Black-owned insurance company: The African Insurance Company, 1810.
• Black Labor Union: American League of Colored Laborers, 1850.
• Black-owned Bank: True Reformers Bank, 1889.
• Black-owned resort: Highland Beach, Maryland, 1893. 
• Millionaire: Robert Abbott, founder of the Chicago Defender in 1905.
• Automobile manufacturing company: C.R. Patterson & Sons, 1915.
• Record Company: Black Swan Records, 1921.
• Black-owned Youth Camp: Camp Atwater, 1921.
• Black-owned metropolitian newspaper: Robert Maynard and the Oakland Tribune, 1983
• Billionaire: Robert Johnson, 2001, owner of Black Entertainment Television.

Other African-American Firsts:

• Explorer, North Pole: Matthew Henson, 1909.
• Licensed Pilot: Bessie Coleman, 1921.
• Explorer, South Pole: George Gibbs, 1939–1941.
• Captain of an American Merchant Marine ship: Hugh Mulzac, 1942.
• Pilot for commercial airline: Perry Young, Jr., 1957.
• Flight Attendant: Ruth Carol Taylor, 1958.
• President of Girl Scouts, USA, Gloria Dean Randall Scott, 1975
• Woman commercial airline pilot: Jill Elaine Brown, 1978.
• Miss America: Vanessa Williams, 1984. 
• Sail solo around the world: William Pinkney, 1990-1992
• Miss USA: Carole Ann-Marie Gist, 1990.
• President of the National League of Women Voters, Carolyn Jefferson-Jenkins, 1994.
• President of the National Parent-Teacher Association (PTA): Lois Jean White, 1995
• Flight around the world: Barrington Irving, 2007.
• Explorer, North Pole: Barbara Hillary, 2007.

Sources:
Jessie Carney Smith, Black Firsts: 4,000 ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events (Detroit, Visible Ink Press, 2003); Charles M. Christian, Black Saga: The African American Experience, A Chronology (Boston: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1995); Factmonster.com, http://www.factmonster.com/spot/bhmfirsts.html

For a detailed chronology of African American history please consult the following BlackPast.org timelines:

African American history, 1601-1700
African American history, 1701-1800
African American history, 1801-1900
African American history, 1901-2000
African American history, 2001-