Celebrating Girls’s historical past first got here into impact with humble beginnings as one week in March 1978. The week has since developed and in 1987, turn out to be a month-long, nationally acknowledged celebration in america that champions gender equality and the achievements of ladies all through historical past. To kick off Girls’s Historical past Month, BLACK ENTERPRISE is spotlighting 20 influential Black girls and acknowledging their extraordinary journey and the boundaries they’ve damaged alongside the way in which. These girls have left their mark in a number of areas from enterprise and politics to the humanities and activism, Their legacies have formed society and impressed progress.
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March 1833 – March 10, 1913
Dorchester, Maryland
Harriet Tubman made historical past as an abolitionist and conductor of the Underground Railroad, main a whole bunch of enslaved folks to freedom whereas additionally serving as a spy in the course of the Civil Conflict.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/harriet-tubman
January 13, 1850 – January 4, 1911
New York, New York
Charlotte E. Ray made historical past as the primary African American lady to earn a regulation diploma and apply in america, graduating from Howard College Regulation College in 1872.
oag.dc.gov/weblog/black-history-month-celebrating-charlotte-e-ray
December 23, 1867 – Could 25, 1919
Delta, Louisiana
Madam C.J. Walker made historical past as the primary self-made African American feminine millionaire by growing a profitable line of hair care merchandise tailor-made for Black girls, revolutionizing the wonder business.
Scurlock Studio (Washington, D.C.) (photographers).
July 10,1875 – Could 18, 1955
Maysville, South Carolina
Mary McLeod Bethune made historical past as an influential educator and civil rights chief, founding a college that grew to become Bethune-Cookman College and advising President Franklin D. Roosevelt.
https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/mary-mcleod-bethune
January 26, 1892 – April 30, 1926
Atlanta, Texas
Bessie Coleman made historical past as the primary African American and Native American lady to earn a pilot’s license, overcoming racial and gender boundaries in aviation within the early twentieth century.
https://airandspace.si.edu/discover/tales/bessie-coleman
June 10, 1893 – October 26, 1953
Wichita, Kansas
Hattie McDaniel made historical past as the primary African American lady to win an Academy Award, receiving the Oscar for Greatest Supporting Actress for her position in Gone with the Wind in 1940.
Gwendolyn Brooks
June 7, 1917 – December 3, 2000
Topeka Kansas
Gwendolyn Brooks made historical past as the primary African American lady to win the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry in 1950, acknowledged for her impactful work in literature.
https://www.brookscollegeprep.org/apps/pages/index.jsp?uREC_ID=4299378&kind=d&pREC_ID=2527668
Shirley Chisholm
(November 30, 1924 – January 1, 2005)
Brooklyn, New York
Shirley Chisholm made historical past in 1968 when she grew to become the primary black lady to be elected to congress serving New York twelfth district for 7 phrases.
https://www.archives.gov/analysis/african-americans/people/shirley-chisholm
Toni Morrison
February 18,1931 – August 5, 2019
Lorain, Ohio
Toni Morrison broke new floor in 1993 as the primary African American lady to win the Nobel Prize in Literature, celebrated for her highly effective exploration of Black life and identification.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/literature/1993/abstract/
Wangari Maathai
April 1, 1940 – September 25, 2011
Ihithe, Kenya
Wangari Maathai made historical past as the primary African lady to win the Nobel Peace Prize for her environmental activism and work in selling sustainable growth and girls’s rights.
https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/peace/2004/maathai/details/
Angela Davis
January 26, 1944
Birmingham, Alabama
Angela Davis grew to become a groundbreaking determine as an activist and scholar, advocating for racial justice and jail reform, and symbolizing resistance after her arrest and acquittal within the Seventies.
wams.nyhistory.org/growth-and-turmoil/feminism-and-the-backlash/angela-davis/
Beverly Johnson
October 13, 1952
Buffalo, New York
Beverly Johnson made historical past as the primary African American lady to look on the quilt of Vogue journal in 1974, breaking boundaries within the vogue business.
Loretta Lynch
Could 21, 1959
Greensboro, North Carolina
Loretta Lynch gained recognition as the primary African American lady to function U.S. Legal professional Normal, advocating for civil rights, prison justice reform, and combating corruption and discrimination.
http://awpc.cattcenter.iastate.edu/listing/loretta-lynch/
Oprah Winfrey
January 29, 1954
Kosciusko, Mississippi
Oprah made historical past as the primary Black lady to personal her personal manufacturing firm. revolutionizing the media business together with her speak present, philanthropy, and enterprise ventures.
https://www.womenofthehall.org/inductee/oprah-winfrey/
Mae Jemison
October 17, 1956
Decatur, Alabama
Mae Jemison made historical past as the primary African American lady to journey in house, breaking boundaries in science and provoking generations of ladies and minorities in STEM fields.
https://www.perotmuseum.org/occasions/children-and-families/stemleaders/mae-jemison/
Michelle Obama
January 17, 1964
Chicago, Illinois
Historical past was made in 2009 as Michelle Obama grew to become the primary African American First Girl of America of America beside the forty fourth president Barack Obama.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/first-lady-michelle-obama
Michelle Obama
January 17, 1964
Chicago, Illinois
Historical past was made in 2009 as Michelle Obama grew to become the primary African American First Girl of America of America beside the forty fourth president Barack Obama.
https://obamawhitehouse.archives.gov/administration/first-lady-michelle-obama
Kamala Harris
October 20, 1964
Oakland, California
In 2020, Kamala Harris grew to become the primary lady, African American, and Asian American to function U.S. Vice President, marking a historic milestone in her groundbreaking political profession.
Tarana Burke
September 12, 1973
The Bronx, New York
Tarana Burke grew to become a pioneering determine by founding the meToo. motion, elevating consciousness of sexual harassment and assault and empowering survivors globally.
Misty Copeland
September 10, 1982
Kansas Metropolis, Missouri
Misty Copeland grew to become a trailblazer as the primary African American lady to be promoted to principal dancer on the American Ballet Theatre, breaking racial boundaries in classical ballet.
Simone Biles
March 14, 1997
Columbus, Ohio
Simone Biles set a document as probably the most embellished gymnast of all time, incomes quite a few Olympic and World Championship medals and revolutionizing the game together with her outstanding expertise.