Educator

Bumbry (1937-2023) was a mezzo-soprano and later, a soprano opera singer, and one of the most celebrated voices of 20th century opera. She exploded onto the international stage after she appeared as Venus in Richard Wagner’s Tannhäuser at the Bayreuth Festspielhaus in Germany in 1961. She was the first black woman to perform at this festival and her appearance was met with outrage, scorn, and controversy. Post performance she was hailed the “magnificent ‘Black Venus’” and received 42 curtain calls and a 30-minute standing ovation.

Huggins (1948) is an educator, writer, human rights and community activist, and former Black Panther Party leader who helped establish innovative community education models in Oakland, California. While attending Lincoln University she met John Huggins. It was there that they were both deeply moved by a Ramparts magazine photo of a wounded Huey Newton shackled to his hospital bed and they decided to drive from the East Coast to Los Angeles to attend a Free Huey rally. A month later, in November 1967, they joined the Los Angeles chapter of the Black Panther Party.

Hill (1907-1969) was an organic and analytical chemist, educator, and one of the first Black women to earn a Master's in Chemistry. She co-authored over 40 research papers and published two textbooks with her husband, General College Chemistry and Experiments in Organic Chemistry.

Founded on the campus of Howard Universty in 1913.

Allen (1950)

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.

Educator

Tate (1905-1996) was an intrepid adventurer, educator, author, polyglot, and international diplomacy expert. She was the first Black woman from the United States to attend Oxford University, earning her B.Litt. degree in 1935. She later became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in government and international relations from Harvard's Radcliffe College in 1941. She joined Howard University's history department in 1942, where she served as professor until 1977. Her scholarly work included five books on diplomatic history, extensive research across Asia, the Pacific, and Africa, and service as an advisor to then General Eisenhower on disarmament in the late 1940s. Tate's legacy also includes significant philanthropic contributions, notably a $1 million donation to establish the Merze Tate Student Education Endowment Fund as well as endowments for two Medallion Scholarships at Western Michigan University.

Educator, Suffragist and Administrator

Cardwell (1894-1962) was a Musician, Educator, and founder of the extraordinary National Negro Opera Company (Pittsburg, 1941), and the Cardwell School of Music.

South African Apartheid Protest

Born Chloe Ardelia Wofford (1931-2019), “Toni” Morrison was a Pulitzer Prize and Nobel Prize - winning novelist, editor, and professor. Her most notable works include “The Bluest Eye” (1970), “Song of Solomon” (1977), and “Beloved” (1987), which won the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction in 1988.

Social worker and Educator.

Owner and Publisher of the Pittsburgh Courier.

Bibliotherapy advocate

Bonds (1913-1972) was an incomparable composer, pianist, and educator. She profoundly influenced 20th-century classical music by infusing her orchestral and chamber works with elements of spirituals, calypso rhythms, and other musical traditions from the African diaspora.

Ballet

Educator

Community leader

Sculptor, Educator

Educator and Flight Instructor

Test

Head coach of Temple University's fencing team and the first Black woman to represent the United States in fencing in the Olympic games. In 2017, she was inducted into the USA Fencing Hall of Fame. She has also been inducted into the Temple University Hall of Fame and the United States Fencing Coaches Association Hall of Fame.

The Hale House

Sklarek (1926-2012) was the first African American woman to be licensed as an architect in the state of New York in 1954, and later, she became the first Black woman licensed as an architect in California in 1962. She was also the first Black woman member of the prestigious American Institute of Architects (AIA). These milestones shattered racial and gender barriers, blazing a trail for others to follow in the field of architecture.

Dr. Daly (1921-2003), an extraordinary biochemist and trailblazer, was the first African American woman to earn a Ph.D. in Chemistry and the first African American to receive a doctoral degree from Columbia University. Daly's pioneering research, spanning over 20 peer-reviewed publications, covered cardiovascular health, digestion, protein synthesis, and many other areas.

Fausset (1882-1961), was

Dr. Granville (1924-2023) was the 2nd African American woman to earn a PhD in Mathematics. During her career, she made significant contributions to the mathematics, space technology, and computer programming fields, including developing software for NASA's project Apollo, working on the first mass-produced computer in the world, and writing computer programs for NASA's Project Vanguard and Project Mercury. During her storied career, she also mentored Dr. Vivienne Malone Mayes and Dr. Etta Zuber Falconer, the 5th and 11th Black women to receive their Ph.D.s in Mathematics, respectively.

Burroughs (1879-1961) was one of the most influential women of the early 20th century. She was a businesswoman, unbowed social and political activist, and a key figure in the women’s suffrage movement.

Advocate and Activits

Stanton (1913-2012), a legend in the public library domain. She was the first woman and Black person to lead a Public Library system (Executive Director, Detroit Public Library - 1970) and the first Black President of the American Library Association.