Inez Beverly Prosser

Inez Beverly Prosser, teacher and school administrator, was the first African-American female to receive a Ph.D in psychology

Carl Walker Jr

When he was was first appointed to the U.S. Attorney's Office in Houston in 1961, he was believed to be the first black to hold such a position in a Southern state in the 20th century.

Dr.Benjamin R. Bluitt

Benjamin R. Bluitt, the first black surgeon in Texas, He opened the first black hospital in Dallas in 1905, the Bluitt Sanitarium

General Spencer Cornelius Dickerson

Photograph shows portrait of Dickerson, a physician and first African American Texan to attain the rank of brigadier general. 

Lonnie E. Smith

Lonnie E. Smith, black dentist and civil-rights activist. On July 27, 1940, he attempted to vote in the Democratic primary. As an African American, he was denied a ballot under the white primary rules of the time. Smith, filed suit in the United States District Court, in 1942. On April 3, 1944, the court's decided in Smith favor. Since that time, all eligible Texans have had the right to vote in the primary election of their choice.