Quinta Brunson makes comedy Emmy history with ‘Abbott Elementary’

Explore Our Galleries

A man stands in front of the Djingareyber mosque on February 4, 2016 in Timbuktu, central Mali.
Mali's fabled city of Timbuktu on February 4 celebrated the recovery of its historic mausoleums, destroyed during an Islamist takeover of northern Mali in 2012 and rebuilt thanks to UN cultural agency UNESCO.
TO GO WITH AFP STORY BY SEBASTIEN RIEUSSEC / AFP / SÉBASTIEN RIEUSSEC

African Peoples Before Captivity

Shackles from Slave Ship Henrietta Marie

Kidnapped: The Middle Passage

Nearly Three Centuries Of Enslavement

Image of the first black members of Congress

Reconstruction: A Brief Glimpse of Freedom

The Lynching of Laura Nelson_May_1911 200x200

One Hundred Years of Jim Crow

I Am Somebody! The Struggle for Justice

NOW: Free At Last?

Memorial to the Victims of Lynching

The Freedom-Lovers’ Roll Call Wall

Frozen custard in Milwaukee's Bronzeville

Special Exhibits

Portraiture of Resistance

Breaking News!

Today's news and culture by Black and other reporters in the Black and mainstream media.

Click Here

Ways to Support ABHM?

Click Here

July 12, 2022

By Variety and Michelle Garcia, NBC News

Brunson, the show’s creator and star, is the first Black woman to earn three nominations in the comedy categories in the same year.

Quinta Brunson as Janine Teagues in “Abbott Elementary.” (Ser Baffo / ABC)

Quinta Brunson has made Emmy history with “Abbott Elementary.”

Landing three nominations for outstanding comedy series, lead actress in a comedy and writing for a comedy series (for the “Pilot”), she is the first Black woman to earn three nominations in the comedy categories in the same year. At 32, Brunson is also the youngest Black woman ever nominated in the comedy acting category.

Brunson tweeted she was “still speechless” after hearing about the nominations and congratulated the rest of the cast and crew of the show Tuesday morning.

In the ABC sitcom set in Brunson’s hometown of Philadelphia, the actress plays Janine Teagues, a hopeful and determined elementary school teacher in a beleaguered, underfunded school.

Discover the show’s other nominations.

Check out Abbott Elementary, the show that America was waiting for, on Hulu.

We talk about other achievements by Black creators in our breaking news archive.

Comments Are Welcome

Note: We moderate submissions in order to create a space for meaningful dialogue, a space where museum visitors – adults and youth –– can exchange informed, thoughtful, and relevant comments that add value to our exhibits.

Racial slurs, personal attacks, obscenity, profanity, and SHOUTING do not meet the above standard. Such comments are posted in the exhibit Hateful Speech. Commercial promotions, impersonations, and incoherent comments likewise fail to meet our goals, so will not be posted. Submissions longer than 120 words will be shortened.

See our full Comments Policy here.