Viewed by his Harlem constituents as a dedicated crusader for civil rights, Powell earned the loyalty and respect of many African Americans with his confrontational approach to racial discrimination. Never one to shun the spotlight, the outspoken New York minister and politician—regarded as an irritant by many of his congressional colleagues—relished his position as a spokesperson for the advancement of African–American rights.
In 1977, as a federal attorney, Latimer was the first African American and first woman to serve as General Counsel of a major federal agency as well as the first African American and first woman to attain the GS-18 salary level at the General Services Administration. Veteran Feminists of America (VFA) recognized Latimer as part of the ‘second wave of feminist pioneers’.
As the first black politician west of the Mississippi River elected to the House, Hawkins guided countless pieces of legislation aimed at improving the lives of minorities and the urban poor.
Elected to the U.S. House of Representatives from Texas in 1972, Barbara Jordan became the first African-American congresswoman to be elected, and re-elected, from the deep South. Before her election to Congress, she was a Texas State Senator, the first African-American woman to serve there.
Elected to the House of Representatives in 1954 at age 31, Charles C. Diggs, Jr., was the first African American to represent Michigan in Congress. Despite his reserved demeanor, Diggs served as an ardent supporter of civil rights and an impassioned advocate of increased American aid to Africa.
An attorney and jurist who became the first African American woman elected to the New York State Senates. Also one of the first African American women named to the federal bench.
America's first woman Colonel. From 1952-1955 she played another pioneering role in government as the first Secretary of the Department of Health, Education, and Welfare. She was the only woman to serve in the Cabinet of President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The first Asian-American Congresswoman in the history of the United States. Also her persistence in securing the passage of Title IX in 1972 assured equal treatment for women in athletics in American educational institutions.
President John F. Kennedy appointed Pauli Murray to the Committee on Civil and Political Rights as a part of his Presidential Commission on the Status of Women in 1961
First African American woman elected to the U.S. Congress. Also the first African American woman to receive delegate votes for the presidential nomination of a major party.
Phillips was the first African American and the first woman to serve as an elected official and as a judge in Wisconsin.
The links and web content below may help you narrow your topic to a movement or cause of interest OR provide you with preliminary biographical materials on a specific person.
Center for American Women and Politics (Rutgers University) has a useful time line. Make sure that you select someone whose achievements fall between 1950-2010
The Museum researches, collects and exhibits the contributions of women to the social, cultural, economic and political life of our nation in a context of world history.
