Category: Women of Color and Accomplishment Book One

Mary Parrish, 1892–1972 A trained journalist, Mary Parrish chronicled her own experience of the violence during the Tulsa massacre of 1921. She fled with her young daughter, along with other survivors, who provided eyewitness accounts. From The Nation Must Awake by Mary Parrish: Mary Parrish was reading in her home when the Tulsa race massacre… Continue reading Mary Parrish

Dr. Dorothy Height, 1912 – 2010 Dr. Height was an African American civil rights and women’s rights activist. She focused on the issues of African American women, including unemployment, illiteracy, and voter awareness. Height is credited as the first leader in the civil rights movement to recognize inequality for women and African Americans as problems that should be considered as a whole. She was… Continue reading Dr. Dorothy Height

Ida Rollins  1867-1953   Ida Rollins, the first African American female dentist, became an orphan shortly after birth. Rollins’ white father, whose name is unknown, played no role in her childhood or education. After her mother’s death, Ida was raised by her aunt, Caroline Gray who was a seamstress and taught her the trade. While… Continue reading Ida Rollins

Wilma Rudolph, 1940-1994 Rudolph’s legacy lies in her efforts to overcome obstacles from childhood illnesses including polio to become the fastest woman runner in the world in 1960.   Rudolph is also regarded as a civil rights and women’s rights pioneer.  Further Information: National Women’s History Museum Olympics

Rosa Parks, 1913 –2005 Rosa Parks was an American activist in the civil rights movement best known for her pivotal role in the Montgomery bus boycott. The United States Congress has called her “the first lady of civil rights” and “the mother of the freedom movement”. Additional Information: Wikipedia Academy of Achievement

Dr. Patricia Era Bath, 1942 –2019 Dr. Bath was an American ophthalmologist, inventor, humanitarian, and academic. She was the inventor of laser cataract surgery. Her invention was called Laserphaco Probe. She also became the first woman member of the Jules Stein Eye Institute, the first woman to lead a post-graduate training program in ophthalmology, and… Continue reading Dr. Patricia Bath

Sarah Boone, 1832-1904  Sarah Boone was an African-American inventor. She was born into slavery and barred from formal education but was educated by her grandfather at home. After she married James Boone in 1847 she was freed from involuntary servitude. Boone, a seamstress, obtained a United States patent in 1892 for her improvements to the… Continue reading Sarah Boone

Katherine Johnson, 1918 – 2020 Johnson was an American mathematician whose calculations of orbital mechanics as a NASA employee were critical to the success of the first and subsequent U.S. crewed spaceflights. During her 33-year career at NASA and its predecessor, she earned a reputation for mastering complex manual calculations and helped pioneer the use of computers to perform the tasks.… Continue reading Katherine Johnson

Amanda Gorman, 1998 – Gorman is an American poet and activist. Her work focuses on issues of oppression, feminism, race, and marginalization, as well as the African diaspora. Gorman was the first person to be named National Youth Poet Laureate. She published the poetry book The One for Whom Food Is Not Enough in 2015. In 2021, she delivered her poem “The Hill We… Continue reading Amanda Gorman

Dorothy “Dot” Counts, 1944- Dot Counts, Civil Rights activist, was one of the four first students to integrate the Harry Harding High School in 1956. The photo of her attending her first day inspired these painting. It also inspired James Baldwin who wrote in I Am Not Your Negro: “It made me furious and filled… Continue reading Dot Counts