February 9: Black Firsts by Jessie Carney Smith

Achievement engenders pride, and the most significant accomplishments involving people, places, and events in black history are gathered in Black Firsts: 4,000 Ground-Breaking and Pioneering Historical Events.

Wayne R. Cherry, Jr. of Houston's First Baptist Academy Lib. sums it up: "[Author Jessie] Carney [Smith] presents major accomplishments ranging from firsts in cartooning and jazz to sporting firsts for jockeys in the Kentucky Derby.

"Brief profiles are presented chronologically and cover major figures such as Michael Jackson and Jackie Robinson as well as lesser-known figures such as Moses Fleetwood Walker, the first black member of a varsity collegiate baseball club.

"Entries, several of which offer photos of their subjects, range in length from a few sentences to a full paragraph and each includes information on primary sources of data. The well-researched sketches provide a great deal of information in an economical space. Of particular note is the section on military firsts, which includes those who have served in wars from the American Revolution through the present, among them James T. Whitehead, the first black pilot of a U-2 spy plane, and Hazel Winifred Johnson, the first black woman to achieve the rank of general in the Army.

"This is an excellent resource for starting research on black history, but its sheer volume may be overwhelming to casual researchers. The lesser-known figures, however, make the title worth digging into."

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