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Posts tagged as “African-American Firsts”

Born On This Day in 1892: Renowned Aviator Bessie Coleman

By goodblacknews on January 26, 2013
Noted stunt-flier Bessie Coleman was born.
Bessie Coleman, born Jan. 26, 1892, was a renowned aviator who was the first African-American woman to become a pilot and to hold an international pilot’s license. When she turned 18, Coleman took her savings and enrolled in the Oklahoma Colored Agricultural and Normal University (now called Langston University). She completed one term before her money ran out, and returned home.
In 1915 she moved to Chicago and worked as a manicurist, listening to stories from pilots who had flown in World War I. Determined to become a pilot, she was encouraged by Robert S. Abbott, founder and publisher of the Chicago Defender to study aviation abroad. Coleman received financial backing from a banker and the Defender. She eventually traveled to Paris and became the first African-American woman to earn an international aviation license and also the first in the world to earn an aviation pilot’s license. She later traveled to the Netherlands and Germany to get additional training before returning to the United States, where she did stunt flying and was billed as “the world’s greatest woman flier.”  
Coleman developed a reputation as a skilled and daring pilot, who would stop at nothing to complete a difficult stunt. She died in 1926 after an airplane malfunction caused her aircraft to crash at the age of 34.
article by Jonathan P. Hicks via bet.com

Rosa Parks Statue to be Added to Statuary Hall on Capitol Hill

By goodblacknews on January 23, 2013
Rosa Parks Statue Will Be Added to Capitol Later This Year

Civil Rights Activist Rosa Parks (Photo: CBS/Landov)

The late Rosa Parks continues to make history. Her likeness will be depicted in a statue later this year at Capitol Hill’s Statuary Hall, making her the first African-American woman to achieve the mark.

Each of the 50 states donates two statues of their most prominent citizens to Statuary Hall. Rosa Parks will be representative of the state of Alabama where she refused to give up her seat on a Montgomery bus and became the “mother of the civil rights movement.”  Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) announced the statue would be revealed in late 2013. As chairman of the Senate Rules Committee, he is also in charge of artwork in the Capitol.
Congress passed an order to place the statue in the hall in 2005. In 2008, the National Endowment for the Arts announced a design competition calling artists to submit designs for the statue.  The U.S. Postal Service is also commemorating the life of Rosa Parks. On Feb. 4, the postal service is issuing a special “Historic Forever” stamp in honor of Parks’ 100th birthday.
Detroit will be the first city to sell the Rosa Parks stamp.
 article by Natelege Whaley via bet.com

Born On This Day in 1906: Willa Brown, First Black Female Aviator to Acquire Pilot's License

By goodblacknews on January 21, 2013
Willa Brown
 (Photo: Courtesy of Smithsonian Institution)
Willa Brown, born on Jan. 21, 1906, was one of the pioneer figures in the world of African-American aviators. She was the first Black female officer in the Civil Air Patrol and the first Black woman to hold a commercial pilot’s license in the United States.
Brown was the coordinator of war-training service for the Civil Aeronautics Authority and later was a member of the Federal Aviation Administration’s Women’s Advisory Board.
A native of Glasgow, Kentucky, Brown earned a degree from Indiana State Teachers College and a master’s degree from the Aeronautical University in Chicago. She later earned a master’s in business administration from Northwestern University. She and her husband, Cornelius Coffey, formed the Coffey School of Aeronautics to train African-American pilots. Brown retired in 1971 as a schoolteacher. She died of a stroke in 1992.
article by Jonathan P. Hicks via bet.com 

Boston’s First Black Police Officer Honored for Breaking Barriers in 1878

By goodblacknews on January 9, 2013

HoratioHomerTo Randall Halstead and other ­minority officers in the Boston Police Department, the story of Sergeant Horatio J. Homer serves as a beacon of hope and of the power of perseverance.
Homer, who in 1878 became the department’s first African-American officer, ushered in a new era in the city over a 40-year career. In the decade ­after his appointment, the force hired as many as a half-dozen additional black officers, in large part on his recommendation.
Last week, the department unveiled a plaque honoring Homer at the Area B-2 police precinct in ­Roxbury, a neighborhood where he once resided. Halstead, a deputy super­intendent, presided over the ceremony, which some of Homer’s ­descendants attended.
“This man set a precedent,” said Halstead. “To move forward, you have to know where you come from.”
The tribute is the latest honor ­bestowed upon Homer by the ­Police Department.

Peter Ramsey, First African American to Direct an Animated Film, Discusses His Career on CNN

By goodblacknews on January 1, 2013


In this day and age, when we see stories about “the first African American” to do something. Today is the start of 2013 and these “firsts” are still happening across geographies and industries.  One last one to cross off the list is “first African American to direct an animated film.” Peter Ramsey directed the DreamWorks film Rise of the Guardians, the blockbuster holiday movie that, over the course of its six-week release, has grossed more than $90 million. This week, it rounds out the top ten with $4.9 million, in a field packed with movies like The Hobbit, This Is 40, Django Unchained, and Les Mis.
rise-of-the-guardians1-pfRise of the Guardians, is about a group of Immortal Guardians, including a tough-as-nails Easter Bunny and tattooed Santa Claus, who must protect the Earth from an evil spirit. The film has been a great success overseas, and has helped Ramsey’s profile rise in the past few weeks. The 49-year-old never finished college, according to the Fort Worth Star-Telegram, but takes the time to speak to schoolkids, to let them know that this is something they can work towards.
“I want them to know they can do it. You can start with a piece of paper and a pencil. There’s no limit to the kinds of stories they can draw,” he says.

Above, CNN talks with Ramsey about his rise in the animated film industry.

 
Read more at http://madamenoire.com/250126/peter-ramsey-first-african-american-to-direct-an-animated-film-discusses-his-career/#TPrtWvTKsrTkojxW.99

Berkeley’s First Woman Firefighter Debra Pryor Retires as First Woman Chief

By goodblacknews on December 28, 2012

Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor is retiring Dec. 28, 2012 after 27 years in the Berkeley fire department. She was the city’s first woman firefighter, the first woman chief and the second black woman to head a fire department in the nation. (Doug Oakley/Staff)

BERKELEY, CA — It’s a drizzly cold Tuesday evening and Berkeley Fire Chief Debra Pryor is outside the city’s public safety building talking to a homeless man with two shopping carts piled high with possessions.  The man loops in and out of lucidity, but Pryor doesn’t appear annoyed, pressed for time or afraid. She listens and talks to him, then politely wraps it up and approaches a second man to ask if he needs help deciphering the front desk hours of the police station.

Pryor, 51, is retiring Friday after 27 years in the fire department and 27 years of smashing race and gender barriers: she was the city’s first female firefighter, its first female fire chief and the second black female fire chief in the country behind Rosemary Cloud of East Point, Ga. (Earlier this year Oakland named Teresa Deloach Reed as its fire chief, making her the first black woman fire chief of a major metropolitan city.)

R.I.P. Charles V. Bush, the First Black Page in the U.S. Supreme Court

By goodblacknews on December 1, 2012

2CharlesBushAccording to UPI.com, Charles V. Bush, the first African-American to serve as a U.S. Supreme Court page, and one of the first black Air Force Academy graduates, has died in Montana. He was 72.  Bush’s wife, Bettina Bush, told The Washington Post he died from colon cancer Nov. 5 at his home in Lolo.

Bush, who grew up in segregated Washington, was fourteen years old when he was named a Supreme Court page in July 1954. Bush worked primarily in the anteroom of Chief Justice Earl Warren, who sought the appointment of an African-American.  Bush was a member of the debate and rugby teams and a squadron commander at the Air Force Academy, before graduating in 1963.

Bush also served in Vietnam from 1967 to 1968, overseeing intelligence teams during the Tet Offensive and the Battle of Khe Sanh, the Post said.  He left the Air Force in 1970 with the rank of captain. His son, Chip Bush, said the elder Bush left in part because he thought he was overlooked for a promotion due to his race.

Besides his work in the corporate sector, Bush was a diversity consultant to the Air Force and the Air Force Academy, the Post said. His corporate career included work in executive-level positions for companies, including Max Factor and Hughes Electronics.  Survivors include his wife, three children, his mother, a sister, nine grandchildren, and two great-grandchildren.  To learn more about Bush’s life and career, click here.

article by Lori Lakin Hutcherson

African-American Judges Head Up Oklahoma’s Two Highest Courts For First Time in History

By goodblacknews on November 26, 2012

In Oklahoma, two  judges have made history by becoming the first African-Americans to head up two of the state’s highest courts.

Tom Colbert is set to become chief justice of the nine-member Oklahoma Supreme Court. Meanwhile, Colbert’s law school classmate, David B. Lewis, is poised to become presiding judge of the five-member Oklahoma Court of Criminal Appeals.

The Tulsa World describes what both men have in common:

Both men were raised by single mothers, are former prosecutors and worked in private practice.

Both are runners – Colbert is a sprinter, while Lewis runs for distance.

And former Gov. Brad Henry appointed both as the first blacks to hold a post on their respective appeals courts.

 Colbert says he owes his success to those who came before him and paved the way for him.

The chief justice will be in charge of overseeing district courts in Oklahoma’s 77 counties. But as far as Colbert is concerned, his job doesn’t stop there. He’s looking forward to mentoring kids so that he can pass on some of what he’s learned on his road to success.

Colbert also offered a bit of advice, saying,  ”There are great opportunities out there if you believe in yourself and try to stay on the right path,” he said.  Lewis said that he happy with his achievements, but went on to say that it is important for people to understand that success doesn’t happen overnight.

article via yourblackworld.net

 

First Black Sheriff Elected In Richmond County, GA

By goodblacknews on November 9, 2012

The Augusta Chronicle reports in the state of Georgia, Lt. Richard Roundtree beat out Republican Freddie Sanders Tuesday night to become the first African-American Sheriff Elect in Augusta, Georgia, including Richmond County and surrounding counties.

Roundtree’s appointment to top lawman in the county will be a first in the county’s 230-year history.  The lieutenant will be sworn into office in January.

article via newsone.com

Judge Wilhelmina Wright Newest Minnesota Supreme Court Justice

By goodblacknews on October 23, 2012

History was made this past Tuesday (Oct. 16) when Judge Wilhelmina Wright was sworn in as the first African-American woman to serve on the state’s Supreme Court.  Wright joins Justice Alan Page as the only two African-American Minnesota Supreme Court justices. Page was elected to the Court in 1992 by the votes of the state. Wright was appointed by Gov. Mark Dayton to fill the vacancy created with the stepping down of Justice Helen Meyer.