African American Firsts: Famous Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America (Updated) - Softcover

Potter, Joan

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9780758241665: African American Firsts: Famous Little-Known and Unsung Triumphs of Blacks in America (Updated)

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0758241666 ISBN 13: 9780758241665

Publisher: Kensington, 2009

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Completely revised and updated to include current events such as Barack Obama's presidency, and drawn from old documents, records, letters, family histories and government files, a fascinating guide offers a look at African Americans who achieved major firsts in such areas as politics, science and medicine, journalism, entertainment, the military and history. Original.

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From School Library Journal:

YA-This fascinating collection of little-known African-American achievers contains over 400 entries and 75 pages of photographs. The people are arranged by profession-literature, science and medicine, military, sports, entertainment, business, history, law and government, etc.-and the time period spans from the beginning of this country to the present. The authors provide concise, important background information on each subject, some of which is personal. For instance, when writing about Lt. Commander Wesley Brown, the first black man to enter the Naval Academy, the authors not only give standard biographical data but also mention the harassment and persecution he suffered. Because of the brevity of the entries-most are between one-third to one-half of a page-this volume is not an in-depth reference tool, but it is an excellent source for browsing and for locating facts that are hard to find elsewhere.
Pat Royal, Crossland High School, Camp Springs, MD
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist:

A reference book for browsing or serious queries on great achievements by blacks in America. From the name of the first millionaire to the first million-copy best-selling author, here are some occasions to cheer and to weep about. The latter can be caused by the recent dates on some of these events. Should it really have taken until 1987 for a major airline to hire the first black woman pilot? The contents are arranged topically from business to visual arts, with references for history, journalism, music, the military, and other areas of performance and study. Each first is phrased as a question, for example, "Who was the first African American performer to star on Broadway?" (Answer: Bert Williams.) Denise Perry Donavin

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