Occupation: Former prof tennis player, professor, activist
Note of firsts: First Black woman to serve as Dean of Women at any American university. Won the national title of the American Tennis Association's first tournament in 1917, the first African-American woman to win a major sports title. First person from her school to attend Howard University.
**Beyoncé's latest album 'Cowboy Carter' spotlights Linda Martell, a pioneer and trailblazer who paved the way for Black country music artists, as she was the first commercially successful Black female artist in the genre.