Viola Davis Makes History as First Black Woman to Win Emmy for Outstanding Lead Actress in a Drama Series

Her win—for her performance as Criminal Law professor and defense attorney Annalise Keating on ABC’s How to Get Away with Murder—comes 33 years after Debbie Allen became the first black woman in 1982 to be nominated in the drama lead actress category and just one year after many had hoped that Kerry Washington would win for her turn as Olivia Pope on ABC’s Scandal.