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Vocalist Frankie Lymon (1942-1968) became the first black American teen heartthrob. He also inspired a number of younger musicians, including Michael Jackson. Born in Harlem, he became a singer of d

The first known black regular lecturer in the antislavery cause and the first major black abolitionist was Charles Lenox Redmond (1810-73). His fame soared, following a triumphant tour of England. H

In 1968 Gordon A. Parks Sr. (1912-?) produced The Learning Tree, and he helped to break down racial barriers in Hollywood when he became the first black to produce, direct, and score a film for a majo

In 1954 Norma Merrick Sklarek (1928-?) became the first black woman registered architect in New York State. In 1962 she became the first black woman licensed in California. She was also the first bl

Daniel Hale Williams (1856-1931) performed the world’s first successful heart operation on July 9, 1893. The open-heart surgery was executed at Provident Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, a hospital tha

Charlotta Bass (1880-1969) is thought to be the first woman to own and publish a newspaper in this country. She bought the California Owl in 1912 and ran it for some forty years. Bass was the Progre

Ralph Waldo Ellison (1914-1994) was the first black to win the National Book Award for his novel, Invisible Man. Written in 1952, the book deals with a black man’s “place” in a white man’s world. Bo

Jack Johnson (1878-1946) knocked out Tommy Burns on December 26 in Sydney, Australia, in the fourteenth round to become the first black heavyweight boxing champion. He lost only five of

The Brandford Modeling Agency, founded by Edward Brandford (1908-?) was the first licensed black modeling agency in the country. Their models were known as “Brandford Lovelies.” Brandford was born i

In 1921 the Pace Phonograph Company, which used the Black Swan label, was the first record company owned and operated by a black. It was established in January 1921 by Henry Pace (1897-1943), who had