They were the first in what they did,
but how many of us know that Jane Bolin was America's first black
female judge, that Mae Jemison was the first female African-American
astronaut, or that Elizabeth Ross Haynes broke the color barrier in
the YWCA by becoming the first black woman elected to its national
board? These extraordinary women are among the four hundred
celebrated in Darryl Lyman's Great African-American Women.
From civil rights activist Rosa Parks
to opera diva Leontyne Price, from jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald to
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, from Nobel Laureate Toni
Morrison to tennis aces Venus and Serena Williams, this important
volume profiles the lives and achievements of black women who took
risks, challenged the system, and made it possible for new
generations of women of color to achieve the previously impossible.
Whether athletes or actors, artists or teachers, these are women who
overcame the dual obstacles of their race and their gender to leave
a singular mark on the world. Illustrated with black-and white
photographs.
Praise For
Great African-American Women
"Just to look at the book's
cover will make you want to start reading. And once you start
reading, you cannot put it down....A wonderful tribute to the
pioneering spirit of African-American women."
—The Anniston Star
Darryl Lyman is the author of Dictionary
of Animals Words and Phrases, Civil War Quotations, and Civil War
Wordbook, which was nominated for the prestigious Lincoln Prize
at Gettysburg College. His biographical works include Great Jews
in the Performing Arts, Great Jewish Families, Jewish Heroes and
Heroines: Their Unique Achievements, Great African-American Women,
and Great Jews in Music.
Mr. Lyman has contributed film
reviews to Magill's Cinema Annual and coedited Fifty
Golden Years of Oscar, the Official History of the Academy of Motion
Picture Arts and Sciences. He resides in Moreno Valley,
California.
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