Field of excellence
Political Leadership
Officeholders and statesmen.
On the timeline
- December 9, 1872P.B.S. Pinchback becomes governor
Pinchback serves as Louisiana governor, the first Black governor in US history.
- December 10, 1950Ralph Bunche wins the Nobel Peace Prize
Bunche becomes the first African American Nobel laureate.
- October 2, 1967Thurgood Marshall joins the Supreme Court
Marshall becomes the first Black Supreme Court justice.
- November 7, 1967Carl Stokes, first Black mayor of a major city
Stokes is elected mayor of Cleveland.
- November 5, 1968Shirley Chisholm Elected to Congress, First Black Woman in House
Brooklyn Democrat Shirley Chisholm defeated Republican James Farmer to become the first Black woman elected to the United States Congress, representing New York's 12th congressional district. Her campaign slogan was 'Unbought and Unbossed.'
- January 25, 1972Shirley Chisholm runs for President
On January 25, 1972, Shirley Chisholm became the first Black American and the first woman to seek the presidential nomination of a major political party, competing in twelve state primaries and winning 152 delegate votes. Her campaign shattered two barriers simultaneously and proved that Black women could contest the highest office in the land, inspiring Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton's later campaigns.
- April 12, 1983Harold Washington, first Black mayor of Chicago
Washington wins a historic election in a major American city.
- January 20, 2001Colin Powell, first Black Secretary of State
Powell becomes the highest-ranking Black official in US history to that point.
- January 26, 2005Condoleezza Rice, first Black woman Secretary of State
Rice becomes the second Black Secretary of State and the first Black woman in the role.
- January 20, 2021Kamala Harris becomes Vice President
Harris becomes the first Black and first woman US Vice President.
Resources
The 150-year history and present-day stakes of the HBCUs.
HBCU homecoming as cultural resilience amid threats to the institutions.