List of African-American Firsts - 20th Century - 1990s

1990s

• 1990

First elected African-American governor: Douglas Wilder (Democrat; Virginia) (See also: P. B. S. Pinchback, 1872)

First African American elected president of the Harvard Law Review: Barack Obama (See also: 2008, 2009)

First African-American Miss USA: Carole Gist

First African-American Playboy Playmate of the Year: Renee Tenison

First all African-American band to win the Grammy Award for Best Hard Rock Performance: Living Colour for "Cult of Personality"

• 1991

First African American nominated for a Best Director Academy Award. John Singleton for Boyz n the Hood

First African American to qualify for the Indianapolis 500 auto race: Willy T. Ribbs (See also: Ribbs, 1986)

First African-American woman mayor of Washington, D.C.: Sharon Pratt Kelly

First African-American NBA Coach of the Year: Don Chaney (Houston Rockets)

• 1992

First African-American woman astronaut: Dr. Mae Jemison (Space Shuttle Endeavour)

First African-American woman elected to U.S. Senate: Carol Moseley Braun (Democrat; Illinois)

First African American Major League Baseball manager to reach (and win) the World Series: Cito Gaston (Toronto Blue Jays) 1992 World Series

First African-American woman to moderate a Presidential debate : Carole Simpson (second debate of 1992 campaign)

First African-American to win a World Heavyweight Championship in wrestling: Ron Simmons

• 1993

First African-American woman appointed U.S. Secretary of Energy: Hazel R. O'Leary

First African American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature: Toni Morrison

First African-American woman named Poet Laureate of the United States: Rita Dove; also the youngest person named to that position

First African American appointed Surgeon General of the United States: Joycelyn Elders

First African American appointed Director of the National Drug Control Policy: Lee P. Brown

First African-American United States Secretary of Commerce: Ron Brown

• 1994

First African-American woman director of a major-studio movie: Darnell Martin (Columbia Pictures' I Like It Like That)

First African American to win the United States Amateur Championship: Tiger Woods

• 1995

First African-American inductee to the Radio Hall of Fame: Hal Jackson

First African-American Sergeant Major of the Army: Gene C. McKinney

• 1996

First African-American mayor of San Francisco: Willie Lewis Brown, Jr. (also first African-American Speaker of the California Assembly, 1980)

First African-American U.S. Navy four-star admiral: J. Paul Reason

First African-American MLB general manager to win the World Series: Bob Watson (New York Yankees), 1996 World Series

• 1997

First African American to win a men's major golf championship: Tiger Woods (The Masters)

First African-American model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition: Tyra Banks

First African-American UFC champion: Maurice Smith

First African-American actor to star in the lead role in a comic-book adaptation movie (Spawn): Michael Jai White

First African-American Director of the National Park Service: Robert Stanton

• 1998

First African American appointed U.S. Secretary of Labor: Alexis Herman

First African-American woman to hold the rank of rear admiral in the U.S. Navy: Lillian Fishburne

First African-American Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard: Vincent W. Patton III

First African-American mayor of Houston: Lee P. Brown

First African American to play in the Presidents Cup: Tiger Woods

• 1999

First African American to be awarded the International Grandmaster title in chess: Maurice Ashley

First African American Sergeant Major of the Marine Corps: Alford L. McMichael

First African-American CEO of a Fortune 500 company: Franklin Raines of Fannie Mae

• 2000

First African American nominated for Vice President of the United States by a Federal Election Commission-recognized and federally funded political party: Ezola B. Foster (See also: 1952; FEC established 1975)