In celebration of Black History Month, we’ve compiled a list of notable Black Americans throughout history who have impacted and contributed to the American education system, literature, legislation, and Civil Rights Movement.
1773 - Phillis Wheatley was the first African American to publish a book of poetry, Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral. While critics speculate Wheatley wasn’t fully able to express her mind in her writing under slavery, she is still considered to be one of the most notable African American literary figures of her time. Soon after the publication of her book she was given her freedom by her owners. Wheatley then married, but her husband struggled to make money and he was placed in debtor’s prison while she worked as a servant. Phyllis passed away in 1784.
1792 - Benjamin Banneker was one of the earliest African American intellectuals. Banneker was born free and was largely self-educated although he did attend a quaker school for a few years as a child. He made significant contributions to the fields of astronomy, surveying, and clock making and became best known for his astronomical calculations for the Almanac of 1792.
1884 - Mary Church Terrell was one of the first African American women to earn a college degree and her father was considered to be one of the first Black millionaires of the South. She went on to become a teacher and helped found both the National Association for Colored Women and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
1954 - Thurgood Marshall is best known for being the first African American to serve as a Supreme Court Justice. As a young lawyer he quickly started taking on cases for the NAACP. Marshall worked tirelessly to overturn Plessy vs. Ferguson, a case that stated that segregation was legal on the grounds that it could be “separate but equal.” Marshall won many cases, culminating in his success in the Brown vs. Board of Education where the Supreme Court ruled segregation to be inherently unequal. Marshall served until 1991 and passed away in 1993 at the age of 84.
1968 - Shirley Chisholm is notable for being the first African American woman elected to Congress. She started as an educator with her Masters in Early Childhood Education. After redistricting created a new district for Congress in her area, Chisholm ran for congress and won with 67% of the vote. She kept her seat in the House of Representatives until 1982 when she retired from government and returned to teaching. She worked as an educator until her passing in 2005.
1992 - Mae Jemison was the first African American woman in space. After returning from the Peace Corps and applying for NASA, she became the first Black woman to be an astronaut in 1988. At NASA, she worked on research while at the space station and logged over 190 hours in space. Jemison left NASA to teach at Dartmouth College. She also started her own company that encourages the love of science among children and helps provide technology to schools in need.
2019 - Rodney Robinson is the recipient of the 2019 National Teacher of Year Award. Robinson works at Virgie Binford Education Center, a school inside the Richmond Juvenile Detention Center. He mentors his students and supports them with extracurricular issues as well as teaching them Social Studies and History. Robinson focuses on a learning style that will engage students to be involved and invested in their own education even after they have left his classroom.