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Moses Fleetwood walker
In 1884, the first black major league baseball player was Moses Fleetwood walker, who was catcher on the Toledo team of the American Association. Walker was born in Mount Pleasant, Ohio, the son of Dr. Moses W. Walker, the first African-American physician in Mount Pleasant, and his mother, a white woman. He enrolled in Oberlin College in 1878 and played on the college's first varsity baseball team in the spring of 1881.He was recruited by the University of Michigan and played varsity baseball fo -
Jack Johnson (John Arthur)
Jack JohnsonJohnson was born in Galveston, Texas, the second child and first son of Henry and Tina "Tiny" Johnson, former slaves who worked at blue-collar jobs to raise six children and taught them how to read and write. By 1902, Johnson had won at least 50 fights against both white and black opponents. Johnson won his first title on February 3, 1903, beating "Denver" Ed Martin over 20 rounds for the World Colored Heavyweight Championship. Johnson finally won the world heavyweight title on December 26,1908. -
Frederick Douglass (Fritz Pollard)
Fritz pollard Fritz Pollard was the first African American head coach in the National Football League (NFL). Pollard played college football at Brown University, graduating in 1919. He later played pro football with the Akron Pros, the team he would lead to the NFL (APFA) championship in 1920. In 1921, he became the co-head coach of the Akron Pros, while still maintaining his roster position as running back. He also played for the Milwaukee Badgers, Hammond Pros, Gilberton Cadamounts,Union Club of Phoenixvil. -
Don Barksdale
Barksdale was a professional basketball player. He was a pioneer with a number of African-American firsts to his credit. In 1948, he was the first African American to play with the U.S. Olympic team. He joined the team in Basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics. He became the first African-American basketball player to win a gold medal in the Summer Olympics. Barksdale became the first African-American to play against Kentucky in Lexington. He could not stay at the hotel with the rest of the team -
Charles (Chuck) Cooper
Cooper was an American professional basketball player. He was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Cooper claims to be the first African American basketball player in the NBA. Cooper was the first black player to be drafted by an NBA team, in 1950. He played four years with the Celtics, then was traded to the Milwaukee Hawks before ending his career as a member of the Ft. Wayne Pistons. During his NBA career, Cooper played a total of 409 games, scoring 2,725 points in lifetime. -
Lee Elder
Elders was an American golfer. He is best remembered for becoming the first African-American to play in the Masters Tournament in 1975. This marked the first time an African American had qualified for the Masters since it began in 1934. Elder shot a 74 on day one and a 78 on day two of the 1975 Masters, missing the cut, but the impact of his presence in the field was clear.In 1979 he became the first African American to qualify for play in the Ryder Cup. -
Willie Mays
Willie Mays was the model of a multi-talented baseball hero during his 22-season major league career. A speedy center fielder, he stole 338 bases, won 11 Gold Gloves for defensive skill, amassed 3283 hits, and slugged 660 home runs during his big-league career. Mays played in 24 All Star games (a record number that he shares with Stan Musial and Hank Aaron) and was named the National League's most valuable player in both 1954 and 1965. He was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1979. -
Debra Janine (Debi Thomas)
Thomas is an American figure skater and physician. She is the 1986 World champion and 1988 Olympic bronze medalist, having taken part in the Battle of the Carmens at those games. Thomas won both the 1986 U.S. national title and the 1986 World Championships.She was the first female athlete to win those titles while attending college full time since Tenley Albright in the 1950s. She was the first African-American to hold U.S. National titles in ladies' singles figure skating. -
Florence Delorez Griffith (Flo Jo) Griffith-Joyner
Flo Jo
was an American track and field athlete. She is considered the "fastest woman of all time" based on the fact that she still holds the world record for both the 100 metres and 200 metres, both set in 1988 and never seriously challenge. She is a U.S. sprinter. At the 1984 Olympics she won a silver medal in the 200-m race and became a celebrity with her long, decorated fingernails and eye-catching racing suits. At the 1988 Olympic trials, she set a world record in the 100-m sprint (10.49 sec). -
Vonetta Flowers
Flowers is an American bobsledder and athlete. Flowers was a star sprinter and long jumper at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, and originally aspired to make the U.S. Summer Olympic Team. After several failed attempts, Flowers turned to bobsledding, and found success as a brake woman almost immediately. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, she, along with driver Jill Bakken, won the gold medal in the two-woman event, becoming the first black person to win a gold medal in the Winter Olympics.
