Rosa Parks, Carter G. Woodson & More Notable Black History Month Figures to Celebrate This Week

Legendary tennis star McNeil became an All-American in singles and doubles at Oklahoma State University before turning pro in 1984, according to the Women's Collegiate Tennis Hall of Fame.

She most famously beat the now-retired International Tennis Hall of Famer Chris Evert in the Pan Pacific Open in Tokyo on this day in history, 32 years ago.

McNeil's legendary career highlights include NCAA Big Eight Athletic Conference Singles Champion (1982), U.S. Indoor Doubles Champion (1986), Texas Tennis Hall of Fame inductee (2000) and U.S. Women's Tennis Coach at the World University Games (2005).

She's won 32 career doubles titles and was appointed assistant coach to the U.S. Olympic Team in 2004, and continues to serve as a mentor for young players.

The civil rights activist was born in Tuskegee, Alabama, to parents James and Leona McCauley. She is known for getting arrested after refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger, after a white bus driver demanded that she do so.

The brave act of defiance, which took place on Dec. 1, 1955, in Montgomery, Alabama, led to a year-long bus boycott by Montgomery’s black residents. The movement eventually led to a Supreme Court ruling that said bus segregation was unconstitutional.

By Dec. 21, 1956, one year and 20 days after her initial arrest, Parks was photographed sitting in the front seat of a bus after her long-fought victory.

Parks died in 2005 after a lifetime of fighting against civil rights injustices.

Henry Louis "Hank" Aaron was born in Mobile, Alabama, and primarily played for the Milwaukee Braves as right fielder. His career highlights include earning three Gold Glove Awards, making 25 All-Star Game appearances and leading the Braves in 1957 to their first World Series Championship since 1914, according to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

The trailblazing athlete beat out Babe Ruth's home run record of 714 with his own 755, which remained the most home runs of all time until the record was broken in 2007 by Barry Bonds.

He was inducted into the Baseball Hall of Fame in 1982 and was immortalized by the Atlanta Braves within their SunTrust Park stadium, where a bronze statue of the player lives to honor his illustrious career. In late January 2021, he died at the age of 86.

The tennis champion and tireless civil rights activist died of AIDS-related complications one year before his 50th birthday.

Ashe was the first and only black man to win Wimbledon and the U.S. and Australian Opens, according to The New York Times. He was the first black tennis player chosen to represent the U.S. at the Davis Cup and won five championships. He also helped create the Association of Tennis Professionals in an effort to help protect the interests of players.

The icon was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame in 1985 and was posthumously awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom by President Bill Clinton. To this day, ESPN presents the Arthur Ashe Courage Award to a person in the sports world who exhibits courage in the face of adversity.

The scholar proposed and launched "Negro History Week," which became "Black History Month" in 1976. The author of more than 30 books was said to have chosen the month of February in order to honor two significant birthdays: Abraham Lincoln (Feb. 12) and Frederick Douglass (Feb. 14).

The man also known as the "Father of Black History" was the second African-American to earn a doctorate from Harvard University (the first was W.E.B. Du Bois) in 1912. He died in 1950.

On this day 35 years ago, Thomas was the first black figure skater to win the U.S. National Figure Skating Championship in Women's Singles. She achieved the incredible feat while also studying pre-med as a student at Stanford University, BET reports.

Before retiring from the sport and beginning medical school at Northwestern University, Thomas also took the title of the first black figure skater to win a medal in any Winter Olympics sport when she earned a bronze medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics.

The esteemed writer, activist and poet was the first black woman novelist to win a Pulitzer Prize for Literature and the National Book Award for her third novel, The Color Purple.

The novel, which centers on the life of African-American women living in the South in the 1930s, was later adapted into a film by Steven Spielberg in 1985, starring Whoopi Goldberg, Danny Glover and Oprah Winfrey. It was also made into a Tony award-winning Broadway musical, which debuted in 2004.

Walker's other significant works include Possessing the Secret of Joy, The Third Life of Grange Copeland and Meridian. She was inducted into the Georgia Writers Hall of Fame in 2001 and the California Hall of Fame in The California Museum for History, Women and the Arts in 2006, according to PBS.