- Albius, EdmondInvented the hand-pollination technique for vanilla orchids at age 12, the method still used to produce roughly 80% of the world's vanilla today1829-1880
- Allen, WillFounded Growing Power in 1995, pioneering low-cost urban aquaponics, vermiculture, and composting techniques that turned Milwaukee's last surviving city farm into a model replicated by urban agriculture programs nationwide1949-present
- Bailey, MashamaExecutive chef and partner of The Grey, a celebrated Savannah restaurant built inside a formerly segregated Greyhound bus terminal; first African American chef to star in Netflix's 'Chef's Table'; two-time James Beard Award winner including the organization's top Outstanding Chef honor1979-
- Blair, HenrySeed planter and cotton planter1807-1860
- Boyd, John Jr.Founded the National Black Farmers Association; agricultural policy advocacy1965-
- Bridgeforth, George RuffinFirst African American student to attend the Massachusetts Agricultural College (1897); built one of the first organized Black landowning farm cooperatives in the South, founding the Southern Small Farm Land Company (1910) and the Beulahland farming community, whose descendants still operate Alabama's largest Black-owned farm1873-1955
- Burr, John AlbertImproved rotary-blade lawn mowerunknown
- Campbell, Thomas MonroeBecame the first agricultural extension agent of any race hired into the USDA's Cooperative Extension System (1906), pioneering the “Movable School” (Jesup Agricultural Wagon) model for bringing farming science directly to rural Black farmers1883-1956
- Carver, George WashingtonCrop rotation methods; alternative uses for peanuts, sweet potatoes, and soybeans1864-1943
- Clark, Patrick DeanFirst Black chef to win a James Beard Foundation Best Chef award; helped pioneer New American cuisine and the fusion of fine dining with casual bistro service; one of four candidates considered for White House chef under President Clinton1955-1998
- Compton, NinaWon the James Beard Foundation's Best Chef: South award in 2018 for Compère Lapin, her acclaimed New Orleans restaurant blending Caribbean, French, and Italian technique with Gulf Coast ingredients; daughter of Saint Lucia's three-time Prime Minister1980s-
- Crum, George (George Speck)Long credited as the inventor of the potato chip, popularized as the 'Saratoga Chip'1824-1914
- Eady Butler, VictoriaBecame the first known Black woman Master Blender in American whiskey, crafting Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey as the great-great-granddaughter of Nathan “Nearest” Green, the formerly enslaved man who taught Jack Daniel to distillc. 1961-present
- Green, Nathan 'Nearest'First known African American master distiller; taught the distilling craft to a young Jack Daniel, whose namesake whiskey brand became a global industryc.1820-1890s
- Groves, Junius GeorgeDeveloped scientific potato-growing methods that produced record-breaking yields, earning the USDA's 1902 title “Potato King of the World” and building one of the largest African American-owned farming operations in U.S. history1859-1925
- Hall, Carla RenataBecame a nationally recognized television chef after first building careers as a certified public accountant and runway model; co-hosted ABC's Emmy-winning 'The Chew' and competed on two seasons of Bravo's 'Top Chef'1964-
- Hall, LloydFood preservation and sterilization methods1894-1971
- Hamer, Fannie LouFounded the Freedom Farm Cooperative, a landmark agricultural self-sufficiency project providing food, housing, and economic independence for Black sharecroppers facing eviction for voting1917-1977
- Johnson, Joseph 'JJ'Won the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook for 'Between Harlem and Heaven,' co-authored with Alexander Smalls, already profiled in this collection; founded Fieldtrip, a fast-casual restaurant built specifically around rice as a global heritage grain connecting African, Caribbean, Asian, and American culinary traditions1985-
- Jones, MarthaCombined corn husking and shelling machineunknown
- Jordan, EdouardoBecame, in 2018, the first African American chef to win the James Beard Foundation's Best New Restaurant award for JuneBaby; closed both of his Seattle restaurants in 2021 after a Seattle Times investigation detailed credible sexual misconduct allegations from 15 women, corroborated by 28 people in total1980-
- Lee, TheodoraFounded Theopolis Vineyards in 2003 in Mendocino County's Yorkville Highlands while continuing a full-time career as a senior trial lawyer, becoming one of the few Black women to both own and personally make wine in the United Statesc. 1962-present
- Lewis, Edna ReginaHelped define and popularize authentic Southern cuisine through cookbooks centering African American food traditions; pioneered farm-to-table cooking decades before the term existed1916-2006
- Lewis, John June Sr.Widely recognized as the first African American to own and operate a winery in the United States (Woburn Winery, Clarksville, Virginia, founded 1940)1894-1974
- McBride John, AndréaCo-founded and serves as CEO of McBride Sisters Wine Company, which she built with half-sister Robin McBride into the largest Black-owned and largest women-founded wine company in the United States1982/83-present
- McBride, RobinCo-founded McBride Sisters Wine Company in 2005 with half-sister Andréa McBride John, building it into the largest Black-owned wine company in the United States by volumec. 1974-present
- McCoy, CarltonBecame, in 2013 at age 28, only the second African American to pass the Master Sommelier examination — widely regarded as the hardest professional exam in the world, with an 8-10% pass rate — and went on to become Napa Valley's first Black CEOc. 1985-present
- McDonald, Edward Lee "Mac"Founded Vision Cellars in 1995, becoming one of the first Black-owned premium Pinot Noir labels in California, and co-founded the Association of African American Vintners in 2002 to expand Black participation in the wine industry1942-present
- Miles, Dolester 'Dol'Named the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Pastry Chef in 2018 after three prior nominations; longtime executive pastry chef at Birmingham's Highlands Bar and Grill, an Alabama institution recognized as the James Beard Foundation's Outstanding Restaurant the same year1957-
- Mitchell, John W.Agricultural extension organizing; co-founded bulk-purchasing farm credit unionunknown
- Murray, George WashingtonAgricultural machinery: furrow opener, stalk-knocker-cultivator, fertilizer distributor, mechanical cotton chopper1853-1926
- Onwuachi, KwameOpened five restaurants before turning thirty, including Washington D.C.'s acclaimed Kith/Kin; won the James Beard Foundation's Rising Star Chef of the Year award in 2019; his memoir 'Notes from a Young Black Chef' was named one of Time's essential books and is being adapted into a feature film1989-
- Paige, Ralph McDanielLed the Federation of Southern Cooperatives for 46 years, personally obtaining the Freedom of Information Act documents that built the legal foundation for Pigford v. Glickman, already profiled in this collection; grew the organization from 22 to 75 cooperatives while building 18 community credit unions1943-2018
- Penniman, LeahCo-founded Soul Fire Farm in 2010, an Afro-Indigenous centered farm and training program that has run food-sovereignty and Black/Brown farmer training programs for more than 10,000 participants nationwidec. 1980-present
- Pigford, TimothyLead plaintiff in Pigford v. Glickman, the 1999 class action settlement against the USDA that became, at the time, the largest civil rights settlement in American history, ultimately paying or crediting nearly $1 billion to Black farmers discriminated against in federal farm lending20th century-
- Randall, Joseph 'Joe' (Glascoe)Founded the African American Chefs Hall of Fame in 1993 to recognize Black culinary professionals long overlooked by the industry; co-authored the foundational 1998 cookbook 'A Taste of Heritage,' inducted into the James Beard Foundation's Cookbook Hall of Fame in 20231946-2026
- Rideau, IrisOpened Rideau Vineyard in 1997, believed to be the first winery in the United States owned and operated by a Black womanc. 1937-present
- Russell, Mariya (Moore-Russell)Became the first Black woman to receive a Michelin star in the guide's 94-year history, awarded in September 2019 for her work as chef de cuisine at Chicago's Kikkōc.1989-
- Samuelsson, Marcus (Kassahun Tsegie)Youngest chef ever to receive a three-star New York Times restaurant review; opened Harlem's Red Rooster in 2010, cooked the Obama administration's first state dinner, and has won eight James Beard Foundation Awards1971-
- Scott, RodneyOnly the second pitmaster ever to win a James Beard Foundation chef award, named Best Chef: Southeast in 2018; began cooking whole hog barbecue at his family's South Carolina restaurant at age 11 and authored the first cookbook published by a Black pitmaster1971-
- Sherrod, Shirley (Miller)Co-founded New Communities, Inc. in 1969, the first formal community land trust in the United States and, at 6,000 acres, one of the largest Black-owned tracts of land in the country; became a central figure in the Pigford v. Glickman settlement, already profiled in this collection, and was forced to resign a federal post in 2010 after a selectively edited video clip falsely portrayed her as admitting racial bias, before officials reviewed the full speech and publicly apologized1947-
- Singleton, Benjamin "Pap"Organized the “Exoduster” migration that helped lead tens of thousands of formerly enslaved Southerners to claim independent farmland in Kansas under the Homestead Act, founding the Edgefield Real Estate and Homestead Association and Black farming colonies including Singleton Colony and Dunlap Colony1809-1900
- Smalls, AlexanderWon a Grammy and Tony Award as part of the cast recording of 'Porgy and Bess' before becoming a celebrated restaurateur of Southern and Lowcountry cuisine; co-authored 'Between Harlem and Heaven,' which won the James Beard Award for Best American Cookbook1952-
- Smith, B. (Barbara Elaine)Pioneering Black supermodel turned restaurateur and lifestyle entrepreneur; her Style Collection became the first home goods line by a Black woman sold in a nationwide retail chain; publicly disclosed her early-onset Alzheimer's diagnosis to help destigmatize the disease within Black communities1949-2020
- Smith, Lucille BishopCreated the first commercially sold boxed hot roll mix, a foundational product in the convenience food industry1892-1985
- Tillery, JuliusFifth-generation cotton farmer and founder of Black Cotton (2016), which markets Black-grown cotton as home decor and accessories while advocating for Black farmers and land retentionb. c. 1986
- Washington, KarenCo-founded the Garden of Happiness in 1988 and Black Urban Growers (BUGS) in 2009, building the Bronx's community-garden network and launching the country's largest annual gathering of Black urban farmers; coined the term “food apartheid”c. 1954-present
- Weaver, FawnFounded Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in 2017 to honor Nathan “Nearest” Green, America's first known Black master distiller, building it into the best-selling Black-owned spirits brand in U.S. history1976-present
- Whatley, Booker T.Developed the pick-your-own (U-Pick) farming model and the Clientele Membership Club, the direct-marketing system that became the template for modern Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)1915-2005
- Wicks, Catherine 'Kate' SpeckSeparately credited by name in her own obituary as the actual originator of the potato chip, a claim distinct from her brother George Crum's more widely told version1814-1916