Trivia questions are used to know something in a much better and understandable manner. So why not the history! So today we are here to give a brief detail of African Americans history by using trivia questions. Here we will present you some African American trivia questions.
List of African American Trivia Questions
Here we will present you 200 African American trivia questions:
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Who was the enslaved woman who is believed to have borne Thomas Jefferson at least four children?
Sally Hemings.
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Who was the first colonist slain in the Boston Massacre?
Crispus Attucks.
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Who was this man, grand promoter of peanuts, sweet potato and soybeans, widely credited with inventing peanut butter?
George Washington Carver
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What author of ‘Song of Solomon’ won the Nobel Prize for literature?
Toni Morrison.
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What U.E President signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 into law?
Lyndon B.Johnson.
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What Supreme Court decision decreed that public schools should be integrated?
Brown v.Board.
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A man called Cinque led a successful rebellion aboard what slave ship in the mid-nineteenth century?
Amistad
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In what year was the congressional Black Caucus organized?
1971.
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In 1824 he was the first African American to earn a bachelor’s degree. Who is he?
Alexander Lucius Twilight.
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In what year was the Southern Christian Leadership founded?
1957
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Whose refusal to give up her seat on a public bus sparked a boycott of Montgomerey, AL buses from 1955-1956?
Rosa Parks.
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What was Malcolm X’s birth name?
Malcolm Little
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Who was the most famous conductor of the underground rail road?
Harriet Tub man
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Whose autobiography is entitled “I Know Why the Caged Bird Sing”?
Maya Angelou.
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Who won four gold medals in the 1936 Olympics held in Berlin, Germany?
Jesse Owens.
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Who assassinated Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.?
James Earl Ray.
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Which fourteen year old black boy was lynched for whistling at a white woman?
Emmet Till
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What is the oldest civil rights organization still working today?
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People
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Who founded the Universal Negro Improvement Association?
Marcus Garvey
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Which person was born in Massachussettes, was the first African-American to receive a Ph.D from Harvard and wrote ‘Souls of Black Folk’?
W.E.B. DuBois.
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Which Amendment to the U.S. Constitution abolished slavery?
13th
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What year did the ‘Zoot Suit Riots’ take place?
1943
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Who wrote “their Eyes Were Watching God”?
Zora Neale Hurston.
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Since 1987, who was held the position of director of jazz at Lincoln Centre for the performing Arts in New York City?
Wynton Marsali
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Who wrote Clotel, or The President’s Daughter, the first published novel by a Black American in 1833?
William Wells Brown
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Who published the Escape, the first play written by a Black American?
William Wells Brown
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Nat Love wrote what kind of stories?
Westerns
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Cartoonist Morrie Turner created what world famous syndicated comic strip?
Wee Pals
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Who was born in Florence, Alabama in 1873 and is called “Father of the Blues”?
WC Handy
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Who is the author of the critically acclaimed novel waiting to Exhale?
Terry McMillain
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Who was the first Black American woman to have a full length novel published?
Frances Ellen Watkins Harper
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Who was the first Black American woman to be recognized as an award winning composer?
Florence Price
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Who wrote the play All God’s Chillun Got Wings starring Paul Robeson?
Eugene O’Neill.
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Who was the first Black American to achieve fame as a sculptress?
Edmonia Leis
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Cheyney University in Pennsylvania was funded by a will from what Philadelphia Quaker in 1832?
Richard Humphreys.
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In 1865, Fisk University was founded in what city?
Nashville, Tennessee.
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From what college did Martin Luther King, Jr. graduate?
Morehouse College
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The University of the District of Columbia was organized by free black women in 1865 under what name?
Miner Normal School
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There is one Historically Black College and University (HBCU) in Kentucky. Name it.
Kentucky State University
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Who was the first Black American woman president of Spelman College?
Johnetta Cole.
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Who was the first Black American to graduate from college?
John Russwurm.
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What is the name of the famous Black college in Washington, D.C. where Dr. Charles Drew taught medicine?
Howard University.
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E.B. Du Bois was the first Black American to receive a Ph.D. from what prestigious university?
Harvard University
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What state has the most black institutions of higher learning?
Georgia
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Starting with $1.50 in cash, what college did Mary McLeod Bethune found?
Bethune Cook man College.
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This, the first and only black college consortium, was founded in 1929. Name it.
Atlanta University System
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Name three dance steps from the Disco era?
The Hustle, the Bump, and the Bus Stop
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On the TV series Magnum, P.I., what was Roger Mosely’s nickname?
T.C
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Who was the second black woman to be crowned Miss America?
Suzette Charles.
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Who became Hollywood’s first Black millionaire actor?
Stepin Fetchit
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Born in 1957, what is the full name of the director of the movie Do the Right Thing?
Shelton Jackson (Spike) Lee
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Who was the first black entertainer to sleep in the White House?
Sammy Davis, Jr.
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In 1950 Sidney Poitier made his film debut in what movie?
No Way Out
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What was the name of the first successful TV variety show starring a Black American?
Nat King Cole Show
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Who was the star of the 1977 movie The Greatest?
Muhammad Ali
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Who was the first Black American musician to perform concert tours?
Joseph Douglass
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Who provided the voice for Darth Vader in the movie Star Wars?
James Earl Jones
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Name the singer whose nickname is “Little Moses.”
Isaac Hayes
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In what state is Tuskegee Institute located?
Alabama
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What famous musician’s trademark was puffing cheeks and a trumpet bell that pointed skyward?
Dizzy Gillespie
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Who is called “The Queen of the Blues”?
Dinah Washington
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Born in Lexington, KY, Derek Bryant was the first African American baseball player at what school, where he played from 1971-1973?
University of Kentucky
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Jackie Robinson excelled in four sports at what university?
University of California at Los Angeles (UCLA)
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What professional boxer is named “The Hit Man”?
Thomas Hearns
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What do Mike Garret, Ernie Davis and Billy Simms have in common?
They all won the Heisman Trophy
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What was Earl Monroe’s nickname during his basketball career?
The Pearl
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What Black American served three times as a Head Linesman in a Super Bowl, positions reserved for the highest-rated NFL officials?
Leo Miles
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Who was the second Black American to manage a major league baseball team?
Larry Doby
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Who was the first African American player from Kentucky drafted into the WNBA?
Kym Hampton.
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Which baseball player began his career at the age of 19 and played in the majors at the same time as his father who shares his name?
Ken Griffey, Jr.
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What basketball star is referred to as “The Mailman”?
Karl Malone.
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Who was the first Black American to lead an NFL officiating crew?
Johnny Grier.
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Who was the first Black American to complete the US Open tennis tournament?
John Shippen
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What professional sport did Lee Elder play?
Golf
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Who was the first Black American to compete in the Olympics?
George C. Poage
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Who was the first Black American professional football player?
Fritz Pollard.
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Chosen as the first Black manager in baseball’s American League, who managed the Cleveland Indians beginning in 1974?
Frank Robinson.
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Who was the first Black American inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame?
Emlen Tunnell.
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What Clarksville, TN native won the Miss USA pageant in 2007?
Rachel Smith.
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For what did Ralph Bunche win the Noble Peace Prize?
Mediating an end to an Arab Israeli conflict
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The men’s basketball team won a Gold Medal at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, Spain. The team was known as what?
The “Dream Team”
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On October 26, 1951, Joe Louis was knocked out in his final professional boxing fight by whom?
Rocky Marciano
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In 1997 who became the first African American basketball coach at the University of Kentucky?
Orlando “Tubby” Smith
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Derek Bryant, the first African American baseball player at the University of Kentucky, was drafted by what professional team?
Oakland Athletics
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He was born Cassius Clay but changed his name after he joined the Nation of Islam. Who is this former Olympic Gold Medal prizefighter?
Muhammad Ali.
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After being denied service at a Louisville, Kentucky, lunch counter, this heavy weight fighter threw his Olympic medal into the river in protest. Name him.
Muhammad Ali.
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Between 1972 and 1980 blacks won how many Olympic medals in track and field events?
More than 75
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Who was the youngest boxer to win the heavyweight title?
Mike Tyson
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Who are the only two brothers that ever held the heavyweight boxing title?
Michael and Leon Spinks
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What Black American player broke Ty Cobb’s stolen bases record with 893 steals?
Lou Brock
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Art Shell became the second Black football coach of what team?
Los Angeles Raiders
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What team played against Biddle College in the first Black American college football game?
Livingstone College
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Who became a major league rookie at the age of 42 in 1948?
Leroy “Satchel” Paige
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How many of the original five Harlem Globetrotters were from Harlem?
0
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The Tulsa Race Riot of 1921 destroyed what prosperous black community?
Greenwood.
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What was Jackie Robinson’s lifetime batting average?
0.311.
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When was the importation of slaves outlawed in the U.S.?
1808
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Who was the first black astronaut to walk in space?
Bernard Harris, Jr.
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Henry Louis (Hank) Aaron ended his career with how many home runs?
755
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When did Jackie Robinson break the color barrier by his entrance into baseball’s National League?
1947
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Sugar Ray Robinson ended his 200 professional bout boxing career with a total of how many wins and knockouts?
175 wins, 110 Kos.
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Who was the first Black American to lead professional football in rushing?
Jim Brown.
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Who was Muhammad Ali’s opponent in the famous “Thrilla in Manila” fight?
Joe Frazier
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Which baseball player began his career at the age of 19 and played in the majors at the same time as his father who shares his name?
Ken Griffey, Jr.
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This American Major League Baseball player is credited with being the first African American to play at the major league level in 1884. Name him.
Moses Fleetwood Walker.
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When Guion Bluford orbited earth aboard the Challenger space shuttle, how fast did the space craft move?
300 miles per minute
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In 1884, the “Medico-Chirurgical Society” was formed. What kind of association is this?
A Black medical association
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Bessie Coleman was trained and received her pilot’s license in what country?
France.
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Lewis Latimer prepared the drawings for what invention patented by Alexander Graham Bell?
The telephone
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What famous dermatologist treated leprosy and syphilis?
Theodore K. Lawless
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What was the name of Paul Cuffe’s ship, which made an expedition to Africa?
Traveler
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Who was the first Black American to play for the New York Yankees?
Elston Howard.
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What basketball player was named NBA Rookie of the Year while leading the Detroit Pistons to their first NBA Championship playoff?
Dave Bing.
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Satchel Paige was the first Black American to pitch major league baseball for what team?
Cleveland Indians
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Who became Western Kentucky University’s first African American head basketball coach in 1980?
Clem S. Haskins.
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Who was the first Black American president of the National Baseball League?
Bill White.
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Olympic gold medal winner Oscar Robertson became an all-star in the NBA with nearly 10,000 assists during his career. What was his nickname?
Big O
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Ranking 33rd on the NBA’s winningest coaches list, who was the Charlotte Bobcats general manager and first coach?
Bernard T. “Bernie” Bickerstaff, Sr.
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What pitcher won 51 out of 55 games in the Negro League in 1905?
Andrew “Rube” Foster.
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What was Joe Louis’s overall professional boxing record?
68 wins, 3 loses.
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How many teams has Tubby Smith led to the NCAA Sweet Sixteen?
3 (the University of Tulsa, the University of Georgia and the University of Kentucky)
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What sports team was referred to by many as the “Dream Team”?
1992 Olympic basketball team
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Willie Mays received a bonus of how much money when he signed with the New York Giants?
$5,000
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In what year did Doug Williams became the first Black player to quarterback a Super Bowl victory?
1988
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In what year did the US Postal Service issue a Jackie Robinson commemorative postage stamp?
1982
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Satchel Paige was elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame in what year?
1971
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Prior to Joseph Lee’s bread making invention, how many people were needed to produce the same amount of loaves per day?
Twelve
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In what year was Blanche K. Bruce elected to the Senate?
1874
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Condoleezza Rice was appointed by President George W. Bush as the first black female Secretary of State in what year?
2005
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What militant group embodied the term “Black Power”?
Black Panther Party
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Who was the first Black American to serve a full term in the US Senate?
Blanche Bruce.
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Who was the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff in 1989 and appointed as Secretary of State in 2001 in President George W. Bush’s first term?
Colin Powell.
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Who was the first Black American woman elected to a state legislature?
Crystal Bird Fauset
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Barack Obama was a keynote speaker at the 2004 Democratic National Convention and later won a U.S. Senate seat in what state?
Illinois
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In 1964, Carl T. Rowan was named Director of what US agency?
Information Agency
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Who was the second African American mayor in Kentucky?
James W. Dulin.
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Who was the first elected Black American governor in Virginia?
Douglas Wilder.
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What test was given to potential Black voters to determine whether they understood the U.S. Constitution and could read?
Literacy test
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Who was the first Black American municipal judge?
M.W. Gibbs.
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In 1997 she became the third woman to chair the Congressional Black Caucus. Who is this Congresswoman from California?
Maxine Waters.
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He became Atlanta’s first and youngest black mayor in 1974, a position he held for three terms. Name him.
Maynard Jackson, Jr.
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In 1871 who became the first Black American governor?
P.B.S. Pinchback
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Who invented a ticket dispensing machine?
Frederick McKinley Jones.
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Who invented the clothes dryer?
G.T. Sampson.
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What common saying refers to a famous Black American inventor?
Is it the real McCoy?
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Who invented the lawn mower?
J.A. Burr.
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Who revolutionized the Baking industry with the invention of the dough roller?
J.W. Reed.
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Who patented corrosion resistant alloy steels?
James Parsons.
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James Beck wourth became chief scout for what explorer in 1848?
John Freemont.
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Who invented the folding bed?
L.C. Bailey.
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Earnest Everett Just, a biologist, was known for what type of research?
Marine eggs
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Who provided life-saving heroics to help his group of explorers reach the North Pole?
Matthew Henson
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What engineer from New Orleans patented the sugar refinery?
Norbert Rillieux.
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Who invented the control unit for the artificial heart stimulator?
Otis Boykin
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What did George Washington Carver use to develop shaving cream, paper, ink, rubbing oil, synthetic rubber, and instant coffee?
Peanuts
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Hyram S. Thomas was a chef who created what popular snack?
Potato chip
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What Black American inventor received a patent for the guitar?
R.F. Fleming.
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The ironing board was invented by what Black American woman?
Sarah Boone.
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Philadelphia and Massachusetts cobbler, Jan E. Matzeliger invented what?
Shoe lasting machine
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In 1872, what inventor received a patent for an apparatus for detaching horses for carriages?
T.J. Boyd.
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What happened to Dr. Roland McNair him and his crew members on January 28, 1986?
The space shuttle that Dr. McNair and six other astronauts were in exploded after takeoff in Cape Canaveral, Florida.
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Shirley Chisholm was the first black woman to be elected to Congress. She also campaigned for what office in 1972?
President
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Who advanced legislation to make June teenth (June 19), the celebration of the freedom of African American slaves, a holiday in Kentucky?
Representative Reginald Meeks.
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Many blacks held political offices in the South during Reconstruction as members of what political party?
Republican
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Who was the first Black American member of a presidential cabinet?
Robert Weaver
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Who was Fannie Lou Hammer?
She was a civil rights advocate who helped register black people to vote in Mississippi.
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How many blacks served in the U.S. Congress during the Reconstruction era?
Sixteen
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In 1999, President Clinton named the first African American U.S. Attorney in Kentucky. Name him.
Steven S. Reed.
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Blanche Bruce went on to become the first black elected to a full term in the U.S. Senate. Who elected him?
The Mississippi Legislature
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What provision written in 1787 was included in the U.S. Constitution?
Three-fifths of all slaves counted for representation.
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Douglas Wilder, was elected the first Black American governor of what state in 1989?
Virginia
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Black Americans were authorized to enlist in the US Navy in what year?
23
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Who was the first Black American to die in the Revolutionary War?
Crispus Attucks.
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Who was the first Black American four star general in US military history?
Daniel James, Jr.
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What US President ended segregation in the US Armed Forces by issuing an Executive Order?
Harry S. Truman.
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In 1967, who became the first African American Kentucky graduate from the United States Air Force Academy?
Lt. Col. (Ret.) Thomas Lee Cunningham
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How many Southern states seceded from the Union to form the Confederate States of America in 1861?
Eleven
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What was Elijah Muhammad’s given name?
Elijah Poole.
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What religious leader set up “Peace Missions” throughout the country?
Father Divine
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In the 1930s this federal organization compiled testimonies of over 2,500 Former slaves in 17 states that were published in the 1970s. Name the organization.
Federal Writers Project.
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Who was the first American born Black man to be ordained a Roman Catholic priest?
Father Tolton.
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Who was the first Black American Catholic Archbishop?.
Eugene A. Marino.
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The U.S. Emancipation Proclamation, signed in 1863, legally freed slaves in what areas?
Confederate territory.
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The first African American to die in World War II, Robert H. Brooks passed for white when joining what reserve military force?
National Guard
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Who was the first Black American admiral in the US Navy?
Samuel L Gravely, Jr
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Commissioned in 1943, the first group of black naval officers was known as what?
The “Golden Thirteen”
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Born in Kentucky, Carl Maxie Brashear, the first African American Navy master diver, lost the lower part of his left leg in an accident on what naval ship?
The USS Hoist
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In 1942, what branch of the U.S. armed forces became the last to admit blacks?
U.S. Marine Corps
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How many trips did Harriet Tubman make to the South to rescue Black slaves?
19
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How old was Martin Luther King, Jr. when he was assassinated?
39
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In what year was the Fugitive Slave Law passed?
1850.
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Phillis Wheatley came to the US from West Africa at age seven or eight. How long did it take her to learn the English language?
16 months.
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Who was “Big Jim” Simpson?
A fiddle playing cow boy
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Blacks made up more than one-fourth of the population in how many states by July 1, 2007?
6 (Mississippi 38%, Louisiana 32%, Georgia 31%, Maryland 30%, South Carolina 29%, and Alabama 27%.
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What movement did Marcus Garvey believe to be the answer to the problems of Black Americans?
Back to Africa
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For what were George Washington and Sabrien Bates remembered?
Being cow boys who rode with Billy the Kid
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Enacted in 1865 and 1866 and restricting freed slaves from renting or purchasing property, what laws limited the movement of the freed slaves?
Black Codes.
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What was Marcus Garvey’s nickname?
Black Masons
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A 50 cent coin was introduced in 1946 that honored what famous Black American?
Booker T. Washington
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From where did the term “Jim Crow” originate?
Character in popular minstrel shows of the 19th Century