G. Valerie Beckles-Neblett, M.D. organizes medical missions to Haiti and Honduras, two of the poorest countries in the world. Along with the other doctors she recruits for her trips, Dr. Beckles treated thousands of people — many who had never visited a doctor before.
Working for African Americans’ civil and political rights, Arianna C. Sparrow joined Black women’s organizations to protest racial discrimination and support women’s suffrage.
In 1975, Dr. Ethel Allen became the first African American councilwoman elected to an at-large seat on the Philadelphia City Council.
During the course of her 43-year career, Ms. McNeal Kenny received NSA’s two highest awards: the Meritorious Civilian Service Award (1980) and the Exceptional Civilian Service Award (1984).
Dr. Elizabeth O. Ofili was the first woman president of the Association of Black Cardiologists.
Dr. Edith Irby Jones was the first woman to be elected president of the National Medical Association and the first African American student to attend the University of Arkansas School of Medicine (now the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences).
Dr. Eliza Ann Grier was the first African American woman licensed to practice medicine in Georgia.
New York-based artist Mickalene Thomas is best known for her elaborate paintings composed of rhinestones, acrylic and enamel. Thomas introduces a complex vision of what it means to be a woman and expands common definitions of beauty.
Dr. Clara Brawner was the only practicing African American woman physician in Memphis in the mid-1950s.
Dr. Clarice Reid began her education in the segregated schools of Birmingham, Alabama, and went on to become director of the Division of Blood Diseases and Resources, National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National Institutes of Health.