Black Firsts bookcover

Black Firsts

500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events

Jessie Carney Smith 

(Author)
Add to Wishlist
4.9/5.0
21,000+ Reviews
Bookshop.org has the highest-rated customer service of any bookstore in the world

Description

A celebration of achievement, accomplishments, and pride!

The first African American president, U.S. senator, and the first black lawyer in the Department of Education. The first black chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff and the first African American commissioned officer in the Marine Corps. The first black professors in a variety of fields. The first African American advertising agency. The first African American Olympian. The first black pilot for a scheduled commercial airline. The first recorded slave revolt in North America. The first African American cookbook writer.

Revel and rejoice in the renowned and lesser-known, barrier-breaking trailblazers in all fields-arts, entertainment, business, civil rights, education, government, invention, journalism, religion, science, sports, music, and more. Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events, Fourth Edition bears witness to the long and complex history of African Americans!

Expanded, updated, and revised for the first time in over eight years, Black Firsts collects more than 500 all-new achievements and previously unearthed firsts. This massive tome proves that African American accomplishments are wide-ranging and ongoing, documenting thousands of personal victories and triumphs.

  • Who was the first black American depicted on a postage stamp? (1940 Booker Taliaferro Washington)
  • Who was the first African American bookseller? (1834 David Ruggles, New York City)
  • Where was the first black car dealership? (1941 Edward Davis, Detroit, Studebaker)
  • When was the first black-owned company listed on a major stock exchange? (1971 Johnson Products)
  • Who was the first black U.S. senator? (1870 Hiram Rhoades [Rhodes] Revels, Mississippi)
  • Who was the African American columnist who won a Pulitzer Prize for Commentary? (1989 Clarence Page)
  • Who was the U.S. Supreme Court's first black justice? (1967 Thurgood Marshall)
  • Who first broke the color barrier to become a flight attendant? (1958 Ruth Carol Taylor)
  • Who became the first black to graduate from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point? (1877 Henry Ossian Flipper)
  • Which model was the first black to grace Sports Illustrated cover? (1997 Tyra Banks)
  • Who became the American Medical Association's first black president? (1995 Lonnie Bristow)
  • What is the oldest surviving black church in America? (The African Meeting House, built in 1806 and known as the Joy Street Baptist Church, in Boston)
  • Who became the first black pitcher to win a World Series game? (1952 Rookie of the Year, Joe Black, of the Brooklyn Dodgers)
  • Who was the first regularly recognized black physician in the United States? (1780s James Durham [Derham])
  • Who was the first black actress to receive an Emmy Award? (1969 Gail Fisher)
  • Who became the first black professional football player? (1904 Charles W. Follis)
  • What was first short story published by a black woman in the United States? (1859 Frances Ellen Watkins Harper's "The Two Offers")
  • Who was the black explorer who joined the Lewis and Clark expedition? (York)
  • Who was the first black lawyer to argue a case before the Supreme Court? (1880 Samuel R. Lowery)
  • Which two songs by black Americans were the first to be send out of the solar system? (1977 Chuck Berry's song "Johnny B. Goode" and Blind Willie Johnson's "Dark Was the Night, Cold Was the Ground" on Voyager I)
  • What famous inventor and agronomist has a national monument named after him in Diamond, Missouri? (1960 George Washington Carver)
  • What movie featured the first black female lead in a Disney animated feature? (2009 "The Princess and the Frog" starred Anika Noni Rose)
  • Who was the first black American to win a gold meda

    • Product Details

    PublisherVisible Ink Press
    Publish DateJanuary 01, 2021
    Pages704
    LanguageEnglish
    TypeBook iconPaperback / softback
    EAN/UPC9781578596881
    Dimensions9.2 X 7.1 X 1.4 inches | 2.5 pounds

    About the Author

    Distinguished in the library profession and recognized educator, author and scholar Jessie Carney Smith is dean of the library and holds the Camille Cosby Distinguished Chair in the Humanities at Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee. She completed her undergraduate work at North Carolina A&T State University and holds master's degrees from Michigan State University and Vanderbilt University, and a Ph.D. from the University of Illinois. Among Dr. Smith's numerous awards are the National Women's Book Association's Award, the Candace Award for excellence in education, Sage magazine's Anna J. Cooper Award for research on African American women, and the Academic/Research Librarian of the Year Award from the Association of College and Research Libraries. Her work includes Black Firsts, Black Heroes, The Handy African American History Answer Book, and with co-author Linda T. Wynn, Freedom Facts and Firsts all published by Visible Ink Press. She resides in Nashville, Tennessee.

    Reviews

    "Trailblazing tales: Chronicling Black pioneers over 30 years ... "Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events" is a proud celebration of Black success."- San Francisco Chronicle

    "A valuable resource for young adult students and library reference desks, Smith's exacting overview of Black achievement will answer classroom questions and pique curiosity about innovators ..." - Booklist

    "I really believe that this book empowers you to know that the narrative that's been placed upon [Black people] is not really what it is. We have done so many powerful things in this country. We need to teach kids about Black history." - Rockland/Westchester Journal News

    "Black Firsts: 500 Years of Trailblazing Achievements and Ground-Breaking Events" is a proud celebration of Black success. ... now in its fourth edition, was begun nearly 30 years ago. It remains dedicated to "the abounding success of our people who, despite the odds, continue to reach new heights." ... Like the story of Black achievement in every field, it's a history of hard work and often incremental progress. ... the struggle goes on, and [Author Jessie Carney] Smith vows to keep chronicling it. "I am not yet done with writing about first black achievers and black hidden figures," she writes. "In the words of one of Fisk University's dean of women, Juliette Derricotte, who reflected on her travels in India, Japan, and China in the late 1920s, 'There is so much more to know than I accustomed to knowing - and so much more to love than I accustomed to loving.'"-- New York Daily News

    "For the fourth edition of this work (last updated in 2013), Smith (librarian emerita, Fisk Univ.) includes additions and updates to some of the thousands of entries, which range in length from a paragraph (Dave Chappelle) to a column (Madame C.J. Walker) and occasionally longer. Entries are arranged chronologically in broad professional categories (science and medicine; arts and entertainment), with photos and boxed text interspersed. Occasional tables on topics such as Black pioneers of higher education convey material succinctly. Sources appear at the end of each entry, with further reading found at the book's conclusion. VERDICT A wide-ranging overview that will result in hours of browsing and serve as a strong jumping-off point for research projects or deeper study."--Library Journal

    "... uncovers African American accomplishments in all areas ... such as arts and entertainment, journalism, military, and religion, with separate sections devoted to local government, county and state government, federal government, and international government." - Protoview Book News

    Praise for the previous edition ...

    "The third edition of this invaluable resource of African American achievements updates the previous edition. Recommended for anyone from elementary-school age to adults who are interested in African American history."-- Booklist

    "In the new book Black Firsts by Jessie Carney Smith, you'll find information on tens of thousands of folks who've gone before you - in a good way."-- Bookworm Sez

    "Black Firsts is a book full of hope."-- Chicago Sun-Times

    "A superb historical study of black achievement."-- Houston Chronicle

    "The well-researched sketches provide a great deal of information. This is an excellent resource for starting research on black history, but its sheer volume may be overwhelming to casual researchers. The lesser-known figures, however, make the t

    Earn by promoting books

    Earn money by sharing your favorite books through our Affiliate program.sign up to affiliate program link
    Become an affiliate

    Bookshop.org Best Sellers of the Week

    undefined

    Bookshop.org

    View All (25)

    How to Work with Complicated People bookcover
    On Tyranny bookcover
    The Book of Alchemy bookcover
    Great Big Beautiful Life: Reese's Book Club bookcover
    By Heart bookcover
    High Functioning bookcover
    Abundance bookcover
    Madness bookcover
    We Can Do Hard Things bookcover
    One Day, Everyone Will Have Always Been Against This bookcover
    When No Thing Works bookcover
    Dog Only Knows bookcover
    Hell Bent bookcover
    Sunrise on the Reaping (a Hunger Games Novel) bookcover
    Careless People bookcover
    Start in Your Own Backyard bookcover
    The Serviceberry bookcover
    Who Is Government? bookcover
    An Almanac of Birds bookcover
    Super Agers bookcover
    Parable of the Sower bookcover
    Mechanic Shop Femme's Guide to Car Ownership bookcover
    Copaganda bookcover
    Marketcrafters bookcover
    A People's History of the United States bookcover