Little Known Black History Fact – Black America 250: March 25, 1949-the birth date of Lillian E. Fishburne, the first African-American woman to hold the rank of Rear Admiral (RDML) in the United States Navy
Lillian Elaine Fishburne was born into a naval family in Patuxent River, Maryland, on March 25, 1949–just one year after the integration of minorities and women in the military.Fishburne was raised in Rockville, Maryland, by an active-duty father who never doubted his daughter’s military ambitions. After obtaining a Bachelor’s degree in Sociology from Lincoln University in 1971, she spent two years at the Women Officers School at Newport, Rhode Island, becoming an ensign after graduating in February, 1973. According to Black Past, Fishburne’s first naval assignment was serving as a personnel and legal officer at the Naval Air Test Facility in Lakehurst, New Jersey. She went on to act as an Officer Programs recruiter in Miami, then as the officer in charge of the Naval Telecommunications Center at the Great Lakes, Illinois Naval Base. Officer Fishburne then went back to school for two years, earning her Master of Arts in Management from Webster College in St. Louis, Missouri. She spent the next two years at the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California, graduating with a Master of Science in Telecommunications Systems Management in 1982. READ MORE
