1935

Jazz singer Ella Fitzgerald began her singing career with the Chick Webb Orchestra in New York.

1937

William Edmonson was the first Black artist to have a show at the Museum of Modern Art.

1939

The Daughters of the American Revolution barred Marian Anderson from singing at Constitution Hall.

1940

For her portrayal as "Mammy" in "Gone With the Wind," Hattie McDaniel became the first Black to win an Oscar for best supporting actress.

The Cotton Club in Harlem closed.

1941

Dean Charles Dixon was the first Black to conduct the New York Philharmonic Orchestra.

1943

The first Black sculptor to design a United States coin was Selma Hortense Burke, who designed the winning portrait of President Franklin D. Roosevelt which appeared on the dime.

1949

Jazz trumpeter Daniel Louis ("Satchmo") Armstrong was the first Black to preside over the New Orleans Mardi Gras.

WERD-AM in Atlanta, Georgia, became the first Black owned radio station in the United States.