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Test Your Knowledge of African-American History!
African-American Firsts
1. Given the name "Isabella" and speaking Dutch from infancy , the
first Black female professional anti-slavery orator, she has been
given credit for a speech in English she never made. What was her
stage name and what was the title of a litany written in her honor?
2. An African-American used clothing store owner in Boston authored
the first nationally noticed political pamphlet by a person. Some
locations made it a crime to possess this document. Identify the
author and the pamphlet.
3. He helped Frederick Douglass edit the North Star, 1848, published
a still cited book in 1852, led an exploratory party to Africa in
1859, and in 1865, he was the first Black during the Civil War to be
appointed to a rank higher than sergeant. What were his rank and
name?
4. She was the founder of her own college, the organizer of the
premiere Black female public issue association in the 20th century,
first African female administrator to head a federal office and made
history down to the writing of her "Last Will and Testament." Who
was she?
5. At the core of the institutional arrangements effecting the
amount of credit and cash available in the United States, the
Federal Reserve Board is to the American economy what the heart is
to the human body: a pump whose decisions pulsate throughout the
nation. Identify the first Black to head this unit of government?
6. While several African-American females hold congressional seats
in our time, the very first Black woman to be elected to the U.S.
House of Representatives in 1968 had already served in her state
legislature. Identify that noted person.
7. In national recognition, this African-American educator achieved
a "double first": he was the first to have a U.S. stamp issued
(1940) bearing his likeness and the first to have a U.S. coin issued
(1946) with his facial image. Identify him.
8. A major model for Blacks and whites in the 1940s, this educator
achieved national renown for his scientific work and became the
first African American to be honored with a federally-funded statue
(1960) to his memory. Who was he?
9. While most enslaved Africans in the New World used to raise sugar
cane, a free person of color was the first person to follow
explicitly scientific methods in 1843 in the conversion of cane
juice to crystallized sugar. Identify that person.
10. Before becoming the first African American to attain the rank of
general in the U.S. Air Force, this serviceman was the first and
only individual in recent military history to receive two promotions
within 24 hours--from captain to major and lieutenant colonel.
Identify him.
11. While astronauts are now seen as routine, few are aware of the
first Black person to be selected for the exceedingly rigorous
training required by the space program's Manned Orbiting Laboratory
in 1967. What was that person' s name?
12. Mae C. Jemison, the first female astronaut, is known primarily
for her role in the space program. Before entering this program in
1987, Ms. Jemison worked in Sierra Leone, Africa for two years in
what capacity?
13. From its founding in 1867 to 1926, Howard University, the
nation's best known most comprehensive predominantly Black
university, had white presidents. What was the profession and full
name of its first African-American president?
14. Able to write in English, French and German by his early
twenties, this Philadelphia-born scholar was the first African
American to be awarded, in 1907, a Rhodes scholarship, the world's
most prestigious grant for advanced study at Oxford University.
Identify him.
15. Who was the first African American to head The National Science
Foundation?
Heroes and Heroines
16. The Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) and the
Student Non-Violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) were among the
most prominent national civil rights advocacy organizations in the
Sixties. One individual served first as manager of SCLC and then of
SNCC. Identify that person.
17. In the epoch-making arrest of Mrs. Rosa Parks, which launched
the Montgomery, Alabama bus boycott, Mrs. Parks had a "day job" as a
professional seamstress in a department store. What was her far more
significant "night job?"
18. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s predecessor at Montgomery's Dexter
Avenue Baptist Church was perhaps more fearless than Dr. King, but
his effort at confronting racism was perceived as being "ahead of
his time." Identify this now legendary minister.
19. During the Civil Rights Movement, the NAACP was at the heart of
protest movements on behalf of African Americans. Its most famous
director switched from a career of recording news to one of making
news when, in 1955, he became Executive Director of the NAACP. Who
was he?
20. Dating from 1911, the National Urban League has been a major
organization monitoring the economic and education status of African
Americans. During the Civil Rights Movement, its Executive Director
was a former social work professional who headed the League until
his untimely demise in 1971. Identify him.
21. Affecting the speech and mannerisms of an aristocrat, this
individual created Black America's most powerful labor union and was
a pioneer in mass demonstrations. What was his name?
22. Daisy Gaston Bates, then a state NAACP advisor to the famed
"Little Rock Nine" desegregating Little Rock, Arkansas' Central High
School in 1957, lost her business in the struggle. Identify the
business.
23. At the beginning of World War II, Navy Mess Attendant Dorie
Miller shot down four Japanese planes. He was proclaimed a hero,
returned to duty and lost his life in battle still a messman
attendant. The United States Navy acknowledged his heroics by
awarding him what special honor?
24. In a heroic congressional career of a quarter century, the first
African-American Representative from New York proposed 50 different
bills embodying the early concepts of equal opportunity and
affirmative action, and saw each of them become law. Identity this
lawmaker.
25. Gaining enduring national fame for her eloquent defense of the
U.S. Constitution during hearings on whether or not then President
Richard Nixon had perhaps violated it, this African-American member
of the U.S. House of Representatives became a role model for females
of both races. Identify the individual and state represented.
26. The 1963 March on Washington was notable for (a) its
size--250,000 marchers, ( b) peaceful conduct and (c) the classic I
Have a Dream speech by Dr. Martin Luther King. The person commonly
given credit for the logistics of the march was trained by Asa
Philip Randolph, the master of marches. Identify this person.
Science, Technology and Inventions
27. After a distinguished career as teacher, research chemist and
business entrepreneur, the renowned Dr. Perch L. Julian became a
millionaire in 1961 by merging Julian Laboratories with the huge
chemical company known by what name?
28. During the 1930s and 40s , Dr. Earnest E. Just gained
international fame for his work on the dynamics of egg fertilization
and cell structure and at age 22 received from the NAACP its highest
recognition for the individual whose work contributed most to the
advancement of African Americans. What is the name of this
prestigious award?
29. Jan Ernest Matzeliger, the Black mechanical wizard whose shoe
making machine placed America in the forefront of the shoe
manufacturing business, migrated to North America in search of
economic opportunity and found it here rather than in his native
land. Where was his original home?
30. As a Black professional inventor. Elijah McCoy not only saved
manufacturing concerns untold millions with his non-stop oil
lubricating devices, but also earned a comfortable living from his
own business which was advertised as what enterprise?
31. In a field where a microscopic mistake can generate major
effects, Dr. Benjamin Carson routinely makes national news as a
master neurosurgeon. Since 1984, Dr. Carson's professional base of
operations has been at what hospital?
32. Calculating the trajectories of spacecraft for lunar or moon
landings is work of very high precision and very low margins for
error. An Afro-American female pioneering in the mathematics of
interplanetary navigation spent 30 years at NASA and was honored
with plaques containing her name. Identify her.
33. The holder of the B.A., the M.A. and the Ph.D. in mathematics
before his 23rd birthday worked in the fields of statistics and
probability theory. This famed professor had a distinguished career
at the University of California-Berkeley. Name him.
34. From winning first place in Washington, D.C. high school science
fairs to becoming the first Black female to earn a doctorate in
physics from Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the field of
particle physics to being chosen president of the Rensselaer
Polytechnic Institute; this outstanding scientist has been a role
model for many African-American students. Name this outstanding
scientist.
35. African Americans are disproportionately liable to suffer from
sickle cell anemia, a disease which can led to stroke, swollen hands
and pneumonia. For five decades , the nation's leading researcher on
this illness worked at Howard University. Name him.
36. While African Americans are still underrepresented in the field
of medicine, the leading producer of Black undergraduates who
eventually enter medical school upon graduating from a small private
college in the South. Name the institution.
37. The Apollo 16 lunar landing vehicle placed on the moon an
ultraviolet camera/spectrographic device to take unprecedentedly
detailed images of stars in the making, billions of miles away. This
feat fulfilled the childhood dream of its African-American designer.
Name this designer.
38. The African-American co-inventor of the foil electric microphone
element, which is used in nearly 90% of the world's phones, holds
upwards of 40 patents in America and some 200 in Europe. These
accomplishments have been recognized by the ultra selective National
Inventors Hall of Fame. Identify this inventor.
Answers. How did you do?
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