Angela Bassett
Award Winning Actress
Marguerite Thomas Williams
First African American to earn a Doctorate in Geology
Pearl Bailey
Pearl Bailey (March 29, 1918 – August 17, 1990) Actress, singer, comedian and author.
Toni Morrison
Novelist and editor. awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature won the National Book Critics Circle Award. And the Pulitzer Prize.
Ursula Burns
The first black woman to lead a Fortune 500 company, Xerox.
Nikki Giovanni
Award Winning Poet
Alice Augusta Ball
Alice Augusta Ball (July 24, 1892 – Dec 31, 1916) Chemist that produced first effective treatment for Hansen’s disease (Leprosy).
Phylicia Rashard
Award Winning Actress and Howard University Dean
Ava DuVernay
Filmmaker, screenwriter, and producer.
Betty Reid Soskin
Betty Reid Soskin (Sep 22, 1921 – Dec 21, 2025) the nation's longest serving park ranger, retired in 2022 at the age of 100.
Diahann Carroll
(July 17, 1935 – Oct 4, 2019) Award-winning actress, singer, model, and activist.
Viola Davis
Award Winning Actress and Film Producer.
Serena Williams
Bessie Coleman
The first black woman to hold a pilot's license.(Jan 26, 1892 – Apr 30, 1926)
Tammi Terrell
Tina Turner
Singer, songwriter, actress, and author. The "Queen of Rock 'n' Roll",one of the best-selling music artists of all time.
Dr Alexa Canady
First African American Neurosurgeon
Lisa Leslie
Former WNBA basketball player, four-time Olympic gold medalist, Coach
Michelle Obama
Former First Lady of the United States
Isabel Wilkerson
Eartha Kitt
Cicely Tyson
Maya Angelou
Oprah Winfrey
Shirley Chisholm
Nov 30, 1924 – Jan 1, 2005) politician, the first black woman to be elected to the United States Congress.