Timeline of African-American firsts facts for kids

Kids Encyclopedia Facts

African Americans are a large group of people in the United States. Throughout history, African Americans have achieved many "firsts" in different fields. These achievements often helped change society and are sometimes called "breaking the color barrier."

A famous example is Jackie Robinson. In 1947, he became the first African American to play Major League Baseball in the modern era. This ended 60 years of separate baseball leagues for Black players, known as the Negro leagues.

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Early Achievements by African Americans

17th Century Milestones

1600s: First Arrivals and Land Ownership

1604: The first Black person known to arrive in what is now Maine was Mathieu Da Costa. He was an explorer and interpreter.
1670: Zipporah Potter Atkins became the first African American to own land in Boston.

18th Century Milestones

1730s–1770s: Community and Creativity

1738: The first free African-American community was established. It was called Gracia Real de Santa Teresa de Mose, later known as Fort Mose, in Spanish Florida.
1746: Lucy Terry became the first known African American (and enslaved person) to write a piece of literature. Her poem was called "Bars Fight."
1760: Jupiter Hammon was the first known African-American author to have his work published. It was a poem called "An Evening Thought."
1767: Peter Hill, the first African-American clockmaker, was born.
1768: Wentworth Cheswell was the first known African American elected to public office. He served as a town constable and Justice of the Peace in Newmarket, New Hampshire.
1773: Phillis Wheatley was the first known African-American woman to publish a book. It was a collection of poems.
1773: The first separate African-American church was founded. It was the Silver Bluff Baptist Church in South Carolina.
1775: Prince Hall was the first African American to join the Freemasons.
1778: The 1st Rhode Island Regiment became the first African-American U.S. military regiment.

1780s–1790s: New Beginnings

Phillis Wheatley

Lemuel Haynes

1783: James Derham was the first African American to formally practice medicine. He did not have a medical degree.
1785: Rev. Lemuel Haynes was the first African American to be ordained as a Christian minister in the United States.
1792: A major Back-to-Africa movement occurred. About 3,000 Black Loyalists, who had gained freedom during the American Revolutionary War, moved to Nova Scotia. Later, 1,200 of them chose to move to Sierra Leone in West Africa.
1793: The first African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church was founded. Mother Bethel A.M.E. Church in Philadelphia was started by Richard Allen.
1794: Absalom Jones established the first African Episcopal Church in Philadelphia.

19th Century Milestones

1800s: Religious and Community Leaders

Absalom Jones

John Gloucester

1804: Absalom Jones was the first African American ordained as an Episcopal priest.
1807: The first African-American Presbyterian Church in America was founded. John Gloucester, a former enslaved person, started the First African Presbyterian Church in Philadelphia.

1810s: Independent Churches

1816: Richard Allen founded the first fully independent African-American denomination. This was the African Methodist Episcopal Church (AME).
1817: The First African Baptist Church was the first African-American church west of the Mississippi River. John Berry Meachum, a former enslaved person, helped start it in St. Louis.

1820s: Patents and Education

Absalom Boston

Alexander Twilight

1821: Thomas L. Jennings was the first African American to hold a patent. It was for a dry-cleaning process.
1822: Absalom Boston was the first African-American captain to sail a whaleship with an all-Black crew.
1823: Alexander Twilight was the first African American to receive a degree from an American college (Middlebury College).
1826: John Brown Russwurm, who later became a governor in Africa, was the first African American to graduate from Bowdoin College.
1827: The first African-American-owned and -operated newspaper was Freedom's Journal. It was founded in New York City by Peter Williams Jr., Samuel Cornish, and John Brown Russwurm.

1830s: Political and Medical Firsts

James McCune Smith

1832: Pío Pico, an Afro-Mexican, became the first governor of African descent in what is now the United States. He was the last governor of Alta California.
1836: Alexander Twilight was the first African American elected to serve in a state legislature (Vermont).
1836: Free Frank McWorter was the first African American to found a town and establish a planned community (New Philadelphia, Illinois).
1837: Dr. James McCune Smith was the first formally trained African-American medical doctor. He studied at the University of Glasgow in Scotland.

1840s: Law and Leadership

Joseph Jenkins Roberts

Charles L. Reason

1844: Macon Bolling Allen was the first African American approved to practice law.
1847: Dr. David J. Peck was the first African American to graduate from a U.S. medical school (Rush Medical College).
1847: Joseph Jenkins Roberts became the first African-American president of any nation (Liberia).
1849: Charles L. Reason was the first African-American college professor at a mostly white institution (New York Central College).

1850s: Literature and Education

Patrick Francis Healy

William Wells Brown

Daniel Alexander Payne

1851: Patrick Francis Healy was the first African-American member of the Society of Jesus (Jesuits).
1853: Clotel; or, The President's Daughter by William Wells Brown was the first novel published by an African American.
1854: James Augustine Healy was the first African-American Catholic priest.
1854: The Ashmun Institute (later Lincoln University) was the first higher education school created to educate African Americans.
1858: The Escape; or, A Leap for Freedom by William Wells Brown was the first published play by an African American.
1858: Sarah Jane Woodson Early was the first African-American woman college instructor (Wilberforce College).
1858: Sarah Mapps Douglass was the first African-American woman to graduate from a medical course in an American university.

1860s: Civil War Era Firsts

1861: The 1st Louisiana Native Guard was the first North American military unit with African-American officers.
1861: William Cooper Nell was the first African-American U.S. federal government civil servant.
1862: Mary Jane Patterson was the first African-American woman to earn a B.A. (Oberlin College).
1863: Wilberforce University in Ohio was the first college owned and operated by African Americans.
1863: Bishop Daniel Payne was the first African-American president of a college (Wilberforce University).
1864: Dr. Rebecca Lee Crumpler was the first African-American woman in the United States to earn an M.D.
1865: Martin Delany was the first African-American field officer in the U.S. Army.
1865: John Stewart Rock was the first African-American attorney admitted to the bar of the U.S. Supreme Court.
1866: Father Patrick Francis Healy was the first African American to earn a Ph.D. from the University of Leuven, Belgium.
1866: Cathay Williams was the first African-American woman to enlist in the U.S. Army.
1868: Oscar Dunn was the first elected African-American Lieutenant Governor.
1868: Pierre Caliste Landry was the first African-American mayor (Donaldsonville, Louisiana).
1869: Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett was the first African-American U.S. diplomat (minister to Haiti).
1869: Fanny Jackson Coppin was the first African-American woman school principal.
1869: Robert Tanner Freeman was the first African American to receive a dental degree and become a dentist.

1870s: Reconstruction Era Firsts

Mary Eliza Mahoney

Michael A. Healy

1870: Thomas Mundy Peterson was the first African American to vote in an election under the 15th Amendment.
1870: Richard Theodore Greener was the first African American to graduate from Harvard College.
1870: Hiram Rhodes Revels was the first African American elected to the U.S. Senate and to serve in U.S. Congress.
1870: Joseph Rainey was the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives.
1872: P. B. S. Pinchback of Louisiana was the first African-American governor (non-elected).
1872: Frederick Douglass was the first African-American nominee for Vice President of the United States.
1874: Father Patrick Francis Healy was the first African-American president of a major college/university (Georgetown College).
1875: Bishop James Augustine Healy was the first African-American Roman Catholic bishop.
1876: Edward Alexander Bouchet was the first African American to earn a doctorate degree from an American university (Yale College, physics).
1877: Henry Ossian Flipper was the first African-American graduate of West Point and first African-American commissioned officer in the U.S. military.
1879: Mary Eliza Mahoney was the first African American to graduate from a formal nursing school.
1879: William Edward White possibly became the first African American to play major league baseball.

1880s: Sports and Politics

Blanche K. Bruce

Moses Fleetwood Walker

1880: Captain Michael Healy was the first African American to command a U.S. ship.
1881: Blanche K. Bruce was the first African American whose signature appeared on U.S. paper currency.
1884: Moses Fleetwood Walker possibly became the first African American to play professional baseball at the major-league level.
1884: Judy W. Reed was the first African-American woman to hold a patent. It was for an improved dough kneader.
1886: Augustine Tolton was the first Roman Catholic priest publicly known at the time to be African-American.

1890s: Arts and Business

Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones

William H. Lewis

Mary Fields

W. E. B. Du Bois

1890: Ida Rollins was the first African-American woman to earn a dental degree in the United States.
1890: George Washington Johnson was the first African American to record a best-selling phonograph record.
1892: Matilda Sissieretta Joyner Jones was the first African American to sing at Carnegie Hall.
1892: William H. Lewis was the first African-American named to a College Football All-America Team.
1895: Mary Fields was the first African-American woman to work for the United States Postal Service.
1895: W.E.B. Du Bois was the first African American to earn a doctorate degree (Ph.D.) from Harvard University.
1899: Major Taylor was the first African American to achieve a world championship in any sport (track cycling).

20th Century Milestones

1900s: New Century, New Firsts

Madam C. J. Walker

1901: Booker T. Washington was the first African-American invited to dine at the White House.
1902: Harry Lew was the first African-American professional basketball player.
1902: Charles Follis was the first African-American professional American football player.
1903: In Dahomey was the first Broadway musical written by African Americans and the first to star African Americans.
1903: Maggie L. Walker was the first African-American woman to found and become president of a bank.
1904: George Poage was the first African American to participate in the Olympic Games and the first to win a medal.
1908: Jack Johnson was the first African-American heavyweight boxing champion.
1908: John Taylor was the first African-American Olympic gold medal winner.

1910s: Business and Military

Butler R. Wilson

1910: Madam C. J. Walker was the first African-American female millionaire.
1911: Samuel J. Battle was the first African-American police officer in New York City.
1911: Butler R. Wilson was among the first African-American attorneys admitted to the American Bar Association.
1914: Eugene Jacques Bullard was the first African-American military pilot.
1916: Charles Young was the first African American to become a colonel in the U.S. Army.
1919: Oscar Micheaux directed The Homesteader, the first feature film by an African American.

1920s: Aviation and Sports

1920: Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall were the first African-American NFL football players.
1921: Bessie Coleman was the first African-American woman to become an aviation pilot and the first American to hold an international pilot license.
1921: Fritz Pollard was the first African-American NFL football coach.
1924: DeHart Hubbard was the first African American to win an individual Olympic gold medal (long jump).
1928: Oscar Stanton De Priest was the first post-Reconstruction African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
1928: Minnie Buckingham Harper was the first African-American woman to serve in a state legislature.

1930s: Music and Government

1931: William Grant Still was the first African-American composer to have his symphony performed by a leading orchestra.
1931: Jane Matilda Bolin was the first African-American woman to graduate from Yale Law School.
1937: William H. Hastie was the first African-American federal magistrate.
1938: Mary McLeod Bethune was the first African-American woman federal agency head (National Youth Administration).
1939: Ethel Waters was the first African American to star in their own television program, The Ethel Waters Show.

1940s: Breaking Barriers in Entertainment and War

Hattie McDaniel

Marian Anderson christens the SS Booker T. Washington, the first large oceangoing ship named for an African American.

1940: Hattie McDaniel was the first African American woman to win an Oscar (Best Supporting Actress, Gone with the Wind).
1940: Booker T. Washington was the first African American to be portrayed on a U.S. postage stamp.
1940: Benjamin O. Davis Sr. was the first African-American flag officer in the U.S. Army.
1942: Doris Miller was the first African American to be awarded the Navy Cross.
1942: Alfred Masters was the first African-American member of the U.S. Marine Corps.
1942: Hugh Mulzac was the first African American to captain a U.S. Merchant Marine ship.
1947: Jackie Robinson was the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era (Brooklyn Dodgers).
1947: Larry Doby was the first African-American Major League Baseball player in the American League.
1948: James Baskett was the first African-American man to receive an Oscar (Honorary Award).
1948: Alice Coachman was the first African-American woman to win an Olympic gold medal.
1949: Wesley Brown was the first African-American graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy.
1949: William Dawson was the first African American to chair a committee of the United States Congress.
1949: Edward R. Dudley was the first African American to hold the rank of Ambassador of the United States.
1949: Jackie Robinson was the first African American to win an MVP award in Major League Baseball.

1950s: Civil Rights Era Begins

1950: Juanita Hall was the first African American to win a Tony Award.
1950: Gwendolyn Brooks was the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize.
1950: Ralph Bunche was the first African American to win the Nobel Peace Prize.
1950: William H. Hastie was the first African American to receive a "lifetime" appointment as federal judge.
1950: Althea Gibson was the first African-American woman to compete on the world tennis tour.
1950: Nat King Cole was the first African-American solo singer to have a #1 hit on the Billboard charts.
1950: Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton, Chuck Cooper, and Earl Lloyd were the first African-American NBA basketball players.
1952: Wendell Scott was the first African-American driver in NASCAR.
1952: Charlotta Bass was the first African-American woman to be nominated for a national political office (Vice President).
1954: Carl Brashear was the first African-American U.S. Navy Diver.
1955: Marian Anderson was the first African-American member of the Metropolitan Opera.
1955: Arthur Mitchell was the first African-American male dancer in a major ballet company.
1956: Nat King Cole was the first African-American star of a nationwide network TV show.
1956: Althea Gibson was the first African-American Wimbledon tennis champion (doubles).
1956: Don Newcombe was the first African American to win the Cy Young Award as the top pitcher in Major League Baseball.
1957: Willie Mays was the first African American to win Major League Baseball's Gold Glove.
1958: Ruth Carol Taylor was the first African-American flight attendant.
1958: Tommy Edwards was the first African American to reach number-one on the Billboard Hot 100.
1959: Ella Fitzgerald and Count Basie were the first African-American Grammy Award winners.
1959: Louis Lomax was the first African-American television journalist.

1960s: Major Breakthroughs

1961: Ernie Davis was the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy.
1962: Jackie Robinson was the first African American to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1962: Edward Brooke was the first African-American attorney general of a state (Massachusetts).
1962: James Meredith was the first African-American student admitted to the University of Mississippi.
1963: Martin Luther King Jr. was the first African-American named as Time magazine's Man of the Year.
1963: Wendell Scott was the first African American to win a NASCAR Grand National event.
1963: Elston Howard was the first African American to be named American League MVP.
1964: Althea Gibson was the first African American to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association.
1964: Sidney Poitier was the first African-American man to win an Oscar (Best Actor, Lillies of the Field).
1965: Bill Cosby was the first African-American star of a network television drama (I Spy).
1965: Benjamin O. Davis Jr. was the first African-American U.S. Air Force General.
1965: Patricia Roberts Harris was the first African-American woman Ambassador of the United States (to Luxembourg).
1965: Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American United States Solicitor General.
1966: Bill Cosby was the first African American to win a Primetime Emmy Award.
1966: Bill Russell was the first African-American coach in the National Basketball Association.
1966: Edward Brooke was the first post-Reconstruction African-American elected to the U.S. Senate.
1966: Robert C. Weaver was the first African-American Cabinet secretary.
1967: Charlie Sifford was the first African American to win a PGA Tour event.
1967: Carl B. Stokes was the first African-American elected mayor of a large U.S. city (Cleveland, Ohio).
1967: Thurgood Marshall was the first African-American appointed to the Supreme Court of the United States.
1968: Arthur Ashe was the first African-American man to win a Grand Slam tennis event (US Open).
1968: Shirley Chisholm was the first African-American woman elected to U.S. House of Representatives.
1968: Diahann Carroll starred in Julia, the first TV series where an African-American actress did not play a domestic worker.
1969: Gordon Parks was the first African-American director of a major Hollywood motion picture (The Learning Tree).
1969: Arthur Mitchell founded the Dance Theatre of Harlem, the first classical training school and ballet company by an African American.

1970s: New Frontiers

1970: Carl Brashear was the first African-American U.S. Navy Master Diver.
1970: Gail Fisher was the first African-American actress to win an Emmy Award.
1971: Satchel Paige was the first African-American pitcher to be inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
1972: Shirley Chisholm was the first African American to campaign for the U.S. presidency in a major political party and to win a U.S. presidential primary.
1972: Luke Cage was the first African-American superhero to star in his own comic-book series.
1973: Tom Bradley was the first African-American elected mayor of Los Angeles.
1974: Beverly Johnson was the first African-American model on the cover of U.S. Vogue magazine.
1975: Walter Washington was the first African-American elected mayor of Washington, D.C.
1975: Daniel James Jr. was the first African-American four-star general.
1975: Bill Russell was the first African American inducted to the Basketball Hall of Fame as a player.
1975: Frank Robinson was the first African-American manager in Major League Baseball.
1975: Franco Harris was the first African American to be named Super Bowl MVP.
1977: Patricia Roberts Harris was the first African-American woman in the U.S. Cabinet.
1977: Azie Taylor Morton was the first African-American woman whose signature appeared on U.S. currency.
1978: Max Robinson was the first African-American broadcast network news anchor.
1978: Jill E. Brown was the first African-American woman pilot for a major commercial airline.
1979: Frank E. Petersen was the first African-American U.S. Marine Corps general officer.

1980s: Space, Politics, and Music

1980: Janie L. Mines was the first African-American woman to graduate from the U.S. Naval Academy.
1980: BET was the first African-American-oriented cable television network.
1981: Val James was the first African American to play in the NHL.
1982: Roscoe Robinson Jr. was the first African-American U.S. Army four-star General.
1983: Guion Bluford was the first African-American astronaut.
1983: Harold Washington was the first African-American mayor of Chicago.
1983: Vanessa L. Williams was the first African-American Miss America.
1983: Michael Jackson was the first African-American artist to have a music video shown heavily on MTV.
1984: Jesse Jackson was the first African American to win a delegate-awarding U.S. presidential primary/caucus.
1985: Donnie Cochran was the first African American to become a member of the U.S. Navy's Blue Angels precision flying team.
1986: Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, and Little Richard were the first African-American musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1987: Aretha Franklin was the first African-American woman inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
1987: Whitney Houston was the first African-American woman to have an album debut at number one on the Billboard 200.
1988: Debi Thomas was the first African American to win a medal at the Winter Olympics (bronze in figure skating).
1988: Doug Williams was the first African-American quarterback to start (and win) a Super Bowl.
1989: Art Shell was the first African-American NFL coach of the modern era.
1989: David Dinkins was the first African-American mayor of New York City.
1989: Colin Powell was the first African-American Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
1989: Barbara Clementine Harris was the first African-American woman ordained bishop in the Episcopal Church.

1990s: National Leadership and Sports

1990: Douglas Wilder was the first elected African-American governor (Virginia).
1990: Barack Obama was the first African-American elected president of the Harvard Law Review.
1990: Carole Gist was the first African-American Miss USA.
1992: Dr. Mae Jemison was the first African-American female astronaut.
1992: Carol Moseley Braun was the first African-American woman elected to U.S. Senate.
1992: Cito Gaston was the first African-American Major League Baseball manager to reach (and win) the World Series.
1993: Ron Brown was the first African-American United States Secretary of Commerce.
1993: Hazel R. O'Leary was the first African-American woman appointed as U.S. Secretary of Energy.
1993: Toni Morrison was the first African American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature.
1993: Rita Dove was the first African-American woman named Poet Laureate of the United States.
1993: Joycelyn Elders was the first African-American appointed Surgeon General of the United States.
1994: Tiger Woods was the first African-American (mixed-race) to win the United States Amateur Championship.
1995: Chelsi Smith was the first African-American Miss Universe.
1996: J. Paul Reason was the first African-American U.S. Navy four-star admiral.
1997: Tiger Woods was the first African-American (mixed-race) to win a men's major golf championship (The Masters).
1997: Tyra Banks was the first African-American model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition.
1998: Alexis Herman was the first African-American appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor.
1998: Lillian Fishburne was the first African-American female rear admiral in the U.S. Navy.
1999: Maurice Ashley was the first African American to be awarded the Grandmaster title in chess.
1999: Franklin Raines was the first African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
1999: Shirley Ann Jackson was the first African-American female university president.

21st Century Milestones

2000s: Global Impact

Official portrait of Colin Powell, 2001

Official portrait of Barack Obama, 2009

2000: Charley Pride was the first African American to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame.
2001: Colin Powell was the first African-American (mixed-race) Secretary of State.
2001: Ruth J. Simmons was the first African-American president of an Ivy League university (Brown University).
2001: Condoleezza Rice was the first African-American woman National Security Advisor.
2001: Robert L. Johnson was the first African-American billionaire.
2002: Vonetta Flowers was the first African-American Winter Olympic gold medal winner (bobsleigh).
2002: Halle Berry was the first African-American (half-Caucasian) to win an Oscar (Best Lead Actress).
2002: Whoopi Goldberg was the first African-American to receive the EGOT (Emmy, Grammy, Oscar, and Tony Awards).
2002: Venus Williams was the first African-American woman to be ranked #1 in tennis.
2003: Serena Williams was the first African American to win a Career Grand Slam in tennis.
2005: Condoleezza Rice was the first African-American woman Secretary of State.
2006: Shani Davis was the first African-American individual Winter Olympic gold medal winner (speed skating).
2006: Sophia Danenberg was the first African American to reach the peak of Mount Everest.
2007: Tony Dungy was the first African-American NFL coach to win a Super Bowl.
2008: Barack Obama was the first African American to be nominated as a major-party U.S. presidential candidate.
2008: Barack Obama was the first African-American elected President of the United States.
2008: Michelle Obama was the first African American First Lady.
2008: Mike Carey was the first African American to referee a Super Bowl game.
2009: Eric Holder was the first African-American United States Attorney General.
2009: Susan Rice was the first African-American woman United States Ambassador to the United Nations.
2009: Ursula Burns was the first African-American woman CEO of a Fortune 500 company (Xerox Corporation).

2010s: Continued Progress

2010: Kamala Harris was the first African-American female to be elected state Attorney General in the United States (California).
2010: Dustin Byfuglien was the first African American to win the Stanley Cup.
2012: Barack Obama was the first African American to be re-elected President of the United States.
2012: Lloyd Austin was the first African-American Combatant Commander of United States Central Command.
2013: Tim Scott was the first African-American U.S. senator from the former Confederacy since Reconstruction.
2014: Michelle J. Howard was the first African-American woman four-star admiral.
2015: Loretta Lynch was the first African-American woman Attorney General of the United States.
2015: Misty Copeland was the first African-American female principal dancer for the American Ballet Theatre.
2016: Dr. Carla Hayden was the first African-American Librarian of Congress.
2017: Derek Jeter was the first African-American CEO of a Major League Baseball team.
2018: Beyoncé was the first African-American woman to headline Coachella.
2018: Jordan Greenway was the first African American to play for Team USA Hockey in the Olympic Games.
2018: Lorna Mahlock was the first African-American woman U.S. Marine Corps general officer.
2019: Lonnie Bunch was the first African-American (and first historian) secretary of the Smithsonian Institution.

2020s: Historic Leadership

Official portrait of Kamala Harris, 2021

2020: Kamala Harris was the first African-American (and Asian-American) to be nominated as a major party U.S. vice-presidential candidate.
2020: Kamala Harris was the first African-American and first female elected Vice President of the United States.
2020: Charles Q. Brown Jr. was the first African American to be appointed as a military Chief of Staff and first African American to lead any branch of the United States Armed Forces.
2020: Jason Wright was the first African-American president of an NFL team.
2020: Wilton Gregory was the first African-American Catholic cardinal.
2021: Raphael Warnock was the first African-American Democratic U.S. senator to represent a former Confederate state in the United States Senate.
2021: Lloyd Austin was the first African-American United States Secretary of Defense.
2021: Jennifer King was the first full-time female African-American NFL coach.
2021: Zaila Avant-garde was the first African American to win the Scripps National Spelling Bee.
2022: Keechant Sewell was the first African-American woman and first woman to be the police commissioner of the New York Police Department.
2022: Maya Angelou was the first African-American woman to appear on U.S. currency (a quarter).
2022: Ketanji Brown Jackson was the first African-American woman nominated, confirmed to, and sworn into the Supreme Court of the United States.
2022: Wes Moore was the first African-American elected governor of the U.S. state of Maryland.
2022: Hakeem Jeffries was the first African-American chosen to lead a party caucus in either chamber of Congress.
2023: Laphonza Butler was the first openly LGBT African-American to serve in the United States Senate.