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
Chisholm becomes the first Black woman elected to the US House.
- January 25, 1972Shirley Chisholm runs for president
Chisholm becomes the first Black candidate to seek a major party's nomination.
- 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.