List of African-American pioneers in desegregation of higher education facts for kids

This article is about incredible African-American men and women who were pioneers in higher education. These brave individuals helped break down barriers and open doors for future generations. They were among the first African Americans to attend, graduate from, or teach at colleges and universities that were mostly white. Their courage helped end segregation, which was a system that kept people of different races separate, especially in schools.

Breaking Barriers in Education

The 19th Century

Early Achievements (1840s)

• In 1847, Dr. David J. Peck became the first African American to graduate from a U.S. medical school, Rush Medical College.
• In 1849, Charles L. Reason became the first African-American college professor at a predominantly white school, New York Central College.

Post-Civil War Progress (1860s)

• In 1862, Mary Jane Patterson made history as the first African-American woman to earn a Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) degree from Oberlin College.
• In 1864, Rebecca Davis Lee Crumpler became the first African-American woman in the United States to earn an M.D. degree.

Expanding Opportunities (1870s)

• In 1872, John H. Conyers was the first African American midshipman admitted to the United States Naval Academy. He was nominated by Robert B. Elliott of South Carolina.
• In 1873, Joseph Carter Corbin became the first African American educator to lead the Board of Trustees for Arkansas Industrial University.
• In 1876, Edward Alexander Bouchet earned the first doctorate degree from an American university by an African American. He received his Ph.D. in physics from Yale College. He was also the first African American to graduate from Yale in 1874.
• In 1879, Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American to graduate from a formal nursing school in Boston, Massachusetts.

Women Lead the Way (1880s-1890s)

• In 1883, Hortense Parker was the first known African-American woman to graduate from one of the Seven Sisters colleges, Mount Holyoke College.
• In 1890, Ida Rollins became the first African-American woman to earn a dental degree in the United States from the University of Michigan.
• In 1895, W.E.B. Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) from Harvard University.

The 20th Century

Early 20th Century Milestones (1910s-1920s)

• In 1917, Mabel Byrd was the first African-American to enter the University of Oregon.
• In 1921, three African American women earned their PhDs within nine days of each other:
  • Georgiana R. Simpson earned a PhD in German Philology from the University of Chicago on June 14, 1921. She was the first African-American woman to receive a PhD in the United States.
  • Sadie Tanner Mossell earned a PhD in Economics from the University of Pennsylvania on June 15, 1921.
  • Eva B. Dykes earned a PhD in English Language from Radcliffe College on June 22, 1921.
• In 1923, Virginia Proctor Powell Florence became the first African-American woman to earn a degree in library science. She received her Bachelor of Library Science from what is now part of the University of Pittsburgh.

Overcoming Segregation (1930s-1940s)

• In 1931, Jane Matilda Bolin was the first African-American woman to graduate from Yale Law School.
• In 1932, William Montague Cobb earned the first African-American Ph.D. in anthropology.
• In 1940, Eliza Atkins Gleason became the first African-American to earn a doctorate in library science from the University of Chicago.
• In 1943, Euphemia Haynes was the first African-American woman to earn a Ph.D. in mathematics from Catholic University of America.
• In 1947, William Robert Ming became the first African-American full-time faculty member at a predominantly white law school, the University of Chicago Law School.
• In 1948, Silas Herbert Hunt was the first African-American to be admitted to a traditionally white Southern university since the Reconstruction era at the University of Arkansas.
• Also in 1948, William Tebeau was the first African-American male to graduate from Oregon State College.
• In 1949, Wesley Brown was the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy.

The Civil Rights Era (1950s-1960s)

• In 1952, Edith Irby Jones was the first African-American to graduate from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences.
• In 1956, Autherine Lucy was the first African-American to attend the University of Alabama. Her expulsion later that year led to the university's President Oliver Carmichael's resignation.
• In 1957, Gwendolyn Lila Toppin was the first Black American to receive an undergraduate degree from a formerly segregated Southern college or university, Texas Western College of the University of Texas (now University of Texas at El Paso).
• In 1960, Ruby Bridges was the first African-American to attend the William Frantz Elementary School in Louisiana during the New Orleans school desegregation crisis.
• In 1961, Donald Randolph Brown, Sr. was the first African-American to attend and graduate (in 1965) dental school at the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Dentistry.
• In 1962, Dr. Tom Jones, D.D.S., became the second African American to attend and graduate from the University of Missouri–Kansas City School of Dentistry. He graduated in 1965.
• In 1963, Charles V. Bush was the first African American to graduate from the U.S. Air Force Academy.
• Also in 1963, James Meredith was the first African American to graduate from the University of Mississippi.
• Wendell Wilkie Gunn was the first African American student to enroll and graduate from the University of North Alabama (then Florence State College) in 1965.
• In 1969, Lillian Lincoln was the first African-American graduate of Harvard Business School.

Later Achievements (1970s-1980s)

• In 1978, Dr. Joycelyn Elders became the first person in Arkansas to be board certified in pediatric endocrinology.
• In 1980, Janie L. Mines was the first African-American woman to graduate from (and to attend) the U.S. Naval Academy.