Notable Alumni
| Name | Class year | Notability | References |
|---|---|---|---|
| Lil Hardin Armstrong | 1915 | jazz pianist/composer, second wife of Louis Armstrong | |
| Constance Baker Motley | 1941-1942 | first African-American woman elected to the New York State Senate | |
| Marion Barry | 1960 | former mayor of Washington, D.C. | |
| Mary Frances Berry | former Chair, United States Commission on Civil Rights; former Chancellor University of Colorado at Boulder | ||
| John Betsch | 1967 | Jazz percusionist | |
| Joyce Bolden | first African-American woman to serve on the Commission for Accreditation of the National Association of Schools of Music | ||
| Otis Boykin | 1942 | Inventor, control device for the heart pacemaker | |
| St. Elmo Brady | first African American to earn a doctorate in Chemistry | ||
| Cora Brown | first African-American woman elected to a state senate | ||
| Henry Alvin Cameron | 1896 | Educator, decorated World War I veteran | |
| J.O. Patterson, Jr. | 1958 | First African American to occupy the office of Mayor of Memphis. Tennessee State Representative, State Senator, Memphis Councilman, Jurisdictional Bishop in the Church of God in Christ | |
| Elizabeth Hortense (Golden) Canady | past national president of Delta Sigma Theta sorority | ||
| Alfred O. Coffin | first African American to earn a doctorate in zoology | ||
| Johnnetta B. Cole | anthropologist, former President of Spelman College and Bennett College | ||
| William L. Dawson (politician) | 1909 | U.S. Congressman (1943-1970) | |
| Arthur Cunningham | 1951 | Musical Composer, studied at Juilliard and Columbia University | |
| Charles Diggs | United States House of Representatives Michigan (1955-1980) | ||
| Mahala Ashley Dickerson | 1935 | first black female attorney in the state of Alabama and first black president of the National Association of Women Lawyers | |
| W. E. B. Du Bois | 1888 | sociologist, scholar, first African-American to earn a Ph.D. from Harvard | |
| Venida Evans | 1969 | Actress, best known for Ikea commercials | |
| Etta Zuber Falconer | 1953 | first African-American woman to receive a Ph.D. in mathematics; former Chair, mathematics department at Spelman College | |
| John Hope Franklin | 1935 | historian, professor, scholar, author of landmark text From Slavery to Freedom | |
| Victor O. Frazer | United States House of Representatives (1995-1997) | ||
| Alonzo Fulgham | former acting chief and operating officer of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) | ||
| Nikki Giovanni | 1967 | poet, author, professor, scholar | |
| Louis George Gregory | Hand of the Cause in the Bahá'í Faith | ||
| Alcee Hastings | U.S. Congressman and former U.S. district court judge | ||
| Roland Hayes | concert singer | ||
| Perry Wilbon Howard | Assistant U.S. Attorney General under President Herbert Hoover | ||
| Elmer Imes | 1903 | Renowned Physicist and Second African-American to earn a Ph.D in Physics | |
| Esther Cooper Jackson | 1940 | Founding editor of Freedomways Journal | |
| Leonard Jackson (actor) | 1952 | Actor, Five on the Black Hand Side; The Color Purple | |
| Robert James | former NFL cornerback | ||
| Judith Jamison | Pioneering Dancer and Choreographer; former artistic Director, Alvin Ailey American Dance Theater | ||
| Ted Jarrett | R&B recording artist and producer | ||
| Dr. Charles Jeter | 1971 | father of Derek Jeter | |
| Ben Jobe | 1956 | Legendary basketball coach, Southern University | |
| Lewis Wade Jones | 1931 | Sociologist; Julius Rosenwald Foundation Fellow at Columbia University | |
| Ella Mae Johnson | 1921 | at age 105 years old, Ella Mae Johnson traveled to Washington, DC to attend the inauguration of Barack Obama | |
| Matthew Knowles | 1973 | Father and manager of Beyoncé Knowles | |
| Nella Larsen | 1908 | Novelist, Harlem Renaissance era | |
| Julius Lester | 1960 | Author of children's books and former professor at the University of Massachusetts Amherst | |
| David Levering Lewis | Two-time Pulitzer Prize Winner | ||
| John Lewis | Congressman, civil rights activist, former President of Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) | ||
| Jimmie Lunceford | 1925 | famous bandleader in the swing era | |
| Aubrey Lyles | 1903 | Vaudville performer | |
| E.M. Lysonge | 1998 | Former SGA President. Currently serves as Vice President, Legal Affairs at Churchill Downs Incorporated | |
| Mandisa | 2001 | Grammy and Dove Award-nominated Christian contemporary singer/songwriter, ninth-place finalist in the fifth season (2006) of American Idol | |
| Patti J. Malone | 1880 | Fisk Jubilee Singer | |
| Louis E. Martin | 1933 | Godfather of Black Politics | |
| Wade H. McCree | 1941 | Second African-American United States Solicitor General; Justice, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit | |
| Samuel A. McElwee | 1883 | State Senator during the Reconstruction Era and the first African American elected three times to the Tennessee General Assembly | |
| Robert McFerrin | first African American male to sing at the Metropolitan Opera and father of Bobby McFerrin | ||
| Leslie Meek | 1987 | Administrative Law Judge, wife of Congressman Kendrick Meek | |
| Ronald E. Mickens | Physicist, winner of the Edward Bouchet Award | ||
| Theo Mitchell | 1960 | Senator, South Carolina General Assembly | |
| Undine Smith Moore | first Fisk graduate to receive a scholarship to Juilliard, Pulitzer Prize Nominee | ||
| Diane Nash | founding member of SNCC | ||
| Rachel B. Noel | Politician; first African-American to serve on the Denver Public Schools Board of Education | ||
| Hon. Hazel O'Leary | former U.S. Secretary of Energy | ||
| Helen Phillips | 1928 | first African-American to perform with the Metropolitan Opera Chorus | |
| Annette Lewis Phinazee | 1939 | first black woman to earn a doctorate in library sciences from Columbia University | |
| Anita Ponder | Partner, Drinker Biddle & Reath LLC; Super Lawyers (2005, 2007, 2008 and 2009) | ||
| Alma Powell | wife of Gen. Colin Powell | ||
| Kay George Roberts | orchestral conductor | ||
| Bradley T Sheares | former CEO Reliant Pharmaceuticals; former President, H.H. Division, Merck & Co. | ||
| Martha Lynn Sherrod | Presiding District Court Judge, first African American to win an at-large election in North Alabama since Reconstruction | ||
| Lorenzo Dow Turner | 1910 | Linguist and Chair, African Studies at Roosevelt University | |
| A. Maceo Walker | 1930 | Businessman, Universal Life Insurance, Tri-State Bank | |
| Ron Walters | 1963 | Scholar of African-American politics, Chair, Afro-American Studies Brandeis University | |
| Margaret Murray Washington | 1890 | Lady Principal of Tuskegee Institute and third wife of Booker T. Washington | |
| Ida B. Wells | American civil rights activist and women's suffrage advocate | ||
| Charles H. Wesley | 1911 | President of Wilberforce University from 1942 to 1947, and President of Central State College from 1947-1965; third African-American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard | |
| Kym Whitley | actress, comedienne | ||
| Frederica Wilson | 1963 | U.S. Representative for Florida's 17th congressional district | |
| Tom Wilson (producer) | 1953 | Music producer, best known for his work with Bob Dylan and Frank Zappa | |
| Yetta Young | 1991 | First to produce all African-American celebrity cast of the Obie-Award winning play The Vagina Monologues. Actresses have included Academy Award Winner Mo'Nique and Academy Award Nominee Taraji P. Henson | |
| Frank Yerby | 1938 | first African-American to publish a best-selling novel |
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Famous quotes containing the word notable:
“Every notable advance in technique or organization has to be paid for, and in most cases the debit is more or less equivalent to the credit. Except of course when it’s more than equivalent, as it has been with universal education, for example, or wireless, or these damned aeroplanes. In which case, of course, your progress is a step backwards and downwards.”
—Aldous Huxley (1894–1963)