Ella McNair is Promoted to Lieutenant 

The first African-American woman to be promoted to Lieutenant.  Ella McNair is pictured here smiling following her promotion in 2001.  This event was significant not only because it demonstrated progress for women in the FDNY, but also because it demonstrated the same for people of color involved in the academy.  McNair broke the mold of the typical FDNY Lieutenant prior to this event, and the pathway of opportunity for a wider range of people to have access to this sort of promotion began to open. 

Read more about women in the FDNY at LaborArts’ exhibit Women Firefighters in New York City. 

Learn about the latest policy pushes for racial diversity in the FDNY in this article.