Meet Helen Williams
Helen Williams was the first African American fashion model to cross over into the mainstream, rising to fame in Paris and New York in late 1950s and early 1960s. Learn more at https://www.arogundade.com/helen-williams-the-first-black-female-fashion-model.html
Meet Janet Collins
Janet Collins, American ballet dancer and choreographer, was acclaimed for the beauty of her dancing on the Broadway stage. At age 15 she auditioned for the Ballet Russe de Monte Carlo but declined an offer when told she would have to disguise the fact that she was Black. In 1952 she became the first African American prima ballerina with the Metropolitan Opera and danced lead roles in such operas as Aida and Carmen. To learn more visit http://amsterdamnews.com/news/2016/mar/11/pioneering-prima-ballerina-janet-collins/?page=2
Meet Lena Richard
Lena Richard was “Martha Steward” long before there was a Martha Stewart. She was a chef, caterer, restaurateur, frozen-food entrepreneur, cooking teacher, cookbook author, wife, mother and grandmother. And to cap the whole, in 1949, she became the first Black woman the host of her own TV show, a cooking show in New Orleans. Visit https://www.colonialwilliamsburg.org/learn/deep-dives/story-lena-richard/
Meet Mary Beatrice Kenner
Mary Beatrice Kenner and her sister Mildred patented many practical inventions. They didn’t have technical education, but they were both exceptional at spotting ways to make peoples’ lives better. Together, they invented the sanitary belt. Later, Mary invented the moisture-resistant pocket for the belt. While disabled from multiple sclerosis, Mary went on to invent the walker and the toilet-tissue holder. Visit https://www.vice.com/en/article/mb5yap/mary-beatrice-davidson-kenner-sanitary-belt
Meet Hidden Figures
Neil Armstrong’s “one small step for man” may not have happened without this woman. Just weeks after Katherine Johnson began a position as one of Langley Research Center’s human computers in 1952, supervisors transferred the summa cum laude West Virginia State College graduate (with degrees in both mathematics and French) from the African American computing pool to the flight research division. There, Johnson performed the NASA calculations that made possible the manned space missions of the early 1960s as well as the 1969 moon landing.”
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