In honor of Women's History Month, the following highlights important black women in American history.
Marian Anderson
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten collection.
In her opera debut in 1955, singer Marian Anderson became the first African American to perform at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. She is also the recipient of numerous awards including the NAACP Spingarn Medal (1939), the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1963), the congressional gold medal (1977), and she received a Grammy award for lifetime achievement in 1991.
Maya Angelou
Photo by Katy Winn/Getty Images
Although Maya Angelou is most known as an author, she first worked as an actor and dancer. After traveling throughout Europe and Asia in the 1950s, she returned to the U.S. In 1970, Angelou published her first book, I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, which chronicled the first seventeen years of her life. The book was nominated for a National Book Award. She wrote four other autobiographical books: Gather Together in My Name (1974), Singin’ and Swingin’ and Getting’ Merry Like Christmas (1976), The Heart of a Woman (1981), and All God’s Children Need Traveling Shoes (1986).
Ella Baker
Courtesy of Library of Congress. Reproduction #LC-USZ62-118852
Ella Baker was one of the civil rights movement's most influential women. She began her civil rights career working as the Director of Branches for the NAACP. She later worked as the temporary director of Martin Luther King's SCLC. The man-centered leadership of the civil rights movement, however, prevented her from becoming the permanent director. Baker eventually left the group to help student activists create the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee.
Bessie Blount
Inventor Bessie Blount helped World War II amputees with the invention of an eating device designed to provide independence. While working with amputees, Blount discovered that eating was the most difficult task for them to manage. Blount’s first device provided a mouthful of food delivered through a tube each time the patient bit down on the tube. She tried to market her device, but was unsuccessful. She patented another device called the portable receptacle support. While its purpose was the same, this device was composed of a neck brace that supported a bowl or other dish.Bessie Coleman
When Bessie Coleman received her international pilot’s license in 1921, she became the first African American woman aviator. Coleman’s interest in aviation began while she was working as a manicurist in a men’s barbershop. She learned from discussions with World War I veterans that in France women flew planes. After saving enough money, she enrolled in pilot training school in France. When Coleman returned to the U.S., she was unable to find employment as a pilot so she became a barnstormer.
Dorothy Dandridge
Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, NYWT &S Collection, LC-USZ62-118450.
Dorothy Dandridge began her acting career in the late 1930s. Her early films received little acclaim, but her work was more notable in the 1950s. Dandridge co-starred in the film Carmen Jones with Harry Belafonte. She was nominated for an Academy Award for best actress, but lost to Grace Kelly. Her later work included Island in the Sun and Porgy and Bess.
Jessie Redmon Fauset
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, LC-USZ62-48533.
Harlem Renaissance writer Jessie Redmon Fauset wrote novels that dealt with racial issues like passing, interracial relationships, and the color line. Fauset also worked as the editor for the NAACP’s The Crisis magazine, which published works written by Countee Cullen, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes, and Claude McKay. She also edited the children’s periodical, The Brownies’.
Lorraine Hansberry
Courtesy of Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, NYWT&S Collection, LC-USZ62-111432.
Lorraine Hansberry's play A Raisin in the Sun documents the agony of poverty and racism that black families commonly faced during the 1950s. The play won the New York Drama Critics Circle Best Play of the Year Award, making her the first African American to win the award.
Billie Holiday
Courtesy of the Library of Congress, Prints & Photographs Division, Carl Van Vechten collection.
Jazz singer Billie Holiday is considered one of the greatest jazz singers of all time. She began her singing career in nightclubs in 1930. Her reputation as a talented singer led to a record contract and a touring schedule. She toured with such groups as the Count Basie Orchestra and Artie Shaw’s Orchestra. She eventually became a regular performer at the club Café Society in New York. Holiday is best known for her rendition of the song “Strange Fruit.”
Lena Horne
Photograph courtesy of NARA
Lena Horne began her career as a chorus girl at the Cotton Club but soon landed a recording contract. Her newfound fame quickly made her a sex symbol to black troops fighting in World War II. Horne received parts in Cabin in the Sky and Stormy Weather. She became known for her rendition of the song “Stormy Weather.”
