50 Notable African-American Sports Firsts

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Surnames/tags: black_heritage notables

US Black Heritage Project Home Page

50 Notable Black Firsts in Sports

Year	Name	Notability	Connected
1875	Oliver Lewis	First Black Jockey to win the Kentucky Derby.	Yes
1878	Bud Fowler	First Black baseball player in organized professional baseball.	No
1884	Moses Fleetwood Walker	First Black American to play major-league baseball.	No
1899	Marshall Taylor	First Black American to achieve world championship in any sport, for 1-mile track cycling	No
1901	Harry Lew	First Black American to play professional basketball.	No
1904	George Poage	First Black athlete to win a medal in the Olympic Games, winning two bronze medals at the 1904 games in St. Louis.	No
1904	Charles Follis	First Black professional football player.	No
1908	John Taylor	First Black American to win an Olympic gold medal, at the 1908 Summer Olympics, London.	No
1908	Jack Johnson	First Black world heavyweight boxing champion.	Yes
1917	Lucy Diggs Slowe	First Black woman to win a major national sport league title (American Tennis Association).	Yes
1920	Fritz Pollard and Bobby Marshall	First Black NFL Players.	Yes
1921	Fritz Pollard	First Black NFL coach.	Yes
1924	William DeHart Hubbard	First Black American to win an individual Olympic gold medal, at the 1924 Paris Summer games.	No
1947	Jackie Robinson	First Black Major League Baseball player.	Yes
1947	Larry Doby	First Black American League Baseball player.	No
1948	Alice Coachman	First Black woman of any country to win an Olympic gold medal, at the 1948 Summer Olympic games in London.	No
1948	Don Barksdale	First Black American on the U.S. Olympic basketball team and became the first to win an Olympic gold medal in basketball at the 1948 Summer Olympics, London.	No
1950	Chuck Cooper	First Black American to be drafted by an NBA team.	No
1950	Nat "Sweetwater" Clifton	First Black American to sign an NBA contract.	No
1950	Earl Lloyd	First Black American to play in an NBA game.	No
1950	Arthur Dorrington	First Black professional hockey player in the USA.	No
1951	Duke Slater	First Black inductee in the College Football Hall of Fame.	Yes
1953	Willie Thrower	First Black NFL quarterback.	Yes
1955	Sam "Toothpick" Jones	First Black American to pitch a no-hitter in major league baseball.	No
1955	Elias Bowie	First Black American to drive in a NASCAR Grand National race.	Yes
1956	Althea Gibson	First Black Tennis Grand Slam event winner (French Open).	Yes
1960	Fuller Gordy	First Black professional bowler.	Yes
1961	John McLendon	First Black professional basketball coach.	No
1961	Ernie Davis	First Black recipient of the Heisman Trophy.	No
1962	Buck O'Neil	First Black Major League Baseball coach.	No
1963	Wendell Scott	First Black driver to win a race in what is now known as NASCAR's Sprint Cup Series.	Yes
1966	Emmett Ashford	First Black umpire in Major League Baseball.	No
1966	Bill Russell	First Black head coach of a major professional sports team and the first to win a championship.	No
1967	Charlie Sifford	First Black American to win a PGA Tour event.	No
1967	Emlen Tunnell	First Black inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame.	No
1968	Jackie White	First Black NBA referee.
1968	Arthur Ashe	First Black man to win a Grand Slam event (U.S. Open).	Yes
1968	Marlin Briscoe	First Black starting quarterback in professional American football.	No
1975	Lee Elder	First Black American to play in the Masters (golf).	No
1975	Frank Robinson	First Black Major League Baseball manager.	No
1981	Val James	First Black American to play in the NHL.	No
1988	Doug Williams	First Black starting quarterback in a Super Bowl, first Black quarterback to win a Super Bowl and be named its MVP.	No
1988	Debi Thomas	First Black American to medal at the Winter Olympics, in figure skating at the 1988 Calgary Olympics.	No
1988	Johnny Grier	First Black referee in the NFL.	No
1989	Arthur Shell	First Black head coach in the NFL's modern era.	No
1991	Willy Ribbs	First Black American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500.	No
1991	Cito Gaston	First Black American to manage a World Series team.(MLB).	No
1997	Tiger Woods	First Black golfer to win a Grand Slam event (The Masters).	No
2002	Ozzie Newsome	First Black NFL general manager.	No
2002	Vonetta Flowers	First Black athlete from any country to win a gold medal at a Winter Olympics.	No
2006	Shani Davis	First Black American to win a gold medal in an individual event at the Olympic Winter Games.	No
2007	Tony Dungy and Lovie Smith	First two Black NFL head coaches to reach the Super Bowl.	No

Sources

This list comes from "The First 50 of America," Fort Worth Star-Telegram (Fort Worth, Texas), 28 Feb 2009, Newspapers.com (Shareable clipping : accessed 17 December 2020); citing page A10, column 1.

Acknowledgements

This page was created in honor of Dave Ebaugh, member of the US Black Heritage Project, who loved sports notables and first began this list with the goal of honoring all 50.