Leading the way
Black History Month puts forgotten focus on workplace pioneers
While there are some who know and understand the rich history of African Americans and working scenarios in the United States, that history wasn’t something covered in school in previous decades. “It wasn’t in a textbook, that’s for sure,” says Monica Walsh, 38. “Learning about black people who led the way in their field? How about George Washington Carver. Oh, Jackie Robinson, too. That’s about as far as we got.”
Walsh, a data analyst originally from Chicago but now “working through the pandemic” from her sister’s home just outside Fort Lauderdale, Florida, says she learned more about Black history from the paintings on her grandmother’s wall than she did in class. “I’d ask, ‘who’s that, grandma?’ and she’d go on for an hour about Bessie Coleman and how she flew planes, and then Martin Luther King and then Sarah Vaughn,” Walsh says. “I rolled my eyes back then, but now I hold those memories close to my heart. I mean, she was teaching me.”
As we celebrate Black History Month, here’s a brief look at Robinson, Coleman and several other prominent African Americans who helped pave the professional path for others:
Mary Eliza Mahoney (1845-1926) was the first African American to study and work as a professionally trained nurse in the United States, graduating from the New England Hospital for Women and Children Training School for Nurses in 1879. She was one of only three people in her class to complete the 16-month program. In 1908, she co-founded the National Association of Colored Graduate Nurses, which in 1951 merged with the American Nurses Association.
Benjamin Oliver Davis, Sr. (1877-970) was the first African-American general in the U.S. Army. He was a student at Howard University when — as a result of the start of the Spanish-American War — he entered military service on July 13, 1898, as a temporary first lieutenant of the 8th United States Volunteer Infantry. Gen. Davis’ U.S. military decorations included the Bronze Star and the Distinguished Service Medal.
Elizabeth “Bessie” Coleman (1892-1926), popularly known as “Queen Bess,” was the first African-American woman to become an airplane pilot. Coleman had to travel to France for flight training because no American flight school would accept her because of her race. Upon returning, Coleman intended to start a flying school for African-American pilots. She toured the country, giving lectures at black schools, churches and recreational facilities in an effort to encourage African Americans to enter the field of aviation. Preparing for an air show in Jacksonville, Fla., Coleman was killed when she was thrown from a crashing aircraft while riding as a passenger.
William Grant Still (1895-1978) was an African-American classical composer who wrote more than 150 compositions, including operas, ballets, symphonies, chamber works and folk arrangements. He was the first African American to conduct a major American symphony orchestra, the first to have a symphony of his own performed by a leading orchestra, the first to have an opera performed by a major opera company and the first to have an opera performed on national television. He is often referred to as “the dean” of African-American composers.
Harold Baron “Hal” Jackson (1915-2012) is an American disk jockey and radio personality who broke a number of color barriers in radio broadcasting. Jackson began his broadcasting career as the first African-American radio sports announcer, broadcasting Howard University’s home baseball games and local Negro league baseball games. In 1939, he became the first African American host at WINX Washington with The Bronze Review, a nightly interview program. He moved to New York in 1954 and became the first radio personality to broadcast three daily shows on three different New York stations. Four million listeners tuned in nightly to hear Jackson’s mix of music and conversations with jazz artists and celebrities.
Jack Roosevelt “Jackie” Robinson (1919-1972) became the first African-American Major League Baseball player of the modern era, when his 1947 debut with the Brooklyn Dodgers ended some 60 years of baseball segregation. Robinson went on to have an extraordinary baseball career and in 1962 was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame.
Carl B. Stokes (1927-1996) is known for being Cleveland’s 51st mayor and the first African-American mayor of a major American city. He was also a soldier, a lawyer, a member of the Ohio House of Representatives, a broadcaster and a judge. In 1994, President Clinton appointed him U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Seychelles.
Ruth Carol Taylor (1931-present) became the first African-American flight attendant in the United Stated when she was hired Feb. 11, 1958, by Mohawk Airlines. Only six months after breaking that historic barrier, Taylor’s career ended due to another discriminatory barrier, the airline’s practice of not employing married flight attendants.
Guion “Guy” Bluford, Jr. (1942-present), a retired U.S. Air Force colonel, became the first African American in space as a member of the Challenger space shuttle crew in 1983. He took part in four space shuttle flights between 1983 and 1992.