First profile54th Massachusetts Infantry Abigail Adams Alexander Graham Bell Aly Raisman An Wang Anne Hutchinson Anne Sullivan Benjamin Franklin Beverly Wright Bill Owens Bill Russell Bobbi Gibb Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck Charles Dickens Cheryl Andrews-Maltais Childe Hassam Christa McAuliffe Clara Barton Crispus Attucks Daniel Shays David Walker Deborah Sampson Donna Summer Doris Bunte Dorothea Dix Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) Edmonia Lewis Edward Brooke Elizabeth Freeman Elizabeth James-Perry Ellen Swallow Richards Emily Dickinson Eunice Kennedy Shriver Fannie Farmer Frederick Douglass George H. W. Bush George Washington Gladys Widdiss Guglielmo Marconi Harry Agganis Helen Keller Henry David Thoreau Henry Knox Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Herman Melville Horace Mann Isaac Asimov Isabella Stewart Gardner James Naismith Jan Ernst Matzeliger Jason Baird Jessie “Little Doe” Baird John Adams John F. Kennedy John Hancock John Quincy Adams John Singer Sargent John Singleton Copley John Winthrop Jonathan James-Perry Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin Juli Vanderhoop Julia Child Julia Ward Howe Kathrine Switzer Leonard Bernstein Lewis Howard Latimer Linda Coombs Loïs Mailou Jones Louisa May Alcott Lucy Stone Margaret E. Knight Margaret Fuller Margaret Hamilton Maria Louise Baldwin Maria Mitchell Mária Telkes Maria W. Stewart Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Metacom (Metacomet) Nancy Kerrigan Nathaniel Hawthorne Nelson Merced Norman Rockwell Ousamequin (Massasoit) Paul Revere Percy Spencer Phillis Wheatley Peters Quock Walker Rachel Carson Ralph Waldo Emerson Rebecca Lee Crumpler Robert Frost Robert Gould Shaw Robert H. Goddard Roger Williams Ruth Wakefield Salem Poor Samuel Adams Sarah Bagley Sarah Parker Remond Sojourner Truth Stephanie Wilson Sylvia Plath Thomas A. Watson Tisquantum (Squanto) Tobias J. Vanderhoop Vannevar Bush W. E. B. Du Bois Wamsutta Frank James Weetamoo William A. Martin William Apess William G. Morgan William H. Carney William Lloyd Garrison William Monroe Trotter Winslow Homer Yo-Yo Ma Zitkála-Šá Second profile54th Massachusetts Infantry Abigail Adams Alexander Graham Bell Aly Raisman An Wang Anne Hutchinson Anne Sullivan Benjamin Franklin Beverly Wright Bill Owens Bill Russell Bobbi Gibb Caleb Cheeshahteaumuck Charles Dickens Cheryl Andrews-Maltais Childe Hassam Christa McAuliffe Clara Barton Crispus Attucks Daniel Shays David Walker Deborah Sampson Donna Summer Doris Bunte Dorothea Dix Dr. Seuss (Theodor Geisel) Edmonia Lewis Edward Brooke Elizabeth Freeman Elizabeth James-Perry Ellen Swallow Richards Emily Dickinson Eunice Kennedy Shriver Fannie Farmer Frederick Douglass George H. W. Bush George Washington Gladys Widdiss Guglielmo Marconi Harry Agganis Helen Keller Henry David Thoreau Henry Knox Henry Wadsworth Longfellow Herman Melville Horace Mann Isaac Asimov Isabella Stewart Gardner James Naismith Jan Ernst Matzeliger Jason Baird Jessie “Little Doe” Baird John Adams John F. Kennedy John Hancock John Quincy Adams John Singer Sargent John Singleton Copley John Winthrop Jonathan James-Perry Josephine St. Pierre Ruffin Juli Vanderhoop Julia Child Julia Ward Howe Kathrine Switzer Leonard Bernstein Lewis Howard Latimer Linda Coombs Loïs Mailou Jones Louisa May Alcott Lucy Stone Margaret E. Knight Margaret Fuller Margaret Hamilton Maria Louise Baldwin Maria Mitchell Mária Telkes Maria W. Stewart Meta Vaux Warrick Fuller Metacom (Metacomet) Nancy Kerrigan Nathaniel Hawthorne Nelson Merced Norman Rockwell Ousamequin (Massasoit) Paul Revere Percy Spencer Phillis Wheatley Peters Quock Walker Rachel Carson Ralph Waldo Emerson Rebecca Lee Crumpler Robert Frost Robert Gould Shaw Robert H. Goddard Roger Williams Ruth Wakefield Salem Poor Samuel Adams Sarah Bagley Sarah Parker Remond Sojourner Truth Stephanie Wilson Sylvia Plath Thomas A. Watson Tisquantum (Squanto) Tobias J. Vanderhoop Vannevar Bush W. E. B. Du Bois Wamsutta Frank James Weetamoo William A. Martin William Apess William G. Morgan William H. Carney William Lloyd Garrison William Monroe Trotter Winslow Homer Yo-Yo Ma Zitkála-Šá Print comparison
Edward Brooke Image source ↗ Government & political leaders
Edward Brooke 1919–2015 · Massachusetts U.S. senator; Boston University graduate
Elected in 1966, Brooke became the first Black U.S. senator elected directly by voters and the first Black U.S. senator from Massachusetts. He served from 1967 to 1979 and worked on housing and equal rights. A U.S. senator represents a state in the national government.
Open complete profile → Research source ↗ Bill Owens Image source ↗ Government & political leaders
Bill Owens 1937–2022 · Boston; Massachusetts State Senate
Owens became the first Black member of the Massachusetts State Senate when he began serving in 1975. This is a different job from Edward Brooke’s U.S. Senate service. State senators help make Massachusetts laws; U.S. senators help make national laws.
Open complete profile → Research source ↗ Make a comparison Think about place, time, work, challenges, or the rights people sought. If both profiles describe a “first,” check exactly what the word means.
One connection I can support with evidence One important difference A question I still have