Woman have been breaking barriers around the world and changing the way the world functions. Women have to walk that extra mile and fight lone battles to make the world wake up and see the need for change. Like all their sisters around the world, the famous black women too had to face a tough fight to make the world notice them as a strong and capable race, rather than the weaker sex.
Famous black women fought for their right to education, to earn a living and to lead a decent respectable life similar to their white counterparts. Similar to the famous fictional character in the novel, ‘Gone with the Wind’, there are many ‘Mammy’s’, who have struggled to earn the position and command respect throughout the world like Condoleezza Rice, the 66th United States Secretary of State. In this article, we shall see some of the famous black women in history. Read about famous people.
Famous Black Women in History
Josephine Baker (1906-1975) – A civil rights activist and World War II heroine.
Ida B. Wells Barnett (1862-1931) – Educator, anti-lynching campaigner and founder of NAACP
Mary McLeod Bethune (1875-1955) – educator, founder of Bethune-Cookman College, Daytona Beach, Florida; became the Presidential adviser and recipient of Spingarn Medal.
Mary Elizabeth Bowser (1839 – date of death unknown) – A freed slave who became the Union spy during Civil War in Confederate White House
Eliza Bryant (1827-1907) – She founded the Cleveland Home for Aged Colored People.
Mary Ann Shadd Cary (1823-1893) – A pioneer journalist and lecturer
Bessie Coleman (1893-1926) – The first black woman to earn a pilot’s license
Mary Fields (1832?-1914) – A stagecoach driver and entrepreneur
Zelma Watson George (1903-1994) – She was a Opera singer, speaker, educator and delegate to the UN
Charlotte Forten Grimke (1837-1890) – She was a writer, abolitionist and educator
Fannie Lou Hamer (1917-1977) – She was a civil rights worker and founder of MS Freedom Democratic Party. You can read more on Civil Rights Movement.
Jane Edna Hunter (1882-1971) – She was a social worker, attorney and founded the Phyllis Wheatley Association of Cleveland.
Zora Neale Hurston (1903-1960) – She was one of the writer from the Harlem Group
Mahalia Jackson (1912-1972) – She was the first Black woman who earned national acclaim for gospel music
Rebecca Jackson ( 1795-1871) – She was an eldress of the Shaker sect
Harriet Jacobs (1813-1897) – She escaped as a slave and became an author and abolitionist
Sissieretta Jones (1869-1933) – She was an international singer and a prima donna of thelate 19th century
Barbara Jordan (1936-1996) – An excellent orator and Congresswoman
Biddy Mason (1818-1891) – First black woman to own land in California
Wilma Rudolph (1940-1994) – She was the first African American women to win 3 gold medals in track and field in a single Olympic Games (she ran with a sprained ankle to win the gold!)
Susie King Taylor (1848-1912) – First Black nurse during the Civil War
Susan McKinney Steward (1848-1918) – First African American woman doctor in New York State
Madame C.J. Walker (1867-1919) – She was an entrepreneur, who became an millionaire and was a well known philanthropist
Famous Black Women Poets
Lucille Clifton
Gwendolyn Brooks
Sapphire
Ariel Williams Holloway
Georgia Douglas Johnson
Audre Lorde
Jessie Redmon Fauset
Gwendolyn Brooks
Maya Angelou
Akua Lezli Hope
June Jordan
Phillis Wheatley
Nikki Giovanni
Famous Black Women Inventors
Sarah Walker – She created hair-care products especially for black women
Patricia Bath – the first African American female doctor to patent a method for removing cataract lenses. This transformed eye surgery by using a laser device that has helped many blind people to see.
Miriam E. Benjamin – The second black woman inventor to receive a patent for a ” Gong and Signal Chair for Hotels” .
Madam C. J. Walker – Invented a hair growing lotion
Sybilla Masters – She invented a way for cleaning and curing the Indian corn crops
Dr. Betsy Ancker-Johnson – She received a patent for ‘Signal Generators’
Lyda D. Newman – She invented the hair brush
Carol Randall – She invented the ear clips
Theora Stephens – She created the pressing/curling Iron
M. Toland – Inventor of float-operated circuit closer
Bessie Blount Griffin – She devised a feeding apparatus to help the amputees feed themselves.
Marie Brown – She got a patent for closed circuit television security system
Famous Black Women Actresses
Whoopi Goldberg
Queen Latifa
Halle Berry
Raven Symoné
Thandie Newton
Gabriel Union
Angela Bassett
Sanaa Lathan
Pam Grier
Nia Long
Rhianna
Tyra Banks
Oprah Winfrey
Beyonce Knowles
Nina Mae McKinney
Fredi Washington
Lena Horne
Paula Abdul
Donzaleigh Abernathy
Khalilah Adams
Nicole Alexander
Tatyana Ali
Aleisha Allen
Mary Alice
Kenneth ‘Babyface’ Edmonds
Etta Moten Barnett
Yvette Nicole Brown
Karyn Bryant
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Famous African American Women
Famous African American Women in the Civil Rights Movement
Famous African American Women Scientists and Inventor
These are some of the famous black women who have made a major an major impact in the chosen field of their career. These famous black women are just some of the many women who are most notable in Black women history in America. This was brief list of African American women who dared to dream and succeeded in realizing their dreams.