Black Sis-tory: Sylvia E. Mathis, first Black female FBI special agent
On February 17, 1976, Sylvia Elizabeth Mathis, 26, was the third Black female recruit to undergo the FBI’s rigorous training but the only one to successfully complete it to become a special agent.
Being Black and female in the white, male dominated FBI of the 1970s posed a challenge for Mathis that would call for grit and determination.
At the time, only 41 agents out of a total of 8,500 in the country were women.
The 14-week training at the FBI Academy— located on a sprawling 547-acre campus in Quantico, VA--required mastery of core law enforcement skills, investigative techniques, physical fitness, firearms, forensic science, and counterterrorism.
Her six-week report noted that “… although she had some ‘difficulty in the gym and on the range,’ she was working hard. Academically, she was performing well … and her instructors were confident in her … ultimate success as an agent.”
Before the FBI
Not much is known about Mathis’s family or upbringing, except that she was born July 7, 1949.
The University of North Carolina (UNC) library’s “History on the Hill” page reports that, “Accounts vary as to whether Mathis was a Florida or North Carolina native, but while the family may have had Durham connections, Jacksonville was where her parents had called home for many years, and Sylvia had attended Bishop Kenny High School in the city.”
Mathis attended Fisk University for one year before entering New York University in 1969, where she earned a bachelor’s degree in political science. In 1975, she graduated from UNC’s School of Law; soon thereafter, she passed the North Carolina Bar.
After law school, she remained in North Carolina and worked for the Department of Cultural Resources.
At the FBI
In the October 19, 1976, issue of the Virginian Pilot newspaper, Mathis explained, “…I am interested in delving into the relation of defending of rights and enforcement of rights. Going into the FBI seemed like a natural step.”
On June 2, 1976, Mathis received her badge (No. 2658) and credentials, a leather attaché case, and a Smith & Wesson revolver. The day marked the fulfillment of her dream—once encouraged by her dean at New York University’s law school---to become the first Black female FBI agent.
Mathis’s first assignment was with the New York Field Office where she joined the organized crime squad and investigated illegal gambling and extortion cases, often working undercover.
She also interviewed survivors of the 1978 Jonestown Massacre in Jonestown, Guyana.
Leaving the FBI
In 1980, Mathis left the FBI to work as an attorney in New York for a few years before returning to Jacksonville, Florida to be with family. Later, she served as director of the city’s Downtown Ecumenical Services Council, which provided emergency assistance to those in need.
Tragically, at age 34, Mathis’s extraordinary life ended in a car accident in October 1983.
Shortly before her death, the Jacksonville newspaper, The Metropolis, named her “Ms. Metro.” A volunteer who had worked with Mathis said, “She is a very caring person and has given a lot of her time to those who need help.”
In a 1984 letter sent to the university publication, University Report, law school professor James B. Craven III praised Mathis as a “rare and unforgettable” student, that he “was always proud of … and (missed)…”
2025 Wista Johnson (Reprint by permission only.) Photo courtesy: Wikimedia Commons