Bessie Coleman was an early American civil aviator. She was the first African-American woman and first Native American to hold a pilot license. She earned her license from the Fédération Aéronautique Internationale on June 15, 1921, and was the first Black person to earn an international pilot's license.
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke is an American politician and lawyer from California. She was the first African-American woman to represent the West Coast in Congress. She served in the U.S. Congress from 1973-1979. She represented the 2nd District on the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors from 1992–2008. She chaired the Board four times and served as chair pro tem three times. Her husband is William Burke, a prominent philanthropist and creator of the Los Angeles Marathon.
Bessie Griffin was an American gospel singer. From junior high into the late 1940s, she sang with the Southern Harps, who were better known later as the Southern Revivalists Of New Orleans, then performed with The Caravans for a year and toured with W. Herbert Brewster Jr. Mentored by Mahalia Jackson, she moved to Chicago in the early 1950s and then relocated to Los Angeles at the end of the decade. She performed in theaters and night clubs, and appeared on popular televisions shows like The Ed Sullivan Show and The Dinah Shore Show.
Rosina Lhévinne was a Russian pianist and famed pedagogue born in Kyiv, Russian Empire.
Fanny Jackson Coppin was an American educator, missionary and lifelong advocate for female higher education. One of the first Black alumnae of Oberlin College, she served as principal of the Institute for Colored Youth in Philadelphia and became the first African American school superintendent in the United States.
Marva Delores Collins was an American educator. Collins is best known for creating Westside Preparatory School, a private elementary school in the impoverished Garfield Park neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois which opened in 1975.
The East Los Angeles Walkouts or Chicano Blowouts were a series of 1968 protests by Chicano students against unequal conditions in Los Angeles Unified School District high schools. The first walkout occurred on March 5, 1968. The students who organized and carried out the protests were primarily concerned with the quality of their education. This movement, which involved thousands of students in the Los Angeles area, was identified as "the first major mass protest against racism undertaken by Mexican-Americans in the history of the United States."
Ella Flagg Young was an American educator who served as superintendent of Chicago Public Schools. She was the first female head of a large United States city school system. She also served as the first female president of the National Education Association.
The Wilfandel Club is the oldest African-American women's club in Los Angeles. The group was founded in 1945 with the goal of promoting civic betterment, philanthropic endeavors, and general culture. They maintain a clubhouse, sponsor a scholarship, and hold monthly meetings, which feature guest speakers.
Gladys Waddingham (1900–1997), a Spanish teacher at Inglewood High School in Inglewood, California, for 45 years, was the author of many books about her adopted city.
Ida B. Kinney was an African-American civil rights activist.
Katherine Jefferson Flowers (1896–1982) was an African American dancer, choreographer and teacher who in 1944 opened the successful "Flowers School of Dance" in Chicago. She also carried out extensive research on the history of African American dance from the 19th century.
Teresa Patterson Hughes was an American politician and educator. Teresa P. Hughes, a member of the Democratic Party, served from 1992 to 2000 as a California State Senator, representing 25th district. Prior to joining the Senate, from 1975 to 1992, Hughes represented the 47th Assembly District. Hughes is renowned for her substantial contributions to the improvement of elementary, secondary and post-secondary education in California and championing educational policy and reform.
Judy Burton was an important figure within the educational community within Los Angeles. After graduating college at the University of California, Los Angeles, Burton entered the education sector as a teacher at Hyde Park Elementary School. Burton then went on to lead LEARN as the new assistant superintendent of the program. In addition to her participation in LAUSD as a teacher and as an administrator, Burton helped develop one of the largest networks of charter schools in the Southern California Region, The Alliance College-Ready Public Schools, as its CEO.
Edith Monica Jordan Gardner was an American educator, specialized in history and an activist, including woman's suffrage and in the Sierra Club. She was president of the Southern California Social Science Association, Town and Gown Club, Cornell Women's Club of Northern California, Stanford Woman's Club, and the University of California branch of the Equal Suffrage League, among others. She was the head of the History Department at the John H. Francis Polytechnic High School, chairman of the Department of Legislation Oakland Forum, and one of the earliest members of the Sierra Club.
Bessie Bartlett Frankel was an American concert singer, composer, and clubwoman, and the first president of the California Federation of Music Clubs.
Dorothy Vena Johnson was an American poet and educator based in Los Angeles, California. In 1939, she was co-founder of the League of Allied Arts, an African-American women's arts organization.
Joyce Annette Madkins Sumbi was an American librarian. She was the first African-American administrator in the LA County Library system.
Naida Portia McCullough was an American educator, pianist, and composer based in Los Angeles.
Elizabeth H. Sutherland Elementary School is a public K-8 school located in the Beverly neighborhood on the south side of Chicago, Illinois. It is part of the Chicago Public Schools system. The school is named for Chicago educator Elizabeth "Bessie" Huntington Sutherland, the first woman principal in Cook County. The current building was opened in 1925, one year after Sutherland's death.
