Frederick Bowers: The first Black man elected to office in the Dayton area. A Jefferson Twp. resident, he won election to the Ohio House of Representatives as a Republican in 1949 and again in 1951, and was narrowly defeated for a third term. Outside of politics, Bowers was a real estate broker.
Rev. J. Welby Broaddus: A pastor of Tabernacle Baptist Church, he was the first Black person elected to the Dayton Board of Education in 1952.
Tyree S. Broomfield: Became Dayton’s first Black police chief, serving from 1983-1988. He later worked as a justice planning administrator for Gov. George Voinovich.
Credit: Dayton Daily News archive
Credit: Dayton Daily News archive
Arthur Brown: One of Dayton’s first Black architects.
Dr. William Burns: The first Black doctor in Dayton.
Russell Luther Carter: A graduate of Harvard Law School class of 1947, he became the first Black Assistant Montgomery County Prosecuting Attorney that year. In 1953, Carter was appointed to the bench of Dayton Municipal Court. He was the first Black superintendent of the budget for the State of Ohio and in that capacity, the first Black appointee to Ohio’s executive branch of government. He was the first Black chairman and member of the Dayton Civil Service Board. Carter’s obit said, “He lived his life so that future generations would no longer have to be the first ‘Black’ this or that, but as the ‘best’ at whatever they sought to achieve.”
George C. Cooper: A member of the Golden Thirteen – the first 13 African American officers commissioned by the U.S. Navy. During his time in the Navy and later when he worked for the City of Dayton as the first Black department director, he served as a valued mentor for other African Americans.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Dr. LeRoy Cox: Dayton’s first Black pharmacist opened Cox Drug Store at 842 W. Fifth St. in 1920. He was instrumental in building the West Side Amusement Building at Fifth and Williams streets. The building housed a drug store, a ballroom and the Palace Theatre.
Don Crawford: The first Black person elected to the City commission in 1961. Crawford served in that role until 1967, when he was appointed executive assistant to the commission. Later he held the title Clerk of the City Commission.
Clarence Cross: One of Dayton’s first Black architects.
William Reed Cummings: In 1968, became the first Black principal of Roosevelt High School. Prior to his appointment, he had been assistant principal at Roosevelt for 10 years. He also taught at Dunbar High School for 13 years.
Credit: Charles Steinbrunner
Credit: Charles Steinbrunner
Paul Laurence Dunbar: The first prominent Black figure in literary America.
Charity Edna Earley: The first Black person to be commissioned an officer in the Women’s Army Auxiliary Corps (later the Women’s Army Corps) and wrote a book in 1989 titled “One Woman’s Army: A Black Officer Remembers the WAC.”
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Donald Ellis: In 1948, became Dayton’s first Black firefighter.
Arthur Fisher: In 1970, became the first Black judge elected to Common Pleas Court.
Harley Flack: The first Black president of Wright State University.
Lelia Lles Francis: The first Black woman Realtor in Ohio and later opened Francis Realty.
Virginia Hamilton: The first Black author to win the Newbery Medal, the most prestigious award in American children’s books.
Jessie Hathcock: In 1930, she became the first Black woman to graduate from the University of Dayton. She became a teacher at Dunbar High School.
Cora Huguely: Was the first Black director of the Dayton Convention Center, serving from 1980-1986.
Credit: Charlie Steinbrunner
Credit: Charlie Steinbrunner
Gertrude Ivory-Bertram: Among the first Black nurses to be commissioned in the U.S. Army Nurse Corps during World War II.
William Jenkins: In 1898, became Dayton’s first Black police officer. He then became Dayton’s first Black officer to receive a police pension at the end of his career.
Blonnie Jeter: The first Black leader of Campfire Girls in Dayton. For 17 years she taught students with mental disabilities at Northview School.
James H. McGee: Became Dayton’s first Black mayor in 1970.
Rhine McLin: A Democrat, she became the first Black female state senator in 1994. McLin served in the Ohio House of Representatives and was the first female to become Mayor of the City of Dayton.
Virginia McNeal: The first Black woman president of the Dayton school board.
Idotha Bootsie Neal: Dayton’s first Black female city commissioner, elected in 1991.
Credit: Skip Peterson
Credit: Skip Peterson
Dora Burton Rice: In 1922, became Dayton’s first female Black police officer.
Adele Mosley Riley: Montgomery County’s second female and first Black female Common Pleas judge. She was a former school teacher and attorney.
Mac Ross: One of the first five original Tuskegee Airmen. Pioneered the role of Black aviators during World War II. Mac Ross was selected for the elite group after being passed over for pilot training several times. Although the family was skeptical of his desire to become a pilot because of the lack of any Black role models, his determination to succeed and his desire to fly eventually resulted in his selection. Ross excelled during his training at the Army Air Corps fighter pilot training school at Tuskegee, being described by one of his instructors as a pilot’s pilot. He died in a fighter plane crash during a training mission in Italy at the age of 32.
Credit: HANDOUT
Credit: HANDOUT
Rachel Smith-Blye: First Black woman to be licensed as funeral director in Dayton. Owner of Smith Funeral Home.
Edward Taylor: Dayton’s first Black commercial photographer.
Yvonne Walker-Taylor: In 1984, she became the first female president of Wilberforce University.
Col. Charles Young: The first Black colonel in the U.S. Army and highest-ranking Black soldier in World War I. He also served as a Wilberforce University professor, musician and composer.
About the Author
