The First Firefighter in American History Was a Black Woman — And They Erased Her Molly Williams was an enslaved Black woman who became the first known female firefighter in American history during an 1818 blizzard in New York City. While male firefighters were sick, she pulled a fire engine through deep snow and helped save the city — yet history barely remembers her. This is the story America left out. Molly Williams, first firefighter, Black history untold, Black women in history, forgotten h