Civil Rights
Discover Black women's legacies month by month. Explore history's milestones and celebrate the remarkable achievements of influential figures.
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Jan 2
January
Dr. Sadie Tanner Mossell Alexander
Dr. Mossell (1898-1989), hailing from the distinguished Mossell and Tanner family lines, was an attorney, civic servant, and humanitarian. She was the first black woman to graduate from University of Penn Law School and the first black woman admitted to the Pennsylvania bar (1927). She was also the first Black woman to receive a Ph.D. in Economics in the United States (University of Pennsylvania, 1921), and the first National President of Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.
Jan 22
January
Willa Brown
Brown was the first black woman to hold both a private (1937) and commercial (1939) pilot’s license in the United States and one of the first woman to hold a commercial pilot's license and a master aviation mechanic's certificate (1935). She co-founded the Coffey School of Aeronautics where she trained thousands of pilots, nearly 200 of which became Tuskegee airmen. She was also the first black woman to run for Congress.
Feb 21
February
Barbara Jordan
Jordan (1936-1996) was a lawyer, State Senator, Congresswoman, enthralling orator, educator, and civil rights leader. During President Nixon's televised impeachment hearing, Jordan delivered a powerful 15-minute opening statement to the House Judiciary Committee. Her speech has been hailed as one of the most influential in 20th-century American history, playing a "decisive" role in "swaying public opinion in favor of impeachment".
Mar 4
March
Miriam Makeba
Zenzile Miriam Makeba was born near Johannesburg, South Africa on March 4, 1932. She was a South African singer, songwriter, actress, vocal apartheid opponent, civil rights activist, and UN Goodwill Ambassador. She was also known as the Empress of African Song. She became the first African artist to globally popularize African music.
Apr 4
April
Maya Angelou
Maya Angelou was born Marguerite Annie Johnson in St. Louis, Missouri on April 4, 1928. She and her older brother, Bailey Jr, who nicknamed her Maya, were born to Bailey Johnson, a doorman and navy dietitian, and Vivian (Baxter) Johnson, a nurse and card dealer. She was a poet, author, civil rights activist, and director.
Apr 18
April
May 7
May
Mary Eliza Mahoney
Mary was the first licensed African American nurse in the United States and first African American graduate of an American nursing school. She was born in the spring of 1845 in Dorchester, Massachusetts to freed, formerly enslaved people who relocated from North Carolina for a chance at better civil and economic opportunities for their family.
Jun 6
June
Marian Wright Edelman
Spelman College and Yale Law School graduate, the first black woman admitted to the Mississippi Bar (1964), founder of the Children's Defense Fund, and the first woman alum elected to the Yale University Corporation, Marian Wright Edelman has dedicated her life to advocating for children's rights and serving her community.
Jul 2
July
Civil Rights Act of 1964
The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was a landmark legislation that formally ended segregation and dismantled the Jim Crow system by banning discrimination based on race, color, religion, sex, or national origin in various aspects of American life, including employment, education, and public accommodations.
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