Maya Angelou Timeline By mileysmith Apr 4, 1928 Marguerite Ann Johnson was born 1943 She became the first African American woman to work as a streetcar conductor in San Francisco 1944 She graduated from Mission High School 1944 She had her son Clyde Bailey Johnson 1949 She married Tosh Angelos 1959 She joined the Harlem Writers Guild 1969 She published her first book "I Know Where the Caged Birds Sing" 1972 She became the first African American woman to have her screenplay turned into a film 1981 Wake Forest University offered her the Reynolds Professorship of American Studies 2000 President Clinton awarded her the National Medal of Arts 2010 President Obama awarded her the Presidential Medal of Freedom May 28, 2014 Maya Angelou died 2015 The U.S. Postal Service issued a stamp in her legacy