List of African-American arts firsts facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

African Americans are a group of people in the United States who have a rich history. Throughout time, many African Americans have been the first to achieve amazing things in different areas. These "firsts" often helped change society and open doors for others. People sometimes call this "breaking the color barrier."

This list shares some of the important "firsts" by African Americans in fine arts, popular entertainment, and writing.

Amazing African American Firsts in Arts
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Amazing African American Firsts in Arts

The 1700s: Early Achievements

1746: The first known African American (who was enslaved) to write a poem was Lucy Terry. Her poem, "Bars Fight", was written in 1746.
1760: Jupiter Hammon became the first known African American to have his writing published. It was a poem called "An Evening Thought."
1773: Phillis Wheatley was the first known African American woman to publish a book of poems.

The 1800s: New Beginnings

1825: Ira Aldridge was the first African American actor to play the famous role of Othello on stages in England and Europe. He became a very well-paid star!
1827: The first newspaper owned and run by African Americans was Freedom's Journal. It was started in New York City.
1858: The first play published by an African American was The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom by William Wells Brown.
1890: George Washington Johnson was the first African American to record a best-selling song on a phonograph.
1892: Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones was the first African American to sing at the famous Carnegie Hall.

The Early 1900s: Breaking New Ground

1903: In Dahomey was the first Broadway musical written by and starring African Americans.
1910: Madam C. J. Walker became the first African American woman millionaire. Also, Daisy Tapley was the first African American woman to make a commercial music recording.
1927: Josephine Baker was the first African American to star in an international movie, La Sirène des tropiques.
1931: William Grant Still was the first African American composer to have his symphony performed by a major orchestra.
1935: The Benny Goodman Trio was the first known jazz group with both Black and white musicians.
1936: William Grant Still also became the first African American to conduct a major U.S. orchestra.
1939: Ethel Waters was the first African American to star in her own television show, The Ethel Waters Show.

The 1940s: Oscars and Charts

Hattie McDaniel, a trailblazer in film.

1940: Hattie McDaniel was the first African American to win an Oscar. She won for Best Supporting Actress in Gone with the Wind.
1941: Josh White was the first African American to perform at the White House.
1943: The Mills Brothers were the first African American artists to have a number-one hit song on the Billboard charts.
1944: Matt Baker was the first known African American comic book artist.
1945: Todd Duncan became the first African American member of the New York City Opera.
1947: Count Basie was the first African American artist to get full credit for a number-one hit on the Billboard charts. Also, All-Negro Comics was the first comic book made entirely by African Americans.
1948: James Baskett was the first African American man to receive an Oscar (an honorary award). William Grant Still was the first African American composer to have his opera performed by a major U.S. company. Bob Howard and Amanda Randolph were among the first African Americans to star in network TV shows.
1949: WERD in Atlanta was the first radio station owned and run by African Americans.

The 1950s: Milestones in Entertainment

1950: Juanita Hall was the first African American to win a Tony Award for her role in South Pacific. Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize for her poetry. Nat King Cole was the first African American solo singer to have a number-one hit on the Billboard charts.
1954: Dorothy Dandridge was the first African American woman nominated for the Best Actress Oscar. She was also the first individual African American woman on the cover of Life magazine.
1955: Marian Anderson was the first African American member of the Metropolitan Opera. Arthur Mitchell was the first African American male dancer in a major ballet company. Leontyne Price was the first African American singer in a televised opera.
1956: Nat King Cole became the first African American to star in a nationwide network TV show.
1957: John Kitzmiller was the first African American to win the Best Actor Award at the Cannes Film Festival.
1958: Tommy Edwards was the first African American to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
1959: Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie were among the first African Americans to win Grammy Awards. The Platters were the first African American group to reach number one on the Billboard Hot 100.

The 1960s: Breaking Barriers

1961: Opera singer Marian Anderson was the first African American woman to perform at a presidential inauguration. George Shirley was the first African American tenor to sing leading roles for the Metropolitan Opera.
1963: Cicely Tyson was the first African American to be a regular on a primetime TV drama. Diahann Carroll was the first African American to be nominated for a Primetime Emmy Award.
1964: One Potato, Two Potato was the first movie to show an African American interracial marriage.
1965: Morrie Turner was the first African American nationally syndicated cartoonist. Lobo was the first African American title character of a comic book series. Bill Cosby was the first African American to star in a network TV drama, I Spy. Micki Grant was the first African American cast member of a daytime soap opera.
1966: Bill Cosby was the first African American male to win a Primetime Emmy Award. Donyale Luna was the first African American model on the cover of British Vogue.
1967: Nancy Sinatra and Sammy Davis Jr. shared the first African American interracial kiss on network television.
1968: Nichelle Nichols (as Uhura) and William Shatner (as Captain Kirk) shared the first African American interracial kiss on a network TV drama, Star Trek. The Studio Museum in Harlem was the first fine-arts museum for African American work. Diahann Carroll was the first African American actress to star in her own TV series where she wasn't a domestic worker. Otis Young was the first African American actor to star in a TV western.
1969: The Falcon was the first African American superhero in Marvel Comics. Gordon Parks was the first African American director of a major Hollywood movie. Arthur Mitchell founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the first classical ballet school and company by an African American. Linda Martell was the first African American woman to appear on the Grand Ole Opry.

The 1970s: Expanding Horizons

1970: Gail Fisher was the first African American woman to win a Primetime Emmy Award.
1971: Gail Fisher also won the first Golden Globe Award for an African American.
1972: Luke Cage was the first African American superhero to star in his own comic book series. The first African American interracial romantic kiss in a mainstream comic magazine appeared in Creepy. Sammy Davis Jr. and Carroll O'Connor shared the first African American interracial male kiss on network television in All in the Family. Vinnette Justine Carroll was the first African American woman Broadway director.
1973: Yaphet Kotto was the first African American Bond villain, and Gloria Hendry was the first African American Bond Girl in a James Bond movie.
1974: Beverly Johnson was the first African American model on the cover of American Vogue.
1975: The Jeffersons featured the first African American interracial couple in a TV series cast. The first African American interracial romantic kiss in a color comic book was in Amazing Adventures. Beverly Johnson was also the first African American model on the cover of Elle.

The 1980s: Music and Dance

1980: BET was the first cable channel focused on African American audiences.
1982: Charles Fuller was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for Drama. Debra Austin was the first African American woman to become a principal dancer for the Pennsylvania Ballet.
1983: Michael Jackson was the first African American artist to have a music video shown on MTV.
1986: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, and Little Richard were among the first musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Whitney Houston was the first African American woman to top the Billboard 200 year-end list.
1987: Aretha Franklin was the first African American woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Jennifer Jones was the first African American Radio City Music Hall Rockette. Whitney Houston was the first African American woman to have an album debut at number one on the Billboard 200.
1988: Whitney Houston was the first person to have seven number one singles in a row on the Billboard Hot 100.

The 1990s: Directing and Literature

1990: Lauren Anderson was the first African American woman to become a principal dancer at Houston Ballet.
1991: John Singleton was the first African American nominated for the Best Director Oscar.
1992: Natalie Cole was the first African American woman to win the Grammy Award for Album of the Year. Whitney Houston was the first artist to sell a million albums in one week.
1993: Toni Morrison was the first African American woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature. Rita Dove was the first African American woman named Poet Laureate of the United States. Charley Pride was the first African American inducted as a member of the Grand Ole Opry.
1994: Darnell Martin was the first African American woman director of a major-studio movie. Whitney Houston was the first African American woman to win a Grammy for Album of the Year as both artist and producer.
1995: Hal Jackson was the first African American inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. Michael Jackson was the first person to have a song debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart.
1996: Whitney Houston was the first African American woman to earn over $10 million for a movie.
1997: Michael Jai White was the first African American actor to star in the lead role of a comic-book movie.
2000: Charley Pride was the first African American inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.

The 2000s and Beyond: New Heights

2001: Beyoncé Knowles was the first African American woman to win the ASCAP Pop Music Songwriter of the Year award.
2002: Halle Berry was the first African American woman to win the Academy Award for Best Actress.
2004: Phylicia Rashad was the first African American to win a Tony Award for Best Lead Actress in a Play.
2009: Annette Gordon-Reed was the first African American to win the Pulitzer Prize for History.
2012: Peter Ramsey was the first African American to direct an animated film with a budget over $100 million.
2013: Cheryl Boone Isaacs was the first African American president of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences.
2014: Ava DuVernay was the first African American woman to be nominated for Best Director by the Golden Globe Awards.