1760
Briton Hammon publishes A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprising Deliverance of Briton Hammon in Boston. This is believed to be the first autobiographical work written by an enslaved African living in British North America.
Briton Hammon publishes A Narrative of the Uncommon Sufferings and Surprising Deliverance of Briton Hammon in Boston. This is believed to be the first autobiographical work written by an enslaved African living in British North America.
Jupiter Hammon, a Long Island enslaved person, publishes a book of poetry. This is believed to be the first volume of poetry written and published by an African American.
Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral, written by Phillis Wheatley, an enslaved Bostonian, is published in that city. It is the first book written by an African American woman published in the United States and only the second book in the nation's history authored by a woman to be published.
Joshua Johnston of Baltimore, Maryland becomes the first black portrait painter to gain widespread recognition in the United States
Venture Smith's A Narrative of the Life and Adventures of Venture, A Native of Africa But Resident Above Sixty Years in the United States of America appears as the first slave narrative written by the person in bondage. Earlier narratives were written by white authors as dictated by enslaved people.
The African Grove Theater Group, the first black acting company, is founded in New York City.
The African Grove Theater performs The Drama of King Shotaway, the first play written by an African American, Wiliam Henry Brown.
Jarena Lee's The Life and Religious Experience of Jarena Lee, A Coloured Lady, was the first autobiography by an African American woman.
William Wells Brown of Buffalo, New York, becomes the first African American novelist when he publishes Clotel, or the President's Daughter. The novel is published in England, however and thus he is not considered the first published black novelist in the United States.
William C. Nell of Boston publishes The Colored Patriots of the American Revolution, considered the first history of African Americans.
Harriett Wilson of Milford, New Hampshire publishes Our Nig; or Sketches from the Life of a Free Black, the first novel by an African American woman.
George Washington Williams's History of the Negro Race in America from 1619 to 1880 is considered teh first history of African Americans that met the standards of professionally written history of that era.
Booker T. Washington's autobiography Up From Slavery is published.
Claude McKay publishes "If We Must Die," considered one of the first major examples of Harlem Renaissance writing.
The decade of the 1920s witnesses the Harlem Renaissance, a remarkable period of creativity for black writers, poets, and artists, including among others Claude McKay, Jean Toomer, Langston Hughes and Zora Neale Hurston.
One of the earliest exhibitions of work by African American artists, including Henry Ossawa Tanner and Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller, is held at the 135th Street branch of the New York Public Library.
The Harmon Foundation is established in New York City to promote African American participation in the fine arts.
Photographer James Van Der Zee begins his career by capturing images of Marcus Garvey and the UNIA.
The New Negro by Alain Locke is published in New York City.
The Carnegie Corporation purchases Arturo Schomburg's collection of books and artifacts on African American life. The collection becomes the basis for the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture in New York City.
James V. Herring establishes the Howard University Gallery of Art, the first gallery in the United States directed and controlled by African Americans. It is also one of the earliest galleries to highlight African American art.
Zora Neale Hurston's first novel, Jonahs Gourd Vine, is published.
In October, Katherine Dunham forms the Negro Dance Group, a company of black artists dedicated to presenting aspects of African American and African-Caribbean Dance. The company eventually becomes the Katherine Dunham Group.
Jacob Lawrence holds his first solo exhibition at the Harlem YMCA and completes his Toussaint L'Overture series.
Popular contralto Marian Anderson sings at Lincoln Memorial before 75,000 people on Easter Sunday after the Daughters of the American Revolution refuse to allow her to perform at Constitution Hall.
Richard Wright publishes his first novel, Native Son.
Mary Lucinda Dawson founds the National Negro Opera Company in Pittsburgh.
While teaching at Livingstone College in North Carolina, Margaret Walker publishes For My People, which she began as her master's thesis at the University of Iowa.
On May 1, Gwendolyn Brooks of Chicago becomes the first African American to receive a Pulitzer Prize. She wins the prize in Poetry.
Ralph Ellison publishes Invisible Man.
James Baldwin publishes his first novel, the semi-autobiographical Go Tell It On The Mountain.
The Alvin Ailey Dance Theater is formed in New York.
Lorraine Hansberry's "A Raisin in the Sun" opens in New York on March 11 with Sidney Poitier in the starring role. It is the first play by an African American woman to be produced on Broadway.
Alex Haley publishes The Autobiography of Malcolm X.
On May 5, Moneta Sleet, Jr. of Ebony magazine, becomes the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize in Photography.
On October 12, Charles Gordone becomes the first African American to win a Pulitzer Prize in Drama for his play, "No Place to Be Somebody."
Toni Cade Bambara's The Salt Eaters wins the American Book Award.
Alice Walker's The Color Purple wins the Pulitzer Prize for Fiction.
Gwendolyn Brooks of Chicago is named U.S. Poet-Laureate. She is the first African American to hold that honor.
Rita Dove wins the Pulitzer Prize for Poetry.
August Wilson's play, Fences, wins a Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award.
August Wilson wins a Pulitzer Prize for the play The Piano Lesson.
On October 7, Toni Morrison becomes the first black American to win the Nobel Prize in Literature. The work honored is her novel, Beloved.