| A | B |
|---|
| First inducted in the NASCAR Hall of Fame | Wendall Scott, 2015 |
| First African-American women to be nominated for Best Director by the Golden Globe Awards | Ava Devernay, for Selma |
| First African-American coach to win a Superbowl | Tony Dungy, Superbowl 41, Colts |
| First Disney Princess | Tiana |
| First African-American Superhero | The Falcon, 1969 |
| First African American mayor of Los Angeles | Tom Bradley |
| First American-American female pilot | Bessie Coleman, first to hold an international pilot's license. |
| First To win a Pulitzer Prize | Gwendolyn Brooks, 1949 |
| First African-American President of an Ivy League University | Ruth Simmons, Brown University, 2001 |
| First pitcher in major league baseball | Satchel Paige, also first to pitch in a World Series, 1948, Indians |
| First in the American League | Larry Doby, Indians, 1947 |
| First Millionaire | Madame C.J. Walker |
| First Billionaire | Robert Johnson |
| First Academy Award winner | Hattie McDaniel, Best Supporting Actress Gone with the Wind, 1940. |
| First in major league baseball | Jackie Robinson, Brooklyn Dodger, 1947. Wore number 42. |
| First Oscar for Best Actor | Sidney Poitier |
| First female Oscar Best Actress | Halle Berry |
| First Football Coach | Fritz Pollard |
| First Baseball Manager | Frank Robinson, Indians. |
| First Baseball Coach | Buck O'Neill, Cubs, 1962. |
| First Hockey Player | Willie O'Ree, 1958, Bruins. |
| First All Black College Basketball team | Texas Western College, 1965-1966, defeated the University of KT for the national championship. |
| First African-American Judge | William Hastie, 1946 |
| First US Supreme Court Judge | Thurgoos Marshall, 1967-1991, appointed by LBJ. |
| First Rep. to the UN | Andrew Young, 1977-1979 |
| First Nobel Peace Prize Winner | Ralph Bunche, 1950 |
| First Chairman of the Joint Chiefs | Colin Powell, 1989-1993 |
| First Army General | Benjamin O. Davis Sr. |
| First Air Force General | Benjamin O. Davis, Jr. |
| First Actor in a Primetime series | Bill Cosby, "I Spy" |
| First female lead in a series | Ethel Waters |
| First male host of a TV show | Nat King Cole, 1956 |
| First female host of a TV show | Oprah Winfrey, 1986 |
| First director | Oscar Micheaux, Directed 45 films, 1919-1948 |
| First artist with an international reputation | Henry Tanner |
| First Manager to win a World Series | Cito Gaston, 1992, Blue Jays |
| First West Point Graduate | Henry Flipper |
| First graduate of the US Naval Academy | Wesley Brown |
| First to perform at the Metropolitan Opera and Carnegie Hall | Marion Anderson |
| First pro golfer and tennis player | Althea Gibson |
| First Rhodes Scholar | Alain Locke, 1907 |
| First man to win the US Open (Tennis) | Arthur Ashe |
| First man to play on the PGA tour | Charlie Sifford |
| First man to play in the Masters Tournament | Lee Elder, 1975 |
| First man to win the U.S. Open (Golf) | Tiger Woods |
| First to Win the Cy Young Award, best baseball pitcher | Don Newcombe |
| First female astronaut in space | Mae Jemison |
| First male astronaut in space | G. Bluford |
| First to win Baseball's MVP | Roy Campanella, 1951, Dodgers |
| First pitcher to win a World Series Game | Joe Black, 1952, for the Brooklyn Dodgers |
| First to appear in an MLB All Star Game | 1949, Jackie Robinson, Roy Campanella, Don Newcombe |
| First major league team (Baseball) to field an all-Black starting lineup | Pittsburgh Pirates, 1971 |
| First mayor of a major city | Carl Stokes, Cleveland, 1967-1971 |
| First elected governor | L. Douglas Wilder, VA 1990-1994 |
| First to serve as Gov | P.B.S. Pinchback, LA, 1872-1873. |
| First Cabinet member | Robert Weaver, 1966-1969, Housing and Urban Development |
| U.S. Secretary of State | Colin Powell, 2001-2004 |
| First Senator | Hiriam Revels, MS 1870-1871 |
| First elected Senator | Edward Brooke, MA 1966-1979 |
| First female elected senator | Carol Moseley Braun 1992-1998 |
| First member of the US House | Joseph Rainey, SC, 1870 |
| First female elected to US House | Shirley Chisolm, NY, 1969-1983 |
| First mayor of Chicago | Harold Washington |
| First mayor of Atlanta | Maynard Jackson |
| First mayor of NYC | David Dinkins |
| First editor of the Harvard Law Review | Charles Hamilton Houston |
| First UN Ambassador to the UN | Andrew Young |
| First Noble Peace Prize Winner | Ralph Bunche |
| First combat pilot | Eugene Bullard (Joined the French Air Force in World War I) |
| First US Diplomat | Ebeneezar Bassett |
| First Federal Judge | William Hastie |
| First Patent Holder (Male) | Thomas Jennings (Dry Cleaning Process) |
| First Patent Holder (Female) | Sarah Goode (bed folded into a cabinet) |
| First Astronaut | Robert Lawrence Jr. (Killed in a test flight accident) |
| First African American Republican Women elected to the House of Rep. | Mia Love (Utah) |
| First Female Cabinet Secretary | Patricia Harris (Housing and Urban Development during the Carter Administration) |
| First College Graduate (Male) | Alexander Twilight (Middlebury College 1823) |
| First College Graduate (Female) | Mary Jane Patterson (Oberlin College 1862) |
| First PhD | Edward Touchet (Yale 1876) |
| First Rhodes Scholar | Alain Locke 1907 |
| First College President | Daniel Payne (Wilberforce) |
| First Ivy League President | Ruth Simmons (Brown University) |
| First Grammy Winner (Male) | Count Bassie |
| First Grammy Winner (Female) | Ella Fitzgerald |
| First film director | Oscar Micheaux |
| First Best Actress Nominee | Dorothy Dandridge |
| First Wold Cycling Champion | Marshal Taylor |
| First star of a network show (male) | Bill Cosby (I Spy) |
| First star of a network show series (female | Diane Carroll (Julia) |
| First to win a Cy Young Award (Best Pitcher in Baseball) | Don Newcombe |
