Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events

by Jessie Carney Smith

Book Overview

Black Firsts is a testimony to the rich but often overlooked history of black life in America-and throughout the world. This new edition collects and celebrates the thousands of world-moving people and hard-to-find facts and accomplishments that have helped shape society and culture. It recognizes and honors both renowned and lesser-known barrier-breaking trailblazers in all fields-arts, entertainment, business, civil rights, education, government,...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1578591422
• ISBN13: 9781578591428
• Release Date: December 2002
• Publisher: Visible Ink Press
• Length: 808 Pages
• Weight: 3.55 lbs.
• Dimensions: 2.2" x 7.0" x 9.2"

Customer Reviews

4,000 Ground Breaking & Pioneering Historical Events

At the age of 93, Dr. Jessie Carney Smith has continued to write books designed to promote the positive history of African American people using primary research. Black Firsts presents 4,000 events about melanated people that should be placed on public library shelves, taught in the school system, in the family home shared with neighbors and friends, & a bookclub selection favorite❤️.

Concise, informative, and entertaining

An encyclopedia's worth of facts, the familiar known as well as the obscure, about African-Americans, this volume is a must. It features some of the most intriguing facts that would probably go unnoticed (the first black auto dealership, the first black to author a detective story, the first black to win an Emmy, etc.) by the average student of history. This is a book that is vital at a time when there are still so many unknowns about the contributions made by African-Americans to the many aspects of the nation's, along with the world's, development. A five-star recommendation is not enough for this mammoth undertaking.

A History Buff's Treasure

BLACK FIRSTS is a wonderful collection of historical facts reaching through the hands of time. Ms. Smith provides insight to more than 3,000 individuals and events in BLACK FIRSTS. She opens our eyes and introduces us to these great pioneers. The book is broken into various topics such as sports, writers, religion, civil rights and education just to name a few. Using the book as my reference guide, I created a trivia game for Black History Month. Examples of questions included: "Who was the first Black woman to head a major educational institution for Blacks?" The answer is Fanny Jackson Coppin who was in charge of the Institute for Colored Youth of Philadelphia. Another question was based on publishing-icon John H. Johnson and Johnson Publishing Company, which currently publishes such great magazines as Ebony and Jet. The trivia question was "Which well-known Black publisher first published the Negro Digest in 1942? With such comprehensive information contained within this BLACK FIRSTS, it lent itself well to my attempt to become more familiar with Black history. Admittedly I am not a history buff, yet this book I found to be very comprehensive and interesting. Ms. Smith consistently cites her references and captures the information beautifully. For anyone looking to learn a little more about themselves by travelling back into history, then BLACK FIRSTS is a necessary read. This review refers to the first published addition, ISBN 1578591171. Reviewed by Nedine of The RAWSISTAZ Reviewers

Black Firsts

This a very educational book for those interested in Black History. This is a must for Schools.