First Ladies of Distinction Government Politics – African-American Ladies' Legacy Foundation

Juneteenth 2022
A Celebration of Black Achievers (Click Here)

African - American First Ladies of Distinction

(Government - Politics)

"We cannot accurately comprehend either our hidden potential or full range of problems that besiege us until we know the successful struggles that generations of Foremothers waged against virtually insurmountable obstacles." - Darlene Clark Hines

Mary (Stagecoach) Fields

Mary (Stagecoach) Fields (1832 – 1914), a postal service worker, was the first to become a mail carrier for the U.S. Postal Service, Montana in 1895, at approximately the age of 60.

Mary McLeod Bethune

Mary McLeod Bethune (1875 – 1955), an educator and civil rights activist, was the first to head a federal agency, Director of the Division of Negro Affairs, appointed by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1930.

Crystal Bird Fauset

Crystal Bird Fauset (1894 – 1965), teacher, lecturer, social activist and politician, was the first elected to a state legislature (the Pennsylvania House of Representatives) in 1938.

Edith Spurlock Sampson

Edith Spurlock Sampson (1901 – 1979), a lawyer and judge, was the first delegate to the United Nations General Assembly in 1950.

Charlotta Bass

Charlotta Bass (1874 – 1969), a newspaper publisher- editor and civil rights activist, was the first to run as Vice-President of the United States, nominated by the Progressive Party in 1952.

Constance (Baker) Motley

Constance (Baker) Motley (1921 – 2005), an attorney, judge and civil rights activist was the first to become a federal judge when she was appointed by President Johnson to the Southern District Court of New York in 1966.

Barbara Mae Watson

Barbara Mae Watson (1918 – 1983), a business woman, lawyer and diplomat, was the first Assistant Secretary of State for Security and Consular Affairs, an appointment made by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.

Shirley Chisholm

Shirley Chisholm (1924 - 2005), a teacher, civil rights activist and politician, was the first elected to the United States Congress in 1968 and the first to run for President of the United States, 1972.

Barbara Jordan

Barbara Jordan (1936 – 1996), a lawyer, civil rights activist and politician, was the first from the South to win a seat in the United States Congress, representing Texas in 1972 and the first to give a keynote address at the Democratic National Convention, 1976.

Cardiss Collins

Cardiss Collins (1931 – 2013), a secretary and politician, was the first to represent the Midwest, from the state of Illinois, in the United States Congress in 1973. She was also the first to chair the Congressional Black Caucus in 1979.

Patricia Harris

Patricia Harris (1924 – 1985), a lawyer, social activist, and politician, was the first to serve in a President’s Cabinet, in 1977, as Secretary of Housing and Urban Development and in 1979 as Secretary of Health, Education and Welfare.

Eleanor Holmes Norton

Eleanor Holmes Norton (1937 - ), civil rights activist and politician, was the first to chair the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission in 1977.

Carolyn Robertson Payton

Carolyn Robertson Payton (1925 – 2001), a teacher, psychologist and woman’s rights activist, was the first to head the Peace Corps, 1977.

Carrie Saxon Perry

Carrie Saxon Perry (1931 - ), a community activist and politician, was the first elected mayor of a large U.S. City, (Hartford, Connecticut) in 1987.

Sharon Pratt Dixon

Sharon Pratt Dixon (1944 - ), lawyer and politician, was the first to become mayor of Washington, D.C. in 1990.

Jacquelyn H. Barrett

Jacquelyn H. Barrett (1950 - ), a law enforcement administrator, was the first to be a United States Sheriff, elected to the Fulton County sheriff’s position of Atlanta, Georgia in 1992.

Carol Moseley Braun

Carol Moseley Braun also sometimes Moseley-Braun[2] (born August 16, 1947), is an American politician and lawyer who represented Illinois in the United States Senate from 1993 to 1999. She was the first female African-American Senator, the first African-American U.S. Senator for the Democratic Party.

Corrine Brown

Corrine Brown (1946 - ), a college professor and politician, was the first elected to the United States House of Representative from Florida, in 1992.

Pamela Fanning Carter

Pamela Fanning Carter (b. 1949 - ), a lawyer and politician, was the first to serve as State's Attorney General in Indiana from 1993 to 1997

Condoleezza Rice

Condoleezza Rice (b. 1954 - ), a political scientist and college professor, was the first appointed as Secretary of State, 2005.

Karen Ruth Bass

Karen Ruth Bass (1953 - ), a politician and community activists, was the first to serve as Speaker of the California State Assembly, 2008.

Valerie Jarrett

Valerie Jarrett (1956 - ), a lawyer, business woman, and politician, was the first to serve as Senior Advisor to an American president (President Barrack Obama), 2009.

Michelle Obama

Michelle Obama (1964 - ), a lawyer and writer, is the first to become the First Lady of the United States of America in 2009.

Susan Rice

Susan Rice (b. 1964 - ), a politician and diplomat, was the first to be the United States Ambassador to the United Nations, and the youngest ( 2009). She was appointed by President Barrack Obama

Desiree Rogers

Desiree Rogers (1959 - ), a business executive, was the first to hold the position of White House Social Secretary (2009) under President Barrack Obama.