NASA Robert Lawrence: America's First African-American Astronaut

On June 30, 1967, the U.S. Air Force selcted Maj. Robert H. Lawrence, Jr. for the Manned Orbiting Laboratory, Authorized in August 1965, a program which envisioned a series of mini-space stations in low polar Earth orbit. via NASA http://www.nasa.gov/image-feature/robert-lawrence-americas-first-african-american-astronaut