Madam C.J. Walker, born Sarah Breedlove, was reportedly was the first Black woman to become a millionaire on her own. She started selling hair-straightening products for Black women in 1906
American aviator Bessie Coleman earned her international pilot’s license in 1921, the first Black woman to do so. Since U.S. flight schools wouldn’t teach women of color—she was also Native American—Coleman learned French and went to Europe to get her license.
In 1922, Georgia’s Democratic Gov. Thomas Hardwick—who had previously voted against women’s suffrage—planned to run for the Senate and wanted to appeal to women voters.
Florence King held many firsts: In 1897, she became the first female patent attorney; in 1918, she became the first female vice president of the Women’s Bar Association of Chicago; in 1922, she became the first woman to argue a patent case before the U.S. Supreme Court.
On Nov. 4, 1924, Nellie Tayloe Ross became the first woman elected governor in the United States when she was elected for the title in Wyoming. She got the most votes one month after her husband died of appendicitis, which left the position vacant.