Black Queens

Diane Nash (1938-present)
Nash is a founding member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. She was instrumental in organizing the Freedom Rides, which helped desegregate interstate buses in the South. She also planned the Selma Voting Rights Movement in response to the Birmingham 16th Street Church bombing that killed four young girls.

Daisy Bates (1914-1999)
As a civil rights activist and journalist, Batesdocumented the fight to end segregation in Arkansas. Along with her husband, she ran a weekly black newspaper and became the president of the Arkansas chapter of the NAACP.

Dr. Mae Jemison (1956-present)
Dr. Jemison is the first black woman to be admitted into the astronaut training program and fly into space in 1987. Jemison also developed and participated in research projects on the Hepatitis B vaccine and rabies. 

Ella Baker (1903-1986)
Baker was the national director for the NAACP. She also worked with the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee. As one of the leading figures in the civil rights movement, Baker is known for her leadership style which helped develop others' skills to become leaders in the fight for a better future.

Zora Neale Hurston (1891-1960)
Hurston was an anthropologist and author of the Harlem Renaissance. Though she didn't receive much recognition for her work while she was alive, her works of fiction, especially Their Eyes Were Watching God, became staples in American literature.

Hattie McDaniel (1893-1952)
As an actress, McDaniel appeared in more than 300 films and was the first African American to win an Oscar in 1940. She was also the star of the CBS Radio program, "The Beulah Show."

Ruby Bridges (1954-present)
Ruby Bridges was six years old when she became the first black child to integrate an all-white school in the South. She was escorted to class by her mother and U.S. marshals due to violent mobs outside of the Louisiana school. 

Charlayne Hunter-Gault (1942-present)
Hunter-Gault was the first black woman to enroll at the University of Georgia. She became an award-winning journalist after she graduated and worked for outlets such as the New York Times, PBS and NPR.

Katherine Johnson (1918-present)
Katherine Johnson overcame the prejudices thrown at her while working as a "human computer" at NASA to calculate the numbers that successfully launched the first Americans into space. Johnson's work helped mark a turning point in the United State's race to space with the Soviet Union. Johnson's untold story has recently been popularized through the critically acclaimed film "Hidden Figures." 

Madam C.J. Walker (1867-1919)
Madam C.J. Walker became one of the first female self-made millionaires in the world when she inventing a line of hair care productsspecially for African Americans in 1905. She traveled around the country to promote her products and give hair care demonstrations. She eventually founded Madame C.J. Walker Laboratories to manufacture cosmetics and train beauticians. 

Josephine Baker (1906-1975)
After getting her start in New York, Josephine Baker found fame and fortune when she moved to France in the 1920s and became one of Europe's most beloved performers, entrancing her audiences with her enticing dance moves and vocals. During World War II, she worked for the French Resistance, smuggling messages hidden in her sheet music and underwear. Baker frequently returned to the United States to join the Civil Rights Movement efforts. She was even a speaker at the 1963 March on Washington.  

Linda Martell (1941-present)
Linda Martell was the first black woman to appear on the Grand Ole Opry. The country and blues singer went on to make 11 more appearances on the international radio program throughout her career and she landed a Top 25 song with her 1969 single "Color Him Father."

Mahalia Jackson (1911-1972)
Mahalia Jackson, the Queen of Gospel, is one known as one of the greatest musicians in American history. Jackson sang at the 1963 March on Washington right before Martin Luther King, Jr. gave his "I Have A Dream" speech. While giving his speech, Jackson interjected with “Tell them about the dream, Martin.” Jackson's words led King to improvise the pivotal latter part of his speech.

Dominique Dawes (1976-present)
Dominique Dawes became the first African American to win an individual Olympic medal in women's gymnastics for her floor performance at the 1996 games in Atlanta. Dawes also won a gold medal with the U.S. women's gymnastics team. She participated in the 1992, 1996 and 2000 Olympics before she retired.

Dr. Patricia Bath (1942-present)
Patricia Bath, Ph.D., is the first black female doctor to receive a medical patent and the first African American woman to complete a residency in ophthalmology at NYU. In 1986, she created the Laserphaco Probe, a tool used to treat patients with cataracts with more precision and less pain. Bath was able to help restore the sight of people who had loss their eyesight for more than 30 years.

Shirley Chisolm (1924–2005)
Chisolm broke major barriers when she became the first black congresswoman in 1968. She continued on her political track when she ran for president four years later, making her the first major party black candidate to run.

Claudette Colvin (1939-present)
Several months before Rosa Parks' refusal to give up her seat on a bus, Colvin was the first person arrested for resisting bus segregation in Montgomery, Alabama, at the age of 15. She also served as one of four plaintiffs in the case of Browder v. Gayle, which ruled that Montgomery's segregated bus system was unconstitutional.

Septima Poinsette Clark (1898–1987)
Clark was an educator and civil rights activist who established citizenship schools that helped many African Americans register to vote. Regarded as a pioneer in grassroots citizenship education, she was active with the NAACP in getting more black teachers hired in the South.

 

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