prepared under the direction of

The Committee on House Administration of the

U.S. House of Representatives

R obert A. Brady, chairman

Vernon J. Ehlers, Ranking minority Member

Langston, John Mercer. From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol

(Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company, 1894)

on the cover:

One of the preeminent African-American politicians of the 19th century, John Mercer Langston of Virginia was the only black Member 

of Congress to serve in elected office both before and after the Civil War. Langston’s career as a proponent of civil rights, which spanned 

nearly five decades, was capped by his service in the U.S. House (1890–1891).

F r oa s el t e hS y be pir t n e ue dt nf oD n c om u e t n S .G U e v r. e m , s ot nP i tn O nir eciff g n

I t nre e n :t t sr o e kooP b e n : vog l o l f o h eer t ( . o ) 6 - 2 p g 6 8; 0 1 5 .D C 0 8 a ( 1 aer ) 2 - 0 2 215 008 1

aF : x( ) 2 - 20 21 5 a M:li I 4012 p oW t S i h,CCD t gn o s aD Cn , - 20402 100 0

ISBN 978-0-16-080194-5

9 780160 8 01945

90000

Office of the Clerk

ISBN 978-0-16-080194-5

United States House of Representatives

Black Americans in Congress 1870–2007

The arrival of Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi and Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina on Capitol Hill in 1870 ranks among 

the great paradoxes in American history; just a decade earlier, these African Americans’ congressional seats were held by southern slave owners. 

Moreover, the U.S. Capitol, where these newest Members of Congress came to work—the center of legislative government, conceived by its 

creators as the “Temple of Liberty”—had been constructed with the help of enslaved laborers. From this beginning, Black Americans in Congress, 

1870–2007 chronicles African Americans’ participation in the federal legislature and their struggle to attain full civil rights. 

Black Americans in Congress

1870–2007 United States House of Representatives
Prepared under the direction of

The Committee on House Administration of the

U.S. House of Representatives

Robert A. Brady, Chairman

Vernon J. Ehlers, Ranking Minority Member

By the

Office of History and Preservation

Office of the Clerk

U.S. House of Representatives

Black Americans in Congress

1870–2007

u.s. government printing office, washington, dc, 2008
 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007 / prepared under the direction of the Committee on 

House Administration of the U.S. House of Representatives, by the Office of History and 

Preservation, Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.

 p. cm.

 Includes bibliographical references and index.

1. African American legislators--Biography. 2. United States. Congress--Biography. I. 

United States. Congress. House. Committee on House Administration. II. United States.

Congress. House. Office of History and Preservation. 

 E185.96.B526 2008

 328.73092’396073--dc22

 2008010047

107th Congress

H. Con. Res. 43

House Document 108-224

U.S. Government Printing Office

Washington, DC: 2008

For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office

Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800

Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001

ISBN 978-0-16-080194-5

On the Cover 

One of the preeminent African-American politicians of the 19th century, John Mercer Langston of Virginia was the only black 

Member of Congress to serve in elected office both before and after the Civil War. Langston’s career as a proponent of civil rights, 

which spanned nearly five decades, was capped by his service in the U.S. House (1890–1891).

Langston, John Mercer. From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol

(Hartford, CT: American Publishing Company, 1894)
III

HOUSE CONCURRENT RESOLUTION NO. 43

ONE HUNDRED SEVENTH CONGRESS, FIRST SESSION

SUBMITTED BY THE HONORABLE STENY A. HOYER

Resolved by the House of Representatives (the Senate concurring),

SECTION 1. PRINTING OF REVISED VERSION OF ‘‘BLACK AMERICANS IN 

CONGRESS, 1870–1989’’. An updated version of House Document 101–117, entitled ‘‘Black Americans 

in Congress, 1870–1989’’ (as revised by the Library of Congress), shall be printed as a House document by 

the Public Printer, with illustrations and suitable binding, under the direction of the Committee on House 

Administration of the House of Representatives.

SECTION 2. NUMBER OF COPIES. In addition to the usual number, there shall be printed 

30,700 copies of the document referred to in section 1, of which—(1) 25,000 shall be for the use of the 

Committee on House Administration of the House of Representatives; and (2) 5,700 shall be for the use 

of the Committee on Rules and Administration of the Senate.

Approved by the House March 21, 2001

Approved by the Senate April 6, 2001
IV
V

COMPILED AND EDITED UNDER THE DIRECTION

OF THE

COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION OF THE

U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

ROBERT A. BRADY of Pennsylvania, Chairman

VERNON J. EHLERS of Michigan, Ranking Member

ZOE LOFGREN of California

MICHAEL E. CAPUANO of Massachusetts

CHARLES A. GONZALEZ of Texas 

SUSAN A. DAVIS of California

ARTUR DAVIS of Alabama

DANIEL E. LUNGREN of California

KEVIN MCCARTHY of California

LORRAINE C. MILLER, Clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives

OFFICE OF HISTORY AND PRESERVATION,

OFFICE OF THE CLERK OF THE U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

MATTHEW A. WASNIEWSKI, Historian and Editor-in-Chief 

ERIN MARIE-LLOYD HROMADA, Writer and Researcher

KATHLEEN JOHNSON, Writer and Researcher

TERRANCE RUCKER, Writer and Researcher

LAURA K. TURNER, Writer and Researcher

Contents

INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

PART I: FORMER BLACK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

Chapter I: “The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood”: The Symbolic Generation 

of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17

Chapter II: “The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell”: Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African 

Americans from Congress, 1887–1929. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Chapter III: Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 . . . . . . . . . 234

Chapter IV: Permanent Interests: The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence 

of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368

PART II: CURRENT BLACK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 669

APPENDICES 

Appendix A: First-Term Black-American Members of the 110th Congress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 748

Appendix B: Black-American Representatives and Senators by Congress, 

1870–2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .751

Appendix C: Black-American Representatives and Senators by State and Territory. . . . . . . . . . 766

Appendix D: Black-American Members’ Committee Assignments (Standing, Joint, Select) 

in the U.S. House and Senate, 1870–2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 769

Appendix E: Black Americans Who Have Chaired Congressional Committees, 

1877–2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 780

Appendix F: Black-American Chairs of Subcommittees of Standing Committees 

in the U.S. House and Senate, 1885–2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 782

Appendix G: Black Americans in Party Leadership Positions, 1977–2007. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 787

Appendix H: Black-American Familial Connections in Congress. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 788

Appendix I: Congressional Black Caucus Chairmen and Chairwomen, 1971–2007 . . . . . . . . . . . . 789

Appendix J: Constitutional Amendments and Major Civil Rights Acts of Congress 

Referenced in the Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 790

INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 795

Introduction H 1

Black Americans in Congress

An Introduction

The arrival of Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi and 

Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina on Capitol 

Hill in 1870 ranks among the great paradoxes in American 

history; just a decade earlier, these African Americans’ 

congressional seats were held by southern slave owners. 

Moreover, the U.S. Capitol, where these newest Members 

of Congress came to work—the center of legislative 

government, conceived by its creators as the “Temple of 

Liberty”—had been constructed with the help of enslaved 

laborers.1

 From this beginning, Black Americans in Congress, 

1870–2007 chronicles African Americans’ participation 

in the federal legislature and their struggle to attain full 

civil rights. 

The institution of Congress, and the careers of the 121 

black Members who have served in both its chambers, have 

undergone extensive changes during this span of nearly 

140 years.2

 But while researching and writing this book, we 

encountered several recurring themes that led us to ask the 

following questions: What were black Members’ legislative 

priorities? Which legislative styles did African Americans 

employ to integrate into the institution? How did they 

react to the political culture of Capitol Hill and how did 

they overcome institutional racism? Lastly, how did the 

experiences of these individuals compare to those of other 

newly enfranchised Americans? 

Shared Experiences of Black Americans 

in Congress

In striking aspects, the history of blacks in Congress 

mirrors that of other groups that were new to the political 

system. Throughout African-American history in Congress, 

Members viewed themselves as “surrogate” representatives 

for the black community nationwide rather than just 

within the borders of their individual districts or states.3

George White of North Carolina (1897–1901) and Robert 

Elliott of South Carolina (1871–1874) first embodied 

these roles, serving as models for 20th-century black 

Members such as Oscar De Priest of Illinois (1929–1935), 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York (1945–1971), and 

Shirley Chisholm of New York (1969–1983). Surrogate 

representation was not limited to black Members of 

Congress; nearly half a century after blacks entered 

Congress, woman Members, too, grappled with the added 

burdens of surrogate representation. In 1917, women 

throughout the country looked to the first woman to serve 

in Congress, Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana, 

for legislative support. Indeed, Rankin received so many 

letters she was forced to hire additional secretaries to handle 

the workload .

4

Twentieth-century African-American pioneers’ 

experience was similar in some respects to that of women.5

Known and admired by blacks nationally, Representative 

De Priest and those who followed him were often sought out 

by individuals across the country, many of whom expected 

unfailing receptiveness to the long-neglected needs of the 

black community. In late 1934, the Atlanta Daily World

memorialized De Priest, who lost re-election in his Chicagocentered district to Arthur W. Mitchell (1935–1943), the 

first black Democrat to serve in Congress. De Priest, the 

editors wrote, lifted his “voice in defense of those forgotten 

people he represented” in Chicago and nationally. Lionizing 

De Priest as a “gallant statesman and fearless defender” 

An 1867 Harper’s Weekly cover commemorates the first vote cast by African-American men. The passage and ratification of the Reconstruction Amendments (13th, 

14th, and 15th) between 1865 and 1870 catapulted former slaves from chattel to voters and candidates for public office.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Introduction H 1
common on Capitol Hill, but took on an added dimension 

in their mission to confront institutional racism and 

represent the interests of the larger black community. 

Some, such as Representatives Chisholm and Powell, 

became symbols for African-American civil rights by 

adopting the “show horse” style; circumventing prescribed 

congressional channels, they appealed directly to the public 

and media. Others pursued an institutionalist, “work horse” 

strategy; adhering to the prevailing traditions and workways 

of the House and Senate, they hoped to shape policies by 

attaining positions of influence on the inside.8

Representative William Levi Dawson of Illinois (1943–

1970), Powell’s contemporary, and others like him, such as 

Augustus (Gus) Hawkins of California (1963–1991) and 

William H. (Bill) Gray III of Pennsylvania (1979–1991), 

favored the methodical “work horse” legislative style, 

diligently immersing themselves in committee work and 

policy minutiae.9

Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007 follows the 

contours of this tumultuous, and ultimately triumphant, 

history. The first section of this volume encompasses 

the careers of former Members who served from 1870 

through 2007. Seventy-nine individuals, grouped into 

four distinct chapters, or generations (described in the 

following sections), are profiled in chronological order. Each 

generation of Members is accompanied by a contextual 

of blacks in the North and South, the editors expressed 

frustration with Mitchell, who explicitly noted during a 

speech to an Atlanta church congregation that he did not 

intend to represent “black interests” per se. Mitchell, the 

editors noted, “dashed the hopes of every Negro who sat 

within hearing of his voice, most of whom looked to him as 

their personal representative in the federal government.”6

Collectively, African Americans in Congress overcame 

barriers by persevering through three eras of participation 

that can be classified as pioneering (1870–1901), 

apprenticeship (1929–1970), and mature integration 

(1971–2007).7

 These stages were typical of those 

experienced by other minority groups, such as women, that 

integrated into the established political system. However, 

Black Americans were distinct from other groups because 

they experienced a prolonged period of contraction, 

decline, and exclusion that resulted from segregation and 

disfranchisement. After winning the right to participate 

in the American experiment of self-government, African 

Americans were systematically and ruthlessly excluded 

from it: From 1901 to 1929, there were no blacks in the 

federal legislature.

While seeking to advance within Congress and adapt to 

its folkways, each generation of black Members was 

challenged by racial prejudice, both overt and subtle; 

exclusion; marginalization; and, because they were so rare, 

an inability to organize that lasted for many decades. Black 

Members of Congress also contended with increased 

expectations from the public and heightened scrutiny by the 

media. They cultivated legislative strategies that were 

Under the leadership of Chairman Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, 

the Committee on Education and Labor approved more than 50 measures 

authorizing increases in federal educational programs. Fellow committee 

members referred to Powell’s leadership as the most productive period in thenrecent committee history. 

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

As the first black politician from west of the Mississippi River elected to the 

House, Augustus (Gus) Hawkins of California earned the nickname “Silent 

Warrior” for his persistent work on behalf of minorities and the urban poor. 

Image courtesy of the National Archives 

and Records Administration 

2 H Black Americans in Congress 
embodied black legislative interests, depended solely on the 

impermanent support of the shifting but uniformly white 

House leadership. Black Members of Congress often were 

relegated to the sidelines and to offering testimonials 

about the malfeasance of racially conservative southerners 

against freedmen.

After Reconstruction formally ended in 1877, exConfederates and their Democratic allies wrested power 

from Republican-controlled state governments and, through 

law and custom, gradually built a segregated society during 

the next several decades, effectively eliminating Black 

Americans from public office and ending their political 

participation. As the next group of African-American 

Members discovered, the federal government reacted 

impassively to blacks’ disfranchisement by the states.

“The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell,” 

1887–1929

This era was defined by a long war on African-American 

participation in state and federal politics, waged by 

means of local southern laws, Jim Crow segregation, and 

tacit federal assent. Between 1887 and 1901, just five 

essay on the congressional history and U.S. social history 

that shaped its Members’ careers. The second section of this 

book includes profiles of the 38 black incumbent Members 

who have served two or more terms. The black freshman 

Members of the 110th Congress (2007–2009) are profiled 

in Appendix A using a résumé format. 

The Symbolic Generation, 1870–1887

This group of 17 black Congressmen symbolized 

the triumph of the Union and the determination of 

Radical Republicans to enact reforms that temporarily 

reshaped the political landscape in the South during 

Reconstruction. These pioneers were all Republicans 

elected from southern states. Though their educational, 

professional, and social backgrounds were diverse, 

they were all indelibly shaped by the institution of 

slavery. Eight were enslaved, and their experience under 

slavery disrupted their early lives. Others, as members 

of strictly circumscribed southern mulatto, or mixedrace, communities and free black classes, were relatively 

well-to-do. However, mulatto heritage was a precarious 

political inheritance; mixed-race Members of Congress 

were shunned by southern whites and were never fully 

trusted by freedmen, who often doubted they had 

blacks’ interests at heart.

Though these black Members adopted various 

legislative strategies, each sought to improve the lives 

of their African-American constituents. Their agendas 

invariably included three primary goals: providing 

education, enforcing political rights, and extending 

opportunities to enable economic independence. 

“Place all citizens upon one broad platform. . . .,” 

declared Richard Cain of South Carolina (1877–1879) 

on the House Floor. “All we ask of this country is to put 

no barriers between us, to lay no stumbling blocks in 

our way; to give us freedom to accomplish our destiny.”10

Despite their distinguished service and their symbolic 

value for African-American political aspirations, these 

black Members produced few substantive legislative 

results. They never accounted for more than 2 percent of 

the total congressional membership. Their exclusion from 

the internal power structure of the institution cut them 

off from influential committee assignments and at times 

prevented them even from speaking on the House Floor, 

leaving them little room to maneuver. Most of the key civil 

rights bills and constitutional amendments were enacted 

before a single African American served in Congress. The 

Ku Klux Klan Acts and the Civil Rights Act of 1875, which 

On February 27, 1869, John Willis Menard of Louisiana became the first African 

American to address the U.S. House while it was in session, defending his seat in a 

contested election. In November 1868, Menard appeared to have won a special election 

to succeed the late Representative James Mann—a victory that would have made him the 

first African American to serve in Congress. But his opponent, Caleb Hunt, challenged 

Menard’s right to be seated. The House deemed neither candidate qualified, leaving the 

seat vacant for the remainder of the final days of the 40th Congress (1867–1869).

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Introduction H 3
unoffending American citizens,” said Representative George 

W. Murray of South Carolina (1893–1895; 1896–1897). 

“I declare that no class of people has ever been more 

misrepresented, slandered, and traduced than the black 

people of the South.”12

Though Black Americans were excluded from Congress 

after 1901, larger social and historical forces portended 

future political opportunities for African Americans in the 

northern United States. Southern black political activism 

transferred northward changing the social and cultural 

dynamic of established black communities in northern 

cities, as rural, agrarian African Americans were lured to 

industrialized cities by jobs and greater political freedoms. 

Advocacy groups such as the National Association for 

the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), founded 

during this era, lobbied Congress on issues that were 

important to the black community. Geographical relocation 

also contributed to the gradual realignment of African 

Americans from the Republican Party to the ranks of 

northern Democrats during the mid-20th century.

Without a single black Member to advocate black 

interests, both major political parties in Congress refused 

blacks served in Congress. Black Members of Congress 

encountered an institution that was often inhospitable to 

their very presence and their legislative goals. With their 

middling to lower-tier committee assignments and few 

connections to the leadership, they were far from the center 

of power.11 Moreover, black Members of Congress were so 

rare that they were incapable of driving a legislative agenda. 

Over the years, electing African Americans to Congress 

grew more difficult. Obstacles included violence, 

intimidation, and fraud by white supremacists; state and 

local disfranchisement laws that denied increasing numbers 

of blacks the right to vote; and contested election challenges 

in Congress. Moreover, the legislative focus shifted from the 

idealism of the postwar Radical Republicans to the business 

interests of a rapidly industrializing nation. Ambivalence 

toward protecting black civil rights bolstered southern racial 

conservatives, who sought to roll back the protections that 

were extended to African Americans during Reconstruction. 

“I beg all true men to forget party and partisanship and 

right the great wrongs perpetrated upon humble and 

A U.S. Senator encounters a hanging anti-lynching bill outside the Capitol 

in this Edmund Duffy cartoon. The Senate’s unique parliamentary procedures 

allowed southern Democrats to kill civil rights and anti-lynching legislation, 

allowing the upper chamber to act as a bottleneck for measures seeking to 

overthrow Jim Crow until the mid-20th century.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

On April 10, 1934, Illinois Representative Oscar De Priest addressed 

a group of supporters at the Paul Laurence Dunbar Junior High in Dayton, 

Ohio. The three-term Member broke racial barriers when he became the 

first African American elected to Congress in nearly three decades. De Priest 

served as a symbol of hope for African Americans and spoke at venues across 

the nation.

Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

4 H Black Americans in Congress 
Americans from all walks of life formed the core of the 

movement, but outside advocacy groups such as the 

NAACP, and black Members of Congress, also played an 

important role. 

While the SCLC, the NAACP, and black Members of 

Congress shared the same goals, they often diverged over 

tactics. Some black Members made substantive legislative 

achievements. For example, Representative Powell crafted 

an amendment banning discrimination in federal contracts 

that was incorporated in the landmark Civil Rights Act of 

1964. Other black Members, who preferred to work within 

the institution of Congress to effect change, or who placed 

party imperatives ahead of black interests, were chided 

by civil rights advocates for insufficient commitment.16

Perhaps the greatest consequence of the civil rights 

movement for black Members was its decisive effect on 

the early political development of many who entered the 

institution after 1970.

Throughout this period, African Americans constituted 

a small percentage of Congress. Even in the 91st Congress 

(1969–1971), with a record high 11 black Members, 

African Americans accounted for just 2 percent of the 

combined membership of the House and the Senate. But 

change was underway. Within a decade, the number of 

to enact legislation to improve conditions for African 

Americans. Except for a few stalwart reformers, Congress 

responded to civil rights measures with ambivalence or 

outright hostility. During this era, too, a corps of southern 

racial conservatives was positioned, by virtue of their 

seniority, to hold a strong grip on the levers of power when 

Democrats gained control of the chamber in 1931.

Keeping the Faith: African Americans

Return to Congress, 1929–1970

In 1929, African Americans’ long exile from Congress 

ended when Oscar De Priest entered the House. All 13 

African Americans elected during this era represented 

northern constituencies, all (except Senator Edward W. 

Brooke of Massachusetts, 1967–1979) were 

elected from majority-black, urban districts, 

and all except De Priest and Brooke were 

Democrats. By promising fuller participation 

in American society, the New Deal reactivated 

black political participation and brought 

greater numbers of African Americans into 

the Democratic Party.13 World War II also 

rekindled African-American political activism, 

and black contributions to the war effort helped 

pave the way for the civil rights movement.

Black Members of Congress embarked 

on a long institutional apprenticeship in the 

1940s, 1950s, and 1960s, attaining moredesirable committee assignments and accruing 

the requisite seniority to gain leadership 

positions.14 Their apprenticeship coincided with 

the blossoming of the civil rights movement 

on the streets of the South.15 Although Martin 

Luther King, Jr., and his Southern Christian 

Leadership Conference (SCLC) spearheaded 

the nonviolent protest movement, everyday 

Propelled by the Congressional Black Caucus, African-American Members of Congress steadily 

gained seniority and power in the House of Representatives. In this late 1970s picture from left to 

right (standing) are: Louis Stokes of Ohio, Parren Mitchell of Maryland, Charles Rangel of New 

York, Andrew Young, Jr., of Georgia, Charles Diggs, Jr., of Michigan, Ralph Metcalfe of Illinois, 

Robert Nix, Sr., of Pennsylvania, Walter Fauntroy of the District of Columbia, Harold Ford, Sr., 

of Tennessee; seated from left to right: Cardiss Collins of Illinois, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 

of California, and Shirley Chisholm of New York.

Image courtesy of Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

The third consecutive African American to serve from a South Chicago 

district, Representative William Dawson of Illinois participated 

in an NAACP annual meeting held at the Union Baptist Church 

in Baltimore, Maryland.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Introduction H 5
one-third and Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois (1993–1999) 

was elected as the first black woman and the first AfricanAmerican Democrat to serve in the 

U.S. Senate.

With the ranks of African 

Americans growing in Congress, 

the time for formal organization 

and coordination of black efforts 

had arrived. In early 1971, 13 

African-American Members of 

Congress led by Charles C. Diggs, Jr., of Michigan (1955–

1980), formed the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) 

to address “permanent interests” that were important to 

Black Americans, to advance black Members within the 

institution, and to push legislation, sometimes with potent 

results. Among the CBC’s notable legislative achievements 

were the passage of the Humphrey–Hawkins Act of 1978 

to promote full employment and a balanced budget, the 

creation in 1983 of a federal holiday commemorating the 

birthday of Martin Luther King, Jr., and legislation in 

1986 that imposed the first sanctions against South Africa’s 

all-white government for its practice of apartheid. Within 

Congress, the CBC used its influence as a growing unit 

within the Democratic Caucus to push party leaders to 

appoint blacks to better committees and more leadership 

positions. “Blacks never could rely on somebody in 

Congress to speak out on racial 

questions; they can with the 

caucus,” declared Representative 

Louis Stokes of Ohio (1969–

1999), a cofounder of the CBC.

17

During this era, AfricanAmerican Members of 

Congress entered a mature 

phase of institutional development. This generation had 

more experience in elective office, particularly in state 

legislatures. In Congress, blacks held positions on a 

full cross-section of panels, including the most coveted 

committees, such as Appropriations, Ways and Means, and 

Rules. In doing so, they were involved in legislative issues 

that affected every facet of American life. Representing 

African Americans in Congress doubled. As their numbers 

increased, their momentum for organizing strengthened.

Permanent Interests: The Expansion, 

Organization, and Rising Influence of

African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 

This post–civil rights movement generation of lawmakers 

created a legislative groundswell on Capitol Hill. Civil 

rights acts of the 1960s and court-ordered redistricting 

opened new avenues of political participation for millions 

of African Americans. Consequently, many more blacks 

were elected to political office, and even to Congress. 

Eighty-six of the 121 African Americans who have served 

in congressional history—more than 70 percent—were 

seated in Congress after 1970. Many of these Members were 

elected from southern states that had not been represented 

by blacks in seven decades or more, for example, 

Representative Andrew Young of Georgia (1973–1977), 

Barbara Jordan of Texas (1973–1979), and Harold Ford, 

Sr., of Tennessee (1975–1997). During the 1992 elections 

alone the total black membership in Congress grew by 

Despite the predictions of Jet magazine and other news media, Shirley 

Chisholm of New York became the first African-American Congresswoman 

in 1969. Yvonne Brathwaite Burke of California eventually entered the 

House of Representatives in January 1973. 

Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

Top: Andrew Young of Georgia won election to the U.S. House in 1973, 

becoming one of the first African Americans to represent a southern state 

since Reconstruction.

Bottom: North Carolina Representative Eva Clayton became the first 

African-American woman to represent the state as well as the state’s first 

black Representative since George Henry White left office in 1901. 

Collection of U.S. House of Representatives 

6 H Black Americans in Congress 
Congress, made their Black constituents feel that they were 

more than bystanders—they were participants, however 

vicariously, in the political process.”19

The second edition of Black Americans in Congress, 

1870–1989 (H. Con Res. 170, H. Doc. No. 101-117) 

was authorized by the House and the Senate in the fall 

of 1989 and was published in 1990. By that point, 66 

African Americans (63 Representatives and three Senators) 

had served in Congress. The volume was dedicated to 

the memory of Representative George Thomas (Mickey) 

Leland of Texas (1979–1989) who was killed, as the book 

went to press, in a plane crash while delivering food to 

starving Ethiopians. Representative Ronald V. Dellums of 

California (1971–1998), then the chairman of the CBC, 

contributed a brief introduction for the volume: “For 

Black Americans the promise of republican government 

and democratic participation was delayed well beyond the 

founding of the federal government in 1789.” Dellums also 

observed, “In this bicentennial year of Congress and the 

federal government, it is important to recognize that the 

Constitution we enjoy today evolved over a number of years 

districts that overall were electorally safe, many AfricanAmerican Members enjoyed long careers that allowed 

them to accrue the seniority they needed to move into 

leadership positions. Fourteen black Members chaired 

congressional committees between 1971 and the end of 

the first session of the 110th Congress (2007–2009).18 And 

for the first time, black Members rose into the ranks of 

party leadership, including: Bill Gray, Democratic Majority 

Whip (1989–1991); J. C. Watts of Oklahoma, Republican 

Conference Chairman (1999–2003); and James Clyburn 

of South Carolina, Democratic Majority Whip (elected 

in 2007). 

Nevertheless, African-American Members continued 

to face new challenges. By the end of the first session of 

the 110th Congress, the 41 black Representatives and one 

black Senator represented constituencies whose unique 

geography and special interests expanded their legislative 

agendas. Additionally, gender diversity also shaped the bloc 

of black Members of Congress. After Shirley Chisholm was 

first elected in 1968, another 25 African-American women 

were elected to Congress—making them a uniquely 

influential component of the story of blacks in Congress. 

Finally, although leadership positions afforded African 

Americans a more powerful institutional voice and greater 

legislative leverage, they exposed latent conflicts between 

party imperatives and perceived black interests.

The Historiography of Black Americans 

in Congress

The present volume originated with the first edition 

of Black Americans in Congress (H. Con. Res. 182, House 

Document No. 95–258, 95th Congress, 3 November 

1977), which was compiled and published shortly after 

the U.S. bicentennial. Organized by Representative 

Corinne (Lindy) Boggs of Louisiana and Senator 

Brooke, the booklet featured the 45 African Americans 

who had served in Congress (42 Representatives and 

three Senators). A résumé-style format included basic 

biographical information, congressional service dates, party 

affiliation, committee assignments, and information about 

Members’ other political offices. Entries were arranged 

chronologically, with one section for Senators and another 

for Representatives. A thumbnail image accompanied each 

profile. In a brief introduction, the renowned AfricanAmerican historian Benjamin Quarles of Morgan State 

University wrote that black Members on Capitol Hill were 

“living proof that Blacks could produce an able leadership 

of their own. Moreover, their presence in the halls of 

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland of Texas poured his energy into raising 

awareness of hunger and poverty in the United States and around the 

world. In 1984, Leland successfully persuaded the House to create the Select 

Committee on Hunger, which he chaired.

Image courtesy of the National Archives 

and Records Administration 

Introduction H 7
of History and Preservation (OHP) was created under 

the Clerk of the House, and OHP staff began work on 

this publication.

This volume reflects the far-reaching changes that have 

occurred since the second edition of the book. When the 

1990 edition was published during the 101st Congress 

(1989–1991), 25 black Members served in the House. 

There were no African-American Senators. But within less 

than two decades there were a number of unprecedented 

developments. In 1992 alone, 17 new blacks were elected 

to Congress, the most ever in any single election and more 

than in any previous decade in congressional history. From 

1991 through the end of 2007, 55 African Americans were 

elected to Congress—roughly 45 percent of all the blacks 

who have served in the history of the institution. By the 

closing of the first session of the 110th Congress, there were 

42 African Americans in Congress (41 in the House and one 

in the Senate). 

Moreover, the appreciable gender gap between male and 

female African-American Members of Congress narrowed 

during this period. Before 1991, just five black women 

had been elected to Congress. But in 1992 alone, five new 

women were elected. Between 1991 and the end of 2007, 

20 African-American women were elected to Congress (36 

percent of all blacks elected to Congress in that period). 

The structure, scope, and content of this edition of Black 

Americans in Congress reflect the dramatic growth, changing 

characteristics, and increasing influence of African-American 

Members. Like the first edition, this volume is organized 

chronologically, to represent more accurately the effects of 

historical trends on blacks’ entry into Congress. In contrast 

to the Members’ profiles in both of the previous editions 

of Black Americans in Congress, the profiles in this edition 

have been expanded, with more emphasis on elections 

and congressional service. Additionally, the political and 

institutional developments affecting African Americans’ 

participation in Congress are analyzed in contextual essays. 

Appendices include committee assignments, leadership 

positions (committee, subcommittee, and elected party 

posts), familial connections in Congress, CBC chairs, 

and major civil rights acts since 1863. Charts and graphs 

illustrate historical statistics and trends. Photographs of each 

Member are also included, as well as an index. 

Throughout this book, we use the terms “black” and 

“African American” interchangeably. The title of this volume, 

Black Americans in Congress, was specified in the print 

resolution and follows the first two editions of this book. 

However, since the last edition of this book was published 

and did not protect the civil rights of Black Americans until 

after a Civil War and passage of significant amendments.”20

Created partly to commemorate the bicentennial of 

Congress in 1989, the volume contained 500- to 1,000- 

word profiles of Members, with basic biographical 

information. Suggestions for further reading were provided 

at the end of each profile. Profiles of former and current 

Members, arranged alphabetically, were merged into one 

section and accompanied by larger pictures.

The Present Edition

In the spring of 2001, House Concurrent Resolution 43 

was introduced. The resolution, which passed the House 

on March 21, 2001, and was agreed to by the Senate 

on April 6, 2001, authorized the Library of Congress 

to compile “an updated version” of Black Americans in 

Congress, 1870–1989. In late 2001, the Library of Congress 

transferred the project to the Office of the Clerk of the 

U.S. House of Representatives. Subsequently, the Office 

Abolitionist Frederick Douglass anchors an 1883 chromolithograph 

of “distinguished colored men.” Among those featured are Representatives 

Robert Elliott and Joseph Rainey of South Carolina, John Langston 

of Virginia, and Senator Blanche Bruce of Mississippi. The image also 

includes Henry Highland Garnet, minister at Washington’s Fifteenth Street 

Presbyterian Church. He became the first African American to speak 

in the House Chamber when he addressed a crowd of Sunday worshippers 

on February 12, 1865.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

8 H Black Americans in Congress 
profiles in Part II are about half as long as those for former 

Members. These profiles are arranged alphabetically, rather 

than chronologically. 

We hope this volume will serve as a starting point 

for students and researchers. Accordingly, bibliographic 

information is provided for former and current Members. 

When applicable, information about manuscript collections 

and other repositories with significant holdings (e.g., the 

transcript of an oral history or extended correspondence) 

is included at the end of each Member’s profile. This 

information was drawn from the House and Senate records 

that were used to compile the Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress at http://bioguide.congress.gov. 

The literature on African-American history, which 

has grown into one of the most dynamic fields in the 

profession, has been created largely since the 1960s. John 

Hope Franklin, the post–World War II dean of black 

history, wrote the textbook From Slavery to Freedom (first 

published in 1947; later editions were written with Alfred 

in 1990, the term “African American” has become more 

commonplace in both academic and general usage. Our 

use of both terms reflects these considerations. 

Part I of Black Americans in Congress contains profiles 

of former black Members, averaging 1,500 words; some 

profiles of Members with longer House and Senate careers 

exceed 2,500 words. Each profile describes the Member’s 

precongressional career and, when possible, contains a 

detailed analysis of the subject’s first campaign for 

congressional office as well as information about re-election 

efforts, committee assignments, leadership, and major 

legislative initiatives, and a brief summary of the Member’s 

postcongressional career. 

Part II contains profiles of current black Members, with 

information on precongressional careers, first House or 

Senate campaigns, committee and leadership positions, 

and legislative achievements. Because these Members’ 

careers are still in progress, comprehensive accounts must 

await a later date. At approximately 750 words each, the 

An illustration in Harper’s Weekly, July 1868, depicts a political meeting of African Americans in the South. Personal campaigns conducted among their neighbors 

in majority-black districts throughout the South propelled 22 black men into the U.S. Congress between 1870 and 1901.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Introduction H 9
a brief generation ago. The civil rights movement of the 

1960s renewed black participation in the political process 

and refocused interest on this long-neglected aspect of 

history. As the field of African-American history has grown, 

a number of political biographies have been published 

on 19th-century black Members of Congress, including 

Revels, Elliott, White, Murray, Robert Smalls of South 

Carolina (1875–1879; 1882–1883; 1884–1887), John 

Mercer Langston of Virginia (1890–1891), and Blanche K. 

Bruce of Mississippi (1875–1881). The lives of major 20thcentury black Members of Congress have been chronicled 

in recent biographies, including Mitchell, Powell, and 

Young. But a number of prominent legislators have yet to 

be studied thoroughly, including 19th-century figures such 

as Rainey and John Roy Lynch of Mississippi (1873–1877; 

1882–1883) and many 20th-century Members, including 

De Priest, Dawson, Diggs, Hawkins, and Jordan. 

Several sources were indispensable starting points in 

the compilation of this book. Inquiries into Members’ 

congressional careers should begin with the Biographical 

Directory of the United States Congress, http://bioguide.

congress.gov. Maintained by the House Office of History 

and Preservation and the Senate Historical Office, this 

publication contains basic biographical information about 

Members, pertinent bibliographic 

references, and information about 

manuscript collections. It is easily 

searchable and updated regularly. 

In the early phase of research, we 

also consulted standard reference 

works such as the American National

Biography, the Dictionary of American 

Biography, the Dictionary of American 

Negro Biography, and Current Biography. We used various 

editions of the Almanac of American Politics (Washington, 

DC: National Journal Inc.) and Politics in America 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press) as a 

starting point in our research involving current Members as 

well as many former Members who served after 1971. 

Much of the information was researched using primary 

sources, particularly published official congressional records 

and scholarly compilations of congressional statistics. 

Following is a summary of the sources consulted for 

information related to congressional elections, committee 

assignments, legislation, votes, floor debates, news accounts, 

and images.

Congressional election results for the biennial elections 

from 1920 onward are available in the Clerk’s “Election 

A. Moss, Jr.); with eight editions in 

half a century, this textbook remains 

an excellent starting point for those 

who wish to appreciate the breadth 

of the African-American historical 

experience. The ample literature 

on black history is far too complex 

for a detailed discussion here. As 

often as possible we have pointed readers, in the endnotes 

of the essays and profiles of this volume, toward standard 

works on various aspects of black history and congressional 

history. However, the following studies proved exceptionally 

important and deserve mention: Eric Foner, Reconstruction: 

America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 (New York: 

Harper and Row, 1988), C. Vann Woodward, The Strange 

Career of Jim Crow (New York: Oxford University Press, 

1974); J. Morgan Kousser, The Shaping of Southern 

Politics: Suffrage Restriction and Establishment of the OneParty South, 1880–1910 (New Haven: Yale University 

Press, 1974); Robert L. Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade 

Against Lynching, 1909–1950 (Philadelphia, PA: Temple 

University Press, 1980); Carol Swain, Black Faces, Black 

Interests: The Representation of African Americans in Congress 

(Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993); and 

Robert L. Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: Racial 

Politics in the U.S. Congress (Thousand Oaks, California: 

Sage, 1998). We also consulted several general texts that 

profile black Members of Congress and major politicians: 

Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New 

York: Thomas Y. Crowell and Company, 1976); Stephen 

Middleton, ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: 

A Documentary Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002); 

and Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black 

Officeholders During Reconstruction, revised edition (Baton 

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996).

Historians now know a great deal more about the lives 

of early African-American politicians than they did even 

Top: Earning a seat in the House of Representatives by special election, 

Robert Nix of Pennsylvania went on to serve there for 21 years. He was 

one of the first blacks elected to Congress during the civil rights era, and 

once commented that he dedicated himself “to ending the oppression 

of black people.” 

Right: A former Olympic track star, Illinois Representative Ralph Metcalfe 

broke ranks with the Chicago political machine to investigate allegations of 

police brutality in the city. Despite the loss of party support from the machine, 

Metcalfe successfully won re-election.“There is only one issue,” Metcalfe 

declared. “The right of black people to choose their own public officials and 

not have them picked from downtown.”

Collection of U.S. House of Representatives 

10 H Black Americans in Congress 
the U.S. Congress, 1947–1992, two volumes (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1994). We also 

consulted the Congressional Directory, a GPO publication 

that dates back into the 19th century. From the 104th 

Congress onward, it is available online at GPO; see http://

www.gpoaccess.gov/cdirectory/index.html.

Legislation, floor debates, roll call votes, bills, 

resolutions, and public laws as far back as the 1980s can 

be searched on the Library of Congress’s THOMAS Web 

site at http://thomas.loc.gov. Two particularly useful print 

resources that discuss historical acts of Congress are: Steven 

V. Stathis’s Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002: Major 

U.S. Acts and Treaties (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Press, 2002) and Brian K. Landsberg, ed., Major 

Acts of Congress, three volumes (New York: Macmillan 

Reference, Thompson–Gale, 2004). Floor debates about 

legislation can be found in the Congressional Record (1873 

to the present), which is available at the THOMAS Web 

site from 1989 to the present; an index of the Record from 

Statistics,” published by the Government Printing Office 

(GPO) and available in PDF/HTML format at http://

clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

Michael J. Dubin et al., United States Congressional 

Elections, 1788–1997 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and 

Company, Publishing, Inc., 1998) contains results for both 

general and special elections. For information on district 

boundaries and reapportionment, we relied on Kenneth 

C. Martis’s The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the 

United States Congress, 1789–1989 (New York: Macmillan 

Publishing Company, 1989) and the three-volume work 

by Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional 

Districts (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986).

Committee assignments and information about 

jurisdiction can be found in two indispensable scholarly 

compilations: David T. Canon, Garrison Nelson, and 

Charles Stewart III, Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789–

1946, four volumes (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Press, 2002) and Garrison Nelson, Committees in 

In 1977, 15 of the Congressional Black Caucus members posed on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, from left to right: (front row) Barbara Jordan of Texas, Robert Nix, 

Sr., of Pennsylvania, Ralph Metcalfe of Illinois, Cardiss Collins of Illinois, Parren Mitchell of Maryland, Gus Hawkins of California, Shirley Chisholm of New 

York; (middle row) John Conyers, Jr., of Michigan, Charles Rangel of New York, Harold Ford, Sr., of Tennessee, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke of California, Walter 

Fauntroy of the District of Columbia; (back row) Ronald Dellums of California, Louis Stokes of Ohio, and Charles C. Diggs, Jr., of Michigan.

Image courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration 

Introduction H 11
1983 to the present is available at http://www.gpoaccess.

gov/cri/index.html. Electronic copies of the Congressional 

Globe (the predecessor to the Congressional Record) are 

available at “A Century of Lawmaking,” part of the Library 

of Congress’s online American Memory Collection. We 

also consulted the official proceedings in the House Journal

and the Senate Journal. For House roll call votes back to 

the second session of the 101st Congress, please visit the 

House History page on the Web site of Clerk of the House 

at http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/index.

html. For Senate roll call votes back to the 1st session of the 

101st Congress, see the following page on the U.S. Senate 

Web site: http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/legislative/a_

three_sections_with_teasers/votes.htm. For print copies 

of the Congressional Directory, the Congressional Record, 

the House Journal, or the Senate Journal, please consult a 

local federal depository library. A GPO locator for federal 

depository libraries is accessible at http://catalog.gpo.gov/

fdlpdir/FDLPdir.jsp. 

Using an online database, we reviewed key newspapers 

for major historical time periods covered in this book, 

including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the 

Los Angeles Times, the Christian Science Monitor, the Wall 

Street Journal, the Chicago Tribune, the Boston Globe, and 

In 1992, Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois became the first black 

woman and the fourth African American to win election to the U.S. Senate. 

Moseley-Braun was one of 17 new African-American Members elected in 

the 1992 campaign. As a result, the Congressional Black Caucus’s numbers 

increased to a significant voting bloc of 40 members.

Image courtesy of the U.S. Senate Historical Office

the Atlanta Constitution. We also consulted old editions 

of African-American newspapers, including the Chicago 

Defender, the Atlanta Daily World, the Pittsburgh Courier

and the New York Amsterdam. News accounts and feature 

stories, particularly for Members who served before 1945, 

helped fill in obscure details. Many of these newspaper 

citations appear in the notes. 

This edition of Black Americans in Congress involved a 

significant amount of photo research. Previous editions 

of this book included only a head-and-shoulders image of 

each Member. Individual picture credits were not included 

in the 1977 edition, though the book contained an 

acknowledgement page. In the 1990 edition, each picture 

was accompanied by a photo credit, but many images were 

credited to Members’ offices that no longer exist or to the 

collection of the House Historian whose office closed in the 

mid-1990s.

Anticipating that some readers might want to acquire 

photo reproductions, we strove to provide accurate 

information for images that are accessible from public, 

private, and commercial repositories. We used the 

following photo collections: Prints and Photographs 

Division of the Library of Congress (Washington, 

DC); the Still Pictures Branch of the National Archives 

and Records Administration (College Park, MD); the 

Moorland–Spingarn Research Center at Howard University 

(Washington, DC); the Scurlock Studio Records, 

Archives Center, National Museum of American History, 

Smithsonian Institution (Washington, DC); the John 

Mercer Langston Collection, Fisk University Franklin 

Library (Nashville, TN); the Dwight D. Eisenhower 

Presidential Library (Abilene, KS); the John F. Kennedy 

Presidential Library (Boston, MA); the Lyndon Baines 

Johnson Presidential Library (Austin, TX); the Philadelphia 

Inquirer archives; the Mike Espy Collection at the 

Congressional and Political Research Center at Mississippi 

State University (Starkville, MS); and the Texas State 

Senate Media Services (Austin, TX). Additionally, some 

images were provided by the Office of the Clerk, U.S. 

House of Representatives; the Collection of the U.S. House 

of Representatives; the U.S. House of Representatives 

Photography Office; the Collection of the U.S. Senate; and 

the U.S. Senate Historical Office. The images of current 

Members were provided by their offices, which are the 

point of contact for persons seeking official images.

12 H Black Americans in Congress 
libraries of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. 

Senate provided timely research assistance.

Lastly, we thank our colleagues in the Office of History 

and Preservation for providing good cheer and unfailing 

help. Farar Elliott, Chief of OHP and House Curator, 

handled the myriad issues involved in producing a volume 

of this size, allowing us to focus on content. House 

Archivist Robin Reeder provided information about 

manuscript collections. Curatorial staff Karen McKinstry 

and Felicia Wivchar vetted captions and credits related to 

artifacts from the House Collection, and proofed galleys. 

Catherine Wallace and Joe Wallace worked with the offices 

of current Members to obtain images. Toni Coverton’s 

masterful administration of correspondence, copyedits, and 

countless other tasks kept everyone on track. With such 

support, writing House history is enjoyable and educational. 

Matthew Wasniewski 

Historian and Editor-in-Chief, 

Office of History and Preservation

Erin Marie-Lloyd Hromada, Kathleen Johnson, 

Terrance Rucker, and Laura K. Turner 

Writers and Researchers, 

Office of History and Preservation

Acknowledgments

Special thanks are due to our colleagues in the field 

of congressional history, whose comments have greatly 

improved this volume. The following individuals graciously 

shared their time and insights: Kenneth Kato of the 

Center for Legislative Archives at the National Archives 

and Records Administration; Historian Richard A. Baker, 

Associate Historian Donald A. Ritchie, and Assistant 

Historian Betty K. Koed of the Senate Historical Office; 

and Donald R. Kennon, chief historian of the U.S. Capitol 

Historical Society. We are also indebted to Professor Alfred 

A. Moss, Jr., of the University of Maryland at College Park, 

whose insights as a co-author of the standard textbook on 

African-American history have improved this book.

We thank the supportive and collegial staff of the 

Office of Clerk of the House of Representatives. Clerk 

of the House Lorraine C. Miller and Deputy Clerk 

Deborah Spriggs provided instrumental support. The 

Office of Publication Services (OPS) in the Office of the 

Clerk designed the print version and the Web version of 

this publication. For their collaboration and enthusiasm, 

we especially thank OPS Chief Janice Wallace-Hamid, 

Webmaster Catherine Cooke, copyeditor Marcie Kanakis, 

and designers David Serota, Angela Rock, Mark Seavey, and 

Lauren Haman. The courteous and professional staff of the 

Introduction H 13
13 Nancy Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: Black Politics in 

the Age of FDR (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 

1983): 227. Black voting loyalty underwent a fundamental shift 

during the 1930s, as voters left the Republican Party and joined 

the Democratic Party, but this development was multidecadal. 

Scholars often point to several milestones to map that movement: 

the promise of the New Deal and the relatively moderate racial 

policies of the Franklin D. Roosevelt administration; President 

Harry S. Truman’s continuation of racial progressivism, embodied 

by the desegregation of the military and the creation of the Civil 

Rights Commission; the appeal of President Truman and northern 

Democrats versus the racially conservative Dixiecrats in 1948; 

Barry Goldwater’s embrace of racial conservatism during the 1964 

presidential campaign; passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act and 

1965 Voting Rights Act; and the trend, beginning in the 1960s and 

extending for several decades, of old-line white southern Democrats 

switching their allegiance to the GOP. See also Michael K. Fauntroy, 

Republicans and the Black Vote (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2007): 

41, 42–55.

14 Office of History and Preservation, Women in Congress, 1917–2006: 

136–153, 324–343; Irwin Gertzog, Congressional Women: Their 

Recruitment, Integration, and Behavior, 2nd edition (Westport, CT: 

Praeger, 1995): 254–257.

15 For more on this complex subject, see Taylor Branch’s landmark 

three-volume history, which uses Martin Luther King, Jr., as a lens 

for viewing the movement and its many factions: Parting the Waters: 

America in the King Years, 1954–63 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 

1988); Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963–65 (New York: 

Simon and Schuster, 1998); At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King 

Years, 1965–68 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006).

16 Even Powell, who did not shy from publicly confronting racism, 

had a strained relationship with the movement. According to his 

chief biographer, the charismatic Harlem Representative viewed civil 

rights leaders outside Congress as competition for the mantle he had 

grown accustomed to wearing as the leading spokesperson for black 

civil rights. See Charles V. Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: The 

Political Biography of an American Dilemma (New York: Cooper 

Square Press, 1991): 283–284; see also Branch, Pillar of Fire: 45–46, 

95–96.

17 Quoted in Robert Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: Racial 

Politics in the U.S. Congress, (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 

1998): 105.

18 See Appendix E, Black Americans Who Have Chaired 

Congressional Committees, 1877–2007.

19 Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1977 (Washington, DC: 

Government Printing Office, 1977).

20 Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1989, Office of the Historian, 

U.S. House of Representatives, Bruce A. Ragsdale and Joel 

D. Treese, eds. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 

1990): 1.

Notes

1 See William C. Allen with a foreword by Richard Baker and 

Kenneth Kato, History of Slave Laborers in the Construction of the 

United States Capitol (Washington, DC: Architect of the Capitol, 

2005), a report commissioned by the U.S. House of Representatives 

and the U.S. Senate Slave Labor Task Force. Available at http://

clerk.house.gov/art_history/art_artifacts/slave_labor_reportl.pdf 

(accessed 28 February 2008). For a detailed analysis of Congress’s 

management and, often, avoidance of central questions related to 

the practice of slavery from 1789 to 1860, see Don E. Fehrenbacher, 

The Slaveholding Republic: An Account of the United States 

Government’s Relations to Slavery (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 2001).

2 The closing date for this volume was December 31, 2007.

3 Jane Mansbridge, “Should Blacks Represent Blacks and Women 

Represent Women? A Contingent ‘Yes,’” Journal of Politics 61 

(1999): 628–657. See also Carol Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 

The Representation of African Americans in Congress (Cambridge, 

MA: Harvard University Press, 1993): 3–19. 

4 Office of History and Preservation, U.S. House of Representatives, 

Women in Congress, 1917–2006 (Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, 2007): 26.

5 Charlayne Hunter, “Shirley Chisholm: Willing to Speak Out,” 22 

May 1970, New York Times: 31. For additional perspective, see 

William L. Clay, Bill Clay: A Political Voice at the Grass Roots (St. 

Louis: Missouri Historical Society Press, 2004): 7.

6 See the Atlanta Daily World: “The Battle Royal in the Old First 

Illinois,” 9 November 1934: 4; “Congressman Mitchell,” 11 

November 1934: 4; and “Congressman Mitchell Speaks,” 13 March 

1935: 6.

7 See Office of History and Preservation, Women in Congress, 

1917–2006: 1–5. 

8 For the “work horse” versus “show horse” styles, see James L. Payne, 

“Show Horses and Work Horses in the United States House of 

Representatives,” Polity 12 (Spring 1980): 428–456; see also James 

Q. Wilson, “Two Negro Politicians: An Interpretation,” Midwest 

Journal of Political Science 5 (1960): 349–369.

9 For descriptions of these legislative styles in both chambers of 

Congress, see Payne, “Show Horses and Work Horses in the United 

States House of Representatives,” and Donald R. Matthews, U.S. 

Senators and Their World (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina 

Press, 1960), especially the chapter “Folkways of the U.S. Senate.”

10 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (3 February 

1875): 957.

11 For a discussion of the relative influence and attractiveness 

of individual House committees during this era, see Charles 

Steward III, “Committee Hierarchies in the Modernizing House, 

1875–1947,” American Journal of Political Science 36 (1992): 

835–856.

12 Congressional Record, House, 53rd Cong., 1st sess. (5 October 

1893): 2161.

14 H Black Americans in Congress
Black Americans as a Percentage of Congress, 1870–2009*

Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2009*

Sources: Appendix B: Black-American Representatives and Senators by Congress, 1870–2007; Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives; U.S. Senate Historical Office.

*110th Congress (2007–2009) as of December 31, 2007.

H Visual statistics I H

Introduction H 15

41st (1869–1871)45th (1877–1879)49th (1885–1887)

53rd (1893–1895)57th (1901–1903)61st (1909–1911)65th (1917–1919)69th (1925–1927)73rd (1933–1935)

77th (1941–1943)81st (1949–1951)85th (1957–1959)89th (1965–1967)

93rd (1973–1975)97th (1981–1983)101st (1989–1991)

105th (1997–1999)109th (2005–2007)

5%

10%

15%

20%

41st (1869–1871)45th (1877–1879)49th (1885–1887)

53rd (1893–1895)57th (1901–1903)61st (1909–1911)65th (1917–1919)69th (1925–1927)73rd (1933–1935)

77th (1941–1943)81st (1949–1951)85th (1957–1959)89th (1965–1967)93rd (1973–1975)97th (1981–1983)101st (1989–1991)

105th (1997–1999)109th (2005–2007)

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

45

50

senators

representatives
H PART ONE H

Former Black-American Members
When Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi—the first African 

American to serve in Congress—toured the United States in 1871, he 

was introduced as the “Fifteenth Amendment in flesh and blood.”1

Indeed, the Mississippi-born preacher personified African-American 

emancipation and enfranchisement. On January 20, 1870, the state 

legislature chose Revels to briefly occupy a U.S. Senate seat, previously 

vacated by Albert Brown when Mississippi seceded from the Union in 

1861.2

 As Senator Henry Wilson of Massachusetts escorted Revels to 

the front of the chamber to take his oath on February 25, the Atlanta 

Constitution reported that “the crowded galleries rose almost en masse, 

and each particular neck was stretched to its uttermost to get a view. . .

A curious crowd (colored and white) rushed into the Senate chamber 

and gazed at the colored senator, some of them congratulating him. 

A very respectable looking, well dressed company of colored men and 

women then came up and took Revels captive, and bore him off in glee 

and triumph.”3

 The next day, the Chicago Tribune jubilantly declared 

that “the first letter with the frank of a negro was dropped in the Capitol 

Post Office.”4

 But Revels’s triumph was short-lived. When his appoint-

“The Fifteenth Amendment 

in Flesh and Blood” 

The Symbolic Generation of 

Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887

Joseph Rainey of South Carolina, the first black Representative in Congress, earned the distinction of also being the first 

black man to preside over a session of the House, in April 1874. 

Oil on canvas, Simmie Knox, 2004, Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

20 H Black Americans in Congress 

ment expired the following year, a leading white Republican, former Confederate 

general James Alcorn, took his place for a full six-year term. 

In many respects, Revels’s service foreshadowed that of the black Representatives 

who succeeded him during Reconstruction—a period of Republican-controlled 

efforts to reintegrate the South into the Union. They, too, were largely symbols of 

Union victory in the Civil War and of the triumph of Radical Republican idealism 

in Congress. “[The African-American Members] have displaced the more noisy 

‘old masters’ of the past,” a reporter with the Chicago Tribune wrote, “and, in their 

presence in [Congress], vindicate the safety of the Union which is incident to the 

broadest freedom in political privileges.”5

 The African-American Representatives also 

symbolized a new democratic order in the United States. These men demonstrated 

not only courage, but also relentless determination. They often braved elections 

marred by violence and fraud. With nuance and tact they balanced the needs of 

black and white constituents in their Southern districts, and they argued passionately 

for legislation promoting racial equality. However, even in South Carolina, a state 

that was seemingly dominated by black politicians, African-American Members 

never achieved the level of power wielded by their white colleagues during 

Reconstruction. Though pushed to the margins of the institutional power structure, 

the black Representatives nevertheless believed they had an important role as 

advocates for the United States’s newest citizens. 

Reconstruction’s New Order

On New Year’s Day 1863, Republican President Abraham Lincoln signed the 

Emancipation Proclamation, freeing slaves in captured portions of the Confederacy, 

and changing the goal of the two-year-old Civil War from one of suppressing a 

rebellion and preserving the Union to bringing a new order to the United States.6

The North’s victory in 1865 elated the newly freed slaves, but their freedom also 

generated new questions about the future economic and political landscape of the 

South. Sweeping change transformed the former Confederacy in the decade that 

followed, as the Northern victors in Congress experimented with ways to reconcile 

with their former enemies.7

Radical Republicans were the driving force in Congress in the waning days of the 

Civil War. Primarily former abolitionists who represented Northern constituencies, 

these politicians looked to implement in the postwar South their “utopian vision 

of a nation whose citizens enjoyed equality of civil and political rights, secured by a 

powerful and beneficent state.”8

 They emphasized the political equality of American 

men, yet with few exceptions, stopped short of calling for the social integration of 

the races. The venerable Charles Sumner of Massachusetts—a fiery, well-spoken 

abolitionist who endured an infamous beating from South Carolina Representative 

Preston Brooks on the Senate Floor in 1856— led the Radical Republicans in the 

Senate. Pennsylvania Representative Thaddeus Stevens—caustic, brooding, and a 

brilliant political strategist—led the charge in the House. Sumner and Stevens hoped 

Democratic President Andrew Johnson, who succeeded the assassinated President 

Lincoln in April 1865, would be even more harsh than Lincoln in readmitting 

Confederate states. But Johnson believed in limited federal intervention and did not 

share the Radical Republicans’ sweeping vision of freedmen’s rights. The President’s 

plan granted amnesty to repentant former Confederates and turned southern politics 

over to Union loyalists. The administration and the congressional majority were 

In a print featured in an 1870 Harper’s 

Weekly, Jefferson Davis’s ghost lurked in the 

Senate Chamber, observing the swearingin of the first black Senator, Hiram Revels 

of Mississippi. Revels’s importance is given 

Shakespearean proportions by placing 

the words of Othello’s villainous Iago 

in Davis’s mouth. This print was drawn 

by artist Thomas Nast, who sympathized 

with Radical Republicans in Congress.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Reconstruction: 

Refers to both the 12-year period 

(1865–1877) and political process 

after the American Civil War in which 

the former Confederate states were 

re-admitted to the Union, beginning 

the nation’s long process of readjustment 

after the end of slavery.
The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 H 21

soon at odds. Of the 29 vetoes issued by Johnson—many involving Reconstruction 

bills—15 were overridden, more than for any other President.9

Unable to circumvent Johnson, Radical Republicans sought to remove him. In 

January 1867, Republican Representative James M. Ashley of Ohio introduced a 

resolution, adopted by the House, instructing the Judiciary Committee to “inquire 

into the conduct of Andrew Johnson,” with an eye toward impeaching the President.

The committee initially rejected the measure. But in September 1867, after President 

Johnson attempted to dismiss Secretary of War Edwin Stanton—who opposed 

Johnson’s Reconstruction plan and worked closely with congressional Radicals—the 

committee recommended impeachment proceedings in a 5 to 4 vote, claiming 

Johnson had violated the Tenure of Office Act (14 Stat. 430–432). The full House 

rejected that report, but Johnson was bent on confronting Congress. In February 

1868, when the President again tried to dismiss Stanton, congressional retribution 

was swift. The House voted 126 to 47 to impeach President Johnson, though the 

Senate later acquitted him by a single vote.

Even in the face of presidential intransigence, the Radical Republicans imposed 

a bold agenda of strict reforms upon the former Confederacy. Collectively, their 

push for African-American political rights surpassed any measure ever seen in the 

United States. The 38th Congress (1863–1865) quickly passed and submitted 

for ratification the 13th Amendment (13 Stat. 744–775)—outlawing slavery— 

in 1865. That same year, Congress established the Freedmen’s Bureau (13 Stat. 

507–509), which was charged with preparing the newly freed slaves for civic life by 

providing social services and education. In 1866, the 39th Congress (1865–1867) 

passed the first Civil Rights Bill (14 Stat. 27–30), granting American citizenship 

to freed slaves, and then expanded upon the legislation by approving the 14th 

Amendment (14 Stat. 358–359), which enforced the equality of all citizens before 

the law. On the final day the House met during the 39th Congress, the Radicals 

divided the former Confederacy into five military districts, each commanded by a 

U.S. Army general and ruled by military law. The act also provided strict conditions 

for re-admission to the Union: each of the 10 remaining Confederate states was 

required to rewrite its constitution at a convention attended by black and white 

delegates, to guarantee black suffrage, and to ratify the 14th Amendment.10 In a rare 

move, the 40th Congress (1867–1869) convened minutes after the 39th Congress 

adjourned and quickly granted greater authority to the commanders of each military 

This 1868 Currier & Ives print, titled 

“The Freedman’s Bureau,” featured a young 

man dressing for a visit to Congress. An 

ambivalent image highlighting both the 

subject’s conscientiousness and low economic 

status, this commercial decorative print 

reflected the complex attitudes toward 

African Americans during the period.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Freedmen’s Bureau: 

From 1865 to 1872, the Bureau 

of Abandoned Lands, Freedmen, 

and Refugees (better known as the 

Freedmen’s Bureau) provided resources 

such as food, clothing, and medical 

treatment to freed slaves and southern 

white refugees. The Freedmen’s Bureau 

also interceded with employers to secure 

economic and civil rights for freed 

slaves and worked with northern 

philanthropists to open schools for them. 

President Abraham Lincoln became a 

symbol of hope for African Americans. 

Harper’s Weekly published this image, 

shown here in detail, of the crowd 

gathered at the Capitol for Lincoln’s 

first inauguration in 1861.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives.
22 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

district by vesting them with considerable powers to hold elections and determine 

citizens’ eligibility to vote. The 15th Amendment (16 Stat. 40–41), which passed 

in 1869, enforced the right to vote for eligible African-American men. Thus, in an 

effort to achieve their ambitious vision for a racially transformed South, Radical 

Republicans drastically changed the status of southern blacks; within the space of 

a decade, millions who formerly had been classified as property exercised their new 

rights as voters and potential officeholders.11

After the ratification of the 15th Amendment, former slaves flocked to the ballot 

boxes and the more ambitious sought political office. By 1877 about 2,000 black 

men had won local, state, and federal offices in the former Confederate states.12

But although black voters formed the bulk of the Republican constituency in the 

former Confederacy, black officeholders never achieved significant power within 

the GOP ranks. Nor did any southern state elect black officeholders in proportion 

to its African-American population. Finally, black politicians never controlled 

a government at the state level during the Reconstruction Era even though the 

populations in several states were majority black.

Pre-Congressional Experience

Slavery 

All 17 of the African-American Congressmen elected between 1870 and 1887 

came from the new Reconstruction governments in the former Confederacy. All 

but two—Representatives Robert Elliott of South Carolina and James O’Hara of 

North Carolina—were born in the South and just under half (eight) were born into 

bondage. Even the early lives of those who had not been enslaved were profoundly 

shaped the by the institution of slavery. Laws restricting the movements and 

opportunities of free and enslaved blacks in the South uprooted families and lives. 

Before age 25, John Hyman of North Carolina was sold at least eight times. Joseph 

Rainey of South Carolina, though free, faced several legal obstacles while traveling to 

Ratified on February 3, 1870, the 15th 

Amendment (S.J. Res. 8) forbade any state 

to deprive a citizen of his vote because of race, 

color, or previous condition of servitude.

The original 15th Amendment, 

Center for Legislative Archives, 

National Archives and Records 

Administration

This 1866 political cartoon, distributed 

by a white-supremacist candidate, declared 

that Republicans sought to grant suffrage 

to black men in order to create a voting 

bloc for themselves. Detractors of the 

campaign for full black male suffrage 

were attempting to discredit abolitionist 

Representative Thaddeus Stevens of 

Pennsylvania and others.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 23

wed Susan Rainey in Philadelphia in 1859; only with the help of friends did Rainey 

avoid being charged as a criminal for an unauthorized visit to a free state. When the 

newlyweds returned to Charleston, they had to circumvent laws disallowing free 

blacks from returning to the South.

While navigating the antebellum South was difficult for all blacks, skin color 

affected postbellum African Americans’ economic and political opportunities.13

Regional differences of opinion on racial miscegenation dated back to colonial 

slavery. Fifteen of the Reconstruction-Era Congressmen hailed from the Lower 

South, a geographic region stretching southwest from South Carolina. Thirteen were 

of mixed race heritage. The Lower South adopted a Caribbean plantation system of 

slavery from its earliest colonization that included three castes: white, “mulatto” (or 

mixed race), and black.14 Often, biracial slaves were given less menial tasks, offered 

more educational opportunities, and treated on better terms than darker slaves, 

giving them many advantages that prepared them to be leaders in their postbellum 

communities. Those who were the sons of their white masters or of prominent local 

white men especially benefited from being light-skinned, both within and outside 

of the bonds of slavery. Four Reconstruction-Era black Members were likely the 

offspring of their former slaveowners. 

Relative to communities of slaves, free black communities in the antebellum 

Lower South were small, urban, economically independent, and overwhelmingly of 

mixed race. These communities developed from the private manumission of favored 

personal servants or a slaveowner’s offspring, as well as free black immigrants during 

the colonial period. The 1850 Census was the first to include statistics on the mixed 

race population in the United States. Eighty-six percent of mulatto Americans 

(350,000) lived south of Maryland. Though only 39 percent of this population lived 

in the Lower South, 75 percent of them were free and the bulk of them lived in 

Charleston, South Carolina, New Orleans, Louisiana, and other port cities.15 Three 

of the black men who served in Congress in the postbellum years descended from 

the free, mixed-race elite in the Lower South. 

Though mulattos in the Lower South had more opportunities than their 

darker neighbors, their existence in a racial middle ground presented a unique set 

of challenges. Before and after the Civil War, mixed-race men and women were 

fully accepted by none. Colonial and antebellum mulatto aristocrats often looked 

down on darker-skinned blacks, who frequently resented these elites because of 

the privileges they enjoyed and the snobbery they sometimes exhibited. Southern 

whites made fewer distinctions between gradations of skin color, preferring a rigid 

boundary between black and white.16 For example, Mississippi Senator Blanche 

Bruce’s black constituents were skeptical about his privileged background, and their 

concerns intensified when Bruce made his permanent home in Washington, DC, 

to escape violence in Mississippi. He took his position on civil rights from a distance, 

regarding the African-American cause as a practical political strategy rather than as a 

personal issue. Yet, despite his centrist politics, Mississippi whites refused to support 

his re-election because of the color of his skin.17

Education

The educational backgrounds of these 17 men were mixed, though collectively 

they far exceeded those of most African Americans of the time. From the colonial 

period on, southern states banned teaching both free and enslaved black children to 

read and write, largely as a means of social control. Restricting the slaves’ education 

Antebellum: 

The era preceding a war, especially the 

American Civil War, 1861–1865.

Postbellum: 

The period after a war, especially the 

American Civil War, 1861–1865.

Mulatto: 

The offspring of a European-American 

and African-American union; 

also used loosely in the 19th century 

to describe anyone of mixed race 

resembling a mulatto. 
24 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

limited their ability to survive apart from their masters. Southern cities afforded the 

best opportunities to circumvent anti-literacy laws. Ignoring harsh punishment, 

well-educated free blacks and liberal whites sometimes opened illegal schools to 

teach urban slaves.18

Most of the black Congressmen who were raised in urban areas attained basic 

skills. The more fortunate—both slave and free—obtained an education as children. 

Hiram Revels attended one of two schools for black children in Fayetteville, North 

Carolina. “Together with the other colored youths [I] was fully and successfully 

instructed by our able and accomplished teacher in all branches of learning,” Revels 

recalled. Advancement beyond the secondary school level, however, was not an 

option open to any black men in the antebellum South. “While I appreciated the 

educational advantages I enjoyed in the school and was proud of what I could show 

in mental culture,” Revels admitted, “I had an earnest desire for something more 

than a mere business education . . . I desired to study for a profession and this 

prompted me to leave my native state.”19 Revels went on to attend seminary and 

received a college education in Indiana, Ohio, and Illinois. Others also born in the 

South acquired educations in the North or in Canada. 

Those who were not educated as children—predominantly former slaves—

acquired reading and mathematical skills or a trade as adults during and after the 

Civil War. State and local governments sometimes financed public schools, or 

normal schools, but the Freedmen’s Bureau used federal money to fund educational 

institutions. By 1870, more than 4,000 schools in the South served nearly a quartermillion students.20 Having learned the photographer’s trade, future Mississippi 

Representative John Lynch attended a few months of night school in Natchez, 

Mississippi, after 1865. Lynch improved upon his brief formal education by reading 

northern newspapers and listening in on lessons at an all-white school adjacent to his 

photography shop. 

“The Result of the Fifteenth Amendment,” 

a print from 1870, featured a parade 

surrounded by vignettes of the new 

opportunities provided by the law 

and individuals instrumental in the 

amendment’s enactment.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 25

Professional Background

In many respects, the professional backgrounds of the 19th-century black 

Representatives reflected the work experiences of black officeholders in the South 

generally; however, many were also ambitious entrepreneurs. Most 19th-century 

black Representatives were educators; seven served as teachers and five worked as 

school administrators. Others were clergy, farmers, barbers, tailors, hotel managers, 

steamboat porters, photographers, or store owners. 

Many 19th-century political aspirants flocked to the newspaper industry, as these 

publications were primarily organs for political parties and a time-honored vehicle 

for advancing one’s political career.21 Black newspapers increased slowly in the 1870s 

due to widespread illiteracy in the black population, yet these publications increased 

fivefold in the next decade.22 Black Representatives used their newspapers to aid 

their campaigns. Richard Cain of South Carolina bought the South Carolina Leader

(renamed the Missionary Record in 1868) to express the political and theological 

views of his African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Emanuel Church congregation, 

which was, one local observer noted, “one of the strongest political organizations 

in the state.”23 Robert Smalls of South Carolina also started his own newspaper, 

the Beaufort Southern Standard, in 1872. As well, Josiah Walls of Florida bought 

the Gainesville New Era newspaper after losing his re-election bid in 1874, to 

retain a public presence and to boost his odds of recapturing his seat. Alabama 

Representative James Rapier worked briefly as a reporter for a northern newspaper. 

In 1872, after white newspapers refused to print his speeches or acknowledge his 

candidacy for Congress, he started his own newspaper, the Republican Sentinel, 

in Montgomery, Alabama, and used it to promote his campaign. 

Given their relative professional success, it is no surprise that 19th-century black 

Representatives were affluent relative to the rest of the population. At least seven 

amassed more than $5,000. The average worth of the first 16 black Members of 

Congress (first elected before 1876) was $5,825. Forty-one percent of state and local 

black officeholders, generally, were worth less than $1,000 each.24 Senator Blanche 

Bruce, the wealthiest individual, was worth more than $150,000 when he served in 

the U.S. Senate; he amassed his fortune primarily through real estate.25 Several South 

Carolinians participated in the speculative railroad fever that swept across the South 

during Reconstruction. Four black South Carolina Representatives—Joseph Rainey, 

Richard Cain, Alonzo Ransier, and Robert Smalls—partnered with seven others to 

form the Enterprise Railroad Company in 1870. The small, horse-drawn rail service 

shipped goods from the wharves on the Cooper River in Charleston to stations 

farther inland that connected to major cities. The business barely weathered the 

boom-and-bust economy of the early 1870s. It passed to white ownership in 1873 

and lasted until the 1880s.26

Crafting an Identity

The Republican Party and Black Representation

All of the 19th-century black Representatives were Republicans, recognizing and 

appreciating the role that the Republican Party played in obtaining their political 

rights and—for many—their emancipation.27 Most remained lifelong Republicans 

and encouraged their black constituents to vote for white GOP candidates as 

well. “We are not ungrateful or unappreciative people,” Robert Smalls said on 

E.E. Murray’s 1883 print, “From the 

Plantation to the Senate,” illustrated 

notable black leaders including Joseph 

Rainey of South Carolina, Hiram 

Revels of Mississippi, and Josiah Walls 

of Florida.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress
26 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

the House Floor. “We can never forget the Moses who led us out of the land of 

bondage.”28 In 1872, Liberal Republicans ran their own candidate, newspaper editor 

Horace Greeley, against incumbent President Ulysses S. Grant, testing the black 

Representatives’ loyalty to the GOP. The Liberal platform embraced the enforcement 

of the Reconstruction Amendments, amnesty for former Confederates, and a laissezfaire economic policy. Prominent advocates for black civil rights, including Senator 

Charles Sumner, joined the Liberal camp. Despite their agreement with most of 

the Liberal Republican platform, black Representatives generally allied themselves 

with the GOP. Jeremiah Haralson of Alabama told a meeting of prominent black 

New Orleans politicians, “I have been a slave all my life and am free on account of 

the Republican Party, and if it comes to an issue, I for one am ready to let Charles 

Sumner fall and let the Republican Party stand.”29 Grant handily defeated Greeley—

who also ran as the Democratic candidate.30

Factionalism was an even larger problem for the GOP in the South than it was 

on a national scale. Propped up by military rule under Reconstruction governments, 

southern Republicans recognized early on that their majorities depended on courting 

both black and white constituencies—especially as former Confederates regained 

the right to vote. Various Republican factions disagreed on how best to accomplish 

this, pivoting on several fulcrums in the Reconstruction South. The foremost was 

geographic origin, dividing between carpetbaggers and scalawags. Carpetbaggers 

were white Republicans from the North, who were primarily Union veterans seeking 

new political and economic opportunities in the South. White GOP partisans 

native to the South, many of whom were Unionists during the Civil War, were 

known as scalawags. Initially, scalawags were typically elected on more conservative 

platforms—they favored leniency toward former Confederates and focused on 

the economic rehabilitation of the war-torn South. Carpetbaggers tended to run 

more radical campaigns, advocating forceful civil rights legislation protecting 

black southerners.31

The nominating convention system used to select candidates only exacerbated 

GOP factionalism. In a practice born in the 1830s, voters elected delegates, who 

then attended local conventions to elect candidates for Congress as well as for 

other state and local offices. Delegates elected candidates by voice vote; if a single 

candidate did not receive a majority of votes, the convention chair would call for 

another round of voting (or balloting) and continue this practice until a majority 

was obtained. The convention system initially consolidated party power and allowed 

party leaders to control the flow of the conventions. However, in the Reconstruction 

South, party conventions were often contentious, violent, and inconclusive in the 

face of several factions. Those not officially receiving the party nomination often ran 

as third-party “Independent Republican” candidates.32 Race was a second fulcrum 

on which GOP factions balanced, and white Republicans losing nominations to 

black candidates frequently ran as Independent Republicans in the general election, 

effectively splitting the GOP vote.

White Republican leaders were careful to maintain hegemony, even in states with 

black majorities, such as South Carolina, which had the largest black population 

(60 percent) concentrated in the low country—coastal areas with pre-war rice and 

cotton plantations.33 A series of strong, white Republican governors came to power 

throughout the Reconstruction period, often bolstered by the large black electorate.

Carpetbagger Robert Scott (1868–1872), scalawag Franklin Moses (1872–1874), 

African-American Members of Congress 

were often grouped together in the public 

imagination. This print, from Speaker 

James G. Blaine of Maine’s memoirs, 

Twenty Years of Congress from Lincoln 

to Garfield, showed, clockwise from 

upper right: James Rapier of Alabama, 

John Lynch of Mississippi, Joseph Rainey 

of South Carolina, and Hiram Revels of 

Mississippi. Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi 

is pictured in the center.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

Nominating convention: 

A meeting of local party officials to 

select the delegates who eventually 

designated party nominees for elective 

office or represented the locality at state 

or national conventions. Developed in 

the 1820s and 1830s, the system 

ensured that only one member would 

run for an elective position while 

providing structure and publicity for 

the party. In the early 20th century 

the modern primary election replaced 

nominating conventions as the 

principal method for selecting 

congressional candidates.
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 27

and carpetbagger Daniel Chamberlain (1874–1877) all served as 

Republican executives. 

The Scott and Moses administrations were ridiculed nationwide for their 

corruption. A former doctor and Civil War colonel from Ohio, Robert Scott 

arrived in South Carolina as an assistant commissioner in the Freedmen’s Bureau 

in 1866. He soon became a staunch defender of African-American rights in the 

South, volunteering his medical services and setting up camps and clinics for 

destitute freedmen. Scott’s popularity catapulted him to the governor’s mansion 

just two years later, primarily via the black vote. Yet Scott’s administration soon 

succumbed to accusations of kickbacks and bribes involving the state’s railroad funds 

as well as corrupt practices by the State Land Commission, created to purchase 

and resell parcels of land to freedmen. Scott left office in 1872 under a cloud of 

scrutiny, leaving the state heavily in debt. His successor, South Carolina native 

Franklin Moses, followed his predecessor’s practices, often steering public money 

into projects to pay down his personal debt. When creditors attempted to arrest 

him, Moses called in the state militia to defend himself. Thoroughly discredited 

by 1874, Moses did not stand for re-election.34 Alonzo Ransier, who had earned a 

reputation for honesty statewide, despite having served as lieutenant governor under 

Scott, was particularly critical of the Moses administration. He told an audience 

of constituents, “let every man feel that society at large will hold him and the 

party accountable for every misdeed in the administration of government, and will 

credit him with every honest effort in the interest of the people and . . . of good 

government.”35 Generally, however, the black Representatives defended their GOP 

state governments against attacks by Democrats on the House Floor. Josiah Walls 

noted that, “daily, you hear it loudly proclaimed upon this floor by the enemies of 

this Government that ‘reconstruction’ in the South caused by the enfranchisement of 

the Negro ‘is a failure.’ . . . But they suggest no remedy for evils that are said to exist, 

nor do they deny the fact that it is the [white supremacists] banded together for 

the very purpose of overthrowing regularly established State governments by force 

and fraud.”36

The relationship between black and white Republicans was the “progeny of a 

simple quid pro quo,” explains one scholar. “Republicans wanted southern black 

votes to secure their burgeoning political dominance, and, in exchange . . . African 

Americans wanted protection from discrimination . . . and a greater share of freedom 

and equality.”37 African Americans eventually expressed a hope that the freedmen 

constituency would have a choice in party loyalty in the future. Representative John 

Lynch noted on the House Floor, “I want to see the day come when the colored 

people of this county can afford to occupy an independent position in politics. 

But that day, in my judgment, will never come so long as there remains a strong, 

powerful, intelligent, wealthy organization arrayed against them as a race and 

as a class.”38

Relegated to a single party, black candidates had the overwhelming task of 

balancing both factions of the Republican Party. One historian notes that “since 

[African-American politicians] could neither leave the party, nor control it, black 

Republicans began to operate as a pressure group within it. . . . In this sense, 

they were practicing what later became known as ethnic politics. Operating as a 

group, they tried to barter votes for offices and benefits.”39 Black officeholders saw 

themselves as advocates for their race, not just their constituents—a political strategy 

Carpetbagger: 

A derogatory term applied by the 

popular press to a Northerner who went 

to the South during Reconstruction 

to pursue economic or political 

opportunities. Many of these 

Northerners carried their belongings 

in carpetbags. This term is also used 

by observers of current political affairs 

to describe a person who interferes 

with the politics of a locality to which 

he or she has no permanent or 

genuine connection. 

Referencing the trend of northerners moving 

to southern states to run for elective office, 

Harper’s Weekly illustrated the “carpet 

bagger” in another drawing by RadicalRepublican-sympathizing cartoonist 

Thomas Nast, its November 9, 1872, issue.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
28 H Black Americans in Congress 

that was later described as “surrogate” representation.40 Richard Cain, who served 

in the 43rd and 45th Congresses (1873–1875; 1877–1879), regularly referred to 

the “five million people for whom I speak,” indicating the total African-American 

population in the United States at the time.41

Elections

Black-majority districts were essential for electing African-American 

Representatives, especially in South Carolina, which elected relatively large numbers 

of black Members. Only one man served a district whose population was less than 

50 percent black: James Rapier represented, for one term, a southeastern Alabama 

district whose population was 44 percent black.42 The rest served districts whose 

populations were typically at least 60 percent African-American. ReconstructionEra Republican state legislatures gerrymandered (drew districts that maximized 

their voting populations) southern states to boost the party’s national strength upon 

their return to the Union. As speaker of the Mississippi state assembly in 1872, 

John Lynch reapportioned the state’s six seats in the U.S. House of Representatives, 

creating five Republican-dominated districts. Later that year, he won a coastal seat 

with a majority-black (55 percent) population.

South Carolina was, arguably, the crucible of black congressional experience in 

the Reconstruction South; six of the 17 Black Americans to serve in Congress during 

Reconstruction were from the Palmetto State. This number alone, however, fails to 

convey South Carolina’s influence on black service in the Capitol during the 19th 

century. Only one Congress—the 46th Congress (1879–1881)—did not have a 

black man in the South Carolina delegation between 1870 and 1887; no black men 

from any state served in the House during that Congress. In the 42nd Congress 

(1871–1873), all but one of the state’s four congressional districts were represented 

by black men. Richard Cain’s election as an At-Large Representative (representing 

the entire state) in the following Congress meant five out of six South Carolina 

Representatives were black. 

Several factors account for South Carolina’s dominance in black representation. 

Union forces captured some of the South Carolina Sea Islands as early as 1861, 

A.R. Waud portrayed the agents of the 

Freedmen’s Bureau as peacemakers between 

blacks and whites in this 1868 print.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Scalawag: 

A derogatory name denoting an 

imposter or intriguer, especially 

in politics. In the 19th century, 

the popular press applied the name 

to white southerners who willingly 

worked within the system 

of the Union-backed state 

Reconstruction governments. 
The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 H 29

emancipating the large slave populations and introducing them early to the 

educational and economic benefits of Reconstruction—as well as political 

organization. Led by a mixed-race elite, black Charlestonians also organized quickly 

after the war’s end. Protesting the Black Codes—a series of restrictive laws dictating 

black employment, movement, and lifestyle approved by the state legislature in 

September 1865—black South Carolinians organized a statewide Colored Peoples 

Convention in November. Several future South Carolina Members of Congress cut 

their political teeth at the convention, including Joseph Rainey, Robert De Large, 

Alonzo Ransier, and Richard Cain. Their protest proved successful; in early 1866 the 

new military commander of South Carolina, Union General Daniel Sickles, nullified 

the Black Codes. After the 15th Amendment became law, the Republican Party 

quickly marshaled the large, organized population on the South Carolina coast into 

a dominant voting bloc.43 Unlike other states, whose black participation succumbed 

to white Republicans by the 1870s, black South Carolinians maintained a majority 

in the state legislature from 1868 to 1876. Black presiding officers reigned in the 

state house of representatives from 1872 to 1876; Robert Elliott resigned his seat 

in Congress to take over the state speakership in 1874. 

Black candidates still faced monumental electoral obstacles, despite the majority 

of black and Republican voters in their districts. Violence and intimidation were 

commonplace during congressional campaigns. A variety of white supremacist 

groups existed, the most notorious being the Ku Klux Klan (KKK). Red Shirts and 

Rifle Clubs operated out of South Carolina. White Leagues flourished throughout 

the South.44 White supremacists threatened black voters and attacked the candidates 

during campaigns. The irregularities and confusion resulting from violent campaigns 

led to an influx of contested elections, and the House Committee on Elections 

handled an unusually heavy caseload during the Reconstruction Era. Established in 

the 1st Congress in 1789, the committee was charged with rendering judgments on 

disputed elections based on evidence and witness testimony. Members of the panel 

heard each candidate’s evidence asserting his right to the seat. The committee voted 

for its choice candidate and reported its findings to the whole House for a final 

vote. Usually, the candidate representing the majority party had a distinct advantage 

because votes within the committee and on the House Floor were often decided 

along party lines.45 Sixty percent of cases heard by the committee between 1867 and 

1911 were from the former Confederacy—a percentage that is even more impressive 

given the Confederate states constituted around 25 percent of the House.46

Though every southern state experienced violent elections, Alabama was the 

center of KKK activity. In September of 1868, Klansmen forced James Rapier to flee 

his home for a Montgomery, Alabama, boarding house where he lived in obscurity 

for a year. Seeking re-election in 1874 to his southeastern Alabama district, Rapier 

faced stolen and destroyed ballot boxes, bribery, fraudulent vote counts, armed 

intimidation, and murder. Frightened black voters stayed home and Rapier lost 

the election.47 The inability of his central Alabama neighbor Jeremiah Haralson to 

garner more than 700 votes in a district whose population was more than 80 percent 

black led the New York Times to observe in 1884, “the Democrats will always win in 

Alabama, no matter how great the preponderance of the black voting population.”48

When Mississippi Democrats vowed to recapture the state government in 

the spring of 1874, Representative John Lynch’s re-election campaign nearly 

succumbed to the pressure. “The Democrats were bold, outspoken, defiant, and 

Gerrymander: 

The act of dividing a geographic area 

into districts so as to give one party an 

unfair advantage during elections. In 

the early 19th century, the party of 

Massachusetts Governor Elbridge Gerry 

redrew the state’s congressional districts 

to favor its candidates. One district 

resembled a salamander; hence the 

combination of “Gerry” and “mander.”

On January 25, 1870, the provisional 

governor of Mississippi certified that the 

Mississippi state legislature elected Hiram 

Revels to the United States Senate.

Hiram Revels’s original election 

certificate, Center for Legislative 

Archives, National Archives and 

Records Administration.
30 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

determined,” Lynch remarked. “I noticed that I was not received and greeted.” 

Mississippi Democratic clubs were converted into “armed military companies” that 

raided his Republican meetings.49 At an evening speech in Vicksburg, lights were 

extinguished and Lynch was nearly crushed in a riotous stampede.50 Lynch was 

the only Republican to survive a Democratic sweep in the polls in Mississippi. “It 

would be a source of personal pride and congratulation if I could declare upon the 

floor of the House of Representatives today that mob-law and violence do not exist 

in any part of the South and are not tolerated by any portion of its citizens,” Lynch 

said. “The circumstances are such that the facts would not sustain me in making 

this declaration.”51 Senator Blanche Bruce made a similar observation. Having 

witnessed White League intimidation, Bruce warned his colleagues that “violence so 

unprovoked . . . is a spectacle not only discreditable to the country, but is dangerous 

to the integrity of our free institutions.”52

Contested Elections

Black Representatives in the Reconstruction Era were profoundly affected by 

contested elections. A contested election prevented the seating of the first black 

man who won a congressional election. On October 4, 1868, John Willis Menard, 

an Illinois-born mulatto newspaper editor who had held several GOP patronage 

positions since 1862, declared his candidacy for a special election to fill a vacant 

New Orleans, Louisiana, seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Though he won 

the special election with 65 percent of the vote, his opponent, Democrat Caleb 

Hunt, contested the results, and the House Committee on Elections declared the 

seat vacant. Menard defended his right to take office, becoming the first black 

man to speak before the House while it was in session, on February 27, 1869. 

Three other black men—Joseph Rainey, Josiah Walls, and Richard Cain—all 

lost contested elections. Rainey remained in his seat, despite the ruling of the 

Committee on Elections, because the House never took up his case for a full vote. 

Five black Members contested six separate elections they lost. Only John Lynch and 

Robert Smalls successfully contested their 1880 electoral losses before the majority 

Republican 47th Congress (1881–1883).53

Black Members preoccupied with defending their contested seats lost valuable 

time needed to introduce legislation or give speeches on the House Floor. As the 

enormous caseload trickled through the Committee on Elections, the panel often 

delayed its deliberations until late in the second session. Contested elections and 

the personal and political turmoil that ensued marred the political career of Josiah 

Walls. The Ku Klux Klan, entrenched near his northern Florida home, managed to 

unseat him twice by running ex-Confederate generals against him in contests for an 

At-Large seat and a district representing eastern Florida. Walls was unable to legislate 

at all in the 44th Congress (1875–1877), as he was preoccupied defending his seat. 

Washington Experience

Black Representatives found one of the country’s most expansive black elite 

communities when they arrived in Washington during the Reconstruction Era. 

In the postwar years, the country’s well-educated and wealthy African-American 

population escaped the violence of the South and competition from white elites 

in Boston and Philadelphia to settle in Washington. The “black 400” were drawn 

to the capital city because of its cultural opportunities, government employment, 

and relative economic security, and because of the presence of one of the country’s 

At-Large Representative: 

A Representative elected to the House 

in statewide voting when a majority 

of the state delegation was elected by 

single-member, geographically defined 

districts. This method for electing differs 

from the general ticket, in which an 

entire delegation is elected statewide. 

Until the mid-20th century, At-Large 

Representatives were often elected 

immediately following decennial 

apportionment. At-Large elections were 

abolished by federal law in 1968.
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 31

premier black colleges: Howard University. They considered themselves socially 

superior to the rest of the 40,000-plus African Americans in the city, who were 

primarily former slaves seeking refuge in the city following the Civil War.54 Black 

Representatives were well accepted among the black elite. Blanche Bruce’s family 

was among the leading households; he purchased a lavish home near Mount Vernon 

Square in the District of Columbia and socialized in the highest circles of the “black 

400.”55 Several black Representatives lived in the upper-class black neighborhoods 

near Howard University. 

Other black Representatives lived in upscale boarding houses and homes near 

Lafayette Square and on Capitol Hill.56 In the 42nd Congress, Benjamin Turner of 

Alabama and Josiah Walls occupied the same boarding house on 14th Street in the 

northwest section of the city, near Franklin Park. The two were close neighbors to 

Joseph Rainey and to prominent Republicans including Speaker James G. Blaine of 

Maine as well as Senator Sumner and Representatives Benjamin Butler and George 

Hoar, all of Massachusetts.57

Yet African Americans in Congress during the Reconstruction Era also 

experienced widespread discrimination. In an 1874 newspaper interview, Joseph 

Rainey documented the second-class treatment he and his colleagues received in 

Washington. He noted that black Representatives were forced to pay higher rent 

and higher prices at local restaurants.58 “Why is it that colored members of Congress 

cannot enjoy the same immunities that are accorded to white members?” Rainey 

asked on the House Floor. “We are here enacting laws for the country and 

casting votes upon important questions; we have been sent here by the suffrages 

of the people.”59

A defining feature of the experience of black Congressmen on Capitol Hill in the 

19th century was their relative isolation. Only a handful of black Representatives 

served at any given time, and the two black Senators did not serve together. The 

apex of black Membership in Congress during the 19th century was, ironically, in 

the Democrat-controlled House during the 44th Congress. Seven African Americans 

served in the House and Blanche Bruce kept his seat in the Senate. Because of their 

small number and because they were a relative novelty, these men were often under 

the glare of public scrutiny. When the African-American Representatives arrived in 

Washington, they faced skepticism of their ability to fulfill their duties. “When the 

first black man took his place in the House of Congress, Americans looked on with 

wide-opened mouths and eyes, with caustic criticism,” Marie Le Baron reported 

for the St. Louis Daily Globe in the opening paragraph of her piece profiling the 

Members of the 43rd Congress. Skeptics, she continued, held “openly expressed 

doubts of his ability to retain and fill the place of honor, and creditably to himself 

and to the white nation.”60

Black Congressmen typically received high marks for their performance from 

Republicans, who generally welcomed their colleagues to their respective chambers. 

Speaker Blaine later praised his black colleagues in his memoirs. “They were as a rule, 

studious, earnest, ambitious men,” wrote Blaine, “whose public conduct . . . would 

be honorable to any race.”61 Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York escorted Senator 

Blanche Bruce to his swearing-in, beginning a lifelong friendship. Conkling coached 

Bruce in Senate procedure and procured him advantageous committee assignments. 

Bruce named his only child for the New York Senator. 

Though floor debate remained civil for the most part, black Congressmen 

In a unique case of double contested 

elections, African-American Pinckney 

B. S. Pinchback of Louisiana was elected 

simultaneously to both the Senate and 

House. Pinchback lost the contested House 

seat and, citing claims of fraud in the state 

legislature, the Senate denied him his seat 

as well. Serving as provisional governor 

of Louisiana at the time, Pinchback signed 

his own election certifications.

Image courtesy of Library of Congress
32 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

occasionally encountered the patronizing attitude of their opposition. A northern 

Democrat, New York Representative Samuel Cox was consistently adversarial.

Representative Hoar once noted that the black Members had in Cox “the most 

formidable antagonist, perhaps the most trained and experienced debater in the 

House.”62 In a memorable run-in with the New York Democrat, Joseph Rainey 

attempted to interrupt Cox’s scathing remarks regarding Republican governments in 

South Carolina. Cox responded with a patronizing, “Oh honey, sit down,” eliciting 

laughter from the chamber.63 Chairman of the Committee on Elections in the 44th 

and 45th Congresses, Virginia Democrat John Harris also harangued the black 

Representatives. In a floor debate on January 5, 1874, Harris rhetorically asked, “Is 

there not one gentleman on the floor who can honestly say he really believes that the 

colored man is created his equal?” Alonzo Ransier quietly replied with a simple, “I 

can,” to which a flustered Harris retorted, “Of course you can; but I am speaking to 

the white men of the House; and, Mr. Speaker, I do not wish to be interrupted again 

by him.”64 Another Democrat, John Brown—a young, wealthy, outspoken Member 

from Kentucky—regularly ignored the black Members and refused to yield to them 

in debate.65 Richard Cain made light of the fact that blacks were often treated as 

inferiors in Congress. “We believe that we are made just like white men,” he said. 

“Look; I stretch out my arms. See; I have two of them, as you have. Look at your 

ears; I have two of them. I have two eyes, two nostrils, one mouth, two feet. I stand 

erect like you. I am clothed in humanity like you. I think, I reason, I talk . . . Is there 

any difference between us? Not so far as our manhood is concerned.”66

Legislative Interests

Committee Assignments

Black Congressmen’s committee service underscored their lack of power in the 

House Chamber. Most black Members had low-ranking committee assignments. 

Though two men—Richard Cain and Robert Smalls—served on the prestigious 

Agriculture Committee, their power was limited.67 Certainly, the brevity of AfricanAmerican careers during this era contributed to their lack of seniority and influence 

When the first black Members of Congress 

arrived in Washington, DC, they 

found a majestic, marble Capitol with 

a massive dome completed during the 

Civil War. “National Capitol,” Ballou’s 

Pictorial Weekly Drawing-Room 

Companion, 1856.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

“Heroes of the Colored Race,” a print 

published by J. Hoover of Philadelphia in 

1881, pictured Senator Blanche K. Bruce 

of Mississippi, orator Frederick Douglass, 

and Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi. 

The vignettes depicted scenes from 

African-American life as well as portraits 

of other Members of Congress: John Lynch 

of Mississippi, Joseph Rainey of South 

Carolina, Charles Nash of Louisiana, 

and Robert Smalls of South Carolina.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 33

on committees, but it does not fully explain their inability to secure prominent 

committee assignments. 

Beginning in the 1840s in the Senate and in the post–Civil War era in the 

House, length of service began to determine the committee hierarchy; the more 

terms in Congress, the higher the rank. But this process of broad and multidecadal 

centralization within the House evolved slowly and, until the 1910s, seniority 

was not the primary determinant of committee hierarchy.68 Perhaps of greater 

consequence to black Members during Reconstruction was their relative isolation 

from the key individuals in the party leadership who had power to procure or assign 

plum committee posts. Even the longest-serving black Member of the period, 

Joseph Rainey, had difficulty rising in the ranks in his nine years in Congress. GOP 

leadership consistently assigned Rainey a rank lower than his seniority permitted. 

Most blatantly, Rainey was the last-ranking GOP Member on the newly created 

Select Committee on the Freedmen’s Bank in the 44th Congress, even though he 

had more terms of service than any other Member on the committee.69 No black 

Member chaired any House standing committee. Senator Blanche Bruce chaired 

two select committees: the Select Committee to Investigate the Freedmen’s Savings 

and Trust Company and the Select Committee on Levees of the Mississippi River, 

which oversaw development of the river’s delta region.70

The House and Senate Education and Labor committees were the most common 

assignments for black Congressmen.71 Senators Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce 

served on the Senate panel. Five men took seats on the equivalent House committee. 

Black Congressmen vocally supported the sale of federally owned land in the South 

and West to fund public education. But even congressional allies considered such 

a program controversial. Opponents feared federal funding for schools would 

impede states’ rights and blocked black Members’ efforts to enact such legislation. 

Josiah Walls, one of the most vocal supporters of the program, insisted the national 

government must provide for education of southern blacks because, left to their 

own devices, southern state governments would not act. “It is useless to talk about 

patriotism existing in those states . . . who now and always have believed that it was 

wrong to educate the Negro and that such offenses should be punishable by death or 

a lash,” Walls chided. “Away with the patriotism that advocates and prefers ignorance 

to intelligence!” Joseph Rainey was so desperate to fund normal schools, he even 

supported a $1 poll tax (which would have disfranchised many newly freed slaves) to 

directly fund public education. “Do you suppose I want my two children hindered 

in the enjoyment of educational opportunities in this country,” Rainey asked, 

“merely on account of their color when we are taxed to support those schools?”72

Absent key committee assignments and leadership positions, the relatively 

small number of black Members lacked the ability to drive a legislative agenda. 

Most introduced bills on the House or the Senate Floor only to have them die 

in committee. The near-universal desire among black Congressmen to reimburse 

depositors to the Freedmen’s Bank illustrates how both the House and the Senate 

rebuffed black legislators’ dogged efforts. Congress established the bank in 1865 to 

help freedmen manage their money; however, reckless loans and corruption depleted 

the bank’s $57 million in deposits, forcing it to close in 1874. Mismanagement and 

a lack of resources continued after the bank’s failure. Three commissioners were 

appointed to reimburse depositors, but shortly afterward they were criticized for 

failing to complete their overwhelming task. The bank’s failure had far-reaching 

This famous print titled “The first colored 

senator and representatives—in the 41st 

and 42nd Congress of the United States” 

was published by Currier & Ives in 

1872. The group portrait assembled 

Robert De Large of South Carolina, 

Jefferson Long of Georgia, Hiram Revels 

of Mississippi, Benjamin Turner of 

Alabama, Josiah Walls of Florida, Joseph 

Rainey of South Carolina, and Robert 

Elliott of South Carolina.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

The second African American to serve as 

a Senator, Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi 

later noted that success in the Senate 

required managing his relationship with 

all of his colleagues: “The novelty of my 

position [compels me] to cultivate and 

exhibit my honorable associates a courtesy 

that would inspire reciprocal courtesy.”

Image courtesy of Scurlock Studio 

Records, Archives Center, National 

Museum of American History, 

Smithsonian Institution
34 H Black Americans in Congress 

effects on black businesses that continued well into the late 1890s.73 Nearly every 

black Member of Congress sponsored a bill to provide financial relief to African 

Americans who lost their savings when the Freedmen’s Bank failed. However, no one 

was a greater advocate than Senator Blanche Bruce, who took the reins of the Select 

Committee to Investigate the Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company in April 1879. 

Bruce’s committee was unable to convince the Senate to reimburse depositors. Yet 

Bruce used some of his own personal fortune as well as his political clout to raise 

funds to reimburse a small portion of depositors.74

Lacking any qualitative institutional power, African Americans in Congress 

were relegated for the most part to ancillary, passive support roles for legislation 

shaped almost entirely by their House and Senate colleagues. Rather than acting 

as legislative entrepreneurs or public advocates, black Members of Congress were 

resigned to those roles the institution’s leaders tolerated: cheerleading for reform 

legislation or providing firsthand accounts of civil rights abuses to sway public 

opinion. Where Congress’s true power lay—behind the closed doors of committee 

meetings and markup sessions—African-American Members had virtually 

no influence.

Ku Klux Klan and Amnesty Acts

Reconstruction-Era Congresses were preoccupied with curbing racial violence 

that afflicted the postwar South. Disturbing reports about the activities of the KKK, 

as well as other white supremacist groups, inspired congressional leaders to pass a 

series of three Ku Klux Klan Acts (also known as the Force Acts) during the 41st 

and 42nd Congresses (1869–1873).75 The first reinforced the 15th Amendment 

(universal manhood suffrage), the second placed all southern elections under federal 

control, and the third protected the voter registration and justice system from 

infiltration and intimidation by Klansmen. The 10 black Members who served in 

the Congresses voting on these bills universally supported the legislation. Most 

significantly, their electoral struggles confirmed the need for such measures. “If you 

cannot protect the loyal men of the South,” Robert Elliott warned in April 1871, 

“then have the loyal people of this great Republic done and suffered much in vain, 

and your free Constitution is a mockery and a snare.”76

Yet Congress softened the forceful nature of the Ku Klux Klan legislation by 

enacting generous pardons for former Confederates. The bill offered near blanket 

amnesty, excepting former public servants and military personnel who resigned 

their positions to join the Confederacy. Senator Hiram Revels and Representatives 

Joseph Rainey, Robert De Large, and Benjamin Turner voted for the bill in their 

respective chambers. “We are desirous, sir, of being magnanimous,” Rainey told his 

congressional colleagues in May 1872. “We have open and frank hearts toward those 

who were our former oppressors and taskmasters. We foster no enmity now, and we 

desire to foster none for their acts in the past to us, nor to the Government we love 

so well.”77 Rainey was among those who cast a “yea” vote for amnesty provided the 

Ku Klux Klan Acts remained enforced. Robert De Large pledged his support only 

if former Confederates swore a formal oath of allegiance to the Union. One of the 

more conservative black politicians, Turner, expressed no animosity towards former 

slaveowners—though he had been a slave—and focused on procuring economic 

aid for his war-torn state. “I have no coals of fiery reproach to heap upon [former 

Confederates] now,” Turner informed his congressional colleagues. “Rather would 

I extend the olive branch of peace, and say to them, let the past be forgotten.”78 Not 

On April 20, 1871, President Ulysses S. 

Grant, shown with Secretary of the Navy 

George M. Robeson and presidential advisor 

General Horace Porter in this Frank Leslie’s

Illustrated print, signed the Third Ku 

Klux Klan Act, which enforced the 14th 

Amendment by guaranteeing all citizens of 

the United States the rights afforded by the 

Constitution and providing legal protection 

under the law.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 H 35

all black Members agreed; Representatives Jefferson Long of Georgia and Robert 

Elliott voted against the bill, primarily out of their wish to solidify black rights in the 

South before restoring former Confederates to full political participation. 

Civil Rights Bill of 1875

No issue preoccupied black Representatives more than the 1875 Civil Rights Bill 

(18 Stat. 335–337). Neither the Civil Rights Act of 1866, which guaranteed citizens 

the right to enter into contracts and to purchase, sell, or lease property, nor the 

series of Ku Klux Klan Acts, which had incrementally outlawed discrimination in 

voter registration in local and congressional elections and empowered circuit judges 

to appoint election supervisors, satisfied ardent reformers, such as Senator Charles 

Sumner. He introduced legislation on May 13, 1870, that provided the basis for 

the Civil Rights Bill of 1875. 79 Senator Sumner envisioned a far more sweeping bill 

that would fully enforce and expand upon the 13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments.

The centerpiece of his original bill outlawed racial discrimination in juries, schools, 

transportation, and public accommodations. However, Illinois Senator Lyman 

Trumbull, chairman of the powerful Judiciary Committee, disapproved of the bill 

and trapped it in his panel for more than two years.

On December 2, 1873, the opening day of the 43rd Congress, Sumner dutifully 

submitted his civil rights bill.80 On December 18—bolstered by the GOP’s 

111-Member majority—House Judiciary Committee Chairman Benjamin Butler 

submitted his own bill, which echoed much of Sumner’s language.81 A former 

states’ rights Democrat, Butler changed his party allegiances and his attitude toward 

African Americans while serving as a brigadier general in the Civil War. Recalling 

the deaths of black Union soldiers on the battlefield, Butler declared, “May my right 

hand forget its cunning and my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth if I ever fail 

to defend the rights of these men who have given their blood for me and my country 

. . . God helping me, I will keep that oath.”82

Opponents lined up to denounce the bill when it came to the House Floor the 

following January, railing against the measure’s perceived threat to incite “a war 

of the races, [in which]the black race in this country will be exterminated,” in the 

words of Representative Milton Durham of Kentucky.83 Democrats stood up one 

by one, claiming that the Civil Rights Bill attempted to enforce rights beyond 

the scope of the Constitution, usurped states’ power to regulate common (public) 

schools, and forced the undesired social mixing of the two races. Amendments aimed 

at killing the Civil Rights Bill soon flooded in at such an alarming rate that Butler 

was forced to recommit the bill to the House Judiciary Committee on January 7 

for consideration. 

In the Senate, Sumner’s passing breathed new life into his legislative agenda. On 

his deathbed on March 11, 1874, Sumner allegedly repeated at least three times to 

Representative George Hoar: “You must take care of the civil rights bill—my bill, 

the civil rights bill—don’t let it fail!”84 Primarily out of respect for their deceased 

colleague, Senators passed the bill—29 to 16—two months later.85 The legislation 

was referred to the House Judiciary Committee on June 18, leaving the lower 

chamber to consider both pieces of legislation.86

A GOP debacle in the 1874 midterm elections further endangered the Civil 

Rights Bill. Sixty-two House Republican incumbents failed to win re-election; 

43 hailed from northern or western states. The large GOP majority in the House 

during the 43rd Congress gave way to a 79-Member Democratic advantage in 

As chairman of the House Judiciary 

Committee, Representative and Civil 

War Brigadier General Benjamin Butler 

of Massachusetts submitted his own version 

of the Civil Rights Bill in 1874.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
36 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

the 44th Congress.87 A financial panic in 1873 and the resulting depression, as 

well as multiple charges of corruption in Republican President Ulysses S. Grant’s 

administration, were primarily blamed for the loss.88 However, growing public 

disinterest in and frustration with civil rights legislation were also at fault. A top 

House Republican, James Garfield of Ohio—where GOP electoral losses were 

especially devastating—noted “a general apathy among the people concerning the 

war and the negro.”89 James Sener, a scalawag from Virginia, blamed prolonged 

congressional debate on the Civil Rights Bill for his electoral loss. Noting that he 

continually opposed the bill during the first session of the 43rd Congress, he claimed 

his constituents feared that “under the whip and spur of party pressure,” Sener 

might “yield my honest convictions to the will of the majority.”90 Among those who 

lost their elections was Benjamin Butler, who succumbed to Democrat Charles P. 

Thompson with 47 percent of the vote as compared to Thompson’s 53 percent.91

However, the electoral loss also rallied Republican Representatives, who returned 

to the lame duck session in 1875 determined not to leave office without passing 

some form of civil rights legislation.

The victorious Democrats, however, believed their mandate included scuttling 

the Civil Rights Bill. They continually halted business by submitting multiple 

motions to adjourn every time Butler attempted to place the legislation on the 

House Calendar for debate. A top GOP lieutenant, John Cessna of Pennsylvania, 

attempted to circumvent Democrats by drastically changing House Rules, disposing 

of all dilatory motions (those put forward strictly to stall consideration of legislation) 

for the remainder of the term. The change failed to achieve the two-thirds majority 

needed to alter House Rules after 15 Republicans defected. But over strong 

Democratic objections, Cessna worked with Speaker Blaine to broker a compromise, 

restricting the use of dilatory motions and opening an opportunity to debate civil 

rights legislation.92

During the precarious lead-up to the 1874 elections, few white GOP supporters 

spoke on the House Floor on behalf of the Civil Rights Bill. Facing some of the 

former Confederacy’s great orators, the black Representatives carried the debate on 

the measure throughout the 43rd Congress by making some of their most famous 

and impassioned speeches. The record-breaking seven black men on the House Floor 

was, in itself, an argument in favor of the bill. As one scholar notes, “their presence 

demonstrated that equality in politics could work [and] . . . signaled the drastic 

change that had overtaken the country’s political order.”93 The climax of the first 

session was Robert Elliott’s eloquent rebuttal to former Confederate Vice President 

Alexander Stephens of Georgia on January 6, 1874. Elliott’s speech, in which he 

asserted that the federal government’s highest duty was to protect African Americans, 

received attention and praise from newspapers nationwide.94 The Chicago Tribune 

—a newspaper typically favorable to black Representatives—delivered a glowing 

review of the South Carolinian’s speech: “Mr. Elliott has demonstrated the real force 

of the new order of things.”95

As southern Democrats denied any racial discrimination on the part of southern 

railroads, hotels, theaters, and restaurants, the black Representatives provided 

vivid anecdotes of personal experiences with racism and segregation in public 

accommodations as evidence of the need for a Civil Rights Bill. Joseph Rainey 

claimed he was unable to procure first-class tickets on some railway lines and 

pointed out that he could not eat in the first-class dining room on a boat from 

Lame Duck Session: 

Refers to a session of Congress that 

transpires after congressional elections 

but before the start of a new Congress. 

In the 19th century, new Congresses 

commenced on March 4 (though both 

Chambers often convened for business 

at later dates). Thus, after biennial fall 

elections, a new Congress was not 

seated for four months. Congress often 

convened for an additional, or lame 

duck, session in the intervening weeks 

in a hurried effort to complete 

legislative business. Ratification of the 

20th Amendment in 1933 set the start 

date for new Congresses to January 

3, drastically reducing the time period 

in which a lame duck session could 

transpire. As a result, modern 

Congresses have rarely held lame 

duck sessions.
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 37

Washington to Norfolk. Forced to wait for a table in the servants’ dining room, 

Rainey had shouted, “I’d starve first,” and thereafter brought his own meals while 

traveling. Rainey drilled this injustice into the heads of his colleagues: “Do you think 

it is right that when I go forth from this capital as an honored member of Congress 

that I should be subjected to the insults from the lowest fellow in the street if he 

should happen to feel so inclined?”96 When traveling from his district to the nation’s 

capital, John Lynch noted, “I am treated, not as an American citizen, but as a brute. 

Forced to occupy a filthy smoking car both night and day, with drunkards, gamblers, 

and criminals; and for what? Not that I am unable or unwilling to pay my way; not 

that I am obnoxious in my personal appearance or disrespectful in my conduct; but 

simply because I happen to be of a darker complexion.”97 James Rapier pointed out 

the irony of the second-class treatment he received while traveling though he had a 

privileged role as a Representative. “Just think that the law recognizes my right upon 

this floor as a law-maker, but that there is no law to secure me an accommodation 

whatever while traveling here to discharge my duties as a Representative. . . . Is not 

this most anomalous and ridiculous?” Rapier reminded his colleagues that, “Every 

day my life and property are exposed, are left to the mercy of others, and will be so 

long as every hotel-keeper, railroad conductor, and steamboat captain can refuse me 

with impunity.”98

Opponents argued that regulating discrimination in public accommodations 

and transportation was beyond the scope of the Constitution. The Reconstruction 

Amendments, which already guaranteed the basic political rights afforded to all 

male citizens, extended the federal government’s power to its limit. “The colored 

people are now in substantial enjoyment of their full rights and privileges granted 

by the recent amendments to the Constitution,” argued Democrat John Storm of 

Pennsylvania. “This bill is thrust upon us now for no other purpose than exciting 

bad feelings.” Virginian Thomas Whitehead added “now the colored man is a citizen. 

He can vote. He can hold office. . . . He can hold property. He can do in my state 

just what any other man can do. . . . Now, what is the object of this bill?”99 While 

the Constitution could provide political equality before the law, southerners argued 

that it could not enforce social equality. John Harris of Virginia declared that the 

racial division was “a natural prejudice that God himself placed in the hearts of 

southern children,” adding that a Representative of any race could be “thrust from 

a particular railroad car when his high position was not known.”100 Representative 

Whitehead observed that “the Almighty has given [black men] what he cannot 

get rid of—a black skin! . . . You have not the power to make him white and he 

will never be satisfied short of that.”101 James Blount of Georgia observed that 

Black Americans in the South did not care for equal access to theaters, hotels, and 

streetcars. “These people are poor,” he observed, “and these things they care nothing 

about. . . . They are especially often involved in criminal charges. . . . [Judicial rights] 

are the rights of most practical value to them.”102

Many southern Democrats’ greatest fear was enforced social mixing between 

blacks and whites. “There are in the Southern States two races, as distinct in their 

social feelings and prejudices as in color,” declared Representative Blount. “The 

sooner they are recognized by our rulers the better for both races and the country.”103

Democrat Charles Eldredge of Wisconsin blamed the unrest in the South on the 

“unnatural relation in which two races have been placed to each other,” adding, “it 

is a result . . . which may always be expected when it is attempted to subject men 

Titled “The shackle broken–by the genius 

of freedom,” this print memorialized 

a defining moment in South Carolina 

Representative Robert Elliott’s congressional 

career, his 1874 speech in support of the 

Civil Rights Act.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

A six-term Representative from Virginia, 

John Harris belittled his black congressional 

colleagues by questioning their right to be 

called men.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
38 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

of culture . . . to the domination and rule of brute force.”104 Despite their idealism, 

most Radical Republicans also believed African Americans belonged to a separate 

social sphere. Even Benjamin Butler admitted, “We do not propose to legislate to 

establish any equality.” However, he clearly believed that equality did not divide on 

racial grounds: “Not all men are equal, but every man has the right to be the equal 

of every other man if he can. . . . And all constitutions, all laws, all enactments, all 

prejudices, all caste, all custom, all contravention of that right is unjust, impolitic, 

and unchristian.”105

The African-American Members displayed considerable political pragmatism 

when addressing the issue of using legislation to compel social equality of the 

races. Richard Cain noted that “no laws enacted by legislators can compel social 

equality.”106 James Rapier claimed that the Civil Rights Bill “does not and cannot 

contemplate any such idea as social equality; nor is there any man upon this floor so 

silly as to believe that there can be any law enacted or enforced that would compel 

one man to recognize the other as his equal socially.” However, he also rejected 

segregation as a caste system that prevented social mobility, calling such a method 

“an anti-republican principle in our free country.”107 John Lynch pointed out the 

hypocrisy of the argument that social equality divided on racial grounds: “I have 

never believed for a moment that social equality could be brought about even 

between persons of the same race. . . . But those who contend that the passage of this 

bill will have a tendency to bring about social equality between the races virtually 

and substantially admit that there are no social distinctions among white people, 

whatsoever.”108 As white southerners made dire predictions about the deleterious 

effects of the Civil Rights Bill on white southern culture, Richard Cain responded 

with his characteristic good humor: “I think [that if] so harmless a measure as the 

civil-rights bill, guaranteeing to every man of the African race equal rights with other 

men, would bring death to the South, then certainly that noble march of Sherman 

to the sea would have fixed them long ago.”109

The sticking point on the final version of the Civil Rights Bill of 1875 became 

the section providing federal funding for and oversight of public education. 

Traditionally, states and local municipalities controlled public schools. Throughout 

the South, local prejudice led to uneven educational opportunities. The most 

controversial component, however, was the provision to desegregate public schools. 

Both Southern Democrats and moderate Republicans greatly feared angry white 

parents would pull their children out of mixed race schools, effectively ending 

public education in the South. “The great evil this bill has in store for the black 

man is found in the destruction of the common schools of the South,” declared 

Roger Mills of Texas. “When the common schools are broken up in all the Southern 

States. . . what is to become of the children of the colored people? Are they to grow 

up on ignorance and vice?”110 Milton Durham argued that his white constituents 

paid the bulk of the taxes and that many took advantage of public schools. “Should 

this bill pass,” Durham warned, “and the children of freedmen demand admission 

into these schools, I believe the system in Kentucky will be so injured as to become 

worthless.”111 Moderate Republicans were wary of the education clause as well. 

Though Barbour Lewis of Tennessee supported the Civil Rights Bill, noting that 

“the colored people deserve this measure,” he argued that integrated schools were 

unacceptable to all “because people of their own choice . . . simply as a matter 

of taste, have maintained separate schools.”112

By 1880, partisan politics began to divide 

the black vote, as depicted in this Frank 

Leslie’s Illustrated, portraying Democrats 

taunting Republican voters en route 

to the polls.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 39

To move the bill out of the Judiciary Committee in the face of such broad 

opposition, Butler amended the education clause by inserting language that called 

for “separate, but equal” public schools.113 By the time the bill came to a vote on 

February 4, 1875, three versions existed, each differing only on the education 

provisions: the amended House bill, calling for “separate, but equal” public schools; 

the Senate bill, which included the legislation’s original intent to desegregate and 

federally fund common schools; and an amended version offered by Stephen Kellogg 

of Connecticut, stripping the bill of all references to public education. 

Black Members vigorously defended the education clause, preferring almost 

unanimously the Senate version of the bill.114 John Lynch contended that increased 

federal funding for education was the most harmless provision of the bill: “All 

share its benefits alike,” he said.115 Richard Cain sharply admonished his southern 

colleagues: “Examine the laws of the South, and you will find that it was a penal 

offense for anyone to educate the colored people there. . . . You robbed us for two 

hundred years. During all that time we toiled for you. We have raised your cotton, 

your rice, and your corn. . . . And yet you upbraid us for being ignorant—call 

us a horde of barbarians!”116 Alonzo Ransier had great faith that equal rights and 

opportunities in education would allow talented black men to earn good standing 

in their communities and would in turn curb discrimination. “Let the doors of the 

public school house be thrown open to us alike,” he declared, “if you mean to give 

these people equal rights at all, or to protect them in the exercise of the rights and 

privileges attaching to all freemen and citizens of our country.”117 

By the time the Civil Rights Bill came to a vote, the measure had been gravely 

wounded. The bill’s last days were filled with desperate pleas from its supporters. 

“Spare us our liberties; give us peace; give us a chance to live; . . . place no 

obstruction in our way; give us an equal chance,” Richard Cain pleaded. “We ask 

no more of the American people.”118 James Rapier despaired, “I have no compromise 

to offer on this subject. . . . After all, this question resolves itself into this: either 

I am a man or I am not a man.”119 Minutes before the final measure came to a vote 

in the House, Members passed Kellogg’s amendment eliminating all references to 

public education, 128 to 48. A motion replacing the House version with the Senate 

bill failed soon afterward, 148 to 114. The battered Civil Rights Bill finally passed 

162 to 99. The measure provided no mechanism to regulate public schools, but 

stipulated equal use of public transportation and accommodations regardless of 

race. It also prohibited the exclusion of African Americans from jury service. Black 

Members received the final version of the bill with mixed reactions: Richard Cain, 

John Lynch, Joseph Rainey, and James Rapier voted in its favor, despite its diluted 

form, but Alonzo Ransier and Josiah Walls were so disappointed by the elimination 

of the education clause, they declined to vote.120 The legislation passed the Senate on 

February 27. On March 1, President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into law.121 The fact 

that Republicans, who within days would be relegated to minority status, managed 

to steer such a bill through the chamber at the conclusion of a lame duck session 

represented a considerable legislative victory. But in their desperation to pass the 

measure, Republicans had left the Civil Rights Act of 1875 in such a weakened 

state that it did little to impede the creation of a system of segregation in the South. 

Moreover, the limited protection it did afford would soon be stripped by the courts.

To aid the passage of the 1875 Civil Rights 

Bill, three-term Representative Stephen 

Kellogg of Connecticut stripped the bill 

of all references to education.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
40 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

Rolling Back Civil Rights

After the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, Congress enacted no further 

civil rights legislation for more than 80 years. The difficulty passing the weakened 

legislation indicated that the Radical Republicans’ idealistic experiment had come 

to an end. Moreover, though Republicans made gains in the House in the 1876 

elections, the political battle that erupted over disputed presidential returns (and its 

resolution) effectively ended Reconstruction. 

The 1876 presidential contest between Republican candidate Rutherford 

Hayes and Democratic candidate Samuel Tilden caused an electoral crisis when 

South Carolina, Florida, and Louisiana submitted a set of electoral votes for each 

candidate. On January 29, 1877, the House adopted an independent 15-member 

Electoral Commission consisting of Representatives, Senators, and Supreme Court 

Justices—apportioned on party divisions in each body—to investigate the disputed 

electoral returns.The six black Representatives who served in the House during the 

discussion of the disputed election—three from two of the contested states—were 

among the minority opposing the establishment of the Electoral Commission.

John Lynch made two speeches opposing the commission and later observed in his 

autobiography that the office of the presidency was too important to be placed in 

“a game or scheme of luck and chance.”122 Joseph Rainey noted the constitutional 

quandary of establishing the commission, since the framers had never contemplated 

such a mechanism. “Once permit the Constitution to be made a mere piece of 

pottery to fashion as party exigencies seem to demand,” he warned his colleagues, 

“and in that moment we are cut adrift from safe moorings and carried beyond rescue 

upon tossing billows of the political sea.”123

The Electoral Commission ruled eight to seven in favor of electing Hayes by one 

electoral vote over Tilden. Though no black Representative was afforded time to 

speak on the subject, all voted in favor of the commission’s conclusion, supporting 

the election of a Republican candidate over a Democrat, despite their reservations 

about the commission’s formation.124 However, Hayes’s victory came at the cost of 

In the 1876 presidential election, three 

states—Florida, Louisiana, and South 

Carolina—submitted a set of electoral votes 

for both candidates, Democrat Samuel 

Tilden and Republican Rutherford B. 

Hayes. The House and Senate created an 

Electoral Commission to determine the 

victor in the disputed states. This print 

from Harper’s Weekly depicts Democratic 

Representative David Dudley Field of New 

York objecting to the Electoral Commission’s 

decision to award Hayes the Florida votes. 

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 41

congressional Reconstruction. The new administration pulled federal troops out of 

the South, unbinding southern Democrats’ ambitions to roll back the decade-long 

experiment in fostering racial equality. The new Republican President did little for 

black civil rights. A disillusioned John Lynch noted that “the Hayes administration 

not only completed the destruction of what had been thus accomplished, but made 

any further progress . . . absolutely impossible.”125

Without federal protection for southern blacks, the next decade marked a period 

of “redemption”—the capture and control over local and state governments by 

white supremacists in the South. Historian C. Vann Woodward notes that the racial 

interaction during Reconstruction “was strained. It was also temporary, and it was 

usually self-conscious. It was a product of contrived circumstances.”126 AfricanAmerican politicians examined anew their loyalty to the Republican Party. From his 

home in Macon, Georgia, Jefferson Long began encouraging black voters to vote 

for Independent Democrats if Republican candidates proved unsatisfactory. Long 

himself campaigned for several Independent candidates in the 1870s and 1880s.127

Robert De Large noted during his congressional service, “I hold that my race has 

always been Republican for necessity only.”128 After leaving Congress, he and fellow 

South Carolinians Richard Cain and Alonzo Ransier allied with Martin Delany— 

a disillusioned former Republican who had abandoned the party for the Democrats 

and talked of a third party for African Americans in the South.

A series of Supreme Court decisions throughout the last three decades of the 

19th century negated civil rights legislative gains and circumscribed protections for 

freedmen under the Reconstruction Amendments. The Supreme Court rejected the 

1873 Slaughterhouse Cases—a set of three lawsuits initiated by Louisiana butchers 

challenging a state law that centralized the state’s slaughterhouses into one private 

company. The butchers claimed protection under the 14th Amendment against 

state incursion on “privileges or immunities.” The decision limited the ability of the 

federal government to protect Black Americans by confining its power to influence 

the states on behalf of individual rights. The United States v. Cruikshank and United 

States v. Reese decisions weakened the 15th Amendment’s protection of voting rights 

in March 1876. Cruikshank initiated an erosion of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, as 

the court ruled the act did not guarantee First Amendment Rights. The high court in 

the Reese case opened a Pandora’s box with its finding that the 15th Amendment did 

not confer upon any individual the right to vote, but merely forbade states to give 

any citizen preferential treatment. In this light, the right to vote derived from states, 

rather than the federal government—leaving state governments to determine how 

voters were qualified and under what circumstances voting would be allowed. In 

United States v. Harris (1883), the court determined that federal laws did not apply 

to private persons, which proved a blow to the Ku Klux Klan Acts. That finding 

essentially unleashed white supremacists to attack any African American seeking 

to exercise his political rights.129

On October 15, 1883, the rollback of civil rights continued when the Supreme 

Court struck down the 1875 Civil Rights Bill’s weak provisions. Ruling 8 to 

1, the court declared the law unconstitutional in the Civil Rights Cases. The 

majority opinion asserted that individuals were relegated to appealing to state 

governments—which proved unfriendly to Black Americans in the South—to stop 

such discrimination.130 The two black Representatives serving at the time, James 

O’Hara and Robert Smalls, attempted unsuccessfully to revive portions of the Civil 

Redemption: 

A term used to denote either the 

political movement or the period in 

which white southerners worked to 

dismantle Reconstruction governments, 

disfranchise blacks, and reshape the 

South’s legal system to foster labor 

control and subordination of blacks 

to whites. 

 “The Colored Congressman”

The President’s dinners now are done,

And over all the bother;

He dined and wined ‘em every one,

But not the colored brother.

He took the Congressmen in turn—

There’s nothing could be fairer—

But the one whose turn came not at all

Was Congressman O’Hara.

In calling on the President

Of course his rights were stable;

He’d shake with “Chet,” but couldn’t get

His legs beneath “Chet’s” table.

If, scenting for the dinner’s fumes,

He pined for pork and “tater,”

His only living chance would be

To ring in as a waiter.

Of crowded off upon that track,

The next most likely switchin’

To hie him round in humbler guise

And chance it in the kitchen.

Which shows that black is hardly yet

The color of the winner

Since good Republicans still draw

The colored line at dinner.

Poem about Representative James 

O’Hara of North Carolina

From the Boston Star (reprinted in 

the Washington Post April 14, 1884)
42 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

Rights Bill shortly thereafter. In December 1884, O’Hara offered an amendment to 

an interstate commerce bill prohibiting discrimination on railroad cars. Joined by 

Representative Smalls on December 17, the two made arguments echoing those of 

their predecessors who fought for the Civil Rights Bill. However, O’Hara and Smalls 

served in a minority and were speaking in a different era. Even many congressional 

Republicans viewed racial equality as an irreconcilable division between the North 

and South that should be ignored politely rather than discussed. 

Conclusion

The 19th-century black Congressmen’s inability to rise within the congressional 

power structure circumscribed their legislative legacy and relegated them to a 

symbolic representation of the accomplishments of the Civil Rights Amendments 

and northern victory in the Civil War. Yet they remained forceful advocates for the 

civil and political rights of their constituents, despite the obstacles they faced in 

and out of Congress. Their role as surrogate representatives for millions of newly 

freed African Americans provided a representational blueprint for black Members 

in future generations. The mantle of advocacy figuratively passed from the pioneer 

generation when the aged John Lynch—living in Republican Oscar De Priest’s 

Chicago district in 1928—advised the new Member of Congress to place the 

interests of the African-American community before even partisan loyalty. “We need 

a man who will have the courage to attack not only his political opponents,” he 

told De Priest, “but those within his own party who fail to fight unfair legislation 

directed toward people of color.”131

The Supreme Court’s coup de grâce to the Civil Rights Bill marked the end of 

the federal government’s role as champion of freedmen. Over time, the government 

became impassive to the states’ diminution of blacks’ political and social status. 

Righteous Republicans excoriated southern Democrats for erecting an architecture of 

social and legal racial apartheid, while indignant southerners dismissed emblematic 

Republican racial initiatives as Janus-faced appeals to black voters. Both major 

parties regularly traded barbs about the “Negro issue” on the House and Senate 

floors. Thus, Congress shirked substantive legislative action to improve blacks’ 

quality of life, repeatedly refusing to pass additional provisions intended to safeguard 

their 14th and 15th Amendment rights. Recognizing that a new era had dawned, 

James O’Hara concluded, “It is too late for the American Congress to legislate on 

the question of color.”132 What would soon develop was a rigid system of segregation 

codified in state law and tacitly sanctioned by the federal government.

This Thomas Nast sketch from an 1877 

Harper’s Weekly made note of an AfricanAmerican man voting for a Democrat. 

Until that time, the Republican Party was 

the party of most blacks.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 43

Notes

1 Quoted in Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell 

Company, 1976): 9. Revels seems to attribute this quote to Massachusetts journalist Wendell 

Phillips. See “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. Woodson Collection of Negro Papers 

and Related Documents, box 11, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. 

2 U.S. Senators were elected by state legislatures until 1913, when the adoption of the 17th 

Amendment required their direct election. Jefferson Davis, formerly the President of the 

Confederacy, left his Senate seat at the same time Brown left his. The Union victors in the Civil 

War were quick to elevate Revels’s place in the chamber, representing the state that once selected 

Davis, as a symbolic moment; they played their message so well that contemporary newspapers 

and many historians mistakenly place Revels in Davis’s former seat. See, for example, Congressional 

Globe, Senate, 41st Cong., 2nd sess. (23 February 1870): 1513; Gath, “Washington,” 17 March 

1870, Chicago Tribune: 2; Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. 

Crowell Company, 1976): 5–6; Stephen Middleton, ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: 

A Documentary Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 320.

3 “The Negro United States Senator,” 3 March 1870, Atlanta Constitution: 3.

4 “Washington,” 27 February 1870, Chicago Tribune: 1.

5 “The Negro in Congress,” 7 March 1871, Chicago Tribune: 2.

6 President Lincoln issued a preliminary version of the Emancipation Proclamation on September 

22, 1862, after the Civil War battle of Antietam. In his message to the Confederacy, the President 

announced his intention to free the slaves in the rebellious states; one hundred days later he 

signed the official proclamation. For more information on the history of both proclamations, 

see James M. McPherson, Crossroads of Freedom: Antietam (New York: Oxford University Press, 

2002): 138–146; James M. McPherson, Battle Cry of Freedom (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1988): 562–563. See also the National Archives and Records Administration’s online 

“Featured Documents” at http://www.archives.gov/exhibits/featured_documents/emancipation_

proclamation/ (accessed 13 May 2008).

7 The Confederacy originally included 11 states (South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, 

Georgia, Louisiana, Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee).

8 Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 1863–1877 (New York: Harper & Row, 

1988): 230.

9 This includes the 21 formal vetoes and eight pocket vetoes issued by Johnson in the 39th and 40th 

Congresses (1865–1869). Johnson had the second-highest percentage of vetoes overridden (51.7 

percent). Franklin Pierce, who had 55.7 percent of his vetoes overridden, issued nine vetoes only 

to have five overridden by the 33rd and 34th Congresses (1853–1857). See Office of the Clerk, 

“Presidential Vetoes,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/vetoes.html.

10 Tennessee, which had rejoined the Union on July 24, 1866, was exempt from the requirements of 

the Reconstruction Act.

11 See Appendix J, Constitutional Amendments and Major Civil Rights Acts of Congress Referenced 

in the Text.

12 Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction (New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1993): xi.

13 Several historians discuss the impact of skin color on the stratification of free and enslaved black 

communities in different regions of the South from the colonial to the postbellum periods. 

Winthrop D. Jordan discusses the colonial period in “American Chiaroscuro: The Status and 

Definition of Mulattoes in the British Colonies,” in Edward Countryman ed., How Did American 

Slavery Begin? (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999). Both Eugene D. Genovese and Paul D. 

Escott discuss stratification within slave communities in the antebellum period: Genovese, Roll, 

Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (New York: Pantheon Books, 1974) and Escott, Slavery 

Remembered: A Record of Twentieth-Century Slave Narratives (Chapel Hill: University of North 

Carolina Press, 1979). For a discussion of the racial tensions within the free black communities 

in the antebellum period, see Ira Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum 

South (New York: The New Press, 1974). Joel Williamson provides a thorough history of racial 

miscegenation in the United States in New People: Miscegenation and Mulattoes in the United States

(New York: The Free Press, 1980). Willard Gatewood examines the effects of skin color on the 

postbellum elite communities in Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880–1920 (Fayetteville: 

University of Arkansas Press, 2000).
44 H Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss 

14 The word “mulatto” first came into English use around 1666 to define those of mixed race. The 

Oxford English Dictionary and most major American dictionaries do not classify “mulatto” as 

offensive; however, the word’s etymology is controversial. See The Oxford English Dictionary, 2nd 

ed., Vol. X., comp. J. A. Simpson and E. S. C. Weiner (Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1989), s.v. 

“mulatto”; Jordan, “American Chiaroscuro”: 102, 107.

15 Williamson, New People: 25; Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: 179.

16 Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: 57, 277, 161–164, 280–281; Gatewood, Aristocrats of Color: 160. 

In popular press accounts, skin tone was a prominent descriptor of Reconstruction-Era black 

Congressmen. Observers uniformly described Representative Joseph Rainey as having an “olive” 

or “bright” complexion upon nearly every mention when he was first elected in 1870. In contrast, 

Representative Robert Elliott, the first non-mulatto elected to Congress, was often described 

as a “full negro,” “purest African,” or the “darkest” or “blackest” yet elected. See, for example, 

“Black Enough,” 7 March 1871, Atlanta Constitution: 1; “Colored Congressmen,” 16 April 1874, 

National Republican (Washington, DC): 6; “Washington,” 2 April 1871, Chicago Tribune: 2; “How 

The Colored Members of Congress Look,” 16 May 1872, Volume 49, Zion’s Herald: 235; “South 

Carolina Congressmen,” 14 November 1870, New York Times: 2.

17 William C. Harris, “Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi: Conservative Assimilationist,” in Howard 

Rabinowitz, ed., Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: University of Illinois 

Press, 1982): 27, 33.

18 Genovese, Roll, Jordan, Roll: 561–564; Richard C. Wade, Slavery in the Cities: The South 

1820–1860 (London: Oxford University Press, 1964): 173–176; see, for example, the Virginia law 

cited in Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: 304–305.

19 “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. Woodson Collection, Library of Congress.

20 John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, 

8th ed. (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2000): 257.

21 In 1860, 74 percent of American newspapers reported a partisan affiliation; this figure jumped 

to 83 percent in the South. See Richard H. Abbot, For Free Press and Equal Rights: Republican 

Newspapers in the Reconstruction South (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 2004): 2.

22 Newspaper ownership generally skyrocketed in the Reconstruction period—the number of people 

identifying themselves as “editors,” “newsmen,” or “reporters,” doubled between 1870 and 1880 

and doubled again in the next decade. See Alan Bussel, Bohemians and Professionals: Essays on 

Nineteenth-Century American Journalism (Atlanta: Emory University Graduate Institute of the 

Liberal Arts, 1981): 7, 22.

23 Quoted in Joel Williamson, After Slavery: The Negro in South Carolina During Reconstruction, 

1861–1877 (Chapel Hill: The University of North Carolina Press, 1965): 206.

24 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: xxii (see Table 13). This is perhaps a low statistic given that 37 percent 

had unreported wealth. Also, black Congressmen on average were less wealthy than their white 

counterparts, who were typically worth between $11,000 and $15,000. See Terry L. Seip, The 

South Returns to Congress (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1983): 28 (see Table 4). 

According to a standard method of calculating the 21st-century value of 19th-century fortunes 

(taking 1870 as the basis year), the average black Member from the Reconstruction Era would 

have amassed roughly $92,000 in wealth in 2007 dollars. Senator Bruce’s fortune would translate 

into more than $2.3 million in 2007 dollars. The typical white Member of Congress in that time 

period had amassed a fortune of between $180,000 and $250,000 in 2007 dollars. These figures 

are drawn from calculations using the historical Consumer Price Index data. Other methods for 

making such calculations, including extrapolations based on the Gross Domestic Product, produce 

sometimes drastically different valuations. For an explanation of the difficulty in accounting for 

inflation conversion factors and determining the relative value of dollars over long periods of time 

see Oregon State University’s “Inflation Conversion Factors for Dollars, 1774 to Estimated 2018,” 

at http://oregonstate.edu/cla/polisci/faculty-research/sahr?sahr.htm (accessed 14 May 2008).

25 Lawrence Otis Graham, The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America’s First Black Dynasty

(New York: HarperCollins, 2006): 5–7.

26 Edward A. Miller, Jr., Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from Slavery to Congress, 1839–1915 

(Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1995): 58; Bernard E. Powers, Jr., Black 
Thhe Symbo mbolicic GGeneratio ration of of Black ack Ammerica ricanss iin Coongrressss, 1870–1887 , 1870–1887 H 45

Charlestonians, 1822–1885 (Fayetteville: The University of Arkansas Press, 1994): 169–170; 

Thomas C. Holt, Black Over White: Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina During 

Reconstruction (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977): 164–165; Foner, Reconstruction: 361.

27 Some sources note that Jeremiah Haralson of Alabama ran for Congress as a Democrat in the 1868 

election. See Loren Schweninger and Alston Fitts, III, “Haralson, Jeremiah,” American National 

Biography 10 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 37–38 (hereinafter referred to as ANB). 

Michael Dubin makes no mention of Haralson’s candidacy for the 1868 general election; it is 

possible Haralson failed to win the nomination. See Michael Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional 

Elections, 1788–1997 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 213.

28 Congressional Record, Appendix, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (30 July 1886): A319.

29 Quoted in Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 133.

30 For more on the Liberal Republican movement, see Andrew L. Slap, The Doom of Reconstruction: 

The Liberal Republicans in the Civil War Era (New York: Fordham University Press, 2006).

31 Michael Perman, The Road to Redemption: Southern Politics, 1869–1879 (Chapel Hill: University 

of North Carolina Press, 1984): 22–56.

32 Though the post–Civil War years saw the first interest in popular primaries, the convention system 

remained in place in the South. For more on this topic, see John F. Reynolds, The Demise of the 

American Convention System, 1880–1901 (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006); Charles 

Edward Merriam, Primary Elections (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1908): 1–17.

33 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: xii.

34 William L. Barney, “Scott, Robert Kingston,” 19 ANB: 505–507; Christine Doyle, “Moses, 

Franklin J., Jr.,” 15 ANB: 971–972.

35 Quoted in Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 103.

36 Congressional Record, Appendix, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (2 March 1875): A166–169.

37 Michael K. Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote (Boulder, CO: Lynne Reinner Publishers, 

2007): 34.

38 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess (13 June 1874): 4955.

39 Perman, The Road to Redemption: 38.

40 For a discussion of surrogate representation using modern examples, see Jane Mansbridge, “Should 

Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent ‘Yes,’” Journal of Politics 61 

(1999): 628–657.

41 See, for example, Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 February 1875): 957.

42 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood 

Press, 1986): 146. Ultimately, Rapier left his seat after one term to run against Representative 

Jeremiah Haralson in a neighboring black-majority district. Josiah Walls also served as an At-Large 

Representative in Florida—with a population that was 44 percent black—in the 42nd Congress 

(1871–1873). See Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1843–1883: 99. Senators 

Hiram Revels and Blanche Bruce were both elected to the Senate by Republican majority state 

legislatures in Mississippi, a state whose black population was more than 50 percent black in 1870. 

See Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: xiii.

43 Okun Edet Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: Robert Smalls, 1839–1915 (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1971): 32–36; Powers, Black Charlestonians: 81–85; Williamson, After Slavery: 

371.

44 For more names and state affiliations of white supremacist groups, see Franklin and Moss, From 

Slavery to Freedom: 275.

45 In response to the growing number of contested elections, the Senate created its Committee on 

Privileges and Elections on March 10, 1871. See David T. Canon et al., Committees in the U.S. 

Congress, 1789 to 1946, Volume 2 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2002): 

253–257.

46 Jeffrey A. Jenkins, “Partisanship and Contested Election Cases in the House of Representatives, 

1789–1902,” Studies in American Political Development 18 (Fall 2004): 130.
46 H Black Americans in Congress 

47 Loren Schweninger, “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble Cause of Reconstruction,” 

in Rabinowitz, ed., Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era: 86; Dubin et al., U.S. 

Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 230.

48 “The Election in Alabama,” 29 November 1884, New York Times: 1.

49 John Roy Lynch, Reminiscences of an Active Life: The Autobiography of John Roy Lynch, edited with 

an introduction by John Hope Franklin (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1970): 163–166.

50 John Hope Franklin, “John Roy Lynch: Republican Stalwart from Mississippi,” in Rabinowitz, ed., 

Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era: 47.

51 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (13 June 1876): 3781–3786.

52 Congressional Record, Senate, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (31 March 1876): 2101–2105.

53 Chester H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest of All the Contested Election Cases (Washington, 

DC: Government Printing Office, 1901). Though Rowell offers one of the most comprehensive 

sources on the activities of the Committee on Elections for this era, his data are incomplete. At 

least six contested elections cases involving black men are missing from his volume.

54 The New York Times reports that, according to the 1870 Census, the total black population of the 

District of Columbia was 43,404. See “The Census of 1870,” 8 July 1871, New York Times.

55 Gatewood, Aristocrats of Color: 38–68; Graham, The Senator and the Socialite: 101.

56 Boarding houses were common lodging for Representatives, who often spent the short sessions 

in Washington living away from their families. Representatives often depended on one another, 

as well as their neighbors, as social companions during their months in Washington. See Tom 

Shroder, “Out of the Mud,” 8 December 2002, Washington Post Magazine: 20–27, 41–48.

57 Congressional Directory, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 

1872): 120–125.

58 James Whyte, The Uncivil War: Washington During the Reconstruction, 1865–1878 (New York: 

Twayne Publishers, 1958): 242–243.

59 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (19 December 1873): 344.

60 Marie Le Baron, “Colored Congressmen,” 12 April 1874, St. Louis Daily Globe: 3.

61 James G. Blaine, Twenty Years of Congress From Lincoln to Garfield, Volume 2 (Norwich, CT: Henry 

Bill Publishing Co., 1886): 515.

62 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (15 July 1876): 4641–4644.

63 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (18 July 1876): 4707.

64 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (5 January 1874): 376.

65 Kirt H. Wilson, The Reconstruction Desegregation Debate: The Politics of Equality and the Rhetoric of 

Place, 1870–1875 (East Lansing: Michigan State University Press, 2002): 25.

66 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 January 1874): 901–903.

67 Charles Stewart III ranks the House Agriculture Committee as the chamber’s eighth most desirable 

panel for this era. However, no black member of the Agriculture Committee rose above the 

second-to-last ranking GOP Member. For more information, see Stewart, “Committee Hierarchies 

in the Modernizing House, 1875–1947,” American Journal of Political Science 36 (1992): 845–846. 

See also Canon et al., Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789 to 1946, Volume 3.

68 On the general topic of centralization of power in the House, which gave rise to the hierarchical 

committee system, see Peter Swenson, “The Influence of Recruitment on the Structure of Power 

in the U.S. House, 1870–1940,” Legislative Studies Quarterly VII (February 1982): 7–36. For an 

analysis of committee seniority see, Michael Aboam and Joseph Cooper, “The Rise of Seniority 

in the House of Representatives,” Polity 1 (Fall 1968): 52–84. For an analysis of factors that 

mitigate seniority as the determining factor in committee hierarchy as well as a discussion of when 

the seniority system solidified in the House, see Nelson Polsby, Miriam Gallaher, and Barry S. 

Rundquist, “The Growth of the Seniority System in the U.S. House of Representatives,” American 

Political Science Review 63 (September 1969): 787–807.

69 Canon et al., Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789 to 1946, Volume 4: 295.

70 Representative James O’Hara was an unofficial subcommittee chairman on the Committee on 

Invalid Pensions in the 49th Congress. See Appendix F, Black-American Chairs of Subcommittees 

of Standing Committees in the U.S. House and Senate, 1885–2007.
The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 H 47

71 The names and jurisdictions of these panels changed during the Reconstruction Era. In the House, 

the Education and Labor Committee was created in 1867 but was terminated in 1883 in favor of 

a Committee on Education and a Committee on Labor. In the Senate, the Education Committee 

was established in 1869 and was renamed the Committee on Education and Labor one year later. 

See Canon et al., Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789 to 1946, Volume 1: 65; ibid., Volume 2: 

77.

72 Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (23 February 1872): 809; quoted in 

Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 33.

73 For further reading, see Carl R. Osthaus, Freedmen, Philanthropy, and Fraud: A History of the 

Freedmen’s Savings Bank (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1976).

74 Graham, The Senator and the Socialite: 120–121.

75 These were: the Ku Klux Klan Act (16 Stat. 140–146, approved 31 May 1870), sometimes referred 

to as the Civil Rights Act of 1870; the Ku Klux Klan Act (16 Stat. 433–440, approved 28 February 

1871), sometimes referred to as the Civil Rights Act of 1871; and the Third Force Act (17 Stat. 

13–15, approved 20 April 1871).

76 Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 1st sess. (1 April 1871): 392.

77 Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (13 May 1872): 3382.

78 Congressional Globe, Appendix, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (30 May 1872): A530–531. The 

Congressional Globe was the precursor to the Congressional Record as a printed source for 

congressional debates, the last in a long series of privately published volumes. The increase in 

legislation and debate during the Civil War eventually overwhelmed the Globe’s printers. In 

1873, Congress transferred authority for publishing the debates to the Government Printing 

Office (GPO), which publishes them under the title Congressional Record. For more on this topic, 

see Elizabeth Gregory McPherson “The History of Reporting the Debates and Proceedings of 

Congress” (Ph.D. diss., University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1940).

79 For a concise summary of congressional civil rights legislation in the 19th and 20th centuries, see 

Donald Bacon et al., The Encyclopedia of the United States Congress, Volume 1 (New York: Simon 

and Schuster, 1995): 354–363. See also Appendix J, Constitutional Amendments and Major Civil 

Rights Acts of Congress Referenced in the Text

80 See S. No. 1, Congressional Record, Senate, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (2 December 1873): 2.

81 See H.R. 796, Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (18 December 1873): 318.

82 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (7 January 1874): 458. 

83 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (6 January 1874): 406.

84 Edward L. Pierce, Memoir and Letters of Charles Sumner, Volume 4 (New York: Arno Press, 1969): 

598.

85 Congressional Record, Senate, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (22 May 1874): 4176.

86 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (18 June 1874): 5162–5163.

87 Office of the Clerk, “Party Divisions,” http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/partyDiv.

html.

88 Steven W. Stathis, Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002: Major U.S. Acts and Treaties (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2003): 111.

89 Quoted in Foner, Reconstruction: 555.

90 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (4 February 1875): 978.

91 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 231.

92 Asher C. Hinds, Hinds’ Precedents of the House of Representatives, Volume 4 (Washington, 

DC: Government Printing Office, 1907): 353–354; Foner, Reconstruction: 555; Wilson, The 

Reconstruction Desegregation Debate: 38. Republicans lost some support in the final vote on the 

Civil Rights Bill because of the rule change. In a speech denouncing the bill, William Phelps of 

New Jersey noted, “In order to pass this bill we have altered the rules of procedure under which 

for fifty years this House has transacted its business.” See Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 

2nd sess. (4 February 1875): 1001. Debate was often very contentious, with Butler facing the 

brunt of the attacks. On February 3, 1875, Butler found himself squaring off in the center aisle of 

the House Chamber with William McLean of Texas when the latter accused Butler of denigrating 
the South. McLean hurled a personal insult at Butler, in violation of House Rules, and later 

retracted his comment. See Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 February 1875): 

940–941, 943. The following day, John Brown of Kentucky declared, “If I wished to describe all 

that was pusillanimous in war, inhuman in peace, forbidden in morals, and infamous in politics, 

I should call it ‘Butlerism.’” Brown was censured for his remarks. See Congressional Record, House, 

43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 1875): 985–992. An attempt to strike Butler’s words from the 

Congressional Record failed just before the Civil Rights Bill passed. See Congressional Record, House, 

43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 1875): 1008. Though they overwhelmingly favored censuring 

Brown, black Members remained silent during the more heated bickering on the House Floor. 

93 Wilson, The Reconstruction Desegregation Debate: 25.

94 See, for example, “Congress,” 7 January 1874, New York Times: 1.

95 “Congressman Elliott’s Speech,” 8 January 1874, Chicago Daily Tribune: 4.

96 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 32–33.

97 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 February 1875): 945.

98 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (9 June 1874): 4782–4785.

99 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 February 1875): 951, 952–953.

100 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (5 January 1874): 377.

101 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 February 1875): 953.

102 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 1875): 978. For further 

discussion of the constitutional arguments made during Civil Rights Bill debate, see Wilson, The 

Reconstruction Desegregation Debate: 151–181.

103 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (6 January 1874): 411.

104 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 1875): 983 (emphasis his).

105 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (7 January 1874): 455–456 (emphasis his).

106 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (10 January 1874): 565–567.

107 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (9 June 1874): 4782–4785.

108 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 February 1875): 944.

109 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 January 1874): 901–903. For more on 

the equality debate in the Civil Rights Bill, see Wilson, The Reconstruction Desegregation Debate: 

77–120.

110 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (5 January 1874): 385.

111 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (6 January 1874): 406.

112 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 1875): 998–999.

113 Wilson, The Reconstruction Desegregation Debate: 37.

114 Most black Members preferred the Senate version of the Civil Rights Bill. See, for example, 

Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 1875): 1001. Richard Cain 

expressed lukewarm support for Kellogg’s version, probably because of his firm rejection of the 

compromise “separate, but equal” legislation. See Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd 

sess. (4 February 1875): 982.

115 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 February 1875): 943–947.

116 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 January 1874): 901–903.

117 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (7 February 1874): 1314.

118 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 1875): 982.

119 Ibid., 1001.

120 Ibid., 1011.

121 Congressional Record, Senate, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (27 February 1875): 1870; Congressional Record, 

House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (1 March 1875): 2013.

122 Lynch, Reminiscences of an Active Life: The Autobiography of John Roy Lynch: 195.

123 Congressional Record, Appendix, 44th Cong., 2nd sess. (25 January 1877): A60.

124 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 2nd sess. (28 February 1877): 2019–2020.

48 H Black Americans in Congress 
125 Lynch, Reminiscences of an Active Life: The Autobiography of John Roy Lynch: 201.

126C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow (New York: Oxford University Press, 1955; 

reprint 2002): 29.

127 John M. Matthews, “Long, Jefferson Franklin,” ANB 13 (New York: Oxford University Press, 

1999): 875–876.

128 Quoted in Timothy P. McCarthy, “DeLarge, Robert Carlos,” ANB 6: 383–384; Joel Williamson, 

After Slavery: 359.

129 For more information, see Slaughterhouse Cases 83 U.S. 36 (1873), United States v. Cruikshank 

92 U.S. 542 (1876), United States v. Reese 92 U.S. 214 (1876), United States v. Harris 106 U.S. 

629 (1883), and Civil Rights Cases 109 U.S. 3 (1883). The various cases are discussed in detail in 

Kermit L. Hall, ed., The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United States (New York: 

Oxford University Press, 2002).

130 Robert J. Cottrol, “Civil Rights Cases,” in Hall, ed., The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court 

of the United States: 149.

131 Franklin, “Introduction,” in Lynch, Reminiscences of an Active Life: The Autobiography of John 

Roy Lynch: xxx.

132 Congressional Record, House, 48th Cong., 2nd sess. (17 December 1884): 317.

The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 H 49
50 H Black Americans in Congress

1869 1871 1873 1875 1877 1879 1881 1883 1885 1887 1889

Hiram Revels

Joseph Rainey

Jefferson Long

Benjamin Turner

Robert De Large

Robert Elliott

Josiah Walls

Richard Cain

John Lynch

Alonso Ransier

James Rapier 

Blanche Bruce

Jeremiah Haralson

John Hyman 

Charles Nash

Robert Smalls

James O’Hara

house republicans

senate republicans

Congressional Service for Black Americans First Elected, 1870–1886

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2005); also available at http://bioguide.congress.gov.

H Visual statistics iI H
The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 H 51

R

republicans

other

democrats

41st (1869–1871)

42nd (1871–1873)

43rd (1873–1875)

44th (1875–1877)

45th (1877–1879)

46th (1879–1881)

48th (1883–1885)

47th (1881–1883)

49th (1885–1887)

50

100

150

200

S

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

41st (1869–1871)

42nd (1871–1873)

43rd (1873–1875)

44th (1875–1877)

45th (1877–1879)

46th (1879–1881)

47th (1881–1883)

48th (1883–1885)

49th (1885–1887)

republicans

other

democrats

Party Divisions in the House of Representatives 

41st–49th Congresses (1869–1887)*

Party Divisions in the Senate

41st–49th Congresses (1869–1887)

Sources: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives; U.S. Senate Historical Office. 

*Does not include Delegates or Resident Commissioners. 
52 H Black Americans in Congress

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

Contested Elections in the U.S. House of Representatives

1789–1901

1st (1789–1791)

6th (1799–1801)

11th (1809–1811)

16th (1819–1821)

21st (1829–1831)

26th (1839–1841)

31st (1849–1851)

36th (1859–1861)

41st (1869–1871)

46th (1879–1881)

51st (1889–1891)

56th (1899–1901)

C E C

Contested Election Cases in the 

U.S. House of Representatives, 1789–1901

Source: Chester H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest of All the Contested Election Cases (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1901).
The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 H 53

total cases

from former confederate states 

involving black candidates

39th (1865–1867)

40th (1867–1869)

41st (1869–1871)

42nd (1871–1873)

43rd (1873–1875)

44th (1875–1877)

45th (1877–1879)

46th (1879–1881)

47th (1881–1883)

48th (1883–1885)

49th (1885–1887)

50th (1887–1889)

51st (1889–1891)

52nd (1891–1893)

53rd (1893–1895)

54th (1895–1897)

55th (1897–1899)

56th (1899–1901)

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

C E C

Contested Election Cases in the 

U.S. House of Representatives, 1865–1901

Source: Chester H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest of All the Contested Election Cases (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1901).

total cases

from former confederate states 

involving black candidates

39th (1865–1867)

40th (1867–1869)

41st (1869–1871)

42nd (1871–1873)

43rd (1873–1875)

44th (1875–1877)

45th (1877–1879)

46th (1879–1881)

47th (1881–1883)

48th (1883–1885)

49th (1885–1887)

50th (1887–1889)

51st (1889–1891)

52nd (1891–1893)

53rd (1893–1895)

54th (1895–1897)

55th (1897–1899)

56th (1899–1901)

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

40

C E C
54 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Afreedman his entire life, Hiram Rhodes Revels was the 

 first African American to serve in the U.S. Congress. 

With his moderate political orientation and oratorical skills 

honed from years as a preacher, Revels filled a vacant seat 

in the United States Senate in 1870. Just before the Senate 

agreed to admit a black man to its ranks on February 25, 

Republican Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts 

sized up the importance of the moment: “All men are 

created equal, says the great Declaration,” Sumner roared, 

“and now a great act attests this verity. Today we make the 

Declaration a reality. . . . The Declaration was only half 

established by Independence. The greatest duty remained 

behind. In assuring the equal rights of all we complete 

the work.”1

Hiram Rhodes Revels was born to free parents in 

Fayetteville, North Carolina, on September 27, 1827. His 

father worked as a Baptist preacher, and his mother was 

of Scottish descent. He claimed his ancestors “as far back 

as my knowledge extends, were free,” and, in addition to 

his Scottish background, he was rumored to be of mixed 

African and Croatan Indian lineage.2 In an era when 

educating black children was illegal in North Carolina, 

Revels attended a school taught by a free black woman and 

worked a few years as a barber. In 1844, he moved north 

to complete his education. Revels attended the Beech 

Grove Quaker Seminary in Liberty, Indiana, and the Darke 

County Seminary for black students, in Ohio. In 1845, 

Revels was ordained in the African Methodist Episcopal 

(AME) Church. His first pastorate was likely in Richmond, 

Indiana, where he was elected an elder to the AME Indiana 

Conference in 1849.3 In the early 1850s, Revels married 

Phoebe A. Bass, a free black woman from Ohio, and they 

had six daughters.4

Revels traveled throughout the country, carrying out 

religious work and educating fellow African Americans 

in Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, and Tennessee. 

Although Missouri forbade free blacks to live in the state 

for fear they would instigate uprisings, Revels took a 

pastorate at an AME Church in St. Louis in 1853, noting 

that the law was “seldom enforced.” However, Revels later 

revealed he had to be careful because of restrictions on his 

movements. “I sedulously refrained from doing anything 

that would incite slaves to run away from their masters,” he 

recalled. “It being understood that my object was to preach 

the gospel to them, and improve their moral and spiritual 

condition even slave holders were tolerant of me.”5

 Despite 

his cautiousness, Revels was imprisoned for preaching 

to the black community in 1854. Upon his release, he 

accepted a position with the Presbyterian Church in 

Baltimore, Maryland, working alongside his brother, 

Willis Revels, also an AME pastor. Hiram Revels was the 

principal of a black school in Baltimore and subsequently 

attended Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, graduating in 

1857. He was one of the few college-educated black men 

in the United States.

When the Civil War broke out in 1861, Revels helped 

recruit two black regiments from Maryland. In 1862, 

when black soldiers were permitted to fight, he served 

as the chaplain for a black regiment in campaigns in 

Vicksburg and Jackson, Mississippi. In 1863, Revels 

returned to St. Louis, where he established a freedmen’s 

school. At the end of hostilities, Revels served in a church 

in Leavenworth, Kansas. While traveling in Kansas, Revels 

and his family were asked to sit in the smoking car rather 

than the car for first-class ticket holders. Revels protested 

that the language in the smoking car was too coarse for 

his wife and children, and the conductor finally relented. 

Revels served in churches in Louisville, Kentucky, and 

New Orleans, Louisiana, before settling in Natchez, 

Mississippi, in 1866.

Hiram Rhodes Revels

1827–1901

United States Senator H 1870–1871

Republican from Mississippi

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 55
56 H Black Americans in Congress

H Hiram Rhodes Revels H

Before the Civil War, fewer than 1,000 free black 

Mississippians had access to a basic education. Thus, 

leadership from freedmen such as Revels became vital to 

the Republican Party for rallying the new electorate in the 

postwar years.6 It was through his work in education that 

Revels became involved in politics, taking his first elected 

position as a Natchez alderman in 1868. He entered 

politics reluctantly, fearing racial friction and interference 

with his religious work, but he quickly won over blacks 

and whites with his moderate and compassionate political 

opinions. In 1869, encouraged to run by a friend, future 

Representative John Roy Lynch, Revels won a seat in 

the Mississippi state senate.7

 Under the newly installed 

Reconstruction government, Revels was one of more than 

30 African Americans among the state’s 140 legislators.8

Upon his election, he wrote a friend in Leavenworth, 

Kansas: “We are in the midst of an exciting canvass. 

. . . I am working very hard in politics as well as in 

other matters. We are determined that Mississippi shall 

be settled on a basis of justice and political and legal 

equality.”9 A little-known politician, Revels attracted the 

attention of fellow legislators when he gave a moving 

prayer on the opening day of the session. 

The primary task of the newly elected state senate was 

to fill U.S. Senate seats. In 1861, Democrat Albert Brown 

and future Confederate President Jefferson Davis both 

vacated Mississippi’s U.S. Senate seats when the state 

seceded from the Union.10 When their terms expired in 

1865 and 1863, respectively, their seats were not filled 

and remained vacant. In 1870, the new Mississippi 

state legislature wished to elect a black man to fill the 

remainder of one term, due to expire in 1871 for the seat 

once held by Brown, but was determined to fill the other 

unexpired term, ending in 1875, with a white candidate.11

Black legislators agreed to the deal, believing, as Revels 

recalled, that an election of one of their own would “be 

a weakening blow against color line prejudice.” The 

Democratic minority also endorsed the plan, hoping a 

black Senator would “seriously damage the Republican 

Party.”12 After three days and seven ballots, on January 

20, 1870, the Mississippi state legislature voted 85 to 15 

to seat Hiram Revels in Brown’s former seat. They chose 

Union General Adelbert Ames to fill Davis’s former seat.

Revels arrived in Washington at the end of January 

1870, but could not present his credentials until 

Mississippi was readmitted to the United States on 

February 23. Senate Republicans sought to swear in Revels 

immediately afterwards, but Senate Democrats were 

determined to block the effort. Led by Senator Garrett 

Davis of Kentucky and Senator Willard Saulsbury of 

Delaware, the Democrats claimed Revels’s election was 

null and void, arguing that Mississippi was under military 

rule and lacked a civil government to confirm his election. 

Others claimed Revels was not a U.S. citizen until the 

passage of the 14th Amendment in 1868 and was therefore 

ineligible to become a U.S. Senator. Senate Republicans 

rallied to his defense. Though Revels would not fill 

Davis’s seat, the symbolism of a black man’s admission 

to the Senate after the departure of the former President 

of the Confederacy was not lost on Radical Republicans. 

Nevada Senator James Nye underlined the significance 

of this event: “[Jefferson Davis] went out to establish a 

government whose cornerstone should be the oppression 

and perpetual enslavement of a race because their skin 

differed in color from his,” Nye declared. “Sir, what a 

magnificent spectacle of retributive justice is witnessed 

here today! In the place of that proud, defiant man, who 

marched out to trample under foot the Constitution 

and the laws of the country he had sworn to support, 

comes back one of that humble race whom he would 

have enslaved forever to take and occupy his seat upon 

this floor.”13 On the afternoon of February 25, the Senate 

voted 48 to 8 to seat Revels, who subsequently received 

assignments to the Committee on Education and Labor 

and the Committee on the District of Columbia. 

Although Revels viewed himself as “a representative 

of the State, irrespective of color,” he also represented 

freedmen and, as such, received petitions from black men 

and women from all states.14 His sense that he represented 

his entire race was evident in his maiden speech, in which 
former members | 1870–1887 H 57

H Hiram Rhodes Revels H

he spoke in favor of reinstating black legislators forced 

from office in Georgia. In April 1868, Georgia voters 

had ratified the state’s constitution, enfranchising African 

Americans and thus, under the terms of Congressional 

Reconstruction, taking a necessary step toward the 

state’s re-admission to the Union. In the same election, 

Georgians sent 29 black legislators to the state house of 

representatives and three to the state senate. Yet, when the 

legislature met in July, moderate white Republicans joined 

Democrats in both chambers to unseat the black members, 

arguing that the state constitution did not permit black 

officeholders. Spurred to action, black Georgians appealed 

to Congress for federal intervention before Georgia was 

readmitted to the Union. On March 16, 1870, before a 

packed chamber and a gallery filled with black men and 

women, Revels argued that the North and the Republican 

Party owed Georgian black legislators their support: 

“I remarked that I rose to plead for protection for the 

defenseless race that now send their delegation to the seat 

of Government to sue for that which this Congress alone 

can secure to them. And here let me say further, that 

the people of the North owe to the colored race a deep 

obligation that is no easy matter to fulfill.”15 In his speech, 

Revels professed his loyalty to and faith in the Republican 

Party, claiming, “the Republican party is not inflamed, as 

some would . . . have the country believe, against the white 

population of the South. Its borders are wide enough for 

all truly loyal men to find within them some peace and 

repose from the din and discord of angry faction.”16 The 

Georgia legislature eventually agreed to a congressional 

mandate reinstating the legislators as a requirement for reentry into the Union in July 1870.17

Revels also favored universal amnesty for former 

Confederates, requiring only their sworn loyalty to the 

Union. “I am in favor of removing the disabilities of those 

upon whom they are imposed in the South, just as fast as 

they give evidence of having become loyal and being loyal,” 

Revels declared. “If you can find one man in the South 

who gives evidence that he is a loyal man, and gives that 

evidence in the fact that he has ceased to denounce the 

laws of Congress as unconstitutional, has ceased to oppose 

them, and respects them and favors the carrying of them 

out, I am in favor of removing his disabilities.”18 Revels’s 

support for the bill, which eventually passed, solidified his 

reputation as a political moderate. 

Although Revels sided with Radical Republicans in 

opposing Ohio Senator Allen Thurman’s amendment 

perpetuating segregated schools in the District of 

Columbia, his views on social integration of blacks and 

whites were less sanguine than those of his colleagues. 

Revels clearly rejected legal separation of the races, 

believing it led to animosity between blacks and whites, 

but he did not view forced social mixing as desirable or 

necessary. He cited mixed-race churches in northern cities, 

where a congregation would worship together on Sundays 

but part ways for the remainder of the week. In one of 

his most gripping floor speeches, he said: “I find that 

the prejudice in this country to color is very great, and I

sometimes fear that it is on the increase. . . . If the nation 

should take a step for the encouragement of this prejudice 

against the colored race, can they have any grounds upon 

which to predicate a hope that Heaven will smile upon 

them and prosper them?”19 As a former teacher, Revels 

appreciated the need to educate freed slaves, claiming, “The 

colored race can be built up and assisted . . . in acquiring 

property, in becoming intelligent, valuable, useful citizens, 

without one hair upon the head of any white man being 

harmed.”20 Revels believed the abolition of segregation 

statutes would result in less prejudice, saying, “Let 

lawmakers cease to make the difference, let school trustees 

and school boards cease to make the difference, and the 

people will soon forget.”21

With mixed results, Revels also promoted Black 

Americans’ civil rights by less conventional means. In 

May 1870, he startled the military establishment when he 

nominated black candidate Michael Howard to the U.S. 

Army Military Academy at West Point, long a bastion of 

southern white gentlemen. Revels knew Howard’s parents, 

former slaves, and Howard’s father had served in the state 

legislature. Critics claimed Revels callously and publicly 
58 H Black Americans in Congress

H Hiram Rhodes Revels H

humiliated the youth, who had little formal education and 

was not admitted to West Point, and supporters claimed 

the school administration’s prejudice had blocked Howard’s 

entrance.22 Additionally, Revels successfully appealed to 

the War Department on behalf of black mechanics from 

Baltimore who were barred from working at the U.S. Navy 

Yard in early 1871, an accomplishment he recalled with 

great pride. 23

After the expiration of his Senate term on March 3, 

1871, Revels declined several patronage positions, offered 

by President Ulysses S. Grant at the recommendation 

of Senators Oliver Morton of Indiana and Zachariah 

Chandler of Michigan. He returned to Mississippi to 

become the first president of Alcorn University (formerly 

Oakland College), named for his political ally Governor 

James Alcorn. Located in Rodney, Mississippi, Alcorn 

University was the first land-grant school in the United 

States for black students.24 Revels took a leave of absence 

in 1873 to serve as Mississippi’s interim secretary of state 

after the sudden death of his friend James Lynch. During 

this period, Revels grew more critical of the corruption in 

the Republican Party, and he resigned from his position 

at Alcorn in 1874 to avoid being removed by his political 

rival and former Senate colleague, then-Mississippi 

Governor Adelbert Ames. Revels returned to the ministry, 

taking a pastorate at a church in Holly Springs, Mississippi. 

In the violent and controversial 1875 election campaign, 

he supported several Democrats. In 1876, when a U.S. 

Senate select committee questioned him about the welldocumented fraud and violence in the previous year’s 

election, Revels testified that to the best of his knowledge, 

conditions had been relatively peaceful and he was unaware 

of any widespread violence. His statement was met with 

skepticism by many Mississippi black voters. Revels 

returned to his former position as president of Alcorn 

University in July 1876. He also edited the Southwestern 

Christian Advocate newspaper, the official organ of the 

AME Church. Revels retired in 1882 and returned to his 

former church in Holly Springs. He remained active in the 

religious community, teaching theology at Shaw University 

(later Rust College) in Holly Springs, Mississippi, and 

serving as the AME’s district superintendent. He died of a 

paralytic stroke in Aberdeen, Mississippi, on January 16, 

1901, while attending a religious conference. 
H Hiram Rhodes Revels H

For Further Reading

Lawson, Elizabeth. The Gentleman From Mississippi: Our 

First Negro Representative, Hiram R. Revels (New York: 

privately printed, 1960).

“Revels, Hiram Rhodes,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000166. 

Thompson, Julius E. Hiram R. Revels, 1827–1901: A 

Biography (New York: Arno Press, 1982).

_____. “Hiram Rhodes Revels, 1827–1901: A

Reappraisal,” The Journal of Negro History 79 (Summer 

1994): 297–303.

Manuscript Collections

New York Public Library (New York, NY) Schomburg 

Center for Research in Black Culture. Papers: ca. 

1870–1948, one linear foot. The Hiram Revels Collection 

consists principally of a scrapbook of news clippings 

in addition to biographical articles about Revels. The 

scrapbook (1870–1893) discusses Revels as a U.S. Senator, 

pastor of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and 

president of Alcorn University. It also describes local 

events and contains homilies and miscellany as well as 

some letters to Revels and programs and invitations. The 

collection includes several letters from Revels to his family 

(1870–1900); a biographical sketch about Revels written 

in the first person, apparently by his daughter, Susan; 

a typescript of an obituary of Revels; and legal papers 

regarding the settlement of his estate. There also are letters 

soliciting information about Revels from Hermann R. 

Muelder of Knox College, who planned to write an article 

about him. Obituaries of Susan Revels Cayton complete 

the collection.

Brown University, John Hay Library (Providence, RI). 

Papers: 1870, one item. A letter from Hiram Revels to Mrs. 

Philip Allen written on March 4, 1870. 

Library of Congress (Washington, DC) Manuscript 

Division. Papers: In the Carter G. Woodson Papers, ca. 

1736–1974, 21.2 linear feet. Persons represented include 

Hiram Revels. 

Mississippi Department of Archives and History

(Jackson, MS) Papers: In the Congressmen’s Files, 

1815–1979, 2003. Persons represented include 

Hiram Revels.

former members | 1870–1887 H 59
60 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

H Hiram Rhodes Revels H

12 “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. Woodson 

Collection, LC.

13 Congressional Globe, Senate, 41st Cong., 2nd sess. (23 February 

1870): 1513. The enthusiasm with which Republicans in Congress 

and the media heralded Revels’s admission to the Senate inspired 

the erroneous story common in the historical record that Revels 

took Davis’s former seat instead of Brown’s. See, for example, Gath, 

“Washington,” 17 March 1870, Chicago Tribune: 2; Christopher, 

Black Americans in Congress: 5–6; Stephen Middleton, ed., Black 

Congressmen During Reconstruction: A Documentary Sourcebook 

(Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 320. 

14 Quoted in Lawson, The Gentleman From Mississippi: 16, 22–23. 

15 Congressional Globe, Senate, 41st Cong., 2nd sess. (16 March 1870): 

1986–1988. For an indication of the number of African Americans 

in the gallery for Revels’s maiden speech, see “By Telegraph,” 15 

March 1870, Atlanta Constitution: 2.

16 Congressional Globe, Senate, 41st Cong., 2nd sess. (16 March 1870): 

1986–1988.

17 John M. Matthews, “Negro Republicans in the Reconstruction 

of Georgia,” in Donald G. Nieman, ed., The Politics of Freedom: 

African Americans and the Political Process During Reconstruction

(New York: Garland Publishing, Inc., 1994): 253–268; W. E. B. 

Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (New York: Harcourt, 

Brace, 1935 under the title Black Reconstruction; New York: Free 

Press, 1998): 500–504 (citations are to the Free Press edition).

18 Congressional Globe, Senate, 41st Cong., 2nd sess. (17 May 1870): 

3520. Revels was so adamant about clarifying his position on 

amnesty, he reprinted this speech in his unpublished autobiography. 

See “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. Woodson 

Collection, LC.

19 Congressional Globe, Senate, 41st Cong., 3rd sess. (8 February 

1871): 1059–1060.

20 Ibid.

21 Quoted in Lawson, The Gentleman From Mississippi: 41.

22 Michael Howard was not admitted to West Point because he failed 

the entrance exam. See Williams, “Revels, Hiram Rhoades,” ANB. 

See also, for example, “West Point,” 28 May 1870, New York 

Times: 4.

23 See “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. Woodson 

Collection, LC.

24 Revels noted that the state legislature tried to name the school 

after him, but he insisted it remain named for the governor. 

See “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. Woodson 

Collection, LC.

NOTES

1 Congressional Globe, Senate, 41st Cong., 2nd sess. (25 February 

1870): 1567.

2 Elizabeth Lawson, The Gentleman From Mississippi: Our First 

Negro Representative, Hiram R. Revels (New York: privately 

printed, 1960): 8; “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. 

Woodson Collection of Negro Papers and Related Documents, 

box 11, Manuscript Division, Library of Congress, Washington, 

DC (hereinafter referred to as LC) Revels’s parents’ names are not 

known.

3 Revels’s travels took him to as many as eight states before the 

Civil War. It is difficult to determine in which state he began his 

ministry. See Kenneth H. Williams, “Revels, Hiram Rhoades,” 

American National Biography 18 (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1999): 367–369 (hereinafter referred to as ANB). Williams is 

one of the few historians to spell Revels’s middle name “Rhoades.” 

In his handwritten autobiography, Revels lists several states where 

he ministered, Indiana being the first; see “Autobiography of Hiram 

Revels,” Carter G. Woodson Collection, LC.

4 Revels’s daughter, Susan—the only one of his children whose name 

is known—edited a black newspaper in Seattle, Washington.

5 “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. Woodson 

Collection, LC.

6 Julius E. Thompson, “Hiram Rhodes Revels, 1827–1901: A

Reappraisal,” The Journal of Negro History 79 (Summer 1994): 298.

7 “Autobiography of Hiram Revels,” Carter G. Woodson 

Collection, LC.

8 Historians disagree about the number of black Mississippi state 

senators elected in 1869 (figures range from 34 to 40). See Kenneth 

Potts, “Hiram Rhoades Revels,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable 

Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 

1999): 145; Lawson, The Gentleman From Mississippi: 14; Williams, 

“Revels, Hiram Rhoades,” ANB; Maurine Christopher, Black 

Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 

1976): 3.

9 Quoted in Lawson, The Gentleman From Mississippi: 13.

10 U.S. Senators were selected by state legislatures until 1913, when 

the adoption of the 17th Amendment required their direct election.

11 For more about the chronological order of United States Senators 

from Mississippi, see Senate Historical Office, “U.S. Senators 

from Mississippi,” available at http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/

senators/one_item_and_teasers/mississippi.htm (accessed 5 

September 2007). See also, Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–2005 (Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, 2006): 180.
As a former teacher, 

Revels appreciated the need 

to educate freed slaves, 

claiming, “The colored race 

can be built up and assisted 

. . . in acquiring property, 

in becoming intelligent, 

valuable, useful citizens, 

without one hair upon the 

head of any white man 

being harmed.”

former members | 1870–1887 H 61
62 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Born into slavery, Joseph Rainey was the first 

African American to serve in the U.S. House of 

Representatives, the first African American to preside 

over the House, and the longest-serving African 

American during the tumultuous Reconstruction 

period. While Rainey’s representation—like that of the 

other black Congressmen of the era—was symbolic, he 

also demonstrated the political nuance of a seasoned, 

substantive Representative, balancing his defense of 

southern blacks’ civil rights by extending amnesty to the 

defeated Confederates. “I tell you that the Negro will never 

rest until he gets his rights,” he said on the House Floor. 

“We ask [for civil rights] because we know it is proper,” 

Rainey added, “not because we want to deprive any other 

class of the rights and immunities they enjoy, but because 

they are granted to us by the law of the land.”1

Joseph Hayne Rainey was born on June 21, 1832, 

to Grace and Edward L. Rainey in Georgetown, South 

Carolina, a seaside town consisting mainly of rice 

plantations. The Raineys raised at least one other child, 

Edward, Jr. Grace Rainey was of French descent. Edward 

Rainey was a barber, and his master permitted him to work 

independently if he shared some of his profits, as required 

by law. Rainey used his earnings to buy his family’s 

freedom in the early 1840s, and in 1846 the family moved 

to Charleston, South Carolina, where Edward became a 

barber at the exclusive Mills House Hotel. As giving official 

instruction to black children was illegal, Joseph Rainey 

received a limited education and his father taught him the 

barber’s trade. By the 1850s, Edward Rainey could afford to 

buy two male slaves for his family.2 In 1859, Joseph Rainey 

traveled to Philadelphia, where he met and married his 

wife, Susan, also a half-French mulatto, originally from the 

West Indies. Rainey continued to work as a barber, and the 

couple had three children: Joseph II, Herbert, and Olivia.

The Confederate Army called Rainey to service when 

the Civil War broke out in 1861. At first, he dug trenches 

to fortify the outskirts of Charleston. He later worked 

as a cook and a steward aboard a blockade runner, a 

Confederate ship charged with carrying tradable goods 

through the Union Navy’s blockade of the South. In 1862, 

he and his wife escaped to Bermuda. The self-governed 

British colony had abolished slavery in 1834, and proved 

a hospitable home for the Raineys, who took advantage of 

the thriving economy and growing population that resulted 

from the lucrative blockade-running business.3

 The Raineys 

lived in St. George and Hamilton, Bermuda, where Joseph 

set up a successful barbershop and Susan Rainey opened a 

dress store.4

 The Raineys were informed about the progress 

of the Civil War by passing sailors and, after the Union 

victory, returned to Charleston in 1866. 

The wealth Joseph Rainey acquired in Bermuda elevated 

his status in the community, and looked upon as a leader, 

he soon became active in the Republican Party. In 1867, 

Rainey returned to Georgetown, South Carolina, and 

became the Republican county chairman. When a state 

constitutional convention was called in 1868, Rainey 

traveled to Charleston to represent Georgetown. In 1869, 

he also attended a state labor commission and served as 

Georgetown’s census taker. In the late 1860s, he worked as 

an agent for the state land commission and was a brigadier 

general in the state militia. Joseph Rainey was elected to 

his first public office in 1870 when he won a seat in the 

state senate, where he immediately became chairman of the 

finance committee. 

In February 1870, Representative Benjamin F. 

Whittemore resigned his northeastern South Carolina 

seat, having been charged with selling appointments to 

U.S. military academies. The Republican Party nominated 

Rainey for the remainder of Whittemore’s term in the 41st 

Joseph Hayne Rainey

1832–1887

United States Representative H 1870–1879

Republican from S outh Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 63
64 H Black Americans in Congress

H Joseph Hayne Rainey H

Congress (1869–1871) and for a full term in the 42nd 

Congress (1871–1873). On October 19, 1870, Rainey 

won the full term, topping Democrat C. W. Dudley by 

a substantial majority (63 percent). On November 8, 

he defeated Dudley once again, garnering more than 86 

percent of the vote, in a special election to fill the seat 

for the remainder of the 41st Congress.5 Joseph Rainey 

was sworn in on December 12, 1870, as the first African 

American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

One month later he was joined by the second black 

Member, Representative Jefferson Long of Georgia. 

Rainey’s moderate policies were met with approval by both 

African-American and white voters, and he was elected 

without opposition to the 43rd Congress (1873–1875). 

Rainey advocated for his constituents—both black and 

white. He used his growing political clout to influence 

the South Carolina state legislature to retain the customs 

duty on rice, the chief export of the district and the state. 

He also submitted a petition to improve Charleston 

Harbor and fought against an appropriations cut for 

Fort Moultrie and Fort Sumter in Charleston. However, 

Rainey’s committee appointments and policies reflected 

his desire to defend black civil rights, and his loyalty to the 

Republican Party. Rainey received seats on three standing 

committees: Freedmen’s Affairs (41st–43rd Congresses), 

Indian Affairs (43rd Congress), and Invalid Pensions 

(44th–45th Congresses, 1875–1879). He also served on 

several select committees, including the Select Committee 

on the Centennial Celebration and the Proposed National 

Census of 1875 (44th Congress) and the Committee on 

the Freedmen’s Bank (44th Congress). 

Rainey’s work on the Committee on Freedmen’s 

Affairs—created in 1865 to handle all legislation 

concerning newly freed slaves—earned him the most 

recognition.6 On April 1, 1871, he delivered his first major 

speech, arguing for the use of federal troops to protect 

southern blacks from the recently organized Ku Klux 

Klan. Enumerating the dangers of returning home to 

South Carolina on congressional breaks, exposing himself 

to violence by the Red Shirts—a virulent South Carolina 

white supremacist organization—Rainey said, “When 

myself and my colleagues shall leave these Halls and turn 

our footsteps toward our southern homes, we know not 

that the assassin may await our coming, as marked for his 

vengeance.”7

 The Ku Klux Klan Act was signed into law 

by President Ulysses S. Grant on April 20, 1871, but the 

bill failed to stop Klan terrorism.8 After his speech, Rainey 

received a letter written in red ink instructing him and 

other advocates of black civil rights to “prepare to meet 

your God.”9

 White southerners virtually ignored the Ku 

Klux Klan Act, and congressional opponents circumvented 

its provisions by eliminating funding. In March of 

1872, Rainey found himself arguing for the federal 

appropriations needed to enforce the act.10

Rainey also advocated Radical Republican Senator 

Charles Sumner’s Civil Rights Bill of 1875, which 

outlawed racial discrimination on juries, in schools, on 

transportation, and in public accommodations. Sumner 

believed a law passed in 1872 granting amnesty to former 

Confederates should be conditioned by the passage of his 

civil rights bill. Although Rainey favored the Amnesty Act, 

which allowed most former Confederates to regain their 

political rights, he agreed with Sumner because of personal 

experience with discrimination in both Washington and 

South Carolina, ranging from exorbitant charges for drinks 

at a pub, to more serious violations of his civil rights. 

Rainey also described widespread segregation on public 

transportation, including trains and streetcars. Speaking 

for his black constituents, he declared, “We are earnest in 

our support of the Government. We were earnest in the 

house of the nation’s perils and dangers; and now, in our 

country’s comparative peace and tranquility, we are earnest 

for our rights.”11

Rainey focused on the bill’s provisions for desegregation 

in public schools, an issue that had bedeviled race relations 

for more than a century. Breaking from fellow Republicans, 

he was among the minority favoring a $1 poll tax to 

support public education. Other Republicans successfully 

argued this would disfranchise most freed slaves. 

Nonetheless, Rainey continued to advocate education, later 
H Joseph Hayne Rainey H

arguing that money from the sale of public land should be 

used to fund public education. Though the Civil Rights 

Bill passed the House on February 5, 1875, with the 

Senate quickly concurring, its diluted provisions failed to 

address desegregation or equality in public schools. 

Rainey’s fight against discrimination was not limited 

to prejudice against African Americans. Appointed to the 

Committee on Indian Affairs, he made history in April 

1874 when he took the chair from Speaker James G. 

Blaine, becoming the first black American to preside over 

the House of Representatives.12 He oversaw the debate 

on an appropriations bill providing for the management 

of Indian reservations. Rainey also generally opposed 

legislation restricting the influx of Asian immigrants to the 

United States.

Throughout his career, Rainey involved himself in 

the economic issues that affected his race. Established 

by Congress in 1865, the Freedmen’s Savings and Trust 

Company (Freedmen’s Bank) was envisioned as a means to 

help newly emancipated African Americans build capital 

through secure savings. Two-thirds of the bank’s holdings 

were originally invested in United States treasury bonds. In 

1870, an amendment to the bank’s charter allowing half of 

its deposits to be invested in real estate bonds came to the 

floor. Recognizing the instability of such an investment, 

Rainey opposed the amendment and stood behind 

congressional control over the institution: “I am opposed 

to any one man holding assets of that bank, having them 

wholly at his disposal, I do not care who he is, whether 

he be colored or white, whether he be a German or an 

Irishman it makes no difference to me. I want no one 

man to handle the assets of the bank.”13 His position on 

the Select Committee on the Freedmen’s Bank gave him a 

voice, but he and his colleagues were unable to prevent the 

bank’s failure in 1874.

After an easy re-election in 1872, Rainey’s subsequent 

campaigns were made vulnerable by the growing threat 

to Congressional Reconstruction in the South. In 1874, 

Rainey faced Independent Republican Samuel Lee, 

another African American and a former speaker of the 

state house of representatives, in a dangerous and close 

campaign. When Rainey planned to travel to a meeting 

in Bennettsville, South Carolina, friends warned him that 

Lee’s supporters were planning a violent intervention. 

Accompanied by a large posse of friends and met by U.S. 

soldiers upon his arrival, Rainey arrived safely and the 

meeting was peaceful. Rainey won the election, taking 

14,360 votes (52 percent) to Lee’s 13,563, but Lee 

demanded that the House Committee on Elections void 

some of Rainey’s votes due to a spelling error in Rainey’s 

name on some ballots.14 The committee upheld Rainey’s 

election, with the whole House concurring in May 1876. 

That same year, Rainey defeated Democrat John S. 

Richardson for a seat in the 45th Congress, again winning 

a tight campaign with 52 percent of the vote (18,180 

to Richardson’s 16,661).15 Richardson later accused 

Rainey and the Republican Party of voter intimidation. 

Noting the presence of federal troops during the election, 

Richardson also claimed that armed black political 

clubs and black militia were scaring voters at the polls. 

Richardson’s election had been certified by Democratic 

South Carolina Governor Wade Hampton, and Rainey 

maintained that only the South Carolina secretary of 

state could certify elections. Rainey took his seat, but in 

May 1878 the Committee on Elections declared the seat 

vacant, citing irregularities. The House failed to act on 

the committee report, and Rainey kept his seat for the 

remainder of his term.

Rainey’s final two terms were wracked by setbacks for 

African-American civil rights in South Carolina and the 

final blow that virtually ended federal Reconstruction in 

the South. On the American centennial on July 4, 1876, 

black militia celebrated by parading through a street in 

Hamburg, South Carolina. When a group of white men 

attempted to cross the street, the black soldiers refused to 

stop. The white men subsequently fired upon and killed 

several militiamen. Debate over the incident became bitter 

on the House Floor during Rainey’s final term in the 45th 

Congress. Rainey condemned the murders and exchanged 

coarse remarks with Democratic Representative Samuel 

former members | 1870–1887 H 65
66 H Black Americans in Congress

Cox of New York, who believed the “Hamburg massacre” 

resulted from poor government by black South Carolina 

leaders.16 Bolstered by renewed Democratic control in 

South Carolina, John S. Richardson defeated Rainey in the 

1878 election for the 46th Congress (1879–1881) by more 

than 8,000 votes.17 Joseph Rainey retired from the House 

on March 3, 1879.

Upon his departure from Congress, Rainey was 

promised that Republicans would nominate him as Clerk 

of the House of Representatives; however, Democratic 

control over the 46th Congress precluded Rainey’s 

selection as Clerk. When Republicans regained control of 

Congress in 1881, Rainey spent time in Washington trying 

to secure the appointment, but he lost the nomination.18

In 1879, Rainey was appointed a special agent of the 

U.S. Treasury Department in South Carolina. After being 

endorsed by 84 Representatives, including future President 

James A. Garfield of Ohio, Rainey served two years. In 

1881, he started a brokerage and banking business in 

Washington, but the firm collapsed five years later. For 

one year, he managed a coal mining operation and a wood 

yard before returning to Georgetown in ill health. Joseph 

and Susan Rainey opened a millinery shop shortly before 

Joseph died of congestive fever on August 1, 1887.

For Further Reading

Packwood, Cyril Outerbridge. Detour-Bermuda, 

Destination-U.S. House of Representatives; The Life of Joseph 

Rainey (Hamilton, Bermuda: Baxter’s Limited, 1977).

“Rainey, Joseph Hayne,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000016. 

Manuscript Collection

Columbia University, Rare Book and Manuscript Library 

(New York, N.Y.) Papers: In the L. S. Alexander Gumby 

Collection of Negroiana, ca. 1800–1981, 88 linear feet. 

The collection contains one letter from Joseph Hayne 

Rainey, written on March 29, 1874. 

H Joseph Hayne Rainey H
Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (19 December 

1873): 344.

2 William C. Hine, “Rainey, Joseph Hayne,” American National 

Biography 18 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 78–79 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

3 Cyril Outerbridge Packwood, Detour-Bermuda, Destination-U.S. 

House of Representatives; The Life of Joseph Rainey (Hamilton, 

Bermuda: Baxter’s Limited, 1977): 11.

4 Barber’s Alley in St. George, Bermuda, is named for Rainey.

5 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

214.

6 For more on the jurisdiction of the Committee on Freedmen’s 

Affairs, see Charles E. Schamel et al., Guide to the Records of the 

United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 

1789–1989: Bicentennial Edition (Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, 1989): 209.

7 Packwood, Detour-Bermuda, Destination-U.S. House of 

Representatives: 25.

8 Act of April 20, 1871, 17 Stat. 13–15.

9 “More Loyal Men Threatened in South Carolina,” 18 May 1871, 

New York Times: 1.

10 Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (5 March 1872): 

1439–1443.

11 Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (13 May 1872): 3383.

12 The date Joseph Rainey was Speaker pro tempore is not known. Most 

sources claim Representative Rainey presided over the House during 

an Indian appropriations debate in May 1874. See, for example, an 

early secondary work, Samuel Denny Smith, The Negro in Congress: 

1870–1901 (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, Inc., 1940): 

47–48. Most subsequent sources cite Smith. Yet the New York

Herald published an article reporting that Rainey served as Speaker 

pro tempore on April 29; see “A Liberated Slave in the Speaker’s 

Chair,” 30 April 1874, New York Herald: 9. Similar accounts exist 

in the Baltimore Sun, the Charleston News and Courier, and the 

African-American newspaper The New National Era, though these 

reports cite April 29 and April 30. There is no mention of Rainey’s 

presiding in the Congressional Record or the House Journal for either 

date: Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (29–30 

April 1874): 3457–3476, 3490–3507; House Journal, 43rd Cong., 

1st sess. (29–30 April 1874): 877–885.

13 Congressional Record, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 March 1874): 2263.

14 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1789–1997: 233; “Notes 

from the Capitol,” 24 January 1876, New York Times: 1; Chester 

H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest of All the Contested Election 

Cases (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1901): 313.

15 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 240.

16 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (18 July 1876): 4707.

17 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 247.

18 “Keifer for Speaker,” 4 December 1881, Washington Post: 1.

H Joseph Hayne Rainey H

former members | 1870–1887 H 67
68 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

The second African American elected to the U.S. 

House of Representatives, Jefferson Long served less 

than three months—the shortest term of any AfricanAmerican Member—but nevertheless became the first black 

Member to speak on the House Floor.1 Speaking against 

the Amnesty Bill, which restored political rights to most 

former Confederates, Long pleaded with his colleagues 

to acknowledge the atrocities being committed by white 

supremacists in Georgia. “Do we, then, really propose here 

to-day . . . when loyal men dare not carry the ‘stars and 

stripes’ through our streets . . . to relieve from political 

disability the very men who have committed these Kuklux 

[sic] outrages?” he declared on the House Floor. “I think 

that I am doing my duty to my constituents and my duty 

to my country when I vote against such a proposition.”2

Jefferson Long was born to a slave mother on March 3, 

1836, in Knoxville, a small town in west-central Georgia. 

Long’s father was believed to have been the son of a local 

white man.3

 Defying the law, Long learned to read and 

write. Trained as a tailor, he opened a successful business in 

Macon, Georgia, after his emancipation following the end 

of the Civil War. Most of his clients were white, as they 

were the only rural Georgians able to afford custom-made 

clothing.4 Shortly after the war, Long married Lucinda 

Carhart, and they raised seven children. One of Long’s sons 

helped run his business.

Unlike neighboring South Carolina, Georgia did not 

have a majority-black population, or a large antebellum 

free black community. As a result, Georgia freedmen 

often looked to white politicians as leaders after the 

war. Long was an exception.5

 His prosperous tailor shop 

catered to politically connected clients and provided him 

the resources to become involved in Republican politics. 

Starting in 1866, Long began promoting literacy among 

African Americans, and in 1867, he became active in the 

Georgia Educational Association, formed to protect and 

advance the interests of freedmen. Long also belonged to 

the Macon Union League, a grass-roots political action 

group. A dazzling orator, he introduced Georgian freedmen 

to politics by preaching the virtues of the Republican Party. 

While traveling the state, organizing local Republican 

branches, and encouraging black voters to register, Long 

brought many whites into the Republican fold. In 1869, he 

served on the Republican state committee and was a leader 

in the Georgia Labor Convention, which organized black 

agricultural workers to demand increased wages, better 

jobs, and improved working conditions.6

Congress delayed Georgia’s re-entry into the Union 

because the state legislature refused to ratify the 14th 

Amendment, and white Republicans and Conservatives 

expelled 29 legally elected black members from the Georgia 

legislature in September 1868. Conditions for readmission 

included reseating the black members and ratification 

of the 15th Amendment. In July 1870, these terms were 

agreed to, and a Georgia delegation was permitted to 

return to Congress. A special election to fill the delegation’s 

seats for the remainder of the 41st Congress (1869–1871) 

was set for the same day—December 20, 1870—as the 

election for a full term to the 42nd Congress (1871–1873). 

The Georgia Republican Party chose black candidates to 

run for the abbreviated terms, reserving the full term for 

white candidates. In the state’s central district, the party 

nominated Long for the 41st Congress and state senator 

Thomas Jefferson Speer for the 42nd Congress. The night 

before the election, Long gave a series of speeches across 

the district, encouraging black voters to support the 

Republican ticket. The following day, he rallied a large 

number of blacks from Macon and marched with them 

to the polls. Armed whites were waiting, and a riot broke 

out. Long was unharmed, but four others were killed, and 

Jefferson Franklin Long

1836–1901

United States Representative H 1871

Republican from Georgia

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 69
70 H Black Americans in Congress

H Jefferson Franklin Long H

most blacks left the polls without voting. The unusual 

election lasted three days. White politicians accused blacks 

of voting multiple times and spread rumors that African 

Americans from South Carolina and Alabama had crossed 

state lines to vote. But despite the election’s inconsistencies, 

Long defeated his opponent, Democrat Winburn J. 

Lawton, garnering 12,867 votes (53 percent). However, 

he was not sworn in until January 16, 1871, because of 

complications related to Georgia’s readmission to the 

Union.7 Long took his seat one month after Representative 

Joseph Rainey of South Carolina was seated in the House.

Long’s term was so short he was not assigned to any 

committees, yet he was determined to fight for the civil 

rights of freed slaves. On February 1, 1871, he became the 

first African-American Representative to speak before the 

House when he disagreed with a bill that exempted former 

Confederate politicians from swearing allegiance to the 

Constitution.8 Long argued against allowing unrepentant 

Confederates to return to Congress, noting that many 

belonged to secret societies like the Ku Klux Klan, which 

intimidated black citizens, and feigned loyalty to rebuild 

political strength. “If this House removes the disabilities of 

disloyal men,” Long warned, “I venture to prophesy you 

will again have trouble from the very same men who gave 

you trouble before.”9 Many major newspapers reported 

on Long’s address, and northern newspapers, especially, 

commended his oratorical skills. Georgia newspapers 

described his speech as a malicious attempt to disfranchise 

whites.10 Long’s efforts were fruitless; the House voted 118 

to 90 to grant Confederates amnesty. 

One of the few votes Long cast in the House was to 

seat Thomas P. Beard, a black Republican from northeast 

Georgia, after his defeat by Democrat Stephen Corker. 

Led by Massachusetts Republican Benjamin Butler, a 

few Radical Republicans, Long among them, objected 

to seating Corker when he presented his credentials on 

January 24, 1871. (The Beard–Corker election equaled 

Long’s for its violence. Beard testified that large numbers 

of voters who had intended to vote for him were “shot, 

beat or otherwise maltreated” by “organized bands of 

desparadoes [sic],” connected to the Democrats.) Butler’s 

resolution objecting to Corker’s credentials was soundly 

defeated in a 148 to 42 vote.11 A number of Republicans 

voted against it on procedural grounds, believing Corker’s 

credentials qualified him to remain seated until the 

Elections Committee ruled on the case. Beard’s case never 

came before the panel, and Corker served out the term.12

Long was the last black Representative elected from 

Georgia until Representative Andrew Young won a seat 

in 1972. After leaving Congress on March 3, 1871, Long 

returned to his tailoring business in Macon. Although 

he remained active in politics, he never again ran for 

public office, recognizing that the white-controlled 

Georgia government had shut blacks out of politics. He 

campaigned for Republican candidates in 1872 and served 

as a member of the Southern Republican Convention 

in 1874 and as a delegate to the Republican National 

Conventions from 1872 to 1880. Long eventually became 

frustrated by white Republican leaders’ failure to protect 

black southerners. By the late 1870s, he began encouraging 

African Americans to vote for Independent Democrats if 

Republican candidates proved unsatisfactory.13 Political 

upheaval and sharp racial division in all the political parties 

had so disillusioned Long by the mid-1880s that he left 

politics permanently to focus on his business. However, his 

reputation as a radical politician eventually cost him his 

affluent white clientele.14 Unable to survive on the income 

from his tailor shop, he started other businesses, including 

a liquor store and a dry-cleaning shop. He remained selfemployed until his death in Macon on February 4, 1901.
H Jefferson Franklin Long H

For Further Reading

Drago, Edmund L. Black Politicians and Reconstruction 

Georgia: A Splendid Failure, 2nd edition (Athens: 

University of Georgia Press, 1992).

“Long, Jefferson Franklin,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000419.

Manuscript Collection

Atlanta History Center (Atlanta, GA) Papers: In the 

Long–Rucker–Aiken Family Portraits and Personal Images, 

dates unknown; approximately 1,117 photographs. 

Subjects include Jefferson Long.

Notes

1 John Willis Menard of Louisiana was elected to the House in 1868, 

but the election was contested, and Menard was unseated upon his 

arrival. His speech defending his right to his seat marked the first 

time an African American addressed the U.S. House from the floor.

2 Congressional Globe, House, 41st Cong., 3rd sess. (1 February 

1871): 882.

3 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 27. The names of Long’s 

parents are not known.

4 Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders 

During Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993): 

136.

5 Edmund L. Drago, Black Politicians and Reconstruction in Georgia: 

A Splendid Failure (Athens: University of Georgia Press, 1992): 

xi–xii.

6 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 136.

7 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

213–214; Congressional Globe, House, 41st Cong., 3rd sess. (16 

January 1871): 530.

8 Congressional Globe, House, 41st Cong., 3rd sess. (1 February 

1871): 881–882.

9 Ibid., 882.

10 Samuel Denny Smith, The Negro in Congress (Port Washington, NY: 

Kennikat Press, Inc., 1940): 73–74.

11 Congressional Globe, House, 41st Cong., 3rd sess. (24 January 

1871): 703–707.

12 The fact that Beard’s case is not recorded in Chester H. Rowell’s 

A Historical and Legal Digest of All Contested Election Cases 

(Washington, DC: GPO, 1901), strongly suggests the Committee 

on Elections never heard the case. Michael Dubin reports that 

Corker handily defeated “Simeon W. Beard” with 62 percent of the 

vote. This is likely a misprint. See Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional 

Elections, 1788–1997: 214. (Simeon Beard was an active black 

politician in Georgia in the early 1870s. See “Bullock’s Last 

Dodge,” 27 March 1870, Atlanta Constitution: 1.) It is unclear 

whether the two Beards were related.

13 John M. Matthews, “Long, Jefferson Franklin,” American National 

Biography 13 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 875–876.

14 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 136.

former members | 1870–1887 H 71
72 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Awealthy resident of Charleston, South Carolina, 

Robert De Large won election to the U.S. House 

of Representatives as an ally of the scandal-ridden 

administration of Republican Governor Robert Scott. 

Though he maintained a personal political alliance with 

Scott, De Large was constantly at odds with the state 

Republican Party and rarely defended the corrupt state 

government. “I am free to admit,” De Large noted on the 

House Floor while advocating for victims of racial violence 

in the South, “that neither the Republicans of my State nor 

the Democrats of that State can shake their garments and 

say that they had no hand in bringing about this condition 

of affairs.”1 A protracted contested election, in which De 

Large’s lack of political capital, prickly personality and 

failing health conspired against him, cut short the young 

politician’s career.

Robert Carlos De Large was born on March 15, 1842, 

in Aiken, South Carolina. Although some records indicate 

De Large was born a slave, he likely was the offspring of 

free mulatto parents. De Large’s father was a tailor, and 

his Haitian mother was a cloak maker.2

 The De Large 

family owned slaves and, as members of the free mulatto 

elite, were afforded opportunities denied their darkerskinned neighbors. Robert De Large was educated at a 

North Carolina primary school and attended Wood High 

School in Charleston, South Carolina. He later married 

and had a daughter, Victoria.3

 De Large was a tailor and 

a farmer before gaining lucrative employment with the 

Confederate Navy during the Civil War. Perhaps regretting 

the source of his financial windfall, De Large later donated 

most of his wartime earnings to the Republican Party.4

Nevertheless, by 1870 he had amassed a fortune that 

exceeded $6,500. He moved within Charleston’s highest 

circles and joined the Brown Fellowship Society, an 

exclusive organization for mulattos.5

After the war, De Large worked for the Republican 

state government as an agent in the Freedmen’s Bureau. He 

became an organizer for the South Carolina Republican 

Party, serving on important committees at several state 

conventions. He chaired the credentials committee at 

the 1865 Colored People’s Convention at Charleston’s 

Zion Church. At the 1867 South Carolina Republican 

Convention, he chaired the platform committee, and 

he served on the committee on franchise and elections 

at the state’s 1868 constitutional convention. Among 

African-American politicians of the era, De Large was 

comparatively conservative. He advocated mandatory 

literacy testing for voters but opposed compulsory 

education while supporting state-funded and integrated 

schools. He did favor some more radical measures, 

however, arguing that the government should penalize exConfederates by retaining their property and disfranchising 

them. In 1868, De Large won his first elected office, 

serving in the state house of representatives where he 

chaired the ways and means committee. He also served 

on a board for the mentally ill and was a member of 

the state sinking fund commission. In 1870, seeking a 

black appointee, the legislature chose De Large as land 

commissioner. In his quest to help South Carolina’s poor, 

De Large oversaw the sale and transfer of almost 2,000 

small tracts of land to be paid for over a maximum of 

eight years, but his tenure on the land commission was 

discredited by allegations of fraud. Political opponents 

suspected that De Large skimmed money from the 

commission to help finance his congressional campaign, 

but he was never charged with a crime.6

In 1870, De Large set his sights on a congressional 

district representing Charleston and the southeastern 

portion of the state. He secured the Republican 

nomination over incumbent scalawag Christopher Bowen, 

Robert Carlos De Large

1842–1874

United States Representative H 1871–1873

Republican from S outh Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 73
74 H Black Americans in Congress

H Robert Carlos De Large H

a former Confederate soldier and one of Governor Scott’s 

most formidable political enemies.7 According to a leading 

historian, De Large maintained a personal friendship with 

the embattled governor, although he was often at odds 

with Scott’s supporters. De Large refused to defend white 

South Carolina Republicans against charges of corruption 

and often publicly chided those connected with Scott’s 

administration for their unscrupulous activities. Yet Scott 

continued to support De Large throughout his political 

career, primarily because of their friendship.8

Christopher Bowen challenged De Large in the 1870 

general election, running as an Independent Republican. 

Having lost favor with the black majority (68 percent of 

the district’s population) due to the influence of Bowen’s 

allies, De Large was ahead by only a slender margin (fewer 

than 1,000 votes out of more than 32,000 cast) despite 

considerable political and financial support from Governor 

Scott.9

 Bowen challenged the election results, but De 

Large was sworn in to the 42nd Congress (1871–1873) 

when it convened on March 4, 1871, and assigned to the 

Committee on Manufactures. 

De Large’s legislative agenda as a freshman Member 

lacked continuity, principally because of the large 

workload created by Bowen’s challenge. Early in his 

term, De Large unsuccessfully offered an amendment 

to provide $20,000 to rebuild a Charleston orphanage. 

He also supported a bill providing amnesty to former 

Confederates, but felt loyal black and white southerners

should be protected from intimidation and terror. Arguing 

in favor of a bill to curb the activities of the Ku Klux Klan 

in April 1871, De Large referred to intolerable conditions 

throughout the South that required action from Congress. 

“The naked facts stare us in the face, that this condition 

of affairs does exist, and that it is necessary for the strong 

arm of the law to interpose and protect the people in their 

lives, liberty, and property,” he noted. However, De Large 

was emphatic that his Charleston district had no reported 

cases of “outlawry” but admitted that “until within the last 

few months no one upon the face of God’s earth could 

have convinced me that a secret organization existed in my 

State for the purpose of committing murder, arson, and 

other outrages.”10

De Large’s unvarnished comments on the House Floor 

about local party corruption caused him to run afoul of 

state Republicans. Responding to a speech by Democrat 

Samuel Cox of New York—in which Cox accused black 

politicians of fueling the corruption in South Carolina’s 

government—De Large insisted that black South Carolina 

politicians were guilty only of trusting corrupt white 

Republicans. “While there may have been extravagance 

and corruption resulting from the placing of improper 

men in official positions,” De Large declared, “these evils 

have been brought about by the men identified with the 

race to which the gentleman from New York belongs, and 

not by our race.”11 Republicans outside South Carolina 

praised De Large’s speech—the Chicago Tribune said it 

showed “fearlessness and frankness”—but white political 

leaders inside South Carolina were infuriated by De Large’s 

accusations.12 White party leadership suspected he was 

trying to create a political party that would alienate blacks 

from the Republican Party. De Large had reportedly told 

a Charleston crowd, “I hold that my race has always been 

Republican for necessity only,” during his 1870 election 

campaign.13 Though he denied rumors he planned to 

change parties, De Large’s alliance with black nationalist 

Martin R. Delany, who had abandoned the Republican 

Party, fueled such speculation.14

De Large participated sparingly in House Floor debate 

during the second session, as he was occupied defending 

his seat. The House Committee on Elections began 

consideration of Christopher Bowen’s challenge to his 

election in December 1871, and De Large took a leave of 

absence in April 1872 to prepare his defense. 

Bowen’s sensationalized bigamy trial—his political 

enemies accused him of marrying a third wife without 

having legally separated from his first and second 

wives—focused national attention on the case and 

damaged Bowen’s chances of successfully contesting De 

Large’s election.15 Nevertheless, Bowen accused De Large 

supporters of stuffing ballot boxes with false votes and 
H Robert Carlos De Large H

was backed by white South Carolina Republicans. The 

Chicago Tribune observed wryly, “It really seems that the 

only way a South Carolina politician can keep out of 

State Prison or in Congress is by proving all the rest to 

be bigger scoundrels than himself.”16 Despite Bowen’s 

political problems, De Large had few political allies. He 

had developed a less-than-favorable reputation with his 

stubborn, elitist, and temperamental antics, including 

a fistfight in front of the state assembly in 1869. Even 

fellow black lawmakers offered stinging judgments. South 

Carolina Representative Robert Elliott derided De Large 

for his small stature and outsized ego, calling him a “pygmy 

who is trying to play the part of a giant.”17 Left to mount 

his own defense, De Large accused Bowen of bribing a 

lawyer to keep exonerating evidence from the Committee 

on Elections.18 The case was further complicated when De 

Large’s health failed in the summer of 1872. Black South 

Carolina Representative Joseph Rainey pleaded on the 

House Floor for a delay in the case, but the committee 

reported that the many abuses and irregularities during 

the election made determining a victor impossible, and 

on January 18, 1873, declared the seat vacant for the rest 

of the 42nd Congress, set to adjourn in March. The full 

House agreed with the committee’s findings.19

The rigors of defending his seat in the 42nd Congress 

took a toll on De Large’s fragile health and left him few 

options other than retirement. Black politician Alonzo 

Ransier won his seat. De Large returned to the state 

capital in Columbia and later moved to Charleston after 

Governor Scott appointed him magistrate of that city. 

He died of tuberculosis shortly thereafter on February 

14, 1874, at the age of 31. Despite De Large’s difficult 

relationship with South Carolina Republicans, city 

magistrates statewide closed their offices on the day of his 

funeral to show their respect.

For Further Reading

“De Large, Robert Carlos,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000208. 

former members | 1870–1887 H 75
76 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

Notes

1 Congressional Globe, Appendix, 42nd Cong., 1st sess. (6 April 

1871): A230.

2 Timothy P. McCarthy, “De Large, Robert Carlos,” American 

National Biography 6 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 

383–384 (hereinafter referred to as ANB). De Large’s parents’ 

names are not known.

3 De Large’s wife’s name is not known.

4 McCarthy, “De Large, Robert Carlos,” ANB; Thomas C. Holt, 

Black Over White: Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina 

During Reconstruction (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977): 

115. Stephen Middleton conjectures that De Large might have 

initially abhorred the northern invasion of his home because of 

regional pride. See Stephen Middleton ed., Black Congressmen 

During Reconstruction: A Documentary Sourcebook (Westport, CT: 

Praeger, 2002): 79.

5 McCarthy, “De Large, Robert Carlos,” ANB.

6 Ibid; Joel Williamson, After Slavery: the Negro in South Carolina 

During Reconstruction, 1861–1877 (Chapel Hill: University of 

North Carolina Press, 1965): 146.

7 Carol K. Rothrok Bleser, The Promised Land: The History of 

the South Carolina Land Commission, 1869–1890 (Columbia: 

University of South Carolina Press, 1969): 75.

8 Holt, Black Over White: 111. 

9 Peggy Lamson, The Glorious Failure: Black Representative Robert 

Brown Elliott and the Reconstruction in South Carolina (New York: 

Norton, 1973): 95; Holt, Black Over White: 118–119.

10 Congressional Globe, Appendix, 42nd Cong., 1st sess. (6 April 

1871): A230–231.

11 Ibid.

12 “Amnesty,” 8 April 1871, Chicago Tribune: 2.

13 Quoted in McCarthy, “De Large, Robert Carlos,” ANB; 

Williamson, After Slavery: 359.

14 McCarthy, “De Large, Robert Carlos,” ANB.

15 “The Case of C. C. Bowen,” 15 June 1871, New York Times: 

4. According to newspaper reports, primarily in the Chicago 

Tribune, Bowen received a presidential pardon after he was 

convicted of bigamy. 

16 [No title], 22 June 1871, Chicago Tribune: 2.

17 Williamson, After Slavery: 397; Quoted in McCarthy, “De Large, 

Robert Carlos,” ANB. However, Elliott helped De Large when 

the latter was absent from Congress by explaining his colleague’s 

opinion during several votes, indicating that the two worked 

together. See Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. 

(28 May 1872): 3931–3932.

18 “Bowen Again,” 25 December 1871, Chicago Tribune: 4.

19 Chester H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest of All the Contested 

Election Cases (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 

1901): 282. 

H Robert Carlos De Large H
“The naked facts stare us 

in the face, that this 

condition of affairs does 

exist, and that it is necessary 

for the strong arm of the law 

to interpose and protect 

the people in their lives, 

liberty, and property,” 

De Large said in support of 

a bill to curb Ku Klux Klan 

activities in the South.

former members | 1870–1887 H 77
78 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

With a legislative style more flamboyant and 

aggressive than his predecessors’, and considerable 

oratorical skills, young, talented Robert Elliott regularly 

dazzled audiences. Possessing a strong, clear voice 

“suggestive of large experience in outdoor speaking,” Elliott 

fought passionately to pass a comprehensive civil rights 

bill in his two terms in Congress. However, his fealty to 

the South Carolina Republican Party led him to resign his 

seat in the U.S. House of Representatives to serve the state 

government in Columbia.1 Elliott’s classical education, 

photographic memory, and obsession with politics 

impressed contemporary observers. “He knew the political 

condition of every nook and corner throughout the state,” 

Elliott’s law partner Daniel Augustus Straker commented. 

“[Elliott] knew every important person in every county, 

town or village and the history of the entire state as it 

related to politics.”2

Robert Elliott was born on August 11, 1842, likely to 

West Indian parents in Liverpool, England.3

 He received 

a public school education in England and learned a 

typesetter’s trade. Elliott served in the British Navy, arriving 

on a warship in Boston around 1867. Historical records 

show that in late 1867 Robert Elliott lived in Charleston, 

South Carolina, where he was an associate editor for the 

South Carolina Leader, a freedmen’s newspaper owned by 

future Representative Richard H. Cain. Elliott married 

Grace Lee, a free mulatto from Boston or Charleston, 

sometime before 1870. The couple had no children.4

Robert Elliott was intellectually gifted and welleducated. He often quoted classical literature and 

demonstrated facility with several languages. He quickly 

dove into Reconstruction-Era Republican politics in his 

new South Carolina home, emerging as a leading figure at 

the 1868 state constitutional convention. One of 78 black 

delegates at the convention, he advocated compulsory 

public education (although he opposed school integration) 

and helped defeat the imposition of a poll tax and a 

literacy test for voters. At the state Republican convention 

that year, he was nominated for lieutenant governor, but 

dropped out of the race after finishing third on the first 

ballot.5 Later in 1868, while serving as the only black 

member of the Barnwell County board of commissioners, 

Elliott was elected to the state house of representatives, 

where he remained until 1870. He almost was elected 

speaker—placing second on the balloting—and he went 

on to receive influential assignments as chairman of the 

committee on railroads and chairman of the committee 

on privileges and elections. During his tenure in the state 

assembly, Elliott used his keen intelligence and ambition 

to study law and was admitted to the South Carolina bar 

in September 1868. In 1870, Republican Governor Robert 

K. Scott appointed Elliott the assistant adjutant general 

of South Carolina, giving him authority to raise the state 

militia to protect black citizens from the Ku Klux Klan. 

Shortly thereafter, Elliott came to believe Scott was using 

him for his own political advantage, and he resigned later 

that year. Nevertheless, he served on the South Carolina 

Republican executive committee throughout his career.

In October 1870, Republicans in a west-central South 

Carolina congressional district nominated Robert Elliott 

over incumbent Solomon L. Hoge to run for a seat in the 

U.S. House of Representatives. The district included the 

capital, Columbia, and had only a slight black majority. 

The seat was once held by Representative Preston Brooks, 

notorious for his caning assault on Senator Charles Sumner 

in 1856. Elliott faced Union Reform Party candidate John 

E. Bacon, the son of a prominent, aristocratic, low country 

family. The election was contentious. Bacon accused Elliott 

of using his position on the committee on railroads in 

the state legislature to line his own pockets.6

 Though the 

Robert Brown Elliott

1842–1884

United States Representative H 1871–1874

Republican from S outh Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 79
80 H Black Americans in Congress

H Robert Brown Elliott H

New York Times predicted Bacon’s victory, Elliott soundly 

defeated him with 60 percent of the vote.7

 He was sworn 

in to the 42nd Congress (1871–1873) on March 4, 1871. 

White colleagues received Elliott coolly. His dark skin 

came as a shock, as the two other African Americans on 

the floor, Joseph Rainey and Jefferson Long, were lightskinned mulattos. Described as the first “genuine African” 

in Congress, Elliott seemed to embody the new political 

opportunities—and southern white apprehensions—

ushered in by emancipation. “I shall never forget [my 

first day in Congress],” Elliott later recalled. “I found 

myself the center of attraction. Everything was still.”8

Furthermore, his politics were more radical than his 

African-American colleagues’, and his unwavering stance 

for black civil rights made many Representatives of both 

parties wary of his intentions. Elliott was given a position 

on the Committee on Education and Labor, where he 

served during both of his terms.

The current of suspicion surrounding his arrival did 

not erode Elliott’s natural confidence. He gave his maiden 

speech just 10 days after his swearing-in, challenging 

the Amnesty Bill, which re-established the political rights 

of nearly all former Confederates, and quickly followed 

that speech with another supporting the Ku Klux Klan 

Bill, aimed at curbing the terrorist activities of the 

clandestine organization. 

Rising racial violence in his home state stirred Elliott 

to speak. Just before Christmas 1870, a white whiskey 

peddler allegedly was killed by a group of drunk, black 

militiamen in the town of Union Courthouse, South 

Carolina. Thirteen men were arrested in connection with 

the crime, but before they were tried, the Ku Klux Klan 

raided several jails, executing the suspects. The Klansmen 

subsequently posted a notice on the Union Courthouse 

jail door justifying the lynchings and warning other 

African Americans in the state. Elliott argued for a delay 

in the restoration of political rights to ex-Confederates 

and pleaded with Congress to protect the rights of 

African Americans and other loyal southerners from 

terror organizations. Referring to the violence at Union 

Courthouse, Elliott told his colleagues that “to relieve those 

men of their disabilities at this time would be regarded by 

the loyal men of the South as an evidence of weakness of 

this great Government, and of an intention on the part of 

this Congress to foster the men who today are outraging 

the good and loyal people of the South.”9 Elliott’s 

arguments against the Amnesty Bill ultimately failed, as the 

measure passed the following year. 

Elliott’s efforts to enact legislation to weaken the Klan 

were more successful. In his April 1 speech, he read the 

letter posted by the Klansmen at the Union Courthouse 

jail, following it with words about the prejudice against 

his race: “It is custom, sir, of Democratic [newspapers] 

to stigmatize the negroes of the South as being in a semibarbarous condition; but pray tell me, who is the barbarian 

here, the murderer or the victim? I fling back in the teeth 

of those who make it this most false and foul aspersion 

upon the negro of the southern States.”10 The Third Ku 

Klux Klan Bill, which reinforced freedmen’s voting rights, 

passed and was signed into law three weeks later. The 

following October, President Ulysses S. Grant used the 

powers granted him by the bill to suspend habeas corpus

in nine southern states, facilitating the prosecution of 

Klansmen. Elliott felt his life was in danger, and before 

leaving for Columbia the following day, he wrote his 

wife with instructions in case of his death.11 Also in the 

42nd Congress, Elliott attempted in May 1872 to 

gain appropriations to pull South Carolina out of its 

postwar debt.

In October 1872, Elliott was re-elected practically 

unopposed, garnering 93 percent of the vote against two 

weak Democrats, W. H. McCaw and Samuel McGovan.12

In November, Elliott attempted to become the first 

African American to win a full term in the U.S. Senate. 

The state general assembly voted 73 to 27 to elect his 

opponent, carpetbagger John J. Patterson, but two hours 

later, Patterson was arrested and charged with bribing a 

number of state legislators. (Elliott claimed he was offered 

between $10,000 and $15,000 to drop out of the race.)13

The corrupt South Carolina government later dropped the 
H Robert Brown Elliott H

charges, and Patterson was duly elected. Elliott returned to 

his House seat in December 1873 for the opening of the 

43rd Congress (1873–1875) and received an additional 

assignment on the Committee on the Militia.

During his second term, Elliott worked to help pass 

Massachusetts Senator Charles Sumner’s Civil Rights Bill, 

to eliminate discrimination from public transportation, 

public accommodations, and schools. Elliott gained 

national attention for a speech rebuffing opponents of the 

bill, who argued that federal enforcement of civil rights 

was unconstitutional. Responding to former Confederate 

Vice President Alexander Stephens of Georgia, who had 

been re-elected to the House, Elliott reaffirmed his belief 

in the right and duty of Congress to legislate against 

discrimination. He concluded by evoking the sacrifices 

made during the Civil War and asserting that its true 

purpose was to obtain civil rights for all Americans, 

including women, who experienced discrimination. 

Elliott undoubtedly drew upon a large reserve of personal 

experience with racism. Like other African-American 

Representatives, he faced discrimination almost daily, 

particularly in restaurants and on public transportation.14

Before a packed House, Elliott stated his universal support 

for civil rights, “I regret, sir, that the dark hue of my skin 

may lend a color to the imputation that I am controlled 

by motives personal to myself in my advocacy of this great 

measure of national justice. The motive that impels me 

is restricted to no such boundary, but is as broad as your 

Constitution. I advocate it because it is right.”15 Elliott’s 

youthful appearance and the “harmony of his delivery” 

contrasted sharply with those of the elderly Stephens, who, 

confined to a wheelchair, dryly read a prepared speech.16

The Chicago Tribune published a glowing review, noting 

that “fair-skinned men in Congress . . . might learn 

something from this black man.”17

Elliott returned to South Carolina on February 

6, 1874, although Congress was still in session. His 

well-publicized speeches left him a hero among black 

constituents, but Elliott realized that the corruption in 

the state’s Republican Party was allowing the Democrats 

to gain power and endangering the prospects of black 

politicians. After the death of Senator Sumner in early 

March 1874, Elliott delivered a famous eulogy at Boston’s 

Faneuil Hall. Shortly afterward, he returned to South 

Carolina and resigned his House seat on November 1, 

1874. Wishing to remain close to the South Carolina 

government, Elliott subsequently ran for and won a seat in 

the state general assembly.18

The general assembly elected Elliott speaker of the 

house, (he succeeded South Carolina’s first black speaker, 

Samuel Lee). After serving in that position until 1876, 

Elliott was elected state attorney general in a bitter and 

controversial race; however, the collapse of the state’s 

Reconstruction government the following year and the 

withdrawal of federal troops forced him out of office 

in May 1877. After leaving his post, Elliott founded a 

law practice, but it attracted few customers. In 1879, he 

accepted an appointment as a special customs inspector for 

the Treasury Department in Charleston, South Carolina. 

On a trip to Florida, he contracted malaria, which severely 

undermined his health for the remainder of his life. 

Elliott remained active in politics, however, working on 

Treasury Secretary John Sherman’s campaign for President, 

seconding his nomination and managing his black 

delegates at the 1880 Republican National Convention. 

In January 1881, Elliott was part of a black delegation 

that met with President James Garfield to protest the lack 

of civil and political rights in the South. In May of that 

year, the Treasury Department transferred him to New 

Orleans, uprooting him from his home and causing him 

great personal anguish. Elliott was dismissed as a Treasury 

inspector in 1882. Unable to afford to return to South 

Carolina, he started another law practice in New Orleans. 

Robert Elliott lapsed into poverty before his death on 

August 9, 1884.

former members | 1870–1887 H 81
82 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

For Further Reading

“Elliott, Robert Brown,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000128.

Lamson, Peggy. The Glorious Failure: Black Congressman 

Robert Brown Elliott and the Reconstruction in South 

Carolina (New York: Norton, 1973).

Notes

1 “Washington,” 2 April 1871, Chicago Tribune: 2.

2 Quoted in Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black 

Officeholders During Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1993): 70. The context of the quote is unclear. 

3 The circumstances of Robert Brown Elliott’s early life are enigmatic. 

He claimed he was born in Boston and attended public schools 

in England, graduating with honors from Britain’s prestigious 

Eton College in 1859. He further asserted that he had worked for 

a famous London barrister before returning to the United States 

in 1861 to join the Union Navy. Elliott later attributed a lifelong 

limp to a battle wound. Other evidence indicates that his parents 

were originally from South Carolina and that the Elliott family 

escaped slavery on the Underground Railroad to a northern state. 

Still other sources suggest Elliott was born in the West Indies and 

spent his early years there. Elliott’s version of his origins cannot be 

corroborated, and recent scholarship indicates that the bright and 

ambitious young man may have invented his American citizenship 

and embellished his credentials in 1867 to establish his eligibility 

and credibility as a candidate for political office. Elliott’s mysterious 

background is discussed at length by his chief biographer. See Peggy 

Lamson The Glorious Failure: Black Representative Robert Brown 

Elliott and the Reconstruction in South Carolina (New York: Norton, 

1973): 22–33. See also Peggy Lamson “Elliott, Robert Brown,” 

Dictionary of American Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 

210–211 (hereinafter referred to as DANB). The most recent 

scholarship accepts Lamson’s evidence of Elliott’s background. See 

Stephen Middleton ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: 

A Documentary Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 85–86.

4 The identity of Elliott’s wife also is mysterious. Though Elliott 

addressed Grace L. Elliott in a letter as “my dear wife,” other 

sources indicate Elliott’s wife was Nancy Fat. Others conclude that 

Nancy Fat was Elliott’s mistress; see Lamson, The Glorious Failure: 

31–33.

5 Howard N. Rabinowitz, “Elliott, Robert Brown,” American National 

Biography 7 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 434–436.

6 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 70.

7 “Political,” 18 October 1870, New York Times: 5; Michael J. Dubin 

et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997 (Jefferson, NC: 

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 220.

8 Quoted in Lamson, The Glorious Failure: 122.

9 Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 1st sess. (14 March 1871): 

102–103.

10 Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 1st sess. (1 April 1871): 392.

11 Lamson, The Glorious Failure: 131–132.

12 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 226.

13 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 70; Christopher, Black Americans in 

Congress: 73.

14 Lamson, The Glorious Failure: 120–121.

15 Congressional Globe, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (6 January 1874): 

407–410.

16 Lamson, The Glorious Failure: 175–176; “Congress,” 7 January 

1874, New York Times: 1.

17 “Representative Elliott’s Speech,” 8 January 1874, Chicago Daily 

Tribune: 4.

18 Lamson, “Elliott, Robert Brown,” DANB.

H Robert Brown Elliott H
“I regret, sir, that the dark 

hue of my skin may lend a 

color to the imputation 

that I am controlled by 

motives personal to myself 

in my advocacy of this great 

measure of national justice,” 

Elliott said of his support 

for the Civil Rights Bill 

of 1875. “The motive that 

impels me is restricted to 

no such boundary, but is as 

broad as your Constitution. 

I advocate it because 

it is right.”

former members | 1870–1887 H 83
84 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Aformer slave and a self-made businessman who lost 

 property during the Civil War, Benjamin Turner 

focused on restoring peace and repairing economic damage 

in the war-ravaged South. The first African-American 

Representative from Alabama, Turner tirelessly promoted 

the industriousness of his black constituents. “These people 

have struggled longer and labored harder, and have made 

more of the raw material than any people in the world,” 

he noted on the House Floor. “Since they have been free 

they have not slackened in their industry, but materially 

improved their economy.”1

 Turner also struck a conciliatory 

tone with white constituents, seeking restored political 

rights for former Confederates before Congress passed laws 

declaring general amnesty. His political moderation limited 

his legislative influence in an institution still controlled by 

Radical Republicans. 

Benjamin Sterling Turner was born a slave on March 17, 

1825, in Weldon, North Carolina.2 His widowed owner, 

Elizabeth Turner, moved to Selma, Alabama, in 1830, 

taking five-year-old Turner to live with her on the Alabama 

River. Turner obtained an education, most likely sitting 

in as a playmate on lessons for the family’s white children. 

He was sold at age 20 to Major W. H. Gee, the husband of 

Elizabeth Turner’s stepdaughter. Gee owned a hotel and a 

livery stable and permitted Turner to manage the businesses 

and keep part of the profits. Major Gee’s brother, James, 

inherited Turner upon his brother’s death, and Turner 

managed James Gee’s hotel. Turner married a black woman, 

but a white man purchased her as his mistress. Turner never 

remarried, but the 1870 Census indicates he cared for a 

nine-year-old mulatto boy named Osceola.3

By the time the Civil War broke out, Turner had 

enough money to purchase some property. He also looked 

after his owner’s land and businesses when Gee left to serve 

in the Confederate Army. Selma became a hub for weapons 

manufacturing and was overrun by the Union cavalry in 

the spring of 1865. The troops burned two-thirds of the 

city and, along with his white neighbors, Turner suffered 

great financial loss. He later sought $8,000 in damages 

from the Southern Claims Commission, but it is unclear 

if he received it.4

 Turner continued to work as a merchant 

and a farmer after the war, replenishing much of his 

capital. Eager to provide freedmen with the opportunities 

an education had provided him, he founded a school 

in Selma in 1865. In 1867, he attended the Republican 

state convention and attracted the attention of local 

GOP officials. That same year he was appointed Dallas 

County tax collector. In 1869, Turner was elected a Selma 

councilman, but he resigned in protest after being offered 

compensation because he believed public officials should 

not be paid when economic conditions were poor.5

In 1870, Turner made a bid for a southwestern Alabama 

seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. Claiming he 

sold a horse to finance his campaign, Turner noted the 

lack of support from the numerous white carpetbagger 

Republicans, who supported more-radical, redemptive 

candidates. Yet Turner had strong support from the black 

population, which constituted nearly 52 percent of the 

district—the second-largest black voting bloc in Alabama.6

Running on a balanced platform of “Universal Suffrage 

and Universal Amnesty,” he defeated Democrat Samuel 

J. Cummings with 18,226 votes (58 percent) in the 

November 8 election, taking his seat in the 42nd Congress 

(1871–1873).7

Having witnessed firsthand the devastation of the 

Civil War, Turner spent much of his congressional career 

seeking financial aid for his broken southern state. In 

one instance, he introduced a bill to eliminate legal and 

political disabilities imposed on former Confederates. 

Though the Radical Republicans in the 42nd Congress 

Benjamin Sterling Turner

1825–1894

United States Representative H 1871–1873

Republican from Alabama

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 85
86 H Black Americans in Congress

H Benjamin Sterling Turner H

denied his request, the 43rd Congress (1873–1875) 

eventually passed an Amnesty Act, clearing most former 

Confederates’ political restrictions. Turner’s charity toward 

former slave masters did not prevent him from taking a 

more radical stance on other legislation concerning the 

injustices of slavery. He advocated racially mixed schools 

and financial reparation for former slaves; years later, both 

issues remained controversial. 

Turner sought to repair the devastation in his hometown 

by sponsoring a bill to appropriate $200,000 for the 

construction of a federal building in Selma and the 

reconstruction of Selma’s St. Paul’s Episcopal Church. 

Continuing his call for amnesty, he claimed that the federal 

money would help heal wounds from the war. Turner 

included a plea for the federal reconstruction money in the 

Congressional Globe Appendix—a tactic he often relied upon 

because Republican leaders denied him time to speak on the 

floor. “The Government made a display in that unfortunate 

city of its mighty power and conquered a gallant and 

high-toned people. They may have sinned wonderfully, but 

they suffered terribly,” Turner wrote on behalf of the Selma 

appropriation.8 Although that bill was not passed, Turner 

was able to help individual Alabamians from his position 

on the Committee on Invalid Pensions. Turner passed two 

private pension bills, one of which put a black Civil War 

veteran on the pension roll at $8 per month.9

On February 20, 1872, Turner presented a petition 

from the Mobile board of trade requesting a refund 

of the taxes on cotton collected from the southern 

states from 1866 to 1868. On May 31, he submitted a 

speech to the Congressional Globe Appendix, declaring 

the tax unconstitutional and decrying its effect on the 

impoverished cotton workers—a disproportionate number 

of whom were freedmen. He pleaded “on behalf of the 

poor people of the South, regardless of caste or color, 

because this tax had its blighting influence. It cut the 

jugular vein of our financial system, bled it near unto 

death. . . . It so crippled every trade and industry that our 

suffering has been greater under its influence than under 

that of the war.”10 In the same speech, Turner called for 

the government to purchase private land, divide it into 

tracts of no more than 160 acres, and sell it to freedmen. 

No action was taken on this proposal, nor did the House 

consider a refund for the cotton tax.

In 1872, Republicans renominated Turner for his 

congressional seat, but his popularity had eroded in his 

Selma district. Turner’s relative conservatism, his refusal 

to make patronage appointments on a partisan basis, 

and his failure to pass economic revitalization bills roiled 

voters.11 Turner’s decline also reflected class tensions among 

local blacks. Prominent African-American leaders noted 

condescendingly that during his industrious but modest 

past Turner had been a “barroom owner, livery stable 

keeper, and a man destitute of education.”12 The black 

elite—fearing Turner would embarrass them because, 

they claimed, he lacked the social graces, manners, and 

experience of the upper class—backed Philip Joseph, a 

freeborn newspaper editor. Joseph ran as an Independent, 

splitting the black vote. White candidate Frederick G. 

Bromberg, running on the Democratic and Liberal 

Republican ticket, benefited from the split AfricanAmerican vote, winning the general election with a 44 

percent plurality. Turner took 37 percent, and Joseph 

garnered 19 percent.13

After his congressional career, Turner curtailed his 

political activities, emerging in 1880 to attend the Alabama 

Labor Union Convention and to serve as a delegate to the 

Republican National Convention in Chicago. He then 

returned to his livery stable in Selma. Turner eventually 

lost his business during a national economic downturn at 

the end of the 1870s. Resorting to making his living as a 

farmer, Benjamin Turner died nearly penniless in Selma on 

March 21, 1894.
H Benjamin Sterling Turner H

For Further Reading

“Turner, Benjamin Sterling,” Biographical Directory of 

the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000414. 

Notes

1 Congressional Globe, Appendix, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (30 May 

1872): A530–531.

2 Turner’s parents’ names are not known.

3 William W. Rogers, “Turner, Benjamin Sterling,” American 

National Biography 22 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 

9–11 (hereinafter referred to as ANB).

4 Rogers, “Turner, Benjamin Sterling,” ANB.

5 Ibid.

6 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986): 93–94.

7 Rogers, “Turner, Benjamin Sterling,” ANB. See also Michael J. 

Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997 (Jefferson, 

NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 217.

8 Congressional Globe, Appendix, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (30 May 

1872): A530–531.

9 Private bills are bills introduced on behalf of an individual, typically 

a constituent.

10 Congressional Globe, Appendix, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (31 May 

1872): A540–541.

11 Rogers, “Turner, Benjamin Sterling,” ANB.

12 Quoted in Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black 

Officeholders During Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1993): 215.

13 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 223.

former members | 1870–1887 H 87
88 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Overcoming deep political divisions in the Florida 

Republican Party, Josiah Walls became the first 

African American to serve his state in Congress. The only 

black Representative from Florida until the early 1990s, 

Walls was unseated twice on the recommendation of the 

House Committee on Elections. When he was not fiercely 

defending his seat in Congress, Walls fought for internal 

improvements for Florida. He also advocated compulsory 

education and economic opportunity for all races: “We 

demand that our lives, our liberties, and our property shall 

be protected by the strong arm of our government, that it 

gives us the same citizenship that it gives to those who it 

seems would . . . sink our every hope for peace, prosperity, 

and happiness into the great sea of oblivion.”1

Josiah Thomas Walls was born into slavery in 

Winchester, Virginia, on December 30, 1842.2

 He was 

suspected to be the son of his master, Dr. John Walls, 

and maintained contact with him throughout his life.3

When the Civil War broke out, Walls was forced to be the 

private servant of a Confederate artilleryman until he was 

captured by Union soldiers in May 1862. Emancipated 

by his Union captors, Walls briefly attended the county 

normal school in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. By July 1863, 

Josiah Walls was serving in the Union Army as part of the 

3rd Infantry Regiment of United States Colored Troops 

(USCT) based in Philadelphia. His regiment moved to 

Union-occupied northern Florida in February 1864. 

The following June, he transferred to the 35th Regiment 

USCT, where he served as the first sergeant and artillery 

instructor. While living in Picolota, Florida, Walls met 

and married Helen Fergueson, with whom he had one 

daughter, Nellie. He was discharged in October 1865 but 

decided to stay in Florida, working at a saw mill on the 

Suwannee River and, later, as a teacher with the Freedmen’s 

Bureau in Gainesville. By 1868, Walls had saved enough 

money to buy a 60-acre farm outside the city. 

One of the few educated black men in ReconstructionEra Florida, Walls was drawn to political opportunities 

available after the war. He began his career by 

representing north-central Florida’s Alachua County 

in the 1868 Florida constitutional convention. That 

same year, Walls ran a successful campaign for state 

assemblyman. The following fall, he was elected to the 

state senate and took his seat as one of five freedmen 

in the 24-man chamber in January 1869. Josiah Walls 

attended the Southern States Convention of Colored Men 

in 1871 in Columbia, South Carolina.

After gaining traction in 1867, the Florida Republican 

Party disintegrated into factions controlled by scalawags 

and carpetbaggers—each group fighting for the loyalty 

of a large constituency of freedmen. The disorganized 

GOP faced another grim situation when their nominating 

convention met in August 1870. The three previous 

years would be remembered as the apex of anti-black 

violence in the state, orchestrated by the well-organized 

Jacksonville branches of the Ku Klux Klan.4 In the face 

of such unrestrained intimidation, Florida freedmen were 

widely expected to avoid the polls on Election Day. Fearing 

conservative Democrats would capture the election in 

the absence of the black vote, state GOP party leaders—a 

group made up entirely of white men from the scalawag 

and carpetbagger factions—agreed that nominating a black 

man to the state’s lone At-Large seat in the U.S. House of 

Representatives would renew black voters’ courage and faith 

in the Republican Party. Passing over the incumbent, former 

Union soldier Representative Charles Hamilton, the state 

convention delegates advanced the names of their favorite 

black candidates. Fierce competition between the nominees 

led to unruly debate as well as attempts to cast fraudulent 

votes, and almost resulted in rioting. Walls’s reputation as an 

Josiah Thomas Walls

1842–1905

United States Representative H 1871–1873; 1873–1876

Republican from Florida

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 89
90 H Black Americans in Congress

H Josiah Thomas Walls H

independent politician who would not fall under the control 

of a single faction gave him the edge, and the convention 

selected him for the party’s nomination on the 11th ballot. 

The narrow victory was not encouraging for Walls. In the 

general election, he would confront not only Democratic 

opposition but also the doubts of his own party.5

Walls faced former slave owner and Confederate 

veteran Silas L. Niblack in the general election. Niblack 

immediately attacked Walls’s capabilities, arguing that 

a former slave was not educated enough to serve in 

Congress. Walls countered these charges by challenging 

his opponent to a debate and speaking at political rallies 

throughout northern Florida (the most populous section of 

the state). The campaign was violent; a would-be assassin’s 

bullet missed Walls by inches at a Gainesville rally, and 

Election Day was tumultuous. As one Clay County 

observer noted, Florida had been “turned upside down 

with politics and the election.”6

 Walls emerged victorious, 

taking just 627 more votes than Niblack out of the more 

than 24,000 cast.7 After presenting his credentials on 

March 4, 1871, he was immediately sworn in to the 42nd 

Congress (1871–1873) and given a seat on the Committee 

on the Militia. 

Niblack quickly contested the election. He provided 

solid evidence that the canvassers who rejected Democratic 

ballots in at least eight counties throughout the state were 

not legally allowed to do so; their job had been limited to 

counting votes. Walls claimed that he had lost more votes 

due to voter intimidation by the Ku Klux Klan in several 

northeastern counties, but he had little tangible evidence 

to support this claim.8

 Walls was in office for nearly two 

years before the House Committee on Elections ruled on 

his case. The Republican majority declared Niblack the 

winner on January 29, 1873—a rare case in which the 

committee decided with the candidate from the minority 

party.9

 Despite his loss, Walls’s congressional career was 

not over. In November 1872, he had won one of the 

two Florida At-Large seats in the 43rd Congress (1873–

1875).10 In the four-way race, the top-two vote getters 

won a seat. Walls was just 34 votes shy of carpetbagger 

Republican William Purman. Niblack, running as a 

Conservative, was third.11 Walls returned to Congress 

when it convened in December 1873, receiving an 

additional assignment: to the Committee on Expenditures 

in the Navy Department.

Walls spent much of the 42nd and 43rd Congresses 

advancing the political and economic interests of his 

Florida constituents. Even Jacksonville’s Democratic 

Florida Union praised Walls’s efforts on behalf of the state, 

declaring, “Mr. Walls adds his mite to what has gone 

before and does it well.”12 He affectionately referred to 

Florida as “my own sunny state,” in an attempt to promote 

the potential of his new home for tourism and farming.13

Walls presented resolutions for statewide internal 

improvements including the construction of telegraph 

lines, customhouses, courthouses, and post offices. He 

sought funding to improve Florida’s harbors and rivers and 

to create a land-grant state agricultural college. In an 1872 

tariff bill, Walls also fought to protect Florida’s orchards 

from foreign competition. Most of Walls’s measures failed 

to make it out of committee, but he had more success 

passing private bills (those submitted for the benefit of an 

individual). He managed to gain pensions for Seminole 

War veterans who fought several battles against Native 

Americans in Florida throughout the early 19th century.

Walls feared the cause of public education would 

languish if it were left to the states. During the 43rd 

Congress, he enthusiastically supported a measure to 

establish a national education fund financed by the sale 

of public land. Walls addressed this issue in his first major 

floor speech on February 3, 1872: “I believe that the 

national Government is the guardian of the liberties of all 

its subjects,” Walls said. “Can [African Americans] protect 

their liberties without education; and can they be educated 

under the present condition of society in the States where 

they were when freed? Can this be done without the aid, 

assistance, and supervision of the General Government? 

No, sir, it cannot.”14 The bill passed with amendments 

protecting a state’s right to segregated education and 

granting states greater control over the distribution of 
H Josiah Thomas Walls H

federal funds, but the money was never appropriated.15

Walls’s support for education was further frustrated when 

the Civil Rights Bill—a battered piece of legislation seeking 

to eliminate discrimination in public accommodations, first 

introduced in 1870—came to a vote in February 1875. 

Opponents managed to excise a clause calling for equal 

educational opportunities just before the measure came to a 

vote. Walls was so displeased, he abstained from voting on 

the final bill on February 5, 1875.16 Submitting a speech to 

the Congressional Record Appendix just one month after the 

civil rights vote, Walls assessed the future of the South as 

Reconstruction began to deteriorate: “I reluctantly confess, 

after so many years of concessions that unless partisan and 

sectional feeling shall lose more of its rancor in the future 

than has been experienced in the past, fundamental law will 

be disregarded, overthrown, and trampled under foot, and 

a complete reign of terror and anarchy will rule supreme.”17

For the 1874 campaign, Florida was split into two 

congressional districts, and Walls ran in a district 

covering the eastern half of the peninsula. Nearly the 

entire population of the new district, which was more 

than half black, lived between Walls’s home in northcentral Florida and Jacksonville, on the Atlantic Coast.18

The state Republican Party remained fractured, and an 

economic depression further endangered its grip on the 

state government. Walls returned to Florida after the 

43rdCongress to maximize his personal wealth and to 

muster local political strength for the coming election. 

He succeeded in both goals. Using his congressional 

salary, Walls purchased a cotton plantation formerly 

owned by Confederates. That same year, he was admitted 

to the Florida bar (legal training was not required in 

some rural states) and bought the Gainesville New Era 

newspaper. Walls used the New Era to campaign for his 

renomination. In his first editorial, Walls promised to 

focus on internal improvements and to address the “wants 

and interests of the people of color,” loosely defined as 

education, thrift, and industry.19 His local popularity 

soared, and district Republicans nominated him on the 

first ballot in August 1874. 

In the general election, Walls faced Conservative 

candidate Jesse J. Finley, a Tennessee native and pre-Civil 

War member of the Whig Party. Voters divided almost 

entirely along racial lines; Walls topped Finley by a slim 

margin of 371 votes out of nearly 17,000 cast, taking 

51 percent.20 He was sworn in to the 44th Congress and 

assigned to the Committee on Mileage. 

Once again Walls was confronted by a challenge to his 

seat. Finley contested the election, claiming that ballots 

from several precincts where Walls resided in Alachua 

County had been miscounted. Finley supporters also 

claimed that other Alachua County votes were illegal 

because the eligibility oath was executed improperly 

(Florida law required this oath from voters whose names 

did not appear on the precinct’s list). Finley also accused 

Walls’s black political ally W. U. Saunders of impersonating 

a federal marshal at one of the polling places to protect and 

encourage black voters. Furthermore, Finley supporters 

suspected Walls’s votes in one Columbia County precinct 

had been tampered with by GOP state senate candidate 

E. G. Johnson.21 With Democrats now in power in the 

House, the Committee on Elections reported 8 to 3 

against Walls. As the debate moved to the House Floor, 

Democratic Speaker Michael Kerr of Indiana allocated 

time to Members during the two-day discussion. Not 

one of Walls’s six black colleagues was allowed to speak, 

although Walls briefly took the floor in his own defense. 

On April 19, 1876, the House adopted the committee 

report, 135 to 84, with 71 abstentions (including 

Representatives Robert Smalls of South Carolina and 

Charles Nash of Louisiana). Walls returned to Florida a 

week later and, in August 1876, Republican Horatio Bisbee 

defeated his attempt at renomination. 

In November 1876, Walls won a seat in the Florida 

state senate, where he championed his cause of compulsory 

public education. Ultimately frustrated by the futility of 

Republican politics after the collapse of Reconstruction, he 

took a permanent leave of absence in February 1879. The 

opportunity to face his old foe Bisbee for the Republican 

nomination to a Florida U.S. House seat lured him back 

former members | 1870–1887 H 91
92 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

into politics in 1884. He lost and then ran unsuccessfully 

in the general election as an Independent candidate.22

In 1890, Walls lost another bid for the state senate. In 

1885, his wife, Helen Fergueson Walls, died and Josiah 

Walls married her young cousin, Ella Angeline Gass. His 

successful farm was destroyed when his crops froze in 

February 1895. Walls subsequently took charge of the farm 

at Florida Normal College (now Florida A&M University), 

until his death in Tallahassee on May 15, 1905. Josiah 

Walls had fallen into such obscurity, no Florida newspaper 

published his obituary.23

For Further Reading

Klingman, Peter D. Josiah Walls: Florida’s Black 

Congressman of Reconstruction (Gainesville: University of 

Florida Press, 1976).

“Walls, Josiah Thomas,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000093.

Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (2 March 1875): 

A166–169.

2 Most evidence indicates Walls was born a slave. Although at 

one point he claimed his parents were freed in 1842, he also 

commented that he had never been free until he enlisted in 1863. 

See Peter D. Klingman, “Race and Faction in the Public Career 

of Florida’s Josiah T. Walls,” in Howard Rabinowitz, ed., Southern 

Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: University of 

Illinois Press, 1982): 60.

3 There is no information available about Walls’s mother or about the 

existence of any siblings.

4 From 1868 to 1871, the Florida secretary of state estimated that 

there were 235 Klan-instigated murders in the eight northern 

Florida counties. See Joe M. Richardson, The Negro in the 

Reconstruction of Florida, 1865–1877 (Tallahassee: Florida State 

University Press, 1965): 172.

5 Peter D. Klingman, Josiah Walls: Florida’s Black Congressman of 

Reconstruction (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1976): 

12–13, 30–37.

6 Quoted in Klingman, Josiah Walls: 38.

7 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 217.

8 Klingman, Josiah Walls: 46–47.

9 Chester H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest of All the Contested 

Election Cases (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 

1901): 282–283.

10 The second seat was added as a result of apportionment after the 

1870 Census.

11 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 223.

12 Klingman, “Race and Faction”: 72 (originally quoted in the Florida 

Union, 5 February 1874).

13 Quoted in Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New 

York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 82.

14 Congressional Globe, House, 42nd Cong., 2nd sess. (23 February 

1872): 809.

15 Klingman, Josiah Walls: 78.

16 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 84.

17 Congressional Record, Appendix, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (2 March 

1875): A166–169.

18 See Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986): 156.

19 Klingman, Josiah Walls: 54.

20 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 230.

21 Suspiciously, Johnson was murdered in August 1875, and the 

questionable Columbia County ballots were destroyed in a fire at 

the county Clerk’s Office. See Klingman, Josiah Walls: 64–69.

22 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 265.

23 Klingman, “Race and Faction”: 75.

H Josiah Thomas Walls H
Walls assessed the future of 

the South as Reconstruction 

began to deteriorate: 

“I reluctantly confess, after 

so many years of concessions 

that unless partisan and 

sectional feeling shall 

lose more of its rancor in 

the future than has been 

experienced in the past . . . a 

complete reign of terror and 

anarchy will rule supreme.”

former members | 1870–1887 H 93
94 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Born into freedom, Richard Cain was a pastor, a 

newspaper editor, and an entrepreneur, making 

his mark as a writer and a land speculator before being 

elected to the U.S. House for two nonconsecutive terms. 

During the 43rd Congress (1873–1875), Cain used 

his considerable oratorical skills and wit to defend the 

education clause in the Civil Rights Bill of 1875. He 

displayed a rich sense of humor, mocking southern white 

Representatives who pronounced African Americans 

incapable of learning. Addressing Representative William 

Robbins of North Carolina, Cain retorted, “The gentleman 

. . . states that the Negro race is the world’s stage actor—

the comic dancer all over the land; that he laughs and he 

dances. . . . Now he dances as an African; then he crouched 

as a slave.”1 Amid deteriorating conditions for southern 

blacks at the end of Reconstruction, Cain promoted 

African-American immigration to the West African colony 

of Liberia in the 45th Congress (1877–1879).

Richard Harvey Cain was born to free parents on April 

12, 1825, in Greenbrier County, Virginia (now West 

Virginia). His Cherokee mother and black father moved 

with their son to Gallipolis, Ohio, in 1831. Living in 

a “free state” afforded Cain an education; he learned to 

read and write in Sunday school classes. He also worked 

on steamboats along the Ohio River. In 1844, Cain 

entered the Methodist ministry; his first assignment was in 

Hannibal, Missouri. In 1848, frustrated by the Methodists’ 

segregated practices, he transferred to the African 

Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church. Cain then served as 

a pastor in Muscatine, Iowa, where he was elected a deacon 

in 1859. When the Civil War broke out in 1861, he was 

studying at Wilberforce University in Ohio, one of the first 

American colleges founded by black men. Cain claimed 

that he and 115 other Wilberforce students attempted to 

enlist but were turned away by the Ohio governor.2

In 1861, Richard Cain was assigned to serve as pastor 

at the Bridge Street Church in Brooklyn, New York, where 

he quickly became involved in politics. As a delegate to 

a national black convention held in Syracuse, New York, 

in 1864, he advocated universal manhood suffrage. After 

the war, the AME Church assigned Cain to the historic 

Emanuel Church in Charleston, South Carolina. The 

state government had dissolved the congregation in 1822 

because of a slave revolt, but under Cain’s leadership the 

congregation swelled to the largest in the state by 1871. 

Cain established himself as a writer at the 1865 Charleston 

Colored People’s Convention, penning “Address to the 

People of South Carolina” in which he set forth some of 

his lifelong political positions, including his advocacy of 

land grants for freedmen. To disseminate his views to a 

larger audience, he founded the South Carolina Leader

newspaper in 1866 (renamed the Missionary Record in 

1868). Cain hired future black Representatives Robert 

Elliott and Alonzo Ransier as associate editors. The 

exposure he gained from his church and his newspaper 

helped jump-start Cain’s political career. Under Cain, 

Emanuel’s congregation became “one of the strongest 

political organizations in the state,” and its support base 

grew through the editorial pages of the Missionary Record.

3

Cain first served in South Carolina as a delegate to the 

state constitutional convention in 1868. He was elected 

to the state senate that same year, heading a commission 

to investigate South Carolina state senators who voted 

against the ratification of the 14th Amendment. After an 

unsuccessful campaign for re-election to the state senate 

in 1870, Cain was named chair of the party’s Charleston 

branch, and he set his sights on national politics. Known 

widely as “Daddy Cain,” he had firmly established his 

credentials as a paternal champion of African-American 

civil rights and social advancement.4

Richard Harvey Cain

1825–1887

United States Representative H 1873–1875; 1877–1879

Republican from S outh Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 95
96 H Black Americans in Congress

H Richard Harvey Cain H

While further entrepreneurial endeavors garnered 

Cain important political connections, they also invited 

scrutiny and unwanted attention. In 1869, he supported 

enacting a state land commission and petitioning the 

U.S. Congress to fund it with a $1 million loan from the 

Freedmen’s Bank.5

 When the commission proved corrupt 

and ineffective, Cain purchased large tracts of farmland 

20 miles outside Charleston in 1871 and attempted to 

sell them exclusively to freedmen. He established the 

Ebenezer AME Church on the property, and a new 

community (Lincolnville) grew out of its congregation.6

Financiers foreclosed on the project when Cain was unable 

to meet the mortgage payments. He was later indicted 

for obtaining money from buyers under false pretenses, 

but the case never went to trial. His participation in 

Reconstruction-Era politics was also attended by personal 

risk; white supremacy groups harassed him, and his 

daughter would later recall, “We... lived in constant fear at 

all times.”7

The 1872 campaign in South Carolina signaled a new 

reform movement in state politics, particularly following 

the revelation of corruption on the part of outgoing 

Governor Robert K. Scott.8 As a longtime advocate for the 

removal of corrupt politicians from state government and 

a cofounder of the Honest Government League, Cain was 

an attractive candidate for statewide and national office.9

After failing to obtain the nomination for lieutenant 

governor, Cain sought an At-Large seat in the U.S. House 

of Representatives. He defeated his nearest opponent, 

Independent Democrat Lewis E. Johnson, by more than 

38,000 votes, garnering 71 percent of the total in a fourway race.10

Upon being sworn into the 43rd Congress, Cain was 

assigned to the influential Committee on Agriculture as a 

nod to his state’s large farming population. He spent his 

first term in Congress, however, focusing on the longawaited Civil Rights Bill. First introduced in 1870, the 

bill, which called for equal services and accommodations 

for all races, had been diluted by amendments restricting 

its scope. Cain, an assertive and entertaining orator, made 

two major speeches and on several occasions spoke on the 

House Floor in support of the legislation. Both of Cain’s 

significant floor speeches, delivered in January 1873, 

identified the civil rights legislation as the final battle of 

the Civil War and a fatal blow to slavery, fulfilling “the 

great mission . . . of giving all the people equal rights.”11

Cain touched on race relations in the South as well as 

discrimination related to public transportation, hotel 

accommodations, and education. He attempted to dispel 

the well-worn argument that civil rights legislation would 

destroy the possibility of good relations between southern 

whites and African Americans. On January 10, he said, 

“Now I am at a loss to see how the friendship of our white 

friends can be lost to us by simply saying we should be 

permitted to enjoy the rights enjoyed by other citizens...

We do not want any discrimination. I do not ask for any 

legislation for colored people of this country that is not 

applied to the white people. All that we ask is equal laws, 

equal legislation, and equal rights. . . .”12 Cain also made 

a case for the contributions of blacks to southern society, 

observing that black men provided essential labor for the 

economy and fulfilled many skilled tasks. Cain noted that, 

“the carpenters, the machinists, the engineers—nearly all 

the mechanics” in the South were black.13

A distilled version of the beleaguered civil rights 

legislation passed on February 4, 1875, with Cain 

reluctantly accepting an amendment striking the clause 

that would have integrated public schools.14 With the 

adjournment of the 43rd Congress one month later, Cain’s 

At-Large seat was eliminated due to reapportionment. He 

did not seek renomination in his home district, which 

included the large black populations of Charleston, 

Georgetown, and the Sea Islands, then represented by 

black Representative Joseph Rainey, but returned to his 

ministry and local political activity in Charleston.15

Cain did not remain out of elective office for long, 

however. In 1876, he accepted the Republican nomination 

for a seat in a new district mapped by the Republican state 

legislature and favorable to the election of its partisans. 

Cain’s new district, which swept from low-country 
H Richard Harvey Cain H

Charleston to neighboring inland Orangeburg County, 

was more than 65 percent black.16 Although Cain defeated 

his opponent, Michael O’Connor, by more than 8,000 

votes (taking 62 percent), that Election Day was one of 

the most tumultuous in South Carolina history. Violence 

and corruption wracked the state. The chaos drew national 

attention when South Carolina, along with two other 

states, provided two sets of electoral votes for each of 

the presidential candidates, Republican Rutherford B. 

Hayes and Democrat Samuel J. Tilden.17 Citing election 

irregularities, O’Connor contested Cain’s victory. He 

challenged Cain’s credentials, signed by South Carolina 

Secretary of State Henry E. Hayne, a black man later 

declared by the state government to be a fugitive from 

the law. O’Connor also argued that the state canvassers, 

who had met in secret to count the final votes, were 

candidates on the Republican ticket along with Cain and 

thus biased.18 On October 16, 1877, the second day of the 

45th Congress, Cain defended himself against these claims, 

noting that the secretary who had signed his credentials 

also had signed those of four other South Carolina 

Representatives of different races and political parties.19

That same day the House voted 181 to 89 to seat Cain, 

and he was assigned to the Committee on Private Claims. 

O’Connor again tried to unseat him a year later; however, 

the Elections Committee unanimously supported Cain. 

The House upheld his election for the second time in an 

unrecorded vote on May 8, 1878.20

The provisions that had been gutted from the Civil 

Rights Bill of 1875 were at the top of Cain’s agenda 

when he returned to Congress, and he introduced a bill 

requiring the federal government to set aside monies 

from the sale of public lands to fund public education. 

The money would be apportioned to the states based on 

population. Cain did not use racial or partisan arguments 

to make his case; providing federal census statistics 

showing that school attendance was low among the poor 

of all races and regions, Cain declared, “The education of 

the nation is paramount, and should not be neglected. We 

should recognize the absolute necessity of elevating our 

citizens of whatever class or condition from ignorance, 

from degradation, from superstition, from pauperism, 

from crime. It is an accepted axiom, I believe everywhere, 

that the more intelligent the citizen is the better citizen 

he is.”21 Although Cain gained the support of several of 

his colleagues, including Representative Rainey, his 

proposal never made it out of the Committee on 

Education and Labor.

Cain’s frustration with the collapse of Reconstruction 

shaped his policy during his second term. He defended 

the controversial order of South Carolina carpetbagger 

Governor Daniel Chamberlain to employ military 

protection for voters in the 1876 election and argued 

against cutting military budgets, to ensure domestic peace 

and protect western pioneers from Indian uprisings.22

Concerned with the erosion of black civil rights in the 

South, Cain also reconsidered his initial reluctance to 

support emigration to Liberia.23 Citing growing black 

disillusionment in the South, he began to advocate 

legislation to aid that cause.24 On March 11, 1878, Cain 

submitted a bill to establish routes for mail and passenger 

ships to the West African colony. Although his proposal 

never left the Committee on Commerce, Cain became 

a member of the Liberian Exodus Joint Stock Steamship 

Company in 1877.

Representative Cain’s politics became more radical as his 

term progressed. He joined former black Representatives 

Robert De Large and Alonso Ransier from South Carolina 

in supporting the movement of black nationalist Martin 

Delany to gain power for blacks in the federal government. 

Cain cooperated with Delany, castigating white Republican 

leaders who favored light-skinned candidates and scorning 

mulatto men who endorsed this discrimination. He argued 

that this practice splintered the Republican Party.25 He 

also advocated violent retaliation against the Ku Klux Klan 

and the like-minded Red Shirts of South Carolina.26 Such 

maverick positions cost Cain the Republican nomination 

in 1878. Instead the party nominated a local white man, 

Edmund W. M. Mackey, who went on to lose a close 

election to Cain’s former opponent Michael O’Connor. 

former members | 1870–1887 H 97
98 H Black Americans in Congress

After leaving Congress, Cain distanced himself from 

South Carolina politics. In 1880, the AME Church elected 

Cain to serve as bishop in the Texas–Louisiana Conference. 

He cofounded Paul Quinn College in Waco, Texas, and 

served as its president until July 1884. Cain then returned 

to Washington, DC to serve as bishop of the AME

Conference with jurisdiction in the mid-Atlantic and New 

England states, overseeing his new post from the nation’s 

capital, until he died on January 18, 1887.

For Further Reading

 “Cain, Richard Harvey,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000022.

Lewis, Ronald L. “Cultural Pluralism and Black 

Reconstruction: The Public Career of Richard H. Cain,” 

Crisis 85 (February 1978): 57–60.

H Richard Harvey Cain H
Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 January 

1874): 901–903.

2 Governor William Dennison likely rejected the black volunteers 

from Wilberforce. Cain stated that he enlisted in the Union Army 

when African Americans were permitted to fight, in 1862, but 

his service cannot be verified. See Maurine Christopher, Black 

Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 

1976): 88.

3 Quoted in Joel Williamson, After Slavery: The Negro in South 

Carolina During Reconstruction, 1861–1877 (Chapel Hill: The 

University of North Carolina Press, 1965): 206.

4 Peggy Lamson, “Cain, Richard Harvey,” Dictionary of American 

Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 85.

5 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 88; Thomas C. Holt, Black 

Over White: Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina During 

Reconstruction (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977): 131.

6 Bo Peterson, “Lincolnville: Church Remains Town’s Cornerstone,” 

22 February 2003, Charleston Post and Courier: 1A.

7 Quoted in Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black 

Officeholders During Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1993): 36. Cain’s daughter’s name is not known.

8 Williamson, After Slavery: 399.

9 C. G. W., “Cain, Richard Harvey,” Dictionary of American Biography

(New York: American Council of Learned Societies, 1973): 404 

(hereinafter referred to as DAB); Williamson, After Slavery: 393.

10 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

226. There is no evidence that Cain faced violence or irregularities 

in his election, as did some of his colleagues.

11 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (10 January 

1874): 565–567.

12 Ibid.

13 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 January 

1874): 901–903.

14 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (3 February 

1875): 982.

15 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986): 213. 

16 Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1843–1883: 

213. This percentage was estimated using data provided by Parsons. 

Though Parsons mentions the redistricting of South Carolina for 

the 1874 election, he omits a second redistricting for the 1876 

election. This second change in district lines eliminated Lexington 

County from Cain’s district. Parsons includes Lexington County, 

whose population was only 35 percent black, in his calculation. See 

also Kenneth Martis, The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the 

United States Congress: 1789–1989 (New York: Macmillan, 1989): 

128–131.

17 Eric Foner, Reconstruction: America’s Unfinished Revolution, 

1863–1877 (New York: Harper and Row Publishers, 1988): 

573–575.

18 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 94.

19 Congressional Record, House, 45th Cong., 1st sess. (16 October 

1877): 68. Representatives Joseph Rainey and Robert Smalls were 

black Republicans, and Representatives David Aiken and John 

Evins were white Democrats.

20 Congressional Record, House, 45th Cong., 2nd sess. (8 May 1878): 

3274.

21 Congressional Record, House, 45th Cong., 3rd sess. (23 January 

1879): 684.

22 Congressional Record, House, 45th Cong., 2nd sess. (22 May 

1878): 3683.

23 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 January 

1874): 901–903. In this earlier speech on the House Floor Cain 

declared, “We [Black Americans] feel that we are part and parcel of 

this great nation; as such, as I said before, we propose to stay here 

and solve this problem of whether the black race and the white race 

can live together in this country.”

24 Quoted in Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 36.

25 William C. Hine, “Cain, Richard Harvey,” American National 

Biography 4 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 188–189 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

26 C. G. W., “Cain, Richard Harvey,” DAB; Hine, “Cain, Richard 

Harvey,” ANB; Terry L. Seip, The South Returns to Congress: Men, 

Economic Measures, and Intersectional Relationships, 1868–1879 

(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1983): 76–77.

H Richard Harvey Cain H

former members | 1870–1887 H 99
100 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

The only African-American Representative from 

Mississippi for a century, following a quick rise in 

politics at a young age, John Roy Lynch fought to maintain 

Republican hegemony in his state in the face of violent 

Democratic opposition. A veteran of the Civil War and, 

later, the Spanish–American War, Lynch emphasized his 

rights as an American citizen on the House Floor. “It is 

certainly known by southern as well as northern men 

that the colored people of this country are thoroughly 

American,” he declared. “Born and raised upon American 

soil and under the influence of American institutions; 

not American citizens by adoption, but by birth.”1 An 

outspoken advocate for the Civil Rights Bill of 1875 and 

an active Republican throughout his long life, Lynch later 

challenged a major school of interpretation that disparaged 

black political activity during the Reconstruction Era.

John Roy Lynch was born into slavery near Vidalia, 

Louisiana, on September 10, 1847. His Irish immigrant 

father, Patrick Lynch, managed the Tacony Plantation, 

and his mother, Catherine White, was a mulatto slave. 

He had two older brothers, William and Edward. 

John Lynch became the personal valet of his owner, 

Mississippian Alfred W. Davis, until Davis was drafted 

by the Confederate Army in 1862. Lynch recalled 

Davis as “reasonable, fair, and considerate.”2 After being 

emancipated at the end of the war, Lynch worked as a cook 

for the 49th Illinois Volunteers regiment and performed 

other odd jobs. He subsequently managed a photographer’s 

studio. Lynch’s business prospered, and he invested in local 

real estate.

Lynch rose rapidly in politics because of the 

opportunities that were available to black men in 

Reconstruction-Era Mississippi. He began his political 

career in 1868 by speaking at the local Republican club 

in favor of a new Mississippi constitution. The following 

year, he served as an assistant secretary at the Republican 

state convention. In April 1869, the local Republican Party 

selected Lynch to advise Reconstruction Governor Adelbert 

Ames about various candidates for political positions in 

Natchez, Mississippi. When the list of appointments was 

unveiled, Lynch professed to be surprised to find he had 

been appointed justice of the peace. The local favorite for 

the appointment, Reverend H. P. Jacobs, accused Lynch of 

stealing the position.3 In November 1869, Lynch won his 

first elected office, serving in the Mississippi state house of 

representatives. In January 1872, colleagues selected the 

24-year-old as speaker.

Lynch sought a U.S. House seat representing coastal 

Mississippi, a district that he largely created as presiding 

officer in the state house of representatives. The district 

encompassed the southern quarter of the state, including 

his Natchez home. Lynch enjoyed broad support from 

his district, whose population was 55 percent black.4

He defeated incumbent Republican Legrand Perce for 

the nomination, noting his vulnerability to Democratic 

accusations that he was a carpetbagger. Facing Democratic 

Judge Hiram Cassidy in the general election, Lynch 

conducted a strong campaign organized by a trio of 

influential black politicians: William McCary, Robert 

Wood, and Robert Fitzhugh. In a quiet election in which 

both candidates canvassed the state and engaged in joint 

debates, Lynch defeated Cassidy, taking 15,091 votes 

(65 percent).5

 When the 43rd Congress (1873–1875) 

convened, 26-year-old John Lynch was its youngest 

Member.6 He received appointments to the Committee 

on Mines and the Committee on Expenditures in the 

Interior Department.

Like other African Americans in Congress, Lynch 

enthusiastically promoted the Civil Rights Bill, which 

outlawed discrimination on public transportation and in 

John Roy Lynch

1847–1939

United States Representative H 1873–1877; 1882–1883

Republican from Mississippi

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 101
102 H Black Americans in Congress

H John Roy Lynch H

public accommodations and provided for equal education 

for the races.7 Speaking twice before his colleagues on 

an issue that preoccupied much of the 43rd Congress, 

Lynch argued that civil rights legislation would help Black 

Americans achieve political independence, and claimed 

Democratic opposition to the bill forced freedmen to 

support the Republican Party. Despite Democrats’ tactical 

attempts to prevent him from speaking, Lynch addressed 

his colleagues on February 3, 1875, just before the Civil 

Rights Bill came to a vote. Maintaining that the legislation 

would not force blacks and whites to mix socially, as 

southern Democrats feared, Lynch said, “It is not social 

rights that we desire. We have enough of that already. 

What we ask for is protection in the enjoyment of public 

rights—rights that are or should be accorded to every 

citizen alike.”8

 The legislation that came to a final vote on 

February 4, 1875, was severely weakened by amendments, 

but Lynch was among the majority supporting the bill.

Lynch returned home to a crisis in Mississippi in the 

spring of 1875. Democrats sought to seize power by 

implementing their Mississippi Plan, which involved using 

economic coercion and violence to exclude black voters 

and Republican politicians at the state level. Governor 

Ames asked for federal troops to keep the peace but was 

rebuffed by the administration of President Ulysses S. 

Grant. Beginning his campaign for re-election, Lynch was 

doubtful he would retain his seat in the face of formidable 

Democratic opposition. Though he was supported by 

loyal members of his party, many white Republicans 

who had supported him in 1872 became Democrats 

in 1874.9 Facing Democratic candidate Roderick Seal, 

Lynch traveled throughout his district, despite the threat 

of being physically attacked by white supremacists.10 In a 

violent, confused campaign, he narrowly defended his seat, 

taking 13,746 votes (51 percent).11 Lynch was the only 

Republican in the Mississippi House delegation to survive 

a Democratic sweep in the polls. Retaining his assignment 

on the Committee on Mines and Mining, Lynch took his 

seat in the 44th Congress (1875–1877). 

Although a record eight African-American Members 

(including Senator Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi) took 

the oath of office in December 1875, the Democratic 

Party controlled the House for the first time since before 

the Civil War.12 Lynch spent the remainder of his second 

term defending Congressional Reconstruction in the 

South. Throughout 1876, he attacked the violent practices 

of White Leaguers and pleaded for political parties in the 

South to cease dividing along racial lines. He called the 

White League “an organization which has been brought 

into existence by the bad men of the Democratic Party for 

the purpose of securing position by the power of the bullet 

and not by the power of the ballot.”13 Lynch’s pleas fell on 

deaf ears approaching the 1876 election. Traveling home 

to Mississippi to seek re-election, Lynch faced a hostile 

campaign against Democrat James R. Chalmers, a former 

Confederate general and cavalry commander. Having 

restored a majority in the state legislature, Democrats 

reconfigured Lynch’s district to their advantage. His new 

district, called the “shoestring district” because it narrowly 

hugged the Mississippi River, was the only Republicandominated district. The new boundaries squeezed the 

majority of the state’s GOP voters into one district, almost 

guaranteeing a Democratic Mississippi delegation.14

Having secured the Republican nomination without 

opposition, Lynch made his trademark canvass of the new 

district. Although he was able to prevent violent riots, 

which were common in other parts of the state, his stump 

speeches were often interrupted by jeers and groans from 

the crowd. Lynch characterized this activity as “harmless” 

compared with the “riot and bloodshed which had been 

contemplated.”15 Chalmers defeated Lynch, taking 15,788 

votes. Lynch garnered only 12,386 votes (44 percent) and 

contested the election.16 The Committee on Elections, 

dominated by Democrats, who controlled the House, 

refused to hear his case. 

After leaving Congress, Lynch remained active in 

the Mississippi Republican Party, working with Senator 

Bruce to maintain party unity in the face of dwindling 

federal support. However, in 1880, Lynch’s interest in 

national politics was renewed when his former House 
H John Roy Lynch H

colleague James Garfield of Ohio ran for President on 

the Republican ticket. Seeking a seat in the “shoestring 

district,” Lynch gained the support of his old allies and, 

with the blessing and support of Senator Bruce, barely won 

the nomination in a four-way race.17 Riding the statewide 

strength of the Democratic Party, Chalmers defeated 

Lynch with 63 percent of the vote, garnering 9,172 votes 

to Lynch’s 5,393.18 Lynch contested the election. When 

his case came before the Committee on Elections on April 

27, 1882, Lynch argued that in five counties, more than 

5,000 of his votes had been counted for Chalmers. He 

further asserted that several thousand Republican ballots 

had been thrown out after a secret hearing because of 

technicalities such as a clerical failure to send a list of 

names with the returns and the presence of unusual marks 

on the ballots.19 Lynch’s strongest arguments were based 

on Chalmers’s remarks that Lynch’s votes had been thrown 

out and that he (Chalmers) was “in favor of using every 

means short of violence to preserve [for] intelligent white 

people of Mississippi supreme control of political affairs.”20

The committee ruled in Lynch’s favor, and on April 29, 

1882, the House voted 125 to 83 to seat him; 62 Members 

abstained. He received positions on the Committee on 

Education and Labor and the Committee on the Militia.

The legislative agenda of the 47th Congress 

(1881–1883), unlike Reconstruction-Era Congresses, 

focused on internal improvements and tariff legislation 

instead of on conditions in the South and freed slaves. 

Arriving late in the first session, Lynch concentrated on 

economic legislation favoring his Mississippi constituents; 

he requested funds to reimburse an orphanage in Natchez 

that was damaged in the Civil War, sought appropriations 

to improve the shoreline of the Mississippi River, and 

split the state into two judicial districts. On a national 

level, Lynch submitted legislation to reimburse depositors 

who lost money when the Freedmen’s Savings and Trust 

Company failed. His colleagues on the Education and 

Labor Committee reported favorably on the bill, but 

it died in the House Rules Committee. He also sought 

appropriations for a National Board of Health, citing 

devastation from the 1878 yellow fever epidemic that 

swept through the South. Based on personal experience, 

Lynch also appealed to the House to revise the statute 

limiting reimbursement for losses incurred contesting an 

election, believing a $2,000 cap would deter all but the 

wealthy candidates. 

Lynch faced Democrat Henry S. Van Eaton, a local 

judge, for re-election in 1882. A skilled debater aided 

by the Natchez newspapers’ harsh treatment of Lynch 

during the campaign, Van Eaton defeated Lynch 7,615 

votes (53 percent) to 6,706. John Lynch made two more 

unsuccessful bids for Congress. In 1884, Van Eaton 

defeated Lynch with 60 percent of the vote. Lynch later 

lost to Democrat Thomas Stockdale in 1886, polling less 

than a third of the vote.21

After his congressional career, Lynch returned to 

Mississippi to oversee his real estate, but remained active 

in politics. He served as a Mississippi member of the 

Republican National Committee from 1884 to 1889. 

In 1884, he was a delegate to the Republican National 

Convention. Lynch served as a temporary chairman 

and was accorded the honor of delivering a keynote 

address, making him the only African American to deliver 

a keynote address at a national political convention 

until 1968.22 He returned to the Republican National 

Convention in 1900 to serve on the committee on 

platform and resolutions. On December 18, 1884, Lynch 

married Ella Wickham Somerville, a Creole mulatto 

woman from a prominent southern family. The couple 

had one daughter (her name is not known). Lynch was 

admitted to the Mississippi bar and opened a Washington, 

DC, law office in 1897, practicing for one year. In 1897, 

the William McKinley administration appointed him a 

major in the U.S. Army and paymaster of volunteers in the 

Spanish–American War. After divorcing his wife in 1900, 

Lynch spent three years in Cuba. His orders subsequently 

took him to San Francisco, Hawaii, and the Philippines. 

Lynch retired as a major in 1911. Upon his return, he 

married Cora Williamson, and the couple moved to 

Chicago, where Lynch practiced law. 

former members | 1870–1887 H 103
104 H Black Americans in Congress

In reaction to negative literature on the Reconstruction 

Era, Lynch published The Facts of Reconstruction in 1913. 

In 1917 and 1918, he published two articles in the Journal 

of Negro History challenging historian James Rhodes’s 

attack on Republican governments during the postwar 

era. The articles were published in 1922 in the book Some 

Historical Errors of James Ford Rhodes. During the 1930s, 

Lynch began writing his autobiography, Reminiscences of an 

Active Life, which was published in 1970. He was editing 

the manuscript when he died at age 92 on November 2, 

1939, in Chicago. 

For Further Reading

Franklin, John Hope. “John Roy Lynch: Republican 

Stalwart from Mississippi,” in Howard Rabinowitz, ed., 

Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: 

University of Illinois Press, 1982).

“Lynch, John Roy,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000533. 

Lynch, John Roy. The Facts of Reconstruction (New York: 

Arno Press, reprint 1968). 

_____. The Late Election in Mississippi (Washington: 

Government Printing Office, 1877).

_____. Reminiscences of an Active Life, edited and with 

an introduction by John Hope Franklin (Chicago: The 

University of Chicago Press, 1970). 

_____. Some Historical Errors of James Ford Rhodes (Boston: 

The Cornhill Publishing Co., 1922).

Manuscript Collections

Duke University, Rare Book, Manuscript, and Special 

Collections Library (Durham, NC) Papers: In the George 

Gifford Papers, 1860–1920, 546 items. Subjects include 

John Roy Lynch.

Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, 

DC) Microfilm: In the Robert H. Terrell Papers, ca. 

1870–1925, four microfilm reels. Correspondents include 

John R. Lynch. A finding aid is available in the library. 

Microfilm: In the Carter G. Woodson Collection of Negro 

Papers and Related Documents, ca. 1803–1936, 10 

microfilm reels. Subjects include John Roy Lynch.

Mississippi Department of Archives and History

(Jackson, MS) Papers: 1873–1877, four items. The 

papers of John Roy Lynch include a manuscript of his 

autobiography, a photograph, and three letters.

H John Roy Lynch H
The Morgan Library, Department of Literary and 

Historical Manuscripts (New York, NY) Papers: 1873, one 

item. A letter from Adelbert Ames to George H. Williams, 

Attorney General, written on April 16, 1873. In the letter, 

Adelbert Ames recommends John Roy Lynch as U.S. 

Marshal for the Southern District of Mississippi.

Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 2nd sess. (12 August 

1876): 5540–5543.

2 Lynch became Davis’s slave in a roundabout way. Having purchased 

his family just before his death in April 1849, Patrick Lynch 

willed them to family friend, William Deal, requesting that 

they be treated as free people. Deal ignored the request and sold 

the Lynches to Davis in Natchez, Mississippi. Davis, who also 

purchased Tacony Plantation, learned of the family’s misfortune 

and allowed Catherine Lynch to hire out her time while looking 

after his Mississippi home. See John Roy Lynch, Reminiscences of 

an Active Life: The Autobiography of John Roy Lynch, edited with 

an introduction by John Hope Franklin (Chicago: University of 

Chicago Press, 1970): 23.

3 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 56.

4 Kenneth Martis, The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the 

United States Congress: 1789–1989 (New York: Macmillan, 1989): 

126–127; Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional 

Districts, 1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986): 

184–185.

5 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 224.

6 Lynch remains the youngest African American to date to serve 

in Congress. Though the 43rd Congress did not convene until 

December 1, 1873 (after John Lynch’s 26th birthday), Lynch’s term 

of service officially commenced on March 3, 1873 (while Lynch 

was still 25). Harold Ford, Jr. of Tennessee was also 26 when he was 

elected and sworn in to Congress on January 3, 1997.

7 John Hope Franklin, “John Roy Lynch: Republican Stalwart from 

Mississippi,” Howard Rabinowitz ed., Southern Black Leaders of the 

Reconstruction Era (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982): 46.

8 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (3 February 

1875): 943–947.

9 Franklin, “John Roy Lynch: Republican Stalwart From Mississippi”: 46.

10 Ibid., 47.

11 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 234.

12 Office of the Clerk, “Party Divisions,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/art_history/house_history/partyDiv.html. 

13 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (15 June 1876): 

3824–3825.

14 Franklin, “John Roy Lynch: Republican Stalwart from Mississippi”: 47.

15 Lynch, Reminiscences of an Active Life: 185–186.

16 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 238.

17 Lynch, Reminiscences of an Active Life: 217–219, 223.

18 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 252.

19 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 63.

20 Congressional Record, House, 47th Cong., 1st sess. (27 April 1882): 

3376–3394.

21 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 259, 267, 274.

22 Mississippi Senator Blanche K. Bruce was the first African American 

to preside over a national political convention (at the 1880 

Republican Convention); see Thura Mack, “John Roy Lynch,” in 

Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington 

Hills, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 1999): 145.

H John Roy Lynch H

former members | 1870–1887 H 105
106 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

South Carolina’s first black lieutenant governor, Alonzo 

Ransier had a reputation for fighting corruption that 

helped him win election to the 43rd Congress (1873–

1875). An observer on the House Floor described him as 

“a man of great courage and sagacity,” concluding, “Mr. 

Ransier’s political career has been a varied and powerful 

one, and his strong, tough, active brain makes him an 

effective and worthy worker in the House.”1

Alonzo Jacob Ransier was born to free parents—likely 

Haitian immigrants of mulatto French background—on 

January 3, 1834, in Charleston, South Carolina.2 As a 

free black child, he received a limited education before 

beginning work as a shipping clerk at age 16. Free African 

Americans were prohibited by state law from holding jobs 

other than those involving manual labor, and his employer 

was brought to trial; however, the law generally often went 

unenforced, and, in Ransier’s case, the judge levied a fine 

of only one cent plus court costs.3

Ransier’s prewar freedom provided him the financial 

security and prominence to establish himself quickly in 

postwar South Carolina politics. In 1865, the military 

governor of the Carolinas, General Daniel Sickles, 

appointed Ransier as register of elections. In October 

1865, Ransier participated in a Charleston meeting of 

the Friends of Equal Rights and was part of a delegation 

charged with presenting a petition to the U.S. Congress.4

Ransier’s political star rose in 1868. In January, he served 

as a delegate from Charleston to the South Carolina 

constitutional convention. The following October, he 

took over the post of Republican state central committee 

chairman after Benjamin F. Randolph was assassinated by 

the Ku Klux Klan.5

 The following November, he served 

as a South Carolina elector for President Ulysses S. Grant 

and was elected to the state house of representatives where 

he served one term. 

Although he was not a dominant personality in South 

Carolina politics, Ransier became a well-recognized and 

popular leader in Charleston. In 1870, he reached what is 

widely considered the apex of his political career when he 

defeated ex-Confederate General M. C. Butler to become 

South Carolina’s first black lieutenant governor, under 

Governor Robert K. Scott.6

 His position afforded him 

an opportunity to preside over the state senate as well 

as the Southern States Convention in Columbia in 1871. 

Ransier’s tenure in South Carolina’s executive government 

was remarkable for his honesty in a notoriously 

corrupt administration.7

In August 1872, Representative Robert De Large 

declined the renomination for his coastal South Carolina 

seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, citing poor 

health. Local Republicans selected Ransier to represent the 

district, whose population was 70 percent black.8 Ransier 

defeated Independent Republican candidate General 

William Gurney with 20,061 votes (75 percent) in the 

general election.9

When he was sworn in to the 43rd Congress Ransier 

received De Large’s assignment to the Committee on 

Manufactures.10 His earnest but conventional attempts to 

look after the interests of his coastal Carolina constituents 

in the House were typically ignored. He introduced 

measures to erect a public building in Beaufort, South 

Carolina, and to rebuild the war-damaged west wing of 

the Citadel Academy in Charleston. Ransier also requested 

$100,000 to improve Charleston Harbor. However, none 

of these bills passed.

Representative Ransier broke from his understated 

legislative style to speak passionately on several occasions in 

1874 during debate on the Civil Rights Bill. On February 

7, Ransier delivered a speech, which was later published 

and distributed, asserting that African Americans’ 

Alonzo Jacob Ransier

1834–1882

United States Representative H 1873–1875

Republican from S outh Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 107
108 H Black Americans in Congress

H Alonzo Jacob Ransier H

resistance to punishing ex-Confederates demonstrated a 

desire for racial harmony and praising the black soldiers 

who fought for the Union in the Civil War. He stressed 

freedmen’s overwhelming loyalty to the Republican 

Party, stating that such fidelity should be rewarded by 

the passage of the Civil Rights Bill. Ransier also focused 

on the portion of the bill calling for equal educational 

opportunities, discussing the advantages of integrated 

education, and citing mixed-race programs at Oberlin 

College and at Wilberforce, Harvard, and Yale Universities. 

Ransier believed equal rights and opportunities in 

education would allow talented black men to achieve 

a respectable position in their communities, ultimately 

curbing discrimination. “Let the doors of the public 

school house be thrown open to us alike,” he declared, 

“if you mean to give these people equal rights at all, or to 

protect them in the exercise of the rights and privileges 

attaching to all free men and citizens of our country.”11

For Ransier, the legislation rose above party politics. He 

pleaded with opponents not to defeat the bill to spite 

corrupt Republican state governments: “Because some 

officials in [the South] have abused the public confidence 

and prostituted their office should violence be done to 

a great principle of justice and . . . a race denied therein 

equal rights in a government like ours? It cannot be. Let 

justice be done though the heavens fall.”12 When the Civil 

Rights Bill came to a vote in February 1875, the education 

clause had been eliminated. Ransier was so disappointed, 

he declined to vote.13

Upon returning to South Carolina in 1874, Ransier was 

outspoken about his disenchantment with the corruption 

in scalawag Governor Franklin Moses’s administration. 

The governor’s crimes were infamous. Having paid off 

some of his personal debt with public funds and sold 

executive pardons to prisoners, Moses resisted arrest by 

calling the South Carolina militia to defend him. His 

well-paid allies in the state legislature saved him from 

impeachment, and Moses carefully placed his friends in 

key patronage positions to maintain his political control.14

Ransier aligned himself with a faction in the South 

Carolina Republican Party calling for statewide reform. 

Ransier’s insubordination cost him the renomination for 

his congressional seat at the district convention. He lost 

the bid to Charles W. Buttz (whom Ransier accused of 

buying the nomination for $4,000). Despite his break 

with local Republicans, Ransier supported the party ticket 

in November. Buttz lost the election to Independent 

Republican Edmund Mackey, who also opposed the Moses 

administration, but the seat was declared vacant in July 

1876 when Buttz contested the election.15

Soon after Ransier left Congress, his wife, Louisa Ann 

Carroll Ransier, died giving birth to their 11th child, 

whom Ransier named Charles Sumner Ransier for the late 

Massachusetts Senator.16 Alonzo Ransier married Mary 

Louisa McKinlay in 1876. In an effort to provide for his 

large family, he secured an appointment as U.S. Internal 

Revenue Service collector in Charleston, despite his 

abhorrence of corruption and hence, political patronage. 

He later appealed to Governor Daniel Chamberlain for 

a position in the South Carolina state government when 

his tenure as a tax collector came to an end.17 Ransier 

did not receive a nomination, but worked instead as a 

night watchman in a customs house and as a municipal 

street sweeper. Lapsing into poverty by 1880, he lived in 

a crowded Charleston boarding house. Ransier died in 

obscurity on August 17, 1882, at age 48.18
H Alonzo Jacob Ransier H

For Further Reading

“Ransier, Alonzo Jacob,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000060. 

Manuscript Collection

College of Charleston, Avery Research Center for 

African-American History & Culture (Charleston, SC). 

Papers: In the Lillian Ransier Wright Papers, 1945–1995, 

0.25 linear feet. The papers contain information on 

Reconstruction Era African-American politicians, 

specifically Alonzo Jacob Ransier. 

Notes

1 Marie La Baron, “Colored Congressmen: How the Enfranchised 

Race Is Represented in Washington,” 12 April 1874, St. Louis Daily 

Globe: 3.

2 The names of Ransier’s parents are not known. It also is not known 

whether Ransier had any siblings.

3 William C. Hine, “Ransier, Alonzo Jacob,” American National 

Biography 18 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 151–152 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB); see also Stephen Middleton, 

ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: A Documentary 

Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 297.

4 There is no record of the petition in the House Journal or the 

Congressional Globe for the 39th Congress.

5 For more information, see Daniel W. Hamilton, “Randolph, 

Benjamin Franklin,” ANB 18: 120–121.

6 Thomas Holt, “Ransier, Alonzo Jacob,” Dictionary of American 

Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 511–512. Hine calls 

the early 1870s the “pinnacle” of Ransier’s political career; see Hine, 

“Ransier, Alonzo Jacob,” ANB.

7 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 101.

8 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986): 212–213.

9 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997 

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

226.

10 As Ransier’s election as lieutenant governor is considered the 

pinnacle of his political career, there are no detailed accounts of his 

first bid for the U.S. House of Representatives.

11 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (7 February 

1874): 1314.

12 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (9 June 

1874): 4786.

13 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 

1875): 1011. 

14 Christine Doyle, “Moses, Franklin J., Jr.,” ANB 15: 971–972.

15 Chester H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest of All the Contested 

Election Cases (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 

1901): 320–321.

16 The names of Ransier’s 10 other children are not known.

17 Quoted in Hine, “Ransier, Alonzo Jacob,” ANB 18.

18 Ibid.

former members | 1870–1887 H 109
110 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

Afreeborn Alabamian educated in Canada, James 

Thomas Rapier fended off death threats from the Ku 

Klux Klan, rose to the top of the state Republican Party, 

and won a seat in the 43rd Congress (1873–1875). Rapier 

was one of seven black Representatives who fought for 

the passage of the major Civil Rights Bill of 1875. “Mr. 

Speaker,” he declared on the House Floor, “nothing short 

of a complete acknowledgement of my manhood will 

satisfy me.”1

James Thomas Rapier was born in Florence, Alabama, 

on November 13, 1837, to John H. and Susan Rapier. 

He had three older brothers: Richard, John, Jr., and 

Henry. The Rapiers were wealthy and well established in 

Florence. John Rapier, Sr., was a freed slave who had a 

lucrative business as a barber for 40 years.2 Susan Rapier 

was a freeborn mulatto from Baltimore, Maryland, who 

died in 1841 during childbirth.3 Five-year-old James 

Rapier and his brother, John, Jr., went to live with their 

paternal grandmother, Sally Thomas. Supported by his 

grandmother’s work as a cleaning woman, James Rapier 

attended a secret school for black children from 1854 

to 1856 but also spent a great deal of time drinking and 

gambling on riverboats.4

 Disappointed with his son’s 

behavior, in 1856 John Rapier, Sr., sent him to live 

with another family member in the experimental black 

community of Buxton, Ontario, Canada. While living in 

Buxton, which was inhabited entirely by fugitive slaves, 

Rapier experienced a religious conversion and decided 

to devote his life to helping his race. He later attended a 

normal school in Toronto, earning a teaching certificate 

in 1863, and returned to Buxton as an instructor.5 After 

following the events of the Civil War from Canada, Rapier 

returned to Nashville in late 1864. There he worked briefly 

as a reporter for a northern newspaper. With his father’s 

help, he purchased 200 acres of land in Maury County, 

Tennessee, and, over time, became a successful cotton 

planter. A self-described loner, he never married.6

The end of the Civil War provided Rapier opportunities 

in politics. His first political experience was a keynote 

address at the Tennessee Negro Suffrage Convention 

in Nashville in 1865. His father’s illness and his 

own disillusionment with the restoration of former 

Confederates to power in the state government prompted 

Rapier’s return to Florence, where he rented 550 acres 

along the Tennessee River. His continued success as a 

planter allowed him to hire black tenant farmers. He 

also financed sharecroppers with low-interest loans. In 

March 1867, when freedmen could vote in Alabama, he 

called a local meeting to elect a black registrar. His father, 

John Rapier, Sr., won the election, and James Rapier 

was unanimously chosen to represent the county at the 

Alabama Republican convention. James Rapier served as 

the convention’s vice chairman and directed the platform 

committee. Although he sought equality among the races, 

Rapier emerged as a moderate politician. He did not ignore 

the fears of white Alabamians, and, consequently, opposed 

the total disfranchisement of former Confederates and 

the redistribution of seized land. Rapier recognized that a 

political alliance between Republican whites and blacks—

though fragile—was necessary for the party’s success in 

Alabama.7 In October 1867, he served as a delegate to the 

Alabama constitutional convention, where he advanced the 

Republican platform as the only black man representing 

his district.

Rapier traveled to Washington, DC, in 1869 to attend 

the founding convention of the National Negro Labor 

Union (NNLU). The union organized to protect black 

laborers, to help sharecroppers, and to improve educational 

and economic opportunities for freedmen. The NNLU 

chose Rapier as its vice president in 1870. He opened 

James Thomas Rapier

1837–1883

United States Representative H 1873–1875

Republican from Alabama

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 111
112 H Black Americans in Congress

H James Thomas Rapier H

an Alabama branch in 1871, serving as president and 

executive chairman, and attended three more national 

conferences throughout his career. Rapier’s increased 

name recognition allowed him to secure the Republican 

nomination for secretary of state in 1870. The first black 

man to run for statewide office in Alabama, he lost the 

position primarily because white Republicans remained 

uneasy about a black candidate.8 Rapier was appointed as 

a federal internal revenue assessor with the assistance of 

black Alabama Representative Benjamin Turner.9

 By the 

early 1870s, Rapier was one of the most powerful black 

politicians in the state.

In August 1872, Alabama Republican Party leaders 

determined it would be nearly impossible to persuade 

native-born white Alabamians to vote for an African 

American in the upcoming congressional elections.10

Although constituents from a district representing the 

state’s southeastern corner did not favor carpetbaggers, 

incumbent Charles Buckley, originally from New 

York, maintained a strong base among conservatives. 

Furthermore, Buckley represented a district in which 

freedmen were a minority, making up 44 percent of the 

population.11 Defying party leaders, Rapier sought the 

district’s Republican nomination. He used his recently 

founded newspaper, the Montgomery Republican State 

Sentinel (the state’s first black-owned and -operated news 

source), to crusade for the Republican Party, freedmen’s 

rights, and the re-election of President Ulysses S. Grant 

over Liberal Republican Horace Greeley.12 Rapier hoped 

his newspaper would improve communication between 

the races in Alabama and campaigned on the promise that 

he would represent equally voters in his district, regardless 

of their race.13 At a late-summer convention, Rapier easily 

gained the Republican nomination, receiving 25 delegate 

votes to Buckley’s five.14

In the general election, Rapier faced Democrat and 

Liberal Republican candidate William C. Oates, an 

ex-Confederate with a debilitating war wound. Rapier 

tirelessly traversed the district, speaking in 36 towns in as 

many days. He espoused his equal rights platform before 

the crowds and promised to support national legislation 

providing land for tenant farmers.15 Congressionally 

enacted federal enforcement acts (the Ku Klux Klan bills) 

temporarily quelled Klan violence, making for a peaceful 

election.16 Rapier defeated Oates with 19,397 votes (55 

percent), becoming Alabama’s second black Representative 

in Congress.17 Heading to Washington, Rapier exuded 

confidence, declaring, “No man in the state wields more 

influence than I.”18 Before the 43rd Congress convened 

in late 1873, he traveled to Vienna, Austria, as Alabama’s 

commissioner to the Fifth International Exposition. Rapier 

noted that once he stepped onto foreign soil, “distinctions 

on account of my color ceased.”19

In the 43rd Congress, Rapier soon earned a reputation 

as a prudent and diplomatic legislator. Though a forceful 

and outstanding orator, he rarely embellished his speeches 

with rhetorical flourishes. An observer in the gallery noted, 

“Mr. Rapier is an insatiable reader, which does not make 

him, fortunately, less original in expression of his own 

ideas. . . . He is a plain, forcible speaker.”20 Rapier’s first act 

as a Representative, on January 5, 1874, was to introduce 

legislation designating Montgomery, Alabama, a federal 

customs collection site. The passage of the measure, which 

would boost the city’s economy, was considered Rapier’s 

greatest legislative achievement, and President Grant signed 

the bill into law on June 20, 1874. Rapier’s subsequent 

attempts to gain federal funding for improvement projects 

in Alabama were less successful, and he became involved 

in economic debates that usually divided along sectional 

lines. Rapier voted in favor of railroad regulation and called 

for increased currency circulation, promoting economic 

conditions favorable to the agrarian south and west. These 

debates signaled a significant split between southern and 

northern Republicans that proved damaging in future 

national elections.21

Rapier’s experience as a teacher and a labor organizer 

earned him a position on the Committee on Education 

and Labor, but he focused his first term on advancing 

the controversial Civil Rights Bill. Rapier hosted strategy 

meetings in his Washington home in an attempt to pass 
H James Thomas Rapier H

the longstanding bill, which sought equal accommodations 

on public transportation and in lodging as well as 

equal education for blacks and whites. On June 9, 

1874, Rapier spoke on the House Floor in favor of the 

bill, largely recounting his personal experiences with 

discrimination.22 Deeply disappointed with the eviscerated 

final measure that came before the House at the end of 

the 43rd Congress, Rapier, along with the other Alabama 

Republicans, voted nevertheless in its favor. The measure 

passed 162 to 99.23

The Civil Rights Bill had not yet come to a vote in July 

1874 when Rapier returned to Alabama in anticipation of 

a close re-election contest. Divisions among southeastern 

Alabama Republicans were his greatest obstacle. Earlier 

that year, two factions split over the case of a federal judge 

credited with enforcing laws against the Ku Klux Klan. 

Rapier refused to take sides, yet most of his supporters 

allied themselves with the judge. Meanwhile, emboldened 

by state and federal ambivalence, the Klan attained new 

power in Alabama. As the election approached, one 

conservative Democratic newspaper said, “We will accept 

no result but that of blood.”24 White Alabama Democrats 

then proceeded to launch a campaign of economic 

coercion: Major business owners refused to hire black 

men or anyone who swore allegiance to the Republican 

Party.25 Rapier approached the mounting opposition by 

running an aggressive campaign. He attempted to assuage 

white fears about the Civil Rights Bill by maintaining that 

the legislation did not require integrated schools or social 

equality but merely gave blacks equal opportunity and 

funding.26 He traversed the state in a fashion reminiscent 

of his 1872 campaign, though threats from the Ku Klux 

Klan often disrupted his itinerary.27 Rapier’s pleas to 

federal authorities to ensure a peaceful election, including 

a personal telegram to U.S. Attorney General George H.

Williams, went unanswered.28 In the chaos that ensued, 

more than 100 people were killed and scores of black 

voters stayed away from the polls.29 With the freedmen’s 

vote eliminated, Conservative Democrats swept the 

elections, taking two-thirds of the state offices. Attorney 

and former Confederate Army Major Jeremiah Williams 

edged out Rapier, taking 20,180 votes (51 percent) to 

Rapier’s 19,124. Rapier contested the election, without 

success, in the new Democratic House.30

In 1876, Rapier moved to Lowndes County near 

Montgomery to run for a congressional seat for the only 

remaining district with a black majority (65 percent) after 

gerrymandering by the Democratic state legislature.31

Rapier defeated incumbent black Representative 

Jeremiah Haralson in the primary election, and Haralson 

subsequently ran in the general election as an Independent. 

While both Rapier and Haralson advocated civil rights, 

voter protection, and increased leadership roles for 

freedmen, their personalities were drastically different: 

Haralson was outspoken, brash, and rhetorical, whereas 

Rapier was prudent and polished.32 The two men split the 

black vote—Haralson won 8,675 votes (34 percent) and 

Rapier won 7,236 (28 percent)—handing the election to 

white Democrat Charles Shelley, who emerged with 9,655 

votes (38 percent).33

For his service, the Republican Party rewarded Rapier 

with an appointment as a collector for the Internal 

Revenue Service in July 1878. That same year, Rapier 

transformed the Republican Sentinel into the Haynesville 

Times and began a call for black emigration to the West—a 

movement he supported financially and by testifying 

before a Senate committee. In 1882 and 1883, Rapier 

fended off attempts by political enemies to remove him 

from his post as a collector, but failing health forced him 

to resign. He was appointed a disbursing officer for a 

federal building in Montgomery just before he died of 

pulmonary tuberculosis on May 31, 1883.

former members | 1870–1887 H 113
114 H Black Americans in Congress

For Further Reading

Feldman, Eugene Pieter Romayn. Black Power in Old 

Alabama: The Life and Stirring Times of James T. Rapier, 

Afro-American Congressman from Alabama, 1839–1883

(Chicago: Museum of African American History, 1968).

“Rapier, James Thomas,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000064.

Schweninger, Loren. “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the 

Noble Cause of Reconstruction,” in Howard Rabinowitz, 

ed., Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era

(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982).

_____. James T. Rapier and Reconstruction (Chicago: 

University of Chicago Press, 1978).

Manuscript Collections

Alabama Department of Archives and History

(Montgomery, AL) Papers: In the Eugene Feldman Papers, 

1856–1978, 0.66 cubic feet. The papers collected by 

Eugene Feldman consist of photocopied letters written 

to the U.S. Department of the Treasury in 1882 in an 

unsuccessful effort to prevent James T. Rapier’s dismissal 

as an U.S. Revenue Tax Collector in the 2nd District of 

Alabama. Most of the original letters appear to be in the 

National Archives in Washington, DC. There is a small 

collection of letters (photocopies), circa 1856–1857, 

from James T. Rapier to his brother, John H. Rapier. The 

papers also contain drafts of an article by Eugene Feldman 

about James T. Rapier as well as the notes that he took for 

the article.

Howard University (Washington, DC), Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center. Papers: In the Rapier Family 

Papers, 1836–1883, two linear feet. Correspondents 

include James Thomas Rapier.

H James Thomas Rapier H
Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (9 June 1874): 

4782–4785.

2 Loren Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction (Chicago: 

The University of Chicago Press, 1978): 16–18. 

3 Following his wife’s death, John Rapier had a relationship with a 

local slave named Lucretia. Forbidden by law to marry, the couple 

had five children, who lived in bondage because of their mother’s 

status. The names of these children are not known.

4 Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction: 29–31; see also 

Robert L. Johns, “James T. Rapier,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed., 

Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research, 

Inc., 1999): 994.

5 Other sources indicate that Rapier may have attended the 

University of Glasgow and Franklin College in Nashville during the 

Civil War, but this is not mentioned in major biographies about 

him, including Schweninger’s James T. Rapier and Reconstruction. 

See also Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New 

York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 126.

6 Loren Schweninger, “Rapier, James Thomas,” American National 

Biography 18 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 167–168 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

7 Loren Schweninger, “Rapier, James Thomas,” Dictionary of 

American Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 514 

(hereinafter referred to as DANB). See also Christopher, Black 

Americans in Congress: 123–124.

8 Schweninger, “Rapier, James Thomas,” ANB.

9 Loren Schweninger, “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble 

Cause of Reconstruction,” in Howard Rabinowitz, ed., Southern 

Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: University of 

Illinois Press, 1982): 80.

10 Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction: 106.

11 Schweninger, “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble Cause 

of Reconstruction”: 82; Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States 

Congressional Districts, 1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 

1986): 146.

12 Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction: 108. Liberal 

Republicans stood for states’ rights, believing local governments 

were more effective at securing individual liberties. This platform 

was endorsed by southern Democrats.

13 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 128; Schweninger, James 

T. Rapier and Reconstruction: 114.

14 Schweninger, “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble Cause of 

Reconstruction”: 81.

15 Ibid.

16 Schweninger, “Rapier, James Thomas,” ANB.

17 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

223.

18 Quoted in Schweninger, “Rapier, James Thomas,” DANB: 515.

19 Ibid.

20 Marie Le Baron, “Colored Congressmen: How the Enfranchised 

Race Is Represented in Washington,” 12 April 1874, St. Louis Daily 

Globe: 3.

21 Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction: 123–125.

22 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 1st sess. (9 June 1874): 

4782–4785.

23 Congressional Record, House, 43rd Cong., 2nd sess. (4 February 

1875): 1011.

24 Quoted in Schweninger, “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the 

Noble Cause of Reconstruction”: 84.

25 Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction: 136.

26 Schweninger, “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble Cause of 

Reconstruction”: 85.

27 Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction: 143–144.

28 Ibid.

29 Schweninger, “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble Cause of 

Reconstruction”: 86

30 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 230.

31 Schweninger, “James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble Cause 

of Reconstruction”: 86; Parsons et al., United States Congressional 

Districts, 1843–1883: 148–149. Parsons notes that a southwestern 

district also had a black majority, with 53 percent.

32 Schweninger, “Rapier, James Thomas,” ANB.

33 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 236.

H James Thomas Rapier H

former members | 1870–1887 H 115
116 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Oil on canvas, Simmie Knox, 2001, Collection of the U.S. Senate

Aslave who became a successful plantation owner, 

 Blanche Kelso Bruce was the second African 

American to serve in the United States Senate and the 

first to be elected to a full term. Though Bruce focused on 

protecting the rights of freedmen and other minorities, 

his life of social privilege in the nation’s capital insulated 

him from the deprivations suffered by many of his black 

constituents. Bruce moved among elite circles of wealthy 

white politicians, including his close friends Senator 

Roscoe Conkling of New York and Senator Lucius Q. C. 

Lamar of Mississippi. “Mr. Bruce’s conduct in the senate 

has been such as not to alienate himself from the Southern 

people,” noted Lamar, who had drafted the Mississippi 

ordinance of secession, served as a Confederate diplomat, 

and returned to the U.S. Congress as an unabashed 

opponent of Reconstruction. “[Bruce] has not joined in the 

abusive warfare on the South that many of his Republican 

colleagues in the Senate Chamber have constantly 

pursued,” Lamar added. “He is an intelligent man, and the 

best representative of his race in public life.”1

Blanche Bruce was born near Farmville, Virginia, on 

March 1, 1841. His mother, Polly Bruce, was a slave, and 

his father, Pettus Perkinson, was his mother’s owner and 

the son-in-law of her deceased former owner, Lemuel 

Bruce. Bruce’s first name was originally “Branch,” but he 

changed it to “Blanche” as a teenager. For unexplained 

reasons, he later adopted the middle name “Kelso.”2 One 

of 11 children, Blanche Bruce was a personal servant to 

his half brother William Perkinson.3 Even though he was 

a slave, Bruce was accorded a status nearly equal to the 

Perkinson children’s. Described by contemporaries as an 

eager learner, he studied with William’s private tutor. But 

despite such benign treatment, Bruce escaped to Kansas 

during the Civil War and attempted to enlist in the 

Union Army. His application was refused, and he settled 

in Lawrence to teach school. Returning to Hannibal, 

Missouri, near the war’s end, he organized the state’s first 

school for black children in 1864. Though he planned to 

attend Ohio’s Oberlin College to study for his divinity 

degree, he could not afford the tuition.4

 He spent the 

remainder of the 1860s working as a steamboat porter out 

of St. Louis on the Mississippi River, moving to Mississippi 

in 1869 to find more-lucrative opportunities. 

Upon his arrival in Mississippi, Blanche Bruce witnessed 

a stump speech by Republican gubernatorial candidate 

James Alcorn, which inspired him to enter politics.5 On an 

1870 trip to Jackson, the young, articulate Bruce caught 

the eye of white Republicans. That same year, the district 

military commander, General Adelbert Ames, appointed 

Bruce registrar of voters in Tallahatchie County. When 

the first postwar Mississippi legislature met in late 1870, 

Bruce, who was large and imposing, was elected sergeant at 

arms. In 1871, he was elected to the joint office of sheriff 

and tax collector of Bolivar County. The following year, the 

Republican state board of education appointed him county 

superintendent of education. In a singular achievement, 

Bruce turned the Bolivar County school system into one 

of the best in the state, creating a segregated but equally 

funded system that boasted the support of both blacks and 

whites.6

 Bruce’s wealth also increased. He invested in land, 

becoming a successful planter by the late 1870s. In 1872, 

he was named to the board of levee commissioners for a 

district containing three counties. The commissioners were 

empowered to raise revenue and build embankments in the 

Mississippi Delta region. 

By the mid-1870s, Blanche K. Bruce was among the 

best-recognized politicians in the state.7

 However, he faced 

a difficult decision when the state Republican Party split 

into two factions. A moderate, primarily white faction, 

led by then-Senator Alcorn, began ignoring African 

Blanche Kelso Bruce

1841–1898

United States Senator H 1875–1881

Republican from Mississippi

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 117
118 H Black Americans in Congress

H Blanche Kelso Bruce H

Americans’ demands for civil rights. Then Alcorn’s political 

rival Governor Ames adopted a more radical stance, 

abandoning efforts to reach out to conservative whites. 

Although Bruce disagreed with the Radical Republicans, 

because he believed that political stability required biracial 

cooperation, he allied himself nonetheless with the Ames 

faction so as to support his fellow blacks. Governor Ames 

offered Bruce the position of lieutenant governor in 1873, 

but Bruce refused, eyeing the governor’s vacant seat in the 

U.S. Senate.8 In January 1874, the state legislature met 

to nominate a U.S. Senator to fill Ames’s unexpired term, 

and to select someone for a full six-year term beginning in 

the 44th Congress (1875–1877). Unlike Senator Hiram 

Revels before him, Bruce was selected to serve the full 

term primarily by black Republican colleagues, taking 

52 of the 84 votes in the second ballot over Republican 

carpetbaggers, Representative George McKee and U.S. 

District Attorney G. Wiley Wells. The full legislature 

elected Bruce nearly unanimously on February 4, 1874.9 

When Bruce arrived in the U.S. Senate Chamber on 

March 5, 1875, precedent called for his state’s senior 

Senator to escort him to the podium, but Senator Alcorn 

snubbed the junior Senator because of Bruce’s alliance 

with Governor Ames. Bruce walked up the aisle alone 

until Republican Senator Roscoe Conkling of New York 

offered to escort him. Thereafter Bruce had a powerful 

ally in Conkling, who coached him in Senate procedures 

and procured him assignments on influential committees, 

such as the Education and Labor, Manufactures, and 

Pensions committees. 

Bruce remained quiet during the special session of 

the Senate, and concerned white Republicans feared he 

would shirk his responsibility to Mississippi by deferring 

to the Radical Republican leadership; black political 

leaders doubted Bruce would stand up for freedmen, 

who faced terrible violence from white supremacists 

implementing the Mississippi Plan.10 Bruce may have 

been following the time-honored tradition that a freshman 

remains studious and silent during his first few months 

in the Senate Chamber. He later noted that success in 

the Senate required managing diplomacy: “The novelty 

of my position [compels me] to cultivate and exhibit 

my honorable associates a courtesy that would inspire 

reciprocal courtesy.”11

Bruce finally broke his silence on March 3, 1876, in 

defense of southern blacks, petitioning his colleagues 

to seat Pinckney B. S. Pinchback, a black Senator-elect 

from Louisiana and a personal friend. But Pinchback’s 

political opponents questioned his selection by the state 

legislature due to corruption charges and despite Bruce’s 

pleas, the Senate narrowly rejected Pinchback’s claim to 

the seat.12 Bruce followed this speech with a demand for 

an inquiry into the violent 1875 Mississippi gubernatorial 

election. The Senate passed a bill to investigate the 

political conditions in Mississippi during the previous 

election; however, the Democratic House did not act on 

the legislation.13

Bruce’s advocacy for African Americans was most 

evident in issues affecting black war veterans. He was 

a staunch defender of black servicemen, promoting 

integration of the armed forces and fair treatment. On 

April 10, 1878, he unsuccessfully attempted to desegregate 

the U.S. Army, citing the U.S. Navy as a precedent.14

Two years later, Bruce delivered a speech asking the War 

Department to investigate the brutal hazing of black West 

Point cadet Johnson C. Whittaker. The following year, he 

supported legislation that prevented discrimination against 

the heirs to black soldiers’ Civil War pensions.15 He also 

submitted a bill in 1879 to distribute money unclaimed by 

black Civil War soldiers to five African-American colleges. 

As the bill gained publicity, however, more claimants came 

forward and depleted the fund. The Senate Committee on 

Education and Labor eventually reported against the bill.16

Senator Bruce also favored the interests of other ethnic 

and racial minorities. During a debate on the Chinese 

Exclusion Act, with which he disagreed, Bruce became 

the first black Senator to preside over a Senate session, 

on February 14, 1879. Bruce also demanded moreequitable treatment for Native Americans. On April 6, 

1880, he railed against federal management of Native 
H Blanche Kelso Bruce H

Americans in a Senate Floor speech. “Our Indian policy 

and administration seem to me to have been inspired 

and controlled by stern selfishness,” Bruce declared. 

Admonishing those who placed the goal of territorial 

expansion over honoring treaties, he continued, “We have 

in the effort to realize a somewhat intangible ideal, to wit, 

the preservation of Indian liberty and the administration 

and exercise of national authority. . . . The political 

system that underlies our Indian policy ... is foreign in 

its character; the individuals and the system of laws are 

not American.”17

In April 1879, Bruce was appointed chairman of the 

Select Committee to Investigate the Freedmen’s Savings 

and Trust Company after its failure in 1874. Comprising 

three southern Democrats and three Republicans, 

including Bruce, the committee set out to investigate the 

more-than 600 pages of testimony and documentation 

collected at the bank’s closure to identify employees who 

were guilty of fraud and incompetence. The resultant 

Senate bill to reimburse former customers did not pass, but 

Bruce and his fellow Republicans succeeded in convincing 

the federal government to purchase the bank’s former 

Washington, DC, headquarters to provide the company 

with some capital.18

As a landowner, Bruce was interested in the financial 

health of property owners on the banks of the Mississippi 

River. He supported many internal improvements and 

financial incentives, including the creation of a Mississippi 

Valley railroad and a refund for cotton taxes levied during 

the Civil War. In the 45th Congress (1877–1879), he 

served as chairman of the Select Committee on the 

Mississippi River. In this position, he fought for federal 

funding to control flooding and advocated the creation 

of a channel and levee system for parts of the river’s 

edge. Bruce introduced a measure in 1879 to form the 

Mississippi River Improvement Association, a federally 

funded organization to control river flooding and protect 

waterfront property.19

Bruce’s favor among white conservative voters was 

not matched among his black constituents. Despite 

Bruce’s political advocacy, Mississippi blacks questioned 

his commitment to the plight of freedmen in collapsing 

Reconstruction governments. Bruce’s privileged 

background often alienated him from his poorer 

constituents.20 He and his wife, Josephine Beall Wilson 

of Ohio—the first black teacher in the Cleveland public 

schools and the daughter of a prominent mulatto dentist—

whom he married on June 24, 1878, became fixtures in 

Washington, DC, high society. As a matter of policy, Bruce 

hesitated to support the westward migration of Black 

Americans from the South to Kansas and other Plains 

states. At the urging of his constituents, he introduced 

legislation that would assist destitute black farmers in 

Kansas by encouraging the federal government to issue 

more western land grants. His bill died in committee; 

however, he managed to appropriate the distribution of 

duty-free British cotton clothing to impoverished Kansas 

communities.21 Yet these efforts were judged lacking by 

the black community. Nor did the white establishment 

look favorably on Bruce. Despite Bruce’s moderation 

and political connections, rising “reform” politicians in 

power in Mississippi, who wished to recreate a “lily white” 

government, discounted him because of his race. When the 

Democratic Mississippi legislature gathered to select a new 

Senator in January 1880, Bruce did not even attempt a bid 

for a second term. The legislature chose Democrat James 

Z. George to succeed him.

After leaving the Senate, Bruce remained active in the 

Mississippi and national Republican parties.22 He briefly 

served as presiding officer at the 1880 Republican National 

Convention in Chicago, where he received eight votes for 

the nomination for Vice President. When the convention 

returned to Chicago in 1888, Bruce received 11 such votes. 

He also served as superintendent for black achievement 

at the World’s Cotton Exposition in New Orleans 

from 1884 to 1885 before returning to Washington to 

seek presidential patronage positions, his only hope of 

sustaining his political career. Though he rejected an offer 

to be Minister to Brazil because that country practiced 

slavery, Bruce received many endorsements for a post 

former members | 1870–1887 H 119
120 H Black Americans in Congress

in President James Garfield’s Cabinet in 1881. Garfield 

ultimately passed him over, but Bruce obtained a prime 

position as register of the U.S. Treasury and remained 

there until 1885. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison 

appointed him recorder of deeds for the District of 

Columbia; however, he left that office in 1893 after 

receiving an honorary LL.D. and joining the board of 

trustees at Howard University.23 Bruce returned to the 

Treasury post in 1897 after being considered for a Cabinet 

position in President William McKinley’s administration. 

He continued to reside in Washington until he succumbed 

to a kidney ailment due to complications from diabetes 

on March 17, 1898.24

For Further Reading

“Bruce, Blanche Kelso,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000968. 

Graham, Lawrence Otis. The Senator and the Socialite (New 

York: HarperCollins Publishers, 2006).

Harris, William C. “Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi: 

Conservative Assimilationist,” in Howard Rabinowitz ed., 

Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: 

University of Illinois Press, 1982).

Manuscript Collections

Howard University (Washington, DC), Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center. Papers: 1870–1891, 2.5 linear 

feet. The papers of Blanche Kelso Bruce consist of research 

notes, a bibliography, and other documents used by 

Sadie Daniel St. Clair to write a dissertation about Bruce. 

Includes correspondence with Bruce’s family, constituents, 

and political allies of the State of Mississippi and letters in 

support of candidates for appointments and pensions. 

Library of Congress, Manuscript Division, Washington, 

DC Microfilm: 1878–1890. The items consist of one letter 

(18 February l878) from Blanche Bruce to Murat Halstead 

relating to the emigration of blacks from the southern 

United States to Liberia, a poem inscribed to Blanche 

Bruce’s infant son, and a volume of news clippings relating 

chiefly to personal matters, especially to his wife, Josephine 

Bruce, and to Washington, DC, social life. 

H Blanche Kelso Bruce H
Notes

1 William C. Harris, “Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi: Conservative 

Assimilationist,” in Howard Rabinowitz ed., Southern Black Leaders of 

the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982): 30.

2 Lawrence Otis Graham, The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story 

of America’s First Black Dynasty (New York: HarperCollins, 2006): 

11; Grace E. Collins, “Blanche Kelso Bruce,” in Jessie Carney Smith 

ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale 

Research, Inc., 1999): 144 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM).

3 Bruce’s family situation was complicated. His half siblings through 

his mother and Lemuel Bruce included Sandy, Calvin, James, 

and Henry and a half sister whose name is not known. His full 

siblings through his mother and Pettis Perkinson included Howard, 

Edward, Robert, Eliza, and Mary. See Graham, The Senator and the 

Socialite: 10–11, 16–17.

4 Collins, “Blanche Kelso Bruce,” NBAM: 144. 

5 Ibid.

6 William C. Harris, “Bruce, Blanche Kelso,” American National 

Biography 3 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 779–780 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

7 Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders 

During Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 

1993): 29.

8 Collins, “Blanche Kelso Bruce,” NBAM: 145.

9 Harris, “Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi: Conservative 

Assimilationist”: 11–12.

10 Ibid., 15.

11 Graham, The Senator and the Socialite: 68–70, 76; quoted in Harris, 

“Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi: Conservative Assimilationist”: 20. 

12 Pinchback had recently been elected an At-Large Representative 

from Louisiana, and while his election was being contested, he was 

elected by the state legislature to fill a vacant U.S. Senate seat. His 

selection for the Senate seat also was contested. He was rejected 

by both houses on charges of bribery and corruption. See Eric R. 

Jackson, “Pinchback, P. B. S.,” ANB 17: 527–529.

13 Congressional Record, Senate, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (31 March 1876): 

2101–2105; Graham, The Senator and the Socialite: 80–81.

14 The Navy had long accepted blacks. Predictably, its race record 

suffered during the Jim Crow decades. Few blacks secured 

appointments to the Naval Academy at Annapolis, and none 

matriculated as officers. In the 1880s, black sailors were routinely 

denied promotions and assigned to perform menial tasks or labor. 

See David Osher’s essay “Race Relations and War,” The Oxford 

Companion to American Military History (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1999): 585.

15 Congressional Record, Senate, 46th Cong., 3rd sess. (10 February 

1881): 1397–1398.

16 See S. 865, 46th Congress, 2nd session.

17 Congressional Record, Senate, 46th Cong., 2nd sess. (7 April 1880): 

2195–2196. Bruce was supporting a bill selling federal lands to 

the Ute Indians in Colorado (S. 1509), which passed and was 

approved by President Rutherford B. Hayes in the 46th Congress 

(1879–1881).

18 Harris, “Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi: Conservative 

Assimilationist”: 22.

19 Samuel L. Shapiro, “Bruce, Blanche Kelso,” Dictionary of American 

Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 74–76 (hereinafter 

referred to as DANB).

20 Harris, “Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi: Conservative 

Assimilationist”: 27, 33. See also Thomas C. Holt, Black Over 

White: Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina During 

Reconstruction (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1977).

21 Graham, The Senator and the Socialite: 116.

22 Harris, “Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi: Conservative 

Assimilationist”: 19.

23 Shapiro, “Bruce, Blanche Kelso,” DANB.

24 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 30. Bruce’s family continued his legacy 

of public service and focus on education. Josephine Bruce was the 

principal of the Tuskegee Institute and was active in the National 

Federation of Colored Women’s Clubs. Bruce’s son, Roscoe 

Conkling Bruce, and his grandson, Roscoe Bruce, Jr., graduated 

with honors from Harvard University. The latter was embroiled in 

controversy when Harvard’s president refused to admit him into the 

dormitories in 1923.

H Blanche Kelso Bruce H

former members | 1870–1887 H 121
122 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Admired by his contemporaries as a natural politician, 

 Jeremiah Haralson made his reputation in Alabama 

politics as a powerful orator and an adroit debater. Black 

civil rights advocate Frederick Douglass observed that 

Haralson spoke “with humor enough in him to supply 

a half dozen circus clowns.”1

 However, a Democratic 

majority during his single congressional term tempered 

his public wit; he made no speeches on the House Floor. 

Haralson’s unsuccessful re-election campaign in 1876 

set off a series of difficult and fruitless attempts to regain 

his seat in the Jim Crow South, ending a political career 

marked by mystery and contradiction.

Jeremiah Haralson was born a slave near Columbus, 

Georgia, on April 1, 1846. His early life is not well 

documented. He was sold twice as a child before John 

Haralson, a lawyer from Selma, Alabama, purchased him 

in 1859. After winning his freedom in 1865, Jeremiah 

Haralson taught himself to read and write. He made his 

living as a farmer and may also have been a clergyman.2

Haralson married Ellen Norwood in 1870 and had one 

son, Henry. 

Throughout his career, Haralson demonstrated a natural 

shrewdness and a gift for politics, yet contemporaries 

described him as forceful, “uncompromising, irritating, 

and bold.”3

 Haralson’s party loyalty spanned the political 

spectrum throughout his early career. Likely drawn to 

politics because of his oratorical talent, he reportedly 

became a Democrat in 1867—an unusual move given the 

Democratic Party’s affiliation with former Confederates 

and slaveholders. Haralson campaigned for Democratic 

presidential candidate Horatio Seymour in 1868, claiming 

his allegiance to the Democrats stemmed from loyalty 

to his former master and from the uncertain future of 

the Republican Party in the South, then dominated by 

carpetbaggers and former Union soldiers.4

 However, 

Haralson may have acted as a double agent. By some 

accounts, his speeches backing Seymour were insincere, 

and he used private conversations afterward to sway 

listeners to the Republican ticket.5

 Despite being too 

young to meet the constitutional requirement to serve in 

the U.S. House, the ambitious Haralson made his first 

unsuccessful bid for Congress at age 22 in 1868.6

 By 

1869, Haralson had formally switched parties. He publicly 

allied himself with the Republicans, claiming that the 

Democrats had failed to attract the newly enfranchised 

freedmen.7

 However, just one year later he successfully ran 

as an Independent for the state house of representatives, 

marking the beginning of a trend toward third-party 

candidacy, to which he would adhere for his entire political 

career. In 1870, Haralson was chosen to preside over the 

Republican Party’s district convention, at which Benjamin 

S. Turner—the first African American from Alabama to 

serve in Congress—was nominated.8

 By 1872, when he 

was elected a Republican member of the Alabama state 

senate, Haralson seemed firmly in the GOP camp. After 

successfully navigating a civil rights bill through the state 

senate, his political power soared. One local newspaper 

observed, “He is perhaps feared more than any other 

colored man in the legislature in Alabama.”9

The Alabama Republican Party was divided along racial 

lines throughout the Reconstruction Era, and Haralson 

was no friend to white carpetbagger Republicans, who 

were wary of his former Democratic ties and believed 

he had entered politics strictly for personal gain. White 

Republicans in the state senate accused him of accepting 

bribes from railroad officials and of stealing bales of 

cotton.10 Haralson often played up his pure AfricanAmerican heritage in his campaigns. One Alabama 

newspaper described him as “black as the ace of spades,” 

(most of his African-American opponents were mulatto).11

������������������������������������������������������������������������

Jeremiah Haralson

1846–1916

United States Representative H 1875–1877

Republican from Alabama
former members | 1880–1887 H 123
124 H Black Americans in Congress

H Jeremiah Haralson H

He also stoked the racial fears of his black constituents, 

noting in 1872 that if Grant were not re-elected, African 

Americans would be exterminated in a southern race war.12

In 1874, Haralson won the Republican nomination in 

the district formerly represented by Representative Turner, 

which stretched over a swath of western Alabama including 

Haralson’s hometown of Selma and a large chunk of central 

Alabama “black belt.” The district’s population was about 

50 percent black.13 Haralson campaigned on a strong 

civil rights platform, appealing to the district’s abundant 

freedmen. White Republicans and Democrats alike rallied 

behind incumbent liberal Republican Frederick Bromberg, 

who had taken advantage of a divided black electorate to 

defeat Turner and another black candidate two years earlier. 

Haralson captured 54 percent of the vote to claim victory 

in the general election.14

Bromberg contested Haralson’s victory. In delivering the 

decision of the Committee on Elections on April 18, 1876, 

Democratic Chairman John Harris of Virginia informed 

his colleagues that their investigation uncovered “frauds as 

flagrant and abuses as violent as ever have been committed 

in this country upon the elective franchise.”15 Harris 

flailed the district’s Republicans for controlling voters with 

money appropriated for helping freedmen, noting that 

more “colored voters were intimidated by their own race 

against voting for [Bromberg],” than were hassled by white 

supremacists. The committee declared some of Haralson’s 

votes invalid, but the black Representative retained a secure 

margin over Bromberg. The committee ruled unanimously 

to reject Bromberg’s challenge, a decision sustained by the 

House.16 Haralson received a single assignment: to the 

Committee on Public Expenditures.

Radical Republicans from Haralson’s district frowned 

on his friendships with former Confederate President 

Jefferson Davis, and southern Democratic Senators Lucius 

Q. C. Lamar of Mississippi and John Gordon of Georgia. 

Haralson rebuffed Radical Republican scorn by accusing 

white members of his own party of conspiring against 

African-American voters. “We must drive out these hell 

hounds and go in for peace between the two races in the 

South,” he noted in a January 29, 1876, statement.17 As 

the contentious 1876 election promised violence in the 

South, he broke with the Republican Party by criticizing 

the use of federal soldiers to police polls and ensure 

orderly voting. Haralson claimed their presence would 

hurt the Republican Party, telling a southern Democratic 

newspaper “every blue jacket sent to the South makes 

Democratic votes.”18 During his term, he introduced 

legislation to use the proceeds from the sale of public land 

for education, although he favored strict segregation of 

the races, particularly in public schools. He also presented 

a petition from citizens in Mobile, Alabama, requesting 

compensation for the use of a medical college and supplies 

by officers of the Freedmen’s Bureau. None of the bills 

proposed by Haralson passed. 

By 1876, the Alabama state legislature had 

gerrymandered Haralson’s district—cutting it nearly 

in half—so that it encompassed only the west-central 

Alabama “black belt.” The new district had by far the 

largest black electorate—65 percent—of any district in the 

state. Yet, despite this advantage, Haralson spent nearly 

a decade attempting to win back his seat. Former black 

Representative James Rapier, who had recently purchased 

a plantation in the newly reconfigured district to avoid 

running in his former, black-minority district, challenged 

Haralson in the 1876 primary. When Rapier won, the 

outraged Haralson entered the general election as an 

Independent. Haralson and Rapier split the substantial 

Republican ticket, emerging with 34 and 28 percent of the 

vote, respectively. Democrat Charles M. Shelley—a former 

Confederate general, the Selma sheriff, and a stalwart of 

the local Democratic Party—won the election with a 38 

percent plurality.19 This loss in such a strong Republican 

district was a blow to the state Republican Party.20

Haralson determinedly contested the election, claiming 

Shelley had unfairly selected the inspectors at the polling 

places. As sheriff, Shelley had assigned illiterate black 

men as Republican inspectors, putting them at the mercy 

of their literate white Democratic counterparts. After 

inspectors threw out many of his votes, Haralson argued 
H Jeremiah Haralson H

that there had been plenty of literate black Republicans 

available to work as inspectors. In a letter to the editor of 

the Washington Post, he wrote, “Mr. Shelley is no more 

entitled to the seat in the Forty-fifth Congress than the 

Sultan of Turkey, and is only here by taking advantage of 

his own wrong.”21 Haralson submitted his official complaint 

to the Committee on Elections on April 16, 1878, but the 

committee never reported back on the issue.22

Haralson returned to win the Republican nomination 

for his former seat in 1878. The Chicago Daily Tribune, a 

newspaper favoring Haralson, noted that racial prejudices 

in the district were so extreme, white Democrats 

preferred “to see the Devil himself in Congress rather 

than Haralson.”23 Shelley’s re-election campaign looked 

promising after a third candidate, white Independent 

Republican Jonathan Henry, entered the race.24 Though 

Henry took only 2 percent of the electorate, Haralson 

failed to defeat Shelley for a seat in the 46th Congress 

(1879–1881); Shelley took 55 percent to Haralson’s 43 

percent.25 Haralson believed several thousand of his votes 

were thrown out for no apparent reason and contested 

the election, but the Tribune reported he could not find a 

local judge who would take affidavits from his witnesses. 

When Haralson was finally able to procure a judge, Shelley 

supporters jailed his witnesses and attempted to have 

Haralson and his lawyer imprisoned under false charges. 

Moreover, while traveling between Montgomery and 

Selma, Alabama, Haralson was attacked by an armed mob 

and ordered to leave the state.26 Fearing for his life, he 

fled to the District of Columbia.27 Haralson stated his case 

in the contested election in a memorial introduced on 

the House Floor, to be printed by Republican 

Representative J. Warren Keifer of Ohio—a Union 

veteran, a member of the Committee on Elections, and 

a future Speaker of the House.28 A debate ensued as to 

the necessity of making a special request to print the 

memorial, since petitions and memorials were routinely 

reproduced on the House Floor. Opponents disliked the 

special attention the letter was receiving; they feared it 

would be printed in the Congressional Record and accessible 

to the public.29 The House referred the memorial to the 

Committee on Elections, which printed it but never ruled 

on Haralson’s claim.30

After six years Haralson revived his campaign for a 

central Alabama district. He spent the intervening years in 

patronage positions, first as a clerk at Baltimore’s federal 

customs house and later as a clerk at the Department 

of the Interior. He also worked for the Pension Bureau 

in Washington, DC, from 1882 to 1884. Having failed 

to receive his party’s nomination in 1884, Haralson ran 

once again as an Independent Republican. He came 

away with just 683 votes in a four-way contest, even 

though the district’s population was 80 percent black.31

Democrat Alexander Davidson easily won the election 

with 14,225 votes (64 percent), garnering twice as many 

votes as his nearest competitor, Republican George 

Craig.32 The lopsided results—relative to the number of 

registered voters in each party and the racial makeup of 

the district—led Republican newspapers to question the 

returns, but there is no record that Haralson officially 

contested the election.33

After Haralson’s final bid for Congress, he lived in 

Louisiana and Arkansas before returning to Selma, 

Alabama, in 1912. Haralson later wandered through 

Texas and Oklahoma, finally settling in Colorado, where 

he became a coal miner. In 1916, he was killed by a wild 

animal while hunting near Denver. No death certificate 

was ever filed.34

former members | 1870–1887 H 125
126 H Black Americans in Congress

For Further Reading

“Haralson, Jeremiah,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000179. 

Manuscript Collections

Alabama Department of Archives and History

(Montgomery, AL) Papers: In the Reconstruction Era 

Political Materials, 1868–1878, 0.33 cubic feet. Authors 

include Jeremiah Haralson. 

University of Alabama Libraries, W. S. Hoole Special 

Collections Library (Tuscaloosa, AL) Papers: 1876, one 

item. A letter from Jeremiah Haralson to the United States 

Centennial Commission in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 

written on April 27, 1876. In the letter, Haralson requests 

an invitation for his wife to the opening of the Centennial 

International Exhibition of Industry.

Notes

1 Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders 

During Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1993): 

95.

2 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 132; Stephen Middleton, 

ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: A Documentary 

Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 115.

3 Quoted in Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 132.

4 Loren Schweninger and Alston Fitts III, “Haralson, Jeremiah,” 

American National Biography 10 (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 1999): 37–38 (hereinafter referred to as ANB).

5 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 132.

6 Bruce A. Ragsdale and Joel D. Treese, Black Americans in Congress, 

1870–1989 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1990): 

63; Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 132; Middleton, 

ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: 166. Article I, 

Section 2 of the U.S. Constitution states that no one under the 

age of 25 may be seated in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Michael Dubin makes no mention of Haralson’s candidacy for the 

1868 general election; it is likely that Haralson never received the 

party nomination. See Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional 

Elections, 1788–1997 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 

Publishers, 1998): 213.

7 Schweninger and Fitts, “Haralson, Jeremiah,” ANB.

8 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 132–133.

9 Haralson’s civil rights bill was subsequently abandoned by the state 

house of representatives. See Schweninger and Fitts, “Haralson, 

Jeremiah,” ANB. Quoted in Christopher, Black Americans in 

Congress: 134, and Middleton, ed., Black Congressmen During 

Reconstruction: 116. 

10 Schweninger and Fitts, “Haralson, Jeremiah,” ANB.

11 Quoted in Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 95, and Middleton, ed., 

Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: 116.

H Jeremiah Haralson H
12 Schweninger and Fitts, “Haralson, Jeremiah,” ANB.

13 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986): 146.

14 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 230.

15 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (18 April 

1876): 2552.

16 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (23 March 

1876): 1913; Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (18 

April 1876): 2552; Chester H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest 

of All the Contested Election Cases (Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, 1901): 303.

17 Quoted in Middleton, ed., Black Congressmen During 

Reconstruction: 117.

18 Quoted in Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 135.

19 According to Loren Schweninger’s biography of Representative 

James Rapier, Haralson withdrew from the race before the election. 

However, Haralson appears in the election results and split the 

Republican ticket with Rapier. See Loren Schweninger, James T. 

Rapier and Reconstruction (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

1978); Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 236.

20 Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction: 157.

21 “Jere Haralson’s Case: The Colored Statesman Puts a Few Points to 

the Public,” 10 April 1878, Washington Post: 2. 

22 Congressional Record, House, 45th Cong., 2nd sess. (16 April 

1878): 2580. This case is not included in Rowell’s A Historical 

and Legal Digest of All the Contested Election Cases. There has been 

considerable discussion among scholars as to the outcome of 

Haralson’s contested election to the 45th Congress (1877–1879). 

Some sources indicate that the Committee on Elections ruled for 

Haralson in the 45th Congress but that Congress adjourned before 

he was seated. See Schweninger and Fitts, “Haralson, Jeremiah,” 

ANB; Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 94. Others confirm that the 

committee ruled for seating Representative Charles Shelley. See 

Ragsdale and Treese, Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1989: 

64. Contemporary accounts, however, suggest the committee 

never considered or ruled on Haralson’s claim; see, for instance, 

“Wasting Time In Congress,” 14 May 1878, New York Times: 1. 

The most likely result of Haralson’s election contest can be inferred 

from congressional sources: The Congressional Record notes that 

Haralson’s claim was reported to the Committee on Elections, but 

there is no mention of a decision. The Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present confirms that Representative 

Charles Shelley was elected fairly to the 45th Congress; see 

“Shelley, Charles Miller,” available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000326. Finally, Dubin et al., U.S. 

Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 236, contains no mention of a 

successful challenge to Shelley’s seat in the 45th Congress.

23 “Alabama,” 14 October 1878, Chicago Tribune: 2.

24 “Independents in Alabama,” 3 November 1878, New York Times: 1.

25 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 243.

26 “Washington,” 6 June 1876, New York Times: 5.

27 “How a Southern Republican Was Cheated Out of His Seat,” 2 

February 1880, Chicago Daily Tribune: 4.

28 Congressional Record, House, 46th Cong., 2nd sess. (31 January 

1880): 633; “Keifer, Joseph Warren,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=K000048.

29 Congressional Record, House, 46th Cong., 2nd sess. (31 January 

1880): 634.

30 The case does not appear in Rowell’s, A Historical and Legal Digest of 

All the Contested Election Cases; see also Congressional Record Index, 

46th Congress, three sessions.

31 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1883–1913 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): 3.

32 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 264.

33 See Congressional Record Index, 49th Congress, both sessions.

34 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 136.

H Jeremiah Haralson H

former members | 1870–1887 H 127
128 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, Howard University 

While in bondage, John Adams Hyman repeatedly 

broke laws prohibiting his education so he could 

learn to read and write, and as a result, was sold at least 

eight times. After his emancipation, Hyman sought 

with equal determination to become the first black U.S. 

Representative from North Carolina. Though the shy 

legislator made no speeches on the House Floor, a letter to 

Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts, written in 1872, 

demonstrated his eloquence. “If [an African American] is 

a man,” Hyman declared, “he is entitled to all the rights 

and privileges of any other man. There can be no grades 

of citizenship under the American flag.”1

Born into slavery near Warrenton, North Carolina, on 

July 23, 1840, John Adams Hyman is believed to have 

been a child of Jesse Hyman, a slave.2 Starting in his early 

twenties, John Hyman was a janitor for a Warrenton 

jeweler. Hyman later noted that he was treated like 

“chattel, bought and sold as a brute.”3

 When he gained his 

freedom in March 1865, Hyman returned to Warrenton, 

where he became a farmer and opened a country store. He 

also became a trustee of the first public school in his area. 

Hyman married and had two sons and two daughters. The 

names of his immediate family members are not known.4

Upon his return, Hyman became active in the 

movement to secure political rights for North Carolina 

blacks. At age 26, he served on two committees at the 

state’s Freedmen’s Convention, including the committee 

on invitations, an important panel whose purpose was to 

encourage the attendance of influential politicians and 

to raise awareness about the convention.5

 Hyman also 

served as a delegate to the March 1867 Republican State 

Convention, and as the registrar for northern Warren 

County, recruiting emancipated voters. In November 1867, 

Hyman was elected to the Warren County delegation 

to the North Carolina constitutional convention, which 

met in Raleigh the following January. Hyman was one 

of 15 black delegates in the 133-member body. In 1868, 

he won election to the state senate where he served for 

six years. From this seat, Hyman wrote U.S. Senator 

Charles Sumner in support of his Civil Rights Bill.6

 He 

also opposed President Andrew Johnson’s leniency toward 

ex-Confederates and strongly advocated requiring states 

to ratify the 14th Amendment before being readmitted to 

the Union. Hyman voted against impeaching Republican 

Governor William Holden in 1872 for ordering the arrest 

of Ku Klux Klan members suspected of lynching and 

terrorizing the state’s black population. In the senate, 

which was divided over how to resuscitate North Carolina’s 

postwar economy, Hyman deflected Conservatives’ and 

Democrats’ charges that he accepted bribes from railroad 

lobbyists. Most members of the penitentiary committee, 

on which Hyman served, were caught up in this scandal.7

Hyman’s hometown of Warrenton was in the 

northern section of the “Black Second” district, the only 

safe Republican district after gerrymandering by the 

Democratically controlled North Carolina legislature. The 

“Black Second” stretched from Warren County, adjacent to 

the Virginia border, and hooked around to coastal Craven 

County.8

 The earliest reliable census, taken in 1880, 

showed that the populations of three of the district’s 10 

counties were more than two-thirds black. All the counties 

in the district had populations that were at least 45 percent 

black. In 1872, white Republican Charles R. Thomas, a 

pre-Civil War Whig, sought a third congressional term in 

the reapportioned district, but newly powerful AfricanAmerican politicians in the “Black Second” demanded 

that a freedman run for Congress. Hyman challenged 

Thomas for the nomination—embittering many white 

Republicans and opening racial fissures in the party—but 

lost at the May 1872 district convention. However, black 

John Adams Hyman

1840–1891

United States Representative H 1875–1877

Republican from North Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 129
130 H Black Americans in Congress

H John Adams Hyman H

voters remained loyal to the party of the emancipators, and 

Thomas handily defeated his Democratic opponent in the 

general election. 

Yet Thomas’s term in the 43rd Congress (1873–1875) 

was minimally successful and marred by political blunders. 

Seven candidates, including Hyman and African-American 

state representative James O’Hara, challenged the 

weakened incumbent at the 1874 district convention.9

 The 

early ballots taken at the convention saw the votes split 

evenly among the candidates—each county cast one vote 

for its favored contender—but after a series of negotiations 

among the candidates, Hyman prevailed on the 29th 

ballot. Realizing their redistricting efforts had opened the 

door for North Carolina’s first black Representative, white 

supremacist Democrats frantically sought a viable lastminute challenger. The success of their candidate, George 

W. Blount, depended on the chance that ever-growing 

racial divisions in the Republican Party would prevent 

white Republicans from voting for Hyman.10 Opposition 

newspapers emphasized that Hyman lacked the support of 

white Republican leaders, as evidenced by the candidacy 

of white Independent Republican Garland White. The 

Democratic press also spread the rumor that white 

Republicans were bribing Hyman not to run.11 Yet Hyman 

emerged victorious, taking 62 percent of the vote.12 Blount 

contested Hyman’s election. His chief complaint was 

that the phrase “Republican Congressional Ticket” at the 

top of Hyman ballots persuaded many voters who were 

barely literate to vote for him.13 On August 1, 1876, a 

Democratic House unanimously agreed that Hyman was 

entitled to the seat.14

Upon his arrival for the 44th Congress (1875–1877), 

Hyman was assigned to the Committee on Manufactures. 

For the first time in nearly two decades, the Republicans 

found themselves in the minority, and Hyman’s committee 

assignment had little significance for his agricultural 

district.A quiet man who preferred behind-the-scenes 

politics, Hyman made no speeches on the House 

Floor. Instead, he submitted private bills and petitions 

on behalf of the poor in his district and state.15 He 

sponsored a bill authorizing the Treasury Department 

to build a lighthouse at Gull Rock on North Carolina’s 

Pamlico Sound and introduced legislation to compensate 

constituents for financial losses incurred during the 

Civil War. He joined others from the North Carolina 

delegation in seeking relief for Cherokee Indians resettled 

in the West. A loyal Republican, he cast a noteworthy 

“nay” vote against restricting President Ulysses S. Grant 

to two terms. (Though a formal term limit for Presidents 

did not yet exist, the resolution determined that a chief 

executive should step down after two terms based on the 

precedent established by President George Washington.) 

Hyman was one of only 18 dissenting Members, as many 

Republicans defected.16 Hyman attempted to protect his 

black constituents by introducing a bill to reimburse the 

depositors of the failed Freedmen’s Bank, but it never made 

it out of committee. 

As racial divisions widened in the state’s Republican 

Party, former North Carolina Reconstruction Governor 

Curtis Brogden began mustering support to defeat Hyman 

for the Republican nomination in the spring of 1876. By 

the following July, Brogden’s supporters were so confident 

he would be nominated, many did not attend the district 

convention, though Brogden himself arrived at the 

convention site several days early.17 Brogden’s small but 

powerful force convinced some of Hyman’s lieutenants—

white and black—of Brogden’s superiority, and the 

former governor won on the ninth and deciding ballot.18

Deflecting rumors he would run as a third-party candidate, 

Hyman threw his support behind his rival. Winning 

the general election by a wide margin, Brogden took 

his place as the only Republican in the state’s new 

congressional delegation.19

Hyman returned to his farm in Warrenton, where he 

also ran a grocery and liquor store. He briefly served as a 

special deputy internal revenue collector for the Rutherford 

B. Hayes administration, but political pressure from the 

North Carolina Republican Party kept him from fully 

assuming his post.20 In 1878, he again ran for Congress, 

losing the nomination to James O’Hara. Hyman served 
H John Adams Hyman H

as a steward and Sunday school superintendent for the 

Warrenton Colored Methodist Church. As the temperance 

movement took hold in North Carolina, he was expelled 

from the church on charges of selling alcoholic beverages 

and embezzling Sunday school funds. Hyman left 

Warrenton, moving to Washington, DC, and later to 

Richmond, Virginia. In 1887, he returned to Warrenton 

with renewed political ambitions, but he failed to obtain 

a congressional nomination in 1888. The winner, black 

candidate Henry Cheatham, eventually reclaimed the 

“Black Second.” Shortly thereafter, Hyman defected from 

the Republican Party after agreeing to encourage blacks to 

vote for district Democrats in exchange for minor political 

posts.21 Returning north, Hyman worked as a mail clerk’s 

assistant in Maryland for 10 years before moving back to 

Washington, DC, in 1889, where he took a position in 

the Department of Agriculture’s seed dispensary.22 John 

Hyman died at home of a stroke on September 14, 1891.

For Further Reading

Anderson, Eric. Race and Politics in North Carolina, 

1872–1901 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University 

Press, 1981).

“Hyman, John Adams,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H001025. 

Reid, George W. “Four in Black: North Carolina’s Black 

Congressmen, 1874–1901,” The Journal of Negro History

64 (Summer 1979): 229–243.

former members | 1870–1887 H 131
132 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

Notes

1 John Hyman to Charles Sumner, 24 January 1872. Charles Sumner 

Papers, Houghton Library, Harvard University, Cambridge, MA

(emphasis Hyman’s).

2 Hyman’s parentage has never been confirmed, and it is unclear 

whether his presumed parent, Jesse Hyman, was his mother or his 

father. See George W. Reid, “Four in Black: North Carolina’s Black 

Congressmen, 1874–1901,” Journal of Negro History 64 (Summer 

1979): 229. 

3 Hyman to Sumner, 24 January 1872. Sumner Papers.

4 The only record of Hyman’s family is in his obituary, which does 

not mention his wife’s and children’s names. See “Years of Service 

Ended,” 16 September 1891, Washington Post: 8.

5 Debi Hamlin, “Hyman, John Adams,” American National 

Biography 11 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 617–618 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

6 Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders 

During Reconstruction (New York: Oxford University Press, 

1993): 113.

7 Eric Anderson, Race and Politics in North Carolina, 1872–1901

(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981): 37, 43. 

According to Anderson, Hyman claimed to know nothing about 

the bribes and was never officially charged with a crime.

8 Anderson, Race and Politics: 4; Stanley B. Parsons et al., United 

States Congressional Districts, 1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood 

Press, 1986): 201.

9 O’Hara eventually won election to the “Black Second” district 

in 1882.

10 Anderson, Race and Politics: 39.

11 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 150.

12 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

232. White’s name does not appear in the election results.

13 Anderson, Race and Politics: 44.

14 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (1 August 1876): 

5051.

15 Stephen Middleton, ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: A 

Documentary Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 123.

16 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (15 December 

1875): 228. The 22nd Amendment, ratified in 1951, restricted 

Presidents to two terms.

17 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 151.

18 Ibid.

19 Anderson, Race and Politics: 52.

20 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 152; Anderson, Race 

and Politics: 144. Other sources indicate Hyman obtained the 

appointment but was later removed because of political pressure. 

See Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 113. 

21 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 113.

22 It is unclear where Hyman served in Maryland since most sources 

include only the state (Middleton, Black Congressmen During 

Reconstruction: 123; Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 152; 

Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 113; Reid, “Four in Black”: 230). ANB

places him in Washington, DC, lending credence to the possibility 

that his post was near the capital. See Hamlin, “Hyman, John 

Adams,” ANB. 

H John Adams Hyman H
“If [an African American] is 

a man,” Hyman declared, 

“he is entitled to all the 

rights and privileges of any 

other man. There can be no 

grades of citizenship under 

the American flag.”

former members | 1870–1887 H 133
134 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Although Charles E. Nash commanded less national 

 attention than some of his Louisiana contemporaries, 

his status as a wounded war hero vaulted him to the House 

of Representatives in the 44th Congress (1875–1877). 

Louisiana would not elect another black Representative 

until the late 20th century.1 In the Democratically 

controlled House, Nash encountered great difficulty 

gaining even the right to speak before his colleagues on the 

House Floor.

Charles Edmund Nash was born to free parents, 

Richard and Masie Cecile Nash, in Opelousas, St. Landry 

Parish, Louisiana, on May 23, 1844.2 Nash attended 

common (public) schools before becoming a bricklayer in 

New Orleans. He married Martha Ann Wycoff. Following 

her death in 1884, he married a French woman, Julia 

Lucy Montplaisir, in 1905.3

 Union troops occupied New 

Orleans early in the Civil War, taking the strategic port 

city in 1862. In July 1863, Nash enlisted as a private 

in Company A of the 82nd Regiment, United States 

Volunteers. He was eventually promoted to sergeant major.

In a battle at Fort Blakely, Alabama, Nash was severely 

wounded and lost part of his right leg on April 9, 1865. 

Though the injury limited his mobility and affected his 

health for the rest of his life, Nash’s reputation as a hero 

impressed local Republicans after the war. The Republican 

Party was well organized and teaming with able men, 

most of them free mulattos who lived in New Orleans.4 In 

1869, Nash was hired for a federal patronage position as 

a night inspector in the New Orleans Custom House. His 

combat record made him an attractive candidate for a U.S. 

congressional seat in 1874 for the district surrounding 

Baton Rouge. 

Louisiana Republicans faced a precarious situation after 

the state was re-admitted to the Union and federal military 

occupation ended. In 1870, black Lieutenant Governor 

Oscar Dunn split from white incumbent Governor Henry 

Warmoth at the Republican state convention. With Dunn 

seizing black support, both men laid claim to the executive 

office. Dueling state legislatures emerged, and the racially 

divided Republicans barely held sway over local politics, 

depending on support from the administration of President 

Ulysses S. Grant to fend off Democratic challengers. It 

was during this near-anarchy that Nash was nominated for 

a congressional seat.5 Only the presence of federal troops 

and the support of Louisiana blacks ensured that Nash’s 

election to Congress in 1874 was relatively smooth.6

 He 

defeated Democrat Joseph B. Moore by a little more than 

1,000 votes, taking 52 percent of the vote and becoming 

Louisiana’s first black Representative. His uneventful 

election contrasted sharply with that of his predecessor 

John Willis Menard, who was elected in 1868 but never 

seated, and that of P. B. S. Pinchback—one of Louisiana’s 

most prominent black politicians—who ran unsuccessfully 

for the U.S. House and Senate two years later.7

Nash joined a record number of eight black 

Congressmen—including Mississippi Republican Blanche 

K. Bruce in the Senate—in the 44th Congress. Upon his 

swearing in, the substantial Democratic majority limited 

him to a single assignment: the Committee on Education 

and Labor. Nash submitted few pieces of legislation but 

was eager to voice his views in the House Chamber for 

the public record. However, the Democrats, who 

controlled the House Floor, were determined to deny 

Nash that opportunity. For example, in late May 

1876—following a two-hour speech by Louisiana 

Republican Frank Morey—Nash attempted to express his 

views on a disputed election in a district just north of his. 

Democratic Representative John House of Tennessee cut 

off debate before Nash could speak. When Nash protested, 

Speaker Michael Kerr of Indiana offered only to print his 

Charles Edmund Nash

1844–1913

United States Representative H 1875–1877

Republican from Louisiana

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 135
136 H Black Americans in Congress

H Charles Edmund Nash H

speech in the Congressional Record Appendix. Nash rejected 

this offer. The presiding officer ignored Nash’s repeated 

request to speak but subsequently permitted New York 

Democrat George Beebe to make a lengthy speech on the 

same subject.8

On the evening of June 7, Nash finally made a speech 

on the House Floor. He chastised the Democratic Party for 

undermining the status of freedmen and harassing whites 

who supported black civil rights. Nash also emphasized 

the importance of supporting public education, noting 

the discouraging condition of the common schools in 

the South and “the ignorance of the masses.” He then 

called for strict enforcement of the 13th, 14th, and 15th 

Amendments, warning “a government which cannot 

protect its humblest citizens from outrage and injury is 

unworthy of the name and ought not to command the 

support of a free people.”9

 He ended on an optimistic 

note, reaffirming his faith that the United States could 

overcome its racial and political divisions. “For we are not 

enemies, but brethren,” he declared, “America will not die. 

As the time demands them great men will appear, and by 

their combined efforts render liberty and happiness more 

secure.”10 It was late at night when Nash finally finished 

his speech.11

In 1876, Nash lost his seat to Democrat Edward 

Robertson, who won with 58 percent of the vote to 

Nash’s 42 percent.12 Nash’s campaign was overshadowed 

by the presidential electoral crisis: Louisiana and two 

other states sent two sets of certified electoral votes to 

Washington—one for Republican candidate Rutherford 

B. Hayes and the other for Democrat Samuel Tilden. As 

House Members discussed the crisis, Nash attempted to 

participate but once again was ignored.13 Abandoning 

his political career at the close of the 44th Congress, 

Nash returned to Louisiana to work as a bricklayer. After 

injuries and his age forced him to abandon the trade, he 

served briefly as postmaster in St. Landry Parish in 1882. 

Nash subsequently made his living as a cigar maker. He 

died in New Orleans, on June 21, 1913.
H Charles Edmund Nash H

For Further Reading

“Nash, Charles Edmund,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=N000008. 

Notes

1 Representative William Jefferson of New Orleans, the next black 

Member from Louisiana, was sworn in on January 3, 1991. See 

“Jefferson, William Jennings,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress 1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000070.

2 Maurine Christopher is the only biographer who claims Nash was 

a slave; see Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 104. For other accounts, 

see Chandra Miller, “Nash, Charles Edmund,” American National 

Biography 16 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 234–235 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB); Stephen Middleton, ed., Black 

Congressmen During Reconstruction: A Documentary Sourcebook 

(Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 267; and Thomas Holt, “Nash, 

Charles Edmund,” Dictionary of American Negro Biography (New 

York: Norton, 1982): 471–472.

3 Nash had no children. See Miller, “Nash, Charles Edmund,” ANB.

4 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 105.

5 Ibid., 106.

6 Joe Gray Taylor, Louisiana Reconstructed, 1863–1877 (Baton Rouge: 

Louisiana State University Press, 1974): 299–300.

7 For more information on these two men, see James Haskins, The 

First Black Governor, Pinkney Benton Stewart Pinchback (Trenton, 

NJ: Africa World Press, 1996); John Willis Menard, Lays in 

Summer Lands, ed. by Larry E. Rivers et al. (1879; reprint, Tampa, 

FL: University of Tampa Press, 2002).

8 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (31 May 1876): 

3437. 

9 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (7 June 1876): 

3667–3668.

10 Ibid., 3669.

11 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 107.

12 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

238.

13 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 2nd sess. (15 December 

1876): 236.

former members | 1870–1887 H 137
138 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

An escaped slave and a Civil War hero, Robert Smalls 

 served five terms in the U.S. House, representing 

a South Carolina district described as a “black paradise” 

because of its abundant political opportunities for 

freedmen.1 Overcoming the state Democratic Party’s 

repeated attempts to remove that “blemish” from its goal 

of white supremacy, Smalls endured violent elections and a 

short jail term to achieve internal improvements for coastal 

South Carolina and to fight for his black constituents in the 

face of growing disfranchisement. “My race needs no special 

defense, for the past history of them in this country proves 

them to be equal of any people anywhere,” Smalls asserted. 

“All they need is an equal chance in the battle of life.”2

Robert Smalls was born a slave on April 5, 1839, in 

Beaufort, South Carolina. His mother, Lydia Polite, was a 

slave who worked as a nanny, and the identity of Robert 

Smalls’s father is not known, but Smalls had distinct 

mulatto features.3 Owned by John McKee, he worked in 

his master’s house throughout his youth and, in 1851, 

moved to the McKees’ Charleston home. Smalls was hired 

out on the waterfront as a lamplighter, stevedore foreman, 

sail maker, rigger, and sailor, and became an expert 

navigator of the South Carolina and Georgia coasts. In 

1856, he married Hannah Jones, a slave who worked as a 

hotel maid in Charleston. The couple had two daughters: 

Elizabeth and Sarah. A third child, Robert, Jr., died of 

smallpox as a toddler.4

 The Smalls lived separately from 

their owners, but sent their masters most of their income.5

During the Civil War, the Confederate Army 

conscripted Robert Smalls into service aboard the Planter, 

an ammunitions transport ship that had once been a 

cotton steamer. On May 13, 1862, a black crew captained 

by Smalls hijacked the well-stocked ship and turned it over 

to the Union Navy. Smalls became a northern celebrity.6

His escape was symbolic of the Union cause, and the 

publication of his name and former enslaved status in 

northern propaganda proved demoralizing for the South.7

Smalls spent the remainder of the war balancing his role 

as a spokesperson for African Americans with his service 

in the Union Armed Forces. Piloting both the Planter,

which was re-outfitted as a troop transport, and later the 

ironclad Keokuk, Smalls used his intimate knowledge of the 

South Carolina Sea Islands to advance the Union military 

campaign in nearly 17 engagements.8

Smalls’s public career began during the war. He joined 

free black delegates to the 1864 Republican National 

Convention, the first of seven total conventions he 

attended as a delegate.9

 While awaiting repairs to the 

Planter, Smalls was removed from an all-white streetcar 

in Philadelphia on December 30, 1864. In the following 

months, his celebrity allowed him to lead one of the first 

mass boycotts of segregated public transportation. A city 

law finally permitted integrated streetcars in 1867.10

At the war’s conclusion, Smalls received a commission 

as brigadier general of the South Carolina militia. He then 

purchased his former owner’s house in Beaufort, but he 

was generous to the economically devastated McKees.11

Having received a rudimentary education from private 

tutors in Philadelphia during the war, Smalls continued 

his studies after settling in Beaufort.12 He embarked on 

business ventures, opening a store and a school for black 

children in 1867. He also published a newspaper, the 

Beaufort Southern Standard, starting in 1872.13 Smalls’s 

impressive résumé and his ability to speak the Sea 

Island Gullah dialect enhanced his local popularity and 

opened doors in South Carolina politics. He joined other 

prominent black and white politicians as a delegate to the 

1868 South Carolina constitutional convention. Later 

that year, Smalls won his first elective office: a term in 

the state house of representatives. From 1870 to 1874, he 

Robert Smalls

1839–1915

United States Representative H 1875–1879; 1882–1883; 1884–1887

Republican from S outh Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 139
140 H Black Americans in Congress

H Robert Smalls H

served in the state senate, chairing the printing committee.

In 1874, redistricting gave Smalls the opportunity to 

run for the U.S. Congress in a southeast South Carolina 

district with a majority-black constituency (68 percent 

of the population). In Smalls’s hometown of Beaufort, 

African Americans outnumbered whites seven to one.14

In an uneventful campaign, Smalls defeated Independent 

nominee J. P. M. Epping—a white man who ran on 

a “reform” platform opposing the Radical Republican 

state government—with nearly 80 percent of the vote. 

Smalls received a position on the Agriculture Committee 

in his freshman term, a key assignment for his farming 

constituency and thus a boost to his efforts to prepare for 

the potentially formidable opposition to his re-election.

Despite the Democratic majority, Smalls’s first term 

was one of his most active and fruitful. For his coastal 

constituents, he obtained appropriations to improve the 

Port Royal Harbor that passed with little debate, owing to 

a letter from the Secretary of War presented as evidence.15

Smalls also sought other internal improvements, including 

compensation from the federal government for its use of 

Charleston’s military academy, the Citadel, since 1865.16

Smalls spoke openly in defense of his race and his party. 

In June 1876, he attempted unsuccessfully to add an 

antidiscrimination amendment to an army reorganization 

bill. His amendment, which would have integrated army 

regiments, required that race would no longer affect 

soldiers’ placement. The following month, Smalls addressed 

a bill to redeploy federal troops in the South to patrol the 

Texas–Mexican border. Smalls argued against transferring 

federal troops stationed in his home state, warning that 

private Red Shirt militias—South Carolina’s version of the 

Ku Klux Klan—would make war on the government and 

freedmen. Advocates of the troop transfer argued that the 

corrupt Republican government in South Carolina brought 

on the violence and that it remained a state issue. Smalls 

disagreed, noting that the federal presence would help “cut 

off that rotten part all round South Carolina so as to let the 

core stand. It is those rotten parts which are troubling us. 

We are getting along all right ourselves.”17

While touring the state with Republican Governor 

Daniel Chamberlain during the 1876 campaign, Smalls 

attended a rally in Edgefield, South Carolina, where Red 

Shirt leader and former Confederate General Matthew 

Butler overran the meeting and threatened Smalls’s life. 

Though the Republican entourage escaped unharmed, a 

sympathetic observer noted the ease with which Butler 

and his Red Shirts moved through the town: “Even in 

Mexico Gen. Butler’s command could only be regarded 

as a revolutionary army, but in South Carolina they 

are called ‘reformers.’” Smalls’s opponent, George D. 

Tillman, who hailed from a prominent Democratic family, 

exacerbated tensions. The New York Times referred to 

Tillman as a “Democratic tiger, violent in his treatment 

of Republicans, incendiary in his language, and advising 

all sorts of illegal measures to restrain Republicans from 

voting.” During the campaign, Smalls described Tillman as 

“the personification of red-shirt Democracy” and the “arch 

enemy of my race.”18 Despite heading the militia to break 

up a strike in the middle of the campaign, Smalls escaped 

the Democratic tsunami that swept South Carolina local 

elections, barely defeating Tillman with 52 percent (19,954 

votes).19 Polling places were spared much of the Red 

Shirt violence, primarily because Governor Chamberlain 

requested federal troops to stand guard.20 Tillman later 

contested the military presence, hoping a Democratic 

Congress would rule in his favor.Defending himself 

in the final session of the 44th Congress, Smalls called 

Election Day in South Carolina “a carnival of bloodshed 

and violence.”21

Smalls arrived in Washington for the 45th Congress 

(1877–1879) to receive his position on the Committee 

on the Militia and face Tillman’s challenge to his election; 

however, he was unable to get to work. The following 

July, the Democratic South Carolina state government 

charged Smalls with accepting a $5,000 bribe while 

chairing the printing committee in the state senate. Smalls 

arrived in Columbia on October 6, 1877, to face trial. 

On November 26, he was convicted and sentenced to 

a three-year prison term. Republican newspapers cried 
H Robert Smalls H

foul, accusing Democrats of targeting the “hero of the 

Planter” because of his success as a black Representative.22

After three days in jail, Smalls was released pending his 

appeal with the state supreme court. He returned to 

Washington to face Tillman’s contested election challenge 

before the Democratically controlled Committee on 

Elections. Though the committee ruled in Tillman’s favor, 

just before the end of the second session on June 20, 1878, 

Smalls retained his seat because the whole House never 

considered the findings. Though his triumph over Tillman 

was a symbolic victory for House Republicans, Smalls’s 

preoccupation with his criminal case and the defense of 

his seat left him little time to legislate during the short 

third session.

Smalls’s chances in the 1878 election were slim. South 

Carolina black politicians faced a deadly threat from the 

white supremacist-controlled government. Sea Island 

observer Laura Towne noted in her diary: “Political 

times are simply frightful. Men are shot at, hounded 

down, trapped and held til certain meetings are over and 

intimidated in every possible way.”23 The final blow to 

Smalls’s campaign was his unresolved conviction, which 

Tillman—who returned as his opponent—used to defeat 

him. Though Smalls received a majority of the black votes 

in the district, the small number who braved the fierce 

intimidation were unable to prevent the Democratic 

sweep.24 Tillman took 26,409 votes (71 percent) compared 

to Smalls’s 10,664 votes (29 percent).25

An 1879 resolution to his criminal case allowed 

Smalls to concentrate on returning to politics. Although 

the state supreme court rejected his appeal, Democratic 

Governor William Simpson pardoned him on April 

29, 1879—acting on assurances from the U.S. District 

Attorney that charges would be dropped against South 

Carolinians accused of violating election laws in 1878.26

Smalls, nevertheless, remained optimistic about Republican 

politics in South Carolina. “Robert S. is very cheerful, and 

says that the outrageous bulldozing and cheating in this 

last election is the best thing that could have happened for 

the Republican Party,” observed Laura Towne, “for it has 

been so barefaced and open that it cannot be denied.”27

Smalls still controlled the Beaufort Republican Party, and 

he remained popular among the town’s substantial black 

population. By 1880, Smalls resolved to take back his seat 

from Tillman. However, his allegiance to the Republican 

Party made it increasingly difficult for Smalls to rally 

black voters to his side. Issues that wedded black voters 

to the GOP—primarily fears of returning to slavery—

were fading in light of black disenchantment with local 

Republican corruption scandals. The state party also was in 

chaos, as the South Carolina Republican convention was 

unable to nominate a state ticket. Smalls’s attachment to 

the disorganized and disgraced state party proved to be the 

strongest point of attack for Democratic opponents. Red 

Shirt intimidation, which had become routine in recent 

elections, complicated matters. 28

Smalls failed to defeat Tillman in a violent campaign, 

garnering only 15,287 votes, or 40 percent; however, he 

contested the election, hoping to capitalize on the slim 

Republican majority in the 47th Congress (1881–1883). 

His case came before the Committee on Elections on July 

18, 1882. Using Edgefield, South Carolina, as a case study, 

Smalls won the support of the committee by testifying 

that his supporters had been frightened away from the 

polls.29 In an attempt to prevent Smalls from taking the 

seat, House Democrats sought to avoid a quorum by 

deserting the House Chamber when his case came to a 

vote on July 19, 1882. Their plan backfired, however, as 

the House seated him, 141 to 1 with 144 abstentions.30

Smalls returned to his appointments on the Agriculture 

and Militia committees. While his victory was yet another 

blow to southern Democrats, the curtailed term again left 

him little time to legislate. 

By 1882, South Carolina Democrats had gerrymandered the state so that only one district retained any 

hope of electing a black candidate. The new district’s 

lines demonstrated the legislature’s intent; completely 

ignoring county lines, the district contained one-quarter 

of the state’s substantial black population (82 percent of 

the district’s population was black).31 Smalls sought the 

former members | 1870–1887 H 141
142 H Black Americans in Congress

H Robert Smalls H

nomination but was opposed at the Republican convention 

by longtime black politician Samuel Lee and Smalls’s 

congressional friend and ally Representative Edmund 

Mackey. Smalls deferred to Mackey—a sympathetic 

white man whose wife was mulatto—to maintain unity 

in the party. However, Mackey died suddenly on January 

28, 1884, shortly after defeating Lee—who ran as an 

Independent candidate—in the general election. Lee had 

taken a federal patronage position in Alabama, leaving 

Smalls the best chance at the seat. He won a special 

election without opposition and took his oath of office 

on March 18, 1884.32 Smalls resumed his position on the 

Committee on the Militia and received an appointment 

to the Committee on Manufactures. 

Smalls continued earlier attempts to secure federal 

debt relief for South Carolinians who lost their property 

due to nonpayment of wartime taxes, justifying the relief 

by pointing to the free services and the welcome federal 

soldiers had received in places like Port Royal; however, the 

House rejected his proposal.33 Smalls was more successful 

with a bill regulating the manufacture and sale of liquor in 

the District of Columbia. He offered an amendment that 

would guarantee the integration of restaurants and other 

eating facilities in the nation’s capital. After parliamentary 

debate about the germaneness of the amendment, it was 

added to the bill, which passed the House though it died 

in the Senate Committee on the District of Columbia.34 In 

the 1884 election, Smalls’s victory over Democrat William 

Elliott was unexpectedly easy. Though both candidates 

expected a violent campaign, the election was relatively 

quiet, with Sea Island blacks coming out to support their 

favorite son. Smalls was appointed to the Committee on 

War Claims in the 49th Congress (1885–1887), made up 

of a safe Democratic majority. Encouraged by his recent 

victory, black state senators nominated Smalls for an open 

seat in the U.S. Senate in December 1884. Although he 

lost to Democratic Governor Wade Hampton, 31 to 3, his 

nomination was a symbolic protest of white supremacy. 35

In his first full term since he was a freshman, Smalls 

gave one of the more impassioned speeches of his career, 

asking Congress to approve a $50 per month pension 

for Maria Hunter, the widow of General David Hunter. 

Hunter was one of the first white Union commanders 

to raise African-American regiments in the Civil War 

and was known for issuing an order to free slaves in 

Florida, Georgia, and South Carolina. But, Hunter was 

also controversial for his slash-and-burn strategy during 

several Shenandoah Valley campaigns, as well as for his 

inattention to defendants’ rights in the trial of conspirators 

in President Abraham Lincoln’s assassination. Democrats 

argued against permitting the pension. Smalls admonished 

his colleagues: “Can it be that there is a secret or sinister 

motive either personal or political? . . . Can it be that this 

is your revenge for all his patriotic conduct?”36 Though the 

private bill passed both the House and Senate, President 

Grover Cleveland vetoed the measure, claiming the Widow 

Hunter’s case was best handled by the Pensions Bureau. 

Smalls also steered through the House a bill that allowed 

for the redemption of school farmlands outside Beaufort 

that had been owned by the federal government since the 

Civil War.37 He also submitted a resolution requesting relief 

funds after a flood in 1886 destroyed crops and homes 

in his district. The House refused to appropriate funds, 

despite Smalls’s appeal that the state government would 

not furnish relief money until late in the year. Smalls also 

failed in a bid to make Port Royal a coaling station for the 

U.S. Navy.38

Smalls faced a challenge from within his own party 

for re-election in 1886. African-American rival Henry 

Thompson attempted to capitalize on the growing 

competition within the black community between darkskinned blacks and mulattos. Thompson’s radical position 

proved less of a threat for the nomination; however, black 

voters divided in the general election, with the “darker 

delegation” voting against Smalls.39 The split in the 

black vote made Smalls vulnerable to Democratic attack. 

“Elections,” Smalls lamented to the Washington Post, 

“are all in the hands of Democrats.”40 His foe, Democrat 

William Elliott, returned to defeat him with 56 percent of 

the vote in an election in which black disfranchisement was 
H Robert Smalls H

routine.41 Smalls contested his loss. Despite more than 800 

pages of testimony and support from powerful Republican 

Representatives Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts 

and Robert M. La Follette of Wisconsin, a House weary 

of handling the South’s racial problems declined to seat 

Smalls, with a vote of 142 to 127 on February 13, 1889.42

Accepting the inevitability of his loss, Smalls had already 

stepped aside to allow a younger politician, Thomas Miller, 

to run for his seat in 1888. 

Smalls remained an active and popular politician, 

managing to win the chairmanship of the Republican state 

convention in 1890.43 Although he was favored for the 

post of sheriff in Beaufort County, Smalls made another 

bid for the U.S. Senate, but he received only one vote from 

the state legislature.44 He also attempted to return to the 

House in 1892 but lost a four-way race for the Republican 

nomination, which Representative George W. Murray 

secured en route to a general election victory. After his 

wife Hannah died in 1883, Smalls married Annie Wigg on 

April 9, 1890. They had one son, William Robert, in 1892, 

before Annie’s death in 1895. Smalls benefited throughout 

this period from GOP patronage. In 1889, Republican 

President Benjamin Harrison appointed him the collector 

at the port of Beaufort. He held the post until Republicans 

lost the White House in 1892. Smalls regained the 

appointment in 1898 from Republican President William 

McKinley. Over time, his duties as collector became more 

onerous in the face of racism and segregation in Beaufort. 

He was forced to step down in 1913 after the White House 

again transferred to a Democrat. Smalls died of natural 

causes in his Beaufort home on February 22, 1915.

former members | 1870–1887 H 143
144 H Black Americans in Congress

H Robert Smalls H

For Further Reading

Billingsley, Andrew. Yearning to Breathe Free: Robert Smalls 

of South Carolina and his Families (Columbia: University of 

South Carolina Press, 2007).

Congressman Robert Smalls: A Patriot’s Journey From Slavery 

to Capitol, DVD, produced by Adrena Ifill (Washington, 

DC: DoubleBack Productions LLC, 2005).

Miller, Edward A. Jr., Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls from 

Slavery to Congress, 1839–1915 (Columbia: University of 

South Carolina Press, 1995).

 “Smalls, Robert,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000502. 

Uya, Okun Edet. From Slavery to Political Service: Robert 

Smalls, 1839–1915 (New York: Oxford University Press, 

1971).

Manuscript Collections

Library of Congress, Manuscript Division (Washington, 

DC) Papers: In the Frederick Douglass Papers, ca. 

1841–1967, 19.4 linear feet. Correspondents include 

Robert Smalls. Papers: In the Rufus and S. Willard Saxton 

Papers, ca. 1834–1934, 10 linear feet. Subjects include 

Robert Smalls. Microfilm: In the Carter G. Woodson 

Collection of Negro Papers and Related Documents, 

ca. 1803–1936, 10 microfilm reels. Persons represented 

include Robert Smalls.

South Carolina Historical Society (Charleston, SC) 

Papers: In the Steamship Planter Records, 1861–1862, one 

folder. Persons represented include Robert Smalls.

Notes

1 Okun Edet Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: Robert Smalls, 

1839–1915 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971): 90.

2 Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: vii.

3 Historians debate the identity of Smalls’s father. Smalls’s 

descendants claim his father was his owner, John McKee; see 

Ingrid Irene Sabio, “Robert Smalls,” in Jessie Carney Smith, 

ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale 

Research, Inc., 1999): 1071 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM). 

Sabio also suggests that Smalls may have been the son of Moses 

Goldsmith, a Charleston merchant. Another biographer notes 

that his father was unknown but suggests John McKee’s paternity; 

see Glenda E. Gilmore, “Smalls, Robert,” American National 

Biography 20 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 

111–112 (hereinafter referred to as ANB). Still others indicate 

his father was a white manager on the McKee plantation named 

Patrick Smalls; see Shirley Washington, Outstanding African 

Americans of Congress (Washington, DC: United States Capitol 

Historical Society, 1998): 8. If he was not Smalls’s son, it is 

unclear how he received his surname, though his chief biographer 

speculates “Smalls” may have been a pejorative description of his 

stature. See Edward A. Miller, Jr., Gullah Statesman: Robert Smalls 

from Slavery to Congress, 1839–1915 (Columbia: University of 

South Carolina Press, 1995): 7.

4 Smalls also had two stepdaughters, Clara and Charlotte Jones. See 

Andrew Billingsley, Yearning to Breathe Free: Robert Smalls of South 

Carolina and his Families (Columbia: University of South Carolina 

Press, 2007): xxiii.

5 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 42; Gilmore, “Smalls, 

Robert,” ANB.

6 The U.S. Government never fully compensated Smalls for the value 

of the Planter as a reward for its capture. During the next 30 years, 

black Members of Congress sought compensation for Smalls equal 

to the value of the ship. James O’Hara sought compensation for 

Smalls in the 49th Congress (1885–1887). Henry Cheatham made 

similar unsuccessful requests in the 51st and 52nd Congresses 

(1889–1893), and George White failed to pass a resolution 

reimbursing Smalls in the 55th Congress (1897–1899). The House 

finally approved a measure submitted by White on May 18, 1900, 

during the 56th Congress (1899–1901). White originally requested 

that Smalls receive $20,000. The Committee on War Claims, 

however, reduced the amount to $5,000. Smalls received this sum 

after President William McKinley signed the bill into law on June 

5, 1900. See Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 1st sess. (18 

May 1900): 5715.

7 Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: 16–17.
H Robert Smalls H

8 Details on Smalls’s military service are unclear because his 

paperwork was lost. Several sources indicate that Smalls served in 

the Navy, but others note that he did not have the education to 

pilot a naval vessel. Therefore, he either received a commission in 

or worked as a civilian for the Union Army and was frequently 

detailed to the Navy for service at sea. Smalls was promoted to 

captain of the Planter in 1865, though it is unclear whether he 

attained that rank in the Navy or the Army. His alleged salary 

of $150 per month made him one of the highest-paid AfricanAmerican servicemen in the Civil War. Smalls received his Navy 

pension after petitioning Congress in 1897. See Christopher, 

Black Americans in Congress: 42; Gilmore, “Smalls, Robert,” ANB; 

Sabio, “Robert Smalls,” NBAM; Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 

A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction (New York: 

Oxford University Press, 1993): 198; Uya, From Slavery to Political 

Service: 20–22; Miller, Gullah Statesman: 12–27; Billingsley, 

Yearning to Breathe Free: 61, 75, 82; Kitt Haley Alexander, “Robert 

Smalls’ Timeline,” Robert Smalls Official Website and Information 

Center; see http://www.robertsmalls.org/timeline.htm (accessed 11 

October 2007).

9 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 198. Smalls was a delegate to the 

Republican National Conventions in 1864, 1872, and 1876 and 

the Republican National Conventions from 1884 to 1896.

10 Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: 26–27; Miller, Gullah 

Statesman: 23.

11 Rupert Sargent Holland, ed., Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne

(New York: Negro Universities Press, 1969): 241; Miller, Gullah 

Statesman: 95. While serving in Congress, he introduced a private 

bill asking for the relief of the McKee family, but the bill did not 

pass (see H.R. 2487, 44th Congress, 1st session).

12 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 42.

13 Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 198.

14 Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: 90.

15 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (23 May 1876): 

3272–3275; Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (25 

July 1876): 4876.

16 Miller, Gullah Statesman: 97. His bill passed the House, but no 

action was taken in the Senate.

17 Congressional Record, House, 44th Cong., 1st sess. (18 July 

1876): 4705.

18 “The Rifle Clubs ‘Dividing Time,’” 20 October 1876, New York 

Times: 1; “The South Carolina Cheating,” 15 December 1880, 

New York Times: 1; “The South Carolina Issue,” 31 October 1890, 

Washington Post: 4.

19 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 240.

20 Miller, Gullah Statesman: 108.

21 Congressional Record, Appendix, 44th Cong., 2nd sess. (24 February 

1877): A123–136.

22 “Robert Smalls’ Trial,” 17 December 1877, New York Times: 2; 

Grace Greenwood, “Remember Those in Bonds,” 14 January 1878, 

New York Times: 1; “The Persecution of Mr. Smalls,” 7 December 

1878, New York Times: 1.

23 Holland, ed., Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne: 288.

24 Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: 111.

25 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 247.

26 Miller, Gullah Statesman: 131.

27 Holland, ed., Letters and Diary of Laura M. Towne: 293.

28 Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: 111–113.

29 Congressional Record, Appendix, 47th Cong., 1st sess. (19 July 

1882): A634–643.

30 Miller, Gullah Statesman: 138.

31 Ibid., 139; Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional 

Districts, 1883–1913 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): 

136–143.

32 Miller, Gullah Statesman: 147.

33 Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: 118–119; Miller, Gullah 

Statesman: 147–148.

34 Congressional Record, House, 48th Cong., 2nd sess. (23 February 

1883): 2057–2059; see H.R. 7556, 48th Congress, 2nd session.

35 See Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 50: Miller, Gullah 

Statesman: 153.

36 Congressional Record, Appendix, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (30 July 

1886): A319.

37 Congressional Record, House, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (6 January 

1886): 481. 

38 Congressional Record, House, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (26 June 

1886): 6183.

39 “Congressman Smalls’s Canvass,” 20 September 1886, New York 

Times: 1.

40 “Why Smalls Was Defeated,” 12 December 1886, Washington Post: 3.

41 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 50; Dubin et al., U.S. 

Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 276.

42 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 50–51.

43 “Negro Delegates in Control,” 18 September 1890, Washington Post: 1.

44 “Wade Hampton Losing Votes,” 11 December 1890, New York 

Times: 1.

former members | 1870–1887 H 145
146 H Black Americans in Congress 

former members H 1870 – 18 87

Image courtesy of Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, Howard University 

Afreeborn Irish–West Indian mulatto, James O’Hara 

 was the only black Member on the first day of the 

48th Congress (1883–1885), having succeeded on his 

fourth attempt to win a seat representing North Carolina’s 

“Black Second” district. A resolute legislator, he worked 

to restore the civil rights stripped from African Americans 

since the end of Congressional Reconstruction in 1877. 

“I for one . . . hold that we are all Americans,” he told his 

congressional colleagues. “That no matter whether a man is 

black or white he is an American citizen, and that the aegis 

of this great Republic should be held over him regardless 

of his color.”1

 Despite O’Hara’s drive to secure a seat in the 

House and, subsequently, to pass legislation, congressional 

opponents of black civil rights stymied his efforts. 

James Edward O’Hara was born February 26, 1844, in 

New York City. The illegitimate son of an Irish merchant 

and a black West Indian mother, he had light skin and 

red highlights in his curly hair.2

 The historical record first 

picks up O’Hara in the company of New York-based 

missionaries in Union-occupied eastern North Carolina 

in 1862.3

 Well-educated, he taught primary school to 

free black children in New Bern and Goldsboro, North 

Carolina.4 In 1864, O’Hara married Ann Marie Harris, 

but the couple separated two years later and eventually 

divorced. They had one son, born after their divorce. 

O’Hara married Elizabeth Eleanor Harris in 1869.5

 They 

also had a son, Raphael. O’Hara studied law at Howard 

University in Washington, DC, but there is no record 

of his graduation. Admitted to the North Carolina bar 

in 1873, he established a private practice in Enfield, 

North Carolina.

North Carolina was a bastion of lucrative patronage 

positions in the 1870s, and Republican lawmakers 

clamored for offices. James O’Hara was quick to recognize 

these benefits and became involved in the local party 

machine. He first served as a secretary at the freedmen’s 

and Republican Party meetings just after the Civil War, 

composing reports for newspapers. At the 1868 North 

Carolina constitutional convention, he served as a 

delegate and an engrossing clerk. From 1868 to 1869, 

O’Hara also served in the state house of representatives. 

In 1873, he was elected chairman of the Halifax County 

board of commissioners. During his four-year tenure, 

O’Hara endured multiple Democratic accusations of 

corruption and extravagance—all of which he initially 

denied, claiming the charges were politically and racially 

motivated. However, when he and several other Republican 

commissioners were indicted, O’Hara and a colleague 

pleaded no contest and agreed to pay court costs to have 

the charges dropped.6 O’Hara faced further difficulty in 

1876, when he resigned his post as a presidential elector 

in the face of threats from local Democrats.7

O’Hara began his long quest for a seat in the U.S. 

Congress in 1874 when he made a bid for North Carolina’s 

northeastern “Black Second” district seat. Centered in the 

cotton-growing portion of the state, the district acquired 

its nickname because its population was 58 percent 

black, the largest of any part of the state.8 O’Hara lost the 

Republican nomination to John A. Hyman, who became 

the first African American to serve North Carolina in the 

U.S. Congress. Nevertheless, O’Hara remained committed 

to winning the seat, in part because there were fewer 

patronage opportunities in the Democratically controlled 

state at the end of Congressional Reconstruction. Political 

office remained a viable outlet.

O’Hara made another attempt at the “Black Second” 

nomination in 1878. He obtained the party endorsement 

over moderate Republican and former Representative 

Curtis Brogden, Hyman, and three other candidates. 

The fight for the nomination lasted 29 ballots at the 

James Edward O’Hara

1844–1905

United States Representative H 1883–1887

Republican from North Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������
former members | 1880–1887 H 147
148 H Black Americans in Congress

H James Edward O’Hara H

contentious Republican district convention. In the 

general election, O’Hara’s opponents brought up his 

past corruption charges and accused him of bigamy, as it 

was unclear whether he was divorced from his first wife. 

Dissatisfied with his defenses, state Republican leaders 

gathered three weeks before Election Day to nominate 

white candidate James H. Harris to take O’Hara’s place. 

But O’Hara refused to step down and, despite the attacks 

and the loss of party support, he won the three-way race 

between the two Republican candidates and Democrat 

William H. Kitchin, a member of a politically powerful 

family in North Carolina. Based on technicalities, 

election canvassers subsequently eliminated enough of 

O’Hara’s votes in three counties to hand Kitchin the 

victory. O’Hara challenged the results, but evidence in 

his favor was destroyed when his house suspiciously 

burned down. O’Hara failed to persuade either the 

North Carolina state supreme court or the Democratic 

46th Congress (1879–1881) to unseat Kitchin. He 

returned in 1880 to seek the congressional seat but lost a 

bitter race for the Republican nomination to carpetbagger 

Orlando Hubbs. 9

Between congressional bids, O’Hara was active in local 

and national politics. By 1881, he had aligned himself 

with a statewide anti-Prohibition campaign and was an 

architect of a coalition between Liberal Democrats and 

North Carolina Republicans in 1882. That same year, 

he made his fourth attempt to gain the “Black Second” 

seat, bolstered by discontented local black politicians 

who believed they were being marginalized within the 

party.10 At the state Republican convention, two other 

candidates opposed him: incumbent Hubbs and scalawag 

Lotte W. Humphrey. Though Democrats accused AfricanAmerican voters in the “Black Second” of voting only 

for black candidates, voters were divided. None of the 

candidates controlled the convention’s first ballot, and all 

three engaged in ruthless attack campaigns, promising 

patronage to potential supporters. Humphrey eventually 

bowed to O’Hara, giving the black candidate the majority 

of delegates. An O’Hara delegate called for his nomination 

by voice vote. Though the crowd roared in O’Hara’s favor, 

the convention chairman declared Hubbs’s candidacy 

and quickly adjourned.11 Both sides claimed victory and, 

in the following months, Hubbs and O’Hara vigorously 

sought each other’s resignation. Shortly before the election, 

Hubbs capitulated to pressure from O’Hara forces, who 

spoke for the majority-black voters in the district when 

they threatened to abandon the state Republican ticket if 

their candidate was not on the ballot. Without adequate 

Democratic opposition, O’Hara was unopposed in the 

general election.12 Reapportionment in 1883 changed the 

borders of O’Hara’s district in his favor, increasing the 

black population with the addition of Bertie County.13 In 

1884, he was easily re-elected over Democrat Frederick A. 

Woodard, taking 59 percent of the total returns and the 

most votes ever recorded for an African-American candidate 

in the “Black Second” district.14

As part of the Republican minority in the House, 

O’Hara received appointments to the Mines and Mining 

and the Expenditures on Public Buildings committees 

when he arrived in Washington for the 48th Congress 

(1883–1885) in December 1883. He later traded his Mines 

and Mining position for a spot on the Invalid Pensions 

Committee in the 49th Congress (1885–1887). O’Hara 

was active on the Invalid Pensions Committee. In the first 

session, he introduced more than 100 committee reports, 

serving as an unofficial subcommittee chairman.15 O’Hara 

did not take the floor to make long addresses; instead, he 

delivered concise speeches and put forth bold legislation, 

often fighting for the rights he and other Black Americans 

had lost since the end of Reconstruction.16

On January 8, 1884, O’Hara boldly proposed a 

constitutional amendment to ensure equal accommodations 

for blacks on public transportation. He wanted to reverse 

a Supreme Court decision delivered in 1883 declaring the 

1875 Civil Rights Bill unconstitutional, but the House 

refused to consider the measure.17 The following December, 

O’Hara proposed an amendment to regulate interstate 

travel and commerce, calling for equal accommodations 

for all railroad passengers, regardless of color. Under the 
H James Edward O’Hara H

existing law, when a railroad passed into southern states, 

first-class black passengers were typically forced to move 

to a second-class “Jim Crow car.” O’Hara capitalized on 

contemporary arguments favoring federal regulation of 

interstate commerce, maintaining that if Congress had 

authority over freight passing between states and could set 

standards for the treatment of animals, it could regulate 

how railroads served their customers. O’Hara’s amendment 

passed on the first vote, but Democratic opponents quickly 

nullified the measure with another allowing railroads to 

classify passengers at their own discretion. The final bill 

passed—without O’Hara’s vote—in the 49th Congress 

with language so vague, the railroads continued their 

discriminatory practices.18

In the face of repeated rejections of his civil rights 

legislation, O’Hara focused on individual instances and 

locations of discrimination, but he met similar opposition. 

On January 12, 1885, he offered a bill that would require 

eating establishments in the nation’s capital to charge 

customers without discriminating based on race, or risk 

fines up to $100. Referred to the Committee on the 

District of Columbia, the bill was never reported back.19

He reiterated his request at the opening of the 49th 

Congress, but the bill met the same fate.20 On March 17, a 

white mob stormed a Carrollton, Mississippi, courthouse 

where seven white men were charged with assaulting two 

black men. The mob opened fire on all of the black men 

present, killing 11 and wounding nine. O’Hara requested 

that Speaker John G. Carlisle of Kentucky appoint a fivemember committee to investigate the incident and issue 

a report. His original request was rejected before it could 

be submitted to the Rules Committee, and a renewed 

request submitted the following month was referred to the 

committee but never reported.21

O’Hara used his legislative persistence to help his 

constituents, both white and black. Residing in a coastal 

district, he sought river and harbor appropriations for 

North Carolina in nearly every session of his congressional 

service, stressing funding to improve waterways on which 

cotton was shipped to support his district’s cotton-growing 

industry. Despite his determination, most of O’Hara’s 

amendments were rejected.22 Recognizing that a great 

number of his constituents were working-class laborers, 

he opposed the passage of a labor arbitration bill that 

allowed a third party to settle disputes between employers 

and employees. Though he favored arbitration, O’Hara 

wanted to concentrate on organizing unions to defend 

labor interests.23

Internal feuds among “Black Second” Republicans 

ended O’Hara’s congressional career. Although O’Hara 

won 75 percent of the nominating convention’s vote, 

his candidacy was weakened by accusations that he was 

unable to meet the needs of his constituents, that he 

did not distribute available patronage positions to other 

black aspirants, and that, as a light-skinned mulatto, he 

was not a fair representative for his race.24 Another black 

Republican, Israel B. Abbott, opposed O’Hara in the 1886 

race as an Independent Republican. Abbott had one term 

in the state legislature to his credit and had served as a 

delegate to the national Republican convention in 1880, 

but his most significant advantage was that he was darkskinned—“a true representative of his race” according to 

the Washington Bee—and “a native of the district,” having 

escaped to New Bern, North Carolina, after Union forces 

took over in 1861.25 Nevertheless, O’Hara won most of 

the black vote from loyal Republican freedmen, taking 

40 percent to Abbott’s 15 percent. However, Democrat 

Furnifold Simmons capitalized on the GOP fissure, 

capturing 45 percent of the vote for victory.26 Two years 

later, O’Hara again sought a congressional nomination, 

but lost to Henry Cheatham, who would reclaim the 

“Black Second.” O’Hara returned to his law practice, 

partnering with his son, Raphael. He began publishing a 

newspaper, the Enfield Progress shortly before his death in 

New Bern, North Carolina, on September 15, 1905.

former members | 1870–1887 H 149
150 H Black Americans in Congress

For Further Reading

Anderson, Eric. “James O’Hara of North Carolina: Black 

Leadership and Local Government,” Howard Rabinowitz, 

ed., Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era

(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1982).

_____. Race and Politics in North Carolina, 1872–1901

(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981).

“O’Hara, James Edward,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000054. 

Reid, George W. “Four in Black: North Carolina’s Black 

Congressmen, 1874–1901,” The Journal of Negro History 

64 (Summer 1979): 229–243.

MANUSCRIPT COLLECTION

University of Chicago Library (Chicago, IL) Special 

Collections Research Center. Papers: 1866–1970, 1.5 

linear feet. The James E. O’Hara Papers consist of 

miscellaneous materials that document the life and career 

of one of America’s first black Representatives. There 

are several letters from family and from constituents in 

North Carolina. In addition, three folders are devoted to 

photographs of Representative O’Hara, his wife and son, 

and his associates. An important and detailed resource 

for the study of the O’Hara family and the social history 

of the late-19-century South is the biographical sketch 

of Representative O’Hara and his family written by his 

granddaughter, Vera Jean O’Hara Rivers, entitled “A

Thespian Must Play His Role.” Finally, the collection 

includes some ephemeral material, such as a handbill 

announcing the establishment of a Canadian newspaper 

for fugitive slaves, an autograph book and “Register of 

Documents sent” owned by James E. O’Hara, and a small 

20th-century booklet of biographical sketches that includes 

a brief description of Representative O’Hara. An inventory 

is available in the repository and online.

H James Edward O’Hara H
Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 48th Cong., 2nd sess. (17 December 

1884): 317.

2 The names of O’Hara’s parents are not known.

3 One scholar claims O’Hara was born in the West Indies. See George 

W. Reid, “Four in Black: North Carolina’s Black Congressmen, 

1874–1901,” The Journal of Negro History 64: 3 (Summer 1979): 

229–243. O’Hara’s childhood is not documented. Most likely, he 

moved from New York, where he attended public schools, to the 

West Indies around 1850. See Eric Anderson, “O’Hara, James 

Edward,” American National Biography 16 (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1999): 649–651 (hereinafter referred to as ANB); 

Thomas Holt, “O’Hara, James Edward,” Dictionary of American 

Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 474–475; Maurine 

Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. 

Crowell Company, 1976): 152.

4 Anderson, “O’Hara, James Edward,” ANB.

5 The name of O’Hara’s first son is not known. There is no evidence 

that Ann Marie Harris and Elizabeth Eleanor Harris were related.

6 Anderson, “O’Hara, James Edward,” ANB.

7 Eric Anderson, “James O’Hara of North Carolina: Black Leadership 

and Local Government,” in Howard Rabinowitz, ed., Southern 

Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: University of 

Illinois Press, 1982): 104.

8 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986): 200.

9 Eric Anderson, Race and Politics in North Carolina, 1872–1901

(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981): 63–68.

10 Anderson, Race and Politics: 98.

11 Anderson, “James O’Hara of North Carolina: Black Leadership and 

Local Government”: 117.

12 Ibid.

13 Anderson, Race and Politics: 141; Kenneth Martis, The Historical 

Atlas of Political Parties in the United States Congress: 1789–1989

(New York: Macmillan, 1989): 139; Stanley B. Parsons et al., 

United States Congressional Districts, 1883–1913 (New York: 

Greenwood Press, 1990): 97–99.

14 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

268; Anderson, Race and Politics: 118.

15 Anderson, Race and Politics: 124. There were no official 

subcommittees for the Invalid Pensions Committee, but Members 

were often assigned leadership roles to consider specific bills or 

were charged with organizing petitions from specific states. See the 

Minutes of the Committee on Invalid Pensions, 49th Congress, 

Records of the United States House of Representatives (RG 233), 

Center for Legislative Archives, National Archives and Records 

Administration, Washington, DC

16 Anderson, “O’Hara, James Edward,” ANB.

17 Congressional Record, House, 48th Cong., 1st sess. (10 January 

1884): 347.

18 Okun Edet Uya, From Slavery to Political Service: Robert Smalls, 

1839–1915 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971): 120; a 

more detailed account is available in Christopher, Black Americans 

in Congress: 153–155. Smalls did vote for the final bill; see 

Congressional Record, House, 48th Cong., 2nd sess. (8 January 

1885): 554.

19 Congressional Record, House, 48th Cong., 2nd sess. (12 January 

1885): 632.

20 Congressional Record, House, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (5 January 

1886): 438.

21 Congressional Record, House, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (29 March 1886): 

2897; Congressional Record, House, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (2 April 

1886): 3123.

22 Although most of O’Hara’s requests were rejected, he obtained 

funding to remove obstructions from a North Carolina stream 

and to expand another. See Congressional Record, House, 48th 

Cong., 1st sess. (10 June 1884): 4980–4982; Congressional Record, 

House, 48th Cong., 1st sess. (12 June 1884): 5069; Congressional 

Record, House, 48th Cong., 2nd sess. (18 February 1885): 1857; 

Congressional Record, House, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (22 April 1886): 

3748; Congressional Record, House, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (12 

February 1886): 1404.

23 Congressional Record, House, 49th Cong., 1st sess. (2 April 

1886): 3049.

24 Anderson, “O’Hara, James Edward,” ANB.

25 Anderson, Race and Politics: 135.

26 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 275.

H James Edward O’Hara H

former members | 1870–1887 H 151
On December 5, 1887, for the first time in almost two decades, 

Congress convened without an African-American Member. “All the men 

who stood up in awkward squads to be sworn in on Monday had white 

faces,” noted a correspondent for the Philadelphia Record of the Members 

who took the oath of office on the House Floor. “The negro is not only 

out of Congress, he is practically out of politics.”1

 Though three black 

men served in the next Congress (51st, 1889–1891), the number of 

African Americans serving on Capitol Hill diminished significantly as the 

congressional focus on racial equality faded. Only five African Americans 

were elected to the House in the next decade: Henry Cheatham and 

George White of North Carolina, Thomas Miller and George Murray 

of South Carolina, and John M. Langston of Virginia. But despite their 

isolation, these men sought to represent the interests of all African 

Americans. Like their predecessors, they confronted violent and 

contested elections, difficulty procuring desirable committee assignments, 

and an inability to pass their legislative initiatives. Moreover, these black 

Members faced further impediments in the form of legalized segregation 

and disfranchisement, general disinterest in progressive racial legislation, 

and the increasing power of southern conservatives in Congress. 

“The Negroes’ 

Temporary Farewell”

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African 

Americans from Congress, 1887–1929

John M. Langston took his seat in Congress after contesting the election results in his district. One of the first African 

Americans in the nation elected to public office, he was clerk of the Brownhelm (Ohio) Township in 1855.

John Mercer Langston, From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol (Hartford, CT: American 

Publishing Company, 1894)

In the decade after the 1876 presidential election, the Republican-dominated 

Reconstruction governments, which had provided the basis for black political 

participation in the South, slowly disintegrated, leaving the rights of black voters and 

political aspirants vulnerable to Democratic state governments controlled by former 

Confederates and their sympathizers. The electoral crisis of 1876 also revealed fissures 

within the GOP, as many party stalwarts focused on commercial issues rather than on 

the volatile racial agenda previously pursued by the Republicans. This period marked 

the beginning of a “multigenerational deterioration” of the relationship between 

black and white Republicans.2

 By the 1890s, most Black Americans had either been 

barred from or abandoned electoral politics in frustration. Advocacy for blacks in 

Congress became substantially more difficult.3

 After Representative White’s departure 

from the House of Representatives in March 1901, no African American served in 

the U.S. Congress for nearly three decades. The length and persistence of this exile 

from national politics starkly conveyed the sweeping success of the system of racial 

segregation imposed upon blacks by law and custom, known widely as “Jim Crow.” 

Jim Crow

During this era African Americans experienced unique suffering and deprivation. 

Beginning in the last quarter of the 19th century, blacks—the vast majority of whom 

still lived in the South—endured a system of racial segregation that circumscribed their 

political, economic, and social status. Distinguished historian of the South C. Vann 

Woodward explains that the removal of key “restraints” unleashed widespread, virulent 

racist social policies. Eroding northern liberal interest in fostering a biracial society 

in the South after 1877, the failure of southern conservatism to check race baiting 

politics, and the corresponding capitulation of the southern ruling class to rising 

white supremacist radicalism, each played a part in fashioning a uniquely American 

racial apartheid.4

Jim Crow, a system of segregation enforced by legal and extralegal means, evolved 

over several decades.5

 Jim Crow was a popular character in southern minstrel shows—

in which white performers in blackface portrayed African Americans. How the term 

Jim Crow came to be associated with segregation is not clear, but it was eventually 

used to describe both the formal and the informal manifestations of segregation in the 

South. Beginning with Tennessee in 1870, every southern state adopted laws against 

interracial marriage. By the 1880s, most public places and many private businesses had 

Whites Only and Colored facilities. These included schools, seating areas, drinking 

fountains, work spaces, government buildings, train stations, hospitals, restaurants, 

hotels, theaters, barbershops, laundries, and even public restrooms.

Virtually all the political advances afforded freedmen during Reconstruction were 

rolled back and eradicated during the years after 1890. In the South, the races were 

separated even more systematically and rigidly than during slavery. Many blacks were 

reduced to a suppressed citizenship that was repeatedly exploited for political and 

economic purposes. As C. Vann Woodward writes, Jim Crow laws “did not assign the 

subordinate group a fixed status in society. They were constantly pushing the Negro 

farther down.”6

Pre-Congressional Experience

Though they served in Congress during the onset of Jim Crow laws, the five Black 

Americans elected in the late 19th century benefited from educational, economic, 

Thomas Rice created the character “the 

Jim Crow minstrel” in 1828. The actor 

was one of the first to don blackface 

makeup and perform as a racially 

stereotyped character. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Foreshadowing the struggles of a halfcentury later, magazines like Puck 

Illustrated noted the inequities of Jim 

Crow transportation as early as 1913. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Jim Crow: 

The term used to describe the 

segregation, social control, and political 

and economic subjugation of African 

Americans in the South from the late 

1800s to the 1960s.

154 H Black Americans in Congress 
and social opportunities provided by federal intervention in the Reconstruction-Era 

South. All five men were born in the South and hailed from the former Confederacy. 

Three were born slaves, but before their 14th birthdays all were freed after the 

conclusion of the Civil War in 1865.7

 Like their predecessors, most of those elected in 

the early Jim Crow Era were of mixed race: Four of the five were mulatto; two were 

their masters’ sons. Three of these men hailed primarily from the Upper South, a 

region encompassing North Carolina and extending northwest through Virginia and 

Maryland. Compared to the more relaxed views on racial miscegenation prevalent in 

the Lower South—the region stretching southwest from South Carolina—the Upper 

South had adopted the early British North American system of slavery in which 

sharp social lines defined the “white” and “black” races. Denied special legal or social 

privileges of their counterparts in the Lower South, both mulatto and dark-skinned 

men from the Upper South saw greater opportunity for advancement only after the 

end of slavery in 1865.8

These late-19th-century Members also received substantially more formal 

education than their predecessors. Though their primary and secondary schooling 

was sporadic, all five attended college—compared with two of the 17 black men 

who served before them.9

 Their more extensive education allowed Jim CrowEra black Representatives prestigious careers. Three men practiced law: John 

Langston, Thomas Miller, and George White. Miller received training at Howard 

University, but in most rural states, formal legal training was not a requirement 

for passing the bar, which often consisted of an oral exam administered by local 

judges and lawyers.10 Several law schools rejected Langston in the 1850s. Tutored 

by local professionals, he passed an oral exam in 1854 for admission to the Ohio 

bar. George White studied law with a local retired judge and former Confederate 

officer, William John Clarke, in the late 1870s and later served as a district 

solicitor in his home in New Bern, North Carolina.11

Black Representatives in the Jim Crow Era had substantial political résumés 

before arriving in Congress. John Langston’s was the most impressive: He became 

one of the first blacks in American history to hold elective office when the 

Brownhelm (Ohio) Township elected him clerk in 1855 and later served as a U.S. 

diplomat in Haiti and Santo Domingo. As political opportunities diminished after 

Union troops withdrew from the South in 1877, Black Americans depended on 

local connections to secure government jobs doled out by elected officials. George 

Murray, for example, obtained a patronage position as a customs inspector in 

Charleston Harbor from 1890 to 1893.12

Shifting Republican Focus

Black Members of Congress remained loyal Republicans, but their allies at 

home and in Congress were quickly disappearing. Southern politics in the postReconstruction years witnessed the rapid collapse of the states’ Radical Republican 

governments, which had drawn from the ranks of newly freed African-American 

men. Over time, a cadre of local, state, and national politicians—composed of 

many former Confederates and Democrats—replaced the Republican regimes and 

they were determined to end the experiment in multiracialism. In the “redeemed” 

South, the Democratic Party eventually became synonymous with the codification 

and formalization of racial segregation. 

Though the Republican Party’s ideological makeup remained complicated in the 

late 1880s, two primary factions, dubbed “reformers” and “money men,” emerged. 

George W. Murray of South Carolina 

patented several farming inventions 

before his election to Congress. Patent No. 

517,961 was a cultivator and marker to 

“open furrows for the reception of seeds.”

Image courtesy of U.S. Patent and 

Trademark Office

Harper’s Weekly published “Death at the 

polls, and free from federal interference” 

in 1879. The cartoon depicted the violence 

that characterized elections in the postReconstruction South. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 155
Reformers clung to the idealistic plans of postwar Radical Republicans to extend 

full civil rights to African Americans. Yet they began to lose support in the face of 

popular demand to lay the problems of the post–Civil War Reconstruction to rest, 

as well as a growing interest in American commercial power—the stance of the 

“money men.” Consequently, Congress deprioritized racial legislation.13 Control 

of the chamber seesawed between unsympathetic Democrats and increasingly 

ambivalent Republicans in the 1880s and early 1890s. Though one reformer 

implored Republican colleagues to “never surrender the great principles of human 

liberty of which [the party] was the born champion,” party leaders sensed little 

opportunity in pushing for black voting rights in the South.14 One historian explains 

that the Republicans “harbored some hope that if race was no longer salient in 

southern politics, other issues might rise to the surface and become the catalyst 

for a realignment of the parties . . . if the Republican Party in the South was no 

longer identified with and supported by black voters, it might have the opportunity 

to redefine itself and become accepted as a legitimate political entity.”15 Black 

Representatives admonished their party for abandoning the freedmen. “A veritable 

set of fools a few of our party leaders have been,” Thomas Miller said on the House 

Floor in February 1891. “They will listen to all the cheap sentimentality sounded 

under the name of negro domination and business prostration, be swerved from 

a plighted duty to a faithful constituency the country over.”16

Rapid industrialization brought economic and social changes that displaced race 

reform on the political agenda and moved it out of the public eye. Between 1869 

and 1899, the population of the United States nearly tripled. Railroads extending 

to the Pacific Ocean allowed cheap transportation of goods around the country; the 

invention of the telephone in 1876 improved communication; entrepreneurs such 

as steel magnate Andrew Carnegie amassed fortunes in manufacturing. In 1890, 

for the first time in American history, industrial workers outnumbered farmers.17

Emigration from southern Europe had begun to increase, just as the American 

In a difficult campaign for the House 

in 1888, John M. Langston lost to 

his opponent Edward Venable by 641 

votes. However, Langston was seated in 

the Republican-controlled House after 

contesting the election results in his Virginia 

district. This sketch depicts Langston taking 

the oath of office in the well of the House. 

Empty seats in the foreground belong to 

Democrats who left the chamber in protest.

John Mercer Langston, From the

Virginia Plantation to the National

Capitol (Hartford, CT: American 

Publishing Company, 1894).

156 H Black Americans in Congress 
frontier was declared closed. Journalist and historian Frederick Jackson Turner 

aptly expressed the belief that the nation was poised at the beginning of a new, 

uncertain era. “Movement has been . . . [America’s] dominant fact,” he told 

an audience at the American Historical Association, gathered for the 1893 World 

Columbian Exhibition in Chicago. “But never again will such gifts of free land 

offer themselves. . . . The frontier is gone, and with its going has closed the first 

period of American history.”18

Such tectonic social shifts created cultural uncertainty. Historian Robert Wiebe 

describes late-19th-century America as a “distended society.” Industrialization and 

expansion swept away the familiar rhythms and guideposts of local community life, 

leaving “a society without a core” and widespread “dislocation and bewilderment.”19

Even long familiar political landmarks were in flux. According to historian 

Robert Marcus, the issues of race and sectionalism during the Civil War and 

Reconstruction “[stabilized] political loyalties by keeping eyes focused on a past 

full of familiar friends and enemies,” and “fulfilled some of the need for order.” 

By the 1880s and 1890s, “politicians could only guess at the direction in which 

the electorate was moving and wonder if the party system they knew was capable 

of containing the new populations, new pressures, and the new demands that all 

parts of an increasingly interconnected society made on the political system.”20 

The Republican Party recast itself around commercial issues, expressing caution at 

“waving the bloody shirt” and finding unprecedented success with its new strategy 

by the mid-1890s.21

Elections

Disfranchisement

Black constituencies in the South were disappearing faster than the western 

frontier. Through a variety of legal mechanisms, from the rewriting of state 

constitutions that began in the 1890s to the implementation of a maze of local 

and statewide electoral devices that went on the books in earnest between 1889 

and 1908—including the poll tax, the grandfather clause, and educational tests—

southern white Democrats effectively shut blacks and opposition parties out of the 

political process.22 Poll taxes, which were widely adopted and hugely successful at 

excluding blacks, required prospective voters to pay as much as $2 (a considerable 

sum for most blacks and whites). Additional registration laws required documents 

many voters did not possess and, to complicate matters, registration was sporadic 

and often occurred at odd times. Strategies that worked in one state were copied in 

others. “Each state became in effect a laboratory for testing one device or another. 

Indeed, the cross-fertilization and coordination between the movements to restrict 

the suffrage in the Southern states amounted to a public conspiracy.”23 One of the 

last but most effective devices was the Democratic “white primary” system. By 

excluding blacks from the process during which party candidates were chosen and 

strategy was set, the Democratic Party became the de facto government in the South.

South Carolina Representatives Thomas Miller and George Murray consistently 

protested the “eight box” law, an 1882 state law requiring multiple ballot boxes. 

Voters placed their ballots in boxes designated for specific offices. White voters 

received instructions for navigating the system, whereas black voters received no 

instruction, and their votes were disqualified if they dropped their ballots in the 

wrong box. The effect of the law was dramatic: Whereas turnout in southeastern 

Bloody Shirt:

A violent event or controversial 

political issue used to stir up outrage 

or partisan support. Typically 

used during the late 19th century, 

“wave the bloody shirt” refers to the 

Republican Party’s use of the Civil 

War as justification for political 

revenge on former Confederates.

Grandfather Clause: 

A constitutional provision that was 

frequently used in southern states, 

exempting descendants of men who 

voted prior to 1866 from suffrage 

restrictions such as literacy tests, poll 

taxes, and property requirements. This 

clause allowed poor, illiterate southern 

whites to vote while disfranchising 

blacks, whose slave ancestors had 

no voting rights.

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 157
South Carolina on Election Day had been close to 20 percent in 1880, the number 

of constituents whose votes counted dropped to less than 10 percent in the decade 

after the law went into effect for the 1882 election.24 “I declare to you and the 

people of America,” George Murray said on the House Floor in 1883, “that no 

gambler nor conjurer has ever planned more meaner tricks and schemes to beat his 

competitor or victimize his companion than has been used by the sworn officers 

of the law to deceive American citizens . . . [and] destroy the effectiveness of their 

votes on election day.”25 When Murray lost his South Carolina seat encompassing 

the Sea Islands and Charleston in 1894, only 4 percent of the district’s eligible 

population voted.26

State constitutional conventions—called to rewrite a state’s constitution with 

the intention of eviscerating the remaining eligible black vote—proved the final 

disfranchising blow in most southern states. To call such a convention required 

majorities in both houses of the state legislature. Voters had to approve the proposed 

convention and then select delegates to act as their representatives. The process 

typically took several years, from the first call for the convention to the ratification 

of the new constitution. More of these conventions occurred in the 11 former 

Confederate states in the late 19th century than in any other period in U.S. history.27

The first wave of conventions, which took place just after the Civil War, involved a 

requirement to rejoin the Union: Under Reconstruction law, former Confederate 

states were required to redraft their constitutions to incorporate elements of the 

13th, 14th, and 15th Amendments. Throughout the 1870s, a second wave of 

constitutional conventions swept southern states to restore former Confederates’ 

political rights. The third wave, between 1890 and 1910, sought to roll back these 

rights for African Americans.28

One of the most notable constitutional conventions took place in South 

Carolina in 1895. Once the crucible of Reconstruction—owing to the state’s large 

and politically well-organized black population—Democrats held the majority in 

the state legislature in the early 1890s. In addition, Democrat Benjamin Tillman, 

a member of one of the most politically prominent families in the state and a 

vehement white supremacist, held the governor’s seat, elevated to power by a potent 

coalition of white farmers hailing from the western portion of the state.29 “My 

Democracy means white supremacy,” Tillman declared. Indeed, disfranchising laws 

and reapportionment had severely hampered the black voting population in South 

Carolina, which numbered about 31,000 more than the white voting population.30

However, Tillman also had a near-hysterical fear that his political rivals within the 

Democratic Party—primarily elite former planters in the state’s coastal regions—

would ally with black voters to defeat him. “If these people want to warm this black 

snake into life and join forces with it,” Tillman warned in his characteristically 

colorful language, “we are ready to meet them and give them the worst drubbing 

they ever had in their lives.”31

Tillman first suggested calling a constitutional convention in 1894, clearly with 

the intention of permanently disfranchising the state’s black population. He was 

the driving force throughout the convention, controlling the powerful committee 

on suffrage. One scholar notes that “in no other state was a single public figure 

identified so vividly and indisputably with disfranchisement.”32 However, six black 

delegates with vast political experience—including former Representatives Robert 

Smalls and Thomas Miller—were elected to the convention, primarily via a voter 

An ardent segregationist, Benjamin Tillman 

of South Carolina served 23 years in 

the U.S. Senate. He once declared, “My 

Democracy means white supremacy.”

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Poll Tax:

A tax required as a qualification for 

voting used by some southern states 

to circumvent the 15th Amendment. 

Many poor African Americans could 

not afford to pay the tax and thus were 

unable to vote, but poor whites were 

exempt from the tax.

158 H Black Americans in Congress 
registration drive before the 1894 election that was spearheaded by Representative 

George Murray as part of his effort to win re-election in his coastal South Carolina 

congressional seat.33 Though severely outnumbered and hampered by rules that 

discouraged their participation, the black delegates were eloquent and determinedly 

opposed to the proceedings. They drew national attention to South Carolina’s 

convention when they submitted their grievances for publication in the New York 

World in September 1895.34

The election laws proposed in the new constitution included a residency 

requirement for a specific length of time in one county, proof of voter registration 

six months before the election, and a literacy test or proof of land ownership worth 

more than $300, all of which had to be certified by a white local elections manager. 

The new provisions were clearly aimed at the migratory, primarily illiterate, poor 

black communities of South Carolina. Thomas Miller declared that the election laws 

“make absolutely certain the placing in operation every form of cheatery and fraud 

at the elections that has ever been conceived by the most fertile imagination of any 

man who has been engaged in this class of legislation during the last thirteen years. 

I see no hope, absolutely no hope, for us in South Carolina to ever have fair and 

honest elections as long as the men in control see imaginary evils coming through 

the channels of honest elections.”35 The black delegates’ outspokenness prompted 

Tillman to deliver a scathing speech on October 31, 1895, lobbing personal attacks 

at them. The convention overwhelmingly (116 to 7) approved the new constitution, 

including the disfranchising language. Only two white men joined the five black 

delegates who opposed the new constitution.36

Disfranchisement devices dramatically winnowed the number of voters in 

southern states, disproportionately affecting African Americans. In three states 

with majority-black populations in the 1880s—Mississippi, South Carolina, and 

Louisiana—the total number of votes cast in congressional elections plummeted by 

55 to 61 percent between 1890 and 1898. In each of these three states in 1898, at 

least one district with between 160,000 and 200,000 residents elected the sitting 

white Representative with less than two percent of the voting base.37 Just three years 

after Mississippi’s 1890 constitutional convention, which was squarely aimed at 

disfranchising blacks, fewer than 9,000 blacks out of a total population of nearly 

748,000 were registered to vote (6 percent of men over age 21). In 1896—before the 

enactment of Louisiana’s literacy, poll tax, and property qualifications—there were 

approximately 130,000 registered black voters in the state, composing the majority 

in 26 parishes. Only 5,320 voted in 1900. By 1904, there were little more than 

1,300 registered blacks statewide, and they constituted a majority in no parish.38

Alabama in 1900 counted more than 181,000 black men of voting age. After the 

state’s 1901 constitution went into effect, only 3,000 remained registered.39

“Packing” and “Cracking” Black Majority Districts

State legislatures with Democratic majorities also attempted to gerrymander 

congressional districts so as to restrict the election of African Americans. In a process 

known as “packing,” state legislatures attempted to cluster black and dependably 

Republican votes into a single district, leaving the remaining districts safely in 

Democratic hands.40 These conglomerate districts often contained populations that 

were overwhelmingly black—60 percent or more. When Democrats took power in 

the South Carolina legislature in the 1876 election, they packed black votes into 

In 1889, Representative-elect Henry 

Cheatham of North Carolina was the only 

African American sworn in when the 51st 

Congress convened. John M. Langston 

of Virginia and Thomas Miller of South 

Carolina joined him after successfully 

contesting the elections in their districts.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 159
a single district. This proved much more difficult with the state’s large AfricanAmerican population, and the new district lines wound haphazardly over county 

and city boundaries, sometimes leaving “island” pockets of one district enclosed in 

another.41 The residents of a winding, narrow east-central South Carolina district 

known as the “shoestring district” elected two black Representatives—Thomas Miller 

and George Murray—after the Democrats regained the majority in the 

state government.

Another significant delegation of Black Americans came to Congress from a 

“packed” North Carolina district known as the “Black Second.” Designed to contain 

the state’s large coastal black population, the district elected black men to Congress 

from the mid-1870s to the 1890s. Every black North Carolina Representative in 

the 19th century—John Hyman, James O’Hara, Henry Cheatham, and George 

White—served the “Black Second” district in one of its gerrymandered forms. 

Created in 1870, this salamander-shaped district originally stretched from Warren 

County, along the northeastern border with Virginia, and hooked around to coastal 

Craven County. More than one-fifth of the state’s black population resided in this 

district. Republican Governor Tod R. Caldwell described the “Black Second” district 

as “extraordinary, inconvenient, and most grotesque.” African-American victories in 

the “Black Second” district provoked the Democratic Party to wage extreme white 

supremacy campaigns in the late 1880s. By 1892, the state legislature reversed its 

policy of consolidating the black vote and “cracked,” or removed, heavily black 

localities from the “Black Second” district, scattering its traditional voting base.42

Representatives Cheatham and White managed to win the district in 1892, 1896, 

and 1898, but the reconfigured district required them to capture the ever-dwindling 

support of white voters to win election.

Fusion

Though the origins of the 20th-century solid South dominated by the 

Democratic Party began to take shape in the late 19th century, the process was slow. 

For the last quarter-century after Reconstruction, formidable opposition parties 

existed in the South—including Republican, Populist, Independent, Greenback, 

and Readjuster challengers. As one historian notes, despite the efforts of white 

supremacists allied with Democrats to intimidate blacks and oppositionist whites, 

this political period in the South was marked by “transition, uncertainty, and 

fluctuation.” In the 1880s, between one-third and one-half of all southern voters 

supported opposition parties.43

Black politicians were able to capitalize on this fluctuation and on the rising 

popularity of the Populists—a growing national alliance of agricultural advocates. 

This third party gained traction with poor, white farmers in the South, and a sizable 

percentage abandoned the Democrats in favor of the Populists. Republicans willing 

to provide economic aid to farmers and local Populists created temporary coalitions, 

a practice known as “fusion” and the primary method by which George White 

and Henry Cheatham won election in what remained of North Carolina’s “Black 

Second” district.44

Black Political Rivalries

The consolidation of black votes into single districts led to increased competition 

between black candidates. African Americans had faced one another in past contests, 

the most famous being those between Representative Joseph Rainey of South 

“Packing” and “Cracking”: 

Techniques used to redraw electoral 

boundaries to favor one political party 

over another. “Packing” clustered voters 

within a geographic area to ensure a 

biased result. “Cracking” distributed 

voters across geographic areas to dilute 

their voting strength.

Fusion: 

A coalition of political parties or 

factions. Historically, the term refers 

to a movement in the South and West 

during the late 19th century, when 

the Populist Party “fused” with the 

Republican Party in an attempt to 

challenge Democratic Party rule. 

160 H Black Americans in Congress 
Carolina and Samuel Lee throughout the 1870s, between James Rapier and Jeremiah 

Haralson after the former moved to the latter’s neighboring Alabama district in 

1876, and between James O’Hara and Israel Abbott in the North Carolina “Black 

Second” in 1886. However, the number of repeat contests between two candidates 

as well as the bitterness of the rivalries intensified with the decrease in the number 

of black voters. Moreover, tensions between mulatto and dark-skinned candidates 

escalated as a result.45

Such racial tension was especially prevalent in South Carolina’s “shoestring 

district” where Robert Smalls, Thomas Miller, and George Murray continually 

battled for the Republican nomination throughout the 1890s. Smalls and Miller 

were both mulatto. Miller was so fair, he was rumored to be the illegitimate child 

of a white couple, adopted by free black parents.46 In 1892, Murray surprisingly 

won the GOP nomination for the “shoestring district” over the incumbent, Miller. 

Murray encouraged the use of the names given the candidates by local newspapers; 

the name “Black Bold Eagle” or “Blackbird” (both evoked strength) was linked to 

him, in contrast to Miller’s weak “Canary.”47 Miller returned to challenge Murray 

in the 1894 campaign, as did Robert Smalls. Murray described the racial animosity 

between the candidates, noting that Smalls and Miller “seem more desirous of 

accomplishing my defeat than even [white supremacist Democrat William] Elliott, 

[and] are doing everything in their power, foul or fair, to accomplish their work.”48

White supremacists enjoyed the rivalry and even supported it. A newspaper 

endorsing Tillmanite Democrats teased, “by the time the Canary gets through with 

the Blackbird, the latter will be willing to shed its feathers.” The bitter rivalry came 

to a head after Murray backed down from contesting South Carolina’s electoral votes 

while serving in Congress during the 1896 election—the first one held after the 

1895 state constitution severely hampered black voters. Miller labeled Murray “a 

heartless traitor” who “cowardly [deserted] them before the battle was on.” Murray 

countered Miller’s “malevolent remarks” by calling him a “miserable vampire.” 

He also defended his decision not to challenge the results because he did not want 

to disrupt GOP candidate William McKinley’s certification as the winner of 

the election.49

The political competition between brothers-in-law Henry Cheatham and 

George White in the North Carolina “Black Second” district also had a “sharp, 

unpleasant character.” Cheatham was refined and quiet and often courted the 

district’s white Republicans, whereas White tended to be outspoken, blunt, and 

less receptive to his white constituents. After White moved to the district while 

Cheatham served in Congress in the mid-1890s, the latter observed that White 

intended to “give me trouble purely on personal grounds.”50 In 1894, both laid claim 

to the GOP nomination after the district convention “broke up in a row.” After local 

Republican leaders pleaded with the two men to withdraw from the contest so as not 

to split the GOP vote, Cheatham asked his brother-in-law to “stop his foolishness.” 

A committee of national GOP officials eventually ruled that Cheatham deserved 

the nomination, though a North Carolina newspaper endorsed White, noting, 

“Cheatham is said to be a man of excellent character; but we need a man of energy 

and ability to represent us in Congress.”51 Disgusted with GOP bickering over the 

two black candidates, the Populists decided to run their own candidate, siphoning 

off Republican votes. Democrat Frederick Woodard carried the contest; the GOP 

loss was blamed on the “White–Cheatham mess.”52 Woodard’s victory effectively 

Populism:

A political philosophy and movement 

that emerged in the agrarian West 

and South during the late 19th 

century. Populists advocated greater 

public participation in government 

and business to protect individuals 

from impersonal bureaucracies and 

financial conglomerates. 

In 1890, John M. Langston of Virginia 

ran an unsuccessful campaign for re-election 

to the 52nd Congress (1891–1893).

Image courtesy of John Mercer 

Langston Collection, Special 

Collections, Fisk University 

Franklin Library

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 161
sank Cheatham’s political career, though Cheatham eventually supported White’s 

candidacy in the late 1890s.

Contested Elections

The number of contested elections in the House increased dramatically in the 

late 19th century; the majority originated in the former Confederacy. Several 

factors accounted for this exponential increase. The United States was nearly evenly 

divided between the two traditional political parties; congressional majorities flipflopped five times between 1870 and 1900. One scholar speculates that the partisan 

competition and southern disfranchisement directly influenced the increased 

number of contested elections, particularly during GOP-controlled Congresses. 

When a Republican majority could influence the outcome, the party encouraged its 

candidates to contest, viewing contested elections as an “institutional equalizer” for 

electing southern GOP Representatives to the House and maintaining a majority.53

As loyal Republicans, African-American candidates enjoyed greater success in 

contesting their Democratic opponents’ victories before a GOP-controlled House 

during this period. John Langston and Thomas Miller won their seats to the 51st 

Congress by contesting their elections. George Murray successfully contested his 

opponent’s victory in the 54th Congress (1895–1897).54 However, contesting 

elections was time-consuming. Murray spent the entire third session of the 53rd 

Congress (1893–1895) preparing to contest his opponent’s election before the 

House, leaving him little time to legislate as he gathered and submitted a massive 

amount of testimony to prove election fraud; the paperwork was reported to be 

nearly a foot thick.55

Legislative Interests

African Americans had never been elected to Congress in high enough numbers 

to influence legislation, and their increased isolation in the Jim Crow Era further 

eroded their ability to reach their legislative goals. They were often denied the 

opportunity to speak in the well of the House; their prepared remarks were relegated 

to the Congressional Record Appendix, which contained speeches for which no time 

was allotted on the House Floor. Yet all five black Representatives from this era 

attempted to defend the diminishing rights of their black constituencies, considering 

themselves “surrogate” Representatives for the entire U.S. black population.56 The 

only African American in Congress from 1897 to 1901, George White elicited 

laughter from the House Gallery when he said, “I am easily the leader of one 

thing, and that is the black phalanx on this floor. I have no rival and will not be 

disturbed in that leadership.”57 Black Members’ committee assignments of this 

era also reflected their relative lack of power. Henry Cheatham and White served 

on the prestigious Agriculture Committee, ranked by one political scientist as the 

eighth-most-attractive panel (out of 29) in the House. However, neither achieved 

the seniority required to set the committee’s priorities.58 Most of the black Members 

served on middle-ranking committees, including four who served on the Education 

Committee (ranked 18th).

Monetary, Economic, and Foreign Policy Issues

Black Members were typically relegated to weighing in on the largely commercial 

legislation that dominated Congress throughout the late 19th century, adjusting 

A rare example of a campaign song for 

John M. Langston of Virginia, written 

by Jesse Lawson and sung to the tune 

of “Scatter Seeds of Kindness.”

Image courtesy of John Mercer 

Langston Collection, Special 

Collections, Fisk University 

Franklin Library 

162 H Black Americans in Congress 
their legislative strategies to meet the new GOP focus on economic and foreign 

policy issues. The five black Members who served during the 1890s joined in debates 

on the coinage of silver and imperialism, typically voting according to sectional or 

partisan loyalties. However, they found ways to weave these contemporary issues 

into a dialogue about the continuing deterioration of civil rights in the South.

When an economic panic gripped the agrarian United States in the late 1880s, 

rural Members of Congress supported the coinage of silver. Circulating silver would 

incite inflation and raise commodity prices, creating an economic boon for the 

agricultural economy. Joined by western Members—whose states provided much of 

the precious metal—rural southern Representatives of both parties also supported 

the circulation of silver bullion to weather the boom-and-bust economy. GOP 

leaders, centered in the industrial northeast and the Midwest, however, typically 

upheld the gold standard (backing currency entirely with gold bullion), to create 

a more stable economy. The issue divided Members along sectional, partisan, and 

rural-versus-urban lines.59

Representing primarily rural districts, black Members favored the coinage of 

silver. Concerned about the failing economy in his North Carolina district, Henry 

Cheatham broke from the Republican Party and joined with the entire North 

Carolina delegation in supporting the Sherman Silver Purchase Act in 1890. The law 

required the federal government to mint 4.5 million ounces of silver bullion each 

month in exchange for legal tender. Cheatham was one of only eight Republicans 

in the House to defect; the bill failed, 154 to 136.60 In 1892, George Murray 

campaigned in support of the free coinage of silver. However, Murray cleverly turned 

his defense of silver into a speech advocating civil rights, relating the prejudice 

against silver coinage to the prejudice against African Americans. “I sincerely trust 

that the lovers of white metal will hereafter have more sympathy,” Murray said, 

“for human beings . . . suffering and dying under the fell blows of hateful prejudice 

and discrimination.”61

In the 1880s and the 1890s, U.S. officials—influenced by business interests and 

geostrategic arguments advanced by advocates such as Alfred Thayer Mahan—turned 

their focus to acquiring overseas possessions. Industrialists envied the wealth of 

natural resources available in the colonized world. Also, Americans wished to guard 

the “New World” from Europeans, following the Monroe Doctrine of 1823, which 

stipulated that the United States had compelling reasons to protect the Western 

Hemisphere from foreign encroachments. However, the acquisition of Hawaii, 

Cuba, and the Philippines in the late 1890s involved the absorption of eight million 

residents from these countries, renewing discussions on race. Imperialists’ approaches 

to the “white man’s burden” in these new colonies often echoed those of southern 

segregationists: They believed the white race was inherently superior to colonized 

peoples and sought to limit their political participation.62 It can certainly be argued 

that U.S. racial attitudes were projected abroad onto imperialistic adventures of 

the era—providing both rhetoric and rationale for empire-building. But efforts to 

undertake colonizing projects abroad (and internal perceptions of those efforts) also 

strengthened racist views at home, both in the North and the South.63

Serving during the high tide of U.S. colonial acquisitions in the 56th and 57th 

Congresses (1897–1901), George White—the lone African American in Congress—

supported U.S. imperialist acquisitiveness. He endorsed the Spanish–American 

War and voted to annex Cuba and the Philippines. However, White expressed 

In this detail of a print from 1889, Frank 

Leslie’s Illustrated documented the great 

interest of African Americans in observing 

Congress. Although no official segregation 

laws existed, in practice the visitors’ 

galleries in both the House and Senate 

were segregated by gender and race.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 163
concern about the treatment of colonized populations. He purposely avoided a 

vote on the annexation of Hawaii to protest the treatment of Native Hawaiians 

and later submitted (unsuccessful) legislation for their protection. He also used 

American paternalism toward colonized peoples to garner support for his ultimately 

unsuccessful anti-lynching legislation and related the issue of imperialism to 

inequities at home: “Recognize your citizens at home, recognize those at your door, 

give them the encouragement, give them rights that they are justly entitled to, and 

then take hold of the people of Cuba and establish a stable and fixed government 

there that wisdom predicated, which justice may dictate,” White told his House 

colleagues. “Take hold of the Philippine Islands, take hold of the Hawaiian Islands, 

there let the Christian civilization go out and magnify and make happy those poor, 

half-civilized people; and then the black man, the white man—yes, all the riff-raff 

of the earth that are coming to our shores—will rejoice with you in that we have 

done God’s service and done that which will elevate us in the eyes of the world.”64

White’s complex and often contradictory approach to imperialism demonstrated the 

difficulty of balancing his plea for black civil rights with imperialist goals.

Federal Elections Bill

When Democratic candidate Grover Cleveland won the presidential campaign 

in 1884, the Republican Party lost control of the White House for the first time 

since 1860. GOP reformers were quick to blame disfranchisement of black (and 

mostly Republican) voters in the South for the devastating electoral loss. Republican 

Senators William Chandler of New Hampshire and John Sherman of Ohio—both 

staunch reformers with GOP careers predating the Civil War—led an attempt to roll 

back disfranchisement. Chandler began amassing evidence of election fraud in the 

South after the 1884 election, which led one African-American committee witness 

to call him “the greatest man in the United States.”65 Sherman introduced a bill to 

enact federal control over national elections in January 1889; however, the bill had 

no chance of passing the 50th Congress (1887–1889). Republicans held a slim, twoperson majority in the Senate and Democrats controlled the House. Nevertheless, 

the Senators captured the attention of other Republicans who, pushed and pulled 

by the monetary and humanitarian factions of the party, began to realize the political 

expedience of reasserting federal election law in the South.

In 1888, Republican presidential candidate Benjamin Harrison added election 

reform to his campaign platform. Born in Ohio and hailing from Indiana, Harrison 

was a Civil War veteran who had declared in 1876 that the U.S. government had 

“an obligation solemn as a covenant with God to save [freedmen] from the dastardly 

outrages that their rebel masters are committing upon them in the South.” During his campaign, he refused to “purchase the Presidency by a compact of silence” 

regarding black voting rights in the South.66 Riding the coattails of Harrison’s victory, the Republican Party gained a majority in both houses for the first time in eight 

years at the start of the 51st Congress. Led by the influential Massachusetts duo of 

Representative Henry Cabot Lodge and Senator George Hoar, the GOP made one 

last attempt at reinforcing the 15th Amendment and combating disfranchisement 

in the South.

George Hoar had been a leading GOP House Member and an ally to abolitionistturned-freedmen’s advocate Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts during the 

Reconstruction Era. When Senator Chandler fell ill just before the opening 

In 1898, a segregated group of soldiers 

prepares for deployment to Santiago, 

Cuba, to participate in the Spanish–

American War.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

164 H Black Americans in Congress 
of the 51st Congress, Hoar drafted a new bill to place national elections under 

federal control. Representative Lodge, however, soon convinced Hoar that since 

the bill affected only the lower chamber (Senators were not directly elected until 

1913) the legislation should originate there. A Boston native of Puritan stock, 

Lodge earned one of the first history Ph.D. degrees awarded by Harvard University. 

Described as a “self-righteous humanitarian,” he was abrasive and blunt with friends 

and enemies alike.67 Unlike Hoar, who died in 1904, Lodge enjoyed a long and 

storied career in the Republican Party well into the 20th century. In 1893, he moved 

to the Senate, where he remained for more than 30 years, chairing five committees, 

serving as chairman of the Republican Conference, and becoming a spokesman for 

the party’s foreign policy initiatives. 

Lodge submitted the Federal Elections Bill to the House on June 14, 1890. 

The legislation was a conglomerate of several measures, including Hoar’s and 

those of other House and Senate Members. Exceeding 70 pages, the bill allowed 

a small number of constituents in any given precinct to petition a federal judge to 

take charge of a national election rather than leaving the process in the hands of 

local—and, in the South, usually Democratic—officials. The federal government 

also would appoint supervisors to oversee all phases of federal elections, from voter 

registration to the certification of the results. The bill reaffirmed the President’s 

prerogative to send federal troops to monitor violent or chaotic elections. On June 

26, Lodge opened the debate to support the bill with what one historian describes 

as a “racial sermon.”68 “The first step . . . toward the settlement of the negro problem 

and toward the elevation and protection of the race is to take it out of national party 

politics,” Lodge asserted. “This can be done in but one way. The United States must 

extend to every citizen equal rights.” Addressing southern Representatives’ tendency 

to call forth the specter of “negro domination,” he continued, “This bitter appeal to 

race supremacy, which is always ringing in our ears, is made a convenient stalking 

horse to defraud white men as well as black men their rights. It is an evil which 

must be dealt with, and if we fail to deal with it we shall suffer for our failure.”69

Opponents in the South soon labeled the Federal Elections Bill the “Force Bill” and 

recalled the chaos caused by federal regulation during the Reconstruction Era. “If 

you could only realize as we do how this measure is destined to retard our progress, 

destroy confidence, impair development, engender strife, revive bitterness, relegate 

us to the dark and deplorable conditions of reconstruction, and produce only evil,” 

Representative Samuel Lanham of Texas declared.70 

The Federal Elections Bill barely passed the House on July 2, 1890, 155 to 149. 

It then languished in the Senate, where the debate over circulating silver bullion 

eventually killed it. Western Republicans dismissed the bill, hoping the coinage of 

silver—a policy beneficial to their mining states—would come before the Senate 

first. When the Senate finally took up the Federal Elections Bill, angry Silver 

Republicans joined Democrats in a week-long filibuster that defeated the legislation 

in February 1891. Most notably, Nevada Senator William Stewart—a principal 

architect of the 15th Amendment and the floor manager during debate on the Ku 

Klux Klan bills—joined the filibuster.

In many ways, the GOP reformers’ efforts paralleled those of the Radical Republicans, who steered the 1875 Civil Rights Bill through Congress. Both pieces of 

legislation were carefully whittled into the form that was deemed most palatable to 

the competing factions of the Republican Party. Both bills were partially blamed for 

As a Representative from Massachusetts, 

Henry Cabot Lodge authored the 

controversial Federal Elections Bill 

in 1890. He later served in the Senate as 

one of the GOP’s foreign policy leaders.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 165
and threatened by GOP losses in midterm elections. Much as in the 1874 elections, 

the Republican Party was devastated in 1890. In the House, the 17-seat majority 

in the 51st Congress gave way to a whopping 152-seat deficit in the 52nd Congress 

(1891–1893). Though Senate Republicans maintained their majority, they lost 

four seats. 

Several other obstacles doomed the passage of the Federal Elections Bill. 

Foremost, it landed low on the congressional priority list. Republican leaders in both 

chambers saw to it that commercial legislation was dispensed with before taking 

up the Lodge Bill. Congress spent half of the first session debating the McKinley 

Tariff—which raised duties on imports almost 50 percent to protect domestic 

agricultural and industrial products—before taking up the Federal Elections Bill. 

Once debate commenced, few Members put a human face on the legislation, 

despite ample evidence of black suffering in the South. Lodge was one of the few 

supporters of the bill who emphasized African-American rights. In contrast to the 

debate on the Civil Rights Bill, which was permeated by talk of “equality” and 

“humanity,” debate on the Federal Elections Bill emphasized the need to defend 

“republicanism”—abstractly defined as the “right to vote.”71

Finally, in contrast to the firsthand testimony of black Members during the Civil 

Rights Bill debate in 1874 and 1875, black Representatives had very little input on 

the 1890 Federal Elections Bill. Henry Cheatham, the only black Member serving in 

the House while that chamber considered the bill, never gave a speech on the topic. 

Thomas Miller and John Langston, who joined Cheatham in the next session after 

winning their contested election cases, could only encourage Senate consideration 

of the bill. “It does not matter how black we are; it does not matter how ignorant 

we are; it does not matter what our race may be,” Langston declared in January 

1891. “The question presented here to-day under our amended Constitution . . . 

is shall every freeman, shall every American citizen, shall every American elector . . . 

be permitted to wield a free ballot?”72 Miller noted that southern blacks lacked 

necessities whose absence overshadowed their lack of voting rights. “Ah, gentlemen,” 

he lamented, “what we need in this land is not so many [political] offices. Offices 

are only emblems of what we need and what we ought to have. We need protection 

at home in our rights, the chiefest of which is the right to live.”73

Early Congressional Anti-Lynching Campaign

As the lone black Member at the dawn of the 20th century, Representative 

George White defended the “right to live” in his campaign for anti-lynching 

legislation. Lynching—public execution by hanging or shooting, sometimes 

involving torture—was a particularly racially tinged form of violence that had long 

been a scourge of American society. Lynch mobs consisted of a handful of vigilantes, 

or sometimes hundreds, ranging from criminals and thugs to the leading citizens 

and favorite sons of local communities. Occasionally, lynchings were attended by 

throngs of onlookers. A disproportionate number of the victims were black men. 

Particularly in the South, they were accused of rape and other sexual offenses against 

white women (even though the vast majority of victims already under arrest were 

not charged with any crime of sexual violence).74 Accurate figures are impossible to 

obtain, but from 1882, when reliable statistics first became available, to the early 

1930s, approximately 3,400 African Americans were lynched.75

“Lynch Law in Georgia,” a pamphlet 

distributed by the Chicago Colored Citizens 

group in 1899, presented the findings of 

journalist and civil rights advocate Ida B. 

Wells-Barnett who investigated the deaths 

of 11 men in Georgia. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

166 H Black Americans in Congress 
Representative White called for an end to the barbarism of lynching in the South 

on January 20, 1900, when he introduced H.R. 6963, the first federal anti-lynching 

bill “for the protection of all citizens of the United States against mob violence.”76

A month later, during general debate on American territorial expansion in the 

Caribbean and Pacific, White defended his bill on the House Floor. He provided 

graphic accounts of lynching atrocities and a stern rebuttal to derogatory comments 

made on the House and Senate floors against blacks. White noted that his goal in 

seeking to require lynching cases to be tried in federal courts was “that the National 

Government may have jurisdiction over this species of crime.” But conditions in 

the South were such that they provoked serious questions not only about regional 

race relations but also about national and international policy. “Should not a nation 

be just to all her citizens, protect them alike in all their rights, on every foot of 

her soil,” White asked rhetorically, “in a word, show herself capable of governing 

all within her domain before she undertakes to exercise sovereign authority over 

those of a foreign land—with foreign notions and habits not at all in harmony 

with our American system of government? Or, to be more explicit, should not 

charity first begin at home?”77 The legislation garnered no support from the William 

McKinley administration, stirred little enthusiasm in the House, and was met with 

ambivalence by an American public with scant knowledge of the magnitude of the 

lynching problem. White’s bill died in the Judiciary Committee at the close of the 

56th Congress in 1901. 

Reduction

In addition to campaigning for anti-lynching legislation, George White 

challenged the House to punish southern states for disfranchising blacks by calling 

for a reduction in their congressional delegations. White’s appeal in 1899 that 

southern delegations to Congress ought to be limited to “the benefit of the votes 

that are allowed to be cast in their representation” initially fell on unsympathetic 

ears, despite his declaration, “It is a question that this House must deal with some 

time, sooner or later.”78 Derived from Section 2 of the 14th Amendment, reduction 

Anti-lynching advocates connected mob 

violence with an acquiescent judicial system 

in a 1913 cartoon from Puck Illustrated.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress 

Lynching: 

Execution without due process of law; 

the mob execution, usually by hanging 

and often accompanied by torture, of 

alleged criminals, especially African 

Americans, during the Jim Crow Era.

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 167
legislation required Congress to penalize states that sought to disqualify eligible 

voters by subtracting the number of disfranchised voters from the population count 

used to determine the number of seats each state was allotted in the House. At the 

high tide of Radical Republican rule in the House, the chamber passed a measure 

after the 1870 Census that required Congress to enforce that provision. Section 6 

of the Apportionment Act of February 2, 1872, mandated that if any state denied 

or abridged the voting rights of eligible male inhabitants over the age of 21, “the 

number of Representatives apportioned in this act to such State shall be reduced in 

the proportion which the number of male citizens shall have to the whole number 

of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such state.” 79

The 1900 Census and the resultant reapportionment of U.S. House seats 

presented those few inclined to White’s views a chance to resurrect the issue. In 

1901, Congress took up its prescribed role of reapportioning House seats based 

on the states’ population gains or declines recorded in the census.80 Among several 

bills addressing the process, a measure introduced by Edgar Dean Crumpacker of 

Indiana received the most attention. The legislation sought to penalize Louisiana, 

Mississippi, North Carolina, and South Carolina, which had approved state 

constitutions disfranchising blacks. A former appellate judge and a prosecuting 

attorney from Valparaiso, Indiana, Crumpacker was first elected as a Republican in 

1896 from a northwestern district that encompassed the industrial city of Gary. He 

appears to have first raised the issue of reduction in the late 1890s, as a member of 

the Select Committee on the Census. In that capacity he introduced H.R. 11982, 

requiring the director of the census to collect information on state suffrage laws 

relating to voter qualifications and to tabulate for each state the number of males 

over the voting age of 21. Armed with this information, Crumpacker hoped to 

enforce the reduction clause of the 14th Amendment. The committee reported 

the bill favorably to the House on the final day of the 55th Congress (1897–1899) 

when it was too late to take action.81 This failed attempt to obtain a House vote on 

reduction would be the first of many. 

On January 7, 1901, Representative Crumpacker delivered a lengthy floor speech 

emphasizing Congress’s obligation to uphold the 14th Amendment. He urged his 

colleagues not to let their “coercive power” be “abrogated by passive nullification” of 

the Constitution. Opposing southern claims that the 15th Amendment superseded 

the 14th, Crumpacker declared both “active and operative” and complementary. 

“No state may disfranchise citizens on account of race, color, or previous condition 

of servitude, but they may disfranchise on any other account,” Crumpacker said, 

taking note of state constitutional provisions for poll taxes and literacy tests. “But, 

sir, if they restrict the right of suffrage of male citizens 21 years of age by raising the 

age limit, by educational laws, by property qualifications, or by any other method 

within their constitutional authority, except for crime, the basis of representation [of 

those states in Congress] must be reduced accordingly.” Crumpacker hoped to avoid 

a protracted struggle with southern Members over voting statistics. He proposed to 

reduce representation based on illiteracy rates for both whites and blacks, assuming 

illiterates would fail education tests that accompanied disfranchisement plans.82

Representative George White praised Crumpacker as an exemplar “who has taken 

occasion to stand up in his place as a man, and has said a word in defense” of African 

Americans.83 The House, which eventually voted to expand its membership, devoted 

Apportionment: 

The allocation of congressional seats 

in the House of Representatives in 

proportion to states’ populations as 

tabulated by the U.S. Census Bureau 

every 10 years. Although federal 

law determines the total number of 

Representatives, states determine the size 

and boundaries of their congressional 

districts based on population changes 

revealed in the census. 

Census:

An official count of a population, with 

various related statistics. The U.S. 

Constitution mandates that a census 

be taken every 10 years.

Disfranchisement:

The act of depriving an eligible 

citizen or a portion of the population 

of voting rights.

168 H Black Americans in Congress 
considerable attention to Crumpacker’s plan before voting—136 to 94—to table 

further consideration.84

The reduction debate flared again in early 1902, after Charles Dick of Ohio 

proposed to instruct the House Rules Committee to investigate the relationship 

between disfranchising states’ congressional representation and the voting figures 

for congressional elections.85 Southerners responded venomously. Thomas Spight 

of Mississippi, a Confederate veteran turned newspaper publisher, baldly declared 

that disfranchisement’s “leading purpose was to eliminate the negro from the 

political equation.” He added that the South would prefer to have no congressional 

representation if it could avoid a “return again to the state of affairs existing in 

the reconstruction period.”86 Nevertheless, in a party line vote, the Republicandominated House Rules Committee supported the Dick proposal in March 1902. 

However, Representative Oscar Underwood of Alabama, who had just spearheaded 

his state’s 1901 constitutional convention disfranchising virtually all blacks, 

successfully sabotaged the proposed investigation by exploiting a Republican division 

regarding a sugar tariff. Insurgent Republicans opposed leadership efforts to strike 

the elimination of a tariff differential amendment and thus retain a high tariff. By 

joining Midwestern and insurgent Republicans on an economic issue to thwart 

corrective federal legislation, Democrats replayed their strategy for subverting the 

Federal Elections Bill of 1890. In delivering the Democratic Caucus vote to these 

Republicans, Underwood secured their promise to vote down the Rules Committee 

investigation after it came to the floor.87

Historical Legacy

Reduction’s failure was but one symptom of the greater disorder afflicting 

southern blacks. In 1901, anticipating his imminent displacement, George White—

the last African American remaining in Congress—retired, a victim of North 

Carolina’s disfranchisement schemes. On the eve of his departure from the House, 

White lamented, “The mule died long ago and the land grabbers have obtained 

the 40 acres.”88 Audible in his tone was the frustration that underlay more than 30 

years of broken promises made to African Americans. In his farewell speech, White 

observed, “This, Mr. Chairman, is perhaps the negroes’ temporary farewell to the 

American Congress. But let me say, Phoenix-like he will rise up someday and come 

again.”89 It would be 28 years before another African American was elected 

to Congress. 

The legacy of Black Americans in Congress during the 19th century has often 

been regarded as a footnote to discussions of their famous contemporaries, such 

as Frederick Douglass, Booker T. Washington, and Senator Charles Sumner. 

During the early 20th century, Jim Crow-Era scholars disparaged blacks’ role 

in Reconstruction, citing black Representatives’s lack of legislative successes.90

Columbia University professor William Dunning introduced this interpretation: 

“The negro had no pride of race and no aspiration or ideals save to be like whites,” 

he wrote in 1907. One of his contemporaries, Ohio businessman and historian 

James Ford Rhodes, asserted that black Representatives “left no mark on the 

legislation of their time; none of them, in comparison with their white associates, 

attained the least distinction.”91

Former Representative John Lynch of Mississippi helped initiate the refutation 

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 169
of the Dunning interpretation, noting in The Journal of Negro History that black 

officeholders, “not only gave satisfaction to the people whom they served, but they 

reflected credit upon themselves, their race, their party and the community that was 

so fortunate as to have the benefit of their services.” W. E. B. Du Bois, a leading 

intellectual and activist, also praised the black Representatives in his classic work, 

Black Reconstruction. Writing in 1935, Du Bois reviewed some of their most famous 

speeches. “The words of these black men were,” Du Bois concluded, “perhaps, the 

last clear, earnest expression of democratic theory of American government 

in Congress.”92

The civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s forced scholars to re-evaluate 

the significance of the black Reconstruction-Era Representatives. Additionally, 

unprecedented numbers of African Americans participating in politics during the 

1960s and 1970s inspired renewed interest in the lives and careers of their 19thcentury forebears—many of whom were the subjects of extended biographies.93

The fuller historical picture that emerged fundamentally altered the earlier, derisive 

interpretations of Reconstruction-Era black Representatives. Modern scholars 

observe that early black officeholders were prevented from fulfilling their potential. 

Eric Foner describes their political careers as fraught with obstacles, noting that “the 

rising presence [of blacks] in office did not always translate into augmented power.” 

Carol Swain remarks that “no matter how responsible these pioneers may have been, 

the times, the precariousness of their situations, and the attitude of their colleagues 

kept them from accomplishing much in the way of substantive representation.” Their 

example, Swain adds, “undoubtedly helped—however modestly—to break down 

their white colleagues’ notions of black inferiority.”94 Another scholar concludes, 

“Something magnificent happened between 1870 and 1901,” noting that “the 

significance of the African-American congressmen . . . goes beyond the number 

of bills they pushed through Congress.” Their courage and perseverance in their 

attempts to create a more democratic government form the core of their 

collective symbolism.95

A Generation Lost

For a long generation, lacking a single black Representative or Senator and 

absent direction from a line of ambivalent or hostile Presidents, the parties in 

Congress deferred—sometimes scuttled—meaningful civil rights protections and the 

consideration of equal educational and economic opportunity. Southern politicians 

routinely and loudly invoked the threat of federal intervention in southern race 

relations to stir the electorate, but the specter amounted to little more than a 

harmless bogeyman. In sharp contrast to the Reconstruction Era, Congress adopted 

a hands-off approach to the issue of race in the South during the early decades 

of the 20th century, with few exceptions. A handful of dogged reformers such 

as Edgar Crumpacker, Leonidas Carstarphen Dyer of Missouri, and George Holden 

Tinkham of Massachusetts brought significant measures before the House. But 

congressional action consisted more of punitive threats and partisan maneuvering 

than of positive reaffirmations of the federal government’s commitment to the 14th 

or 15th Amendment.

Also at work were pervasive social theories that assumed the racial superiority 

of whites and the inferiority of blacks.96 These ideas were subscribed to not only by 

unreconstructed southern spokesmen of white supremacy but also by many of the 

An 11-term Representative, Leonidas Dyer 

of Missouri crusaded against lynching. 

In 1918, he introduced H.R. 11279, “a 

bill to protect citizens of the United States 

against lynching in default of protection 

by the States.” 

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

170 H Black Americans in Congress 
most progressive minds of the era—including those in Congress who theoretically 

supported voting rights for southern blacks. “No one questions the superiority 

of the white race, but that superiority is grounded in the rugged virtues of justice 

and humanity,” Representative Crumpacker told colleagues. In a sense, his plan to 

punish states disfranchising black voters was as much about teaching recalcitrant 

southern whites a lesson in noblesse oblige as it was about elevating the status of 

southern blacks, whom he described as being “in the childhood of civilization . . . 

[in] want of manly virtues.” He continued, “It is surely no credit to American 

manhood to bind and shackle a helpless race to avoid the temporary embarrassments 

that would attend its proper development.”97

Congressional ambivalence toward racial legislation derived from the general 

disinterest of the American public and many prevalent stereotypes. By the late 19th 

century, popular opinion turned apathetic toward black civil rights and supportive 

of returning unencumbered self-governance to southerners. For many disaffected 

northerners, segregation and disfranchisement seemed viable—even rational—

alternatives to mounting racial violence in the South. Federal inaction mirrored 

public complacency. In this social context, congressional inertia and a series of 

devastating Supreme Court rulings were “broadly reflective” of an American public 

that was not receptive to the concept of a multiracial society.98 As one historian 

concludes, the passivity of the federal government on the issue of disfranchisement 

enabled and encouraged other southern states to follow the example of Louisiana, 

Mississippi, and the Carolinas.99

By the early 20th century, the Supreme Court had essentially eroded the legal 

basis for black equality and bolstered states’ efforts to stringently separate the 

races.100 Among the high court’s most devastating rulings were Plessy v. Ferguson 

(1896), Williams v. Mississippi (1898), and Giles v. Harris (1903).101 In upholding 

the constitutionality of an 1890 Louisiana law that required rail companies to 

provide “equal but separate accommodations for the white and colored races,” Plessy 

sanctioned the system of segregation then crystallizing in the South.102 In Williams, 

a black man convicted of murder by an all-white jury appealed the decision based 

on the 14th Amendment. The Supreme Court unanimously upheld the jury’s 

decision, endorsing the disfranchising laws that prevented black men from serving 

on juries.103 Several years later, Giles upheld the grandfather clause, one of the chief 

disfranchising methods used at southern constitutional conventions at the turn of 

the 20th century.

The decline of African-American civil rights coincided with one of the nation’s 

most fervent bursts of social reform. Spanning the 1890s through World War I, 

the Progressive Era was a period when a broad and diverse group of social 

reformers moving from local to national arenas pushed for the modernization 

and democratization of American society.104 Progressives sought to advance public 

safety and welfare through professionalization and standardization across the 

spectrum of American life. Their efforts included regulating food content and 

production, establishing laws for child labor and guidelines for industrial safety, and 

implementing conservation, temperance, and even experimental welfare programs. 

Progressives also ushered in political reforms, including direct primary elections, the 

popular election of U.S. Senators, and women’s suffrage. 

Though Progressivism would seem a democratizing force positioned against 

segregationists, in fact, the movement often complemented Jim Crow. The 

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 171
Progressives’ focus on the necessity for expertise provided an important rationale 

for limiting the franchise to voters who were deemed to be qualified.105 Order, 

organization, and rational decision-making within a rapidly industrializing, 

sometimes chaotic, society lay at the heart of the Progressive impulse and often 

trumped democratic reform. “Whenever general anxieties rose across the nation, 

followers of the bureaucratic way had to turn for help to one of the several 

traditional techniques for achieving tighter cohesion,” observes historian Robert 

Weibe. “One of the time-honored devices was exclusion: draw a line around good 

society and dismiss the remainder.”106 Moreover, Progressives’ obsession with 

scientific method spread “social Darwinism” (sometimes referred to as “scientific 

racism” or eugenics), which postulated that Anglo-Saxon social success was rooted 

in superior biological and evolutionary traits. The resulting rationalization of white 

supremacist thinking via a national political, social, and scientific movement only 

emboldened proponents of segregation.107

African Americans participated as fully as possible in a society that had 

marginalized them. As George White once noted in a characteristically upbeat floor 

speech, “We are ramifying and stretching out as best we can in all departments of 

life, with a view to making ourselves good citizens.”108 These efforts were marked 

by significant milestones: the founding of advocacy groups such as the National 

Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) in 1909, AfricanAmerican contributions to World War I, and the black intellectual and artistic 

flowering of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s. Faced with a repressive system 

of segregation in the South, African Americans sought new opportunities outside the 

region, as an ever-stronger current of southern blacks moved into northern cities. 

This demographic shift and the nascent political activism of northern urban blacks 

portended change for the future. 

Segregationist Legislation and the Rise of the NAACP

When, in 1913, Democrats gained control of Congress and the White House for 

the first time since the mid-1890s, southern Members of the party were tempted 

to expand segregation into areas of federal jurisdiction.109 In the first two Congresses 

of the Woodrow Wilson administration (the 63rd and 64th, 1913–1917), southern 

Members introduced bills to segregate the federal civil service, the military, and 

public transportation in Washington, DC. Others introduced bills to repeal the 15th 

Founded in 1909, the National Association 

for the Advancement of Colored People 

(NAACP) became a primary advocacy 

group for early civil rights causes. The 1929 

annual meeting in Cleveland, pictured 

here, included NAACP staff W.E.B. Du 

Bois, James Weldon Johnson, Walter White, 

William Pickens, Arthur Spingarn, Daisy 

Lampkin, and Robert Bagnall.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

172 H Black Americans in Congress 
Amendment. Though Congress enacted none of these measures, the significance 

of these proposals lay in the fact that they were entertained at all. Having solidified 

absolute control over race issues in the South, southern Members of Congress 

were sufficiently emboldened to prod Congress to endorse a nationalized racial 

apartheid.110

Political power brokers in the Capitol and in the Wilson administration 

harbored segregationist sympathies even if they were unable to promote them 

by imparting the full weight of federal legislative sanction. In 1913, President 

Wilson acceded to the wishes of several Cabinet members, who quickly segregated 

various executive departments. Soon, dining facilities and restrooms throughout 

the federal government were racially segregated, although not uniformly. Wilson 

issued no formal executive order, and no laws were enacted, but segregation was 

tacitly encouraged and widely practiced.111 Congress, which had the responsibility of 

administering the nation’s capital, did much to promote the practice of segregation 

in Washington. From 1913 to 1921 and after 1933, southerners largely controlled 

the panels that appropriated funds and those that dealt with the administrative 

details of city government. In places where Congress could have overturned Jim 

Crow practices—in public parks, at Union Station, in theaters, restaurants, and 

innumerable other locations—it did nothing. Instead, its record in managing the 

District of Columbia was “profoundly segregationist.”112

In part, the emergence of African-American public advocacy groups such as 

the NAACP—founded by Mary White Ovington and Oswald Garrison Villard, 

descendants of prominent abolitionists—counterbalanced efforts to introduce federal 

segregation laws.113 Although its original organizers were largely white, the NAACP 

included black intellectuals such as W. E. B. Du Bois, anti-lynching reformer Ida 

Wells-Barnett, and women’s rights leader Mary Church Terrell, establishing its 

headquarters in New York City under the leadership of Moorefield Storey, a former 

president of the American Bar Association. Du Bois soon began publishing The 

Crisis, the organization’s journal, which served as an outlet for reformers and literary 

contributors and as a tool to inform the American public about issues critical to 

African Americans. The NAACP quickly experienced a growth spurt: During World 

War I, membership swelled 900 percent to include more than 90,000 individuals in 

300 cities and towns nationwide. In the 1910s it began a methodical apprenticeship, 

learning to lobby Congress and to organize national public opinion campaigns. 

World War I and the Great Migration

Throughout American history, wartime necessity has often opened new political 

and social avenues for marginalized groups. This familiar scenario played out after 

the United States intervened in the First World War in April 1917. By participating 

in the war effort, women suffrage activists made a compelling, and ultimately 

successful, case for voting rights: After all, how could America protect democracy 

abroad without extending it to half the population at home? Likewise, Black 

Americans furthered their claim for racial equality at home by their contributions 

on European battlefields and on the home front filling industrial jobs.

Congress passed the Selective Service Act on May 10, 1917, which required 

all able-bodied men ages 21 to 31 to register for military duty.114 On registration 

day, July 5, 1917, more than 700,000 black men enrolled. By war’s end, nearly 2.3 

million had answered the call. In less than two years, more than four million draftees 

African-American troops of the 351st Field 

Artillery gather on the deck of the U.S.S. 

Louisville in February 1919 during their 

return voyage home from Europe.

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration

African-American families lined the streets 

of New York to celebrate the homecoming 

of the 369th Army infantry unit in 1919.

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration

Great Migration: 

The mass movement during the 

1910s through the 1950s from the 

rural, segregated South to the urban 

North and West of African Americans 

in pursuit of economic, social, and 

political opportunities.

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 173
swelled the ranks of the U.S. military. Of these, 367,000 were African Americans 

who were drafted principally into the U.S. Army. Segregation in military service 

reflected the segregation in civilian life. Blacks were barred from the Marine Corps 

and the Army Air Corps, and in the U.S. Navy they were assigned only menial 

jobs. African Americans had to fight to establish a black officer training program.115

On the battlefield, many infantry units in the all-black 92nd U.S. Army Division 

distinguished themselves.116

Arguably the most profound effect of World War I on African Americans was 

the acceleration of the multi-decade mass movement of black, southern rural 

farm laborers northward and westward in search of higher wages in industrial 

jobs and better social and political opportunities. This Great Migration led to 

the rapid growth of black urban communities in cities like New York, Chicago, 

St. Louis, and Los Angeles.117 While relatively small groups of southern African 

Americans migrated after Reconstruction to border states such as Kansas and into 

the Appalachians, it was not until the imposition of Jim Crow segregation and 

disfranchisement in the South that large numbers of blacks left their homes and 

families to search elsewhere for a better life. Still, in 1910, nearly 90 percent 

of American blacks lived in the South, four-fifths of them in rural areas. 

Emigration from the South gained more traction with the advent of several 

important developments, chiefly economic, beginning in the second decade of the 

20th century. 118 In the South the depressed cotton market and a series of natural 

disasters reduced even the rare independent black landowner to sharecropping or 

tenant farming, trapping him in a cycle of indebtedness. Military conscription 

and the slackening of European immigration caused massive labor shortages in the 

North, just as war production created an insatiable demand for industrial goods. 

Labor shortages provided blacks with jobs in the steel, shipbuilding, and automotive 

industries as well as in ammunition and meat packing factories. 

Many found the promise of economic opportunity irresistible, though this was 

not the only element pulling blacks northward. Contemplating departure from the 

The federal government made segregation 

part of its institutional practice in the early 

1900s. Patients at a health dispensary for 

government workers were directed to clearly 

marked segregated waiting rooms.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

174 H Black Americans in Congress 
South, Representative George White said to the Chicago Daily Tribune, “I cannot 

live in North Carolina and be a man and be treated as a man.” In an interview with 

the New York Times, he encouraged southern black families to migrate west, “los[ing] 

themselves among the people of the country.”119 Historian Steven Hahn suggests that 

a “pronounced self-consciousness” encompassed both social and political motivations 

for emigrating: “searches for new circumstances in life and labor, new sites of family 

and community building, new opportunities to escape economic dependence. . . .” 

Hahn explains that the movement not only created new political vistas for migrating 

blacks but “also served as a large and powerful political transmission belt that 

moved and redeployed the experiences, expectations, institutions, and networks” 

forged in the black community during slavery and in Reconstruction, which would 

fundamentally shape emerging centers of African-American culture and thought in 

the North.120

Whether their motivation was economic, political, individual, or communal, 

immense numbers of African Americans streamed northward. By one estimate, 

roughly a half-million blacks migrated to northern cities between 1915 and 1920, 

and between 750,000 and one million left the South in the 1920s. Chicago’s black 

population soared 600 percent between 1910 and 1930. In the same 20-year period, 

Detroit’s African-American community grew 2,000 percent—from 6,000 individuals 

to about 120,000. 

This massive demographic shift dramatically altered African-American history 

culturally, politically, and socially, producing during the 1920s a period of 

black artistic expression in literature, music, and thought known as the Harlem 

Renaissance. Among those who participated in this cultural moment in northern 

Manhattan, which raised black consciousness nationally, were poet Langston 

Hughes, writer Zora Neale Hurston, and scholar and intellectual W. E. B. Du Bois. 

A new sense of African-American culture emerged, stoked by such leaders as 

Marcus Garvey, an advocate for black separatism and repatriation to Africa. Garvey 

emigrated from Jamaica to New York City in 1916 and, within a few years, founded 

In 1917, New Yorkers silently protested the 

race riots in East St. Louis, Illinois. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress 

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 175
the Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA), enlisting thousands of 

members.121 Interestingly, UNIA found much support in the recently transplanted 

community of southern blacks, who helped establish many UNIA chapters in the 

South by sharing the organization’s literature with their relatives back home.122

Skyrocketing black populations in urban wards created new opportunities for 

political activism. Slowly, African Americans were elected to important political 

offices; for example, Oscar De Priest, a native Alabamian and future Member 

of Congress, became a member of the Chicago city council in 1915. 

Anti-Lynching Legislation Renewed

The passage of anti-lynching legislation became one of the NAACP’s central 

goals. Slow to join the cause of pursuing legislation to remedy lynching because 

of the leadership’s concerns about the constitutionality of such an undertaking, 

the NAACP eventually embraced the movement, using it to educate the often 

ambivalent American public so as to jar it into substantive action. 

Statistics supported the NAACP’s increased urgency in the anti-lynching 

campaign. Between 1901 and 1929, more than 1,200 blacks were lynched in the 

South. Forty-one percent of these lynchings occurred in two exceptionally violent 

states: Georgia (250) and Mississippi (245).123 The NAACP report, Thirty Years of 

Lynching in the United States, 1889–1919, created momentum for congressional 

action. The anti-lynching effort provided the NAACP valuable experience waging a 

mass public relations campaign and mastering the art of congressional relations.124 In 

the 1920s, through the organizational leadership and diverse talents of its secretary, 

James Weldon Johnson, the NAACP became a significant vehicle for marshaling 

public opinion. Johnson’s biographer describes him as “truly the ‘Renaissance man’ 

of the Harlem Renaissance”—a poet, composer, writer, and activist.125 Acting as 

the group’s chief congressional lobbyist, he pushed for the reduction scheme during 

the larger congressional debate over reapportionment and decisively shaped the 

NAACP’s campaign against lynching. Of his anti-lynching lobbying experience, 

Johnson recalled, “I tramped the corridors of the Capitol and the two office 

buildings so constantly that toward the end, I could, I think, have been able to find 

my way about blindfolded.”126

Pushed vigorously by Johnson and NAACP assistant executive secretary Walter 

White (a civil rights activist from Atlanta), anti-lynching reform awaited only a 

legislative entrepreneur in Congress and, regrettably, a triggering event. Activists 

found Representative Leonidas C. Dyer to be a willing ally. Dyer, a SpanishAmerican War veteran and a former aide to Missouri Governor Herbert S. Hadley, 

represented a thin sliver of the southern and eastern sections of St. Louis. Heavily 

industrialized, part of the district hugged the Mississippi River and included growing 

African-American neighborhoods.127 Since his election to the House in 1911, Dyer 

had demonstrated a disposition toward advocating for the black community.128

Dyer had a front-row seat to some of the nation’s most virulent wartime 

race violence. In the summer of 1917, just across the Mississippi River from his 

district, a riot in East St. Louis, Illinois, drew national attention and widespread 

condemnation. A hub for southern blacks migrating northward, East St. Louis had 

seen its black population triple in the first decade of the 20th century. Its racial 

tensions, stoked by competition for jobs and prejudice, struck a chord among 

many white northerners apprehensive about black migration. On July 1, 1917, 

A civil rights pioneer, James Weldon 

Johnson was the NAACP’s executive 

secretary and the chief congressional 

anti-lynching lobbyist. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

176 H Black Americans in Congress 
white assailants drove through a black neighborhood, firing indiscriminately. Two 

plainclothes police officers sent to investigate the disturbance arrived in a vehicle 

similar to the one driven by the shooters. Fearful residents mistakenly opened fire 

on the policemen, both of whom were killed. White residents’ attempt to retaliate 

on July 2 flared into a merciless episode of mob sadism. The death toll climbed 

to 47 persons, including 38 African-American men, women, and children. Much 

of the black population fled the city.129 On the House Floor, Dyer decried the event 

as one of “the most dastardly and most criminal outrages ever perpetrated in this 

country.” Large numbers of refugees flowed across the river and into his district, 

compelling Dyer to tackle the problem of lynching and mob violence.

The rash of wartime mob violence nationwide provided new impetus for 

legislative action.130 After months of consultation with legal experts and the NAACP, 

Representative Dyer introduced H.R. 11279 on April 18, 1918, “to protect citizens 

of the United States against lynching in default of protection by the States.” Dyer’s 

bill, which provided the blueprint for all subsequent NAACP-backed anti-lynching 

measures, sought to charge lynch mobs with capital murder charges and to try 

lynching cases in federal court. It levied on each county where a lynching occurred, 

a fine of between $5,000 and $10,000 that would be paid to the victim’s immediate 

family or, if none existed, to the U.S. government to facilitate prosecution of the 

case. The Dyer Bill also mandated jail time and imposed a fine of up to $5,000 on 

state and local law enforcement officials who refused to make a reasonable effort to 

prevent a lynching or surrendered a prisoner in their custody to a lynch mob. Finally, 

the bill sought to establish guidelines for fair courtroom proceedings by excluding 

lynch mob participants and supporters from juries.131

Dyer’s rationale was elegantly simple: Lynching—and states’ refusal to prosecute 

the perpetrators—violated victims’ 14th Amendment rights. Anticipating that 

Members would object to the bill because it involved federal control over social 

policy, he cited the slate of child labor laws the chamber had enacted and Congress’s 

December 1917 passage of the 18th Amendment, which forbade the production, 

transportation, or sale of alcohol within the United States: “If Congress has felt 

its duty to do these things, why should it not also assume jurisdiction and enact 

laws to protect the lives of citizens of the United States against lynch law and mob 

violence? Are the rights of property, or what a citizen shall drink, or the ages and 

conditions under which children shall work, any more important to the Nation than 

life itself?”132 In the Democrat-controlled 65th Congress (1917–1919), however, the 

measure remained stuck in the Judiciary Committee. 

But advocates’ hope was renewed when Republicans gained majorities in the 

House and Senate at the start of the 66th Congress in 1919. In early 1921, James 

Weldon Johnson paid his first visit to Representative Dyer’s office, recognizing that 

the St. Louis Representative was a valuable contact.133 Throughout this process, 

the NAACP played a significant role in keeping the issue alive in Congress, and at 

several junctures, Johnson bolstered Dyer, urging him not to accept compromises 

to attain passage of legislation and encouraging him to resist pressure from the 

Republican Conference to abandon legislation many of his colleagues felt 

was unpopular.134

Under the NAACP’s intense lobbying pressure, the House began to move toward 

consideration of a bill derived from Dyer’s earlier efforts—first adopting a rule 

for consideration and then, in early January 1922 commencing consideration on 

In 1917, 75 sixth-graders shared 

a single room and teacher in segregated 

Muskogee, Oklahoma.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Racial violence in Tulsa, Oklahoma, 

in 1921, left the African-American 

community in smoldering ruins. 

Competition for jobs and housing, deepseated racial mistrust, and informal 

segregation practices, were at the heart 

of tensions in many urban areas. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 177
the legislation.135 Southern opponents attempted to impede debate several times, 

refusing to come to the House Chamber so as to prevent a quorum. On such 

occasions Speaker Frederick H. Gillett of Massachusetts ordered the chamber doors 

locked and dispatched the Sergeant at Arms to search for errant Members.136 The 

debate came to a head on January 25 and 26, 1922, when the House considered a 

bill that contained many of the essentials of Dyer’s original measure. Though the 

provision seeking to ensure an impartial jury had been removed, the bill sought to 

levy a $10,000 fine on counties where lynchings occurred—as well as on counties 

through which victims were transported. 

Southern Democrats rebuffed the measure, mustering familiar practical and 

constitutional defenses. Hatton W. Sumners of Texas, a Dallas attorney who later 

served 16 years as chairman of the House Judiciary Committee, led the defense. 

In two lengthy debates, Sumners compared the bill to an act of legislative “mob” 

violence and suggested Congress let southern states resolve the lynching issue on 

their own. “I say to you that you cannot pass this bill unless you pass it under the 

influence of the same spirit which this bill denounces, viz., the mob spirit,” Sumners 

said to laughter and applause on the House Floor. “You say that the folks down in 

the South are not doing this thing fast enough, and the folks in the South say the 

officers are not doing this thing fast enough, and you each get ropes and they go 

after the criminal and you go after the Constitution.”137

African Americans packed the House Gallery, intensely monitoring the debate, 

and on several occasions they cheered loudly, in violation of gallery rules. Some 

traded derogatory barbs with southern House Members below on the floor, whose 

speeches repeatedly referred to NAACP activists as “race agitators.”138 The glare of 

publicity pushed cautious House leaders to move swiftly for a vote. In the end, the 

Dyer Bill passed the Republican-controlled chamber on January 26, 1922, by a vote 

of 231 to 119, with four Members voting “present” and 74 others not voting.139

Among the 119 who voted “no” were four future Speakers of the House, each a 

southern Democrat who eventually presided over the chamber after Democrats 

assumed control of the House in 1931: John Nance Garner of Texas, Joseph Byrns of 

Tennessee, William Bankhead of Alabama, and Sam Rayburn of Texas.140

In the Senate, a combination of ambivalent Republican backing and spirited 

southern opposition doomed the Dyer Bill to legislative limbo. It withered in the 

Judiciary Committee under the unsympathetic oversight of Chairman William 

Borah of Idaho, who doubted its constitutionality. Nevertheless, Borah pledged not 

to block consideration of the measure if a majority of his colleagues assented. The 

measure passed out of the committee 8 to 6 in the summer of 1922—with Borah 

dissenting.141 The NAACP proceeded to engage in a formidable public campaign, 

increasing direct pressure on Majority Leader Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts 

(who faced re-election that fall). Lodge, who had authored the Federal Elections Bill 

in 1890, had greatly moderated his previously progressive stance on federal oversight 

of black civil rights. He reluctantly brought the measure to the Senate Floor in 

September, but his choice of a manager to shepherd the bill through debate—

Samuel Shortridge, California’s junior Senator and a relative novice—suggested 

he had little enthusiasm for the endeavor. Byron (Pat) Harrison of Mississippi 

swiftly upstaged Shortridge by gaining control of the debate. Further consideration 

was forestalled until after the November 1922 elections, relieving Senators of 

A mix of black and white British members 

of the NAACP protested the lack of antilynching laws in the United States in hopes 

of bringing more international attention 

to the epidemic. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Hatton W. Sumners of Texas opposed antilynching laws during his 17 terms in the 

House of Representatives, arguing that the 

individual states could handle the problem 

of mob violence against African Americans.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

178 H Black Americans in Congress 
electoral pressure.142

When the bill came up for consideration in late November after the elections, 

southern Members again halted Shortridge with parliamentary maneuvers. As he 

had with the reduction issue two decades earlier, Alabama’s Oscar Underwood, now 

Senate Minority Leader, played a key role in killing the Dyer measure. Underwood 

threatened Lodge and the Republicans with a filibuster that would shut down 

end-of-session business in the Senate. Fearful they would be unable to secure a 

ship subsidy bill desired by the Harding administration, the members of the Senate 

Republican Conference voted to abandon the Dyer Bill. Though Representative 

Dyer reintroduced the measure in each new Congress in the 1920s, it failed to gain 

significant political traction. However, the public awareness campaign relentlessly 

pushed by the NAACP likely contributed to a general decline in lynching after the 

1920s. It would be 15 years before Congress would seriously consider the subject 

again. In the words of historian Robert Zangrando, anti-lynching legislation was 

“displaced by the indifference of its friends and the strategy of its enemies.”143

Reduction Redux

Although the subject of reduction arose occasionally in Congress, “increasingly 

it was becoming a posture rather than a policy.”144 Republican party leaders seemed 

content to raise the issue because it permitted them to lay claim to the moral high 

ground, but upon meeting stiff opposition, they readily let it die a quiet death in the 

interest of political expediency. Moreover, fortified by widespread social ambivalence 

and sensing the weakness of their opponents, southern Representatives became 

bolder and coordinated their efforts to repulse the reduction movement.145

Reduction eventually became absorbed in the larger reapportionment struggle 

in the House after the 1920 Census, which pitted rural and urban factions against 

one another for much of the next decade.146 At several junctures during this nearly 

decade-long debate, Representative George Holden Tinkham of Massachusetts 

spoke on behalf of disfranchised blacks. A Republican who rose through the Boston 

common council, the board of aldermen, and the Massachusetts state senate, 

Tinkham was frank and fiercely independent. In 1914, he won election to a U.S. 

House seat—the first of his 14 terms in Congress—representing a wide multi-ethnic 

swath of Boston. He became one of the institution’s more colorful characters.147 A 

biographer described him as “the conscience of the House” in the 1920s, based on 

his repeated efforts to rally colleagues to the cause of investigating disfranchisement 

of southern blacks in violation of the 14th and 15th Amendments.148

On May 6, 1921, Tinkham interrupted consideration of an Army appropriations 

bill by introducing a resolution instructing the House Committee on the Census 

to investigate disfranchisement efforts by the states and report back to the full 

House to provide information for a debate about reapportioning to expand the 

chamber’s membership. As usual, he did not mince words, describing southern 

disfranchisement schemes as “the most colossal electoral fraud the world has ever 

known.” He added, “On this question moral cowardice and political expediency 

dominate the Republican leadership of the House.”149 Clearly annoyed that his 

planned appropriations debate had been hijacked, House Majority Leader Frank 

W. Mondell of Wyoming dismissed Tinkham’s address as an expression of “fancy” 

and a “stump speech,” echoing southern complaints that the reduction proposal was 

George Holden Tinkham of Massachusetts 

became known as “the conscience of the 

House” for his efforts to protect voting rights 

for blacks. He also was one of Congress’s 

most colorful characters. Newspapers 

reported that he was the first American 

to fire a shot against the Central Powers 

in World War I, when, on a congressional 

visit to the Allied front in 1917, an Italian 

army commander persuaded him to pull the 

firing lanyard on an artillery piece trained 

on Austrian forces. An avid big-game 

hunter, Tinkham also named his trophies 

for political opponents.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 179
merely an electoral enticement for northern black voters.150 When Speaker Gillett 

rejected Tinkham’s argument that his measure was constitutionally privileged, the 

full House overwhelmingly backed the ruling, 286 to 47.151

Later that fall during floor debate about a bill sponsored by Census Committee 

Chairman Isaac Siegel of New York to expand Membership of the House from 

435 to 483, Tinkham again injected into the dialogue the issue of upholding the 

14th Amendment, noting that the word “shall” in Section 2 compelled Congress 

“unconditionally” to enforce reduction. “Franchise equality is fundamental and 

profound,” Tinkham declared, adding “national elections can no longer be half 

constitutional and half unconstitutional.”152 Tinkham registered unconcealed 

contempt for House leaders who declined to investigate southern voting fraud. 

“For this refusal by the leaders of the majority party I do not possess a command 

of language strong enough to use in denunciation and reprobation,” he said. “The 

real anarchists in the United States, the real leaders of lawlessness, are the Members 

of this House of Representatives who refuse obedience to the Constitution which 

they have sworn to obey.”153 Representative Wells Goodykoontz of West Virginia, 

former president of the West Virginia Bar Association, was the sole Member to join 

Tinkham in calling for enforcement of the 14th Amendment. He provided statistical 

evidence based on November 1920 voting returns in his district (85,587 votes were 

cast) versus the total votes recorded for the entire congressional delegations in South 

Carolina (67,737) and Mississippi (70,657).154

The man who emerged as one of the white supremacist South’s most ardent 

congressional defenders, John Elliott Rankin of Mississippi, offered the rejoinder to 

Tinkham. In 1921, Rankin was a freshman Member of the House, embarking on a 

32-year career representing the northeastern corner of Mississippi. A World War I 

veteran, he served 20 years as chairman of the Committee on World War Veterans 

Legislation (later Veterans’ Affairs). When he died in 1960, the press called him 

“one of the most turbulent political figures in modern congressional history.”155

Had reduction been adopted, Mississippi’s delegation would have been halved, 

from 8 to 4. Rankin countered Tinkham by arguing that the 15th Amendment—in 

prohibiting disfranchisement because of race or color—had “by implication” 

superseded and voided the part of the 14th Amendment that called for reduction.156

Conjuring up the specter of Reconstruction, Rankin continued, “the time has passed 

when a man or a party can successfully make political capital by holding out to the 

Negro the hope or promise of social and political equality.”157 The House brushed 

aside Tinkham’s amendment on an unrecorded voice vote.158

Roiled and divided by major issues like immigration, tax policy, a soldier’s 

bonus, and international questions such as U.S. participation in the League of 

Nations, Congress postponed work on the reapportionment issue from 1921 to 

1927.159 Tinkham made at least two more attempts to add reduction amendments 

before passage of a comprehensive reapportionment bill in 1929, but he was 

unsuccessful.160 As one scholar notes, it is not surprising that congressional leaders 

failed to vigorously protect black voting rights, given pervasive notions among 

national political leaders and strategists that extending the franchise might be more 

harmful than the alternative.161

Power of the Southern Bloc in Congress

The reduction and anti-lynching failures occurred during the heyday of southern 

Left to right: U.S. Senator James Vardaman 

of Mississippi, U.S. Representative James 

Heflin of Alabama, and U.S. Senator Ollie 

James of Kentucky built their congressional 

careers on promoting segregation and 

white supremacy.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Sixteen-term House Member John E. 

Rankin of Mississippi defended southern 

white supremacy. Later in Rankin’s 

congressional career, Representative Adam 

Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, regularly 

needled Rankin by sitting as near to him 

as possible in the House Chamber.

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

180 H Black Americans in Congress 
demagogues in Congress. Innumerable racist slanders were uttered on the House 

and Senate floors with virtual impunity from 1890 through the 1920s. Among the 

practitioners of white supremacist bile was James Kimble Vardaman of Mississippi, a 

powerful orator who served as governor from 1904 to 1908 before winning election 

in 1912 to a single term in the U.S. Senate. Known by his followers as the “White 

Chief,” Vardaman ran state and federal campaigns that unabashedly supported 

white supremacy and constantly sought to take money from schools for blacks. “To 

educate a negro is to spoil a good field hand,” Vardaman once declared.162 Others 

of this ilk included Ben Tillman of South Carolina, a 23-year veteran of the Senate 

and the architect of disfranchisement in South Carolina; the Populist-turned-race 

baiter Tom Watson of Georgia, who served a term in the House from 1891 to 1893 

and a partial term in the U.S. Senate 30 years later; and James Thomas Heflin, a 

Representative and Senator of Alabama, who said the right to vote was “an inherent 

right with the white man and a privilege with the Negro.”163

For such men, white supremacy was a closely held belief. For others, it was a 

mechanism to engage voters. The southern political system promoted—and even 

rewarded—a certain level of recklessness, sensationalism, and demagoguery. Race 

became the most potent topic available for striking powerful chords with southern 

voters, who by 1900 were essentially white and often disengaged from politics. 

“Deprived of the normal party channels of rising to power and getting support in 

elections, politicians were practically forced to blare recklessly in an effort to become 

known to an amorphous public,” notes historian J. Morgan Kousser.164 Race, as 

political scientist V. O. Key observed in his landmark study of southern politics 

in the 1940s, became the keystone of the one-party, solid Democratic South that 

emerged around 1900 and lasted until the civil rights movement of the 1950s. 

“Southern sectionalism and the special character of southern political institutions 

have to be attributed in the main to the Negro,” Key explained. He added, “the 

predominant consideration in the architecture of southern political institutions has 

been to assure locally a subordination of the Negro population and, externally, to 

block threatened interferences from the outside with these local arrangements.”165

Southern Members of Congress who opposed race reforms in the 1910s and 

1920s soon became influential enough to thwart such “interferences.” Accruing 

seniority, many ascended to powerful positions on Capitol Hill during the 1930s. 

Benefiting from the longevity conferred by their party, which held a virtual lock on 

elective office in the South, many southern House Members served long terms in 

secure districts, earning important leadership posts. For instance, when Democrats 

gained control of the House in 1931, southerners wielded the chairman’s gavel on 

29 of 47 committees—including virtually all the most influential panels: Ways and 

Means (James W. Collier of Mississippi), Rules (Edward W. Pou of North Carolina), 

Rivers and Harbors (John J. Mansfield of Texas), Naval Affairs (Carl Vinson of 

Georgia), Military Affairs (Percy Quin of Mississippi), Judiciary (Hatton Sumners 

of Texas), Interstate and Foreign Commerce (Sam Rayburn of Texas), Banking and 

Currency (Henry B. Steagall of Alabama), Appropriations (Joseph W. Byrns of 

Tennessee), and Agriculture (John Marvin Jones of Texas). Of the 10 most attractive 

committees, southerners chaired nine (J. Charles Linthicum of Maryland, a border 

state, chaired the Foreign Affairs Committee).166 Southerners also held two of the 

top three positions in House leadership: John Nance Garner of Texas served as 

Speaker, and John McDuffie of Alabama was the Majority Whip. 

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 181
In the Senate, which went Democratic with the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt 

to the presidency in 1932, southern influence, although less pronounced, was 

nonetheless significant. Southerners chaired 13 of the chamber’s 33 committees 

in 1933, including some of the most influential panels: Agriculture and Forestry 

(Ellison D. Smith of South Carolina), Appropriations (Carter Glass of Virginia), 

Banking and Currency (Duncan U. Fletcher of Florida), Commerce (Hubert D. 

Stephens of Mississippi), Finance (Pat Harrison of Mississippi), Military Affairs 

(Morris Sheppard of Texas), and Naval Affairs (Park Trammell of Florida). In 

addition, Walter F. George of Georgia wielded the chairman’s gavel on the Privileges 

and Elections Committee, through which any voting rights bill would have to pass. 

Setting the chamber’s agenda was Senate Majority Leader Joseph T. Robinson 

of Arkansas, who served in that capacity until his death in 1937. 

Party Realignment

The political realignment of black voters set in motion at the close of 

Reconstruction gradually accelerated in the early 20th century, pushed by 

demographic shifts such as the Great Migration and by black discontent with the 

increasingly conservative racial policies of the Republican Party in the South. A 

decades-long process ensued in which blacks were effectively pushed outside or left 

the Republican fold because of its increasingly ambiguous racial policies. By the end 

of this era, the major parties’ policies and a re-emergent activism among younger 

African Americans positioned blacks for a mass movement in the early and mid1930s to the northern Democratic Party.167

Weakened to the point of irrelevancy, southern Republicans after 1900 curried 

favor with the political power structure to preserve their grasp on local patronage 

jobs dispensed by the national party. Therefore, southern white GOP officials 

embraced Jim Crow. Through political factions such as the “lily white” movement, 

which excluded blacks, and “black and tan” societies, which extended only token 

political roles to blacks, the party gradually ceased to serve as an outlet for the 

politically active cadre of southern African Americans. 

Gradually, African-American leaders at the national level began to abandon their 

loyalty to the GOP. While the party’s political strategy of creating a competitive 

wing in the postwar South was not incompatible with the promotion of black civil 

rights, by the 1890s party leaders were in agreement that this practical political end 

could not be achieved without attracting southern whites to the ticket. “Equalitarian 

ideals,” explains a leading historian, “had to be sacrificed to the exigencies of 

practical politics.”168

However, mutually exclusive opportunities presented themselves to the national 

Republican Party as late as the 1920s. On the one hand, GOP officials sensed an 

opportunity to present the party as a moderate alternative to the segregationist 

policies endorsed by the outgoing Woodrow Wilson administration—to make 

inroads into the growing urban centers of African-American voters. On the other 

hand, in campaign efforts against northern Democrats such as Al Smith of New 

York, Republicans perceived the chance to cultivate southern white voters by 

adopting racially conservative positions. “The dilemma,” writes historian Lewis 

L. Gould, “was that the politics that spoke to one group alienated the other.”169 

The party chose a middle course. GOP Presidents in the 1920s hosted black leaders 

to discuss touchstone issues such as anti-lynching legislation, though they did little 

The Ku Klux Klan’s resurgence in the 

early 1900s ushered in a reign of violence, 

buttressed by public shows of power like 

this demonstration, just outside the U.S. 

Capitol in 1926. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

182 H Black Americans in Congress 
more for fear of alienating southern whites. The party’s relative lack of enthusiasm 

for changing segregation practices in the civil service, enforcing the reduction 

clause of the 14th Amendment, or endorsing fully the enactment of anti-lynching 

legislation convinced many African Americans that the political priorities of the 

party of Lincoln were no longer compatible with those of the black community. 

At its 1926 national convention, the NAACP pointedly resolved, “Our political 

salvation and our social survival lie in our absolute independence of party allegiance 

in politics and the casting of our vote for our friends and against our enemies 

whoever they may be and whatever party labels they carry.”170

The Republicans’ presidential nominee in 1928 cast more doubt in black voters’ 

minds.171 Herbert Hoover’s handling of the relief efforts after the devastating 1927 

Mississippi River floods disappointed the African-American community. Tone deaf 

to issues that resonated with blacks, Hoover catered to the lily-white delegations 

at the Republican National Convention. The platform contained no substantive 

concessions to black interests besides a perfunctory sentence about the necessity 

for anti-lynching legislation. Furthermore, during the campaign Hoover devised 

a southern strategy against Democratic nominee Al Smith, who was perceived 

negatively in the South because he was Catholic and was believed to represent 

ethnic and black interests. By courting the racially conservative white vote with 

tacit support for the segregationist status quo, Hoover fractured the solid South 

and captured the electoral votes of five southern states: Virginia, North Carolina, 

Tennessee, Florida, and Texas.172

The 1928 presidential campaign marked a significant step toward the eventual 

black exodus from Republican ranks. Though a majority of African Americans cast 

their vote for Hoover, black defection from the party was greater than in any prior 

election. Manufacturers of public opinion within the black community, including 

the Chicago Defender and the Baltimore Afro-American, supported Al Smith.173

Meanwhile, the party of Lincoln seemed unresponsive to the changing electorate and 

lacked a strategy for adjusting to new political realities. “As Negroes moved to the 

North and to the cities, they became part of the new urban constituency,” explains 

historian Richard Sherman. “Just as America had ceased to be predominantly AngloSaxon, so had black-white relations ceased to be primarily a problem for the South. 

. . . In short, Republicans failed to develop a program which could attract major 

elements of the new, urban America,” a constituency that formed the core of the 

Roosevelt New Deal coalition that propelled Democrats into power in the 1930s.174

Conclusion

W. E. B. Du Bois insightfully observed that the dominant theme of 20th-century 

America would be the “color line.” As historian Manning Marable points out, 

that line, dating back to Reconstruction, was remarkably resilient, outlasting the 

southern experiment in multiracialism, economic depressions, foreign wars, and 

massive migrations of Black Americans from the South to the North. Congress’s 

management (or avoidance) of the issue of race relations in this era strongly confirms 

Marable’s assessment of the durability of racial prejudice and the pervasive nature 

of segregation in America. Throughout the first half of the 20th century, Congress 

lagged behind the executive and the judicial branches—and sometimes behind 

popular will—in terms of racial issues.175

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 183
Change would arise from a “Second Reconstruction”—a civil rights movement 

derived from the people, not imposed on them—one shaped by everyday African 

Americans operating largely outside of political channels who would slowly convince 

society of the need for change. By then blacks would have allies and advocates within 

the federal government, such as Oscar De Priest, who was elected to the U.S. House 

from his Chicago-based district in 1928. In ending African Americans’ long exile 

from Congress, De Priest’s election would infuse millions with hope—and validate 

the power of organized black politics in northern cities.

184 H Black Americans in Congress 
Notes

1 “The Negro in Politics,” 12 December 1887, Washington Post: 5.

2 Michael K. Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner Publishers, 

2007): 41.

3 C. Vann Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow (New York: Oxford University Press, 2002): 

82.

4 Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: 69.

5 A rich historical literature details this process. Aside from The Strange Career of Jim Crow, see 

Woodward’s seminal work, The Origins of the New South, 1877–1913 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana 

State University, 1951) and Edward Ayers, The Promise of the New South: Life After Reconstruction 

(New York: Oxford University Press, 1992). For African-American political activism in the South 

from slavery into the Jim Crow and Great Migration eras, see Steven Hahn’s A Nation Under Our 

Feet: Black Political Struggles from Slavery to the Great Migration (Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press, 

2003).

6 Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: 108.

7 All the black Jim Crow-Era Representatives were born in 1849 or later, except John Langston, who 

was born in 1829, and lived most of his life in privilege in Ohio. He achieved an education and a 

level of experience that was comparable, if not superior, to that of his late-19th-century colleagues.

8 Several historians discuss the impact of skin color on the stratification of free and enslaved black 

communities in different regions of the South from the colonial to the postbellum periods. 

Winthrop D. Jordan discusses the colonial period in “American Chiaroscuro: The Status and 

Definition of Mulattoes in the British Colonies,” in Edward Countryman, ed., How Did American 

Slavery Begin? (Boston: Bedford/St. Martin’s, 1999). Both Eugene D. Genovese and Paul D. 

Escott discuss stratification within slave communities in the antebellum period: Genovese, Roll, 

Jordan, Roll: The World the Slaves Made (New York: Pantheon Books, 1974) and Escott, Slavery 

Remembered: A Record of Twentieth-Century Slave Narratives (Chapel Hill: University of North 

Carolina Press, 1979). For the racial tensions within the free black communities in the antebellum 

period, see Ira Berlin, Slaves Without Masters: The Free Negro in the Antebellum South (New York: 

The New Press, 1974). Joel Williamson provides a thorough history of racial miscegenation in 

the United States in New People: Miscegenation and Mulattoes in the United States (New York: 

The Free Press, 1980). Willard Gatewood examines the effects of skin color on the postbellum 

elite communities in Aristocrats of Color: The Black Elite, 1880–1920 (Fayetteville: University of 

Arkansas Press, 2000).

9 Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi graduated from Knox College in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1857, 

and Representative Richard Cain of South Carolina attended Ohio’s Wilberforce University in the 

early 1860s. 

10 “John Mercer Langston,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington 

Hills, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 1999): 693–698. Former Representatives Josiah Walls of Florida 

and James O’Hara of North Carolina were admitted to the bar in a similar fashion, although 

O’Hara received some formal training at Howard University.

11 Benjamin R. Justesen, George Henry White: An Even Chance in the Race of Life (Baton Rouge: 

Louisiana State University Press, 2001): 39, 135–144.

12 During the 1890s, GOP corruption at the state and national levels challenged the notion of 

patronage. Black Members of Congress vehemently supported the Republican defense of these 

favors. Representative Robert Smalls of South Carolina was in the minority voting against passage 

of the Pendleton Act in the 47th Congress (1881–1883), which made hiring procedures for the 

civil service more competitive. See Congressional Record, House, 47th Cong., 2nd sess. (4 January 

1883): 837. While in office, black Representatives regularly doled out patronage positions. For 

example, throughout his career, Henry Cheatham gave friends and constituents in North Carolina 

and Washington, DC, federal positions, bestowing more than 80 appointments in the postal, 

internal revenue, and judicial services.

13 Thomas Adams Upchurch, Legislating Racism: The Billion Dollar Congress and the Birth of Jim 

Crow (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2004): 9–12, 74–84; Charles W. Calhoun, 

Conceiving a New Republic: The Republican Party and the Southern Question, 1869–1900 

(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2006): 7–32.

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 185
14 Congressional Record, House, 56th Congress, 2nd sess. (7 January 1901): 74. 

15 Michael Perman, Struggle for Mastery: Disfranchisement in the South, 1888–1908 (Chapel Hill: 

University of North Carolina Press, 2001): 229.

16 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (14 February 1891): 2694.

17 Upchurch, Legislating Racism: 12; Samuel P. Hays, The Response to Industrialism, 1885–1914

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1957; reprint, 1995): 7–24.

18 Frederick Jackson Turner, “The Significance of the Frontier in American History,” in Martin Ridge, 

ed., Frederick Jackson Turner: Wisconsin Historian of the Frontier (Madison: State Historical Society 

of Wisconsin, 1986): 26–47. 

19 Robert H. Wiebe, The Search for Order, 1877–1920 (New York: Hill and Wang, 1967): 11–12.

20 Robert D. Marcus, Grand Old Party: Political Structure in the Gilded Age: 1880–1896 (New York: 

Oxford University Press, 1971): 10–11, 19.

21 Marcus, Grand Old Party: 20, 90–91, 93.

22 J. Morgan Kousser, The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage Restriction and Establishment of the 

One-Party South, 1880–1910 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974): 238–240; see especially 

the chart on page 239.

23 Kousser, The Shaping of Southern Politics: 46–53; quotation on pages 39–40. See also Woodward, 

The Strange Career of Jim Crow: 83–86.

24 For population statistics and election results, see Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States 

Congressional Districts, 1843–1883 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1986): 213; Stanley B. Parsons 

et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1883–1913 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): 

143, 279, 281; Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997 (Jefferson, NC: 

McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 254, 262, 269, 276, 284, 292, 301, 310.

25 Congressional Record, House, 53rd Cong., 1st sess. (5 October 1893): 2159.

26 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 319.

27 The Confederacy included South Carolina, Mississippi, Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Louisiana, 

Texas, Virginia, Arkansas, North Carolina, and Tennessee.

28 Michael Perman, Road to Redemption: Southern Politics 1869–1879 (Chapel Hill: University of 

North Carolina Press, 1984): 193–220; Kousser, The Shaping of Southern Politics: 139–181.

29 See Stephen Kantrowitz, Ben Tillman and the Reconstruction of White Supremacy (Chapel Hill: 

University of North Carolina Press, 2000).

30 Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 96.

31 Ibid.

32 Ibid., 93.

33 George Brown Tindall, South Carolina Negroes, 1877–1900 (Columbia: University of South 

Carolina Press, 2003; reprint of 1952 edition): 78.

34 Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 96.

35 “South Carolina’s Plan,” 4 November 1895, New York Times: 7.

36 Tindall, South Carolina Negroes: 88.

37 Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 225–226. 

38 Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: 85; Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 313.

39 John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans, 

8th edition (New York: Alfred A, Knopf, 2000): 288. Additionally, as southern states legally 

disfranchised hundreds of thousands of Black Americans, violence wracked southern cities. On 

November 10, 1898, in the coastal town of Wilmington, North Carolina, local whites violently 

evicted elected city officials including the white mayor and sheriff—who were part of a “fusion” 

Populist government that had the support of a thriving and politically active African-American 

community. Former U.S. Representative Alfred M. Waddell of North Carolina (1871–1879), a 

newspaper editor and an ex-Confederate cavalry colonel, led a mob of whites who ransacked black 

neighborhoods in the city and the offices of the local black newspaper. Eleven African Americans 

were killed, and the black community’s leaders were sent into exile. For more on this topic, see 

the extensive report of the Wilmington Race Riot Commission, published in 2006: http://www.

ah.dcr.state.nc.us/1898-wrrc/default.htm (accessed 1 December 2007); contemporary newspaper 

186 H Black Americans in Congress 
accounts include “Negro Rule Ended,” 11 November 1898, Washington Post: 1. For more on 

Waddell, see “Waddell, Alfred Moore,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 

1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000002. 

40 For more on “packing” and “cracking” as gerrymandering strategies, see Bernard Grofman, Political 

Gerrymandering and the Courts (New York: Algora Publishing, 1990): especially pages 178–179.

41 See, for example, the borders between the South Carolina’s 1st and 7th districts from 1893 to 1895 

in Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1883–1913: 275.

42 Eric Anderson, Race and Politics in North Carolina, 1872–1901 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State 

University Press, 1981): 3–4, 141; Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1843–1883: 

201; Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1883–1913: 255–257.

43 Kousser, The Shaping of Southern Politics: 11, 13–14, 261.

44 For more on this phenomenon see, Helen G. Edmonds, The Negro and Fusion Politics in North 

Carolina (New York: Russell and Russell, 1951; reprint 1972).

45 Thomas Holt explains the origins of the tensions between mulatto and dark skinned candidates. 

See Black Over White: Negro Political Leadership in South Carolina During Reconstruction (Urbana: 

University of Illinois Press, 1977): 59–64.

46 Quoted in William C. Hine, “Miller, Thomas Ezekiel,” American National Biography 15 (New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 518–520 (hereinafter referred to as ANB).

47 John F. Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: South Carolina’s George Washington 

Murray (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 2006): 37.

48 Quoted in Tindall, South Carolina Negroes, 1877–1900: 58.

49 Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 109.

50 Anderson, Race and Politics: 208–209.

51 Ibid., 213.

52 Justesen, George Henry White: 199.

53 Jeffrey A. Jenkins, “Partisanship and Contested Election Cases in the House of Representatives, 

1789–1902,” Studies in American Political Development 18 (Fall 2004): 113.

54 Chester H. Rowell, A Historical and Legal Digest of All the Contested Election Cases (Washington, 

DC: Government Printing Office, 1901). Though Rowell is one of the most comprehensive 

sources on the activities of the Committee on Elections for this era, his data are incomplete. At 

least six contested elections cases involving black men are missing from his volume.

55 William J. Gaboury, “George Washington Murray and the Fight for Political Democracy in South 

Carolina,” Journal of Negro History 62 (July 1977): 266. The demands placed a considerable 

burden on members of the Committee on Elections, which was charged with investigating 

disputed results and reporting its findings back to the full House. In the 54th Congress 

(1895–1897), facing 38 contested election cases (28 of which originated in the South), the 

Committee on Elections split into three separate panels named Elections #1, Elections #2, and 

Elections #3. The three committees remained until the Legislative Reorganization Act of 1946 

combined them under the jurisdiction of the Committee on House Administration.

56 For a discussion of surrogate representation using modern examples, see Jane Mansbridge, “Should 

Blacks Represent Blacks and Women Represent Women? A Contingent ‘Yes,’” Journal of Politics

61 (1999): 628–657.

57 Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 2nd sess. (22 April 1898): 4194.

58 Charles Stewart III, “Committee Hierarchies in the Modernizing House, 1875–1947,” American 

Journal of Political Science 36 (1992): 845–846. Cheatham was ranked fifth out of six minority 

members of the Agriculture Committee in the 52nd Congress (1891–1893); White was 

ranked last out of 11 majority members on the Agriculture Committee in the 55th Congress 

(1897–1899).

59 For a thorough discussion of U.S. monetary policy in the late 19th century, see Irwin Unger, 

The Greenback Era: A Social and Political History of American Finance, 1865–1880 (Princeton, 

NJ: Princeton University Press, 1964); Alan Weinstein, Prelude to Populism: Origins of the Silver 

Issue, 1867–1878 (New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1970); Milton Friedman and Anna 

J. Schwartz, A Monetary History of the United States, 1867–1960 (Princeton, NJ: Princeton 

University Press, 1963).

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 187
60 Congressional Record, House, 52nd Cong., 1st sess. (13 July 1892): 6133. The rest of the 

Republicans voting in favor of the bill were from silver-mining states.

61 Congressional Record, House, 53rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 August 1893): 859.

62 Woodward, The Strange Career of Jim Crow: 72–74.

63 Recent historical literature suggests that racism at home cooled enthusiasm for imperialism abroad. 

One historian argues that segregationists often opposed imperialists because they were unwilling 

to incorporate foreign, dark-skinned citizens. See Eric T. Love, Race Over Empire: Racism and U.S. 

Imperialism, 1865–1900 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2004).

64 Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 3rd sess. (26 January 1899): 1126.

65 Quoted in Upchurch, Legislating Racism: 86.

66 Charles W. Calhoun, Benjamin Harrison (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 2005): 33, 55.

67 Upchurch, Legislating Racism: 94.

68 Ibid., 95.

69 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 1st sess. (26 June 1890): 6544.

70 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 1st sess. (28 June 1890): 6728.

71 Calhoun, Conceiving a New Republic: 242–243.

72 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (16 January 1891): 1480–1481.

73 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (12 January 1891): 1216. 

74 See W. Fitzhugh Brundage, ed., Under Sentence of Death: Lynching in the South (Chapel Hill: 

University of North Carolina Press, 1997); see also Brundage’s Lynching in the New South: Georgia 

and Virginia, 1880–1930 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1993). For a classic study of 

lynching, see NAACP secretary Walter White’s, Rope and Faggot: A Biography of Judge Lynch (Notre 

Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2001; reprint of 1929 Knopf edition).

75 Susan Carter et al., eds., Historical Statistics of the United States: Government and International 

Relations 5 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2006): 252–255. While this figure represents the 

most recent scholarship available, it almost certainly underrepresents the actual number of whiteon-black lynchings in the South. Figures exist for 10 of the original Confederate states (Alabama, 

Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, 

and Virginia). Figures for Texas are not included in this analysis. Statistics for Kentucky, a border 

state, are included in this figure. See also Stewart Tolnay and E. M. Beck, A Festival of Violence: An 

Analysis of Southern Lynchings, 1882–1930 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1995).

76 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 1st sess. (20 January 1900): 1021.

77 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 1st sess. (23 February 1900): 2151–2154; quotations on 

pages 2153, 2151.

78 Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 3rd sess. (26 January 1899): 1125. See also Justesen, 

George Henry White: 263. 

79 House of Representatives, 56th Cong., 2nd sess. (20 December 1900), report no. 2130: 15. This 

document, which contained a section entitled “History of Apportionment,” accompanied H.R. 

12740 and was generated by the Select Committee on the Twelfth Census. Later efforts to enforce 

that provision, following the wave of state constitutional conventions that drafted statutes to 

eliminate black voters, were pursued on several occasions but were feeble, halting and, ultimately, 

ineffective. The enforcement section was struck and never reinserted into subsequent decennial 

apportionment bills.

80 Charles W. Eagles, Democracy Delayed: Congressional Reapportionment and Urban–Rural Conflict in 

the 1920s (Athens: The University Georgia Press, 1990): especially pages 21–31. 

81 House of Representatives, 55th Cong., 3rd sess. (3 March 1899), report no. 2354: 1–2.

82 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 2nd sess. (7 January 1901): 67–75; Perman, Struggle for 

Mastery: 228–229. States with additional poll taxes and property exclusions would potentially lose 

even more seats.

83 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 2nd sess. (8 January 1901): 737.

84 Ibid., 748.

188 H Black Americans in Congress 
85 Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 238–239. 

86 Congressional Record, House, 58th Cong., 2nd sess. (27 January 1904): 1276. Quotation in 

Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 240. 

87 “A Bomb in Caucus: Republican Proposition to Southern Democrats,” 18 April 1902, Washington 

Post: 1; Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 239–240. Subsequent reduction legislation also failed. In 

1903, Crumpacker assumed the chairmanship of the House Committee on the Census, affording 

him a prime perch from which to push for enforcement of the 14th Amendment. During the 59th 

Congress (1905–1907), Crumpacker, working with former Speaker of the House Joseph Keifer of 

Ohio, introduced a measure to reduce southern representation by 37 House seats. The bill never 

made it to the floor for a vote. See Congressional Record, House, 59th Cong., 1st sess. (16 March 

1906): 3885–3894; “Crusade Against South as Result of Campaign for ‘Disfranchisement,’” 

27 February 1906, Atlanta Constitution: 1; “Gen. Keifer’s New Reconstruction,” 3 March 

1906, Washington Post: 6; “Disfranchisement and Reapportionment,” 4 March 1906, Atlanta 

Constitution: C4. In May 1908, Crumpacker managed to attach a reduction rider to a campaign 

contribution reform bill. The amended measure passed the House, despite condemnations from 

southern Members, but the campaign bill and its rider died quietly in the Senate Committee 

on Privileges and Elections at the end of the 60th Congress (1907–1909). See Congressional 

Record, House, 60th Cong., 1st sess. (22 May 1908): 6763–6768; “Minority Is Hard Hit: 

House Republicans pass the Crumpacker Bill,” 23 May 1908, Washington Post: 4. For Williams’s 

quotation, see “House Upholds Stroke at South by Crumpacker,” 23 May 1908, Atlanta 

Constitution: 1. For southern reaction, see “The Crumpacker Menace,” 24 May 1908, Atlanta 

Constitution: A4; and “Fooling With Dynamite,” 27 May 1908, Atlanta Constitution: 6. 

88 Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 3rd sess. (26 January 1899): 1124.

89 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 2nd sess. (29 January 1901): 1638.

90 Howard N. Rabinowitz provides a detailed essay chronicling the history of Reconstruction-Era 

scholarship; see “Introduction: The Changing Image of Black Reconstructionists,” in Howard 

Rabinowitz, ed., Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era (Urbana: University of Illinois 

Press, 1982): xi–xxiv.

91 William Archibald Dunning, Reconstruction Political and Economic (New York: Harper & Brothers 

Publishers, 1907): 213; James Ford Rhodes, History of the United States From the Compromise of 

1850, Volume 7 (New York: MacMillian Company, 1906): 169.

92 John R. Lynch, “Some Historical Errors of James Ford Rhodes,” The Journal of Negro History 2 

(October 1917): 357; W. E. B. Du Bois, Black Reconstruction in America (New York: Harcourt, 

Brace, 1935, under the title Black Reconstruction; reprint, New York: Free Press, 1998): 629 

(citations are to the Free Press edition).

93 Most biographies appeared in the 1970s. See, for example, Okun Edet Uya, From Slavery to 

Political Service: Robert Smalls, 1839–1915 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1971); Peggy 

Lamson, The Glorious Failure: Black Congressman Robert Brown Elliott and the Reconstruction 

in South Carolina (New York: Norton, 1973); Peter D. Klingman, Josiah Walls: Florida’s Black 

Congressman of Reconstruction (Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 1976); and Loren 

Schweninger, James T. Rapier and Reconstruction (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 

1978). Recent scholars, too, have shown a renewed interest in the lives of 19th-century black 

Representatives. See, for example, Justesen, George Henry White (2001) and Marszalek, A Black 

Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow (2006). 

94 Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction (New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1993): 538; Carol Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The 

Representation of African Americans in Congress (Cambridge: Harvard University Press, 1993): 29.

95 Stephen Middleton, ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: A Documentary Sourcebook 

(Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): xx.

96 See Richard Hofstadter, Social Darwinism in American Thought (Philadelphia: University of 

Pennsylvania Press, 1944 under the title Social Darwinism in American Thought, 1860–1915; 

reprint, Boston: Beacon Press, 1992).

97 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 2nd sess. (7 January 1901): 74. For Crumpacker’s 

motivations, see Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 229.

98 Michael J. Klarman, “Court, Congress, and Civil Rights,” in Congress and the Constitution, Neal 

Devins and Keith E. Whittington, eds. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005): 175.

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 189
99 Richard B. Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933

(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1973): 19.

100 Gloria J. Browne-Marshall, Race, Law, and American Society, 1607 to Present (New York: Routledge, 

2007): 115–136, especially pages 118–122.

101 Plessy v. Ferguson 163 U.S. 537 (1896); Williams v. Mississippi 170 U.S. 213 (1898); Giles v. 

Harris 189 U.S. 475 (1903).

102 For more on Plessy v. Ferguson, see Charles A. Lofgren, The Plessy Case: A Legal Historical 

Interpretation (New York: Oxford University Press, 1987).

103The cases are discussed in detail in Kermit L. Hall, ed., The Oxford Companion to The Supreme Court 

of the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992).

104The rich literature on the Progressive movement includes Arthur S. Link and Richard L. 

McCormick, Progressivism (Arlington Heights, IL: Harlan Davidson, Inc., 1983); Wiebe, The 

Search for Order, 1877–1920; and Hays, The Response to Industrialism, 1885–1914. For a survey of 

the era, see John Milton Cooper, Pivotal Decades: The United States, 1900–1920 (New York: W. W. 

Norton, 1990).

105 Kousser, The Shaping of Southern Politics: 260–261. In the South, Progressivism provided an 

intellectual lynchpin for efforts to eradicate party competition and to exclude blacks from political 

participation. Kousser writes, “Suffrage restriction was entirely consonant with the Progressive urge 

to rationalize the economic and political system, to substitute public for private agreements, to 

enact reforms which disarmed radical critics while actually strengthening the status quo. . . . How 

much more rationalized was the South after 1900! Virtually every elected officeholder was a white 

Democrat. . . . Where the Redeemers had had to count out opponents during and after elections, 

Progressives stopped them from running at all by disfranchising their potential followers.”

106 Wiebe, The Search for Order, 1877–1920: 156.

107 For more on social Darwinism, see Stephen Jay Gould, The Mismeasure of Man, revised and 

expanded edition (New York: Norton, 1996); Allan Chase, The Legacy of Malthus: The Social 

Costs of the New Scientific Racism (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1980); Hofstadter, Social 

Darwinism in American Thought.

108 Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 January 1899): 1125.

109 For an exhaustive study on segregation in the federal government, see Desmond King, Separate and 

Unequal: Black Americans and the US Federal Government (New York: Oxford, 1995): especially 

pages 9, 20–27.

110 See, for example, H.R. 5968 (63rd Congress, 1913–1915), H.R. 7540 (64th Congress, 

1915–1917), H.R. 3573 (65th Congress, 1917–1919); King, Separate and Unequal: 218, appendix 

A1.3.

111 From 1914 and lasting until 1940, persons seeking civil service jobs were required to submit a 

photograph with their application—a de facto method of discrimination based on race and color. 

Successful African-American job seekers were assigned to a disproportionate number of menial 

positions (custodial, clerical, and laborer jobs) and very few supervisory positions. See King, 

Separate and Unequal: 4, 29, 48. As a result, the percentage of African-American civil servants 

declined from 6 to 4.9 percent of the federal workforce during the Wilson administration, though 

that figure was somewhat misleading because the actual total increased due to the growth of 

the federal government during the war production effort. Kendrick A. Clements, The Presidency 

of Woodrow Wilson (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1992): 45–46, 60–61. See also Joel 

Williamson The Crucible of Race: Black-White Relations in the American South Since Emancipation 

(New York: Oxford University Press, 1984). For percentages of African Americans in the 

federal workforce, see King, Separate and Unequal: 49. Even after Wilson left office, however, 

discrimination in the federal government remained pervasive. King, Separate and Unequal: 16, 20, 

222, 229 (appendices A2.2 and A3.2).

112 King, Separate and Unequal: 26–27.

113 For a history of the NAACP, see Gilbert Jonas, Freedom’s Sword: The NAACP and the Struggle Against 

Racism in America, 1909–1969 (New York: Routledge, 2005).

114 See Adam P. Plant, “Selective Service Act of 1917,” in Brian K. Landsberg, ed., Major Acts of 

Congress, Volume 3 (New York: Macmillan Reference/Thompson Gale, 2004): 178–181; see also 

Robert W. Mullen, Blacks in America’s War: The Shift in Attitudes From the Revolutionary War to 

Vietnam (New York: Monad Press, 1973).

190 H Black Americans in Congress 
115 Franklin and Moss, From Slavery to Freedom: 361–362. 

116 Ibid., 366–374. Among these, the 15th New York Regiment of the 369th U.S. Infantry stood out. 

It was the first Allied unit to reach the German border on the Rhine River, and never yielded a 

trench or lost a member to capture. The French awarded the entire regiment the Croix de Guerre.

117 For more on black migrations in the post-Reconstruction period and the 20th century, see Nicholas 

Lemann’s The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How It Changed America (New 

York: Knopf, 1991); Nell Irvin Painter, Exodusters: Black Migrants to Kansas After Reconstruction 

(Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1986); Douglas Flamming, Bound for Freedom: Black 

Los Angeles in Jim Crow America (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2005). For a concise 

essay on the historical literature on this topic, see Joe William Trotter, “Great Migration: An 

Interpretation,” in Africana 3, Kwame Appiah and Henry Louis Gates, Jr., eds. (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 2005): 53–60. 

118 See the chart on regional black population shifts at the end of this essay. Migration was a long 

and vexing question in the South and among African-American communities generally. In 1822, 

the American Colonization Society (ACS) acquired a small tract of land in the British colony 

of Sierra Leone in sub-Saharan Africa and named it “Liberia”—a settlement of people “made 

free.” Approximately 15,000 free blacks from the United States migrated to Liberia over the 

next 20 years. Though the ACS initially received support from several prominent politicians, 

vocal objectors and an economic depression in Liberia killed the project by the 1830s. After 

Reconstruction, the issue of African migration was rekindled; however, many leading blacks, 

among them John Langston, opposed foreign emigration. “Abuse us as you will, gentlemen,” 

Langston told Democrats. “There is no way to get rid of us. This is our native country.” 

Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (16 January 1891): 1480–1482; see also 

William Cohen, At Freedom’s Edge: Black Mobility and the Southern White Quest for Racial Control, 

1861–1915 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1991).

119 “Sees No Hope in South,” 26 August 1900, Chicago Daily Tribune: 7; “Southern Negro’s 

Complaint,” 26 August 1900, New York Times: 8. White lived in Washington and Philadelphia for 

the rest of his life. He was among eight black Congressmen in the 19th century who left the South 

after their service in Washington. 

120 See Hahn’s discussion in A Nation Under Our Feet: 465–476; quotations on pages 465, 466.

121 Edmund David Cronon, Black Moses: The Story of Marcus Garvey and the Universal Negro 

Improvement Association (Madison: University of Wisconsin Press, 1955): especially pages 

204–207, 212–220.

122 Hahn, A Nation Under Our Feet: 470–473.

123Carter et al., Historical Statistics of the United States: Government and International Relations 5: 

252–255.

124 William B. Hixson, Jr., “Moorefield Storey and the Defense of the Dyer Anti-Lynching Bill,” New 

England Quarterly 42 (March 1969): 65–81; Robert L. Zangrando, The NACCP Crusade Against 

Lynching, 1909–1950 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1980): 18–19, 80–83, 214.

125 The standard biography on Johnson is Robert Fleming, James Weldon Johnson (New York: Twayne 

Publishers, 1987).

126 For more on Johnson and his role in lobbying for the Dyer Bill, see his memoir, Along This Way 

(New York: DaCapo Press, 2000; reprint of 1933 Viking Press edition): especially pages, 361–373; 

quotation on page 363.

127 Congressional Directory, 65th Congress; Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 

1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.congress.gov.

128 Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching, 1909–1950: 42–43.

129 Ibid., 36–37.

130 Congressional Record, House, 65th Cong., 1st sess. (9 July 1917): 4879; Congressional Record, 

House, 65th Cong., 1st sess. (6 July 1918): 8827. See also Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade 

Against Lynching: 43. The East St. Louis tragedy epitomized wartime racial violence in cities—

spurred in large measure by the growing influx of southern blacks and immigrant whites and 

increased competition for industrial employment and housing. Over the next two years, riots 

occurred in Houston, Texas; Chester, Pennsylvania; Washington, DC; Knoxville, Tennessee; 

Omaha, Nebraska; and Chicago, Illinois. The summer of 1919, known widely as the “Red 

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 191
Summer,” was particularly violent—with 26 race riots reported nationwide resulting in hundreds 

of deaths. For a representative account of a particularly violent episode in 1919, see William M. 

Tuttle, Jr., Race Riot: Chicago in the Red Summer of 1919 (New York: Atheneum, 1980).

131 Congressional Record, House, 65th Cong., 2nd sess. (7 May 1918): 6177.

132 Congressional Record, House, 65th Cong., 2nd sess. (7 May 1918): 6177–6178.

133 Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching, 1909–1950: 54–55, 61–62; Johnson, Along 

This Way: 362–364.

134 Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching, 1909–1950: 61–62.

135 For the entire debate, see the Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 January 

1922): 1773–1796. 

136 Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching, 1909–1950: 63. Members were rounded up 

for a quorum on three dates: December 19 and December 20, 1921, and January 25, 1922. 

Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (25 January 1922): 1697–1698; Congressional 

Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (19 December 1921): 541–562.

137 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (4 January 1922): 797, 799; Congressional 

Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 January 1922): 1775. For Sumners’s complete speech 

on January 26, see pages 1774–1786. Sumners’s defense rested principally on the suppositions 

that such an intrusion of federal power on states’ rights was unconstitutional, that it placed state 

officers under federal control and, moreover, that proposed fines levied against local municipalities 

and individuals were excessively punitive. During the climax of the debate, Sumners taunted 

Dyer directly by using the analogy of the accused in a jailhouse besieged by the mob at the front 

door: “Today the Constitution of the United States stands at the door, guarding the governmental 

integrity of the States, the plan and the philosophy of our system of government, and the 

gentleman from Missouri, rope in hand, is appealing to you to help him lynch the Constitution.” 

Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 January 1922): 1774.

138 Johnson, Along This Way: 366; Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 January 

1922): 1784.

139 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 January 1922): 1795–1796.

140 Bankhead was the only one of these Members to deliver a lengthy floor speech. In his conclusion, 

he declared, “If it is a monstrously evil thing, as it is, to lynch a citizen, I answer that it is equally 

as felonious and culpable for a lawmaker knowingly to assassinate the Constitution.” Congressional 

Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 January 1922): 1792.

141 Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching, 1909–1950: 66.

142 Ibid., 66–67; Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 2nd sess. (21 September 1922): 

13075–13079, 13082–13086.

143 Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against Lynching, 1909–1950: 69.

144 Perman, Struggle for Mastery: 240.

145 With the exception of requiring a minimum of one Representative per state and no more than one 

Representative per 30,000 people, the Founders were vague as to how large future Congresses 

should be. This problem vexed Congress throughout history. For 120 years Congress used several 

methods to calculate the distribution of House seats. Sometimes in combination and sometimes 

by ignoring the inconvenient calculations of one system and embracing those of another, the 

House successfully reapportioned itself through the first 12 censuses—usually within a timely 

fashion and in a manner that expanded, or at least preserved, the representation of most states. 

Problems arose in the late 19th century when, according to one formula, which distributed some 

House seats based on fractions, smaller rural states began to lose representation to larger states as 

membership was increased. See Eagles, Democracy Delayed: 29; Office of the Clerk, “Congressional 

Apportionment,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/congApp.html. 

146 In the 1920s, for the first (and only) time in its history, the House failed to reapportion itself based 

on the most recent census figures. For nine years the House haltingly debated the method for 

reapportioning itself, and the membership remained at the level set after the 1910 Census: 435 

seats. In addition to disputing the proper statistical procedure for determining apportionment, 

Members contended with a number of thorny issues: Would the House become less efficient as 

it grew larger? How could the chamber physically hold the continually expanded memberships 

(required to ensure that no states lost representation)? Should African Americans and aliens be 

192 H Black Americans in Congress 
counted in the population counts, even though most could not vote? For the single best study of 

the fight over congressional reapportionment and the decision to cap the House Membership at 

435 Representatives, see Eagles, Democracy Delayed.

147 “Former Rep. Tinkham Dies, 86; Fired First U.S. Shot at Austria,” 29 August 1956, Washington 

Post: 16; “George Tinkham, Legislator, Dead,” 29 August 1956, New York Times: 28.

148 Richard H. Gentile, “Tinkham, George Holden,” ANB 21: 696.

149 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 1st sess. (6 May 1921): 1124–1126; the entire debate is 

on pages 1124–1131. For a brief account, see Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America 

from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 170–171.

150 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 1st sess. (6 May 1921): 1127.

151 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 1st sess. (6 May 1921): 1130–1131; Sherman, The 

Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 171.

152 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 1st sess. (14 October 1921): 6311–6312. See Eagles, 

Democracy Delayed: 47; Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to 

Hoover, 1896–1933: 171.

153 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 1st sess. (14 October 1921): 6312.

154 Ibid.; Eagles, Democracy Delayed: 47. For more information on Goodykoontz, see the Biographical 

Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000308. For a specific case study of election fraud and the call for 

reduction in Florida, see Paul Ortiz, Emancipation Betrayed (Berkeley: University of California 

Press, 2005): especially, 224–228.

155 For more on Rankin, see Walter Goodman, The Committee: The Extraordinary Career of the House 

Committee on Un-American Activities (New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1968). Also useful are 

his obituaries: “John Rankin Dies; Ex-Legislator, 78,” 27 November 1960, New York Times: 86; 

“Rep. John Rankin, 78; Lost House Seat in ’52,” 28 November 1960, Washington Post: B3.

156 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 1st sess. (14 October 1921): 6315–6316; Eagles, 

Democracy Delayed: 47–48.

157 Congressional Record, House, 67th Cong., 1st sess. (14 October 1921): 6316.

158 In late 1922, Representative Tinkham wrote President Warren G. Harding an open letter urging 

him to support such an investigation. He ventured as far as to warn President Harding that “the 

very tenure of the office you hold and the representation of the lower House of Congress is tainted 

with unconstitutionality.” See “Negro Right to Vote Is Urged on Harding,” 4 December 1922, 

New York Times: 2.

159 Eagles, Democracy Delayed: 51–53. 

160 In early December 1927, Tinkham reintroduced an (ultimately unsuccessful) amendment to 

create a special House panel to investigate disfranchisement by linking it to the larger issue of 

equitable distribution of House seats between urban and rural constituencies. See “Will Urge 

Congress to Investigate South,” 5 December 1927, New York Times: 3. In 1929, amid the dealcutting for a key combined census and apportionment measure that permanently set the House 

Membership at 435, Tinkham secured enough votes to pass two amendments to a comprehensive 

reapportionment bill that had passed the Senate; however, Speaker Nicholas Longworth of 

Ohio intervened in conjunction with Majority Leader John Q. Tilson of Connecticut to kill the 

Tinkham provisions. House leaders feared an open debate on the issue would undo the delicate 

coalition of support for the overall reapportionment package. See Congressional Record, House, 

71st Cong., 1st sess. (3 June 1929): 2348. For more on his efforts during debate on the general 

bill, see pages 2238–2243, 2271–2275, 2361–2364, and 2448–2449. See also Sherman, The 

Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 221–222; Eagles, 

Democracy Delayed: 79–80.

161 Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 222–223.

162 For more on Vardaman, see William F. Holmes, The White Chief: James K. Vardaman (Baton 

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1970) and James Kimble Vardaman: Southern Commoner

(Jackson, MS: Hederman Brothers, 1981). See also “Vardaman, James Kimble,” Biographical 

Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=V000070. 

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 193
194 H Black Americans in Congress 

163 Kousser, The Shaping of Southern Politics: 170.

164 Ibid., 232–236, quotations on page 237.

165V. O. Key, Southern Politics in State and Nation (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 1984; 

reprint of 1949 Knopf edition): 665.

166 For House Members’ perceptions of committee rankings based on desirability, see Stewart, 

“Committee Hierarchies in the Modernizing House, 1875–1947.” 

167 Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote: 41, 42–55. See also Nancy Weiss’s treatment in Farewell 

to the Party of Lincoln: Black Politics in the Age of FDR (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 

1983): 209–235.

168 Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 256. 

A significant break between the black elite and the Republican Party occurred in the aftermath 

of the August 1906 Brownsville affair. A garrison of African-American soldiers stationed near 

Brownsville, Texas, were accused (on the basis of scant evidence) of several shootings in the 

town. Three companies of black troops (167 enlisted men) were discharged without honor by 

recommendation of the U.S. Army command. President Theodore Roosevelt swiftly approved 

the findings. When Republican Senator Joseph B. Foraker of Ohio (a would-be contender for the 

1908 party’s presidential nomination) rose to defend the accused and criticized the White House, 

Roosevelt bristled and refused to reconsider the case. Aside from the injustice to the dishonorably 

discharged troops, the most lasting legacy was the alienation of a number of young black leaders, 

including Mary Church Terrell and Archibald Grimke.

169 Lewis L. Gould, Grand Old Party: A History of the Republicans (New York: Random House, 2003): 

224–225. 

170 Annual Report of the NAACP (1926): 32; cited in Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America 

from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 224.

171 For more on Hoover and African Americans, see Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America 

from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 224–259.

172 For an insightful analysis of Hoover’s southern strategy, see Donald J. Lisio, Hoover, Blacks & LilyWhites: A Study of Southern Strategies (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985).

173 Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 232.

174 Ibid., 258.

175 Manning Marable, Race, Reform, and Rebellion (Jackson: University of Mississippi Press, 1984): 10; 

Klarman, “Court, Congress, and Civil Rights,” especially pages 177–180. 
“This, Mr. Chairman, 

is perhaps the negroes’ 

temporary farewell to the 

American Congress,” said 

George White of North 

Carolina in his final House 

Floor speech. “But let me say, 

Phoenix-like he will rise up 

someday and come again.”

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 195
Henry Cheatham

John Langston

 Thomas Miller

 George Murray

George White

house republicans

1889 1890 1891 1892 1893 1894 1895 1896 1897 1898 1899 1900 1901 1902

Congressional Service

For Black Americans First Elected, 1888–1900

H Visual statistics iII H

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2005); also available at http://bioguide.congress.gov.

196 H Black Americans in Congress 
[1] The portion of the chart indicating party divisions in the 65th Congress (1917–1919) reflects the Election Day results: 215 Republicans; 214 Democrats; 3 Progressives; 

1 Independent Republican; 1 Prohibitionist; 1 Socialist. Democrats, with the help of third-party Members, organized the House and elected James Beauchamp (Champ) Clark 

of Missouri as Speaker.

Source: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.

Party Divisions in the House of Representatives

50th–70th Congresses (1887–1929) R

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

50th (1887–1889)

51st (1889–1891)

52nd (1891–1893)

53rd (1893–1895) 

54th (1895–1897)

55th (1897–1899)

56th (1899–1901)

57th (1901–1903)

58th (1903–1905)

59th (1905–1907)

60th (1907–1909)

61st (1909–1911)

62nd (1911–1913)

63rd (1913–1915)

64th (1915–1917)

66th (1919–1921)

67th (1921–1923)

68th (1923–1925)

69th (1925–1927)

70th (1927–1929)

republicans

other

democrats

65th (1917–1919)

[1]

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 197
Party Divisions in the Senate

50th–70th Congresses (1887–1929)

Source: U.S. Senate Historical Office.

198 H Black Americans in Congress 

S

50th (1887–1889)

51st (1889–1891)

52nd (1891–1893)

53rd (1893–1895) 

54th (1895–1897)

55th (1897–1899)

56th (1899–1901)

57th (1901–1903)

58th (1903–1905)

59th (1905–1907)

60th (1907–1909)

61st (1909–1911)

62nd (1911–1913)

63rd (1913–1915)

64th (1915–1917)

65th (1917–1919)

66th (1919–1921)

67th (1921–1923)

68th (1923–1925)

69th (1925–1927)

70th (1927–1929)

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

republicans

other

democrats
Black Population Gains 

in Selected Northern States, 1900–1950

Source: U.S. Census Bureau.

 I  N  P

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1900 1910 1920 1930 1940 1950

pennsylvania

ohio

michigan

new york

california

illinois

Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 H 199
Image courtesy of Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

A lifelong proponent of education and of the recognition 

 of African-American achievements in the postemancipation years, Henry Cheatham won back the “Black 

Second” district in eastern North Carolina, recapturing 

the seat formerly held by Representatives John Hyman and 

James O’Hara. “Politically, I am a Republican,” he told 

the Washington Post in 1889. “I was elected to Congress by 

the Republican party and upon Republican principles and 

there is no question about my not cheerfully supporting the 

party.”1

 However, Cheatham’s political loyalty was tempered 

by his increasing frustration with the party’s ambivalence 

toward Black Americans. 

Henry Plummer Cheatham was born into slavery in 

Henderson, North Carolina, on December 27, 1857. His 

mother was a plantation-house slave, and his father was 

rumored to be a prominent local white man. Cheatham 

was emancipated at the end of the Civil War at age eight, 

and because of his relative youth, his formal education was 

more extensive than most of his future black congressional 

colleagues’. Cheatham attended Henderson Public School, a 

makeshift school for free black children. With financial help 

from a white friend, Robert A. Jenkins, Cheatham attended 

North Carolina’s first college for African Americans, 

Shaw University Normal School in Raleigh, earning his 

A.B. degree in 1882. In 1887, the school awarded him 

an honorary master’s degree.2

 While studying at Shaw, he 

met his first wife, fellow student Louise Cherry, who later 

became a music teacher. The Cheathams had three children: 

Charles, Mamie, and Henry Plummer, Jr. After Louise 

Cherry Cheatham died in 1899, Henry Cheatham married 

Laura Joyner, with whom he had three more children: Susie, 

Richard, and James. 

Initially an educator, Cheatham soon found himself 

more interested in politics. In 1883, he was named 

principal of North Carolina’s Plymouth Normal School. 

A year later, he was elected register of deeds for Vance 

County. Cheatham made valuable political connections 

during his two terms as register. In 1887, he founded 

and incorporated an orphanage for black children in 

Oxford, North Carolina, and in 1888, he made his first 

bid for Congress. 

By the late 1880s, the Democratic-controlled North 

Carolina state legislature had tightened suffrage laws, 

greatly restricting black voters. Jim Crow statutes had 

disfranchised nearly 60 percent of the voting base in the 

“Black Second,” a predominantly African-American district 

that snaked along coastal sections of the northeastern part 

of the state.3

 A split in the African-American vote enabled 

“Black Second” Democrat Furnifold Simmons, to defeat 

incumbent Representative James O’Hara and another 

black candidate, Israel Abbott, in 1886. 

The initial stages of the 1888 campaign pointed to a 

similar outcome. Simmons’s chances for re-election were 

further strengthened by continued infighting among 

local Republicans. At a tumultuous Republican district 

convention, Cheatham topped 10 other candidates, 

including former Representatives John Hyman and James 

O’Hara.4

 Though he was eventually nominated without 

opposition, eight delegates abstained, indicating a tepid 

base of support. Black candidate George Allen Mebane 

used his early popularity at the district convention to run 

against Cheatham in the general election, claiming he 

had the backing of the Republican executive committee.5

Cheatham declined Mebane’s invitation to debate, refusing 

to recognize any other party candidate for the seat, and 

each candidate spent the summer of 1888 blaming the 

other for sustained Republican divisions. The rivalry 

continued unabated until October, when Mebane suddenly 

withdrew and asked his supporters to back Cheatham. 

Though Republicans praised him for acting for the sake 

Henry Plummer Cheatham

1857–1935

United States Representative H 1889–1893

Republican from North Carolina

former members H 18 87 – 1929

������������������������������������������������������������������������

200 H Black Americans in Congress
former members | 1887–1929 H 201
H Henry Plummer Cheatham H

of party unity, Democrats spread rumors that Cheatham 

supporters had bought off Mebane.6

 Simmons remained 

strategically neutral on racial issues, though as a Senator 

he would emerge as an extremist in the white supremacy 

movement. He also retained a relatively large AfricanAmerican following until a few weeks before the election, 

but his partisans were not as cautious.7

 Unable to depend 

on the divided vote that aided Simmons in 1886, district 

Democrats used white North Carolinians’ racial fears 

against Cheatham.8

 The black candidate fought back, 

warning black voters that Democrats wanted to return 

them to slavery.9

 Cheatham defeated Simmons by a narrow 

51 percent (a margin of roughly 600 votes).10 Across the 

state, Republicans had their best showing since 1872, 

claiming three of the state’s nine congressional seats.11

Cheatham arrived in Washington nearly a year early 

to familiarize himself with the legislative process. When 

the House organized itself in December 1889, he was the 

only black Member in the 51st Congress (1889–1891).12

Reactions to his arrival were curious, but favorable. 

Friendly newspapers emphasized his strong educational 

background, which earned him an assignment on the 

Committee on Education.13 Cheatham also served on the 

Committee on Expenditures on Public Buildings in the 

51st Congress. The North Carolina Representative was a 

behind-the-scenes legislator, focusing on his committee 

work and giving few speeches on the House Floor.14

Cheatham proved loyal to some of the principal 

Republican monetary policies of the early 1890s. He 

favored the McKinley Tariff, which raised duties an average 

of 45 percent to protect local manufacturers from foreign 

competitors.15 He noted that “the leading incentive of the 

great tariff system of America has always been to stimulate 

and protect home industries, and this has become the spirit 

of the age.”16 However, his only speech in the first session 

opposed a protective tax on compound lard made from pig 

fat and cottonseed oil. Cheatham explained that destitute 

farmers in his district began producing the hybrid lard after 

a fully animal-based product became too expensive due 

to an epidemic that had wiped out North Carolina’s hog 

population. “Our people are ... anxiously waiting to see if 

their friends in the North will take away from them the last 

blessing they have in the form of cheap food,” he pleaded 

with his colleagues, “a blessing, let me say, which materially 

affects the colored people’s condition at the South.”17

Cheatham’s black constituents faced unraveling 

economic and political conditions. During his first term, 

the teetering economy in eastern North Carolina plunged 

into depression. The prices of two staple crops, cotton and 

corn, dropped dramatically, squeezing small farmers.18

Poor economic prospects led to a decline in the black voter 

base in Cheatham’s district. By 1890, many emigrated 

from the economically depressed Carolinas in search of 

better opportunities in Arkansas, Texas, and Mississippi. 

In an attempt to stem the flight, Cheatham returned to 

his district in the first month of the 51st Congress and 

appealed to his constituents.19 But disfranchisement 

laws—including rigid requirements for proving birthplace 

and heritage, which necessitated documentation 

many freedmen did not possess—further discouraged 

local blacks.20 African Americans urged Cheatham 

and his Republican colleagues from North Carolina, 

Representatives John Bower and Hamilton Ewart, to 

withdraw from the House Republican Conference to 

protest the party’s perceived indifference to their plight. 

Black Republican voters insisted Republican leaders should 

be reminded of their dependence on black voters in the 

South. A loyal adherent to his party, Cheatham refused 

their demand.21

The Democratic Party’s loss to an African-American 

candidate two years before in the “Black Second” district 

convinced local leaders to embrace white supremacy 

campaigns by 1890. The cautious, neutral approach 

taken by Democrat Furnifold Simmons during his term 

in Congress was rapidly displaced by more extremist 

positions and the application of tremendous pressure 

on white Republican residents of the eastern black belt 

to vote against their African-American neighbors.22 But 

the Democrats, too, were divided by local economic 

depression. Wealthier party leaders, primarily lawyers and 

202 H Black Americans in Congress 
H Henry Plummer Cheatham H

editors, argued with farmers about how to resolve the 

business crisis.23 The Democrats eventually nominated 

James M. Mewboorne, a business agent for the powerful 

North Carolina Farmers’ Alliance, which had connections 

to the national Populist Party.24 Seeking to attract whites 

to his camp, Cheatham vowed to aid depressed farmers. 

He maintained his ties to black voters by railing against 

steel magnate Andrew Carnegie for hiring foreign laborers 

instead of blacks in his northern mills.25 Cheatham won 

re-election by roughly 1,000 votes, or 52 percent.26 He 

was the only Republican in the North Carolina delegation 

and the only black Member of the 52nd Congress 

(1891–1893). Despite an overwhelmingly Democratic 

Congress, Cheatham won a plum assignment to the 

Committee on Agriculture.27

Cheatham’s and his wife Louise’s poor health caused 

the Representative to be absent from most of the 52nd 

Congress. When present, Cheatham focused on advocating 

legislation publicly by emphasizing black citizens’ 

contributions to American society since emancipation. 

On May 25, 1892, Cheatham asked the House to 

appropriate $100,000 for an exhibit of African-American 

arts, crafts, tools, and industrial and agricultural products 

at the World’s Columbian Exhibition in Chicago in 

October 1893. However, Cheatham’s request was rejected 

after the debate degenerated into an argument on the 

Republican-backed Federal Elections Bill to reinforce 

the 15th Amendment. Democrats hijacked the debate, 

ominously warning that the “Force Bill” would only make 

life harder for southern blacks in the face of virulent white 

opposition.28 Cheatham openly lamented the direction of 

the debate, solemnly noting, “I regret exceedingly that this 

question has assumed a hot political phase. . . . It seems to 

me that whenever the colored people of this country ask 

for anything, something unfortunate intervenes to hinder 

their getting what they asked.”29

Cheatham also sought to boost the failing economy in 

his district by introducing measures to protect individual 

farmers and arguing for federal regulation on the sales 

of options and futures to protect rural communities, a 

stance supported even by his opponents.30 The strong 

partisan flair he showed in his first term faded in the face 

of so much opposition—from within the GOP and from 

outside—to his legislative initiatives. “I am exceedingly 

anxious that the Democratic and Republican parties shall 

get together when you come to the Negro and that all will 

be willing to join in the effort to do something for him,” 

he admitted in a floor speech.31 Cheatham broke with 

the Republican Party over the coinage of silver, joining 

the entire North Carolina delegation in voting for the 

unsuccessful measure.32

By 1892, the Democratic state legislature had carved 

up the “Black Second” district, virtually destroying its 

traditional voting base. The old district’s three southeastern 

counties—including Craven County, whose population 

was 65 percent black—were cut off.33 State election laws 

also limited the ability of North Carolina blacks to vote. 

The uneasy alliance between North Carolina Populists and 

Republicans dissolved. The third party nominated its own 

candidate for Congress, Edward Alston Thorne, who had 

strong connections to the Farmers’ Alliance.34 Democrats 

were optimistic, declaring that the “cloud of blackness 

which has hovered over this section for so long” had 

lifted.35 The Democrats selected Frederick A. Woodard, 

who had lost to former Representative James O’Hara in 

1884. Cheatham easily gained the support of the district’s 

Republican convention. The Populist Party, however, 

siphoned off some of the Republican base in the general 

election, luring African-American voters by offering a 

few black men patronage positions and nominations.36

Cheatham lost his seat to Woodard by more than 2,000 

votes (38 percent to Woodard’s 45 percent). Thorne placed 

third, with 17 percent of the vote.37

Cheatham did not relinquish his political career in 

Washington quietly. He won the Republican nomination 

for his old seat in 1894 but lost in the general election. 

Two years later, he lost the GOP nomination to his 

brother-in-law, George White, an outspoken political 

rival. Cheatham returned to Washington in 1897 when 

President William McKinley, a Republican and a former 

former members | 1887–1929 H 203
H Henry Plummer Cheatham H 

colleague in the House, appointed him recorder of deeds 

for the District of Columbia. The U.S. Senate confirmed 

Cheatham for the post and he served four years. Cheatham 

remained active in African-American politics in the nation’s 

capital, attending conferences with other prominent black 

men, including Frederick Douglass and Representative 

White, with whom he mended relations in the late 1890s. 

In 1907, Cheatham became the superintendent of the 

Oxford, North Carolina, orphanage he had founded two 

decades earlier. For the next 28 years, he expanded its 

facilities and surrounding farmland. At the time of his 

death in Oxford, on November 29, 1935, the orphanage 

housed 200 children.

For Further Reading

Anderson, Eric. Race and Politics in North Carolina, 

1872–1901 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University 

Press, 1981).

“Cheatham, Henry Plummer,” Biographical Directory of 

the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000340. 

Logan, Frenise A. The Negro in North Carolina, 

1876–1894 (Chapel Hill: The University of North 

Carolina Press, 1964).

Reid, George W. “Four in Black: North Carolina’s Black 

Congressmen, 1874–1901,” The Journal of Negro History

64 (Summer 1979): 229–243.

Manuscript Collection

The New York Public Library (New York, NY) 

Manuscripts, Archives and Rare Books Division, 

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. Papers:

In the Henry Plummer Cheatham Papers, 1912–1941, two 

file folders. Persons represented include Henry Plummer 

Cheatham’s father, Representative Henry Plummer 

Cheatham.

204 H Black Americans in Congress 
H Henry PlUMmer Cheatham H

Notes

1 “Cheatham No Kicker,” 29 July 1889, Washington Post: 2.

2 Cheatham also received legal training under white Republican 

Robert E. Hancock, Jr., but he never practiced law. See Stephen 

Middleton ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: A 

Documentary Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 59.

3 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1883–1913 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): 97–99.

4 Eric Anderson, Race and Politics in North Carolina, 1872–1901

(Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1981): 147–149.

5 Frenise A. Logan, The Negro in North Carolina, 1876–1894

(Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1964): 37; 

Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 156.

6 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 157.

7 Anderson, Race and Politics: 159.

8 Ibid., 154–155.

9 Leonard Schlup, “Cheatham, Henry Plummer,” American National 

Biography 4 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 765–766 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

10 Michael J. Dubin et al., United States Congressional Elections, 

1788–1997 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, 1998): 282.

11 Anderson, Race and Politics: 161.

12 Black Members Thomas Miller of South Carolina and John 

Langston of Virginia were seated at the end of the first session.

13 “Why We Are ‘Suckers,’” 8 April 1889, Chicago Daily Tribune: 1; 

“The Solitary Colored Member,” 6 December 1888, Washington 

Post: 2.

14 Anderson, Race and Politics: 170.

15 Steven W. Stathis, Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002: Major U.S. 

Acts and Treaties (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 

2003): 134.

16 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 1st sess. (23 August 

1890): A625.

17 Ibid., A624.

18 Anderson, Race and Politics: 171–172.

19 “Cheatham’s Constituents,” 11 January 1890, Washington Post: 1.

20 Anderson, Race and Politics: 167.

21 “Tanner’s Vacant Chair,” 4 October 1889, New York Times: 5.

22 Anderson, Race and Politics: 165.

23 Ibid., 172.

24 For an indication of the political power behind the Farmers’ 

Alliance, see “North Carolina Republicans,” 31 July 1890, 

Atlanta Constitution: 1. Mewboorne’s name is occasionally spelled 

“Mewborne.”

25 Schlup, “Cheatham, Henry Plummer,” ANB; Anderson, Race and 

Politics: 178.

26 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 291.

27 Mildred L. Amer, “Black Members of the United States Congress: 

1870–2007,” 27 September 2007, Report RL30378, Congressional 

Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC. The 

Agriculture Committee assignment was one of the most attractive 

committee posts during this period. Political scientist Charles 

Stewart III ranks it as the eighth-most-desired assignment, using 

data collected from 1877 to 1947. See Stewart, “Committee 

Hierarchies in the Modernizing House, 1875–1947,” American 

Journal of Political Science 36 (1992): 845. It is unclear why 

Cheatham received such an important committee assignment, 

especially as the Democrats held the majority in the 52nd 

Congress; however, Stewart notes that in some late-19th-century 

Congresses, the Minority Leader was given jurisdiction over 

minority committee assignments (Ibid., 842).

28 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 157.

29 Congressional Record, House, 52nd Cong., 1st sess. (25 May 1892): 

4683.

30 Anderson, Race and Politics: 188.

31 Congressional Record, House, 52nd Cong., 1st sess. (25 May 1892): 

4683.

32 Congressional Record, House, 52nd Cong., 1st sess. (13 July 1892): 

6133. The rest of the Republicans who voted for the bill were from 

silver-mining states.

33 See Anderson, Race and Politics: 141, 186. For maps of 

congressional districts over time, see Parsons et al., United States 

Congressional Districts, 1883–1913: 255–257.

34 Anderson, Race and Politics: 194.

35 Quoted from the Tarboro (NC) Southern in Anderson, Race and 

Politics: 186.

36 Anderson, Race and Politics: 199.

37 Dubin et al., United States Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 299.

former members | 1887–1929 H 205
Image courtesy of Library of Congress

One of the most prominent African Americans in 

the United States before and during the Civil War, 

John Mercer Langston was as famous as his political 

nemesis, Frederick Douglass.1

 One of the first African 

Americans to hold elective office in the United States 

(he became Brownhelm, Ohio, township clerk in 1855), 

Langston topped off his long political career by becoming 

the first black man to represent Virginia in the U.S. 

House of Representatives. 

John Mercer Langston was born free in Louisa, Virginia, 

on December 14, 1829.2

 His father, Ralph Quarles, 

was a plantation owner and had been a captain in the 

Revolutionary War. Langston’s mother, Lucy, was a free 

Native American-black woman who had been Ralph 

Quarles’s slave. Quarles emancipated Lucy and their 

daughter, Maria, in 1806. Lucy Langston left Quarles 

shortly after she was freed and had three children outside 

their relationship: William, Harriet, and Mary Langston. 

The couple later reunited, though state law forbade them 

to marry, and had three more children: Gideon, Charles 

Henry, and John Mercer. When John Langston’s parents 

died in 1834, his father’s estate was divided among his 

three sons and held in trust. Four-year-old John Langston 

moved in with a family friend, William Gooch, and his 

family in Chillicothe, Ohio. When Langston was 10 years 

old, Gooch made plans to move to Missouri, then a slave 

state. John’s half brother, William, sued to relinquish 

Gooch’s custody over his brother, fearing the move would 

jeopardize John’s freedom and his substantial inheritance. 

The court prevented Gooch from taking the child to 

Missouri, and Langston became the ward of Richard Long, 

an abolitionist who had purchased William Gooch’s Ohio 

farm.3

 In 1840, John Langston’s brother Gideon brought 

John to live with him in Cincinnati. One of the city’s 

leading black figures, Gideon ensured that his brother 

received a good education. In Cincinnati, John Langston 

heard some of the strongest antislavery rhetoric in the 

pre–Civil War North, and experienced the violent race 

riots of 1841 and the restrictive “Black Laws” imposed as a 

consequence.4

 In 1843, William Langston took custody of 

John and returned with him to Chillicothe.

John’s older brothers and their colleagues, who were 

among the first black graduates of Oberlin College in 

Ohio, inspired him to attend their alma mater. Langston 

received a B.A. in 1849 and an M.A. in theology in 1852. 

Langston wanted to become a lawyer, a profession only 

three black men in the nation had officially achieved 

nationwide in the early 1850s. After two law schools 

denied him admission, he studied under local abolitionists 

in Elyria, Ohio. In September 1854, a committee on the 

district court confirmed his knowledge of the law, deeming 

him “nearer white than black,” and admitted him to the 

Ohio bar. He commenced his practice in Brownhelm, 

Ohio.5

 In 1854, he married Caroline Wall, also a former 

student at Oberlin, who was active in the abolitionist 

movement and the Liberty Party.6

 The couple raised five 

children: Arthur, Ralph, Chinque, Nettie, and Frank.7

Langston’s political involvement started with the Ohio 

conventions. A series of public meetings held statewide 

by prominent African Americans, the conventions called 

for the enfranchisement of black men and promoted 

their political participation. In 1852, Langston officially 

allied himself with the Free Democrats, who condemned 

the Fugitive Slave Law, allowed black delegates at their 

conventions, and elected Frederick Douglass as the 

national party secretary.8

 Langston’s political career soared 

throughout the 1850s and 1860s. On April 22, 1855, he 

became one of the first African Americans elected to public 

office in the United States when Brownhelm Township 

voted him clerk on the Liberty Party ticket.9

 In 1856, he 

John Mercer Langston

1829–1897

United States Representative H 189 0–1891

Republican from Virginia

former members H 18 87 – 1929

������������������������������������������������������������������������

206 H Black Americans in Congress
former members | 1887–1929 H 207
left Brownhelm for Oberlin and served on the town’s board 

of education. During the Civil War, Langston recruited 

black soldiers in the Midwest. He never served in the 

Union Army, but hired a substitute to take his place—a 

practice common among wealthy white men.10 Following 

the war, he served on the Oberlin city council. In 1867, 

Langston served as Inspector General of the Freedmen’s 

Bureau, touring the postwar South and encouraging 

freedmen to seek educational opportunities. He regularly 

spoke out against segregated facilities, including churches.11

For the first two decades of the postwar era, Langston 

held prominent political and educational appointments. 

In 1868, he returned to Washington, DC, where he 

established the law department at Howard University, a 

new college founded to educate African Americans. In the 

early 1870s, Senator Charles Sumner of Massachusetts 

sought Langston’s aid in drafting his Civil Rights Bill. In 

1871, Langston received an appointment from President 

Ulysses S. Grant (for whom he had campaigned in 1868) 

to the District of Columbia Board of Health. Langston 

served as Howard University’s dean from 1868 to 1875 

and from 1874 to 1875 as vice president and acting 

president of Howard; however, he resigned from the 

university when the board of trustees failed to offer him a 

full term as president.

In 1877, President Rutherford B. Hayes appointed 

Langston resident minister to Haiti and chargé d’affaires 

in Santo Domingo. Following his departure in 1885, 

Langston petitioned the Court of Claims for over $7,000 

withheld from him after the Democratically controlled 

House appropriated less than his fixed diplomatic salary. 

The U.S. Supreme Court ruled in his favor in 1886. From 

1885 to 1887, Langston served as president of the Virginia 

Normal and Collegiate Institute in Petersburg. He left after 

the college’s board of governors fell into Democratic hands. 

Settling in south-central Virginia, Langston was viewed 

as a celebrity by his black neighbors. In 1888, a citizen’s 

committee asked Langston to run for a seat in the U.S. 

House, representing the “Black Belt of Virginia,” a region 

whose population was 65 percent black.12 Although 

Langston had been assured that his nomination and 

election were nearly guaranteed, he began an aggressive 

campaign for the Republican ticket.13 Langston lobbied 

both white and black delegates to the district convention 

at a lavish party hosted by several prominent black women 

in Petersburg.14

His efforts were thwarted by strong opposition from 

white Republicans led by scalawag Confederate General 

William Mahone, a central figure in Virginia Republican 

politics.15 Using his formidable power over district 

Republicans—both black and white—Mahone orchestrated 

a separate district convention, excluding Langston’s 

supporters, to nominate white candidate Judge R. W. 

Arnold. Though his appeal for support from the National 

Republican Executive Committee was unsuccessful, 

Langston obtained the backing of a biracial committee of 

district Republicans, entered the race as an Independent 

Republican, and methodically canvassed the district.16

The election brought out stark racial divisions. 

Democratic candidate Edward Venable refused to share a 

debate platform with Langston throughout the campaign.17

Moreover, because Langston’s candidacy threatened 

to divide the Republican vote, several prominent 

African Americans campaigned against him.18 Frederick 

Douglass, chief among Langston’s detractors, wrote a 

letter denouncing his candidacy, and the Mahone faction 

spread copies throughout the district.19 On Election Day, 

Langston dispatched supporters to monitor every precinct 

for irregularities. His lieutenants instructed voters to say 

Langston’s name after voting, as evidence of their support. 

Separate lines for blacks and whites at the polls meant black 

voters had to wait as long as three hours to vote. Ballot 

boxes were allegedly emptied of Langston’s votes; Langston’s 

supporters were not permitted to witness the count.20 As 

predicted, the Republican vote split; initial results indicated 

that Langston lost by 641 votes to Venable. Arnold was a 

distant third.21

Langston contested the result in the House. At first, 

he had trouble hiring a lawyer; most attorneys in the 

district were white, and even sympathetic Republicans 

208 H Black Americans in Congress 

H John Mercer Langston H
feared social and political ostracism.22 Langston finally 

hired a biracial team of lawyers (the white lawyers charged 

an exorbitant fee). The case took several twists. One of 

Langston’s witnesses was cross-examined for six days, 

an incident Langston interpreted as a stalling tactic.23

Langston meanwhile tried to mend political fences in his 

district and even agreed to work on Mahone’s gubernatorial 

campaign.24 The Republican majority on the Committee 

on Elections ruled in Langston’s favor on June 16, 1890, 

but the whole House delayed hearing his case for three 

months.25 Democrats repeatedly blocked the case from 

coming to a vote on the floor, primarily by vacating the 

chamber to prevent a quorum, leaving only a few Members 

to address their interests.26

On September 23, 1890, Langston’s case finally came 

to a vote before a crowded gallery occupied primarily by 

African Americans.27 All but nine of the 152 Democratic 

Members retired to the hallway to avoid a quorum. But 

Republican discipline prevailed; the majority doggedly 

mustered enough Members, primarily from their own 

ranks.28 Over Democratic protests that a quorum was 

not present, the House declared Langston the winner 

in a lopsided vote of 151 to 1.29 The vote gave Langston 

Venable’s seat for the remaining seven months of the 

Congress. Most Democratic Members boycotted Langston’s 

swearing in a few minutes later, but a few offered him 

cordial congratulations upon re-entering the chamber.30

Langston’s experience in higher learning earned him

 a position on the Committee on Education.31 He 

immediately assisted the Republican majority by voting 

in favor of the controversial McKinley Tariff, a protective 

measure designed to drive up the price of cheap goods 

manufactured abroad. A Democratic newspaper 

commented that Langston’s position on tariffs represented 

“a wall about the country so high and so great that the 

British lion would never have been able to get over it 

without the aid of dynamite or a scaling ladder.”32

Only one week after arriving in Congress, Langston 

had to return home to campaign for re-election. Despite 

their previous “truce,” William Mahone, now the governor, 

refused to support Langston as his district’s Republican 

candidate. Antagonized by Langston’s Independent run for 

office in 1888, Mahone accused him of purposely dividing 

the electorate by race.33 Langston responded that Mahone 

was blinded by racism and “almost a Democrat.”34 The 

district convention backed Langston, whose strong support 

was primarily from the black population. Republican 

newspaper accounts indicate that President Benjamin 

Harrison, congressional Republicans, and the GOP 

national leadership supported Langston’s re-election.35

However, many white Republicans in the district followed 

Mahone’s lead and abandoned Langston, in some measure 

because of his unpopular vote on the McKinley Tariff.36

Langston lost the election to Democratic candidate James 

Epes by about 3,000 votes in the state’s first Democratic 

sweep since before secession.37 Democratic newspapers 

blamed black voters’ apathy for their party’s solid victory in 

the state, but the contest mirrored a national trend: From 

nearly a 20-Member deficit, Democrats in the U.S. House 

captured a 100-Member majority.38 Langston believed the 

election was tainted by fraud—as evidenced by long lines 

for black Republicans at the polls, missing ballots in black 

strongholds, and undue pressure by Mahone supporters.39

But he feared contesting the election in the strongly 

Democratic Congress would be expensive.40

Returning in December 1890 as a lame duck to his first 

full session in Congress, Langston made his first speech on 

January 16, 1891. He emphasized blacks’ U.S. citizenship, 

condemning calls for foreign emigration and what he 

deemed the Democratic Party’s attempt to thwart black 

freedom. “Abuse us as you will, gentlemen,” Langston told 

Democrats, “we will increase and multiply until, instead of 

finding every day five hundred black babies turning their 

bright eyes to greet the rays of the sun, the number shall 

be five thousand and still go on increasing. There is no 

way to get rid of us. This is our native country.” Frequent, 

loud applause from the Republican side of the chamber 

interrupted Langston’s speech. Newspapers admitted that 

Langston’s speech rambled, but deemed him one of the 

most eloquent speakers on the House Floor.41 One day 

former members | 1887–1929 H 209

H John Mercer Langston H
after his speech, Langston asked the U.S. Attorney General 

to send the House all documentation of suits on alleged 

violations of voting rights.42 The Judiciary Committee 

agreed to Langston’s resolution, and it was adopted in 

the whole House. However, the Attorney General’s office 

never complied, and the disfranchisement of southern 

freedmen continued. 

Not all of Langston’s legislative efforts were successful. 

Langston submitted bills to establish a national industrial 

university to teach blacks useful labor skills and to 

observe as national holidays the birthdays of former 

Presidents Abraham Lincoln and Ulysses S. Grant, but 

the bills died in committee.43 Langston was unable to 

secure the appointments of several black candidates to 

the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the U.S. 

Naval Academy at Annapolis.44 On February 27, 1891, 

Langston returned to the House Floor to debate a civil 

appropriations bill. He used his experience as a diplomat 

in the Caribbean to advocate protection for American 

shipping interests.45

Langston returned to Petersburg, Virginia, at the 

end of the 51st Congress. In 1892, Republicans in his 

Virginia district asked him to run again, but he refused, 

noting that a white candidate would likely have more 

success. He continued to be active in politics, often 

speaking publicly about the achievements of his race.46

Promised a federal judicial appointment as well as several 

Treasury Department patronage positions, Langston began 

campaigning for President Benjamin Harrison’s re-election 

in 1892; however, when the administration withdrew the 

promised positions, he backed rival Republican James 

G. Blaine’s quest for the nomination. Langston spent the 

remainder of his life traveling between Petersburg and 

Washington and working on his autobiography, From the 

Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol, which was 

published in 1894. Langston died at home in Washington, 

DC, on November 15, 1897. 

For Further Reading

Cheek, William and Aimee Lee Cheek. John Mercer 

Langston and the Fight for Black Freedom, 1829–1865

(Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989).

“Langston, John Mercer,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000074. 

Langston, John Mercer. From the Virginia Plantation 

to the National Capitol, ed. William Loren Katz (New 

York: Arno Press, 1999; reprint of an 1894 edition by the 

American Publishing Co. [Hartford, CT]).

MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS

Fisk University (Nashville, TN) Special Collections, 

John Hope and Aurelia E. Franklin Library. Papers:

1853–1898, approximately three feet (900 items). The 

papers of John Mercer Langston consist of correspondence, 

speeches, drafts of writings, receipts, estate papers, banking 

papers, handbills, passports, minutes, a scrapbook, and 

newspaper clippings. Subjects covered in the papers include 

slavery in the United States, the abolition movement, 

Reconstruction, American relations with Haiti and 

the Dominican Republic, Howard University, the War 

Department, and the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen and 

Abandoned Lands.

Howard University (Washington, DC) Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center. Papers: 1870–1891, two linear 

feet. The scrapbooks of John Mercer Langston contain 

newspaper clippings, broadsides, programs, and invitations 

relating to race relations and politics in the United States. 

Includes information about the Virginia Normal and 

Collegiate Institute (now Virginia State University) in 

Petersburg, Virginia, and the John G. Whittier Historical 

Association in Memphis, Tennessee. A finding aid is 

available in the repository.

Library of Congress (Washington, DC) Manuscript 

Division. Microfilm: 1853–1898, one reel. The papers 

210 H Black Americans in Congress 

H John Mercer Langston H
of John Mercer Langston consist of correspondence, 

speeches, drafts of writings, receipts, estate papers, banking 

papers, handbills, passports, minutes, a scrapbook, and 

newspaper clippings. Subjects covered in the papers include 

slavery in the United States, the abolition movement, 

Reconstruction, American relations with Haiti and 

the Dominican Republic, Howard University, the War 

Department, and the Bureau of Refugees, Freedmen 

and Abandoned Lands. The original papers are at 

Fisk University.

Notes

1 For a comparison of the two men’s fame, see, for example, 

“Mahone Makes a Dicker,” 16 September 1889, New York Times: 1.

2 Though Stephen Middleton notes that Langston’s status at 

birth—slave or free—is controversial, most sources indicate that his 

mother was freed long before his birth and that he was born free. 

Some ambiguity stems from whether Lucy Langston was subject 

to strict Virginia Black Codes and not considered legally free. See 

Stephen Middleton ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: 

A Documentary Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 125.

3 “John Mercer Langston,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black 

American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 1999): 

693–698 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM).

4 “John Mercer Langston,” NBAM. Black Laws included, “bonding, 

return of all fugitive slaves, repudiation of the doctrines and 

activities of abolitionists, and...the total disarmament and arrest of 

black lawbreakers.”

5 Ibid.

6 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 140.

7 Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders 

During Reconstruction, revised edition (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1996): 128. 

8 “John Mercer Langston,” NBAM.

9 Most standard secondary sources cite Langston’s election as 

clerk of Brownhelm Township as the first time a black man was 

elected to public office in the United States. See, for example, 

Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: 128; William Cheek and Aimee Lee 

Cheek, John Mercer Langston and the Fight for Black Freedom, 

1829–1865 (Urbana: University of Illinois Press, 1989): 260. 

However, this honor likely went to Alexander Twilight, who was 

elected to the Vermont state house of representatives and presented 

his credentials on October 13, 1836. See Journal of the House of 

Representatives of the State of Vermont, 1836 (Middlebury, VT: 

American Office, 1836): 7; Joanne Pope Melish, Disowning Slavery: 

Gradual Emancipation and “Race” in New England, 1780–1860

(Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1998): 40. Some sources list the 

date of Langston’s election as April 2, 1885, whereas others list it 

as April 22. There is also disagreement about his party affiliation: 

Some sources list him as an Independent Democrat, while others 

list him as a member of the Free Soil or Liberty parties.

10 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 141.

11 Frank R. Levstik, “Langston, John Mercer,” Dictionary of American 

Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 382–384.

12 William Cheek and Aimee Lee Cheek, “Langston, John Mercer,” 

American National Biography 13 (New York: Oxford, 1999): 

164–166; Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional 

Districts, 1883–1913 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): 

157–158; John Mercer Langston, From the Virginia Plantation to 

the National Capitol, ed. William Loren Katz (New York: Arno 

Press, 1999; reprint of the American Publishing Co. [Hartford, 

CT], 1894 edition): 451.

13 Langston, From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 439.

14 Ibid., 442.

15 Mahone’s influence is illustrated in several sources. See, for 

example, “Revolt Against Mahone,” 20 September 1888, New York 

Times: 1; “Mahone’s Lost Power,” 21 September 1888, New York 

Times: 1.

16 Langston, From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 

454–455, 458; “Campaign Features,” 11 August 1888, Washington 

Post: 2. Langston credited local black women with his electoral 

success; though unable to vote, they were adept at organizing local 

meetings.

17 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 145; Langston, From the 

Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 462.

18 See, for example, J. W. Cromwell, “Letters from the People,” 23 

August 1888, Washington Post: 7.

19 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 145; Langston, From the 

Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 466–467.

20 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 145; Langston, From the 

Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 477–481. 

21 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 284.

22 Langston, From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 

487–489.

23 Ibid., 492.

24 Ibid., 495; “Virginia Political Notes,” 4 August 1889, Washington 

Post: 12.

former members | 1887–1929 H 211

H John Mercer Langston H
quorum, but refused to vote, 14 members (four Republicans) were 

officially recorded as present and not voting. See Langston, From 

the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 499; a full account 

of Langston’s seating can be found in the Congressional Record, 

House, 51st Cong., 1st sess. (23 September 1890): 10338–10339.

30 Langston, From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 

500–501; Thomas Miller of South Carolina was seated one day 

after Langston. Langston recalled being offered a seat next to 

Henry Cheatham of North Carolina, the only other black Member 

in the House.

31 “Pleading for His Race,” 1 March 1888, Atlanta Constitution: 1.

32 “The Influence of Mahone,” 10 October 1890, New York Times: 5.

33 “Mahone May Oppose Langston,” 27 September 1890, New York 

Times: 5; “Mahone and Langston,” 31 October 1890, Washington 

Post: 1.

34 “Langston’s Next Fight,” 15 November 1890, Washington Post: 2.

35 “Langston Is Confident,” 8 October 1890, Washington Post: 1.

36 “Negroes His Only Support,” 30 October 1890, Washington Post: 

1; “The Issues in Virginia,” 29 October 1890, New York Times: 5.

37 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 292; “Solid 

in Virginia: The Apathy of the Negroes a Feature in the Contest,” 6 

November 1890, New York Times: 2.

38 See Office of the Clerk, “Political Divisions of the House of 

Representatives (1789 to Present),” available at http://clerk.house.

gov/art_history/house_history/partyDiv.html. 

39 “Langston’s Next Fight.” 

40 “Langston Will Not Contest,” 10 March 1891, Washington Post: 5.

41 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 147.

42 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (17 January 

1891): 1524.

43 In 1885, President George Washington’s birth date (February 22) 

became a federal holiday. Since the 1971 passage of the Uniform 

Monday Holidays Act, Washington’s Birthday has been celebrated 

on the third Monday in February and is known as “President’s 

Day” in recognition of all Presidents.

44 Langston, From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol: 517.

45 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (27 February 

1891): 3490–3493.

46 See, for example, “Langston Upholds His Race,” 8 January 1894, 

Washington Post: 5; “Emancipation at Alexandria,” 23 September 

1895, Washington Post: 7.

25 Considerable coverage of the contested election is included in the 

Congressional Record. See Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 

1st sess. (9 September 1890): 9917–9923; Congressional Record, 

House, 51st Cong., 1st sess. (17 September 1890): 10152–10169; 

Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 1st sess. (19 September 

1890): 10241–10244.

26 The “disappearing quorum” was a dilatory parliamentary tactic 

frequently employed by members of the minority party who 

refused to answer roll calls, and thus prevented the House from 

conducting business by not allowing it to achieve a working 

quorum. Republican Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine had resorted 

to the tactic when he was Minority Leader in the 1880s. Yet, as 

Speaker, with his party firmly in the majority, Reed refused to 

allow Democrats to stall legislation in this manner. On January 

29, 1890, he ordered that the Democrats lingering in the hallways 

outside the chamber and those in the chamber refusing to vote 

be considered present. Reed also threatened to leave unsigned 

legislation requiring his signature before presidential approval 

until the House considered majority legislation; this would hold 

up several bills important to southern lawmakers. The Speaker’s 

iron fist soon earned him the epithet “Czar Reed.” SeeCharles W. 

Calhoun, “Reed, Thomas B.,” in Donald C. Bacon et al., eds., The 

Encyclopedia of the United States Congress Volume 3 (New York: 

Simon and Schuster, 1995): 1687–1690. For newspaper coverage 

documenting Democratic stall tactics in Langston v. Venable, see, 

for example, “Wanted—A Quorum in the House,” 22 September 

1890, Chicago Daily Tribune: 2; “Reed Is Wild,” 20 September 

1890, Boston Daily Globe: 1; “Speaker Reed Annoyed,” 20 

September 1890, New York Times: 1. 

27 E. W. B., “Republicans Steal,” 24 September 1890, Atlanta 

Constitution: 1.

28 For contemporary accounts of Republican efforts to achieve a 

quorum, see “Langston Gets His Seat,” 24 September 1894, 

Chicago Daily Tribune: 71; E. W. B., “Republicans Steal.”

29 The lone vote against Langston came from Republican 

Representative Joseph Cheadle of Indiana. Cheadle remained a 

devoted Mahone supporter, insisting that the divided Republican 

vote in the Virginia district was the sole reason for Democratic 

victory and that seating Langston was an abuse of power. The 

Indiana Representative would defect to the Democratic and 

Populist parties in 1896. See “Cheered by Democrats,” 18 

September 1890, Chicago Daily Tribune: 7; “Pleading for Right,” 

18 September 1890, Atlanta Constitution: 9; “Cheadle, Joseph 

Bonaparte,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 

1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=C000339. Though Langston recalled that two 

other Republicans remained in the chamber to maintained the 

H John Mercer Langston H

212 H Black Americans in Congress
Langston emphasized blacks’ 

U.S. citizenship, condemning 

calls for foreign emigration 

and what he deemed the 

Democratic Party’s attempt 

to thwart black freedom. 

“Abuse us as you will, 

gentlemen,” Langston told 

Democrats. “. . .There is no 

way to get rid of us. This is 

our native country.”

former members | 1887–1929 H 213
Image courtesy of Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

A seasoned local and state politician, Thomas Miller 

 brought his extensive experience fighting for 

freedmen’s rights in post–Civil War South Carolina to 

his abbreviated term in the 51st Congress (1889–1891). 

With little time to legislate, Miller asserted himself as a 

staunch supporter of the Federal Elections Bill, chiding 

congressional colleagues about the deterioration of 

civil rights in the South. “I shall not be muffled here,” 

Miller declared on the House Floor. “I am in part the 

representative . . . of those whose rights are denied; of 

those who are slandered by the press . . . and I deem it 

my supreme duty to raise my voice, though feebly, in 

their defense.”1

 Though Miller was proud of his AfricanAmerican heritage, his fair complexion often left him 

straddling the black and white communities and was 

used by opponents to cut short his tenure in the House 

of Representatives. 

Thomas Ezekiel Miller was born on June 17, 1849, in 

Ferrebeeville, South Carolina. He was raised by Richard 

and Mary Ferrebee Miller, both former slaves, but his fair 

skin color caused much speculation about his biological 

origins.2

 Ferrebeeville was named after his mother’s likely 

master, whose last name she inherited. The Millers, who 

were freed sometime around 1850, adopted him. Later 

in life, Miller’s apparent mixed-race heritage availed him 

political opportunities, but also forced him to navigate a 

complicated racial middle ground in the postwar South. 

Thomas Miller struggled his entire life to find acceptance 

in the black and white communities. African-American 

political rivals dismissed him as a white imposter 

attempting to take advantage of the post–Civil War black 

electorate. Yet, Miller, who embraced the black heritage 

nurtured by his adoptive parents, was also ostracized by 

white colleagues.3

In 1851, the Millers moved to Charleston, where 

Thomas attended illegal schools for free black children 

and sold Mercury newspapers at hotels. During the Civil 

War, Miller delivered newspapers on a Charleston railroad 

line running to Savannah, Georgia. He was conscripted 

into the military when the Confederate Army seized 

the railroads. Captured by Union forces in January 

1865, he spent two weeks in prison before his release. 

When the Civil War ended, Miller went to Hudson, 

New York, where once again he sold newspapers on a 

railroad line. He finished his education at the Hudson 

School, just north of New York City, before earning a 

scholarship to Lincoln University, a school for AfricanAmerican students, in Chester County, Pennsylvania. 

After graduating in 1872, Miller returned to South 

Carolina, where he won his first elective office as school 

commissioner of coastal Beaufort County. He subsequently 

moved to Columbia and studied law at the newly 

integrated University of South Carolina. He continued his 

studies under the tutelage of state solicitor P. L. Wiggins 

and state supreme court justice Franklin L. Moses, Sr., a 

future governor of South Carolina. Admitted to the bar 

in December 1875, Miller set up his practice in Beaufort, 

South Carolina. In 1874, he married Anna Hume, with 

whom he had nine children.4

Shortly after moving to Beaufort, Thomas Miller was 

elected to the state general assembly, where he served until 

1880 before securing a term in the state senate. Miller 

was deeply involved in attempts to revive the flagging 

South Carolina Republican Party after Reconstruction 

ended in 1877. He was a member of the Republican state 

executive committee from 1878 to 1880 and the state 

party chairman in 1884. The party nominated him for 

lieutenant governor in 1880, but Democratic threats of 

violence frightened Republicans from officially putting 

forward a statewide ticket.5

 Miller also was a customs 

Thomas Ezekiel Miller

1849–1938

United States Representative H 189 0–1891

Republican from South Carolina

former members H 18 87 – 1929

������������������������������������������������������������������������

214 H Black Americans in Congress
former members | 1887–1929 H 215
H Thomas Ezekiel Miller H

inspector and served on the state militia throughout the 

1880s before returning to the state house of representatives 

in 1886 for one year.

In 1888, Miller entered the race for a seat in the U.S. 

House of Representatives that was formerly occupied by 

black Representative and Civil War hero Robert Smalls. 

The “shoestring district” was thus named because its 

narrow borders twisted from Sumter County in the center 

of the state to Georgetown and parts of Charleston on 

the coast.6

 Covering the black belt of South Carolina, 

including the center of the state’s pre–Civil War rice and 

cotton plantations, the gerrymandered district boasted 

a population that was 82 percent black. Miller greatly 

admired Robert Smalls, calling him “the greatest politician 

of any one of us.”7

 District Republicans expected Smalls to 

run in 1888 to avenge his loss to Democrat William Elliott 

in 1886, an election Smalls unsuccessfully contested. But 

Miller supporters convinced Smalls to defer.8

 Facing the 

incumbent, Miller received financial backing from Randall 

D. George, one of the wealthiest black men in the state, 

who made his money distributing rosins and turpentine 

in the region.9

 Representative Elliott was initially declared 

the winner by slightly more than 1,000 votes in a light 

turnout, with 54 percent to Miller’s 45 percent.10

Miller contested the election, charging that many 

registered black voters were prohibited from casting their 

ballots. He vehemently opposed the “eight box ballot 

law,” a state statute that required multiple ballot boxes 

at each polling station to confuse black voters.11 Though 

the Republican-dominated Committee on Elections in 

the 51st Congress ruled in Miller’s favor, his case did 

not come up on the House Floor until September 23, 

1890, immediately after a vote seating Virginia’s first 

black Representative, John Langston. Inspired by their 

success seating Langston (complicated by Democrats, who 

deserted the House Chamber in an effort to prevent a 

quorum), House Republicans decided to take up Miller’s 

claim. Representative Charles O’Ferrall of Virginia, who 

was charged with looking after the Democratic Party’s 

interests during the Langston vote, protested that the case 

was unexpected and reiterated previous complaints that a 

quorum was not present. Daniel Kerr of Iowa asked for 20 

minutes to debate the nomination, but Republican Speaker 

Thomas Brackett Reed of Maine stonewalled all protest 

and accused the Democrats of conspiring to delay Miller’s 

consideration. Shouts from the packed Republican side of 

the floor reinforced the Speaker. Members were recorded 

crying, “Vote! Vote!”12 A vote was taken over O’Ferrall’s 

vehement protests. The House seated Miller by a vote of 

157 to 1. He was sworn in the following day and given a 

position on the Committee on Labor.13

After only a week, Miller returned to South Carolina 

to run for re-election to the 52nd Congress (1891–1893). 

In November 1890, in a campaign once again funded by 

Randall George, Miller won an apparent victory in a threeway contest that included white Republican candidate 

Ellery M. Brayton and former Representative Elliott, the 

recently unseated Democrat. Elliott insisted the vote count 

was fraudulent and contested the results.14 On November 

9, the South Carolina supreme court ruled that Elliott was 

the winner because Miller’s ballots were illegal: They had 

a “distinctly yellow tinge” and said “for Representative” 

instead of “Representative.”15

Miller contested the court’s decision before the House 

of Representatives, which would have the final say in the 

case, and returned to the final session of the 51st Congress 

with the election still unresolved. He had no time to 

submit substantive legislation and spoke only twice during 

the three-month session. On January 12, 1891, Miller 

spoke in favor of Massachusetts Representative Henry 

Cabot Lodge’s bill authorizing the federal government to 

oversee federal elections and protect voters from violence 

and intimidation, ignoring threats that his support of 

the bill would endanger his ability to win the pending 

election. Miller urged the Senate to follow the House’s 

example in passing the Lodge proposal, emphasizing 

southern blacks’ desire for basic equality rather than 

simple political patronage: for fair pay, property, and 

safety. “Ah, gentlemen,” he lamented, “what we need in 

this land is not so many [political] offices. Offices are only 

216 H Black Americans in Congress 
H Thomas Ezekiel Miller H

emblems of what we need and what we ought to have. 

We need protection at home in our rights, the chiefest 

of which is the right to live.”16 On February 14, 1891, 

Miller rebutted controversial allegations leveled by Senator 

Alfred H. Colquitt of Georgia. In his address, Colquitt 

blamed southern freedmen for slowing regional economic 

development. Miller replied that white southerners 

encouraged economic stagnation by exploiting black 

farmers and denying blacks full citizenship.17

When the House convened for the 52nd Congress 

on December 7, 1891, Miller, now a private citizen, 

pleaded with his former colleagues to overturn the state 

supreme court decision and declare him the winner of 

the 1890 contest against Elliott. However, the makeup 

of the new Congress was drastically different: Democrats 

now outnumbered Republicans nearly two to one.18

Their firm majority meant the Committee on Elections 

could stall consideration of Miller’s contest. The panel 

did not take up the case until one month before the 

end of the Congress—February 1893—giving the seat 

to Elliott. Shortly before the committee reached its 

decision, future black Representative George Murray 

defeated Miller for the Republican nomination for the 

53rd Congress (1893–1895). Miller’s light skin became a 

decisive campaign issue, as Murray, who was dark-skinned, 

lambasted him for being only “one sixty-fourth black.”19

Miller returned to the state assembly for a single term 

in 1894. For the next 40 years, he remained active in 

politics, making a steady living as an attorney for local 

Beaufort merchant D. H. Wall. He also was one of several 

prominent South Carolina black politicians who served 

as delegates to the 1895 state constitutional convention. 

Despite their best efforts, however, the convention 

disfranchised many South Carolina blacks by passing 

laws requiring voters to take a literacy test or to prove 

they owned more than $300 in property. When Chaflin 

College in Orangeburg—a black school originally staffed 

by northern whites that opened in 1869—lost its federal 

funding, Miller helped establish the State Negro College 

(now South Carolina State University).20 The college hired 

only black teachers. Miller later successfully lobbied the 

state to hire only black teachers in black public schools. 

In March 1896, he became president of the State Negro 

College, but was forced to resign in 1911 when Governor 

Coleman L. Blease, whom Miller had opposed during his 

gubernatorial campaign, took office. Miller later retired 

to Charleston, where he remained active in civic affairs. 

He supported American entry into World War I, helping 

to recruit more than 30,000 black soldiers. He served on 

a black subcommittee of the all-white state committee on 

civic preparedness during the war. In 1923 he moved to 

Philadelphia, but returned to Charleston in 1934. The last 

of the nineteenth-century generation of African-American 

Representatives, Miller died on April 8, 1938. 

former members | 1887–1929 H 217
H Thomas Ezekiel Miller H

For Further Reading

“Miller, Thomas Ezekiel,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000757. 

Tindall, George Brown. South Carolina Negroes, 

1877–1900, 2nd ed. (Columbia: University of South 

Carolina Press, 2003; reprint of the 1952 edition).

Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (14 February 

1891): 2695.

2 Miller’s origins remain unclear. In some sources, his biological 

parents were rumored to be an unwed white couple. Other 

historians claim Miller was the son of the light-skinned mulatto 

daughter of Judge Thomas Heyward, Jr., a signer of the Declaration 

of Independence, and a wealthy white father.The father’s family 

disapproved of the couple’s relationship and forced their son to 

give up the child for adoption. William C. Hine, “Miller, Thomas 

Ezekiel,” American National Biography 15 (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1999): 518–520 (hereinafter referred to as 

ANB). See also Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress

(New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 113; Stephen 

Middleton, ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: A 

Documentary Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 227–228; 

Thomas Holt, “Miller, Thomas Ezekiel,” Dictionary of American 

Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 439–440 (hereinafter 

referred to as DANB); Eric Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers: A Directory 

of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction, revised edition (New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1996): 149. Middleton and Foner 

provide the most thorough accounts of Miller’s parentage. 

3 George Brown Tindall, South Carolina Negroes, 1877–1900, 2nd 

ed. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2003; reprint 

of the 1952 edition): 48–49.

4 Hine, “Miller, Thomas Ezekiel,” ANB. The names of Miller’s 

children are not known.

5 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 114; Holt, “Miller, 

Thomas Ezekiel,” DANB.

6 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1883–1913 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): 143.

7 Quoted in Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 113.

8 Ibid., 114.

9 Tindall, South Carolina Negroes: 128.

10 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 284.

11 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 114; Middleton, Black 

Congressmen During Reconstruction: 228.

12 For a full account of Miller’s case, see Congressional Record, House, 

51st Cong., 1st sess. (23 September 1890): 10339. 

13 Several newspaper articles indicate Miller was in South Carolina 

campaigning for the 1890 election when the House voted to seat 

him; however, it is unlikely that he was in South Carolina on 

September 23 and seated in Washington, DC, a day later. See, 

for example, “Republicans Steal,” 24 September 1890, Atlanta 

Constitution: 1; “Langston Gets His Seat,” 24 September 1890, 

Chicago Daily Tribune: 7.

14 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 114; Hine, “Miller, 

Thomas Ezekiel,” ANB; Holt, “Miller, Thomas Ezekiel,” DANB; 

Middleton, Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: 229. 

However, Michael Dubin indicates that Elliott won by more than 

400 votes—45 to 39 percent in a small turnout. Brayton won 16 

percent of the vote. See Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 

1788–1997: 292.

15 Quoted in Hine, “Miller, Thomas Ezekiel,” ANB; “Elliott ReElected to Congress,” 10 November 1890, New York Times: 1; see 

also “Will They Heed the Lesson?” 17 November 1890, Washington 

Post: 4.

16 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (12 January 

1891): 1216.

17 Congressional Record, House, 51st Cong., 2nd sess. (14 February 

1891): 2694.

18 See Office of the Clerk, “Political Divisions of the House of 

Representatives (1789 to Present),” available at http://clerk.house.

gov/art_history/house_history/partyDiv.html. 

19 Quoted in Foner, Freedom’s Lawmakers, 150; Tindall, South 

Carolina Negroes: 49.

20 According to William C. Hine, the institution was originally 

named the Colored Normal, Industrial, Agricultural, and 

Mechanical College of South Carolina. See Hine, “Miller, Thomas 

Ezekiel,” ANB.

218 H Black Americans in Congress
Miller emphasized southern 

blacks’ desire for basic 

equality rather than simple 

political patronage: “Ah, 

gentlemen,” he lamented, 

“what we need in this land 

is not so many [political] 

offices. . . . We need 

protection at home in our 

rights, the chiefest of which 

is the right to live.”

former members | 1887–1929 H 219
Image, D.W. Culp, ed. Twentieth Century Negro Literature

(Naperville, IL: J.L. Nichols & Co., 1902)

A former slave, Representative George Murray was the 

 only black Member in the 53rd and 54th Congresses 

(1893–1897). Murray was highly regarded by his peers 

because of his position. An 1893 newspaper called him 

“the most intellectual negro in the [Sumter] county.”1

However, Murray’s detractors doubted his eloquence, 

accusing him of hiring a ghostwriter for his floor speeches. 

Employing his formidable oratorical skills, Murray fought 

the disfranchisement laws that beset the South in the 

early 1890s. He was a political pragmatist who worked for 

his constituents while placating the hostile political base 

necessary for his election campaigns.2

 Unable to defeat the 

overwhelming tide of white supremacy, either nationally or 

at home, Murray left the House, marking the end of black 

representation in South Carolina for nearly 100 years.3

George Washington Murray was born on September 22, 

1853, near Rembert, in Sumter County, South Carolina. 

His parents, whose names are not known, were slaves and 

died before the end of the Civil War; however, Murray 

had at least two brothers, Prince and Frank. Murray 

never received a formal primary education, but in 1874 

he entered the University of South Carolina in Columbia 

after it was opened to black students by the Republican 

state government.4

 After federal withdrawal from the South 

following the end of Reconstruction in 1877, Murray and 

the other black students were forced out of the university. 

He eventually graduated from the nearby State Normal 

Institution. Murray married Ella Reynolds in 1877, and 

they had two children, Edward and Pearl. Murray also had 

an illegitimate son, William, who was born sometime in 

the 1890s.5

Working as a farmer, a teacher, and a lecturer in Sumter 

County, Murray obtained eight patents for various farming 

tools.6

 His farming success garnered him local recognition, 

and his selection as the Sumter County delegate to the 

1880 Republican Party state convention sparked his 

interest in politics. Murray’s support of Republican 

President Benjamin Harrison during the 1888 campaign 

won him a patronage appointment as customs inspector 

at the port of Charleston in February 1890. That same 

year he sought the nomination for the South Carolina 

“shoestring district,” which included sections of Charleston 

and Georgetown on the coast and twisted narrowly to the 

northeast to include central portions of the state.7

 Two 

black Representatives had been elected in the district: Civil 

War hero Robert Smalls and incumbent Thomas Miller. 

Miller defeated Murray for the Republican nomination but 

eventually lost the seat to Democrat William Elliott. 

In 1892, Murray ran again for the congressional seat. 

Conducting a campaign that emphasized his African 

roots (his opponent, Thomas Miller, was light-skinned), 

Murray defeated Miller and white candidate E. W. 

Brayton to capture the Republican nomination.8

 Though 

the “shoestring district” had been modified slightly by 

reapportionment, nearly 75 percent of the population 

was black.9

 During the general election, especially in 

areas outside Charleston, precinct workers rejected votes 

for Murray for insignificant reasons, for example, the 

candidate’s ballots were one-eighth or three-sixteenths of 

an inch too short, the ballot boxes were not opened at 

the appointed time, or the precinct managers failed to 

record the name of the precinct before sending the election 

returns to Columbia.10 However, Murray’s chances were 

strengthened by divisions within the district’s Democratic 

Party. Governor Benjamin Tillman, who led a statewide 

white supremacy political machine, found himself at odds 

with the district’s Democratic candidate, E. M. Moise. 

Moise disagreed with the governor in rejecting Populist 

economic issues such as the coinage of silver, which 

emerged as a national issue during the 1892 election. The 

George Washington Murray

1853–1926

United States Representative H 1893–1895; 1896–1897

Republican from South Carolina

former members H 18 87 – 1929

������������������������������������������������������������������������

220 H Black Americans in Congress
former members | 1887–1929 H 221
H George Washington Murray H

primarily agricultural residents of the “shoestring district,” 

who had been hit hard by economic depression, supported 

free silver coinage as a form of debt relief. The complicated 

political atmosphere made for a close election. Though 

Moise was originally declared the winner, canvassers 

for the state board of election (Democratic supporters 

of Governor Tillman) exacted revenge on their party’s 

maverick by confirming that Murray was victorious by 40 

votes.11 He received an assignment to the Committee on 

Education, but most of Murray’s work in Congress was 

outside the jurisdiction of this committee.

Murray’s position as the only black Member during 

his two terms in Congress defined his career. One of the 

first things he did after arriving in Washington was to visit 

newly inaugurated Democratic President Grover Cleveland. 

In a personal meeting with the President, Murray told 

Cleveland that southern blacks were concerned about their 

welfare under a Democratic President but that the new 

administration had a fresh opportunity to welcome African 

Americans into the Democratic Party. Murray asked 

Cleveland to consider appointing more blacks to political 

offices through patronage, but neither the President nor 

his congressional allies prioritized building political capital 

among black Americans.12

When a financial panic gripped the country in early 

1893, President Cleveland blamed much of the economic 

instability on the 1890 Sherman Silver Purchase Act. 

He sought to repeal the law, which required the federal 

government to trade 4.5 million ounces of silver bullion 

each month in exchange for legal tender. Cleveland called 

a special session of Congress to deal with the crisis. During 

this session, Murray and other supporters joined the 12 

Populists and Silverites in defending the Silver Purchase 

Act. Speaking on the House Floor on August 24, 1893, 

Murray argued that most of his constituents earned little 

and were disadvantaged by the diminishing supply of 

gold. Believing continued silver coinage would help to 

stabilize the economy in his district, Murray noted that 

his constituents traced their overwhelming poverty to “the 

circulating medium [gold], which like a viper with its 

victim in its coils, has been drawing its cords tighter and 

tighter around their prosperity, until it is dead. I am of 

the opinion that the only sure and permanent remedy is 

a lengthening of the cords, an enlargement of the volume 

of money.”13 Although Murray spoke at 10 p.m.—the last 

time slot of the legislative day—a large crowd gathered 

in the gallery to hear his maiden speech.14 Proponents of 

silver coinage were unable to secure the necessary votes 

and, despite an 80-day filibuster by Senate Silverites, 

President Cleveland secured the congressional repeal of the 

Sherman Silver Purchase Act on November 1, 1893. 

In 1893, when Representative Henry Tucker of Virginia 

authored a bill to remove impartial election supervisors 

and federal marshals from southern polling places, Murray 

fearlessly sought to block the legislation.15 On several 

occasions, he interrupted Tucker’s allies on the House 

Floor, citing personal experiences of discrimination.16

On October 2, 1893, Murray interrupted freshman 

Representative (and future Speaker) Beauchamp (Champ) 

Clark of Missouri, who was insisting that state officials 

adequately monitored polling places. Murray noted that 

these officials were often prejudiced appointees of white 

supremacist Democratic state governments. He also 

refuted Clark’s claim that federal Republican officials 

coerced black voters into voting as one bloc. Three days 

later, Murray made a long speech against Representative 

Tucker’s legislation. He ended by repeating his plea to 

President Cleveland: “While I can not persuade myself 

that there can be found here and in the Senate enough 

cruel and wicked men to make this law effective, still if I 

am disappointed in that . . . I hope that the broad-souled 

and philanthropic man occupying the Executive chair is 

too brave and humane to join in this cowardly onslaught 

to strike down the walls impaling the last vestige of liberty 

to a helpless class of people.”17 A long thunderous bout 

of applause from the Republican side of the chamber 

followed Murray’s speech, which earned him the epithet 

the “Black Eagle of Sumter.”18 Though Murray was absent 

on October 10 when the Tucker legislation came to a vote, 

he called upon black voters to study the roll call vote and 

222 H Black Americans in Congress 
defeat any Member who voted in its favor in the next 

election.19 The bill passed both chambers and was signed 

into law by President Cleveland in February 1894.20

In 1894, Murray faced an uphill battle for re-election 

to the 54th Congress. The South Carolina legislature 

dissolved the “shoestring district,” cutting off much of 

Charleston and Murray’s black voting base.21 Democratic 

infighting ceased when former Representative William 

Elliott won the Democratic nomination. Elliott emerged 

with 60 percent of the vote in the general election, but 

several precincts reported instances of fraud.22 Murray 

appealed to the state board of election canvassers, but they 

rejected his claim. 

As a result, Murray spent the third session of the 

53rd Congress (1893–1895) preparing to contest 

Elliott’s election before the House. He submitted 

a massive amount of testimony indicating election 

fraud; the paperwork was reported to be nearly a foot 

thick.23 Murray’s evidence revealed that ballot boxes in 

three of four heavily Republican counties in his new 

district were never opened, that black voters were issued 

fraudulent registration certificates or paperwork was 

withheld entirely, and that precincts in black regions 

failed to open.Witnesses also reported that William 

Elliott himself stood in front of ballot boxes taunting 

black men and preventing them from submitting their 

votes. The worst fraud occurred in the small portion of 

southern Charleston that remained in Murray’s district. 

A precinct compromising 2,000 more registered black 

voters than white declared 2,811 votes for Elliott and 

397 for Murray.24 After reviewing the testimony, the 

House Committee on Elections—composed of a strong 

Republican majority—concluded that the final victory 

belonged to Murray by 434 votes. The whole House 

first took up the case late in the first session of the 54th 

Congress on June 3, 1896. Democrats spent several hours 

trying to prove that South Carolina registration laws had 

been explained to black voters and that Murray was not 

favored by all African-American voters and thus could not 

claim the district’s majority based on his race.25 The next 

day, the House voted to seat Murray, 153 to 33. With 

only seven days remaining in the first session, Murray was 

again assigned to the Committee on Education and was 

also appointed to the Committee on Expenditures in the 

Treasury Department. 

Political trouble at home prevented Murray from 

attending the final two sessions of the 54th Congress. In 

1895, Tillman Democrats in the state legislature passed 

a referendum to revise the 1868 state constitution. 

Murray tried to organize black voters to elect sympathetic 

delegates to the constitutional convention, but 

only six black delegates were sent, including former 

Representatives Robert Smalls and Thomas Miller. The 

results were disastrous for black South Carolina voters. 

The primarily white, Democratic convention created new 

requirements for proving residency, instituted poll taxes, 

established property requirements, and created literacy 

tests—all aimed at disfranchising black voters.26 Murray 

and fellow Republicans asked Governor Tillman to call 

a special session of the state legislature in March 1896. 

The governor ignored the appeal. In July 1896, Murray 

and others authored the address “To the People of the 

United States,” requesting national support for federal 

intervention in the South Carolina elections. Murray 

spent most of 1896 raising money to pay legal fees for 

challenges to the new registration laws in federal courts, 

vowing that fighting “lawfully, not unlawfully . . . we 

shall create such conditions that the United States is 

bound to take a hand.”27 Murray’s optimistic prediction 

fell short. Legal action brought a poll tax case before the 

Supreme Court in 1895 in Mills v. Green, but the court 

ruled that the tax did not violate the 14th Amendment. 

The same ruling on a similar case brought before the 

high court—Williams v. Mississippi in 1898—nearly 

halted the legal battle against disfranchisement laws and 

virtually sealed off national elected office for African 

Americans in the South.28 Indeed, the new provisions 

for voting registration dimmed Murray’s chances for 

re-election in 1896; Elliott easily defeated him, with 67 

percent of the vote.29

H George Washington Murray H

former members | 1887–1929 H 223
H George Washington Murray H

Returning to Congress as a lame duck in February 

1897, Murray announced he would object to South 

Carolina’s nine electoral votes in the presidential election—

which went to Democratic candidate William Jennings 

Bryan—if Congress did not investigate the state’s new 

election laws. He submitted a petition signed by hundreds 

of South Carolina Republicans, alleging that more than 

100,000 eligible black men had been refused the vote in 

the 1896 election. Influential Republicans attempted to 

dissuade Murray, fearful that disrupting the electoral vote 

count would impede Republican William McKinley’s 

apparent victory. Murray dropped his objection but not his 

call for a federal investigation. He submitted a resolution 

requesting an investigation. However, Congress adjourned 

in March, ignoring his request.30

After leaving Congress, Murray returned to his South 

Carolina farm. He invested in more land, which he sold 

to black tenant farmers. In 1905, Murray was convicted 

in a circuit court for forgery related to a contract dispute 

between two of his tenants.31 Murray fled to Chicago to 

avoid the sentence of three years’ hard labor, insisting he 

had received an unfair sentence because of his race.32 Ella 

Murray was unwilling to leave South Carolina, and the 

two divorced. Murray married Cornelia Martin in 1908 

and gained a stepdaughter, Gaynell. The Murrays adopted 

a 10-year-old boy, Donald, in the 1920s and parented 

numerous foster children.33

Murray became active in the Republican Party in 

Chicago. His distrust of local Democrats eventually led 

him to request that the House investigate the powerful 

Cook County Democratic political machine. He also tried 

a number of unsuccessful business ventures.34 Late in his 

life, Murray lectured across the country. He compiled 

many of his speeches into two books on race relations: 

Race Ideals: Effects, Cause and Remedy for Afro-American 

Race Troubles (1914) and Light in Dark Places (1925).35

Both books posited that discrimination would persist 

until Americans appreciated the worth and dignity of 

African Americans. Following Murray’s death on April 21, 

1926, his longtime Chicago neighbor, former Mississippi 

Representative John Roy Lynch delivered his eulogy.

224 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

Gaboury, William J. “George Washington Murray and the 

Fight for Political Democracy in South Carolina,” Journal 

of Negro History 62 (July 1977): 258–269.

Marszalek, John F. A Black Congressman in the Age of 

Jim Crow: South Carolina’s George Washington Murray

(Gainesville: University of Florida Press, 2006).

“Murray, George Washington,” Biographical Directory of 

the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M001106.

Murray, George Washington. Light in Dark Places 

(Chicago: Light in Dark Places Pub. Co., 1925).

_____. Race Ideals: Effects, Cause and Remedy for AfroAmerican Race Troubles (Princeton, IN: Smith & Sons 

Publishing, 1914).

MANUSCRIPT COLLECTIONS

University of Illinois Press (Champaign, IL) Papers: In the 

Booker T. Washington Papers, 1889–1895, one volume. 

Correspondents include George Washington Murray. For 

more information, visit http://www.historycooperative.org/

btw/Vol.3/html/451.html. 

University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC) South 

Caroliniana Library. Papers: In the J. Mitchell Reames 

Papers, 1907–1990, 12.5 linear feet. Correspondents 

include George Washington Murray.

Notes

1 Quoted from the Baltimore-based newspaper Afro-American (20 

April 1893) in William J. Gaboury, “George Washington Murray 

and the Fight for Political Democracy in South Carolina,” Journal 

of Negro History 62 (July 1977): 259; John F. Marszalek, A Black 

Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: South Carolina’s George 

Washington Murray (Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 

2006): 67.

2 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 118–119.

3 Representative James Clyburn, who took his seat in the 103rd 

Congress in 1993, was the next African-American Representative 

from South Carolina. Clyburn is related to Murray; see “Clyburn, 

James Enos,” Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 

1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=C000537. 

4 Previous editions of Black Americans in Congress indicate Murray 

attended public schools, but most other sources indicate he was 

self-taught prior to entering college. See Bruce A. Ragsdale and Joel 

D. Treese, Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1989 (Washington, 

DC: Government Printing Office, 1990): 97; Stephen Middleton, 

ed., Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: A Documentary 

Sourcebook (Westport, CT: Praeger, 2002): 245.

5 Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 9, 

157–158.

6 Middleton, Black Congressmen During Reconstruction: 245.

7 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1883–1913 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): 143.

8 The New York Times once reported that “judging by [Murray’s] 

face, there is not a drop of white blood running in his veins.” See, 

“The Debate in the House,” 25 August 1893, New York Times: 8.

9 Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1883–1913: 

278–279; Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim 

Crow: 37.

H George Washington Murray H

former members | 1887–1929 H 225
H George Washington Murray H

10 Gaboury, “George Washington Murray and the Fight for Political 

Democracy in South Carolina”: 260.

11 Thomas Holt, “Murray, George Washington,” Dictionary of 

American Negro Biography (New York: Norton, 1982): 465; 

Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 47–50.

12 Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 51. 

For anecdotal information about Murray’s life as the only black 

Representative in the 53rd Congress, see pages 52–53, 63–65.

13 Congressional Record, House, 53rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 August 

1893): 858.

14 Gaboury, “George Washington Murray and the Fight for Political 

Democracy in South Carolina,” 260–261; Marszalek, A Black 

Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 57–58.

15 For more information on Tucker’s bill, see Congressional Record, 

House, 53rd Cong., 1st sess. (10 October 1893): 107.

16 Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 60–63. 

17 Congressional Record, House, 53rd Cong., 1st sess. (5 October 

1893): 2161.

18 Gaboury, “George Washington Murray and the Fight for Political 

Democracy in South Carolina”: 259.

19 Murray frequently sought leaves of absence in both terms of 

Congress, often citing personal illness or sick family members; 

see Congressional Record, Index, 53rd Cong.; Congressional Record,

Index, 54th Cong.

20 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 120. Christopher notes 

that the legislation passed both Houses. However, Representative 

Tucker’s original bill, H.R. 2331, passed the House but was tabled 

in the Senate (see Congressional Record, Index, 53rd Cong., 1st 

sess.). A substitute bill passed the Senate.

21 Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1883–1913: 

278–279; Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 

68, 75–81.

22 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 

1998): 310.

23 Gaboury, “George Washington Murray and the Fight for Political 

Democracy in South Carolina”: 266; Christopher, Black Americans 

in Congress: 121; Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim 

Crow: 79.

24 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 121.

25 Congressional Record, House, 54th Cong., 1st sess. (3 June 1896): 

6072–6077, A445–452; Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age 

of Jim Crow: 101. Marszalek asserts the debate took place on June 5.

26 For details on the 1895 South Carolina constitutional convention, 

see J. Morgan Kousser, The Shaping of Southern Politics: Suffrage 

Restriction and Establishment of the One-Party South, 1880–1910 

(New Haven: Yale University Press, 1974): 145–152.

27 Quoted in Stephen Kantrowitz, Ben Tillman and the Reconstruction 

of White Supremacy (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina 

Press, 2000): 208.

28 Gaboury, “George Washington Murray and the Fight for Political 

Democracy in South Carolina”: 263–267.

29 Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 327.

30 Gaboury, “George Washington Murray and the Fight for 

Political Democracy in South Carolina”: 266; Marszalek, A Black 

Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 107–108.

31 Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 132–136, 

provides a detailed description of the trial.

32 Ibid., 142–143. Marszalek argues that the Murray trial exemplified 

the practice of “legal whitecapping, a way to rid the community of 

a troublesome black.”

33 Ibid., 145–146, 157–158.

34 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 122; Marszalek, A Black 

Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 144–145. 

35 Marszalek, A Black Congressman in the Age of Jim Crow: 146–151.

226 H Black Americans in Congress
Believing continued silver 

coinage would help to 

stabilize the economy in his 

district, Murray noted that 

his constituents traced 

their overwhelming poverty 

to “the circulating medium 

[gold], which like a viper with 

its victim in its coils, has been 

drawing its cords tighter 

and tighter around their 

prosperity, until it is dead.”

former members | 1887–1929 H 227
Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

George H. White’s bold legislative proposals combating 

disfranchisement and mob violence in the South 

distinguished him from his more reserved contemporaries. 

The lone African-American Representative at the dawn 

of the 20th century, White spoke candidly on the 

House Floor, confronting Booker T. Washington’s call 

to work within the segregated system. The onslaught of 

white supremacy in his home state assured White that 

to campaign for a third term would be fruitless, and he 

departed the chamber on March 3, 1901. It would be 28 

years before another black Representative set foot in the 

Capitol. “This, Mr. Chairman, is perhaps the negroes’ 

temporary farewell to the American Congress,” White 

declared in his final months as a Representative, “but let 

me say, Phoenix-like he will rise up someday and come 

again.”1

George Henry White was born in Rosindale, North 

Carolina, on December 18, 1852. His father, Wiley F. 

White, was a free, working-class farmer. His mother, Mary, 

was a slave.2

 White boasted Native-American and Irish 

ancestry as well as his African heritage and was notably 

light-skinned.3

 George White had one sister, Flora. At the 

end of the Civil War, the young teenager helped out on 

the family farm and assisted in the family’s funeral home 

business while intermittently attending public schools in 

Columbus County, North Carolina. In 1873, he entered 

Howard University in Washington, DC, graduating in 

1877.4

 White joined the North Carolina bar in 1879, and 

served as the principal at several black public schools. He 

married Fannie B. Randolph in 1879 and, six years after 

her death in 1880, he married Cora Lena Cherry. White 

had four children: a daughter, Della, with his first wife, and 

two daughters and a son—Mary Adelyne, Beatrice Odessa, 

and George Henry White, Jr.—with his second wife.5

White’s political career began with his election to the 

North Carolina house of representatives in 1880. That 

same year, he served as a delegate to the Republican 

National Convention. White initially focused on 

legislation pertaining to education, securing funding and 

authorization to open four black normal schools and 

provide training for black teachers. After establishing 

a second residence in Tarboro, North Carolina, he was 

elected solicitor and prosecuting attorney in 1886 in the 

“Black Second” district, a boot-shaped entity with a large 

black majority, winding from the Virginia border to the 

southern coast.6

 White considered seeking national office at 

this point but decided to garner recognition among district 

voters through a favorable record as a solicitor. 

In 1888 and 1890, White reluctantly deferred 

candidacy for the district’s congressional seat to his brotherin-law Representative Henry Cheatham, whose calculated, 

conciliatory demeanor contrasted with White’s forthright, 

demanding, and unyielding personality.7

 Cheatham lost 

his 1892 re-election campaign, and though the two men 

had an uneasy relationship, they were not outright political 

enemies until White made a serious bid for the “Black 

Second” congressional seat in 1894.8

 Cheatham planned 

to capitalize on the redistricting that added a large number 

of black voters in north-central Vance and Craven counties 

to the existing district. Amicability between the brothersin-law disintegrated until 1898, when Cheatham relented, 

supporting White for a second term.9

In addition to the fractious family rivalry, the Populist 

Party—a national third party made up primarily of 

disenchanted and economically depressed farmers— 

continued to challenge Republican political hegemony in 

the “Black Second.” The volatile political situation divided 

delegates at the hotly contested 1894 Republican district 

convention. After 13 ballots, both White and Cheatham 

emerged claiming the nomination.10 After both candidates 

George Henry White

1852–1918

United States Representative H 1897–19 01

Republican from North Carolina

former members H 18 87 – 1929

������������������������������������������������������������������������

228 H Black Americans in Congress
former members | 1887–1929 H 229
H George Henry White H

canvassed the district for several months, the two men 

brought their still-undecided case to Washington, DC, 

before the Republican National Committee (RNC).11

After hearing each man’s arguments, a seven-member RNC 

committee agreed to support Cheatham.12 But Cheatham 

failed to capture the interest of the Populists; in a threeway general election, the former black Representative lost 

handily to incumbent Democratic Representative Frederick 

A. Woodard and a third Populist candidate who siphoned 

off a large fraction of the white Republican vote. 

Cheatham’s second consecutive loss sank his political 

career, leaving George White the district’s favored AfricanAmerican son. In 1896, White handily defeated Cheatham 

for the nomination. Possessing the full support of the 

Republican Party, White appealed to the Populists to avoid 

suffering Cheatham’s fate in a three-way election. White 

distanced himself from the national Republican adherence 

to the gold standard, embracing the Populist platform 

calling for the free coinage of silver.13 His chances for 

election improved greatly when Republican and Populist 

district leaders agreed on a “fusion” plan in the fall of 

1896. White also benefited when a friendly 1894 state 

legislature reversed many of the Democratic election laws 

that impeded African-American voters—each of the three 

parties provided a judge and registrar at every polling place 

to ensure a fair election.14 Turnout among black voters 

in North Carolina rose to record levels of more than 85 

percent.15 White defeated Representative Woodard with 52 

percent of the vote. Woodard, who took 41 percent of the 

vote, was most hampered by rebel Populist candidate D. S. 

Moss, who siphoned off 7 percent of the vote.16

The only African American in the 55th Congress 

(1897–1899), George White was part of a large Republican 

majority that was swept into office on the coattails of 

presidential victor William McKinley.17 He received a 

seat on the Agriculture Committee, an assignment that 

recognized the large number of farmers among 

his constituents. 

The first order of business in the 55th Congress, the 

protectionist Dingley Tariff, allowed George White to 

support a major plank in the Republican platform. He 

voted in favor of the high tariff to protect eastern North 

Carolina’s economically depressed timber industry. White 

missed the vote to go to war against Spain on April 19, 

1898, while traveling from North Carolina. The following 

morning, he announced on the House Floor that he 

supported the invasion of Cuba, and he later declared his 

unqualified support for the colonial acquisition of Cuba 

and the Philippines.18 White also missed the vote to annex 

the Hawaiian Islands, probably intentionally. Critical of 

the apparent mistreatment of the native Hawaiians, White 

remained loyal to Republican foreign-policy objectives 

out of a desire to avoid conflict with his colleagues who 

overwhelmingly supported annexation.19 White later 

offered an amendment to legislation creating the Hawaiian 

territorial government, aimed at ensuring the voting rights 

of Hawaiian residents.20 White once used the subject of 

U.S. imperialism to open a discussion about race issues in 

his native South.21

White’s focus in Congress was not late-19th century 

foreign policy debates but defending the civil rights of 

his black constituents. For instance, White offered a 

resolution providing relief for the widow and surviving 

children of a black postmaster murdered in Lake City, 

South Carolina. The man and his infant daughter were 

killed by a white mob. Though the resolution was read 

aloud on the House Floor, White never spoke at length 

about the tragedy because Representative Charles Bartlett 

of Georgia objected to his request to elaborate.22 White also 

sought to commission an all-black artillery unit in the U.S. 

Army. At the end of the session, White called on President 

McKinley to discuss honoring black soldiers fighting in 

the Spanish–American War. Finally, White unsuccessfully 

sought $15,000 in federal funding for an exhibit on black 

achievement at the 1900 Paris Exposition. 

Returning home to campaign for re-election, George 

White was the primary target of white supremacist 

politicians, who feared a renewal of the Republican–

Populist political fusion. The Raleigh News and Observer

was particularly scathing, alleging White was the 

230 H Black Americans in Congress 
H George Henry White H

mastermind behind the “Negro domination” of local 

politics and businesses and citing as proof his refusal 

to give his seat to a white Republican.23 White armed 

himself with endorsements. Republican colleague George 

Southwick of New York published a glowing endorsement 

in the African-American newspaper the Colored American.

24

District Republicans expressed solidarity with White by 

renominating him without opposition in May 1898.25

Patronage became a pivotal issue in the election. White 

defended his frequent appointment of black men to 

patronage positions at the Republican state convention 

in July 1898, noting, “I am not the only negro who 

holds office. There are others. . . . The Democrats talk 

about the color line and the Negro holding office. I invite 

the issue.”26

Though White received thunderous applause, those 

few sentences elicited vicious replies from North Carolina 

Democratic newspapers, declaring White had started 

an all-out race war. White’s speech also inspired the 

White Government Union, led by former Representative 

Furnifold Simmons, to organize unity among white voters. 

Moreover, White’s strong language at the convention 

infuriated white Populists, who broke from standing fusion 

agreements and nominated their own candidate, James B. 

Lloyd.27 The final week of campaigning descended into 

chaos. After Lloyd refused to run on a platform of white 

supremacy, William Fountain added his name to the ballot 

as an Independent Populist. Fountain sought to swing the 

Populist Party against George White.28 South Carolina 

Senator (and former governor) Ben Tillman and his 

famous Red Shirts rode into North Carolina to intimidate 

black voters—though White refuted a newspaper account 

that he was trapped aboard a train by Red Shirts on a 

campaign stop in Kinston.29 Black voter turnout was 

low, but the confusion of a four-way race divided the 

vote in White’s favor.30 The post-election ramifications in 

North Carolina were tremendous. White supremacists in 

Wilmington, the biggest metropolis in the largely rural 

state, incited race riots in the city as an excuse to seize 

power from a fusion city government. Eleven black men 

were killed, and 25 were injured.31

The bloody Wilmington riots troubled White as 

he returned to Washington for the final session of the 

55th Congress, and he vented his frustration in his first 

substantive floor speech, on January 26, 1899. During 

a debate to extend the standing army after victory 

against Spain, White abruptly changed the subject to 

disfranchisement, arguing in favor of the bold proposal 

that states with discriminatory laws should have decreased 

representation in the U.S. House, proportionate to the 

number of eligible voters they prevented from going to the 

polls. “If we are unworthy of suffrage, if it is necessary to 

maintain white supremacy,” White chastised his colleagues, 

“then you ought to have the benefit only of those who 

are allowed to vote, and the poor men, whether they be 

black or white, who are disfranchised ought not go into 

representation of the district of the state.” Republicans 

greeted his speech with long applause.32

The 56th Congress (1899–1901) convened with a 

Republican majority, and White was given a second 

assignment on the District of Columbia Committee, 

which administered the capital city’s government. But 

White’s second term was focused on his pursuit of antilynching legislation, despite President McKinley’s lack 

of support. On January 20, 1900, White introduced an 

unprecedented bill to make lynching a federal crime, 

subjecting those who participated in mob violence to 

potential capital punishment—a sentence equivalent to 

that for treason.33 White’s anti-lynching bill subsequently 

died in the Judiciary Committee.

White announced his intention not to run for 

renomination to the 57th Congress (1901–1903) in a 

speech on June 30, 1900, and declared his plans to leave 

his home. Several factors contributed to his decision. In 

1899, the North Carolina state legislature followed the 

lead of neighboring states and passed new registration laws 

further restricting black voters. White also lost popularity 

within his own party. White Republicans resented his 

seemingly radical disfranchisement legislation and antilynching proposals, claiming he had belligerently “drawn 

former members | 1887–1929 H 231
H George Henry White H

the color line in this district.”34 Without strong Republican 

support, White had little chance of defeating his 

formidable Democratic opponent Claude Kitchin, scion of 

one of the most politically powerful families in the state.35

In addition, White was discouraged because noticeably 

fewer black delegates attended the Republican National 

Convention in Philadelphia in mid-June. Compounding 

his disappointment, the convention rejected the addition 

of anti-lynching and franchise protection planks to the 

national party platform.36 White noticed the strain on 

his family, particularly his sickly wife, Cora, for whom he 

believed another campaign would be fatal. “I cannot live in 

North Carolina and be a man and be treated as a man,” he 

lamented to the Chicago Daily Tribune.

 37 He told the New 

York Times, the “restrictive measure against the negro is not 

really political. The political part of it is a mere subterfuge 

and is a means for the general degradation of the negro.” 

He encouraged southern black families to migrate west 

and remain farmers, not settling in colonies, but “los[ing] 

themselves among the people of the country. . . . Then 

their children will be better educated.”38 On January 29, 

1901, White gave his famous valedictory address to the 

56th Congress, predicting the return of African Americans 

to Congress. His speech, which filled more than four pages 

in the Congressional Record, pleaded for respect and equality 

for American blacks. “The only apology that I have to 

make for the earnestness with which I have spoken,” White 

concluded, “is that I am pleading for the life, the liberty, 

the future happiness, and the manhood suffrage of oneeighth of the entire population of the United States.”39

George White began a second successful career, as a 

lawyer and an entrepreneur. He opened a law practice in 

Washington, DC, in 1901. At the same time, he organized 

a town for black citizens to show that “self-sufficient blacks 

could not only survive but flourish, if . . . left alone in 

a neutral, healthy environment.” Dubbed Whitesboro, 

the town was built on 1,700 acres of land in Cape May, 

New Jersey, and by 1906, its population had swelled to 

more than 800 people.40 In 1905, White left Washington 

to found another law practice in Philadelphia. He also 

opened the People’s Savings Bank, to help potential black 

home and business owners. Though he never again sought 

political office, White actively supported the National 

Association for the Advancement of Colored People, 

founded in 1909, and was a benefactor of the Frederick 

Douglass Hospital in Philadelphia. A year after his bank 

failed, George White died in Philadelphia on December 

28, 1918. 

For Further Reading

Anderson, Eric. Race and Politics in North Carolina, 

1872–1901 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University 

Press, 1981).

Justesen, Benjamin R. George Henry White: An Even Chance 

in the Race of Life (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University 

Press, 2001).

Reid, George W. “Four in Black: North Carolina’s Black 

Congressmen, 1874–1901,” Journal of Negro History 64 

(Summer 1979): 229–243.

 “White, George Henry,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000372. 

Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 2nd sess. (29 January 

1901): 1638.

2 Benjamin R. Justesen, George Henry White: An Even Chance in the 

Race of Life (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 2001): 

2–3. Mary’s surname is not known.

3 Eric Anderson, “White, George Henry,” American National 

Biography 23 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 205–206 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

4 Justesen, George Henry White: 35–36.

5 George W. Reid, “Four in Black: North Carolina’s Black 

Congressmen, 1874–1901,” Journal of Negro History 64 (Summer 

1979): 235. Beatrice Odessa White (commonly referred to by her 

middle name) died in infancy in 1892; see Justesen, George Henry 

232 H Black Americans in Congress 
H George Henry White H

White: 166.

6 Stanley B. Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 

1883–1913 (New York: Greenwood Press, 1990): 97–99.

7 Justesen, George Henry White: 151–152.

8 Ibid., 179.

9 Parsons et al., United States Congressional Districts, 1883–1913: 

100–102; Justesen, George Henry White: 257–258.

10 Justesen, George Henry White: 185. Justesen discusses the 

proceedings of the 1894 Republican district convention at length; 

see 190–195.

11 Ibid., 187.

12 Ibid., 188–189. Some sources note that White withdrew from 

the race voluntarily to avoid fracturing the Republican Party, 

though other sources indicate that his supporters abandoned him 

for Cheatham before his withdrawal; see, for example, Maurine 

Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. 

Crowell Company, 1976): 161.

13 Justesen, George Henry White: 206.

14 Ibid., 210; see also H. Leon Prather, Sr., We Have Taken a City: 

Wilmington Racial Massacre and Coup of 1898 (Rutherford, NJ: 

Associated University Presses, 1984): 34–35.

15 Justesen, George Henry White: 211.

16 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

318. Dubin spells Woodard’s name “Woodward.”

17 Justesen, George Henry White: 213; There were two George Whites 

in the 55th Congress. Republican George Elon White of Illinois 

also was re-elected to his second (and final) term; see “White, 

George Elon,” online Biographical Directory of the United States 

Congress, 1774–Present, available at http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000371. 

18 Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 2nd sess. (14 April 

1898): 4086; Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 3rd sess. 

(26 January 1899): 1124.

19 Justesen, George Henry White: 235.

20 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 1st sess. (5 April 

1900): 3814.

21 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 1st sess. (23 February 

1900): 2151.

22 Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 2nd sess. (3 March 

1898): 2427.

23 Anderson, “White, George Henry,” ANB.

24 A synopsis of Southwick’s endorsement is found in Justesen, George 

Henry White: 233–234.

25 Ibid., 232.

26 Quoted in Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 163; and 

Justesen, George Henry White: 238. Both sources quote White 

slightly differently. Various forms of this speech were printed in 

newspapers throughout North Carolina. For a discussion of the 

different accounts, see Justesen, George Henry White: 238–241.

27 Justesen, George Henry White: 241.

28 Ibid., 246.

29 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 163. Justesen notes that 

most accounts of intimidation by Red Shirts were exaggerated or 

falsified; see Justesen, George Henry White: 245.

30 Helen G. Edmonds, The Negro and Fusion Politics in North 

Carolina (New York: Russell and Russell, 1973; reprint of the 1951 

edition): 163–164.

31 Edmonds, The Negro and Fusion Politics in North Carolina: 

163–164; John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, From Slavery to 

Freedom: A History of African Americans, 8th ed. (New York: Alfred 

A. Knopf, 2000): 288. For more on this topic, see the extensive 

report of the Wilmington Race Riot Commission, published 

in 2006: http://www.ah.dcr.state.nc.us/1898-wrrc/default.htm 

(accessed 1 December 2007).

32 Congressional Record, House, 55th Cong., 3rd sess. (26 January 

1899): 1125; Justesen, George Henry White: 263.

33 Edmonds, The Negro and Fusion Politics in North Carolina: 86.

34 Quoted in Justesen, George Henry White: 290; the quote is 

attributed to white district leader Hiram L. Grant.

35 Claude Kitchin’s father, William Hodges (Buck) Kitchin, 

served the district in the 46th Congress (1879–1880). Claude’s 

brother, William Walton Kitchin, was finishing up his second 

term representing a central North Carolina district. Claude and 

William Walton Kitchin’s nephew (and William Hodges Kitchin’s 

grandson), Alvin Paul Kitchin, served in Congress from 1957 to 

1962. For more on these individuals, see the online Biographical 

Directory of the United States Congress, available at http://bioguide.

congress.gov. Claude himself later became the Democratic Leader 

in the House, serving as Majority Leader in the 64th and 65th 

Congress (1915–1919); see “Majority & Minority Leaders,” Office 

of the Clerk, available at http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_

history/leaders.html. 

36 Justesen, George Henry White: 292–293.

37 “Sees No Hope In South,” 26 August 1900, Chicago Daily 

Tribune: 7.

38 “Southern Negro’s Plaint,” 26 August 1900, New York Times: 8.

39 Congressional Record, House, 56th Cong., 2nd sess. (29 January 

1901): 1638.

40 Justesen, George Henry White: 356.

former members | 1887–1929 H 233
With his election to the U.S. House of Representatives from a 

Chicago district in 1928, Oscar De Priest of Illinois became the first 

African American to serve in Congress since George White of North 

Carolina left office in 1901 and the first elected from a northern state. 

But while De Priest’s victory symbolized renewed hope for African 

Americans struggling to regain a foothold in national politics, it was 

only the beginning of an arduous journey. The election of just a dozen 

more African Americans to Congress over the next 30 years was stark 

evidence of modern America’s pervasive segregation practices. 

The new generation of black lawmakers embarked on a long, 

methodical institutional apprenticeship on Capitol Hill. Until the mid1940s, only one black Representative served at any given time; no more 

than two served simultaneously until 1955. Arriving in Washington, 

black Members confronted a segregated institution in a segregated 

capital city. Institutional racism, at turns sharply overt and cleverly 

subtle, provided a pivotal point for these African-American Members—

influencing their agendas, legislative styles, and standing within 

Congress. Pioneers such as Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, 

Charles C. Diggs, Jr., of Michigan, and Augustus (Gus) Hawkins of 

Keeping the Faith:

African Americans Return 

to Congress, 1929–1970

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, a charismatic and determined civil rights proponent in the U.S. House, served 

as a symbol of black political activism for millions of African Americans. 

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

California participated in the civil rights debates in Congress and helped shape 

fundamental laws such as the Civil Rights Act of 1964. For the first time, African 

Americans made substantive, not merely symbolic, gains within the institution. 

William L. Dawson of Illinois and Representative Powell became the first blacks to 

chair standing congressional committees. Eight of these trailblazers would eventually 

lead one or more standing House committees.

Demographic shifts continued to transform the black political base during 

these decades, fundamentally recasting the background and experiences of black 

Members of Congress. None of the black Members from this period represented 

a southern district or state—a testament to the near-complete disfranchisement 

of southern blacks and a massive, decades-long migration of millions of African 

Americans employed in agricultural work in the South to urban areas in the North 

in search of industrial jobs. While their representation of northern cities alone would 

have distinguished this group of black Members from their Reconstruction-Era 

predecessors, they were also overwhelmingly Democratic, sharply contrasting with 

the uniformly Republican 19th-century African Americans in Congress. New Deal 

reforms providing a modicum of economic relief—and, more compellingly, the 

promise of fuller participation in American life—drew Black Americans away from 

the party of Lincoln and into a durable Democratic coalition built by President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt. With the exception of De Priest and Senator Edward Brooke 

of Massachusetts, all the black Members of Congress from this era were Democrats. 

An atomistic individualism characterized the careers of African-American 

congressional pioneers in the early decades of this era. The burden of advocating 

black interests fell on the shoulders of a few Representatives: De Priest and Arthur 

Mitchell of Illinois in the 1930s and Powell and Dawson in the 1940s, joined by 

Diggs and Robert Nix of Pennsylvania in the 1950s. Seven of the 13 individuals 

to serve in this era were not elected until the 1960s, just as the civil rights 

movement led by Reverend Martin Luther King, Jr., crested and compelled the 

federal government to enact legislative reforms. Yet this cohort formed a political 

vanguard that, in many respects, mirrored the experiences and trends reconfiguring 

black participation in modern American politics. Brooke—the first black U.S. 

Senator since Blanche Bruce of Mississippi during Reconstruction—entered the 

upper chamber in 1967; two years later, Representative Shirley Chisholm of New 

York became the first black woman to serve in Congress. 

Like their Reconstruction-Era predecessors, these African-American Members 

endured racist slurs and prejudicial slights that complicated their development as 

legislators. Too few to effect change as a voting bloc within Congress, they acted 

either as public advocates commanding the spotlight on behalf of racial equality or 

as patient insiders who sought to deliver economic and political benefits to black 

constituents by accruing influence within the existing power structure. Yet the 

symbolism of this handful of black congressional careers initiated between the onset 

of the Great Depression and the social ferment of the late 1960s far exceeded the sum 

of its parts. Arguably for the first time, Black Americans who sent Representatives to 

Capitol Hill were substantively rewarded with legislative efforts made expressly on 

their behalf. “Keep the faith, baby,” Representative Powell famously intoned, “spread 

it gently and walk together, children.”1

 His oft-repeated words captured the essence 

of African Americans’ growing collective political activism. 

Elected in 1964, John Conyers of Michigan 

was featured on the front cover of Jet 

magazine in an article titled, “Nation Gets 

Sixth Negro Congressman.”

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

236 H Black Americans in Congress 
Pre-Congressional Experience

Numerous parallels can be drawn between the black Congressmen of the 

Reconstruction Era and the 13 African Americans who were elected to Congress 

between 1929 and 1970. Many were born in the South, some into well-todo circumstances. All were well educated, especially compared to the general 

population, and they drew from a growing reserve of political experience. Like 

most of their white congressional colleagues, 20th-century black Members of 

Congress tended to be selected from the elite of their communities. Each had 

bridged the gulf that separated blacks from the opportunities enjoyed by bettereducated, more-affluent whites. A leading political scientist notes that “in terms of 

education, income, and occupation, these black representatives resemble their white 

counterparts more than they do their African-American constituents.”2

Six of the blacks elected to Congress from 1929 to 1970 were born into 

racially segregated circumstances in the South.3

 Some participated in the Great 

Migration to northern and western urban areas with their parents (or, later, as 

young adults), attracted by better economic, social, and cultural opportunities.4

Born in Florence, Alabama, Oscar De Priest was 7 when his family joined the 

1878–1879 exodus of some 60,000 black families from the Lower Mississippi 

Valley to Kansas; he eventually moved to Chicago as a young man. His successor, 

Arthur Mitchell, was born in Lafayette, Alabama, and taught school in the South 

before attending northern colleges to earn his law degree, eventually settling in 

Chicago in the 1920s—a decade when nearly 750,000 blacks moved to the North. 

William Dawson, who succeeded Mitchell, was born in Albany, Georgia, and 

attended school in the South before moving to Chicago prior to World War I. It 

was not until mid-century that the first black Members of Congress were elected to 

represent the cities where they were born and raised. These included Charles Diggs 

of Detroit (1954), John Conyers, Jr., of Detroit (1964), Louis Stokes of Cleveland 

(1968), William L. Clay, Sr., of St. Louis (1968), Shirley Chisholm of Brooklyn 

(1968), and George W. Collins of Chicago (1970). 

Service in the U.S. Army played a formative role in the lives of a majority of 

these Members of Congress.5

 For those born in the North, the military was a 

brusque introduction to blatantly segregationist practices. Both Diggs and Stokes, 

who were stationed in the Deep South, recalled instances of discrimination 

when African-American soldiers were refused food service, while white GIs and 

German prisoners of war dined together. “That was the shock of recognition 

to me, that an enemy was more welcome than a black,” Diggs observed.6

 That 

experience sparked Diggs’s future political commitment to securing equal rights 

for African Americans. Shortly after taking office in 1943, William Dawson, who 

had graduated from the country’s first black officers’ candidate school in 1917, 

declared, “I know what segregation in the army means. . . . It is a damnable thing 

anywhere and I resent it.”7

 As a Member of Congress during World War II, Dawson 

was a vocal proponent of integrating U.S. forces and, in 1944, when Secretary of 

War Henry L. Stimson suggested that black soldiers were unfit for combat duty, 

Dawson demanded his removal.8

 Edward Brooke, who served during World War 

II in Europe in the segregated 366th Combat Infantry Regiment and later in the 

224th Engineering Battalion, recalled, “The prejudice Negro soldiers faced in the 

army was underscored by the friendliness of the Italians, who were colorblind 

with regard to race. . . . It was maddening to be given lectures on the evils of Nazi 

Jim Crow reigned in North Carolina in 

the 1950s, where water fountains on the 

Halifax County courthouse lawn bore the 

signs of segregation.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Nearly one million blacks served in 

World War II, most in the segregated U.S. 

Army. This 1942 picture of a military 

policeman astride his motorcycle on a base 

in Columbus, Georgia, underscored the 

reality that Jim Crow practices prevalent 

in civilian life were also a part of 

military service. 

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 237
racial theories and then be told that we should not associate with white soldiers 

or white civilians.”9

 After being drafted in 1953, five years after the services were 

integrated by presidential order, William Clay, Sr., was stationed at Fort McClellan 

in Alabama—an army post that was still largely segregated, in Clay’s words, 

“with all the insobriety of the last Confederate general and the insolence of the 

last Confederate infantryman.” Clay organized a boycott against the segregated 

barbershop, a whites-only Post Exchange restaurant, and a segregated swimming 

pool. Later, Representative Diggs launched an investigation into base practices at 

Fort McClellan.10

Like their Reconstruction predecessors, 20th-century black political pioneers 

in Congress were exceedingly well educated—eclipsing the educational level 

of the average American and far surpassing the educational level of their fellow 

Black Americans.11 All graduated from high school. Only one, De Priest, did not 

receive at least a partial college education; seven studied law at elite historically 

black institutions and Ivy League schools. As organs of political protest and racial 

advancement, African-American churches played a central role in the larger civil 

rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, but religious studies and service in the 

pulpit were not a prerequisite for black Members of Congress. Among these black 

Members, only Adam Clayton Powell, who succeeded his father as pastor of New 

York’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, was trained in the ministry. 

Political opportunities were more often secular. The majority of the African 

Americans elected to Congress during this period had experience in elective 

office. Five served on city councils in major urban areas as a result of the growing 

population and influence of blacks in northern cities: De Priest, Dawson, and 

Collins served in Chicago, Powell served in New York City, and Clay served in 

St. Louis. Diggs, Hawkins, and Chisholm served in state legislatures. Edward 

Brooke served two terms as Massachusetts attorney general, becoming one of the 

highest-ranking African-American law enforcement officials in history.12 Only 

Stokes, Nix, and Conyers won election to the House without having held an 

elective office, but all three had extensive local political experience.13

In an effort to bring more African 

Americans to the polls, the National 

Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People (NAACP) sponsored 

numerous voter registration drives such 

as this one at Antioch Baptist Church 

in Atlanta, Georgia.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Representative Shirley Chisholm of New 

York became the first African-American 

Congresswoman when she was elected in 

1968 from a newly reconfigured, majorityblack district in Brooklyn, New York. 

Ebony magazine featured the lawmaker in 

an article titled, “New Faces in Congress.”

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives (Detail)

238 H Black Americans in Congress 
Reflecting inroads made by the modern women’s rights movement, gender 

diversity became a reality for Black Americans in Congress during this era.14 In 

1968, Shirley Chisholm won a newly redistricted seat in Brooklyn, becoming the 

first African-American woman elected to Congress. She ran against James Farmer, 

a famous civil rights activist nominated as the Liberal-Republican candidate partly 

because he argued that the Democrats had for too long “thought they had [the black 

vote] in their pockets.” Chisholm and Farmer staked out similar economic and social 

positions, and their campaigns were nearly identical, but Farmer argued that women 

had been “in the driver’s seat” in black communities for an extensive period and that 

the district needed “a man’s voice in Washington.”15 Chisholm prevailed, becoming 

an overnight symbol of crumbling barriers for blacks in national political office. 

Within five years, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke of California, Barbara Jordan of Texas, 

and Cardiss Collins of Illinois joined her in the House. “The black man must step 

forward,” Chisholm was fond of saying, “but that doesn’t mean that black women 

have to step back.”16

Legislative and Electoral Characteristics

Committee Assignments

As in the Reconstruction Era, African-American Members through the mid-20th 

century were assigned largely to middling committee positions.17 Among black 

Members’ committee assignments were Invalid Pensions (3), Interior and Insular 

Affairs (3), Veterans’ Affairs (3), Indian Affairs (2), Post Office and Post Roads (2), 

Expenditures in the Executive Departments (2), and District of Columbia (2). No 

black Members served on the Agriculture Committee (despite House leaders’ initial 

attempt to assign Shirley Chisholm to the panel), largely because they represented 

northern industrialized districts. As in the 19th century, the Education and Labor 

Committee—which had oversight of federal laws affecting schools, workplaces, and 

unions—was the most common assignment, with four black Members in this era.

There were a few exceptions to this pattern, however. William Dawson served 

on the Irrigation and Reclamation Committee in the 78th and 79th Congresses 

(1943–1947). That panel, which had wide-ranging jurisdiction over public lands 

and water projects, ranked in the top third of “attractive” committees. In 1965, 

John Conyers won a seat as a freshman on the influential Judiciary Committee, 

which was then under the leadership of liberal Democrat Emanuel Celler of New 

York. At the time, the assignment was an elite one, as Judiciary ranked behind 

only Ways and Means and Appropriations in terms of the number of Members 

who sought assignment there.18 Members also considered the Foreign Affairs 

Committee to be among the upper tier of House committee assignments because 

of its relative visibility. Charles Diggs won a seat on this panel in 1959, becoming 

its first African-American Member. Diggs’s appointment to the committee signified 

African Americans’ increasing interest in Cold War policies, particularly as they 

affected the rise of postcolonial independent states in Africa. By 1969, he chaired 

the Subcommittee on Africa and served as one of the principal organizers of the 

congressional anti-apartheid movement. Since Senators’ committee responsibilities 

tend to be broader than those of their House counterparts, the increased workload 

opened avenues onto important panels for Edward Brooke, who won assignments 

to the Senate Appropriations Committee, the Armed Services Committee, and the 

Joint Defense Production Committee.19 

Cold War: 

A state of ideological, economic, 

political, military, and cultural 

warfare between the United States 

and the Soviet Union (USSR) from 

1947 until 1991. Developing from 

divergent American and Soviet foreign 

policies concerning the restoration of 

Europe after World War II, the conflict 

spread from Europe to the rest of the 

world. Although there were no direct 

military conflicts, the Soviet and 

American superpowers tried to alter the 

international balance of power in their 

favor by competing globally for allies, 

strategic locations, natural resources, 

and influence in Asia, Africa, and 

Latin America. The Cold War ended 

with the collapse and disintegration 

of the USSR in 1991.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 239
Longevity and Seniority

The turnover rate for incumbent black Members of Congress in the 20th century 

remained low. The creation of majority-black districts, particularly in the late 

1960s and the 1970s, provided electoral safety for black House Members. Of all 

the African Americans who were elected to the House and the Senate from 1928 

through 2007, only four were defeated in a general election: De Priest (1934), 

Brooke (1978), Delegate Melvin Evans of the Virgin Islands (1980), and Senator 

Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois (1998). All the other African-American Members 

who lost their seats (12) were defeated in the Democratic primaries (usually by other 

African Americans). These trends reflected the growing power of incumbency among 

the general congressional membership.20

During this period, black Members of Congress tended to be slightly older upon 

their first election than the rest of the congressional population.21 The average age 

of African-American Members at their first election was 46.4 years; their white 

colleagues, who began their careers at marginally earlier ages, enjoyed a statistical, if 

not a determinative, advantage in accruing seniority at a younger age. Roughly onethird of black Members during this era were elected in their 30s, as was the general 

House population that was elected between 1930 and 1960. Moreover, four AfricanAmerican Members elected in their thirties—Powell, Diggs, Conyers, and Clay—all 

had unusually long careers and eventually held a variety of leadership posts. At 31 

years of age, Diggs was the youngest black Member elected during this period. Nix 

was the oldest; elected to the House for the first time at age 59, he claimed to be 

eight years younger than he actually was. 

The trend toward increasing electoral safety led to longevity on Capitol Hill. Of 

the 13 African Americans elected to Congress between 1928 and 1970, 10 served 

at least 10 years; eight served more than 20 years.22 Longevity allowed Members 

to gain the seniority on committees they needed to advance into the leadership 

or request more-desirable committee assignments. Consequently, a number of 

milestones were established during this era. Representative Dawson became the first 

African American to chair a standing congressional committee when he earned the 

gavel on the House Expenditures in the Executive Departments Committee (later 

named the Government Operations Committee) in 1949. With the exception of 

the period from 1953 to 1955, when Republicans controlled the chamber, Dawson 

chaired the panel until his death in 1970. Representative Powell served as chairman 

of the Education and Labor Committee from 1961 to 1967, overseeing much of 

the education reform legislation passed during the Great Society. Additionally, 

Dawson, Powell, Diggs, and Nix chaired 10 subcommittees on six separate standing 

committees during this era.23

Incumbency conferred a substantial amount of power. It discouraged opposition 

from within the party because in many instances the incumbent Member controlled 

or influenced much of the local political machinery. It also strengthened the 

intangible bonds between voter and Member. In some measure the electoral 

longevity of this set of African-American Members can be attributed to the power of 

the entrenched political machines that brought them to office. But Representatives’ 

familiarity, established through their longevity, also fostered loyalty among their 

constituents. Viewed by their primarily African-American communities as advocates 

for black interests, most of these Members cultivated unusually cohesive bases 

As commemorated on this fan, the 85th 

Congress (1957–1959) was the first 

Congress since Reconstruction with four 

black lawmakers serving simultaneously.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

Unlike Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., William 

Dawson of Illinois preferred to stay out of 

the limelight and work within institutional 

pathways to effect civil rights change.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

240 H Black Americans in Congress 
Realignment: 

A new or unique merging 

of disparate political parties, 

philosophies, or organizations. 

of support.24 These relationships endured even when incumbents such as Adam 

Clayton Powell and Charles Diggs faced ethics charges or legal problems.25

Party Realignment and the New Deal

The political realignment of black voters that began in the late 1920s proliferated 

during this era. This process involved a “push and pull”; the racial policies of 

Republicans alienated many black voters, while those of the northern wing of the 

Democratic Party attracted them.26 In 1932, incumbent President Herbert Hoover 

received between two-thirds and three-quarters of the black vote in northern urban 

wards, despite his attempts to ingratiate himself with southern segregationists and 

his failure to implement economic policies to help blacks laid low by the Great 

Depression.27 But most blacks cast their votes less because of Republican loyalty than 

because they were loath to support a candidate whose party had zealously suppressed 

their political rights in the South. Blacks mistrusted Franklin D. Roosevelt because 

of his party label, his evasiveness about racial issues in the campaign, and his choice 

of a running mate, House Speaker John Nance Garner of Texas.28 As late as the 

mid-1930s, John R. Lynch, a former Republican Representative who represented 

Mississippi during Reconstruction and in the years immediately afterward, summed 

up the sentiments of older black voters and upper-middle-class professionals: “The 

colored voters cannot help but feel that in voting the Democratic ticket in national 

elections they will be voting to give their indorsement [sic] and their approval to 

every wrong of which they are victims, every right of which they are deprived, and 

every injustice of which they suffer.”29

The Illinois First Congressional District provides a window into the process of 

black political realignment in northern cities. Prior to becoming solidly Democratic 

in 1934, the South Chicago district elected Republican Oscar De Priest in 1928, 

1930, and 1932. Chicago’s Republican machine was firmly established and headed 

by William Hale (Big Bill) Thompson, who served as mayor from 1915 through 

1923 and again from 1927 through 1931. Southern blacks, who swelled the city’s 

population during that period (giving it the second-largest urban black population 

nationally by 1930), encountered a Republican machine that courted the black vote 

and extended patronage jobs. The party offered these migrants an outlet for political 

participation that was unimaginable in the Jim Crow South. African Americans 

voted in droves for machine politicians like Thompson, who regularly corralled at 

least 60 percent of the vote in the majority-black Second and Third Wards. Mayor 

Thompson and the machine promoted black politicians such as De Priest who, in 

1915, became the city’s first African-American alderman (the equivalent of a city 

councilman). Black voters remained exceedingly loyal to the Republican ticket, both 

nationally and locally.30

Indeed, the most common political experience of African-American Members of 

this era came through their involvement in politics at the ward and precinct levels. The 

Chicago political machines run by Thompson and, later, Democrats such as Edward 

J. Kelly and Richard J. Daley, sent nearly one-third of the black Members of this era 

to Capitol Hill. Political machines awakened to and courted the growing AfricanAmerican urban population long before the national parties realized its potential. At 

the beginning of this era, the relationship between black politicians and their sponsors 

was strong—and many black Members of Congress placed party loyalty above all 

else. But by the late 1960s, as black politicians began to assemble their own power 

Oscar De Priest’s successful election 

campaign to represent a lakeshore district 

in Chicago initiated the trend of black 

representation in northern cities, where the 

Great Migration sharply increased AfricanAmerican populations.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

Great Depression: 

The economic crisis and period of 

minimal business activity in the United 

States and other industrialized nations 

that began in 1929 and continued 

through the 1930s. During the 1920s 

in the United States, speculation on 

the stock market led to changes in 

federal monetary policy. The subsequent 

decline in personal consumption and 

investments triggered the stock market 

crash of 1929, which, along with 

World War I debts and reparations, 

precipitated the Great Depression.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 241
bases, carving out a measure of independence, they often challenged the machine 

when party interests conflicted with racial issues that were important to the black 

community. Unlike earlier black Members, who relied on the established political 

machines to launch their careers, these Members, most of whom were native to the 

cities they represented, managed to forge political bases separate from the dominant 

party structure through long-established familial and community relations and civic 

engagement—and they routinely clashed with the entrenched political powers.31

Discontent with the Hoover administration’s halting efforts to revive the 

Depression-Era economy also loosened African-American ties to the party. 

Nationally, the staggering financial collapse hit blacks harder than most other 

groups. Thousands had already lost agrarian jobs in the mid-1920s due to the 

declining cotton market.32 Others had lost industrial jobs in the first stages of 

economic contraction, so blacks nationally were already in the grips of an economic 

depression before the stock market collapsed in October 1929. By the early 1930s, 

38 percent of blacks were unemployed (compared to 17 percent of whites).33 A 

Roosevelt administration study found that blacks constituted 20 percent of all 

Americans on the welfare rolls, even though they accounted for just 10 percent 

of the total population. In Chicago, one-fourth of welfare recipients were black, 

although blacks made up just 6 percent of the city’s total population.34 

Political opportunity (both for personal advancement and for the improvement 

of the black community) in the early 1930s also convinced some African-American 

politicians to change their party allegiance.35 Arthur Mitchell and William Dawson 

epitomized a younger cadre of African Americans who were “ambitious and 

impatient with the entrenched black Republican leadership, [seeking] a chance 

for personal advancement in the concurrent rise of the national Democratic party. 

. . .”36 Paid to speak on behalf of Hoover’s 1928 presidential campaign, Mitchell 

encountered the De Priest campaign at a Chicago engagement and shortly thereafter 

joined the Second Ward Regular Republican Organization; he hoped to make an 

intraparty challenge to the incumbent. But after evaluating De Priest’s control of the 

machine, he switched parties to campaign for Roosevelt in 1932 and two years later 

successfully unseated De Priest, even though the incumbent retained the majority of 

the black vote. Mitchell became the first African American elected to Congress as a 

Democrat—running largely on a platform that tapped into urban black support for 

the economic relief provided by New Deal programs. “I was elected partly on the 

achievement of your administration . . . ,” Mitchell wrote President Roosevelt shortly 

after starting his term in office, “and partly on the promise that I would stand [in] 

back of your administration.”37

Even more telling was the defection of De Priest’s protégé, William Dawson, 

who, with the Representative’s backing, in 1932 won election as a Republican 

Second Ward alderman to the Chicago city council. After defeating De Priest in 

the 1938 GOP primary, failing to unseat Mitchell in the general election, and then 

losing his seat on the city council when De Priest allies blocked his renomination, 

Dawson seized the opportunity extended by his one time opponents. Allying with 

Democratic mayoral incumbent Ed Kelly, Dawson changed parties and became 

Democratic committeeman in the Second Ward, clearing a path to succeed Mitchell 

upon his retirement from the House in 1942. Dawson’s case epitomized the 

willingness of Democratic bosses like Kelly to recruit African Americans by using 

patronage positions.38

Born in Alabama, Representative Oscar 

De Priest became the first African American 

elected from the North and the first to be 

elected in the 20th century.

Image courtesy of Scurlock Studio 

Records, Archives Center, National 

Museum of American History, 

Smithsonian Institution

New Deal: 

A period of political, economic, and 

social activity spanning President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt’s first two terms 

in office (1933–1941). Working with 

Congress, the Roosevelt administration 

provided an unprecedented level of 

emergency intervention in response to 

the Great Depression that was designed 

to revive the economy and to provide 

basic welfare to citizens.

242 H Black Americans in Congress 
Additionally, black voters nationwide realigned their party affiliation because of 

the growing perception that the interests of the black community were intertwined 

with local Democratic organizations. Local patronage positions and nationally 

administered emergency relief programs in Depression-Era Chicago and other cities 

proved alluring.39 While New Deal programs failed to extend as much economic 

relief to Black Americans as to whites, the tangible assistance they provided conferred 

a sense that the system was at least addressing a few issues that were important to 

African Americans. For those who had been marginalized or ignored for so long, 

even the largely symbolic efforts of the Roosevelt administration inspired hope and 

renewed interest in the political process.40 As younger black voters displaced their 

parents and grandparents, their electoral experiences and loyalties evolved largely 

alongside and within the Democratic machines that came to dominate northern city 

wards. By 1936, only 28 percent of blacks nationally voted for Republican nominee 

Alf Landon—less than half the number who had voted for Hoover just four years 

before.41 Over time, the party affiliations of blacks in Congress became equally 

one-sided. Including Oscar De Priest, just five black Republicans were elected 

to Congress between 1929 and 2007 (about 5 percent of the African Americans 

to serve in that time span).42

The Limits of New Deal Reform

President Franklin Roosevelt remained aloof and ambivalent about black civil 

rights largely because his economic policies may have been compromised had he 

raised racial issues, angering southern congressional leaders. During Roosevelt’s first 

term, the administration’s emphasis was squarely on mitigating the economic travails 

of the Depression. This required a close working relationship with Congresses 

dominated by racially conservative southern Democrats, including several Speakers 

and most of the chairmen of key committees. “Economic reconstruction took 

precedence over all other concerns,” observes historian Harvard Sitkoff. “Congress 

held the power of the purse, and the South held power in Congress.”43 There were no 

plausible scenarios in which the President could have confronted white supremacy 

head-on during the Depression.

However, other institutional and structural reforms implemented by the 

administration eclipsed the President’s impassivity toward black civil rights 

activists.44 Absent Roosevelt’s hands-on involvement, progressive New Dealers 

advanced the cause of African Americans, transforming many blacks’ perceptions 

about the Democratic Party.45 First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt prodded her husband to 

be more responsive and cultivated connections with black leaders, such as educator 

and women’s rights activist Mary McLeod Bethune. One historian describes the First 

Lady as an “unofficial ombudsman for the Negro.”46 Harold Ickes, a key Roosevelt 

appointee and Secretary of the Interior Department, was another prominent 

advocate for blacks. A former president of the Chicago National Association for 

the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) and a one-time Republican, Ickes 

banned segregation from his department; other heads of executive agencies followed 

his example. As director of the Public Works Administration, Ickes also stipulated 

that the agency’s federal contractors must hire a percentage of blacks equal to or 

higher than the percentage of blacks recorded in the 1930 occupational census.47 

Nevertheless, another failed attempt to push for anti-lynching legislation made 

it apparent that the extent of reform was limited. In this instance—unlike in the 

early 1920s when there were no blacks serving in Congress—an African-American 

At the urging of First Lady Eleanor 

Roosevelt (center), Mary McLeod Bethune 

(left), a leading African-American 

educator, was appointed to head the 

Division of Negro Affairs of the National 

Youth Administration. 

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration

Members of the NAACP New York City 

Youth Council picketed on behalf of antilynching legislation in front of the Strand 

Theater in New York City’s Times Square. 

In 1937, an anti-lynching bill passed the 

U.S. House, but died in the Senate.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 243
Member of Congress, Arthur Mitchell, refused to endorse legislation supported by 

the NAACP. Moreover, Mitchell introduced his own anti-lynching bill in the 74th 

Congress (1935–1937), which critics assailed as a diluted measure that provided 

far more lenient sentences and contained many legal ambiguities. Given the choice, 

southerners favored Mitchell’s bill, although they amended it considerably in 

the Judiciary Committee, further weakening its provisions. Meanwhile, Mitchell 

waged a public relations blitz, including a national radio broadcast, on behalf of 

his bill. Only when reformers convincingly tabled Mitchell’s proposal early in the 

75th Congress (1937–1939) did he enlist in the campaign to support the NAACP 

measure—smarting from the realization that Judiciary Committee Chairman Hatton 

Sumners of Texas had misled and used him. The NAACP measure passed the House 

in April 1937 by a vote of 277 to 120 but was never enacted into law. Instead, 

southerners in the Senate effectively buried it in early 1938 by blocking efforts to 

bring it to an up-or-down vote on the floor.48 The rivalry between Mitchell and the 

NAACP forecast future problems while revealing that African-American Members 

and outside advocacy groups sometimes worked at cross-purposes, confounding 

civil rights supporters in Congress and providing opponents a wedge for blocking 

legislation.

The Second World War

World War II marked a watershed moment in African-American history. It 

brought economic opportunities and opened new avenues for participation in 

American society. On the eve of the war, roughly 75 percent of American blacks 

lived in the South, two-thirds of them in rural areas. For the year 1939, 87 percent 

of black families were estimated to live below the federal poverty level (compared to 

less than half of white families), and blacks’ per capita income was 39 percent that of 

whites. The war effort produced immense change by renewing the Great Migration, 

which had stalled during the Great Depression. Between 1940 and 1960, more 

than 4.5 million African Americans emigrated from the South to the urban North 

and the West. During the war years alone, approximately 700,000 black civilians 

left the South for destinations such as Los Angeles to take industrial jobs created 

by the demands of full-scale mobilization and to seek opportunities for political 

participation that did not exist in the South—where less than 5 percent of blacks 

were allowed to vote.49

Roughly one million blacks served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II, 

with approximately half serving overseas. The war effort offered more opportunities 

than ever for African Americans to defend their country, though discrimination and 

segregation circumscribed their ability to contribute. While thousands of African 

Americans served in combat—among them the army’s 92nd and 93rd all-black 

divisions, as well as the famed 99th Pursuit Squadron (known as the Tuskegee 

Airmen)—the most common assignments for black servicemen were rear-guard 

mopping-up actions and menial supply and requisition roles. A lack of education 

among blacks generally and the prejudice of local draft boards and the military 

leadership accounted for much of the army’s reluctance to assign African Americans 

to combat roles.50 In 1942, Representative Mitchell repeatedly called attention to 

British military reverses in Singapore, noting that the colonial power failed “due 

in part to its own discriminations” against the native people, which undermined 

morale. “America might suffer a like fate,” Mitchell warned, “if we insist upon 

World War II brought women of all races 

out of the home and into the workplace. 

With millions of men serving overseas in the 

military, women filled many factory jobs. 

Above, two women worked together at the 

North American Aviation Company Plant.

Image courtesy of Franklin D. 

Roosevelt Presidential Library 

and Museum, Hyde Park, NY

Lt. Harriet Ida Pickens and Ens. Frances 

Willis, the first two African-American 

Navy “WAVES,” or “Women Accepted for 

Voluntary Emergency Service,” posed for a 

picture during World War II. Thousands of 

women in this and other military auxiliary 

units filled a range of jobs from nurses 

and clerical workers to parachute riggers, 

machinists, and even ferry pilots.

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration

244 H Black Americans in Congress 
destroying the morale of one-tenth of its fighting strength.”51 The American call to 

arms, Mitchell noted bitterly while reflecting on segregation in the army and the 

navy, “is for white people only, except where Negroes are needed to do the most 

menial service. Is this democracy? How long will this American practice be kept up? 

. . . While we are adjusting affairs the world over, we must not fail to adjust affairs in 

our own country and in our own hearts.”52

Wartime experiences also mobilized black political activism. Enrollment in the 

NAACP, which soared from 50,000 on the eve of U.S. intervention in the war 

to 450,000 in 1946, constituted one measure of renewed political activity. The 

organization’s “Double V” campaign, with its slogan “Democracy Abroad—At 

Home,” called for victory over fascism abroad and victory over racism at home. 

In A Rising Wind (1945), influential NAACP Secretary Walter White suggested 

that although African Americans were maltreated and maligned even during the 

war effort, they were too resilient to wallow in “defeatist disillusionment.” Instead, 

White predicted, as the United States demobilized its wartime effort against the Axis 

Powers, homeward-bound African-American servicemen would enlist in the effort 

to conquer Jim Crow, “convinced that whatever betterment of their lot is achieved 

must come largely from their own efforts. They will return determined to use those 

efforts to the utmost.”53 In this way African Americans’ wartime experiences helped 

foster the modern civil rights movement. 

Equally significant, the war against fascism and totalitarian regimes reminded 

millions of Americans of democracy’s shortcomings on the segregated home front. 

A number of southern states still used the poll tax—a fee as high as $2, earmarked 

for school improvements, that voters had to pay before casting their ballots. The cost 

was prohibitive for poor voters, who were overwhelmingly black.54 In a brief speech 

on the House Floor during a 1943 debate on a bill to outlaw the poll tax, freshman 

Representative William Dawson recalled his meager public education as a boy in 

Georgia, which was supplemented by private schooling, his family “slaved” to pay 

for. “You know that any method used to try to keep a citizen from exercising [the 

right to vote] is against the true spirit of the Constitution of the United States,” he 

told colleagues. “In the cause of the 13,000,000 patriotic and loyal Negro citizens I 

beseech the passage of this bill.” Several hours later, the House approved the measure 

by a sound 265 to 110 vote. However, the bill never cleared the Senate. In 1945, 

1947, and 1949, the House again passed anti-poll tax bills. Over time, the measure 

became less controversial because fewer states employed the poll tax. Still, southern 

Senators blocked the legislation from being enacted.55

Fair Employment Practices Committee

A critical moment in the development of black political activism came in 1941 

when civil rights proponents, led by A. Philip Randolph, threatened to march on 

Washington, DC, to protest discrimination against blacks in the war industry. 

President Roosevelt consented to act only grudgingly, when his efforts to cajole and 

dissuade black leaders from vigorously protesting his inaction had been completely 

exhausted. On June 25, 1941, Roosevelt issued Executive Order 8802, which 

declared “full participation in the national defense program by all citizens of the 

United States, regardless of race, creed, color, or national origin,” based on “the firm 

belief that the democratic way of life within the Nation can be defended successfully 

only with the help and support of all groups within its borders.” The order 

required that the federal government, unions, and defense industries “provide 

In February 1950, Adam Clayton Powell, 

Jr., (second from right) worked towards 

gaining permanent status for the Fair 

Employment Practices Committee (FEPC). 

While Powell and others successfully 

shepherded a FEPC bill through the House, 

the measure was blocked in the Senate.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Fair Employment Practices 

Committee (FEPC): 

Created in June 1941, this federal office 

was charged with enforcing Executive 

Order 8802, which outlawed racial 

discrimination in wartime industry by 

conducting investigations, gathering 

evidence, and reporting abuses. At its 

peak, the FEPC had 13 regional offices 

around the nation and was the first 

agency in U.S. history to appoint blacks 

to policy-making positions. The FEPC 

was disbanded in 1946.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 245
for the full and equitable participation of all workers.”56 The President intended 

to mollify black protest in the face of probable U.S. intervention in World War 

II, but in issuing his executive order, he inspired black activists, who viewed 

it, and widely portrayed it, as a milestone victory in bending the federal 

government to their cause. 

Roosevelt’s order also created the Fair Employment Practices Committee 

(FEPC) in the federal Office of Personnel Management to investigate complaints 

about hiring practices. Thousands availed themselves of the FEPC mechanism, 

though it drew harsh criticism from opponents of the administration’s New 

Deal programs and racial conservatives. In May 1944, congressional opponents 

of the FEPC, led by Representative Malcolm C. Tarver of Georgia, introduced 

a measure to repeal the $500,000 annual appropriation for the committee, 

presenting arguments on several fronts. Tarver suggested that the FEPC was 

an executive fiat “and does not have the approval or legislative sanction of 

Congress.”57 Segregationist and avowed New Deal foe John Elliott Rankin 

of Mississippi declared that the FEPC was “the beginning of a communistic 

dictatorship, the likes of which America never dreamed.”58

Only one African American—William Dawson of Chicago—served in Congress 

and could defend the record of the committee. Noting that he spoke for “more than 

a million Negro Americans fighting today with our armed forces and more than 

13,000,000 here at home,” Dawson argued that the FEPC finally ensured blacks a 

fair part in the war production effort. “So when I hear some Members stand here 

and refer to it as a dictatorial committee, bent on making people do something that 

they do not wish to do, I know that they are not stating the facts to you. They are 

merely making statements in order to carry out their own purposes.”59 Later that 

afternoon, the House voted 139 to 95 to agree to the amendment to pull funding 

for the FEPC. But the Labor Committee, chaired by sympathetic Representative 

Mary Norton of New Jersey, held hearings on permanently establishing the 

FEPC—a move that was backed by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt—and funding 

was temporarily restored.60 Opponents of the FEPC prevailed in 1946, when 

they garnered enough support in both chambers to let the FEPC lapse. Twice, 

proponents of creating a permanent commission—prodded by liberals like Adam 

Clayton Powell and California Representative Helen Gahagan Douglas, who 

represented a large black constituency in Los Angeles—brought an FEPC bill 

before the House. A version of the bill passed the House in February 1950, but 

southern opponents had fatally weakened its enforcement powers. The measure, 

which provided only for investigatory and proposal functions, died later that year 

when it was filibustered in the Senate. 

Postwar Foreign Policy and African-American Civil Rights

The Cold War, the great power rivalry that evolved between the United States 

and the Soviet Union in the aftermath of World War II, riveted international 

attention on U.S. segregation practices.61 Discrimination against millions of 

African Americans at home prompted criticism from allies and provided Kremlin 

propagandists with ample public relations opportunities. Members of the U.S. 

policymaking elite, who tended to cast the Soviet–American rivalry in terms of good 

versus evil, were keenly aware of the gap between their rhetoric about defending 

the “Free World” from communist “aggression” and democratic shortcomings 

On September 24, 1957, President Dwight 

D. Eisenhower addressed the nation 

concerning the integration of Central 

High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. 

The President dispatched the 101st Army 

Airborne Division and U.S. Marshals to 

protect the students and to maintain order 

in Little Rock.

Image courtesy of National Park 

Service, provided by Dwight David 

Eisenhower Presidential Library

Mary Norton of New Jersey, who chaired 

the House Committee on Labor from 

1937 to 1947, sympathized with the 

goals of the Fair Employment Practices 

Committee. Women in Congress often 

served as important allies of early 

African-American Members.

Oil on canvas (detail), Elaine 

Hartley, 1935, Collection of 

U.S. House of Representatives

246 H Black Americans in Congress 
at home, such as the Little Rock crisis of September 1957, when the Dwight D. 

Eisenhower administration was compelled to dispatch federal troops and marshals 

to integrate the city’s Central High School. Surveying the episode, widely respected 

foreign policy commentator Walter Lippmann noted, “the work of the American 

propagandist is not at present a happy one.” Segregation “mocks us and haunts us 

whenever we become eloquent and indignant in the United Nations. . . . The caste 

system in this country, particularly when as in Little Rock it is maintained by troops, 

is an enormous, indeed an almost insuperable, obstacle to our leadership in the cause 

of freedom and human equality.”62

U.S. officials viewed domestic civil rights through an ideological lens shaped 

by the Cold War that at times produced contrarian impulses.63 In some measure, 

American officials’ increasing receptiveness to calls for civil rights at home in the 

1950s and 1960s must be examined within the context of their desire to promote 

a positive image of America abroad, particularly in the contest for support in 

developing, decolonized countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America—principal 

proxy arenas for the Cold War.64 As historian Thomas Borstelmann observes, U.S. 

officials often sought “to try to manage and control the efforts of racial reformers 

at home and abroad. . . . They hoped effectively to contain racial polarization and 

build the largest possible multiracial, anti-Communist coalition under American 

leadership.”65 Conversely, opponents of civil rights—often to great effect—labeled 

progressive reforms as communist-inspired. Moreover, investigatory panels such 

as the communist-hunting House Un-American Activities Committee (backed 

by arch segregationists such as Representative John E. Rankin) called prominent 

African Americans to testify during this era, questioning their ties to the American 

Communist Party and, by inference and innuendo, calling their patriotism 

into question.66

African Americans’ participation in the international dialogue about civil rights 

and postcolonial self-determination is noteworthy. NAACP Secretary Walter White 

remarked that World War II gave African Americans “a sense of kinship with other 

colored—and also oppressed—peoples of the world,” a belief “that the struggle of 

the Negro in the United States is part and parcel of the struggle against imperialism 

and exploitation in India, China, Burma, Africa, the Philippines, Malaya, the West 

Indies, and South America.”67 The Cold War certainly magnified these issues. As 

bellwethers of this international cognizance, Representatives Powell and Diggs made 

significant strides inserting themselves into the foreign policy debate, suggesting a 

growing black influence in shaping public perceptions about racism that transcended 

U.S. borders.68

Powell emerged as a foreign policy innovator. Representing a polyglot district, the 

Harlem Representative catered to the many nationalist impulses of his constituency, 

pushing for more liberal immigration policies, which were important to the large 

West Indian immigrant community in his district. He often met with visiting 

African heads of state and, as a freshman Member of the House, introduced 

legislation that allowed for the naturalization of Filipinos and South Asian Indians.69

A critic of the containment policy adopted by the Eisenhower administration, and 

particularly of the emphasis of Secretary of State John Foster Dulles on the need 

for allies to conform to liberal democratic ideals, he was stingingly critical of racial 

discrimination in the U.S. foreign policy apparatus. Noting in 1953 that the U.S. 

was “the most hated nation in the world today,” Powell called for immediate civil 

The historic 1954 Supreme Court case, 

Brown v. the Board of Education of 

Topeka (KS), desegregated the nation’s 

public schools. In September 1957, nine 

African-American students enrolled at the 

whites-only Central High School in Little 

Rock, Arkansas. Students were escorted 

to school by 101st Airborne Division 

soldiers. More than 40 years later, Congress 

recognized the bravery of the “Little Rock 

Nine” by awarding them the Congressional 

Gold Medal.

Image Courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Decolonization: 

A process that took place from 1945 to 

1993 characterized by the dissolution 

of European colonial institutions in 

Africa and Asia and the emergence of 

postcolonial indigenous governments.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 247
rights reforms, warning that otherwise “communism must win the global cold war 

by default.”70

In April 1955, Powell attended the Bandung, Indonesia, Afro-Asian Conference, 

a gathering of developing nations which opposed the “neocolonialism” of the 

superpowers and included representatives from India, Pakistan, Indonesia, Egypt, 

Ceylon, and Burma. U.S. officials refused to send an official representative to the 

conference, so Powell went as a private citizen even though the government asked 

him not to attend. His mere presence, he later told President Eisenhower, was 

“living proof to the fact that there is no truth in the Communist charge that the 

Negro is oppressed in America.”71 Powell, however, also powerfully endorsed the 

notion that smaller nations could remain unaligned and neutral in the larger Cold 

War struggle and questioned Washington’s embrace of the containment strategy 

and its missionary zeal for promoting free market trade. His efforts prodded the 

administration to install several African Americans as United Nations delegates and 

alternates in 1956.72

Diggs and Powell also became the first black Members of Congress to visit Africa. 

Diggs was part of an official U.S. delegation led by Vice President Richard M. Nixon 

in 1957 that participated in Ghana’s celebration of independence from British rule 

and the inauguration of Kwame Nkrumah as prime minister. Powell, who had a 

longtime connection with Nkrumah—an attendee of his Abyssinian Baptist Church 

in the 1930s as a merchant seaman and as a foreign student—joined Diggs in an 

unofficial capacity in Ghana’s capital, Accra.73 Diggs recalled that he and Powell 

“stood out there with tears coming down our cheeks” as the Union Jack (the British 

flag) was lowered and the new Ghanaian flag was raised in its place.74 Diggs later 

attended the All-African Peoples Conference in Accra, organized by Nkrumah, as a 

show of Third World solidarity. Diggs returned from that visit convinced that the 

United States was “in danger of losing the present advantage it holds in Africa to 

the Soviet Union.” He added, “our Nation needs to be educated on the tremendous 

significance of the development of Africa.”75 Believing he “could make a contribution” 

to improve relations between Washington and postcolonial African governments, 

Diggs requested and was awarded a spot on the Foreign Affairs Committee in 

January 1959.

American intervention in the Vietnamese civil war—between the communist 

regime in Hanoi and the U.S.-backed government in Saigon—was another key 

foreign policy issue for black Members of Congress. Representative Gus Hawkins 

opposed the war, based partly on impressions he formed while visiting South 

Vietnam in 1970 that the government routinely violated prisoners’ human rights. 

Others, such as Representative Robert Nix, supported the foreign policies of the two 

Democratic presidents—John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. Johnson—who broadened 

the U.S. military commitment and mission in Southeast Asia. As a Senate candidate 

in 1966, Edward Brooke was initially skeptical about the war. After an official visit 

to Vietnam, he asserted that the military policy of the Johnson administration was 

prudent because there was no prospect of meaningful negotiations with the North 

Vietnamese. Brooke tacked back toward a dissenting position when, in 1970, he 

opposed the Nixon administration’s policy of attacking communist sanctuaries in 

Cambodia. He eventually voted for the Cooper–Church Amendment of 1970, 

which prohibited the deployment of U.S. forces outside Vietnam.

In this 1966 photo, Education and Labor 

Committee Chairman Adam Clayton 

Powell, Jr., (left) walked down a hallway 

of the Rayburn House Office Building 

accompanied by his administrative 

assistant, Chuck Stone.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

Shortly after becoming the first Black 

American to serve in the U.S. Senate 

in nearly a century, Edward Brooke 

of Massachusetts met with President 

Lyndon B. Johnson in the Oval Office 

in January 1967.

Photograph by Yoichi R. Okamoto, 

courtesy of the LBJ Library

248 H Black Americans in Congress 
The Civil Rights Movement and the Second 

Reconstruction, 1945–1968

The broad period from the end of World War II until the late 1960s, often 

referred to as the “Second Reconstruction,” consisted of a grass-roots civil rights 

movement coupled with gradual but progressive actions by the Presidents, the 

federal courts, and Congress to provide full political rights for African Americans 

and to begin to redress longstanding economic and social inequities. While 

African-American Members of Congress from this era played prominent roles in 

advocating for reform, it was largely the efforts of everyday Americans who protested 

segregation that prodded a reluctant Congress to pass landmark civil rights legislation 

in the 1960s.76

During the 1940s and 1950s, executive action, rather than legislative initiatives, 

set the pace for measured movement toward desegregation. President Harry 

S. Truman “expanded on Roosevelt’s limited and tentative steps toward racial 

moderation and reconciliation.”77 Responding to civil rights advocates, Truman 

established the President’s Committee on Civil Rights. Significantly, the committee’s 

October 1947 report, To Secure These Rights, provided civil rights proponents in 

Congress a legislative blueprint for much of the next two decades. Among its 

recommendations were the creation of a permanent FEPC, the establishment 

of a permanent Civil Rights Commission, the creation of a civil rights division 

in the U.S. Department of Justice, and the enforcement of federal anti-lynching 

laws and desegregation in interstate transportation. In 1948, President Truman 

signed Executive Order 9981, desegregating the military. Truman’s civil rights 

policies contributed to the unraveling of the solid Democratic South. Alienated 

by the administration’s race policies, a faction of conservative southerners split 

to form the Dixiecrats, a racially conservative party that nominated South Carolina 

Governor (and future U.S. Senator) Strom Thurmond as its presidential candidate 

in 1948.78 President Dwight D. Eisenhower, though more cautious, also followed 

his predecessor’s pattern—desegregating Washington, DC, overseeing the integration 

of blacks to the military, and promoting minority rights in federal contracts.79

Democratic governors met in February 

1948 to protest President Harry S. 

Truman’s civil rights reforms and the 

desegregation of the military. In this picture 

Senator J. Howard McGrath (seated) of 

Rhode Island, chairman of the Democratic 

National Committee, rejected the demands 

to dismantle President Truman’s civil rights 

program presented by governors (from left 

to right) Ben T. Laney of Arkansas, R. 

Gregg Cherry of North Carolina, William 

P. Lane, Jr., of Maryland, J. Strom 

Thurmond of South Carolina, and B. H. 

Jester of Texas.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

A Herblock cartoon from March 1949 

depicts a glum-looking President Harry S. 

Truman and “John Q. Public” inspecting 

worm-ridden apples representing Truman’s 

Fair Deal policies such as civil rights and 

rent controls. The alliance of conservative 

southern Democrats and Republicans in 

Congress who successfully blocked many 

of Truman’s initiatives is portrayed by the 

worm labeled “Coalition.”

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 249
The federal courts also carved out a judicial beachhead for civil rights activists. 

In Smith v. Allwright (321 U.S. 649, 1944), the U.S. Supreme Court, by an 8 to 1 

vote, outlawed the white primary, which by excluding blacks from participating in 

the Democratic Party primary in southern states had effectively disfranchised them 

since the early 1900s. A decade later, the high court under Chief Justice Earl Warren 

handed down a unanimous decision in Brown v. Board of Education (347 U.S. 

483, 1954), a case that tested the segregation of school facilities in Topeka, Kansas. 

Brown sparked a revolution in civil rights with its plainspoken ruling that separate 

was inherently unequal. “In the field of public education, separate but equal has no 

place,” the Justices declared. Then, in the early 1960s, the Supreme Court rendered 

a string of decisions known as the “reapportionment cases” that fundamentally 

changed the voting landscape for African Americans by requiring that representation 

in the federal and state legislatures be based substantially on population. Baker v. 

Carr (369 U.S. 186, 1962) upheld the justiciability of lawsuits that challenged 

districts apportioned to enforce voting discrimination against minorities. Gray v. 

Sanders (372 U.S. 368, 1963) invalidated Georgia’s county unit voting system, 

giving rise to the concept “one man, one vote.” Two decisions in 1964, Wesberry 

v. Sanders (376 U.S. 1) and Reynolds v. Sims (377 U.S. 533), proved seminal. The 

court nullified Georgia’s unequal congressional districts in Wesberry while validating 

the 14th Amendment’s provision for equal representation for equal numbers of 

people in each district. In Reynolds, the Supreme Court solidified the “one man, 

one vote” concept in an 8 to 1 decision that expressly linked the 14th Amendment’s 

equal protection clause to the guarantee that each citizen had equal weight in the 

election of state legislators.

However, Congress lagged behind the presidency, the judiciary, and, often, 

public sentiment during much of the postwar civil rights movement.80 Southern 

conservatives still held the levers of power. Southerners continued to exert 

nearly untrammeled influence as committee chairmen (coinciding with the apex 

of congressional committee influence in the House and the Senate), in an era 

when Democrats controlled the House almost exclusively. In the 84th Congress 

(1955–1957), for instance, when Democrats regained the majority after a brief period 

of Republican control and embarked on 40 consecutive years of rule, 12 of the 19 

House committees, including some of the most influential panels—Education and 

Labor, Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Rules, and Ways and Means—were chaired 

by southerners, who were largely unsympathetic to black civil rights.81 The powerful 

coalition of southern Democrats and northern Republicans that had arisen during 

the late 1930s as a conservative bloc against the economic and social programs of the 

New Deal continued for various reasons to impede a broad array of social legislation. 

Several factors prevented the few African Americans in Congress from playing 

prominent legislative roles in institutional efforts to pass the major acts of 1957, 

1964, and 1965. Black Members were too scarce to alter institutional processes or 

form a consequential voting bloc. Until the fall 1964 elections, there were only five 

African Americans in Congress: Dawson, Powell, Diggs, Nix, and Hawkins. John 

Conyers joined the House in 1965 and Brooke entered the Senate in 1967. These 

new Members had a limited amount of influence, although Hawkins scored a major 

success as a freshman when he helped shape the Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission as a member of Powell’s Education and Labor Committee, and Brooke 

helped secure the housing anti-discrimination provision of the Civil Rights Act of 

Sworn in to the United States Senate 

on January 3, 1967, Edward Brooke of 

Massachusetts (second from right) became 

the first black Senator since 1881. Vice 

President Hubert Humphrey administered 

the oath of office, while Senators Mike 

Mansfield of Montana, Everett Dirksen 

of Illinois, and Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy 

of Massachusetts observed.

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration

250 H Black Americans in Congress 
1968 during his first term in the Senate. Yet while they were determined, energetic, 

and impassioned, there were too few African Americans in Congress to drive a policy 

agenda. Moreover, black Members themselves disagreed as to the best method to 

achieve civil rights advances, and individual legislative styles, conflicting loyalties 

(party versus activist agendas), and personality differences circumscribed their ability 

to craft a black issues agenda. Consequently, their uncoordinated and sporadic 

actions mitigated their potential effect. At key moments, some were excluded from 

the process or were inexplicably absent. Their symbolic leader, Powell, was too 

polarizing a figure for House leaders to accord him a highly visible role in the process. 

This perhaps explains why the Harlem Representative, despite his public passion for 

racial justice and his ability to deliver legislation through the Education and Labor 

Committee, was sometimes unusually detached from the legislative process.82

With few well-placed allies, civil rights initiatives faced an imposing gauntlet in 

a congressional committee system stacked with southern racial conservatives. Under 

the leadership of Chairman Emanuel Celler for most of this period, the House 

Judiciary Committee offered reformers a largely friendly and liberal forum. On the 

House Floor, a group of progressive liberals and moderate Republicans, including 

Celler, Clifford Case of New Jersey, Jacob Javits of New York, Hugh D. Scott of 

Pennsylvania, Frances Bolton of Ohio, and Helen Gahagan Douglas, emerged as 

civil rights advocates. Case (1954), Javits (1956), and Scott (1958) were elected to 

the Senate and would influence that chamber’s civil rights agenda. But no matter 

how much support the rank-and-file membership provided, any measure that passed 

out of Judiciary was sent to the House Rules Committee, which directed legislation 

onto the floor and structured bills for debate. Chaired by arch segregationist Howard 

Smith of Virginia, this hugely influential panel became the killing ground for a 

long parade of civil rights proposals. Measures were watered down or were never 

considered. Smith often shuttered committee operations, retreating to his farm in 

Virginia’s horse country to stall deliberations. When he explained one of his absences 

by noting that he needed to inspect a burned-down barn, Leo Allen of Illinois, the 

ranking Republican on the Rules Committee, remarked, “I knew the Judge was 

opposed to the civil rights bill. But I didn’t think he would commit arson to beat it.”83

The Senate’s anti-majoritarian structure magnified the power of southern racial 

conservatives. In contrast to the rules of the House, which strictly limited Members’ 

ability to speak on the floor, the Senate’s long-standing tradition of allowing 

Members to speak without interruption played into the hands of obstructionists. 

The filibuster, a Senate practice that allowed a Senator or a group of Senators to 

prevent a vote on a bill, became the chief weapon of civil rights opponents. In this 

era, too, Senate rules were modified, raising the bar needed to achieve cloture, i.e., to 

end debate and move to a vote on legislation. From 1949 to 1959, cloture required 

the approval of two-thirds of the chamber’s entire membership, rather than twothirds of the Members who were present. Influential southern Senators held key 

positions in the upper chamber and, not surprisingly, were among the most skilled 

parliamentarians. Richard Russell of Georgia, a master of procedure, framed the 

opposition’s defense on constitutional concerns about federal interference in states’ 

issues, making him a more palatable figure than many of the Senate’s earlier racial 

conservatives such as Mississippi’s James K. Vardaman or Theodore Bilbo.84 Russell 

attracted northern and western Republicans to his cause based on their opposition 

to the expansion of federal powers that would be necessary to enforce civil rights in 

Howard Smith of Virginia, chairman of the 

House Rules Committee, routinely used his 

influential position to thwart civil rights 

legislation. Smith often shuttered committee 

operations by retreating to his rural farm to 

avoid deliberations on pending reform bills.

Oil on canvas (detail), Victor 

L’Allier, ca. 1974, Collection of 

U.S. House of Representatives

Cloture: 

A parliamentary procedure in the 

U.S. Senate requiring the approval 

of a super-majority of Senators to end 

debate on a pending proposal and bring 

legislation to final consideration and 

a vote.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 251
the South. Mississippi’s James Eastland, another procedural tactician, who presided 

over the Judiciary Committee beginning in March 1956, bragged that he had special 

pockets tailored into his suits where he stuffed bothersome civil rights bills. Between 

1953 and 1965 more than 122 civil rights measures were referred to the Senate 

Judiciary Committee, but only one was reported back to the full Senate.85

Despite such official intransigence, the nonviolent civil rights movement—

contrasting sharply with the vicious southern backlash against it—transformed 

public opinion. Driven increasingly by external events in the mid-1950s—the Brown 

v. Board of Education decision and the rise of Martin Luther King, Jr.’s Southern 

Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC)—support for the passage of major civil 

rights legislation grew in Congress. In Montgomery, Alabama, local activists led by 

King (then a 27-year-old Baptist preacher), had launched a boycott against the city’s 

segregated bus system. The protest began after the arrest of Rosa Parks, a seamstress 

and a member of the NAACP who defied local ordinances in December 1955 by 

refusing to yield her seat on the bus to a white man and move to the rear of the 

vehicle.86 The year-long—and, ultimately, successful—boycott forged the SCLC, 

brought national attention to the struggle, and launched King to the forefront of 

a grass-roots, nonviolent humanitarian protest movement that, within a decade, 

profoundly changed American life.

Racial violence in the South, which amounted to domestic terrorism against 

blacks, continued into the middle of the 20th century and powerfully shaped public 

opinion. Though more sporadic than before, beatings, cross burnings, lynchings, 

and myriad other forms of white-on-black intimidation went largely unpunished. 

Nearly 200 African Americans are thought to have been lynched between 1929 and 

1964, but that figure likely underrepresents the actual number.87 In August 1955, a 

particularly gruesome killing galvanized activists and shocked a largely complacent 

nation. Emmett Till, a 14-year-old from Chicago who was visiting family in 

Mississippi, was shot in the head, and his lifeless body was dumped off a bridge, 

for the alleged “crime” of whistling at a white woman. Determined to expose the 

brutality of the act, his mother allowed the national press to photograph the boy’s 

remains, and thousands of mourners streamed past the open casket. 

Charles Diggs’s visible role in the wake of the Till lynching “catapulted” him 

into the “national spotlight.”88 At considerable personal risk, Diggs accompanied 

Till’s mother to the September 1955 trial at which the two accused murderers 

were acquitted in kangaroo court proceedings. Diggs’s presence in Mississippi 

demonstrated solidarity with (and hope for) many local African Americans. A black 

reporter covering the trial recalled that Diggs “made a difference down there . . . 

people lined up to see him. They had never seen a black member of Congress. Blacks 

came by the truckloads. Never before had a member of Congress put his life on the 

line protecting the constitutional rights of blacks.”89 Diggs, who earlier had pushed 

for a U.S. Justice Department probe of the defrauding of black Mississippi voters, 

proposed to unseat the Members of the Mississippi delegation to the U.S. House on 

the grounds that they were elected by only a fraction of the state’s voters.90 Diggs’s 

performance contrasted sharply with that of William Dawson, who represented the 

Chicago district where Till’s mother lived. In an open 1956 letter to Dawson, the 

NAACP questioned his failure to comment publicly on the Till lynching. Expressing 

further disappointment with Dawson’s support for reform legislation as a member of 

the Democratic committee writing the civil rights plank for the national party, the 

In September 1963, the African-American 

community in Birmingham, Alabama, 

mourned the deaths of four young girls 

killed by a bomb at the 16th Street Baptist 

Church. The city experienced such a 

dramatic rise in violence that it earned the 

nickname “Bombingham.”

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

As an NAACP activist in Montgomery, 

Alabama, Rosa Parks famously refused to 

give up her seat to a white rider on a public 

bus in 1955. Her act of civil disobedience 

galvanized the U.S. civil rights movement. 

Congress later honored Parks with a 

Congressional Gold Medal and by making 

her the first woman to lie in honor in the 

Capitol Rotunda after her death. Above, 

Parks rides on a desegregated bus.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

252 H Black Americans in Congress 
NAACP denounced him for “silence, compromise, and meaningless moderation” on 

civil rights matters.91

Adam Clayton Powell, dubbed “Mr. Civil Rights,” garnered national headlines 

during the 1940s and 1950s for his “Powell Amendment,” a rider prohibiting federal 

funds for institutions that promoted or endorsed segregation. Powell attached his 

amendment to a variety of legislative measures, beginning with a school lunch 

program bill that passed the House on June 4, 1946. “From then on I was to use 

this important weapon with success,” Powell recalled, “to bring about opportunities 

for the good of man and to stop those efforts that would harm democracy’s progress 

forward.” Beginning in 1955, Powell vowed to attach his rider to all education bills, 

starting with appropriations for school construction.92 His actions riled southern 

racial conservatives and stirred unease among otherwise liberal allies concerned that 

the amendment jeopardized social legislation. 

Southern defiance, on display on Capitol Hill, crystallized in a bold 

proclamation conceived by Senators Russell, Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, 

and Harry Flood Byrd, Sr., of Virginia. Titled the “Declaration of Constitutional 

Principles” and known colloquially as the Southern Manifesto, it attacked the 

Supreme Court’s Brown decision, accusing the Justices of abusing judicial power and 

trespassing upon states’ rights. Signed on March 12, 1956, by 82 Representatives 

and 19 Senators (roughly one-fifth of Congress), it urged southerners to exhaust all 

“lawful means” in the effort to resist the “chaos and confusion” that would result 

from school desegregation. 

Civil Rights Act of 1957

In 1956, partly at the initiative of outside advocacy groups such as the NAACP, 

proposals by Eisenhower’s Justice Department under the leadership of Attorney 

General Herbert Brownell, and the growing presidential ambitions of Senate Majority 

On October 11, 1956, Adam Clayton 

Powell, Jr., announced to reporters his 

decision to support incumbent Republican 

President Dwight D. Eisenhower. Known 

as a political maverick, Powell had backed 

Democratic candidate Adlai Stevenson in 

1952, but broke with Stevenson in 1956 

because of his ambivalent position on civil 

rights. Powell noted Eisenhower’s “great 

contribution in the civil rights field.”

Image courtesy of National Park 

Service, provided by Dwight David 

Eisenhower Presidential Library

In August 1955, a Chicago teenager, 

Emmett Till, was brutally murdered in 

Mississippi while visiting family. Till was 

lynched for the alleged “crime” of allegedly 

whistling at a white woman. The episode 

riveted national attention on violence 

against blacks in the South. Across the 

nation, groups like the Metropolitan 

Community Church of Chicago, pictured 

here, signed petitions to President Dwight 

D. Eisenhower condemning the violence.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 253
Leader Lyndon B. Johnson, a civil rights bill began to move through Congress. 

Southern opponents such as Senators Russell and Eastland, realizing that some kind 

of legislation was imminent, slowed and weakened reform through the amendment 

process. The House passed the measure by a wide margin, 279 to 97, though 

southern opponents managed to excise voting protections from the original language. 

Adam Clayton Powell and Charles Diggs argued passionately on the House Floor 

for a strong bill. Powell particularly aimed at southern amendments that preserved 

trials by local juries because all-white juries (since blacks were excluded from the 

voting process, they were also barred from jury duty) ensured easy acquittals for 

white defendants accused of crimes against blacks. “This is an hour for great moral 

stamina,” Powell told colleagues. “America stands on trial today before the world 

and communism must succeed if democracy fails. . . . Speak no more concerning 

the bombed and burned and gutted churches behind the Iron Curtain when here 

in America behind our ‘color curtain’ we have bombed and burned churches and 

the confessed perpetrators of these crimes go free because of trial by jury.”93 In the 

Senate, Paul H. Douglas of Illinois and Minority Leader William F. Knowland of 

California circumvented Eastland’s Judiciary Committee and got the bill onto the 

floor for debate. Lyndon Johnson played a crucial role, too, discouraging an organized 

southern filibuster while forging a compromise that allayed southern concern about 

the bill’s jury and trial provisions.94 On August 29 the Senate approved the Civil 

Rights Act of 1957 (P.L. 85-315) by a vote of 60 to 15.

The resulting law, signed by President Eisenhower in early September 1957, was 

the first major civil rights measure passed since 1875. The act established the U.S. 

Commission on Civil Rights (CCR) for two years and created a civil rights division 

in the Justice Department, but its powers to enforce voting laws and punish the 

disfranchisement of black voters were feeble, as the commission noted in 1959. A 

year later, the Civil Rights Act of 1960 (P.L. 86-449)—again significantly weakened 

by southern opponents—extended the life of the CCR and stipulated that 

voting and registration records in federal elections must be preserved. However, 

southerners managed to strike a far-reaching provision to send registrars into 

southern states to oversee voter enrollment.

Though southern Members were heartened by these successes, consequential 

internal congressional reforms promised to end obstructionism. In 1961, Speaker 

Sam Rayburn of Texas challenged Chairman Howard Smith directly by proposing 

to expand the Rules Committee by adding three more Members to the roster, 

a move that was intended to break Smith’s stranglehold over social legislation. 

Rayburn recruited a group of roughly two dozen northern Republicans who 

supported the reform and declared their intention to “repudiate” a GOP alliance 

with southern Democrats “to attempt to narrow the base of our party, to dull its 

conscience, to transform it into a negative weapon of obstruction.”95 The forces of 

reform prevailed by a margin of 217 to 212. The support of moderate Republicans 

presaged the development of a coalition that would undercut the power of southern 

racial conservatives and pass sweeping civil rights laws.

Civil Rights Act of 1964

Pressure for change, as it did throughout the Second Reconstruction, came 

from outside the institution. By 1963, the need for a major civil rights bill weighed 

heavily on Congress and the John F. Kennedy administration. Protests at lunch 

counters in Greensboro, North Carolina, in 1960 were followed in 1961 by 

African-American demonstrators occupied a 

lunch counter after being refused service in 

Nashville, Tennessee, in 1960. Sit-ins like 

this one took a toll on segregated businesses 

across the South. Many establishments 

relented and ended segregation practices 

because of the ensuing loss of business. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

House Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas 

spearheaded the successful effort in 1961 to 

expand the membership of the House Rules 

Committee. Rayburn’s actions undercut the 

power of southern conservatives, including 

Rules Committee Chairman Howard 

Smith of Virginia. 

Oil on canvas, Douglas Chandor, 

1941, Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

254 H Black Americans in Congress 
attempts to desegregate interstate buses by the Freedom Riders, who were arrested 

in Jackson, Mississippi. In April 1963, Martin Luther King, Jr., led a large protest 

in Birmingham, Alabama, that was greeted with brutality. Birmingham Police 

Commissioner Eugene (Bull) Connor unleashed police dogs, and high-powered 

hoses on protesters. The images coming out of the Deep South horrified Americans 

from all walks of life. In August 1963, King and other civil rights leaders organized 

the largest-ever march on Washington, DC. Addressing hundreds of thousands of 

supporters from the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, the world-renowned leader of a 

movement that rivaled that of his model, Mahatma Gandhi, delivered his famous “I 

Have a Dream” speech.

A reluctant Kennedy administration began coordinating with congressional allies 

to pass a significant reform bill. Freshman Representative Gus Hawkins observed 

in May 1963 that the federal government had a special responsibility to ensure 

that federal dollars did not underwrite segregation practices in schools, facilities for 

vocational education, libraries, and other municipal entities, saying, “those who dip 

their hands in the public treasury should not object if a little democracy sticks to 

their fingers.” Otherwise “do we not harm our own fiscal integrity, and allow room 

in our conduct for other abuses of public funds?”96 After Kennedy’s assassination 

in November 1963, his successor, Lyndon B. Johnson, invoked the slain President’s 

memory to prod reluctant legislators to produce a civil rights measure. 

In the House, a bipartisan bill supported by Judiciary Chairman Celler and 

Republican William McCulloch of Ohio worked its way to passage. McCulloch and 

Celler forged a coalition of moderate Republicans and northern Democrats while 

deflecting southern amendments determined to cripple the bill. Standing in the well 

of the House defending his controversial amendment and the larger civil rights bill, 

Representative Powell described the legislation as “a great moral issue . . . what we 

are doing [today] is a part of an act of God.”97 On February 10, 1964, the House, 

voting 290 to 130, approved the Civil Rights Act of 1964; 138 Republicans helped 

pass the bill. In scope and effect, the act was among the most far-reaching pieces 

of legislation in U.S. history. It contained sections prohibiting discrimination in 

public accommodations (Title II); state and municipal facilities, including schools 

(Titles III and IV); and—incorporating the Powell Amendment—in any program 

receiving federal aid (Title V). The act also prohibited discrimination in hiring and 

employment, creating the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC) to 

investigate workplace discrimination (Title VII).98

Having passed the House, the act faced its biggest hurdle in the Senate. President 

Johnson and Senate Majority Leader Mike Mansfield of Montana tapped Hubert 

Humphrey of Minnesota to build Senate support for the measure and fend off 

the efforts of a determined southern minority to stall it. One historian notes that 

Humphrey’s assignment amounted to an “audition for the role of Johnson’s running 

mate in the fall presidential election.”99 Humphrey, joined by Republican Thomas 

Kuchel of California, performed brilliantly, lining up the support of influential 

Minority Leader Everett Dirksen of Illinois. By allaying Dirksen’s unease about 

the enforcement powers of the EEOC, civil rights proponents then co-opted the 

support of a large group of midwestern Republicans who followed Dirksen’s lead.100

On June 10, 1964, for the first time in its history, the Senate invoked cloture on a 

civil rights bill (by a vote of 71 to 29), thus cutting off debate and ending a 75-day 

filibuster—the longest in the chamber’s history. On June 19, 1964, 46 Democrats 

In 1963, Birmingham, Alabama, 

became the focal point of the civil rights 

movement. Throughout the spring and 

summer, protesters challenged segregation 

practices. Images such as this one, showing 

Birmingham firefighters turning powerful 

hoses on nonviolent protesters, convinced 

many average Americans of the need to end 

Jim Crow in the South. 

Image courtesy of AP/ 

Wide World Photos

As the finale to the massive August 28, 

1963, March on Washington, Martin 

Luther King, Jr. gave his famous “I Have a 

Dream” speech on the steps of the Lincoln 

Memorial. This photograph showed the 

view from over the shoulder of the Abraham 

Lincoln statue while marchers gathered 

along the length of the Reflecting Pool. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 255
and 27 Republicans joined forces to approve the Civil Rights Act of 1964, 73 to 27. 

President Johnson signed the bill (P.L. 88-352) into law on July 2, 1964.

Voting Rights Act of 1965

Passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 dealt the deathblow to southern 

congressional opposition. Momentum for tougher voting rights legislation—

expanding on the provisions of Section I of the 1964 act—built rapidly because of 

President Johnson’s continued determination and unfolding civil rights protests. 

On March 7, 1965, marchers led by future U.S. Representative John R. Lewis of 

Georgia were savagely beaten at the foot of the Edmund Pettus Bridge in Selma, 

Alabama. Many of the protestors were kneeling in prayer when state troopers clubbed 

and gassed them on what would later be known as “Bloody Sunday.” Television 

cameras captured the onslaught and beamed images into the homes of millions of 

Americans. As with the brutality in Birmingham, public reaction was swift and, 

if possible, even more powerful. “The images were stunning—scene after scene of 

policemen on foot and horseback beating defenseless American citizens,” Lewis 

wrote years later. “This was a face-off in the most vivid terms between a dignified, 

composed, completely nonviolent multitude of silent protestors and the truly 

malevolent force of a heavily armed, hateful battalion of troopers. The sight of them 

rolling over us like human tanks was something that had never been seen before.”101

After President Johnson addressed a Joint Session of Congress to speak 

about the events in Selma, legislative action was swift. A bill moved through 

both chambers that suspended the use of literacy tests for a five-year period and 

provided for sending federal poll watchers and voting registrars to states with 

persistent patterns of voting discrimination.It required Justice Department preclearance of any change to election statutes. Finally, the bill made obstructing an 

individual’s right to vote a federal crime. On May 26, 1965, the Senate passed the 

Voting Rights Act by a vote of 77 to 19. Among the African-American Members 

who spoke on behalf of the bill on the House Floor was freshman John Conyers, 

Jr. Joined by Representatives Diggs, Hawkins, and Powell, Conyers had visited 

On July 2, 1964, President Lyndon B. 

Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964 

into law. Those gathered behind President 

Johnson at the bill signing included civil 

rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., 

and future District of Columbia Delegate 

Walter Fauntroy. The Civil Rights Act of 

1964 was a landmark piece of legislation, 

prohibiting segregation in public 

accommodations, facilities, and schools, 

and outlawing discrimination in federally 

funded projects. 

Image courtesy of AP/ 

Wide World Photos

As chairman of the House Judiciary 

Committee, Emanuel Celler of New York 

was a prime mover behind the passage 

of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

256 H Black Americans in Congress 
Selma in February 1965 as part of a 15-Member congressional delegation that 

investigated voting discrimination.102 The experience convinced him that there was 

“no alternative but to have the federal Government take a much more positive and 

specific role in guaranteeing the right to register and vote in all elections . . . surely 

this Government cannot relax if even one single American is arbitrarily denied that 

most basic right of all in a democracy—the right to vote.”103 The House passed the 

act by a vote of 333 to 85 on July 9, 1965. An amended conference report passed 

both chambers by wide margins and President Johnson signed the Voting Rights 

Act of 1965 (P.L. 89-110) into law on August 6, 1965.104

The measure dramatically increased voter registration in the short term. By 1969, 

60 percent of all southern blacks were registered. Predictably, the bill’s impact was 

most dramatic in the Deep South. In Mississippi, for instance, where less than 

7 percent of African Americans qualified to vote in 1964, 59 percent were on 

voter rolls by 1968.105 By 1975, approximately 1.5 million African Americans had 

registered to vote in the South.106

Coupled with the “one man, one vote” standard, which set off a round of courtordered redistricting, the Voting Rights Act of 1965 reshaped the electoral landscape 

for African Americans. In southern states, particularly in cities such as Atlanta, 

Houston, and Memphis, the creation of districts with a majority of African-American 

constituents propelled greater numbers of African Americans into Congress by the 

early 1970s. In northern urban areas, too, the growing influence of black voters 

reshaped Congress. Blacks constituted a growing percentage of the population of 

major U.S. cities (20 percent in 1970 versus 12 percent in 1950), partly because in 

the 1960s whites left the cities in droves for the suburbs.107 In 1968, Louis Stokes 

(Cleveland), Bill Clay (St. Louis), and Shirley Chisholm (Brooklyn) were elected to 

Congress from redrawn majority-black districts in which white incumbents chose 

not to run.108 By 1971, the number of African-American Members in the House was 

more than double the number who had served in 1965. 

Baton-wielding Alabama state troopers 

waded into a crowd of peaceful civil 

rights demonstrators led by the Student 

Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 

Chairman John Lewis (on ground left 

center, in light coat) on March 7, 1965, in 

Selma, Alabama. Known later as “Bloody 

Sunday,” images of the violent event shocked 

millions of Americans from all walks of life 

and built momentum for the Voting Rights 

Act of 1965.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 257

On August 6, 1965, President Lyndon B. 

Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 

1965 in the Rotunda of the U.S. Capitol. 

The legislation suspended the use of literacy 

tests and voter disqualification devices for 

five years, authorized the use of federal 

examiners to supervise voter registration in 

states that used tests or in which less than 

half the voting-eligible residents registered 

or voted, directed the U.S. Attorney 

General to institute proceedings against 

use of poll taxes, and provided criminal 

penalties for violations of the act.

Photograph by Frank Wolfe, 

courtesy of the LBJ Library
Civil Rights Act of 1968

The era’s final major piece of civil rights legislation reflected the changing 

emphasis of the civil rights movement itself: Having secured a measure of political 

rights, black leaders now emphasized the importance of equal economic and 

educational opportunity. Congressional action in this area was measured; the 

national mood and major events had begun to turn against reform. The ambitious 

agenda of federal programs known as the Great Society had begun to wane. 

Initiated by President Johnson in the mid-1960s, these programs were in many 

ways conceived of as an extension of New Deal reforms. Great Society legislation 

marked the zenith of federal activism—addressing civil rights, urban development, 

the environment, health care, education, housing, consumer protection, and poverty. 

With Democratic majorities in both houses of Congress, the administration won 

the enactment of a number of far-reaching programs, among them several that 

exist today, such as Medicare, which provides health coverage for the elderly, and 

Medicaid, which provides the poor with access to hospitalization, optional medical 

insurance, and other health care benefits.109

But the cost of the deepening U.S. military commitment in Vietnam rapidly 

bled dry Great Society programs that, in part, addressed concerns about economic 

equality raised by black leaders. Moreover, middle-class whites in northern and 

western states who had empathized with the nonviolent protests of southern blacks 

were far more skeptical of the civil rights militants who were bent on bringing the 

movement to their doorsteps, typified by Stokely Carmichael, the Black Panthers, 

and the Black Power movement. Major urban rioting, particularly the devastating 

1965 riot in Watts, Los Angeles (in Representative Gus Hawkins’s district) turned 

mainstream white opinion even further from the cause. Widespread rioting in 

April 1968 after the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr.—federal troops were 

deployed even in Washington, DC—reinforced white alienation. Nevertheless, in 

early March 1968, the Senate approved the Civil Rights Act of 1968 by a 71 to 

20 vote. The measure outlawed discrimination in the sale and rental of roughly 80 

percent of U.S. housing (the proportion handled by agents and brokers) by 1970 

President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the 

Civil Rights Act of 1968 on April 11, 

1968. The act prohibited discrimination 

in the sale or rental of approximately 

80 percent of the housing in the U.S. 

Newly elected Senator Edward Brooke of 

Massachusetts (fourth from left) attended 

the signing.

Photograph by Yoichi R. Okamoto, 

courtesy of the LBJ Library 

Black Panthers (or Black Panther 

Party for Self-Defense): 

An organization formed in 1966 by 

Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to 

monitor police activity and brutality 

against residents in Oakland, 

California. In contrast to the southern 

civil rights movement’s advocacy 

of nonviolent resistance, the Black 

Panthers promoted local self-help, 

community activism, and armed 

defense against the use of excessive force 

by police. The Black Panthers also 

called for the restructuring of American 

society to ensure social, political, and 

economic equality for all races. 

258 H Black Americans in Congress 
and meted out federal punishment to persons engaged in interstate activities to 

foment or participate in riots. The bill also extended constitutional rights to Native 

Americans. Days after King’s murder in Memphis, Tennessee, the House followed 

the Senate’s lead by a vote of 250 to 172. 

Crafting an Institutional Identity

Confronting Racism

Across the decades, African-American Members’ encounters with institutional 

racism and segregation on Capitol Hill, though gradually declining in intensity, 

provided a common and uniting experience. In the years leading up to the 

Depression and World War II, Washington had the feel of a slow, sleepy, southern 

town in contrast to the bustle and cultural multiplicities of northern metropolitan 

cities like New York, Boston, and Chicago. Washington also embraced southern 

segregationist practices. Southbound travelers embarking on journeys at the Union 

Station terminal boarded segregated train cars. Formal as well as informal racial 

codes also existed in the city’s restaurants, department stores, movie theaters, and 

boarding houses well into the 1950s. Washington’s legion of federal civil servants 

were separated according to race; until the eve of World War II, applicants for 

federal jobs were required to submit a personal photograph, providing a de facto

method of racial discrimination. Even after the Eisenhower administration officially 

desegregated the capital city, blacks and whites remained separate, living in distinct 

neighborhoods, attending separate churches, and enrolling in separate schools.110 

Congress itself practiced latent and blatant institutional racism, ranging from the 

denial of prominent committee assignments and any real voice in the leadership to 

segregated barbershops and dining facilities and the open disparagement of black 

Members by their colleagues. For instance, in 1929 southern Members objected to 

being sworn in on the House Floor with Representative De Priest, occupying an 

office next to his, or serving on a committee with him.111 Capitol Hill associations 

and social clubs with congressional ties were uneasy welcoming black Members 

or their families. The Congressional Club—an organization chartered in the early 

1900s initially for spouses and daughters of Representatives and Senators, Supreme 

Court Justices, and Cabinet members—considered a bylaw that would deny 

membership to De Priest’s wife, Jessie, but rejected it due to the scrutiny of the 

national press.112

Despite the segregation prevalent on Capitol Hill during this era, growing 

numbers of African Americans were employed there. In 1949, Alice Dunnigan 

of the Associated Negro Press—one of the first black journalists credentialed to 

work in both the Senate and the House press galleries—wrote a four-part series 

titled “A Visit to the Nation’s Capitol” that appeared in the Tuskegee Institute’s 

Service magazine. Dunnigan interviewed dozens of African Americans, some of 

whom had been employed on Capitol Hill for three decades or more in a variety of 

capacities: barber, messenger, library assistant, doorkeeper, guard, head waiter, chef, 

filing clerk, driver, carpenter, secretary, guard, and committee clerk. According to 

Dunnigan, one-third of the 1,500 persons employed by the Office of the Architect 

of the Capitol in 1949 were African Americans. Among the individuals Dunnigan 

interviewed were Jesse Nichols, a document clerk and librarian who was one of the 

first blacks to hold a clerical position in the Senate.113 Dunnigan also chronicled 

the story of Christine Ray Davis, the first African-American chief clerk of a 

In 1929, Jessie De Priest, the wife of 

Representative Oscar De Priest of Illinois, 

received an invitation to a tea hosted by 

First Lady Lou Hoover. The invitation 

roiled southern Members of Congress and 

their wives. The Mississippi state legislature 

passed a resolution imploring the Herbert 

Hoover administration to give “careful and 

thoughtful consideration to the necessity of 

the preservation of the racial integrity of 

the white race.” Mrs. De Priest attended a 

specially scheduled tea with Lou Hoover, 

but the episode underscored pervasive 

segregation practices in the U.S.

Image courtesy of Scurlock Studio 

Records, Archives Center, National 

Museum of American History, 

Smithsonian Institution 

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 259
congressional committee—a position she assumed in 1949 when William Dawson 

became chairman of the House Committee on Expenditures in the Executive 

Department. As chief clerk, Davis was the highest-paid black woman in the federal 

government and, Dunnigan noted, the first African-American congressional aide 

with unrestricted access to the House Floor.114

Speaking Out Against Segregation

Black Members of Congress facing segregation were left with two alternatives 

that were less than ideal: meet institutional segregation frontally to publicize 

the folly of racist practices, or minimize its significance by gaining positions of 

influence, thereby ameliorating segregation from within the institution. Individuals’ 

personalities often governed that choice, though just as often, purposeful legislative 

calculations factored into black Members’ response to racism in the House and 

the Senate. There was little middle ground. Those who confronted racism openly 

suffered the wrath of white supremacists, and those perceived as less than zealous in 

the pursuit of civil rights were scorned by black activists.

Oscar De Priest chose to combat segregation in Congress directly by addressing 

the issue on the House Floor and by using the power of the press.115 His arrival 

on Capitol Hill was met with outright contempt. One well-publicized episode 

involved an invitation to his wife, Jessie, to a traditional White House tea hosted by 

First Lady Lou Henry Hoover. Southern legislators howled in indignation, and the 

Mississippi legislature passed a resolution calling on President Herbert Hoover to 

give “careful and thoughtful consideration to the necessity of racial preservation of 

the racial integrity of the white race,” because “such an exhibition of social equality 

at the White House tends to destroy such racial integrity.”116 The First Lady divided 

the party into sessions, carefully selecting invitees to Jessie De Priest’s group and 

providing the wives of southern Members an alternative time to attend. Undeterred, 

Jessie De Priest attended the event while her husband dismissed critics as “cowards.”

De Priest became an advocate for desegregation because of the environment he 

encountered, not because of his political background. During a tough re-election 

bid in 1934, his anti-segregationist rhetoric increased as Election Day approached. 

Initially inclined to win over his House colleagues by his example as a Member, 

he later declared, “but if securing their respect means sacrificing my race, that 

respect I do not seek any longer.” De Priest continued, “I am sorry I have to devote 

my time trying to watch the needs of the American Negro. I wish I could devote 

my time, like you gentlemen devote your time, trying to watch the interests of 

all the American people instead of just 12,000,000 of them.”117 In 1934, the 

Illinois Representative waged a public campaign to stop segregation in the House 

Restaurant. “If we allow segregation and the denial of constitutional rights under the 

Dome of the Capitol, where in God’s name will we get them?” De Priest demanded. 

Though De Priest shamed the House into creating a special investigatory committee, 

the majority of its members were Democrats who acceded to the wishes of southern 

racial conservatives by refusing to recommend reforms.118 De Priest also protested 

efforts to segregate other House facilities, such as the barbershop, and pressured 

Speaker Henry T. Rainey of Illinois to permit a black minister to offer an opening 

session prayer in the House.119

Despite his raw personal courage, De Priest failed to achieve any lasting 

reform—a setback that made him look ineffective in the eyes of his Chicago-area 

constituents and left him vulnerable to political attack. His lack of legislative 

Representative William L. Dawson 

of Illinois chaired the Committee on 

Expenditures in the Executive Departments, 

later Government Operations, beginning in 

the 81st Congress (1949–1951). Dawson 

was the first African American to chair a 

House standing committee. 

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration 

260 H Black Americans in Congress 
influence also diminished his national status as a hero among African Americans. 

Some even implied that he lacked familiarity with the larger black community and 

the resolve to pursue and achieve substantive legislative victories. Even after De 

Priest had begun advocating federal pensions for former slaves, the African-American 

Atlanta Daily World complained he was “conspicuous by his silence on important 

questions. As a legislator, as a statesman, as a student of those things affecting the 

Negro’s welfare, he has been a grand and glorious flop.”120

The role of agitator and public advocate for civil rights suited Adam Clayton 

Powell. Charismatic, flashy, and photogenic, Powell developed a national following 

based as much on his style as on his legislative substance. In an era in which the press 

proved exceedingly forgiving of politicians’ personal eccentricities, Powell stood out: 

driving a blue Jaguar, dressing impeccably, smoking cigars, and enjoying the company 

of beautiful women. He was as much at home on the French Riviera as he was in 

Harlem. “For years his life was so flamboyant that it verged on caricature, yet he 

got away with it, not only politically but somehow esthetically,” noted one observer. 

While others advocated Black Power, Powell “stood for Black Pleasure.”121

Substantively, Powell served as a prototype of the new, activist African-American 

politician. His loyal Harlem constituency provided a solid base of support that 

allowed him to pursue issues affecting the black community nationwide. Some 

anticipated his arrival on Capitol Hill, others dreaded it. But no one doubted it 

would be eventful. Speaker Sam Rayburn, who often counseled new Members on 

the folkways of the institution, called Powell into his office and lectured him from 

behind his desk. “Adam, everybody down here expects you to come with a bomb 

in both hands. Now don’t do that, Adam. . . . Just see how things operate here. 

Take your time. Freshmen members of Congress are not supposed to be heard and 

not even to be seen too much. There are a lot of good men around here. Listen to 

what they have to say, drink it all in, get reelected a few more times, and then start 

moving. But for God’s sake, Adam, don’t throw those bombs.” Powell replied, “Mr. 

Speaker, I’ve got a bomb in each hand, and I’m going to throw them right away.” 

Rayburn burst into jovial laughter, and according to Powell, the exchange marked 

the beginning of a long friendship.122

On multiple fronts, Powell waged a direct, combative campaign against 

segregation on Capitol Hill. He helped to desegregate the House Press Gallery and 

to make available more opportunities for black reporters. He repeatedly challenged 

House Restaurant policy by bringing black staffers and guests to the segregated 

dining room. He also publicly confronted some of the most ardent segregationists in 

the House. His long-standing feud with Representative John E. Rankin often spilled 

out onto the House Floor. At one point Powell said he planned “to baptize Rankin 

or drown him.” Rankin, who called Powell’s election to the House a “disgrace,” 

refused to sit near him on the floor, but Powell stalked Rankin and sat as close to 

him as possible (forcing him one day to move five times).123 Powell used his personal 

charisma calculatingly, providing the black community with an unflinching, 

activist political hero. “I’ve always got my mouth open, sometimes my foot is in it, 

but it is always open,” Powell said. “It serves a purpose; it digs at the white man’s 

conscience.”124 But it also incurred substantive legislative costs. Whereas Powell’s 

flamboyance and public refusals to brook racist policies won him many supporters, 

they also limited his effectiveness as a legislator; a growing contingent of politicians 

found it impossible to work with such a militant Member. 

In 1967, cartoonist Gib Crockett depicted 

the growing controversy in Congress over 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. In January 

1967, the House of Representatives removed 

Powell from his position as Chairman of the 

Committee on Education and Labor and 

refused to seat the New York Representative 

in the 90th Congress (1967–1969). The 

House approved a measure to deny Powell 

his seat for five weeks while a nine-member 

bipartisan special committee examined 

ethics charges against him. After the 

special committee recommended several 

punishments for Powell, including censure, 

the House voted 307 to 116 to exclude 

him from the 90th Congress. 

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 261
Taking note of the experiences of Members such as De Priest and Powell, other 

black Members of Congress purposefully pursued an institutionalist strategy. But 

by seeking to advance within the institutional power structure or to remain loyal 

to the party and/or the local political machine that propelled them into office, 

they often attracted the enmity of fellow blacks and civil rights advocates who 

believed they were subordinating the interests of the black community for their 

own aggrandizement. Representative Arthur Mitchell, the first black Democrat 

elected to Congress, chose to work within the power structure of the Democratcontrolled House. During his four terms in Congress, the Chicago Representative 

worked closely with many white colleagues, adopting the philosophy of patient 

cooperation and accommodation that was advocated by his mentor, Booker T. 

Washington, whom Mitchell hoped to honor by establishing a national shrine.125

Mitchell watched the futile battle of his predecessor, De Priest, against segregationist 

practices in the Capitol and calculated another course. In a pointed remark aimed at 

De Priest, Mitchell informed constituents shortly after his first election, “I think the 

people are tired of bombast, ballyhoo, and noise, where we should have constructive 

thought, honest action and real statesmanship.”126 But Mitchell’s reluctance to 

push issues important to the African-American community soon disappointed 

black civil rights activists. Particularly galling to the black press and the NAACP 

were his apparent lack of interest in an assignment on the District of Columbia 

Committee—with oversight of the capital and its large black population—and his 

refusal to address the poor treatment of black journalists covering Capitol Hill.127 

Yet, over time and after taking stock of the depth of segregationist sentiment in 

the House, Mitchell became more committed to civil rights reform, particularly 

legislation to curb discrimination in the federal civil service.

Other black Representatives drew similar criticism. The NAACP excoriated 

William Dawson, Mitchell’s successor, arguing that he did not adequately support 

reforms. Dawson’s loyalty to the Daley political machine in Chicago created 

constant tension with his black House colleagues because he rarely took a public 

stance regarding race relations. But Dawson’s association with Daley accorded him 

tangible power in the House. For these reasons, his career often is juxtaposed with 

that of Powell’s in analyses of the legislative styles and strategies of black Members 

of Congress.128 Unlike Dawson, Powell forswore machine politics, promising 

to “never be a machine man.”129 The Harlem Representative typically backed 

Democratic legislation and leaders, but his primary allegiance resided with his 

constituents and the advancement of African-American rights, not with the party.130

Powell’s style was the exception rather than the rule. Ideological approaches and 

legislative strategies disposed most black Members of Congress from this era to a 

less confrontational style. Robert Nix rebuffed activist critics who demanded he 

become more vocal on race issues, suggesting that his role as an insider who rose to 

chair a full committee produced more tangible results for blacks. “I’ve seen people 

come into this Congress feeling it was incumbent upon them to give everybody hell, 

talking about the wrongs and fancied wrongs that happen every day,” Nix observed. 

“They didn’t correct a damn thing. . . . The legislation they sought to present to the 

House later on received little interest from any source.”131 Los Angeles Representative 

Gus Hawkins, who eventually chaired two full House committees, was highly 

successful at exerting insider influence but rarely sought the limelight. Reacting to 

criticism that he should do more to publicize the cause of racial equality, Hawkins 

Serving 14 terms in the House of 

Representatives, Augustus (Gus) Hawkins 

of California chaired four committees: 

the Committee on House Administration, 

Committee on Education and Labor, 

Joint Committee on Printing, and Joint 

Committee on Library. 

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives 

Machine Politics: 

A term used to refer to tight political 

organizations under the control 

of party regulars, often under the 

authority of a regional leader or “boss.” 

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, 

political parties in northern urban 

areas used this system to disburse 

patronage rewards, turn out votes, 

and enforce party discipline. 

262 H Black Americans in Congress 
said, “I’ve always felt, why yell if you can get the same result by being mild? . . . 

The loudmouths are well known, but they’re not very effective.”132 Hawkins never 

deviated from his conviction that the best way to help African Americans and other 

minorities was to focus on economic issues rather than on race.133

Senator Brooke, who opposed the glorification of black militants, also 

conformed easily to the Senate traditions that rewarded moderation and 

collegiality.134 By the late 1960s, many African-American politicians found 

themselves in an uncomfortable middle ground between an entrenched and 

unrepentant white power structure and younger, assertive black activists who 

promoted the Black Power movement, which appealed to racial pride and called 

for the creation of distinctive cultural and political organizations.135 Adopting the 

approach that blacks “must win allies, not conquer adversaries,” Brooke drew harsh 

criticism from more-radical black politicians, who advocated confrontational action 

as an answer to racial discrimination.136 Brooke blamed the press for focusing too 

much attention on radical activists, arguing that “the emphasis should be placed 

on the great, great majority of people in the Negro community who merely want 

improved conditions, who want government to respond responsibly to their needs 

and who at the same time recognize the need to help themselves.”137

Of this group of contemporaries, Charles Diggs emerged as a unique figure, 

able to blend Powell’s activism with the institutional effectiveness of other wellplaced cohorts. Like Powell, Representative Diggs often sought out the limelight 

to publicize civil rights issues, for instance, when he visited Selma, Alabama, and 

interviewed local blacks in the spring of 1965. But he possessed a measure of 

pragmatism Powell sometimes lacked. In addition to crafting a foreign policy agenda 

for future generations of black Members, Diggs was instrumental as chairman of the 

District of Columbia Committee in establishing home rule for the nation’s capital 

and in addressing the needs of its majority-black population. Diggs also displayed 

organizational prowess by creating in 1969 the Democratic Select Committee 

(DSC), a group of black Members who championed legislation important to African 

Americans nationally and a precursor to the Congressional Black Caucus. 

To a considerable degree, African-American Members’ approaches to racial issues 

on Capitol Hill were shaped by their legislative styles. Some, like Powell, preferred 

the “show horse” legislative style, using the press to publicize an issue or a legislative 

agenda to rally attention and build public support. Others, such as Dawson and 

Hawkins, exemplified the low-key “work horse” style, focusing on committee 

work, policy minutiae, and/or parliamentary procedure to cultivate their legislative 

agendas.138 These styles were self-reinforcing and usually reflected Members’ status 

within the organization. For instance, an insider often adopted the work horse style, 

whereas the show horse style offered a remedy for those outside the institutional 

circles of power and influence, who lacked the ability to introduce legislative 

initiatives through normal channels.

Conclusion

Many of the changes that occurred during the long generation from 1929 

until 1970—brought about by social movements, legal advances, and institutional 

evolution—profoundly altered the landscape on Capitol Hill for the post–civil 

rights generation of African-American Members. Compared with their 20thcentury predecessors, black Members who came to Capitol Hill in the 1970s would 

A 13-term Representative, Charles Diggs of 

Michigan was the first black Representative 

to serve on the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs and was a leading critic of 

apartheid in South Africa. 

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives 

First elected in 1968, Louis Stokes 

of Ohio chaired two committees during 

his 15 terms in Congress, the Permanent 

Select Committee on Intelligence 

and the Committee on Standards 

of Official Conduct. Stokes also led 

the Select Committee on Assassinations 

and was chairman of a key 

Appropriations subcommittee.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 263
encounter an institution that was more accessible and more favorable to their 

legislative interests. Court-ordered redistricting in the wake of the Supreme Court’s 

enunciation of the “one man, one vote” principle, coupled with the Voting Rights 

Act of 1965, dramatically expanded the rolls of black voters and led to the creation 

of majority-black districts, paving the way for an increase in the number of blacks in 

Congress. Until 1968, men had represented the black community almost exclusively, 

but in the decade after Shirley Chisholm’s election, black women (including some 

from the South and the West) won election to Congress, portending significant 

changes in the gender ratio of African Americans in Congress. In 1970, George 

Collins became the first African American in the 20th century elected to a district 

that was not majority-black (it would subsequently become majority-black after 

redistricting). During the next decade this trend accelerated, as districts where blacks 

did not constitute a majority elected more black Members to the House, including 

Parren Mitchell of Maryland, Ronald Dellums of California, and Andrew Young 

of Georgia.139 Long-simmering interest in institutional reform also benefited these 

newcomers as reformers sought to deprive entrenched committee chairmen of their 

power and distribute it more evenly among the rank and file. The assignment of 

a number of incoming black Members to top-tier committees derived from this 

decentralization of power. 

Perhaps the most consequential legacy of Black Americans in Congress from 

the pioneer era was the drive for organizing black power and interests. By the 

late 1960s, although African Americans were slowly making inroads in terms of 

committee assignments, they had relatively little power to command public and 

institutional attention and sustain a legislative agenda. No African American in 

either of the major parties held a top elected leadership position in either chamber 

during this 41-year era.140 Furthermore, the limitations to black Members’ ability to 

drive legislation were painfully apparent. Representatives Powell and Diggs became 

adept at garnering publicity, but as Diggs admitted, their efforts amounted to little 

more than “individualistic policies.”141 The multitude of expectations held by their 

constituents and black voters outside their districts, doubtlessly magnified black 

Members’ frustration and sense of isolation.142 Within this context, Diggs’s efforts 

to create a unified caucus acquired new importance and urgency in the subsequent 

decade. Diggs’s DSC, which evolved into the Congressional Black Caucus in the 

early 1970s, provided a forum for black Members to address “black interests” 

and shape institutional priorities. After decades in a largely unsympathetic and 

sometimes-hostile political wilderness on Capitol Hill, African Americans stood 

on the verge of achieving unprecedented influence. 

This 1965 picture of civil rights leaders 

includes, from left to right, future U.S. 

Representative Andrew Young, thenRepresentative William Fitts Ryan of New 

York, James Farmer, and future U.S. 

Representative John Lewis. Farmer lost 

a 1968 House race to Shirley Chisholm 

in a newly created, majority-black district 

in Brooklyn, New York.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress

264 H Black Americans in Congress 
Notes

1 Thomas A. Johnson, “A Man of Many Roles,” 5 April 1972, New York Times: 1.

2 Carol Swain, “Changing Patterns of African-American Representation in Congress,” in The 

Atomistic Congress: An Interpretation of Congressional Change, Allen D. Hertzke and Ronald M. 

Peters, Jr., eds., (Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, 1992): 107–140; quotation on page 118.

3 Aside from De Priest, Mitchell, and Dawson, the group included Robert Nix, Augustus Hawkins, 

and Edward Brooke.

4 See the discussion about the Great Migration in the preceding contextual essay, “The Negroes’ 

Temporary Farewell.” For more on black migrations in the post-Reconstruction period and the 

20th century, see Nicholas Lemann, The Promised Land: The Great Black Migration and How 

It Changed America (New York: Knopf, 1991); Nell Irvin Painter, Exodusters: Black Migrants to 

Kansas After Reconstruction (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 1986); James R. Grossman, 

Land of Hope: Chicago, Black Southerners, and the Great Migration (Chicago: University of Chicago 

Press, 1989) and Joe William Trotter, Jr., ed., The Great Migration in Historical Perspective: New 

Dimensions of Race, Class, and Gender (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1991). 

5 One served in World War I, four served in World War II, one saw combat in Korea, and another 

was drafted into service in the 1950s. Four were officers (Dawson, Brooke, Diggs, and Conyers); 

the rest were enlisted men. For an overview of the black experience in the military, see Bernard 

Nalty, Strength for the Fight: A History of Black Americans in the Military (New York: Free Press, 

1986). For another assessment, see Robert W. Mullen, Blacks in America’s Wars: The Shift in 

Attitudes from the Revolutionary War to Vietnam (New York: Monad Press, 1973). 

6 “Former Congressman Diggs Enters Prison,” 24 July 1980, Associated Press. 

7 Harry McAlpin, “Dawson Takes Seat in House, Tells Plans,” 16 January 1943, Chicago Defender: 

9; see also Denton J. Brooks, Jr., “Fame Brings Dawson Chance to Help Race,” 3 April 1943, 

Chicago Defender: 13.

8 Denton J. Brooks, Jr., “Dawson Demands Stimson’s Removal,” 4 March 1944, Chicago Defender: 1.

9 Edward Brooke, Bridging the Divide: My Life (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 

2007): 33.

10 William L. Clay, Bill Clay: A Political Voice at the Grass Roots (St. Louis: Missouri Historical 

Society, 2004): 16.

11 To put these accomplishments into perspective, by 1970 just 4.6 percent of black men and 5.1 

percent of black women earned college degrees compared to 16.1 percent of white men and 9.5 

percent of white women. An astounding 66.4 percent of all black males (66.7 percent of black 

women) in 1970 did not earn a high school diploma. These percentages were even lower in 1930 

for both races and sexes and slowly increased each decade through 1970. Thus, the educational 

achievements of the black Representatives elected early in the period are all the more remarkable. 

See “College Graduation Rate, by Sex, Nativity, and Race: 1940–1997” and “High School NonCompletion Rate, by Sex, Nativity, and Race: 1940–1997,” in Historical Statistics of the United 

States, Volume 2: Work and Welfare, Susan Carter et al., eds. (New York: Cambridge University 

Press, 2006): 469–470.

12 Former U.S. Representative Robert Elliott, a South Carolina Republican, was elected state 

attorney general in the 1876 election that swept Democrats back into power. He was forced from 

office in May 1877 under pressure from the administration of Governor Wade Hampton. For 

more on this episode, see Peggy Lamson, The Glorious Failure: Black Congressman Robert Brown 

Elliott and the Reconstruction in South Carolina (New York: W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 

1973): 250–270. 

13 Stokes’s brother and political mentor, Carl, served in the Ohio legislature and became the first 

African-American mayor of a major city (Cleveland) in 1967. It was Carl who convinced Louis 

to run for a newly drawn majority-black district in Cleveland. Nix was appointed as a deputy 

attorney general in Pennsylvania and also served as a Democratic committeeman in Philadelphia 

for 26 years, eight as chairman. Conyers worked as a legislative aide to U.S. Representative John 

Dingell, Jr., of Michigan, served as counsel to labor union locals, and received gubernatorial 

and presidential appointments before winning election to the House. As of December 31, 2007, 

Conyers, first elected in 1965, was the second-longest-serving current House Member: Dingell, 

who succeeded his father in 1955, was the longest-serving current House Member.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 265
14 For the impact of the women’s rights movement on Representatives, see Office of History and 

Preservation, U.S. House of Representatives, Women in Congress, 1917–2006 (Washington, DC: 

Government Printing Office, 2007): 324–343.

15 John Kifner, “G.O.P. Names James Farmer for Brooklyn Race for Congress,” 20 May 1968, 

New York Times: 34; John Kifner, “Farmer and Woman in Lively Bedford-Stuyvesant Race,” 26 

October 1968, New York Times: 22. See also Shirley Washington, Outstanding Women in Congress

(Washington, DC: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1995): 17. Farmer echoed the findings 

contained in a controversial report produced by sociologist Daniel Patrick Moynihan (later a 

U.S. Senator from New York) titled The Negro Family: The Case for National Action (1965). The 

Moynihan Report, as it was later called, argued that the deteriorating black family structure 

seriously impeded the advancement of the race. More pointedly, the report suggested that a 

matriarchal structure in the black community undercut black men’s roles as authority figures.

16 Susan Brownmiller, “This Is Fighting Shirley Chisholm,” 13 April 1969, New York Times: SM32; 

see also Fred L. Zimmerman, “Negroes in Congress: Black House Members Will Add to Their 

Ranks in the Next Few Years,” 22 October 1968, Wall Street Journal: 1.

17 Charles Stewart III, “Committee Hierarchies in the Modernizing House, 1875–1947,” American 

Journal of Political Science 36 (November 1992): 835–856.

18 Stewart, “Committee Hierarchies in the Modernizing House, 1875–1947.” 

19 Early women Senate pioneers, including Hattie Caraway of Arkansas and Margaret Chase Smith 

of Maine, also benefited from this circumstance.

20 Black Members from the post-1929 era who lost primaries include Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., 

of New York, Robert Nix of Pennsylvania, Katie Hall of Indiana, Charles A. Hayes of Illinois, 

Bennett Stewart of Illinois, Alton Waldon of New York, Lucien Blackwell of Pennsylvania, 

Craig Washington of Texas, Gus Savage of Illinois, Barbara-Rose Collins of Michigan, Cynthia 

McKinney of Georgia (twice), and Earl Hilliard of Alabama. For a standard work on the power of 

incumbency and the low turnover rates in the 20th century, see John R. Hibbing, Congressional 

Careers: Contours of Life in the U.S. House of Representatives (Chapel Hill: University of North 

Carolina Press, 1991).

21 See Allan G. Bogue, Jerome M. Clubb, Carroll R. McKibben, and Santa A. Traugott, “Members 

of the House of Representatives and the Processes of Modernization, 1789–1960,” Journal of 

American History 63 (September 1976): 275–302, especially 291–293. The average age of a 

freshman House Member from 1930 through 1950 was 45; from 1950 through 1960 it was 43.

22 For a graphic of the service dates for the black Members of this era, see the chart at the end of 

this essay. For more information on Member longevity averages, see, for instance, Mildred Amer, 

“Average Years of Service for Members of the Senate and House of Representatives, First through 

109th Congresses,” 9 November 2005, Report RL32648, Congressional Research Service, Library 

of Congress, Washington, DC

23 See Appendix F, Black-American Chairs of Subcommittees of Standing Committees in the U.S. 

House and Senate, 1885–2007. Dawson and Powell also became the first African Americans 

to chair full subcommittees of permanent standing committees: the Executive and Legislative 

Reorganization Subcommittee of Government Operations and the Mines and Mining 

Subcommittee of the Interior and Insular Affairs Committee, respectively. Others elected during 

this period who later served as full committee chairmen were Charles Diggs, Jr. (District of 

Columbia), Robert Nix (Post Office and Civil Service), Louis Stokes (Select Committee on 

Presidential Assassinations, Standards of Official Conduct, Permanent Select Committee on 

Intelligence), Augustus Hawkins (Joint Committee on Printing, Joint Committee on the Library, 

House Administration, Education and Labor), William L. Clay (Post Office and Civil Service), 

and John Conyers, Jr., (Government Operations, Judiciary). For a complete listing of African 

Americans who chaired standing congressional committees, see Appendix E, Black Americans 

Who Have Chaired Congressional Committees, 1877–2007.

24 For personal relations between Members and their constituents, see Richard F. Fenno, Going 

Home: Black Representatives and Their Constituents (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press, 

2003): especially 259–261. See also Carol Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation 

of African Americans in Congress (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1993): 217–222. 

For an analysis of redistricting and black representation generally, see Kenny J. Whitby, The Color 

of Representation: Congressional Behavior and Black Interests (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan 

Press, 1997).

266 H Black Americans in Congress 
25 Diggs’s Detroit area constituents returned him to Congress in November 1978 with 79 percent 

of the vote, despite his having been convicted of mail fraud and falsifying payroll forms weeks 

earlier. Similarly, in 1967, when the House voted to exclude Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., due to his 

legal and attendance issues, his Harlem constituents returned him to his vacant seat in a special 

election, with 86 percent of the vote.

26 See, for example, Nancy Weiss’s treatment in Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: Black Politics in the 

Age of FDR (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983). For “push and pull,” see Michael 

Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote (Boulder, CO: Lynne Rienner, 2007): 41, 42–55.

27 Ample literature exists on the movement of black voters from the Republican Party to the 

Democratic Party: Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln; Donald J. Lisio, Hoover, Blacks & LilyWhites: A Study of Southern Strategies (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1985); 

Richard Sherman, The Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933

(Charlottesville: University of Virginia Press, 1973): 134–144.

28 Lisio, Hoover, Blacks & Lily-Whites: A Study of Southern Strategies: 260–266; Sherman, The 

Republican Party and Black America from McKinley to Hoover, 1896–1933: 134–144.

29 See Harold F. Gosnell, Negro Politicians: The Rise of Negro Politics in Chicago (New York: AMS 

Press, 1969; reprint of 1935 University of Chicago Press edition): 24–25. 

30 For more on the background of the city’s Republican politics during this period, see Rita Werner 

Gordon, “The Change in the Political Alignment of Chicago’s Negroes During the New Deal,” 

Journal of American History 56 (1969): 586–588. 

31 See, for example, Clay, Bill Clay: A Political Voice at the Grass Roots: 1–6.

32 For an analysis of how the agricultural collapse in the South contributed to black political 

activism, see Doug McAdam, Political Process and the Development of Black Insurgency, 1930–1970 

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1982): especially 65–116. 

33 John Hope Franklin and Alfred A. Moss, Jr., From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African 

Americans, 8th ed. (New York: Knopf, 2000): 421.

34 See Franklin and Moss, From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African Americans: 421–422; David 

M. Kennedy, Freedom From Fear: The American People in Depression and War, 1929–1945 (New 

York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 87, 164; see also Lester Chandler, America’s Great Depression 

(New York: Harper and Row, 1970): 40. The national and local GOP’s inability to alleviate blacks’ 

economic distress played a role in blacks’ movement away from the party, although in 1932, black 

Chicagoans remained loyal to the party because the new Democratic mayoral administration 

stripped so many blacks of patronage jobs conferred by the old Thompson machine. See Gordon, 

“The Change in the Political Alignment of Chicago’s Negroes During the New Deal”: 591–592.

35 Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: 78–95. See also William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black

Politics and the Chicago Machine, 1931–1991 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 1992): 

47–68.

36 Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: 78.

37 Ibid., 88.

38 Ibid., 89–95.

39 Ibid., 212. Another scholar points to two “stages” of Chicago’s black political realignment: the first 

consisting of registration at the polls in 1936 election (the response to New Deal emergency relief 

measures) and the latter occurring in 1944, when the national party under FDR embraced a larger 

civil rights reform agenda. See Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: 52–53; see also Gordon, “The Change in 

the Political Alignment of Chicago’s Negroes During the New Deal”: 603.

40 Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: 227.

41 Even in the South, African Americans were drawn toward supporting the national Democratic 

Party of Roosevelt and, later, Truman. “Now, if anybody thinks we ought to leave this Democratic 

ship and jump back into the Southern Republican skeleton and help put some meat on its 

bones, they have got some more thought coming,” wrote a black newspaper editorialist in 

1947. “Brethren, we had too hard a time getting on this ship and we are going to stay, sink or 

swim.” Quoted in V. O. Key, Southern Politics in State and Union (Knoxville: University Press of 

Tennessee, 1984): 291; originally published by C. Blythe Andres, 29 November 1947, Florida 

Sentinel (Tampa). Between 1940 and 1960, Republican presidential candidates received between 

23 and 40 percent of the black vote. Barry Goldwater’s 1964 campaign transformed the decisive 

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 267
Democratic advantage into a monopoly. In appealing to southern racial conservatives, Goldwater 

garnered just 6 percent of the African-American vote. Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote: 56. 

Since then, no GOP presidential nominee has won more than 15 percent of the black vote.

42 The other black Republicans were Edward Brooke, Melvin Evans, Gary Franks, and J. C. Watts.

43 Harvard Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil Rights as a National Issue: The 

Depression Decade (New York: Oxford University Press, 1981): 44–46; quotation on page 51. 

44 For a recent study suggesting that judiciary policies pursued by the Roosevelt administration 

had an important effect on future Supreme Court civil rights rulings, see Kevin McMahon, 

Reconsidering Roosevelt on Race: How the Presidency Paved the Road to Brown (Chicago: The 

University of Chicago Press, 2004): especially 177–202, 218–222. McMahon, a political 

scientist, maintains that Roosevelt’s conclusion that southern segregation “was incompatible 

with his vision of a thoroughly liberal Democratic Party and with his institutional design for an 

executive-dominated national government served as a mainspring for the Supreme Court’s later 

commitment to federal civil rights protection.” McMahon concedes that Roosevelt’s policy toward 

the judiciary derived from the needs of “intraparty management and his own institutional desires” 

rather than “a personal commitment to the African American cause.” See pages 4, 7–8.

45 For an overview, see Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote: 45–47. 

46 On Eleanor Roosevelt generally, see Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks: 58–62; quotation on page 60. 

For a recent, comprehensive treatment of Eleanor Roosevelt, see Allida Black, Casting Her Own 

Shadow: Eleanor Roosevelt and the Shaping of Postwar Liberalism (New York: Columbia University 

Press, 1996).

47 Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks: 66–69.

48 For Mitchell’s motivations, see Dennis S. Nordin, The New Deal’s Black Congressman: A Life of 

Arthur Wergs Mitchell (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 1997): 210–221. For the larger 

anti-lynching campaign in 1936 and 1937, see Robert L. Zangrando, The NAACP Crusade Against 

Lynching: 1909–1950 (Philadelphia: Temple University Press, 1980): 139–165. For the legislative 

actions on lynching by a southern woman in the U.S. Senate in the 1930s, see “Dixie Bibb 

Graves,” in Office of History and Preservation,Women in Congress, 1917–2006: 169–171. 

49 For a comparative perspective on changing African-American demographics from the 1930s 

to the 1980s, see Gerald D. Jaynes and Robin M. Williams, Jr., A Common Destiny: Blacks and 

American Society (Washington, DC: National Academy Press, 1989): 35–42, 271–287. Statistics 

cited in this paragraph are drawn from pages 35, 271. A contemporaneous and hugely influential 

account of the plight of wartime blacks in the American South is Gunnar Myrdal’s An American 

Dilemma: The Negro Problem and Modern Democracy (New York: Harper Publishers, 1944). For 

a concise summary of African-American participation in the war and its impact on civil rights, 

see Kennedy, Freedom From Fear: 761–776. For a standard account of the home front during the 

war, see John Morton Blum, V Was for Victory: Politics and American Culture During World War II

(New York: Harcourt, Brace, Jovanovich, 1976). For more on desegregation of the military, see 

Richard M. Dalfiume, Desegregation of the U.S. Armed Forces (Columbia: University of Missouri 

Press, 1969).

50 See Kennedy, Freedom From Fear: 771–774; Franklin and Moss, From Slavery to Freedom: A 

History of African Americans: 481–491.

51 Congressional Record, Appendix, 77th Cong., 2nd sess. (18 February 1942): A607. See also 

Congressional Record, Appendix, 77th Cong., 2nd sess. (16 July 1942): A2790–2791. 

52 Congressional Record, Appendix, 77th Cong., 2nd sess. (22 January 1942): A210; Congressional 

Record, Appendix, 77th Cong., 2nd sess. (28 January 1942): A290.

53 Walter White, A Rising Wind (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, Doran and Company, 1945): 144.

54 This was true for many southerners but especially for African Americans, the majority of whom 

held low-paying agricultural jobs in a tenant farmer system in the South. According to wage and 

salary data compiled by the U.S. Department of Commerce, the average agricultural worker in 

the United States earned $487 in 1940—a little more than $9 per week. See “Wage and Salary 

Accruals Per Full-Time Equivalent Employee, By Industry: 1929–1948,” Table Ba4397–4418, 

Carter et al., Historical Statistics of the United States, Volume 2: 282.

55 Congressional Record, House, 78th Cong., 1st sess. (25 May 1943): 4853, 4889. In 1945, when 

the House again debated a measure to ban the poll tax, Dawson blasted Mississippi Representative 

268 H Black Americans in Congress 
John E. Rankin, who claimed the tax was necessary to support public schools. “Why is it then that 

so many of these people cannot meet the minimum educational requirement?” Dawson rebutted, 

calling attention to the literacy tests used to disfranchise many southern blacks. See Venice T. 

Sprags, “Anti-Poll Tax Bill Faces Bilbo Filibuster Threat,” 23 June 1945, Chicago Defender: 2.

56 “Executive Order 8802: Establishing the Committee on Fair Employment Practices,” 25 June 

1941, published as part of the American Presidency Project, University of California, Santa 

Barbara, http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu (accessed 1 February 2008). For a discussion of FDR’s 

political position, see Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks: 320–323. See also Kennedy, Freedom 

From Fear: 768. Kennedy observes that while the FEPC was hardly a “second Emancipation 

Proclamation,” it provided the seed for civil rights reform. “Coming at a moment that was kindled 

with opportunities for economic betterment and social mobility, Executive Order 8802 fanned 

the rising flame of black militancy and initiated a chain of events that would eventually end 

segregation once and for all and open a new era for African Americans.”

57 Congressional Record, House, 78th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 May 1944): 5053.

58 Ibid., 5054.

59 Ibid. The full debate is on pages 5050–5068, quotation on page 5059.

60 Congressional Record, Appendix, 78th Cong., 2nd sess. (15 June 1944): A3033–3035. In June 

1944, Representative Dawson testified before Norton’s committee about the “psychological 

attitude” of “great bitterness” felt by African Americans who had been excluded from wartime 

work. The FEPC promised to alleviate the despair of discrimination. “Sooner or later, here in 

this country, we have got to face the question and settle it right for all times in the minds of the 

people. And there is no better way to begin to face the problem than to assure to every people that 

they will have the opportunity to work, along with all the other peoples in this nation of ours.”

61 For a recent and important study of the topic, see Thomas Borstelmann, The Cold War and the 

Color Line: American Race Relations in the Global Arena (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University 

Press, 2001).

62 Walter Lippmann, “Today and Tomorrow: The Grace of Humility,” 24 September 1957, 

Washington Post: A15.

63 President Kennedy worried about Soviet propaganda arising from a horrific, May 1963 Associated 

Press picture of Birmingham, Alabama, officials unleashing police dogs on young civil rights 

protestors. “What a disaster that picture is,” Kennedy moaned. “That picture is not only in 

America but all around the world.” See Nick Bryant, The Bystander: John F. Kennedy and the 

Struggle for Black Equality (New York: Basic Books, 2006): 388, 472.

64 See Mary L. Dudziak, Cold War Civil Rights: Race and the Image of American Democracy

(Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2002).

65 Borstelmann, The Cold War and the Color Line: 2–8, quotation on page 2.

66 The best single source on HUAC is Walter Goodman, The Committee: The Extraordinary Career of 

the House Committee on Un-American Activities (New York: Farrar, Strauss & Giroux, 1968). For 

the debate surrounding the establishment of a permanent HUAC and a synopsis, see Raymond 

Smock, ed., Landmark Documents on the U.S. Congress (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1999): 367–374; Congressional Record, House, 79th Cong., 1st sess. (3 January 

1945): 10–15. Rankin resuscitated HUAC from the brink of elimination. Established as a select 

committee in 1938, the panel initially investigated domestic fascist groups. Under the control 

of Chairman Martin Dies, Jr., of Texas, however, it rapidly became a soapbox from which New 

Deal programs were denounced and real and imagined communist subversives were routed out. 

Many Representatives resented the committee’s costs and its tendency to conduct witch hunts. 

Most believed it would lapse after Dies’s retirement in early 1945. But Rankin, a committee 

member and a devout segregationist and anti-communist, outmaneuvered House leaders 

and introduced a resolution to confer HUAC full, standing status at the opening of the 79th 

Congress (1945–1947). Faced with a roll call vote, many Members were reluctant to oppose a 

measure voters might perceive as strengthening America against the communist threat. Rankin’s 

amendment carried 208 to 186, with 40 Members not voting. At the height of the Cold War 

rivalry between the United States and the Soviet Union, HUAC’s influence soared and contributed 

to a climate of domestic fear stoked by its sensational and often unsubstantiated investigations.

67 White, A Rising Wind: 144.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 269
68 See, for example, Penny M. Von Eschen, Race Against Empire: Black Americans and 

Anticolonialism, 1937–1957 (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1997); Brenda Gayle Plummer, 

Rising Wind: Black Americans and U.S. Foreign Affairs, 1935–1960 (Chapel Hill: University of 

North Carolina Press, 1996).

69 Plummer, Rising Wind: 249.

70 Ibid.

71 Borstelmann, The Cold War and the Color Line: 96.

72 Plummer, Rising Wind: 248–253; quotation on page 251.

73 Ibid., 292.

74 Carolyn P. DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: The Public Figure, the Private Man

(Arlington, VA: Barton Publishing House, Inc., 1998): 62–65.

75 “Diggs Urges Better U.S. Attitude Toward Africa,” 23 December 1958, Chicago Defender: 7.

76 The literature on the civil rights movement is vast, accessible, and well documented. Standard 

treatments include Taylor Branch’s three-volume history, which uses Martin Luther King, Jr., as a 

lens through which to view the movement: Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 1954–63

(New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988); Pillar of Fire: America in the King Years, 1963–65 (New 

York: Simon and Schuster, 1998); At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 1965–68 (New 

York: Simon and Schuster, 2006). See also David J. Garrow, Bearing the Cross: Martin Luther King, 

Jr., and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (New York: William Morrow, 1986); William 

H. Chafe, Civilities and Civil Rights: Greensboro, North Carolina, and the Black Struggle for Freedom 

(New York: Oxford University Press, 1980), an account of one of the protest movement’s seminal 

moments. For an overview of the movement and its impact on late-20th-century black America 

see Manning Marable, Race, Reform, and Rebellion: The Second Reconstruction and Beyond in Black 

America, 1945–2006, 3rd edition (Jackson: University Press of Mississippi, 2007). 

For the evolution of civil rights legislation in Congress, see Robert Mann, When Freedom Would 

Triumph: The Civil Rights Struggle in Congress, 1954–1968 (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State 

University Press, 2007)—an abridged version of Mann’s The Walls of Jericho: Lyndon Johnson, Hubert 

Humphrey, Richard Russell and the Struggle for Civil Rights (New York: Harcourt Brace, 1996); 

Hugh Davis Graham, The Civil Rights Era: Origins and Development of National Policy, 1960–1972

(New York: Oxford, 1990): especially pages 125–176; and James L. Sundquist, Politics and 

Policy: The Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson Years (Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 

1968): 221–286. A useful overview of Congress and civil rights is Timothy N. Thurber, “Second 

Reconstruction,” in The American Congress: The Building of Democracy, ed. by Julian E. Zelizer 

(Boston: Houghton-Mifflin Company, 2004): 529–547. Another useful secondary work, which 

touches on aspects of the voting rights reform legislative effort, is Steven F. Lawson’s Black Ballots: 

Voting Rights in the South, 1944–1969 (New York: Columbia University Press, 1976). 

77 Fauntroy, Republicans and the Black Vote: 47–49. For Truman and civil rights, see Alonzo Hamby, 

Man of the People: A Life of Harry S. Truman (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995); and 

Donald R. McCoy, The Presidency of Harry S. Truman (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 

1984): 106–109, 167–171.

78 For more on the Dixiecrats, see Kari Frederickson, The Dixiecrat Revolt and the End of the Solid 

South, 1932–1968 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001): see especially pages 

67–117. 

79 For a widely held critical analysis of Eisenhower and his position on civil rights, see Chester Pach, 

Jr., and Elmo Richardson, The Presidency of Dwight D. Eisenhower, revised edition (Lawrence: 

University Press of Kansas, 1991): 137–157.

80 See Michael J. Klarman, “Court, Congress, and Civil Rights,” in Congress and the Constitution, 

Neal Devins and Keith E. Whittington, eds. (Durham, NC: Duke University Press, 2005): 

173–197. 

81 The congressional committees system was consolidated after passage of the 1946 Legislative 

Reorganization Act.

82 In part, Powell’s frequent absences fit the maverick image he cultivated. Nevertheless, his failure to 

cast a vote for the final conference report for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 while on an extended 

European trip under the auspices of Congress raised eyebrows. Though not crucial to the final 

tally, Powell’s vote would have held deep symbolic importance. Moreover, the bill incorporated his 

long-time amendment banning federal funds to institutions that practiced segregation. It exposed 

270 H Black Americans in Congress 
the New York Representative to greater press scrutiny. Political pundit Drew Pearson noted that 

Powell failed to register his vote for a piece of legislation “considered the Magna Carta of Negro 

freedom,” in order to satiate his “traveling propensities.” See Drew Pearson, “Powell Absent for 

Rights Vote,” 4 September 1964, Los Angeles Times: A6. Powell was present and voted for the 

original version of the bill, which passed the House on 10 February 1964. See Congressional 

Record, House, 88th Cong., 2nd sess. (10 February 1964): 2804.

83 Thurber, “The Second Reconstruction”: 529–547. For a full-length biography of Chairman 

Smith, see Bruce J. Dierenfeild, Keeper of the Rules: Congressman Howard W. Smith of Virginia

(Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1987): Allen quotation on page 158. This quotation 

is often attributed to Speaker Sam Rayburn; see Thurber, “The Second Reconstruction”: 531.

84 For more on Russell’s position on race, see Mann, When Freedom Would Triumph: 22–24.

85 Thurber, “The Second Reconstruction”: 531. For a perceptive summary of Eastland’s career, see 

David Broder, “Eastland: End of an Era,” 26 March 1978, Washington Post: C7.

86 For more on the Congressional Gold Medals awarded to Parks and other civil rights pioneers, 

such as Martin Luther King, Jr., and Coretta Scott King, as well as the Little Rock Nine, visit the 

“Congressional Gold Medal Recipients” page on the Web site of the Clerk of the U.S. House of 

Representatives available at http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/goldMedal.html. 

87 “Reported Victims of Lynching, by Race: 1882–1964,” Historical Statistics of the United States, 

Volume 5: Governance and International Relations, Carter et al., eds.(New York: Cambridge 

University Press, 2006): 251.

88 DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 46–60, quotation on page 46. For press coverage, see 

Mattie Smith Colin, “Till’s Mom, Diggs Both Disappointed,” 1 October 1955, Chicago Defender: 1.

89 DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 50.

90 Drew Pearson, “5 House Members,” 12 January 1956, Washington Post: 31; Ethel L. Payne, “U.S. 

Probes Mississippi Vote Bias,” 27 August 1955, Chicago Defender: 1.

91 “NAACP Criticizes Rep. Dawson,” 1 September 1956, Washington Post: 38. For more on the 

Till lynching, see Stephen J. Whitfield, A Death in the Delta: The Story of Emmett Till (Baltimore: 

Johns Hopkins University Press, 1991).

92 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Adam by Adam: The Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (New 

York: Dial Press, 1971): 81, 120–121.

93 Congressional Record, House, 85th Cong., 1st sess. (14 June 1957): 9192–9193; for Diggs’s 

comments, see Congressional Record, House, 85th Cong., 1st sess. (10 June 1957): 8704–8705.

94 It was during the debate that Senator Strom Thurmond of South Carolina held the floor for more 

than 24 hours in a personal filibuster against the bill. Mann, When Freedom Would Triumph: 

40–60. For more on the act, as well as its legal and social legacy, see Gilbert Paul Carrasco, “Civil 

Rights Act of 1957,” in Major Acts of Congress, Volume 1, Brian K. Landsberg, ed. (New York: 

Thompson-Gale, 2004): 104–109. For more on Johnson’s role in brokering the 1957 act, consult 

Robert A. Caro, Master of the Senate (New York: Knopf, 2002).

95 Julian E. Zelizer, On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform Congress and Its Consequences, 1948–2000

(New York: Cambridge University Press): 56–60.

96 Congressional Record, House, 88th Cong., 1st sess. (9 May 1963): 8256.

97 Congressional Record, House, 88th Cong., 2nd sess. (7 February 1964): 2465.

98 For a concise overview of the bill and its legal and social significance, see Melanie B. Abbott, 

“Civil Rights Act of 1964,” in Major Acts of Congress, Volume 1: 109–115.

99 Mann, When Freedom Would Triumph: 175.

100 Ibid., 187–199.

101 John Lewis with Michael D’Orso, Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement (New York: 

Simon and Schuster, 1998): 331; for the full account, see pages 323–332.

102 John D. Morris, “Johnson Pledges Alabama Action,” 5 February 1965, New York Times: 17.

103 Congressional Record, House, 89th Cong., 1st sess. (9 February 1965): 2434–2435. Like other 

African-American colleagues, Conyers stressed the foreign policy implications of voting fraud: 

“We are weak before our enemies if our goals abroad are so shamelessly ignored and subverted here 

at home.” See Congressional Record, House, 89th Cong., 1st sess. (8 July 1965): 16000.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 271
104 For an overview and analysis of the legal and social effects of the act, see William D. Araiza, 

“Voting Rights Act of 1965,” in Major Acts of Congress, Volume 3: 271–278.

105 Thurber, “The Second Reconstruction”: 543.

106 Not only were more blacks registered to vote, but also more ran for and won state and local 

political office. In 1965, in the 11 original Confederate states, there were just 72 black elected 

officials. A decade later, 1,587 held office. From 1966 to 1967, the number of blacks serving in 

state legislatures essentially doubled to 152. The effect was most dramatic in states that were once 

the strongholds of segregation: in Georgia, African Americans went from 0 to 11 seats in the state 

legislature in one election cycle. See Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 1st sess. (2 June 

1975): 16241; John Allan Long, “Negroes Widen Political Power,” 4 November 1967, Christian 

Science Monitor: 9.

107 For a recent analysis of this phenomenon, see Kevin M. Kruse, White Flight: Atlanta and the 

Making of Modern Conservatism (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 2005).

108 See, for example, Fred L. Zimmerman, “Negroes in Congress: Black House Members Will Add to 

Their Ranks in the Next Few Years,” 22 October 1968, Wall Street Journal: 1.

109 For more on the origins and history of the Great Society, see James T. Patterson, Grand 

Expectations: The United States, 1945–1970 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1996): 524–592; 

Robert Dallek, Flawed Giant: Lyndon Johnson and His Times, 1961–1973 (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1998).

110 For more about discrimination in the federal civil service, see Desmond King’s standard work 

Separate and Unequal: Black Americans and the US Federal Government (New York: Oxford, 1995). 

For Eisenhower and his position on civil rights, see Pach and Richardson, The Presidency of Dwight 

D. Eisenhower: 137–157.

111 Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: 81, footnote 9.

112 “Social Elite Aim Dart at Mrs. De Priest,” 26 January 1929, Chicago Defender: 1; “Congressional 

Club Fails to Bar Mrs. De Priest,” 16 February 1929, Chicago Defender: 4.

113 For more on Nichols, see his interview with the Senate Historical Office: http://www.senate.gov/

artandhistory/history/oral_history/Jesse_R_Nichols.htm (accessed 4 February 2008).

114 Dunnigan’s articles appeared in four parts under the title “A Visit to the Nation’s Capitol” in 

Service, the magazine of the Tuskegee Institute; see November 1949: 9–12, 30–31; December 

1949: 11–16; January 1950: 17, 20–21; and February 1950: 11–12, 21–22.

115 Modern political scientists generally characterize De Priest as having provided only “modest 

descriptive representation.” While De Priest’s substantive legislative achievements were modest, it 

should be noted that the unsympathetic and rigidly segregationist institution in which he worked, 

and his service as a Member in the minority party for most of his career, severely diminished 

his ability to effect reform. For a standard treatment of De Priest, see Carol Swain, “Changing 

Patterns of African-American Representation in Congress”: 119. 

116 “Pass De Priest Resolution,” 26 June 1929, New York Times: 9; “Mrs. De Priest Visit Stirs 

Mississippian,” 26 June 1929, Washington Post: 2. 

117 Congressional Record, House, 73rd Congress, 2nd sess. (21 March 1934): 5049.

118 For a detailed account, see Elliott M. Rudwick, “Oscar De Priest and the Jim Crow Restaurant in 

the U.S. House of Representatives,” Journal of Negro Education 35 (Winter 1966): 77–82.

119 “De Priest Adds Racial Demand: Opening Prayer in House by Colored Minister Requested,” 28 

January 1934, Washington Post: 7.

120 “Oscar De Priest,” 30 March 1932, Atlanta Daily World: 6. Interestingly, after De Priest’s effort 

to change Jim Crow practices in the House Restaurant in 1934, much of the African-American 

press rallied to his support. The Atlanta Daily World noted that De Priest “has shown himself to 

be no compromiser. He has measured head and shoulder to the stature of the statesman.” See “Let 

Us Help Oscar De Priest,” 4 April 1934, Atlanta Daily World: 6; E. N. Davis, “Race Losing Out 

Under NRA, AAA De Priest States Asking Negro Economic Progress,” 20 May 1934, Atlanta 

Daily World: 1.

121 Joyce Haber, “A Question of Style: You Have It or You Don’t,” 22 January 1967, Los Angeles 

Times: C8; see also Richard L. Lyons, “Adam Clayton Powell, Apostle for Blacks,” 6 April 1972, 

Washington Post: B5.

272 H Black Americans in Congress 
122 Powell, Adam by Adam: 72–73.

123 Ibid.

124 Swain, “Changing Patterns of African-American Representation in Congress”: quotation on page 

123.

125 “Plans Booker Washington Honor,” 8 September 1937, New York Times: 13; Congressional Record, 

House, 77th Cong., 2nd sess. (14 October 1942): 8189.

126 “De Priest’s Record Is Object of Attack by New Congressman,” 19 November 1934, Atlanta Daily

World: 2.

127 Nordin, The New Deal’s Black Congressman: 89–90, 201–207.

128 For instance, see James Q. Wilson, “Two Negro Politicians: An Interpretation,” Midwest Journal 

of Political Science 5 (1960): 349–369; Carol Swain, “Changing Patterns of African-American 

Representation in Congress”: 123–125.

129 “Powell Declares ‘Negro First’ Aim,” 9 April 1944, New York Times: 25.

130 Robert Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: Racial Politics in the U.S. Congress (Thousand Oaks, 

CA: Sage Publications, 1998): 46–47.

131 Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black American Men (Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 1998): 878. 

132 William J. Eaton, “Hawkins Retiring—But Not Quitting,” 23 December 1990, Los Angeles Times: 

3A.

133 Eaton, “Hawkins Retiring—But Not Quitting.”

134 John Henry Cutler, Ed Brooke: Biography of a Senator (Indianapolis, IN: Bobbs-Merrill, 1972): 

247.

135 See, for example, Ray Rogers, “Negro Politicians Caught Between Warring Factions,” 7 December 

1967, Washington Post: H3.

136 John H. Henton, “A Dapper Mr. Brooke Goes to Washington,” 2 January 1967, New York Times: 22.

137 Cutler, Ed Brooke: Biography of a Senator: 247.

138 For more on the differences between the “work horse” and “show horse” styles, see Donald 

R. Matthews, “The Folkways of the United States Senate: Conformity to Group Norms and 

Legislative Effectiveness,” American Political Science Review 53 (December 1959): 1064–1089. 

The same patterns have been observed in the House. See, for example, Charles L. Clapp, The 

Congressman: His Work as He Sees It (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1964): 22–23; and James L. 

Payne, “Show Horses and Work Horses in the United States House of Representatives,” Polity 12 

(Spring 1980): 428–456.

139 Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 117; David E. Rosenbaum, “3 White Districts Choose Negroes 

for House Seats,” 5 November 1970, New York Times: 28.

140 Shirley Chisholm, elected in 1968, would serve as secretary of the Democratic Caucus in the 

1970s.

141 For more on Diggs’s motivations, see Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 54–55, 73; see also 

DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 79–80.

142 The more individual blacks in Congress embraced such a representational strategy, the more 

demands were put on their finite time and resources. After decades of neglect by white officials 

and an indifferent if not hostile system, an avalanche of long-deferred requests, many from people 

residing far outside their districts, sometimes overwhelmed black officeholders. Bill Clay recalled 

that black constituents often demanded “the impossible from black leaders,” placing exorbitant 

expectations on them: “personally returning all phone calls . . . attending all PTA and block unit 

meetings; securing jobs; cosigning personal loans; fixing traffic tickets; providing free legal service; 

acting as a marriage counselor, child psychologist, and medical adviser.” Calls and requests from 

African Americans nationwide who identified with Representative Shirley Chisholm because of 

her gender and her race, “deluged” her congressional staff. See, for example, Clay, Bill Clay: A 

Political Voice at the Grass Roots: 7; Charlayne Hunter, “Shirley Chisholm: Willing to Speak Out,” 

22 May 1970, New York Times: 31.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 273
1925 1935 1945 1955 1965 1975 1985 1995 2005

Oscar De Priest

Arthur Mitchell

William Dawson

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.

Charles Diggs, Jr.

 Robert Nix 

Augustus Hawkins 

John Conyers, Jr. 

Edward Brooke III

Shirley Chisholm 

Louis Stokes

William Clay, Sr.

 George Collins 

 

republicans

senate republicans

democrats

Congressional Service 

For Black Americans First Elected 1929–1970 

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2005); also available at http://bioguide.congress.gov.

H Visual statistics iv H

274 H Black Americans in Congress 
R

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

71st (1929–1931)

72nd (1931–1933)

73rd (1933–1935)

74th (1935–1937)

75th (1937–1939)

76th (1939–1941)

77th (1941–1943)

78th (1943–1945)

79th (1945–1947)

80th (1947–1949)

81st (1949–1951)

82nd (1951–1953)

83rd (1953–1955)

84th (1955–1957)

85th (1957–1959)

86th (1959–1961)

87th (1961–1963)

88th (1963–1965)

89th (1965–1967)

90th (1967–1969)

91st (1969–1971)

[1]

republicans

other

democrats

[1] Republicans won a majority of House seats on election day, but before the first day of 72nd Congress on December 7, 1931, 19 Representatives-elect died. In 14 instances, 

party control of the seat changed with the special election, enabling a Democratic majority to organize the House.

Source: Office of the Clerk, U.S.House of Representatives.

*Does not include Delegates or Resident Commissioners. 

Party Divisions in the House of Representatives

71st–91st Congresses (1929–1971)*

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 275
Party Divisions in the Senate

71st–91st Congresses (1929–1971) S

71st (1929–1931)

72nd (1931–1933)

73rd (1933–1935)

74th (1935–1937)

75th (1937–1939)

76th (1939–1941)

77th (1941–1943)

78th (1943–1945)

79th (1945–1947)

80th (1947–1949)

81st (1949–1951)

82nd (1951–1953)

83rd (1953–1955)

84th (1955–1957)

85th (1957–1959)

86th (1959–1961)

87th (1961–1963)

88th (1963–1965)

89th (1965–1967)

90th (1967–1969)

91st (1969–1971)

[1] [2]

other

democrats republicans

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

[1] The election of 1952 produced a closely divided United States Senate, with 48 Republicans, 47 Democrats, and one Independent. The Republican Party organized the 

Senate in January of 1953, making committee assignments, choosing Senate officers, and assigning committee chairs. During the 83rd Congress, nine senators died and one 

resigned, shifting the party division in the Senate with each new replacement. 

[2] Strom Thurmond (SC) was an Independent Democrat during this Congress until his resignation on April 4, 1956. In November of that year he was elected as a Democrat 

to fill the vacancy created by his resignation.

Source: U.S. Senate Historical Office.

276 H Black Americans in Congress 
Black Americans First Elected to Congress by Decade, 1920–2007 

(1990–1999) 

39

(1980–1989)

16

(2000–2007) 

16

(1970–1979) 

16

(1950–1959) 

2

(1940–1949) 

2

(1930–1939) 

1

(1920–1929) 

1

(1960–1969) 

6

Source: Appendix B: Black-American Representatives and Senators By Congress, 1870–2007.

African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 H 277
278 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Oscar De Priest was the first African American elected 

to Congress in the 20th century, ending a 28-year 

absence of black Representatives. De Priest’s victory—he 

was the first black Member from the North—marked a 

new era of black political organization in urban areas, as 

evidenced by the South Side district of Chicago, whose 

continuous African-American representation began with 

De Priest’s election in 1928. Although he made scant 

legislative headway during his three terms in Congress, 

De Priest became a national symbol of hope for African 

Americans, and he helped lay the groundwork for future 

black Members of the House and Senate.1

Oscar Stanton De Priest was born to former slaves 

Alexander and Mary (Karsner) De Priest in Florence, 

Alabama, on March 9, 1871. His father later worked as 

a teamster and a farmer, while his mother found parttime employment as a laundress.2 In 1878, the De Priest 

family, along with thousands of other black residents of 

the Mississippi Valley, moved to Kansas. The migrants 

from Mississippi, Louisiana, and Alabama sought to escape 

poor economic and social conditions after Democrats and 

former Confederates regained control of southern state 

governments at the end of Reconstruction. These families, 

one historian wrote, were “pushed by fears of damnation 

and pulled by belief” in a better life in Kansas.3

 De Priest 

graduated from elementary school in Salina and enrolled 

in a business course at the Salina Normal School, where he 

studied bookkeeping. In 1889 he settled in Chicago before 

the great wave of African-American migration to northern 

cities during and after World War I. In Chicago, De Priest 

worked as an apprentice plasterer, house painter, and 

decorator, and he eventually established his own business 

and a real estate management firm. He married Jessie 

Williams on February 23, 1898, and the couple had one 

child, Oscar Stanton, Jr.4

De Priest’s foray into politics was facilitated by 

Chicago’s budding machine organization. Divided 

into wards and precincts, Chicago evolved into a city 

governed by a system of political appointments, patronage 

positions, and favors. Unable to consolidate control of 

the city before the 1930s, Chicago mayors nonetheless 

wielded considerable authority.5

 De Priest recognized the 

potential for a career as a local leader in a city with few 

black politicians whose African-American population was 

experiencing dramatic growth.6 At first comfortable with 

a behind-the-scenes role, De Priest eventually assumed a 

more prominent political position as a loyal Republican 

interested in helping his party gain influence in Chicago. 

By 1904, De Priest’s ability to bargain for and deliver the 

black vote in the Second and Third Wards gained him his 

first elected position: a seat on Chicago’s Cook County 

board of commissioners. He retained this position for 

two terms, from 1904 through 1908.7 Caught between 

rival factions, De Priest failed to secure a third term as 

commissioner. During a seven-year break from politics, 

he turned his attention to real estate, and became an 

affluent businessman.8

To revive his political career, De Priest curried favor 

with powerful Republican officials such as Chicago Mayor 

William Hale (Big Bill) Thompson and longtime U.S. 

Representative Martin Madden. He became Chicago’s 

first black alderman, enabling him to sit on the influential 

city council from 1915 to 1917.9

 De Priest’s service on 

the council ended abruptly; he resigned from office at the 

urging of local Republican leaders after being indicted for 

accepting money from a gambling establishment. “I shall 

devote myself unreservedly to proving my innocence and 

restoring my good name in this community,” proclaimed 

De Priest, announcing his decision not to seek another 

term in office.10 With Clarence Darrow—who later became 

Oscar Stanton De Priest

1871–1951

United States Representative H 1929–1935

Republican from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
280 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

one of the most famous trial lawyers in the country—as 

his defense counsel, De Priest was acquitted of the charges, 

but his political future remained uncertain because of 

several outstanding indictments.11 After failing to gain the 

Republican nomination in 1918, De Priest unsuccessfully 

attempted to regain his council seat by running as an 

Independent.12 However, he recovered enough power by 

1924 to be elected Third Ward committeeman.13

The turning point in De Priest’s career occurred when 

Martin Madden, the influential Chicago Representative 

and chair of the House Appropriations Committee, 

died suddenly after he had secured the Republican 

nomination for a likely 13th term in Congress. The 

Republican machine, led by Mayor Thompson, selected 

De Priest to replace Madden as the nominee in the 

lakeshore congressional district encompassing Chicago’s 

Loop business section—a cluster of ethnic white 

neighborhoods—and a predominantly black area that 

included the famous Bronzeville section of the South 

Side.14 Some black leaders in Chicago balked at the 

choice, contending that the credentials of other AfricanAmerican politicians were better than De Priest’s.15 In 

the November election De Priest squared off against 

Democrat Harry Baker and three Independents, including 

William Harrison, an African-American assistant attorney 

general.16 De Priest narrowly defeated his opponents with 

only a plurality, securing 48 percent of the vote; Harrison 

siphoned off some of the black votes in the district.17 In 

his two subsequent congressional elections, De Priest won 

by more sizable margins, earning 58 and 55 percent of the 

vote, respectively.18 As the first African American elected 

to Congress for nearly three decades, De Priest initiated 

a trend of black representation in urban northern cities 

repopulated by the Great Migration. 

As De Priest prepared to take his seat in the 71st 

Congress (1929–1931) on April 15, 1929, he faced a 

potential obstacle. After his election in November, the local 

press speculated that the House might attempt to exclude 

De Priest because of an investigation involving outstanding 

“charges of sponsoring and protecting vice and gambling in 

the colored section of Chicago’s South Side.”19 Although he 

had been cleared of the charges a few days before the start 

of the new Congress, Ruth McCormick, another newly 

elected Republican from Illinois, enlisted the assistance of 

Speaker Nicholas Longworth of Ohio to thwart potential 

challenges by southern Democrats to De Priest’s seat.20

Allegedly at the request of his wife, Alice, a personal 

friend of Representative-elect McCormick’s, the Speaker 

dispensed with the traditional procedure for swearing in 

Members by state delegation and administered the oath of 

office simultaneously to prevent Members sworn in before 

De Priest from disputing the legality of his joining the 71st 

Congress.21 De Priest’s first day in Congress attracted the 

interest of the press and of many African Americans, some 

of whom watched the proceedings from the segregated 

visitors’ gallery.22

The election of the new black Representative challenged 

the segregation pervasive in the nation’s capital in the 

early 20th century. One of the most publicized incidents 

involving De Priest’s arrival in Washington, DC, was 

the First Lady’s White House tea for congressional 

wives. First Lady Lou Hoover’s invitation to Mrs. Jessie 

De Priest provoked a wave of condemnation across the 

South. Several southern state legislatures, including 

Mississippi’s, passed resolutions imploring the Herbert 

Hoover administration to give “careful and thoughtful 

consideration to the necessity of the preservation of the 

racial integrity of the white race.”23 The First Lady divided 

the reception into four separate sessions in an attempt to 

avoid a boycott by the wives of southern Members; Mrs. 

De Priest attended the smallest of the four gatherings 

with a few women who had been “screened” by the 

administration.24 De Priest called the southern legislators 

cowards. “I’ve been elected to congress the same as any 

other member,” he exclaimed. “I’m going to have the 

rights of every other congressman—no more and no 

less—if it’s in the congressional barber shop or at a White 

House tea.”25 Nevertheless, he sought to make the most 

of the publicity resulting from the White House tea. Less 

than two weeks later, De Priest sponsored a noteworthy 

H Oscar Stanton De Priest H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 281

fundraiser in the nation’s capital for the National 

Association for the Advancement of Colored People. The 

Illinois Representative invited all his Republican colleagues 

in the House except the two he believed had slighted him 

because of his race.26

Discriminatory practices existed in the Capitol as well. 

Many southern Democrats, in particular, resented 

De Priest’s presence on the Hill and found ways to express 

their displeasure—such as refusing to accept offices near 

the newly elected black Representative.27 Representative 

Fiorello LaGuardia of New York rebuked his colleagues, 

asserting, “It is manifestly unfair to embarrass a new 

member and I believe it is our duty to assist new 

members rather than humiliate them.”28 In January 1934, 

Representative Lindsay C. Warren, a Democrat from 

North Carolina and chairman of the House Committee on 

Accounts, ordered De Priest’s secretary, Morris W. Lewis, 

and Lewis’s son expelled from the House’s whites only 

public restaurant. (There was a separate public facility for 

black customers next to the kitchen in the basement of the 

House.) The incident made headlines when 

De Priest introduced a resolution calling for an official 

investigation.29 On the House Floor he refuted Warren’s 

claim that African Americans had always been banned 

from the restaurant, recalling that he and other black 

patrons had frequented the Capitol establishment. 

De Priest implored his colleagues to support his resolution, 

remarking, “If we allow segregation and the denial of 

constitutional rights under the Dome of the Capitol, 

where in God’s name will we get them?” He later said, 

“If we allow this challenge to go without correcting it, it 

will set an example where people will say Congress itself 

approves of segregation.”30 With his resolution referred 

to the hostile Rules Committee, which controls the flow 

of legislation in the House (then chaired by southern 

Democrat and future Speaker William Bankhead), 

De Priest kept his measure alive by using a parliamentary 

procedure: The Illinois Representative collected 145 

Member signatures on a discharge petition to bring his 

legislation to the floor for a vote. The House ultimately 

voted in favor of De Priest’s call for an investigatory 

committee, but the panel created to study the House 

Restaurant’s policy of segregation split along party 

lines (three Democrats, two Republicans), refusing to 

recommend any revisions.31 During his tenure, De Priest 

also lobbied for equality in the daily protocol of the House 

Chamber. In 1934, he requested that an African-American 

preacher be allowed to offer the opening prayer.32

The only African American in Congress during his 

three terms, De Priest discovered that in many respects he 

represented not only his Chicago district, but the entire 

black population of the United States. His entry into the 

national spotlight established a pattern for future black 

Representatives, who typically found their legislative 

records scrutinized in terms of their effectiveness in 

advancing African-American rights. Mindful of such 

expectations and eager to use his position to promote racial 

equality, De Priest proposed a reduction in the number 

of seats for states that disfranchised blacks, legislation 

originally introduced more than 30 years earlier by George 

White of North Carolina. In 1932, he introduced a bill 

to provide monthly pensions for former slaves older than 

75 “to give recognition and do justice to those who are 

now living who were emancipated by the Emancipation 

Proclamation issued by Abraham Lincoln in 1863.”33 A

response to the acute economic problems of the Great 

Depression, rather than the chronic problem of economic 

disparity between races, this proposal echoed social welfare 

plans advanced by Dr. Francis Townshend and Father 

Coughlin.34 De Priest introduced a joint resolution in 

1933 authorizing federal courts to change the location of a 

trial if a defendant’s right to impartiality was compromised 

by consideration of race, color, or creed. This move was 

prompted by the infamous Scottsboro, Alabama, case 

in which nine African-American boys were sentenced to 

death by an all-white jury for the alleged rape of two white 

women, despite a lack of credible evidence.35 Outlining 

several high-profile cases involving unfair treatment of 

African Americans in the judicial system, De Priest said in 

a speech, “I am making these remarks because I want you 

H Oscar Stanton De Priest H
282 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

to know that the American Negro is not satisfied with the 

treatment he receives in America, and I know of no forum 

where I can better present the matter than the floor of 

Congress.”36 De Priest also backed a measure to hold states 

and counties responsible for the prevention of lynching. 

The unsuccessful legislation he introduced in 1934 would 

have fined and imprisoned local authorities if prisoners 

in their jurisdiction were lynched. In 1931 De Priest 

introduced a bill to make Abraham Lincoln’s birthday a 

legal holiday—a symbolic gesture for African Americans.37

Although most of his legislative efforts to promote civil 

rights were unsuccessful, De Priest had a few victories. His 

most notable triumph occurred in March 1933, when he 

succeeded in adding an antidiscrimination rider to a $300 

million unemployment relief and reforestation measure.38

The final version of the bill, which launched the Civilian 

Conservation Corps (CCC), incorporated De Priest’s 

amendment outlawing “discrimination because of race, 

color, creed, or criminal records” in the selection of workers 

for the program. Nevertheless, discrimination in the 

CCC remained rampant. By 1934 only 6 percent of CCC

enrollees were African Americans, and the figures were 

disproportionately low even in majority-black states, such 

as Mississippi. That figure increased to almost 10 percent 

by the end of the decade, and while roughly a quarter 

million African Americans served in the CCC, only one in 

10 was based in an integrated camp.39 While in the House, 

De Priest nominated several African-American men from 

his district to the military academies—a practice replicated 

by his black successors from the Chicago area.40 De Priest 

exclaimed proudly, “I’ve done more for the Negroes than 

any congressman since the time of Washington.”41

De Priest did not inherit the favorable committee 

assignments of his predecessor, Representative Madden. 

During his three terms in the House he served on the 

Indian Affairs, Invalid Pensions, and Enrolled Bills 

committees. De Priest also was a member of the Post 

Office and Post Roads Committee during the 73rd 

Congress (1933–1935). Though the Post Office and 

Post Roads assignment ranked just outside the top 

third of desirable House committees (14th overall), 

it was significant for a black Member. The year De 

Priest first won election to the House, the U.S. Post 

Office Department employed 45 percent of the federal 

government’s African-American workers.42

In many respects, De Priest adhered to the general 

policy of the national Republican Party of the era. Like 

other Republicans, De Priest generally opposed federal 

programs for economic relief in the Depression, preferring 

to focus on such efforts at the state and community levels. 

Foreshadowing its importance in Congress in the coming 

years, De Priest denounced communism and warned of its 

spread in urban areas experiencing the acute effects of the 

Great Depression. Fearful that communists would spread 

propaganda among disgruntled African Americans, he 

lobbied unsuccessfully for a special House committee to 

investigate the leftist party.43

De Priest’s refusal to support Roosevelt’s remedial 

economic measures alienated many voters in his innercity district. Ultimately, his loyalty to the Republican 

Party and his inability to provide economic relief for 

his constituents cost him his seat in the House. In the 

November 1934 general election, De Priest faced a 

formidable challenge from Arthur Mitchell, a former 

Republican lieutenant in Chicago’s political machine who 

switched to the Democratic Party and became an ardent 

supporter of Roosevelt and the New Deal. In a campaign 

that received national attention because both candidates 

were African American, Mitchell attacked De Priest’s 

refusal to vote for emergency federal aid to the poor and 

criticized his ineffective protest of segregation in the House 

Restaurant.44 De Priest earned just 47 percent of the vote 

in a losing cause, paving the way for Mitchell to become 

the first black Democrat elected to Congress.45 The De 

Priest–Mitchell contest reflected a larger political trend 

occurring in Chicago and many other northern cities: 

African Americans were changing their allegiance from 

the Republican Party to the Democratic Party because 

of dissatisfaction with the GOP response to the plight of 

Black Americans during the Depression and because of New 

H Oscar Stanton De Priest H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 283

Deal relief policies. Two years later De Priest failed to 

regain his congressional seat. In 1943, De Priest again was 

elected Third Ward alderman and served once more on the 

Chicago city council. Defeated for re-election in 1947, De 

Priest remained active in his real estate business until he 

died in Chicago on May 12, 1951, of complications after 

he was hit by a bus.46

For further reading

Day, S. Davis. “Herbert Hoover and Racial Politics: The 

De Priest Incident,” Journal of Negro History 65 (Winter 

1980): 6–17.

“De Priest, Oscar Stanton,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000263. 

Rudwick, Elliott M. “Oscar De Priest and the Jim Crow 

Restaurant in the U.S. House of Representatives,” Journal 

of Negro Education 35 (Winter 1966): 77–82.

Manuscript Collection

Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, IL). Papers:

1871–1951, approximately 60 items. The Oscar De Priest 

papers contain condolence letters and materials relating 

to the death of Oscar De Priest’s son. Also included are an 

application to place the De Priest home on the National 

Register of Historic Places (1974), De Priest family 

genealogical information, and various news clippings 

about Representative De Priest. Photographs: In the Oscar 

De Priest Photograph Collection, ca. 1900–1949, 10 

photographic prints and one photomechanical print, 

including portraits and group portraits of Oscar De Priest 

and his family. Prints: In the Visual Material Relating to 

Oscar Stanton De Priest, ca. 1910–1949, 17 photographic 

prints, three drawings, and one photomechanical print, 

including photoprints primarily relating to the political 

career of Oscar De Priest and three original editorial 

cartoons relating to African-American Representative 

William Dawson.

H Oscar Stanton De Priest H
284 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

13 Miller, “De Priest, Oscar Stanton,” ANB; “Negro for Madden’s 

Seat,” 2 May 1928, New York Times: 27.

14 “Seat in the House Won by Chicago Negro,” 8 November 1928, 

Washington Post: 3; Fremon, Chicago Politics, Ward by Ward: 29.

15 Parke Brown, “De Priest Put on Ballot for Madden Place,” 2 May 

1928, Chicago Daily Tribune: 1; “Rivals Divided; Machine Backs 

Oscar De Priest,” 13 May 1928, Chicago Daily Tribune: 24.

16 “Rivals Divided; Machine Backs Oscar De Priest.”

17 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; “Chicago Negro 

Elected,” 8 November 1928, Los Angeles Times: 2.

18 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

19 “De Priest Wins Congress by Slim Margin,” 8 November 1928, 

Chicago Daily Tribune: 14.

20 “Drops De Priest Charges,” 11 April 1929, New York Times: 38.

21 Congressional Record, House, 71st Cong. 1st sess. (15 April 1929): 

25; Gosnell, Negro Politicians: 183–184; Clay, Just Permanent 

Interests: 65–66.

22 Carlisle Bargeron, “Crowds Watch Congress Open Extra Session,” 

16 April 1929, Washington Post: 1.

23 “Pass De Priest Resolution,” 26 June 1929, New York Times: 

9; “Mrs. De Priest Visit Stirs Mississippian,” 26 June 1929, 

Washington Post: 2.

24 Davis S. Day, “Herbert Hoover and Racial Politics: The De Priest 

Incident,” Journal of Negro History 65 (Winter 1980): 9.

25 “De Priest Calls Legislators of Dixie Cowards,” 2 July 1929, 

Chicago Daily Tribune: 1.

26 Day, “Herbert Hoover and Racial Politics: The De Priest Incident”: 

11–12; “Two Congressmen at De Priest Party,” 22 June 1929, 

Washington Post: 1.

27 Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress

(Washington, DC: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 25.

28 “Acts for Negro in the House,” 9 April 1929, New York Times: 64.

Notes

1 Carol M. Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation 

of African Americans in Congress (Cambridge, MA: Harvard 

University Press, 1993): 29.

2 Harold F. Gosnell, Negro Politicians: The Rise of Negro Politics in 

Chicago (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 1967): 164.

3 Nell Irvin Painter, Exodusters: Black Migration to Kansas After 

Reconstruction (Lawrence: University of Kansas Press, 1986): 

140–159, 184–201; quote on page 184.

4 Robert L. Johns, “Oscar S. De Priest,” in Jessie Carney Smith, 

ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale 

Research, Inc., 1999): 295 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM); 

Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell, 1976): 168–169.

5 For more about the Chicago political machine, see David Fremon’s 

Chicago Politics, Ward by Ward (Bloomington: Indiana University 

Press, 1988) or William F. Gosnell’s Machine Politics, Chicago 

Model (New York: AMS Press, 1969; reprint of 1937 edition).

6 In 1920 approximately 110,000 African Americans resided in 

Chicago. See James R. Grossman, The Encyclopedia of Chicago

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 2004): 357.

7 William L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in 

Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, 1992): 62.

8 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: 62–63; Gosnell, Negro Politicians:

168–169. 

9 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: 63–64; Parke Brown, “De Priest Put 

on Ballot for Madden Place,” 2 May 1928, Chicago Daily Tribune: 1.

10 “De Priest Quits Election Race at G.O.P. Order,” 27 January 1917, 

Chicago Daily Tribune: 12.

11 Kristie Miller, “De Priest, Oscar Stanton,” American National 

Biography 6 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 461–463 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB); Gosnell, Negro Politicians: 

172–174; “Jury Acquits De Priest,” 9 June 1917, Chicago Daily 

Tribune: 1.

12 “De Priest Files His Petition as an Independent,” 9 March 1918, 

Chicago Daily Tribune: 4. 

H Oscar Stanton De Priest H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 285

29 “De Priest Heads House Into Race Question Clash,” 25 January 

1934, Chicago Daily Tribune: 4; Congressional Record, House, 73rd 

Cong., 2nd sess. (21 March 1934): 5047.

30 Congressional Record, House, 73rd Cong., 2nd sess. (21 March 

1934): 5047–5048.

31 “Bar on Negroes in Restaurant in House Is Upheld,” 10 June 

1934, Chicago Daily Tribune: 3; Elliott M. Rudwick, “Oscar 

De Priest and the Jim Crow Restaurant in the U.S. House of 

Representatives,” Journal of Negro Education 35 (Winter 1966): 

77–82.

32 “De Priest Adds Racial Demand,” 28 January 1934, Washington 

Post: 7. 

33 Congressional Record, House, 72nd Cong., 2nd sess. (19 March 

1932): 6508. In the 51st Congress (1889–1891), Representative 

William J. Connell of Nebraska introduced an ex-slave pension 

bill. According to a 2007 Congressional Research Service report, 

during the late 19th century, several bills were put forth to provide 

financial compensation for older freedmen; none of the bills 

passed. Garrine P. Laney, “Proposals for Reparations for African 

Americans: A Brief Overview,” 22 January 2007, Report RS20740, 

Congressional Research Service, Washington, DC.

34 For more on economic recovery plans that competed with the New 

Deal during the 1930s, see Alan Brinkley, Voices of Protest: Huey 

Long, Father Coughlin, and the Great Depression (New York: Knopf, 

1982). For more on Townshend and his plan for elderly pensions, 

see the Social Security Administration Web site at http://www.ssa.

gov/history/towns5.html (accessed 10 December 2007).

35 For more on the national dimensions of the Scottsboro case, see 

Dan T. Carter, Scottsboro: A Tragedy of the American South (Baton 

Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1969).

36 Congressional Record, House, 73rd Cong., 1st sess. (3 May 1933): 

2823; Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 27; 

Miller, “De Priest, Oscar Stanton,” ANB.

37 “Holiday on Lincoln’s Birthday Is Asked in Bill by De Priest,” 12 

December 1931, New York Times: 6; Clay, Just Permanent Interests: 69.

38 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 27.

39 “Forestry Bill Is Voted Amid Hubbub,” 30 March 1933, 

Washington Post: 1; “House Passes Bill for Forestry Jobs,” 30 March 

1933, New York Times: 1. For figures on African Americans and the 

CCC, see Harvard Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of 

Civil Rights as a National Issue: The Depression Decade (New York: 

Oxford, 1981): 51, 74–75.

40 “Negro Congressman Names Two of Race for Naval Academy, One 

for West Point,” 7 May 1929, New York Times: 1. 

41 “De Priest Seeks Negro Party to Advance Race,” 22 July 1929, 

Chicago Daily Tribune: 6.

42 For committee desirability, see Charles Stewart III, “Committee 

Hierarchies in the Modernizing House, 1875–1947,” American 

Journal of Political Science 36 (November 1992): 835–856. 

For statistics on African-American employment in the federal 

government in the 1920s, see Desmond King, Separate and 

Unequal: Black Americans and the US Federal Government (New 

York: Oxford, 1995): 228–229.

43 “De Priest Warns of Reds’ Menace,” 23 February 1931, Washington 

Post: 3; Johns, “Oscar S. De Priest,” NBAM: 295.

44 “Negro Opposes De Priest,” 29 October 1934, New York Times: 2.

45 “Election Information, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

46 “Oscar De Priest Dies; 1st Negro in City Council,” 13 May 

1951, Chicago Daily Tribune: 40; “O.S. De Priest Dies; ExCongressman,” 13 May 1951, New York Times: 88; “Oscar De 

Priest, 79, South Side Political Figure, Hit by Bus,” 17 January 

1951, Chicago Daily Tribune: 1. 

H Oscar Stanton De Priest H
286 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

The first African American elected to Congress as a 

Democrat, Arthur Mitchell served four terms in the 

U.S. House, illustrating a shift among black voters, who 

traditionally backed Republican candidates. Throughout his 

congressional career, Mitchell faithfully supported President 

Franklin D. Roosevelt and the New Deal legislation that 

attracted many black voters during the Great Depression. 

As the only black Representative between 1935 and 1943, 

Mitchell was expected by African Americans in his Chicago 

district and across the country to use his political power 

to represent his race. Despite the pressure he faced to 

combat discrimination and promote civil rights, the Illinois 

Representative remarked upon taking office, “I don’t plan 

to spend my time fighting out the question of whether 

a Negro may eat his lunch at the Capitol or whether he 

may be shaved in the House barber shop,” an approach 

he adhered to during his tenure in Congress.1

The son of former slaves Taylor Mitchell and Ammar 

Patterson, Arthur Wergs Mitchell was born on a farm 

near Lafayette, Alabama, on December 22, 1883.2

 He 

attended public schools and entered Tuskegee Institute in 

1897, working his way through college as a farm laborer 

and an assistant for Booker T. Washington. He taught 

in rural schools in Georgia and Alabama and attempted 

to put Washington’s theories on farm management and 

land ownership into practice by founding the Armstrong 

Agricultural School in West Butler, Alabama. He served 

as president of the institution for 10 years. Before being 

admitted to the bar in Washington, DC, in 1927, Mitchell 

attended both Columbia and Harvard.3

 He practiced law 

in the nation’s capital, and when he moved to Chicago in 

1929, he continued his career as an attorney while also 

becoming involved in the real estate business.4 Mitchell 

married Eula Mae King, who died in 1910, and then 

Annie Harris, who died in 1947. One year after the death 

of his second wife, he married Clara Smith Mann. He had 

one son, Arthur Wergs Mitchell, Jr., with his first wife.5

Mitchell entered politics as a Republican, but like 

many Black Americans, shifted his allegiance to the 

Democratic Party in the early days of the New Deal. In 

the 1934 Democratic primary for the majority AfricanAmerican congressional district encompassing Chicago’s 

South Side, Mitchell squared off against Harry Baker. 

Mitchell lost to Baker (by fewer than 1,000 votes), but 

Baker died before the general election, and party leaders 

in the district selected Mitchell to take his place.6

 The 

congressional campaign between Mitchell and Oscar 

De Priest garnered national attention because both the 

challenger and the incumbent were African American 

(De Priest faced white Democratic opponents in three 

previous general elections).7 Mitchell turned the contest 

against the venerable Republican Representative into 

a referendum on President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 

public-relief policies. Capitalizing on growing support 

for the New Deal, Mitchell orchestrated an aggressive 

campaign that forced De Priest to defend the Republican 

Party, whose influence was waning locally, in part due 

to Chicago’s Democratic Mayor, Edward J. Kelly, who 

actively courted African-American voters.8 On November 

7, 1934, Mitchell narrowly beat De Priest, becoming the 

first African-American Democrat elected to Congress.9

In his three successive elections, Mitchell continued 

to win by a slim margin—defeating De Priest again in 

1936, future Representative William Dawson two years 

later, and former Illinois State Senator William E. King 

in 1940—with an average of 53 percent of the vote.10

Shortly after taking his seat in the 74th Congress on 

January 3, 1935, Mitchell reiterated one of his campaign 

promises: “What I am interested in is to help this 

grand President of ours feed the hungry and clothe 

Arthur Wergs Mitchell

1883–1968

United States Representative H 1935–1943

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
288 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

the naked and provide work for the idle of every race and 

creed.”11 Mitchell was assigned to the Committee on the 

Post Office and Post Roads, and retained this position 

throughout his eight years in the House.

During his congressional career, Mitchell remained a 

loyal supporter of President Roosevelt and the New Deal.12

In 1936 the Illinois Representative gave a seconding 

speech for Roosevelt’s renomination at the Democratic 

Convention and served as western director of minority 

affairs for the President’s re-election campaign. As one 

of Roosevelt’s consistent backers, Mitchell maintained 

that the New Deal addressed many of the problems 

faced by “America’s largest and most neglected minority 

group,” the black populace.13 Citing programs such as 

the Work Projects Administration (WPA; later renamed 

the Works Progress Administration) and the Public 

Works Administration (PWA), Mitchell praised the 

President’s economic answer to the Depression, noting 

that the New Deal had produced the best conditions for 

Black Americans since they became free citizens.14 The 

WPA constructed thousands of massive public works 

projects including buildings, roads, bridges, and airports, 

and oversaw such diverse activities as the Federal Art 

Project and the Federal Writers’ Project. Led by Harry 

Hopkins, the agency went to great lengths to treat blacks 

equally—after 1936, blacks made up 15 to 20 percent 

of its workforce—and through wages and public works 

initiatives brought millions of federal dollars to devastated 

black communities. Likewise, under the direction of 

Harold Ickes, the PWA hired many African Americans 

and helped construct public buildings worth millions of 

dollars in economically depressed black locales.15 Mitchell 

also defended Roosevelt’s controversial plan to reorganize 

the federal judiciary in 1937, noting that blacks had 

been victimized over the years by unfavorable Supreme 

Court rulings, and charged that the Court had often used 

the 14th Amendment to protect large corporations and 

property holders instead of using it as it was intended: to 

defend the citizenship rights of blacks. 

While in Congress, Mitchell worked to provide 

opportunities for Black Americans. Like his predecessor, 

De Priest, he nominated a number of black candidates for 

the United States military academies.16 Mitchell also used 

his position to draw attention to racial discrimination. He 

challenged several labor unions for agreeing to contracts 

that excluded blacks and supported legislation that 

would outlaw the poll tax. During the Second World 

War, Mitchell criticized the treatment of black soldiers, 

remarking that the discrimination endured by AfricanAmerican troops undermined the U.S. objective “to 

extend and protect the doctrine of genuine democracy.”17

Mitchell also repeatedly offered bills that would outlaw 

racial discrimination in the civil service. Calling the 

requirement of submitting a photograph for civil service 

job applications “racial discrimination,” Mitchell proposed 

that fingerprints be used instead.18

As the only African American in Congress, Mitchell 

found himself scrutinized by black leaders and 

organizations across the country. Criticized for what some 

perceived as an overly cautious stance toward civil rights, 

Mitchell was accused of squandering an opportunity to 

make a significant legislative impact on behalf of his race. 

A major point of contention was an anti-lynching bill 

submitted by Mitchell that was considered too lenient by 

the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People and other civil rights groups.19 When the House 

ultimately rejected his measure in favor of one with stricter 

penalties for offenders, Mitchell remarked, “The authorship 

of this bill means absolutely nothing as compared with the 

importance of its passage.”20 Although Mitchell resented 

claims he could do more to help African Americans, he 

did not want to be identified solely by his race. “I am not 

going into Congress as a Negro with a chip on my shoulder 

thinking I am of an inferior race and that every man’s hand 

is against me,” he commented shortly after his election to 

the House. “I am going in as an American citizen, entitled 

to my rights, no more, no less, and I shall insist on them. 

I’m going as the representative of all the people of my 

district.”21 During his four terms in Congress, Mitchell 

worked closely with many of his white colleagues, adopting 

H Arthur Wergs Mitchell H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 289

a philosophy rooted in cooperation and patience—much 

like his mentor Booker T. Washington, whom Mitchell 

hoped to honor by establishing a national shrine.22

Ironically, Mitchell’s greatest contribution to 

desegregation arguably transpired outside the halls of 

Congress. In April 1937, Mitchell traveled from Chicago 

to Hot Springs, Arkansas, on the Chicago, Rock Island and 

Pacific Railroad. When the train crossed into Arkansas, 

a conductor forced Mitchell out of the Pullman car, for 

which he had two first-class tickets. The Representative 

rode the rest of the journey in a car designated for black 

passengers that he described as “filthy and foul smelling.”23

Following in the footsteps of James E. O’Hara, a black 

Reconstruction-Era Representative, Mitchell challenged 

transport segregation. He sued the railroad and filed a 

complaint with the Interstate Commerce Commission 

(ICC), contending that interstate trains should be exempt 

from the Arkansas law requiring “separate but equal” train 

accommodations. After the ICC and a federal district 

court dismissed his complaint, Mitchell made history by 

joining a select number of sitting Members of Congress 

to argue a case before the Supreme Court. In April 1941 

the high court unanimously held in Mitchell v. United 

States et al. that black passengers had the right to the same 

accommodations and treatment whites did. Mitchell 

hailed the decision as a “step in the destruction of Mr. Jim 

Crow himself,” but the ICC did not prohibit segregation 

on interstate trains or buses or in the public waiting rooms 

of railroad or bus stations until 1955.24

Under circumstances his biographer describes as 

“ambiguous,” Mitchell declined to run for re-nomination 

to the 78th Congress in 1942.25 Officials in Mayor Kelly’s 

Chicago political organization were angry that Mitchell 

had defied machine orders in pursuing his lawsuit against 

a Chicago-based rail company and let Mitchell know 

they planned to withdraw their support. Democratic 

officials chose his rival, William Dawson, partially because 

they believed he would be a better candidate against 

a potentially tough field of African Americans on the 

Republican side. Publicly, Mitchell gracefully accepted 

his political downfall, claiming (somewhat truthfully) 

that he was ready for a new phase in his public-service 

career and that he preferred to improve race relations by 

working through groups active in the South. After retiring 

from the House in January 1943, he moved to Petersburg, 

Virginia, where he had bought a large tract of land, and 

devoted himself to farming, lecturing, and the activities 

of organizations such as the Southern Regional Council. 

He died in Petersburg on May 9, 1968. 

For further reading

“Mitchell, Arthur Wergs,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000805.

Nordin, Dennis. The New Deal’s Black Congressman: A Life 

of Arthur Wergs Mitchell (Columbia: University of Missouri 

Press, 1997).

Manuscript Collection

Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, IL). Papers:

1898–1968, 30 linear feet. The collection contains 

correspondence, speeches, news clippings, and other 

papers of Arthur Mitchell. The papers contain many 

letters about racial issues, from all over the country. 

Additional topics include Mitchell’s election campaigns 

against Oscar De Priest and others, service in the House 

and on the Post Office and Post Roads Committee, antilynching legislation, Mitchell’s U.S. Supreme Court case 

concerning discrimination on a railroad, and activities as 

director of the Western Division of Colored Voters of the 

Democratic National Campaign Committee during the 

1936 presidential election. Photographs: ca. 1930–1965 

(one box), relate to Mitchell’s life and career. 

H Arthur Wergs Mitchell H
290 H Black Americans in Congress 

Notes

1 “Arthur Mitchell, an Ex-Lawmaker,” 10 May 1968, New York 

Times: 47.

2 Dennis S. Nordin, The New Deal’s Black Congressman: A Life of 

Arthur Wergs Mitchell (Columbia: University of Missouri Press, 

1997): 1.

3 “Arthur Mitchell, an Ex-Lawmaker”; Nordin, The New Deal’s Black 

Congressman: 21, 33.

4 “Arthur W. Mitchell, 85, Dies: 1st Negro Democrat in the House,” 

11 May 1968, Washington Post: B3; Nordin, The New Deal’s Black 

Congressman: 39.

5 Nordin, The New Deal’s Black Congressman: 9–10, 14, 122–123, 

283, 290–291.

6 “Democrats Pick Flynn as County Clerk Candidate,” 4 August 

1934, Chicago Daily Tribune: 9.

7 S. J. Duncan-Clark, “Voters Confused in the Lake States,” 4 

November 1934, New York Times: E6; “Negro Opposes De Priest,” 

29 October 1934, New York Times: 2.

8 Nordin, The New Deal’s Black Congressman: 62–63; Janice L. Reiff 

et al., eds., Encyclopedia of Chicago; see http://www.encyclopedia.

chicagohistory.org/pages/371.html (accessed 25 October 2007).

9 Arthur Evans, “Later Returns Cut Democrat Gain in Illinois,” 8 

November 1934, Chicago Daily Tribune: 2; “Election Statistics, 

1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/

electionInfo/index.html.

10 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Harold Smith, 

“G.O.P. Candidates See Victory,” 20 October 1940, Chicago Daily 

Tribune: S1.

11 “Arthur W. Mitchell, 85, Dies; 1st Negro Democrat in the House.”

12 Harold Smith, “Each New Deal Roll Call Gets Mitchell’s ‘Aye!,’” 7 

February 1940, Chicago Daily Tribune: 2.

13 Congressional Record, House, 76th Cong., 2nd sess. (18 March 

1940): 3019.

14 Ibid., 3019–3026.

15 Harvard Sitkoff, A New Deal for Blacks: The Emergence of Civil 

Rights as a National Issue: The Depression Decade (New York: 

Oxford University Press, 1981): 68, 70–71. 

16 For an example, see “Negro Youth Qualifies, Enters Naval 

Academy,” 16 June 1936, New York Times: 31.

17 Congressional Record, Appendix, 77th Cong., 2nd sess. (16 July 

1942): A2790.

18 “Mitchell Protests Race ‘Job Barrier,’” 25 January 1936,

Washington Post: 2; Carol M. Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The 

Representation of African Americans in Congress (Cambridge, MA: 

Harvard University Press, 1993): 30–31.

19 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 177.

20 Congressional Record, House, 75th Cong., 1st sess. (1937): 3385; 

Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 179.

21 “Arthur Mitchell, an Ex-Lawmaker.”

22 “Plans Booker Washington Honor,” 8 September 1937, New York 

Times: 13; Congressional Record, House, 77th Cong., 2nd sess. (14 

October 1942): 8189.

23 “Court Backs Rights of Negro on Trains,” 29 April 1941, New 

York Times: 1; “Mitchell Fights Jim Crow Rule in High Court,” 14 

March 1941, Washington Post: 25; Nordin, The New Deal’s Black 

Congressman: 249–250.

24 “Court Backs Rights of Negro on Trains.”

25 Nordin, The New Deal’s Black Congressman: 247–248.

H Arthur Wergs Mitchell H
former members | 1929–1970 H 291

“I am not going into 

Congress as a Negro with a 

chip on my shoulder thinking 

I am of an inferior race 

and that every man’s hand 

is against me,” Mitchell 

commented shortly after 

his election to the House. 

“I am going in as an American 

citizen, entitled to my rights, 

no more, no less, and I shall 

insist on them. I’m going as 

the representative of all the 

people of my district.”
292 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Oil on canvas (Detail), Robert B. Williams, 1968, 

Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

The third African American elected to Congress in the 

20th century and the first black Member to chair a 

standing committee, William L. Dawson served in the 

House of Representatives for nearly three decades. A

product of the influential Chicago Democratic machine, 

Dawson remained loyal to the organization and the 

political party that propelled his long congressional career. 

Committed to the cause of civil rights, Dawson recognized 

the importance of “forceful but behind-the-scenes 

action through regular political channels.”1

 His reserved 

demeanor and his reluctance to alienate the political 

establishment led many African-American leaders of the 

era to question his commitment to civil rights reform and 

undermined his role as a national leader in the movement 

for racial equality. Dawson, who described himself 

as a “congressman first and a Negro second,” avoided 

highlighting his race, preferring instead to build a base of 

power using the established seniority system of the House 

of Representatives.2

William Levi Dawson was born in Albany, Georgia, on 

April 26, 1886, to Levi Dawson, a barber, and Rebecca 

Kendrick. William had six siblings. He credited his father 

and sister with keeping his family together after his mother 

died when he was a child.3

 Upon graduating from Albany 

Normal School in 1905, Dawson worked his way through 

Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, as a porter and 

a waiter. He graduated in 1909 with a bachelor’s degree, 

and three years later he moved to Chicago. After attending 

Kent College of Law and Northwestern University—both 

in Chicago—Dawson enlisted in the U.S. Army during 

World War I.

4 In 1917 he became a first lieutenant with 

the 365th Infantry of the American Expeditionary Force. 

After returning to Chicago, he resumed his studies at 

Northwestern and was admitted to the Illinois bar in 

1920. Dawson married Nellie Brown on December 20, 

1922, and the couple had two children, William Dawson, 

Jr., and Barbara.5

Dawson represented the GOP when he entered the 

Chicago political scene. In 1928, he waged an unsuccessful 

bid in the Republican primary against incumbent 

Martin Madden for the urban congressional district that 

encompassed much of the black population residing on 

Chicago’s South Side. Undeterred by the loss, Dawson 

continued to pursue a career in politics. He became an ally 

of Chicago’s first African-American alderman, Oscar De 

Priest, who won a special election to fill the vacancy left 

by Representative Madden’s death in 1928.6 In 1933, with 

De Priest’s critical backing, Dawson won election to the 

Chicago city council. Two years later, backed by Chicago’s 

Democratic Mayor, Edward J. Kelly, Dawson won reelection to a four-year term; he served a total of six years as 

an alderman.7 In his second attempt to win a House seat in 

1938—an off-year election in which Republicans ran well 

nationally—Dawson earned the Republican nomination 

by defeating De Priest but lost to Democratic incumbent 

Arthur W. Mitchell in the general election, 53.4 to 46.6 

percent.8

 Dawson’s support from the Democratic mayor 

and his decision to challenge De Priest reflected the pull 

of the Democratic Party on Chicago blacks, the lure of 

patronage rewards within the Democratic machine, and 

a general impatience with the old guard of black leaders 

tied to the GOP.9

 Having challenged his mentor, Dawson 

effectively severed his ties to leading black Republicans, 

who passed him over for the party nomination for another 

term on the city council. Running as an Independent, he 

failed to secure re-election.10

Dawson’s political career revived in 1939 with his 

acceptance of Mayor Kelly’s offer of the post of Democratic 

committeeman for Chicago’s Second Ward. In line with 

the growing shift of many African Americans from the 

William Levi Dawson

1886–1970

United States Representative H 1943–1970

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
294 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

Republican to the Democratic Party, Dawson cited 

“the influence and liberalism of Franklin D. Roosevelt” 

as his primary motivation for changing parties. As a 

committeeman, Dawson efficiently organized his political 

base, using his precinct workers to help transform other 

predominantly black wards into Democratic voting blocs. 

In time, Dawson’s followers controlled as many as five 

wards that generally offered overwhelming majorities 

to local, state, and national Democratic candidates. 

When Arthur Mitchell chose not to seek a fifth term in 

the House in 1942, Dawson opted to run for Congress 

a third time—as a Democrat. With the solid backing 

of the Democratic machine, Dawson earned the party 

nomination by defeating Earl Dickerson, a Chicago 

alderman.11 Dawson went on to beat Republican William 

E. King, a former Illinois state senator and his longtime 

political nemesis, in the general election—earning 53 

percent of the vote—to begin a congressional career that 

lasted nearly three decades.12 An experienced public servant 

with solid community support, Dawson benefited from his 

close ties to the Chicago political machine, which actively 

courted aspiring African-American politicians.13 Shortly 

after beginning his first term in the House, Dawson 

remarked that he hoped to play a role in the “enhancing 

of the American Dream.”14 Throughout his tenure in 

Congress he remained focused on bettering the lives of the 

African Americans in his district.

During his first two terms in office, Dawson was on the 

Coinage, Weights, and Measures; Invalid Pensions; and 

Irrigation and Reclamation committees. He also served on 

the Expenditures in the Executive Departments Committee 

(renamed Government Operations in 1952) from the 78th 

through the 80th Congress (1943–1949) before ascending 

to committee chair in 1949. The first African American to 

chair a standing committee, Dawson held the post until 

1970, with the exception of a single term in the 83rd 

Congress (1953–1955), when Republicans controlled the 

House.15 Dawson downplayed the fanfare associated with 

his historic chairmanship, which included a dinner in his 

honor hosted by leading national and Illinois Democratic 

leaders. “I’m not interested in that particular phase,” he 

commented. “I just want to do a good job.”16 Dawson 

also served on the Insular Affairs Committee (later named 

Interior and Insular Affairs) from 1943 to 1946 and from 

1951 to 1952 and on the District of Columbia Committee 

from 1955 to 1970.

In some respects Dawson was an atypical politician and 

machine leader. He disliked personal publicity, was wary of 

the media, and lived unpretentiously. Also, he personally 

attended to many of the details of his office. When in his 

district, Dawson spent part of each day at his headquarters 

listening to his constituents’ complaints, requests, and 

opinions. He kept a firm grip on his share of power in 

Chicago, dispensing patronage and favors through his 

political machine and its ancillary organizations.17 A

prominent figure in the upper echelons of the Chicago 

Democratic machine, Dawson played a key role in Richard 

J. Daley’s election as mayor of the Windy City in 1955.18

In 1960, John F. Kennedy’s narrow victory in the key state 

of Illinois was largely dependent on the voters in Dawson’s 

wards, leading to widespread speculation among the press 

that the President-elect would express his gratitude by 

inviting Dawson to become Postmaster General. When the 

offer came, the 74-year-old Dawson declined, saying he 

would be more useful to the new administration as a senior 

Representative in the House.19

During his first term in the House, Dawson was the 

only African American serving in Congress. Two years 

later, a second black Representative, Adam Clayton 

Powell, Jr., of New York, joined Dawson. Dawson and 

Powell drew intense media attention and scrutiny because 

of their race and their strikingly different legislative 

styles.20 Powell, who epitomized the more militant wing 

of the civil rights movement, publicized racial inequality, 

including segregation in certain areas of the Capitol, at 

every conceivable opportunity. Dawson, on the other 

hand, eschewed issues that focused exclusively on race. 

Unlike Powell, he rarely challenged racial discrimination 

publicly, choosing instead to work behind the scenes to 

pass legislation to assist his district and the Democratic 

H William Levi Dawson H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 295

Party. Dawson’s workman-like approach and unswerving 

loyalty to the party eventually brought him a position 

of national prominence: vice chair of the Democratic 

National Committee (DNC).21 Throughout his 27 

years in Congress, Dawson consistently supported the 

interests of the Democratic Party. Even when most other 

African- American leaders, including Martin Luther King, 

Jr., denounced Lyndon B. Johnson’s foreign policy in 

Southeast Asia, Dawson remained an enthusiastic backer 

of the Democratic President. In 1965, Dawson used 

Johnson’s phrase “nervous Nellies” to describe critics of 

the Vietnam War, comparing those who underestimated 

the communist threat in Southeast Asia to those who 

underestimated Hitler’s potential power before the 

outbreak of the Second World War.22

His philosophy of working within the establishment 

and his perceived passivity to discriminatory practices 

drew criticism from some civil rights groups, who believed 

Dawson squandered the opportunity to use his authority 

as a committee chair and a leader of the DNC to promote 

meaningful change for African Americans. The National 

Association for the Advancement of Colored People 

condemned his “silence, compromise and meaningless 

moderation” on issues concerning African Americans, 

including his refusal to back the Powell Amendment, 

aimed initially at prohibiting federal funding for segregated 

schools. Although Dawson opposed the measure because 

he feared the rider would undermine all aid to education, 

his caution disappointed many of his own staff members.23

Powell intimated that Dawson cared more about his 

position in Mayor Daley’s Chicago political machine than 

the success of the civil rights movement—a sentiment 

shared by other prominent black leaders.24

Dawson reacted angrily when detractors charged he 

failed to adequately represent his race. “How is it,” he 

wondered, “that after fighting all my life for the rights of 

my people, I suddenly awaken in the September of life 

to find myself vilified and abused, and those who know 

me well and what I have stood for are accusing me of 

being against civil rights.”25 Reacting to criticism that his 

infrequent speeches in Congress were a sign of ineffective 

leadership, Dawson defended his approach to politics 

while maligning some of his outspoken black colleagues, 

noting, “I use speeches only as the artisan does his stone, 

to build something. I don’t talk just to show off.”26

Dawson occasionally chose a public forum to draw 

attention to racial injustice. The Daley machine, which 

had propelled him to office, had been largely unattuned 

to the needs of Chicago-area blacks—preferring to 

recruit pliant black elites who eschewed activism. With 

the 1960s civil rights movement, the machine’s practice 

of “racial containment”—segregation in public housing, 

school districts, and jobs in the city’s police and fire 

departments—intensified.27 A significant personal 

exception to Dawson’s legislative approach was his 

introduction of a major civil rights bill on the House 

Floor in 1963. Dawson’s bill was not novel or radical; 

it echoed many of the proposals then being considered 

in Congress and eventually rolled into the 1964 Civil 

Rights Act: voting rights, ending discrimination in public 

accommodations, the creation of a Commission on 

Equal Employment Opportunity, and the prohibition 

of discrimination in federally funded programs. “There 

is a crisis in America that is now a national danger,” he 

pronounced, carefully enunciating his petition on behalf of 

the “citizens of the First Congressional District of Illinois. 

. . . Unless something is done about it, and it must be done 

soon, this crisis will become a national calamity.”28

During his tenure in the House, Dawson sought better 

appointments for blacks in the federal civil service and 

judiciary, supported southern voter registration drives, and 

blocked congressional efforts to undermine the integration 

of public schools in Washington, DC. He also opposed 

poll taxes and legislation he thought placed an excessive tax 

burden on low-income citizens. A dedicated supporter of 

equal employment opportunities, Dawson remarked, “The 

right to work is the right to live” and “every American 

citizen is entitled to a job in this country.”29 In 1951, 

Dawson played an integral role in ensuring that the 

Universal Military Training Act furthered the desegregation 

H William Levi Dawson H
296 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

of the armed forces initiated in 1948; he helped defeat 

the Winstead Amendment, which would have permitted 

military personnel to choose whether they wanted to serve 

in white or black units. Dawson made a rare speech on the 

House Floor during the debate to urge his colleagues to 

end racial discrimination in the military, mentioning that 

an injury he sustained during World War I would not have 

become a lifelong affliction had he been allowed access 

to a white hospital. Commenting proudly that he “led 

Americans in battle,” Dawson proclaimed, “If there is one 

place in America where there should not be segregation, 

that place is in the armed services, among those who fight 

for this country.”30

Despite his longevity and influence, Dawson never 

assumed a leadership role among African Americans in 

Congress. His disinclination to place race before the 

party clashed with the confrontational spirit adopted 

by many black leaders during the 1960s. When black 

Members drafted political statements to publicize issues 

of importance to minorities and promote a sense of unity 

among African-American Representatives, Dawson’s 

name was often absent—an indication of the growing rift 

between Dawson and his black colleagues.31 By the end of 

his career, the Illinois Representative found himself on the 

defensive for failing to disassociate himself from the Daley 

machine, which by the late 1960s was widely perceived as 

insufficiently committed to the cause of civil rights.32

Dawson rarely faced any significant opposition in his 

re-election bids from the predominantly black district. 

Regardless of the mounting criticism against him, he 

typically earned between 70 and 80 percent of the vote.33

Even when poor health prevented him from playing an 

active role in Congress and on the campaign trail 

during his final few terms in the House, Dawson 

continued to enjoy comfortable victories against his 

opponents. However, by the mid-1960s Dawson’s 

organization exhibited signs of decay. Burdened by age 

and ill health, he skillfully receded into the background 

while continuing to groom the African-American ward 

leaders of Chicago’s South Side whom he helped place 

in power. On November 9, 1970, only six days after his 

handpicked successor, Ralph Metcalfe, won election to his 

seat, Dawson died of pneumonia in Chicago.34 “Politics 

with me is a full-time business,” Dawson once remarked. 

“It is not a hobby to be worked on in leisure hours, but 

it’s a job—a full-time job that pays off only if a man is 

willing to apply the energy, start from scratch and profit 

by his experience.”35

H William Levi Dawson H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 297

For further reading

“Dawson, William Levi,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000158. 

Wilson, James Q. “Two Negro Politicians: An 

Interpretation,” Midwest Journal of Political Science 4 

(November 1960): 346–369.

Manuscript Collections

Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, IL). Papers:

1943–1970, approximately 150 items. Correspondence, 

speeches, newspaper clippings, press releases, testimonials, 

and other papers relating to the career of William L. 

Dawson, a Chicago, Ill., lawyer, alderman, and U.S. 

Representative (Democrat). Includes material on the 

elections of 1944, 1948, 1952, and 1964 and letters from 

Presidents Harry S. Truman, John F. Kennedy, and Lyndon 

B. Johnson.

Fisk University (Nashville, TN), Special Collections, 

Library and Media Center. Papers: 1938–1970, 20.8 

feet. The papers of William Levi Dawson contain 

correspondence (1930s to 1960s) with major U.S. 

political figures; speeches by Dawson before the 

House of Representatives, the Democratic National 

Convention, church groups, and other organizations; 

biographical data; scrapbooks of clippings; certificates, 

plaques, and awards; printed matter; and photos. A

finding aid is available in the repository.

Howard University (Washington, DC), Manuscript 

Division, Moorland–Spingarn Research Center. Papers:

ca. 1942–1972, approximately five linear feet. The 

congressional papers of William Levi Dawson consist 

of correspondence, writings about Dawson, speeches, 

legislation, voting records, and subject files. Also included 

are photographs, sound recordings, and memorabilia. A

finding aid is available in the repository.

Notes

1 For observations about Dawson’s legislative style, see William 

L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 

1870–1991 (New York: Amistad, 1992): 366; Robert Nelson, 

“Political Goals Emerge: Chicago Negroes Rallied to Ballot,” 30 

October 1963, Christian Science Monitor: 3.

2 Ellen Hoffman, “Rep. William L. Dawson Dies,” 10 November 

1970, Washington Post: B6.

3 “People in the News,” 2 January 1949, Washington Post: M2.

4 Thaddeus Russell, “William Levi Dawson,” American National 

Biography 6 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 258–259 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB); Maurine Christopher, Black 

Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 

1971): 185.

5 Hoffman, “Rep. William L. Dawson Dies”; Christopher, Black 

Americans in Congress: 185.

6 Robert L. Johns, “William L. Dawson,” in Jesse Carney Smith, 

ed., Notable Black American Men (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 

1998): 270 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM).

7 Nancy Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: Black Politics in the 

Age of FDR (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1983): 87, 

89–90.

8 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

9 See, for example, Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: 78–95; and 

William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago 

Machine, 1931–1991 (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 

1992): 47–68.

10 Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine, 

1931–1991: 75–77.

11 Harold Smith, “Congress Fight in 1st District Holds Spotlight,” 22 

February 1942, Chicago Daily Tribune: S5.

12 Harold Smith, “Feud Heightens King’s Chances in the 1st 

District,” 8 March 1942, Chicago Daily Tribune: S2; “Election 

Information, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

13 See Weiss, Farewell to the Party of Lincoln: 89–91.

14 “William L. Dawson,” Current Biography, 1945 (New York: H.W. 

Wilson and Company, 1945): 144.

15 “Negro in Congress Hailed,” 22 January 1949, New York Times: 6.

16 “People in the News”; “Negro in Congress Hailed,” 22 January 

1949, New York Times: 6.

H William Levi Dawson H
298 H Black Americans in Congress 

H Edward w. Burke H

24 Hoffman, “Rep. William L. Dawson Dies”; Russell, “William Levi 

Dawson,” ANB; Adam Fairclough, Better Day Coming: Blacks and 

Equality, 1890–2000 (New York: Viking, 2001): 301.

25 Johns, “William L. Dawson,” NBAM: 271.

26 “Dawson Lauded for Leadership,” 18 March 1956, New York 

Times: 85.

27 One scholar of Chicago politics noted, “As the racial demands 

escalated, the machine increasingly took on the retrograde 

character of a southern white supremacist Democratic party.” See 

Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago Machine 

1931–1991: 117–118.

28 Congressional Record, House, 88th Cong., 1st sess. (29 October 

1963): 20425. In light of Dawson’s loyalty to the machine, the 

speech was likely sanctioned by Mayor Daley to help defuse rising 

unrest in urban black communities about continued political and 

social discrimination, and economic disparities.

29 Congressional Record, House, 79th Cong., 1st sess. (12 July 1945): 

7485.

30 Congressional Record, House, 82nd Cong., 1st sess. (12 April 

1951): 3765; John G. Norris, “Republican Efforts to Restrict 

Clauses Mostly Beaten Off; Conferees Act Next,” 14 April 1951, 

Washington Post: 1; “Dawson Lauded for Leadership”: 85.

31 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 192; Johns, “William L. 

Dawson,” NBAM: 271.

32 Francis Ward, “Dawson Dies; Pioneer Black Congressman,” 10 

November 1970, Los Angeles Times: A19; Russell, “William Levi 

Dawson,” ANB.

33 “Election Information, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Hoffman, “Rep. 

William L. Dawson Dies.” 

34 Hoffman, “Rep. William L. Dawson Dies.”

35 Johns, “William L. Dawson,” NBAM: 271.

17 James Q. Wilson, “Two Negro Politicians: An Interpretation,” 

Midwest Journal of Political Science 4 (November 1960): 358–360.

18 George Tagge, “Dawson Praises Daley and Defends the Machine,” 

11 February 1955, Chicago Daily Tribune: 1; George Tagge, 

“Kennelly Men Blast Dawson; Fight Promised,” 12 January 1955, 

Chicago Daily Tribune: 16.

19 Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., A Thousand Days: John F. Kennedy in the 

White House (New York: Fawcett Press, 1965): 140. According to 

historian and administration chronicler Arthur Schlesinger, Jr., 

President-elect Kennedy initially had no intention of offering the 

post to Dawson. In large part, Kennedy did not want to offend 

powerful southern chairmen in Congress like Senator Olin D. 

Johnston of South Carolina, who headed the Post Office and Civil 

Service Committee and who complained that the proposed offer 

to Dawson was an attempt by political opponents to make him 

take a picture with the black nominee that could be used against 

him in his next primary campaign. In what Schlesinger described 

as a “comedy of complication,” Kennedy made the offer to end the 

speculation. As scripted by the White House, Dawson declined.

20 For a detailed comparison of Representatives Dawson and Powell, 

see Wilson, “Two Negro Politicians: An Interpretation”: 346–369.

21 Alden Whitman, “Power in Chicago,” 10 November 1970, New 

York Times: 50; Percy Wood, “Congressman Dawson! Chicago 

Democrat with a Clout,” 6 February 1955, Chicago Daily Tribune: 

5; Drew Pearson, “Democrats Pick Negro for Job,” 3 December 

1949, Washington Post: B15.

22 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 190–191.

23 “NAACP Criticizes Rep. Dawson,” 1 September 1956, Washington 

Post: 38; Hoffman, “Rep. William L. Dawson Dies”; Robert Singh, 

Congressional Black Caucus: Racial Politics in the U.S. Congress

(Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.): 46–47; Carol M. 

Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African 

Americans in Congress (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 

1993): 34–35.

H William Levi Dawson H
former members | 1929–1970 H 299

“Politics with me is a fulltime business,” Dawson once 

remarked. “It is not a hobby 

to be worked on in leisure 

hours, but it’s a job—a fulltime job that pays off only if 

a man is willing to apply the 

energy, start from scratch 

and profit by his experience.”
300 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

An unapologetic activist, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., 

 left his mark on Congress during his 12 terms in 

the House of Representatives. Viewed by his Harlem 

constituents as a dedicated crusader for civil rights, Powell 

earned the loyalty and respect of many African Americans 

with his confrontational approach to racial discrimination. 

Never one to shun the spotlight, the outspoken New York 

minister and politician—regarded as an irritant by many 

of his congressional colleagues—relished his position as a 

spokesperson for the advancement of African-American 

rights. Although Powell fought tirelessly on behalf of 

minorities, his legal problems and unpredictable behavior 

eventually undermined his influential but controversial 

political career. “Keep the faith, baby; spread it gently and 

walk together, children,” was a legendary slogan of the 

charismatic and flamboyant Representative.1

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was born in New Haven, 

Connecticut, on November 29, 1908. At the age of six 

months he moved to New York City with his older sister 

Blanche and his parents, Mattie Fletcher Schaffer and 

Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., a Baptist preacher. The family 

relocated to New York when Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., 

was assigned to serve as a minister at the century-old 

Abyssinian Baptist Church in midtown Manhattan. Under 

his leadership, the congregation grew into one of the 

largest in the United States. Adam Clayton Powell, Sr., 

oversaw the move of the church and his family during the 

black migration to Harlem in the 1920s.2

After graduating from Townsend Harris High 

School in New York (also attended by Powell’s future 

African-American House colleague Robert N. C. Nix 

of Pennsylvania), Powell enrolled in the City College of 

New York. In 1926 he transferred to Colgate University 

in Hamilton, New York. As an undergraduate, he often 

circumvented the socially accepted racial barriers of the 

period because his light skin allowed him to pass as a 

white student.3 A year after graduating from Colgate in 

1930, Powell earned an M.A. in religious education from 

Columbia University. Though his choice to enter the 

ministry pleased his father, his decision to marry Isabel 

Washington—a recently separated Catholic actress—in 

1933 did not. Powell later adopted Washington’s son 

Preston from her previous marriage.4 After divorcing his 

first wife, the future Representative married two more 

times: Hazel Scott in 1945 and Yvette Flores in 1960. Both 

marriages ended in divorce, too, and Powell had one son 

with each wife; both sons were Powell’s namesake.5

Powell used his position as assistant minister and 

business manager of the Abyssinian Church to press 

for change in the predominantly African-American 

community. In 1930, he organized picket lines and mass 

meetings to demand reforms at Harlem Hospital, which 

had dismissed five doctors because they were black. 

Beginning in 1932, he administered a church-sponsored 

relief program that provided food, clothing, and temporary 

jobs for thousands of Harlem’s homeless and unemployed. 

During the Great Depression, Powell established himself as 

a charismatic and commanding civil rights leader, directing 

mass meetings, rent strikes, and public campaigns that 

forced employers including restaurants, utilities, Harlem 

Hospital, and the 1939 World’s Fair in New York City 

to hire or promote black workers. Powell’s early social 

activism earned him the steadfast support of Harlem 

residents and helped lay the foundation for his future 

political career.6

In 1937, Powell succeeded his father as pastor of 

the Abyssinian Baptist Church. A popular community 

leader, he decided to enter the local political scene. After 

earning the endorsement of New York City Mayor Fiorello 

LaGuardia, the 33-year-old Powell easily won a seat on the 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.

1908–1972

United States Representative H 1945–1967; 1967–1971

Democrat from New York

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
302 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

New York City council in 1941.7 During World War II, 

Powell maintained his attacks on racial discrimination in 

the military and on the domestic front. Airing his views 

on racism through speaking engagements and columns 

in The People’s Voice, a weekly newspaper he published 

and edited from 1941 to 1945, the feisty politician 

attracted national attention. Powell gained additional 

political experience during the war years by serving on 

the New York State Office of Price Administration. The 

creation in 1942 of a new U.S. congressional district 

that encompassed much of Harlem, along with name 

recognition and political skill, positioned Powell for a 

strong bid for a vacant House seat in 1944.8

Running on a platform that focused on the 

advancement of African-American rights through the 

promotion of fair employment practices and a ban on 

poll taxes and lynching, Powell received support from two 

of New York City’s most influential organizations, the 

Abyssinian Church and the local Democratic machine, 

Tammany Hall. Asked to expand upon his political goals, 

Powell promised to “represent the Negro people first and 

after that all the other American people.” However, he 

later said he would represent the people of his Harlem 

district “irrespective of race, creed, or political affiliation.”9

Despite Powell’s overwhelming popularity among 

Harlem’s black voters (approximately 90 percent of the 

district), his aggressive political style alienated some local 

leaders, causing a scramble by the Republican Party to 

locate a viable opponent in the upcoming election. Sara 

Speaks, a Harlem lawyer endorsed by the Republican 

Party, and Powell took advantage of state election laws 

allowing candidates to run in multiple party primaries. 

But Speaks proved no match for Powell, who won both 

the Democratic primary (82 to 18 percent) and the 

GOP primary (57 to 43 percent). Powell also received 

the American Labor Party designation, allowing him to 

run unopposed in the general election and subsequently 

to earn a spot in the 79th Congress (1945–1947).10 He 

was the first African-American Member to represent 

New York. Powell’s demand for racial equality and his 

uncompromising demeanor resonated with his Harlem 

constituents, whose support essentially guaranteed Powell a 

House seat for the majority of his career. Like many of his 

future African-American House colleagues, Powell parlayed 

his strong record of civil rights at the local level into a 

congressional career.

When Congress convened on January 3, 1945, William 

Dawson of Illinois, the only other black Member, escorted 

Powell into the House Chamber for his first day in office. 

Powell and Dawson remained the only African-American 

Representatives from 1945 to 1955.11 During his first 

term in Congress, Powell served on the Indian Affairs, 

Invalid Pensions, and Labor committees. In 1947, the 

Education Committee and the Labor Committee were 

merged, and Powell remained on the new panel for 11 

terms, three of them as chairman. Powell was also a 

member of the Committee on Interior and Insular Affairs 

from 1955 until 1961. 

Aware that Powell was an atypical freshman 

Representative because of his race and his independent 

nature, Speaker Sam Rayburn of Texas encouraged him to 

wait before making any waves in Congress, and Powell’s 

reserved demeanor during his first month on the Hill 

surprised many reporters. Powell later said Democratic 

leaders had convinced him his “maiden speech in the 

House should be constructive and on as high a plane 

as possible.”12 After his initial reticence, Powell quickly 

recaptured the flair that made him such a dynamic public 

figure. During his first term, he introduced legislation 

to extend the civil rights of District of Columbia 

residents, to outlaw lynching and the poll tax, and to end 

discrimination in the armed forces, housing, employment, 

and transportation. He attached an anti-discrimination 

clause to so many pieces of legislation, the rider became 

known as the Powell Amendment. Initially considered a 

symbolic maneuver, his rider was included in the 1964 

Civil Rights Act.13 His commitment to prohibit federal 

funding to groups advocating unequal treatment of Black 

Americans earned him the epithet “Mr. Civil Rights” 

and infuriated some of his congressional colleagues.14

H Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 303

During a July 1955 meeting of the Education and Labor 

Committee, avowed segregationist and West Virginia 

Democrat Cleveland Bailey punched Powell in the jaw 

out of anger from what he perceived as Powell’s continued 

efforts to undermine the committee’s legislative efforts with 

his rider. The encounter, which drew national attention, 

apparently ended with a conciliatory handshake. Asked to 

comment on the skirmish, Powell said, “Cleve Bailey and I

smoke cigars together, and are old friends.” He added, “We 

always will be.”15

Soon after his arrival in Washington, Powell challenged 

the informal regulations forbidding black Representatives 

from using Capitol facilities reserved for Members. 

Following the lead of Oscar De Priest, Powell often took 

black constituents to the whites-only House Restaurant 

and ordered his staff to eat there. Always looking for 

ways to advance racial equality, Powell also successfully 

campaigned to desegregate the press galleries.16 Powell’s 

aggressive stance on discrimination within Congress 

led to numerous confrontations with John E. Rankin, a 

Democrat from Mississippi and one of the chamber’s most 

notorious segregationists. Even before Powell’s election 

to Congress, Rankin disparaged attempts to integrate the 

Capitol. “That gang of communistic Jews and Negroes . . . 

tried to storm the House Restaurant and went around here 

arm in arm with each other” was Rankin’s inflammatory 

response to a 1943 protest and characteristic of his stance 

on civil rights.17 When Rankin made known his intention 

to avoid sitting near an African-American Member, Powell 

responded to the slight by sitting close to the southern 

politician whenever possible.18 Also, Powell retorted, “I am 

happy that Rankin will not sit by me because that makes it 

mutual. The only people with whom he is qualified to sit 

are Hitler and Mussolini.”19 The two men did not confine 

their mutual dislike to seating arrangements. Powell 

spoke on the House Floor to condemn Rankin’s racial 

attack on Jewish journalist Walter Winchell. “Last week 

democracy was shamed by the uncalled for and unfounded 

condemnation of one of America’s great minorities.” Powell 

continued, “I am not a member of that great minority, 

but I will always oppose anyone who tries to besmirch 

any group because of race, creed or color. Let us give 

leadership to this nation in terms of racial and religious 

tolerance and stop petty bickering in this body.”20 Powell 

also denounced the racial slurs uttered in the House by 

Rankin and other southern Democrats, demanding an 

inquiry by the House Parliamentarian into the use of 

“disparaging terms” on the floor.21

In 1945, Powell looked to expose the prejudicial 

practices of the long-standing Daughters of the American 

Revolution (DAR) after the organization refused to allow 

his second wife, Hazel Scott, a jazz pianist, to perform 

in Constitution Hall. Hopeful that First Lady Bess 

Truman’s reaction would be similar to First Lady Eleanor 

Roosevelt’s when the DAR barred African-American 

Marian Anderson from singing in the concert hall, Powell 

became enraged when Mrs. Truman refused to intercede. 

His characterization of Bess Truman as the “last lady” of 

the land, in response to her decision to attend a previously 

scheduled DAR tea, instigated a lingering feud between 

President Harry S. Truman and the New York Democrat 

that resulted in Powell’s exile from the White House 

during Truman’s years in office.22 The disagreement also 

fueled a heated debate on the House Floor in which 

Representative Rankin alleged that Powell’s criticism of the 

situation had a communist origin.23

Powell spent considerable time drawing attention to the 

plight of poor Africans and Asians. In 1955, he attended 

the Bandung Conference in Indonesia, despite efforts by 

U.S. officials to dissuade him. Privately, State Department 

officials expressed concern that Powell’s presence at 

Bandung was “bad” and might be construed as a sign of 

tacit U.S. approval for a discussion among nations that, for 

the most part, wished to remain neutral in the Cold War 

conflict between the Americans and the Soviets.24 While 

observing the meeting of newly independent African 

and Asian nations, Powell was confronted by communist 

reporters who asked about the appalling conditions faced 

by African Americans. Acknowledging the existence of 

discrimination in the United States, Powell pointed to 

H Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. H
304 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

himself as an example of improved circumstances for 

minorities. Upon his return, he urged President Dwight 

D. Eisenhower and other American policymakers to stand 

firm against colonialism and to pay greater attention to 

the emerging Third World.25 To keep the issue in the 

public eye, Powell made speeches on the House Floor that 

celebrated the anniversaries of the independence of nations 

such as Ghana, Indonesia, and Sierra Leone.26

During much of his tenure in Congress, Powell 

occupied the public spotlight. Known as a political 

maverick, he received national attention when he broke 

ranks with the Democratic Party to endorse President 

Eisenhower’s re-election bid in 1956. Powell threw his 

support behind the Eisenhower administration because 

he was dissatisfied with the Democratic nominee for 

President, Adlai Stevenson, and his choice for Vice 

President, Alabama Senator John Sparkman.27 Southern 

Democrats sought to retaliate against Powell, calling 

for Democratic leaders to strip him of his seniority. The 

National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People rose to Powell’s defense, persuading Speaker 

Sam Rayburn and liberal Emanuel Celler—dean of the 

New York delegation and chairman of the Judiciary 

Committee—not to take punitive action. Nevertheless, 

Powell’s House enemies prevailed in an effort to fire two 

of Powell’s patronage appointees. Of greater consequence, 

Education and Labor Committee Chairman Graham 

Barden of North Carolina, a fervent segregationist, denied 

Powell one of the five subcommittee chairmanships, even 

though Powell was the third-ranking Democrat on the 

full committee.28

In the late 1950s, Powell began to make headlines 

outside the political realm. He was indicted for income tax 

evasion by a federal grand jury in 1958, and the federal 

government continued to investigate his finances, even 

though the well publicized 1960 trial ended with a hung 

jury.29 The immediate political fallout from the indictment 

and trial proved negligible. Tammany Hall withdrew its 

support for Powell in the 1958 Democratic primary—a 

decision machine leaders claimed stemmed from the New 

York Representative’s support for Eisenhower, not his legal 

problems—and backed black candidate Earl Brown, a Harlem 

city councilman. Powell easily captured the nomination for his 

Harlem district, even with Tammany’s defection.30

The New York Representative was also criticized for 

taking numerous trips abroad at public expense, payroll 

discrepancies, and a high level of absenteeism for House 

votes. Asked to justify his erratic attendance record on the 

Hill, Powell replied, “You don’t have to be there if you 

know which calls to make, which buttons to push, which 

favors to call in.”31 For most of his career, Powell remained 

relatively unscathed by the public attention he incurred 

from such lapses. Instead of retreating from the limelight, 

he used the publicity to his advantage. By refusing to alter 

his defiant behavior, Powell earned the respect of many 

African Americans who viewed his actions as bold and 

rebellious. “Arrogant, but with style,” a characterization 

Powell relished, aptly described the politician who 

captivated his constituents throughout his career.32

When Representative Barden retired after the 86th 

Congress (1959–1961), Powell, next in seniority, assumed 

the chairmanship of the Committee on Education and 

Labor, a position he held for three terms until January 

1967. Powell’s service as chairman marked the most 

productive period of his congressional career. The 

committee approved more than 50 measures authorizing 

federal programs for increases in the minimum wage, 

education and training for the deaf, school lunches, 

vocational training, student loans, and standards for wages 

and work hours as well as aid for elementary and secondary 

schools and public libraries. “We have been a more 

productive committee in the last year and a half than the 

New Deal,” a committee member noted in 1965. “You talk 

about Roosevelt’s one hundred days—what the hell, look 

at what we’ve done. It’s been under Powell’s chairmanship 

and you’ve got to give him credit for that.”33 The legislation 

introduced by Powell’s committee helped shape much of 

the social policy of the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. 

Johnson administrations. A personal supporter of President 

Kennedy and, especially, President Johnson (Powell once 

H Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 305

claimed Johnson was “the only man who could bridge the 

bleeding gap between the North and the South”), Powell 

benefited from the agendas of both Presidents.34

By the mid-1960s, however, Powell was being criticized 

not only by longtime enemies but also by committee 

members dismayed by his irregular management of the 

committee budget. Those who often interacted with 

Powell as a committee chairman noted his “erratic” work 

style, his “quixotic unpredictability,” and his frequent 

absences.35 His highly publicized jet-setting lifestyle 

elicited such judgments and raised serious concerns about 

his effectiveness as a committee leader. Powell’s refusal to 

pay a 1963 slander judgment to New Yorker Esther James, 

who Powell alleged served as a “bag woman,” transporting 

money from gamblers to corrupt police officers, further 

irked his colleagues. The public case, which lasted several 

years, led to Powell’s self-imposed exile from his district. 

To avoid arrest, Powell made brief weekend appearances in 

Harlem since state law prohibited serving civil contempt 

warrants on Sundays.36 Powell’s biographer Charles V. 

Hamilton observed that the Harlem Representative 

miscalculated the toll of such actions on his House career. 

Powell often viewed his attainment of important positions 

within an indifferent, often unfriendly, institution as proof 

of the potential of the powerless multitudes. And while 

clearly his achievements provided a beacon of hope to 

millions of Black Americans, his personal foibles left him 

vulnerable and oddly impassive to obvious consequences. 

“If the political system could for so long oppress and 

permit the subjugation of a whole people,” Hamilton 

wrote, “then why would [Powell] expect, as a spokesman 

for that people, to be accorded any better treatment?”37

Weary of Powell’s legal problems and his unpredictable 

antics, the House Democratic Caucus stripped the New 

York Representative of his committee chairmanship on 

January 9, 1967. The full House refused to seat him until 

the Judiciary Committee completed an investigation. 

The following month, the committee recommended that 

Powell be censured, fined, and deprived of seniority, but 

on March 1, 1967, the House rejected these proposals 

and voted—307 to 116—to exclude him from the 90th 

Congress (1967–1969). Unimpressed by the House’s 

mandate to ban their Representative, Harlem’s voters sent 

Congress a resounding message during the special election 

to fill Powell’s seat on April 11, 1967. Powell received 86 

percent of the vote but refused to take his seat and spent 

most of the term on the island of Bimini in the Bahamas. 

After he was re-elected to a 12th term in November 1968, 

the House voted to deny Powell his seniority and to fine 

him for misusing payroll and travel finances.

The Supreme Court helped vindicate Powell with its 

June 1969 ruling that the House acted unconstitutionally 

by excluding him from the 90th Congress. “From now 

on, America will know the Supreme Court is the place 

where you can get justice,” Powell declared.38 Despite 

the legal absolution, Powell never regained his former 

influence or authority in Congress. Still confident he 

would earn another term in the House, Powell entered the 

Democratic primary in 1970. Although Powell said, “My 

people would elect me . . . even if I had to be propped up 

in my casket,” some of his constituents had grown tired 

of his legal troubles, negative publicity, and infrequent 

attendance in Congress.39 His strongest opponent in the 

primary, Harlem-based New York State Assemblyman 

Charles Rangel, highlighted Powell’s absenteeism, 

using campaign literature marking the major votes he 

had missed.40 Even in the face of a formidable primary 

challenge, Powell adhered to his characteristic laidback 

campaigning, making few public appearances. Benefiting 

from redistricting that diluted Powell’s base of power in 

Harlem by adding to the district a slice of the mostly 

white Upper West Side, Rangel edged out the controversial 

Representative in the primary by approximately 200 votes 

to become the Democratic candidate and the eventual 

Representative for his district.41 Consistent with his 

determined nature, Powell contested the election results, 

but although the recount reduced the margin of victory 

from 203 to 150 votes, Rangel still prevailed.42

Diagnosed with cancer in 1969, Powell declined 

rapidly after he left Congress. He retired as minister of the 

H Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. H
306 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

For further reading

Hamilton, Charles V. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: The 

Political Biography of an American Dilemma (New York: 

Atheneum, 1991).

“Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=P000477. 

Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr. Adam by Adam: The 

Autobiography of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (New York: Dial 

Press, 1971).

________. Marching Blacks: An Interpretive History of the 

Rise of the Black Common Man (New York: Dial Press, 

1945).

Manuscript Collections

National Archives and Records Administration

(Washington, DC), Center for Legislative Archives. Papers: 

In the Committee on Education and Labor Records, 80th 

through the 89th Congresses, amount unknown. Adam 

Clayton Powell, Jr., served on the committee from the 80th 

Congress forward; he served as chairman from the 87th 

through the 89th Congresses. Papers: In the Committee 

on Interior and Insular Affairs Records, 84th through 86th 

Congresses, amount unknown. Powell also is represented 

in oral histories and papers in the following presidential 

libraries: Dwight D. Eisenhower, Gerald R. Ford, Lyndon 

B. Johnson, John F. Kennedy, Richard M. Nixon, and 

Harry S. Truman.

The New York Public Library (New York, NY), 

Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture Library. 

Photographs: ca. 1935–1969, 109 prints. Portraits of Adam 

Clayton Powell, Jr., mainly from his congressional years 

through his exile to Bimini and his return to the United 

States. The collection includes views of Powell preaching 

at the Abyssinian Baptist Church, speaking to students at 

the University of California at Los Angeles, at the Lincoln 

Memorial, holding press conferences, with wife Hazel Scott 

Abyssinian Baptist Church in 1971 and spent his waning 

days in Bimini. He died on April 4, 1972, in Miami, 

Florida.43 Once asked to describe his political career, Powell 

said, “As a member of Congress, I have done nothing more 

than any other member and, by the grace of God, I intend 

to do not one bit less.”44

H Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 307

Powell and their son Adam III, campaigning, surrounded 

by crowds, attending political functions, blowing out 

birthday candles, participating in an awards ceremony, and 

posing with attorneys. 

Notes

1 Thomas A. Johnson, “A Man of Many Roles,” 5 April 1972, New 

York Times: 1. “Keep the faith, baby” was one of Powell’s more 

memorable responses to questions regarding the move by the 

House to exclude him from Congress. He later used the phrase as 

the title for a book of his sermons. 

2 Peter Wallenstein, “Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.,” American National 

Biography 17 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 771–773 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

3 Charles V. Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: The Political 

Biography of an American Dilemma (New York: Atheneum, 1991): 

47–50.

4 Simon Glickman, “Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” Contemporary 

Black Biography 3 (Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992) (hereinafter 

referred to as CBB).

5 Wallenstein, “Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.,” ANB; Shirley 

Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress

(Washington, DC: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 71; 

Ilene Jones-Cornwell, “Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” in Jessie Carney 

Smith, ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: 

Gale Research, Inc., 1999): 954–957 (hereinafter referred to as 

NBAM).

6 Johnson, “A Man of Many Roles”; Wallenstein, “Powell, Adam 

Clayton, Jr.,” ANB; Bruce A. Ragsdale and Joel D. Treese, Black 

Americans in Congress, 1870–1989 (Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, 1990): 196. 

7 Richard L. Lyons, “Adam Clayton Powell, Apostle for Blacks,” 6 

April 1972, Washington Post: B5.

8 Washington, Outstanding African Americans in Congress: 68; 

Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr: 144.

9 “Powell Declares ‘Negro First’ Aim,” 9 April 1944, New York Times: 

25; “Powell Revises Pledge,” 30 April 1944, New York Times: 40.

10 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Hamilton, Adam 

Clayton Powell, Jr.: 149–156; Glickman, “Adam Clayton Powell, 

Jr.,” CBB; Johnson, “A Man of Many Roles.”

11 Jones-Cornwell, “Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” NBAM: 956; Wil 

Haygood, King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton 

Powell, Jr. (New York: Amistad, 2006): 113.

12 Haygood, King of the Cats: 115.

13 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 70.

14 Wallenstein, “Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.,” ANB.

15 William J. Brady, “Bailey Punches Powell in Row Over 

Segregation,” 21 July 1955, Washington Post: 1; John D. Morris, 

“Powell Is Punched by House Colleague,” 21 July 1955, New York 

Times: 1; Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 235.

16 Wallenstein, “Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.,” ANB.

17 Congressional Record, House, 78th Cong., 1st sess. (1 July 1943): 

A3371.

18 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., Adam by Adam: The Autobiography 

of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (New York: Dial Press, 1971): 73; 

Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 69–70; 

Alfred Friendly, “Jefferson and Rankin,” 14 April 1947, Washington 

Post: 7.

19 Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 178.

20 Congressional Record, House, 79th Cong., 1st sess. (13 February 

1945): 1045; Wil Haygood, “Power and Love; When Adam 

Clayton Powell Jr. Met Hazel Scott, Sparks Flew,” 17 January 

1993, Washington Post Magazine: W14.

21 Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 186–187.

22 Ibid., 165; “Powell Demand for D.A.R. Snub Draws Refusal,” 13 

October 1945, Los Angeles Times: 2; Glickman, “Adam Clayton 

Powell, Jr.,” CBB.

23 “Congress Debates D.A.R. Hall Row,” 17 October 1945, New York 

Times: 19; “Rankin Calls DAR Attacks ‘Communist,’” 18 October 

1945, Washington Post: 4; Haygood, “Power and Love.”

24 For more on Powell and the Bandung Conference, see Brenda 

Gayle Plummer, Rising Wind: Black Americans and U.S. Foreign 

Affairs, 1935–1960 (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina 

Press, 1996): 248–253. For the “bad” quote in a telephone 

conversation between Secretary of State John Foster Dulles and a 

CIA official, see U.S. Department of State, Office of the Historian, 

Foreign Relations of the United States, 1955–1957, Volume 21: Asian 

Security, Cambodia, and Laos (Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, 1989): 77.

25 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 71; 

Haygood, King of the Cats: 200–204.

26 Throughout his career, Powell made many of these speeches. For an 

example see, Congressional Record, House, 91st Cong., 1st sess. (29 

July 1969): 21212.

27 Glickman, “Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” CBB.

28 Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 276–279.

29 “Powell Gives Innocent Plea in Tax Case,” 17 May 1958, 

Washington Post: A2; “Tax-Charge Deadlock Dismisses Powell 

Jury,” 23 April 1960, Washington Post: A3.

H Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. H
308 H Black Americans in Congress 

30 For more on Powell’s rift with Tammany Hall, see Hamilton, Adam 

Clayton Powell, Jr.: 299–312. “Powell Gives Innocent Plea in Tax 

Case”; Leo Egan, “Powell, Lindsay Win in Primaries by Wide 

Margins,” 13 August 1958, New York Times: 1; “Powell Victory Is 

an Old Story,” 13 August 1958, New York Times: 18.

31 Johnson, “A Man of Many Roles.”

32 Wallenstein, “Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.,” ANB.

33 Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Congressmen in Committees (Boston: Little, 

Brown, and Company, 1973): 128.

34 “‘Think Big, Black,’ Powell Urges,” 29 March 1965, Washington 

Post: D3. For more on Powell’s relationship with President 

Johnson, see Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 369–374.

35 Fenno, Congressmen in Committees: 130–131.

36 Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 434–437; John J. Goldman, 

“Adam Clayton Powell, 63, Dies; Politician, Preacher and Playboy,” 

5 April 1972, Los Angeles Times: A1.

37 Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 485.

38 Johnson, “A Man of Many Roles.”

39 Glickman, “Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” CBB.

40 David Shipler, “Powell, in Race, Has Faith in Himself,” 16 June 

1970, New York Times: 50; Thomas Ronan, “Rangel, Calling Powell 

a Failure, Says He Will Seek Congressional Post,” 21 February 

1970, New York Times: 24.

41 Michael J. Dubin et al., United States Congressional Elections, 

1788–1997 (Jefferson, NC: McFarland Publishing Company, Inc., 

1998): 672; Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 473–478.

42 “Powell Defeat Confirmed by Recount,” 28 June 1970, New York 

Times: 29; “Powell Loser in Recount of Primary Vote,” 28 June 

1970, Chicago Tribune: A3.

43 Jones-Cornwell, “Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.,” NBAM; Hamilton, 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: 478.

44 Johnson, “A Man of Many Roles.”

H Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. H
former members | 1929–1970 H 309

“As a member of Congress, 

I have done nothing more 

than any other member 

and, by the grace of God, 

I intend to do 

not one bit less,” 

Powell once remarked.
310 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Elected to the House of Representatives in 1954 at 

 age 31, Charles C. Diggs, Jr., was the first African 

American to represent Michigan in Congress. Despite his 

reserved demeanor, Diggs served as an ardent supporter 

of civil rights and an impassioned advocate of increased 

American aid to Africa. As a principal architect of home 

rule for the District of Columbia and the driving force 

behind the formation of the Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC), Diggs crafted a national legacy during his 25 years 

in the House. John Conyers, Jr., of Detroit, Diggs’s House 

colleague of many years said, “Congressman Diggs paved 

the way for an entire generation of black political leaders, 

not just in his home state, but through the nation.”1

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr., the only child of Charles 

Diggs, Sr., and Mamie Ethel Jones Diggs, was born in 

Detroit, Michigan, on December 2, 1922. Prominent 

in Detroit, the Diggs family owned a local mortuary, a 

funeral insurance company, and an ambulance service. 

In the 1920s, the city that would become the hub of 

the U.S. automobile industry underwent a massive 

transformation as southern blacks streamed northward in 

search of wage labor. Between 1920 and 1930, Detroit’s 

black population tripled—growing at a faster rate than 

any other major northern city.2 Charles Diggs, Sr., 

personified rising black influence in Detroit, becoming 

the first African-American Democrat elected to the 

Michigan state senate.3 After graduating from Detroit’s 

Miller High School in 1940, Charles Diggs, Jr., enrolled 

at the University of Michigan at Ann Arbor. After two 

years, Diggs transferred to Fisk University in Nashville, 

Tennessee. While still an undergraduate in Tennessee, he 

entered the United States Army Air Forces as a private 

on February 19, 1943. During World War II, Diggs was 

a member of a segregated unit that trained at an airstrip 

in Alabama. Commissioned a second lieutenant in 1944, 

Diggs was discharged from the military on June 1, 1945. 

Diggs resumed his academic career, enrolling in Detroit’s 

Wayne College of Mortuary Science. After graduating in 

June 1946, the newly licensed mortician joined his father’s 

funeral business, serving as chairman of the House of 

Diggs, Inc. Diggs also delivered commentary on current 

affairs (interspersed with gospel music) as part of a weekly 

radio show sponsored by his business. Married four times, 

Charles Diggs, Jr., had six children.4

Although it was not his original intent, Diggs ultimately 

followed in his father’s political footsteps. Elected to the 

Michigan state senate in 1936, Charles Diggs, Sr., was 

caught up in a legislative bribery scandal in 1944, bringing 

his public service to a grinding halt.5

 Upon his release from 

prison in 1950, Diggs, Sr., sought to reclaim his position 

in the legislature. He won his election bid, but in an 

unprecedented move, the Republican-controlled Michigan 

senate refused to seat him and another member-elect 

because of their criminal records.6 Outraged by the events 

that prevented his father from resuming his political career, 

Charles Diggs, Jr., interrupted his studies at the Detroit 

School of Law to enter the special election for his father’s 

seat. Diggs won the election and served in the Michigan 

senate for three years before setting his sights on the United 

States Congress.7

 Using the campaign slogan “Make 

Democracy Live,” he defeated incumbent Representative 

George D. O’Brien by a two-to-one margin in the 

August 1954 Democratic primary in the overwhelmingly 

Democratic, majority-black Detroit district.8

 Building 

on the momentum from the primary, Diggs easily bested 

Republican Landon Knight—the son of John S. Knight, 

editor and publisher of the Detroit Free Press—in the 

general election, capturing 66 percent of the vote to 

become Michigan’s first African-American Representative.9

After winning a seat in the 84th Congress (1955–1957), 

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr.

1922–1998

United States Representative H 1955–1980

Democrat from Michigan

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
312 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

Diggs remarked, “This is a great victory for the voters of 

the Democratic Party, and it also settles deeper issues—the 

racial issue. This is proof that the voters of the Thirteenth 

District have reached maturity.”10 Diggs rarely faced serious 

opposition in subsequent elections, typically winning by 

more than 70 percent in an impoverished urban district 

that saw a rapid decline in population and a substantial rise 

in black residents during his House tenure.11

Diggs began his congressional career on January 3, 

1955, as a member of the Committee on Interior and 

Insular Affairs and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. 

But Diggs’s committee service did not follow the upward 

trajectory to which many Members aspired.12 Rather 

than seeking out high-profile posts on top-tier panels 

as he accrued seniority, Diggs chose assignments that 

allowed him to positively influence African-American 

lives, and international human rights issues. In 1959, 

Diggs joined the Foreign Affairs Committee (later 

International Relations Committee), remaining there until 

he left Congress in 1980. Diggs became a member of the 

Committee on the District of Columbia (with jurisdiction 

over the nation’s capital, which had undergone a shift from 

a majority-white population to majority-black after schools 

were desegregated in the 1950s) in 1963 and was on the 

panel for the remainder of his congressional tenure.

In the 84th Congress, Diggs joined black 

Representatives Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New 

York and William L. Dawson of Illinois. For a young 

Representative learning the institutional ropes, Powell and 

Dawson could not have provided two more different role 

models.13 Flamboyant and flashy, Powell was a leading 

civil rights figure who grabbed headlines while constantly 

challenging the status quo. Dawson, reserved and 

businesslike and ever the party and machine man, used his 

chairmanship on the Government Operations Committee 

to exert influence from the inside. Diggs drew upon both 

these legislative styles throughout his career.

While a freshman Member of the House, Diggs 

demonstrated his commitment to ending racial discrimination. 

In September 1955, the Michigan Representative 

garnered attention from the national media when he 

attended the trial of two white Mississippians accused of 

murdering Emmett Till, a 14-year-old African-American 

boy, for allegedly whistling at a white woman.14 When 

Diggs discovered that the county where the trial was 

being held had no registered black voters, he suggested 

that Mississippi’s representation in Congress should 

be reduced—echoing Members from earlier decades 

who called for the enforcement of Section Two of the 

14th Amendment, requiring reduced congressional 

representation for states that discriminated against 

qualified voters.15 Two months later, Diggs proposed that 

President Dwight D. Eisenhower convene a special session 

of Congress to consider civil rights issues. He also was an 

outspoken advocate of the Civil Rights Act of 1957.16

Representative Diggs frequently participated in events to 

attract publicity for the civil rights movement. In February 

1965, he interviewed residents of Selma, Alabama, in 

an attempt to expose discrimination in federally funded 

programs in the South. Diggs also marched with 12,000 

people in Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1969 to 

support black hospital workers who were seeking the right 

to organize and bargain collectively.17 A leader in the fight 

to desegregate public schools, Diggs, as well as Powell, 

believed schools that refused to abide by the 1954 Supreme 

Court decision Brown v. Board of Education should lose 

federal funding.18 During a speech aimed at promoting 

civil rights in Jackson, Mississippi, Diggs confidently 

proclaimed, “integration is as inevitable as the rising 

sun—even in Mississippi.”19

Nearly a decade after he joined the Committee on the 

District of Columbia, Diggs ascended to the chairman’s 

post when the former head, South Carolina segregationist 

John L. McMillan, failed to win renomination to his 

House seat. “I don’t plan to be the unofficial mayor of 

Washington,” Diggs said about his new position. “The 

city already has a mayor and City Council. I don’t intend 

to become involved with the day-to-day operations of the 

city government.”20 Instead, Diggs sought to increase the 

autonomy of the District of Columbia by continuing to 

H Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 313

fight for home rule for the nation’s capital. In 1973 he 

succeeded in bringing a bill to the House Floor authorizing 

partial self-government for Washington, DC. Before the 

legislation was voted on, he reminded his colleagues, 

“When we talk about self-determination for the District 

of Columbia we are not only talking about a matter of 

local interest, but because of the unique role of this capital 

community, it is of concern to each one of the Members of 

the 435 districts across this country.”21 Under the direction 

of Chairman Diggs, the House overwhelmingly passed the 

measure; on December 24, 1973, President Richard M. 

Nixon signed the District of Columbia Self-Government 

and Governmental Reorganization Act, enabling residents 

of the nation’s capital to elect their mayor and city council 

for the first time since 1874. During his tenure as chairman 

of the Committee on the District of Columbia, Diggs also 

helped establish the University of the District of Columbia 

and led the movement to make Frederick Douglass’s 

historic house in Anacostia a national monument.22

Throughout his career in Congress, Diggs looked for 

ways to forge connections with other black Members. 

Dissatisfied with the typically informal bonds between 

African-American Representatives, Diggs organized 

the Democratic Select Committee (DSC) in 1969 to 

promote the exchange of ideas between black Members. 

Black Representatives newly elected to the 91st Congress 

(1969–1971), such as Shirley Chisholm of New York, 

William Clay, Sr., of Missouri, and Louis Stokes of Ohio, 

embraced the idea of a network for African Americans in 

the House but pressed for a more formal organization with 

political clout. This transformation occurred in 1971 when 

the DSC was reorganized into the Congressional Black 

Caucus (CBC). The first chair of the CBC (1971–1973), 

Diggs called the new caucus “the first departure from 

the individualistic policies that characterized black 

congressmen in the past.”23 Also, Diggs’s involvement 

in the Michigan redistricting after the 1960 Census 

helped increase black representation in the House; the 

subsequent reapportionment created another majorityblack district in Detroit. With the congressional election 

of John Conyers, Jr., in 1964, Michigan became 

the first state since Reconstruction with two AfricanAmerican Representatives.24

In addition to promoting a civil rights agenda on the 

domestic front, Diggs focused on legislation shaping U.S. 

policy toward Africa. Eventually dubbed “Mr. Africa” 

because of his dedication to and knowledge of African 

affairs, Diggs accompanied Vice President Nixon on a 

tour of Africa two years after taking office, and in 1958 he 

attended the All-African Peoples Conference in Ghana. In 

February 1969, he headed a fact-finding mission to civil 

war-torn Nigeria to investigate relief programs for civilians 

and to explore a possible cease-fire. After being named 

chair of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa in 

1969, Diggs continued to pursue his goal of making Africa 

a higher priority in American international relations. In 

his new leadership role, which he held for a decade, he 

emphasized the importance of increased American aid to 

the newly independent African countries.25

Diggs led the early charge by African-American 

Members to denounce the apartheid regime in South 

Africa. He conducted a series of hearings to investigate 

how some American businesses and government programs 

helped the economy of South Africa, despite the official 

U.S. opposition to the country’s racist policies. In 1971 he 

oversaw a bipartisan delegation to South Africa to observe 

firsthand its business practices and apartheid system.26

The Michigan Representative directed a study of the Civil 

Aeronautics Board’s decision to provide South African 

Airways with landing rights in the United States.27 His 

aggressive stance and outspoken criticism of apartheid 

led the South African government to bar him from the 

country during a trip in 1975. 

Diggs also demonstrated his commitment to 

influencing U.S.–African relations during the political 

controversy involving Southern Rhodesia (now 

Zimbabwe). In response to the United Nations’s 1968 

trade embargo against Southern Rhodesia, in southeast 

Africa, Senator Harry Byrd of Virginia drafted an 

amendment that would except strategic materials. Since 

H Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. H
314 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

the bulk of U.S. trade with Southern Rhodesia involved 

chrome, the Byrd Amendment effectively stated that the 

United States would not abide by the embargo. Diggs 

led an unsuccessful charge against the amendment in the 

House.28 In December 1971, he resigned from the U.S. 

delegation to the United Nations—a position he held for 

only a few months—to protest what he perceived as the 

continued “stifling hypocrisy” of U.S. government policy 

toward Africa.29 At Diggs’s urging, the CBC later filed 

suit against the American government for continuing to 

import Rhodesian chrome. Diggs and the CBC argued 

that the government had no basis for categorizing chrome 

as strategic since American companies used chrome for 

consumer supplies.30

In the early 1970s Diggs emerged as the leading House 

critic of continued Portuguese colonialism in Angola and 

Mozambique. During his brief stint as a U.N. delegate, he 

urged the United States to stop opposing U.N. resolutions 

condemning Portugal’s policy. In 1975, after a new regime 

took power in Portugal, Angola and Mozambique were 

given their independence, but a civil war erupted in Angola 

between communist forces backed by Cuba and the Soviet 

Union and noncommunists (UNITA) supported by South 

Africa. After press reports revealed the CIA was covertly 

assisting UNITA, Diggs used his position as chairman of 

the Africa Subcommittee to help win House support to 

cut off funding for the operation. The Senate’s adoption of 

the Clark Amendment, a rider attached in early 1976 to 

legislation concerning foreign aid, officially banned covert 

aid to Angola.31

Diggs’s political fortunes declined when he became 

the focus of a federal investigation. In March 1978, a 

grand jury indicted Diggs on multiple charges, including 

taking kickbacks from his congressional staff.32 After a 

nine-day trial, he was convicted on October 7, 1978, in a 

Washington, DC, district court of committing mail fraud 

and falsifying payroll forms.33 Throughout the trial and 

the appeals process, he asserted his innocence, claiming 

he was a victim of “selective prosecution” because of his 

race.34 Despite the controversy surrounding his candidacy, 

voters from Diggs’s Michigan district demonstrated their 

resounding support by re-electing him in November with 

79 percent of the vote.35 After his re-election, Diggs, 

voluntarily relinquished his committee and subcommittee 

chairmanships because of his conviction but voiced his 

determination to vote on the floor.36 The CBC did not 

discourage him, not wishing to deprive Diggs’s constituents 

of their guaranteed representation.37 Diggs’s decision to 

serve out his term until his appeals were exhausted aroused 

the indignation of many in the House, especially freshman 

Representative and future Speaker Newt Gingrich of 

Georgia, who spearheaded an unsuccessful effort to 

expel Diggs from Congress.38 Ultimately, based mainly 

on a report by the Committee on Standards of Official 

Conduct, the House unanimously censured Diggs on 

July 31, 1979. After the Supreme Court refused to review 

his conviction, Diggs resigned from the 96th Congress 

(1979–1981) on June 3, 1980. One month later, he 

entered a minimum-security prison in Alabama; he served 

seven months of a three-year federal sentence.39 In a 1981 

interview, Diggs stated, “I considered myself a political 

prisoner during my incarceration. I was a victim of 

political and racist forces. I will go to my grave continuing 

to profess my innocence.”40

After his release from prison, Diggs opened a funeral 

home in suburban Maryland and resumed his education, 

earning a bachelor’s degree in political science from 

Howard University in 1983.41 Diggs launched a brief and 

unsuccessful political comeback in 1990, losing a bid for 

a seat in Maryland’s house of delegates.42 On August 24, 

1998, Charles Diggs, Jr., died of complications from a 

stroke in Washington, DC.

H Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 315

For further reading

“Diggs, Charles Coles, Jr.,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000344. 

DuBose, Carolyn P. The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: The 

Public Figure, the Private Man (Arlington, VA: Barton 

Publishing, Inc., 1998).

Manuscript Collections

Howard University (Washington, DC), Manuscript 

Division, Moorland–Spingarn Research Center. Papers:

1920–1998, approximately 1,000 linear feet. The 

Charles Diggs Collection includes personal, business, 

and congressional papers, as well as correspondence, 

photographs, motion picture film, videotape, sound 

recordings, and memorabilia. The collection is 

unprocessed, and prior arrangements are required for 

access. Oral History: In the Ralph J. Bunche Oral History 

Collection, 1970, 34 pages, including an interview of 

Charles Diggs conducted by Robert Wright on January 

28, 1970. Diggs discusses his visit to South Africa, the 

plight of black Africans, and the relationship of the U.S. 

civil rights movement to their situation. Also discussed 

are the causes of the 1967 Detroit riot, the Black Panther 

Party, home rule for Washington, DC, and the Inner 

City Business Improvement Forum, a Detroit group that 

provides services for black entrepreneurs.

Lyndon B. Johnson Library (Austin, TX). Oral History:

1969, 13 pages. An interview with Diggs conducted 

on March 13, 1969. Diggs discusses civil rights, the 

1967 Detroit riots, Vietnam bombing policy, and the 

reorganization of the District of Columbia. A transcript 

of the interview is available at: http://webstorage4.mcpa.

virginia.edu/lbj/oralhistory/diggs_charles_1969_0313.pdf.

Notes

1 Francesca C. Simon, “Diggs Dies of a Stroke at the Hospital; 

Ex-Lawmaker Lauded as Home-Rule Author,” 26 August 1998, 

Washington Times: C4.

2 For more on Detroit and the Great Migration, see Elizabeth Anne 

Martin, Detroit and the Great Migration, 1916–1929 (Ann Arbor, 

MI: The Bentley Historical Library, 1993): statistics from page 3.

3 “Four-Story Plunge Is Fatal to Michigan Negro Leader,” 26 April 

1967, New York Times: 34; Egan Paul, “Minorities Make a Mark,” 

26 March 1999, Lansing State Journal: 12TAB; Niraj Warikoo, 

“Advocate of Civil Rights in Congress,” 26 August 1998, Detroit 

Free Press: 1C; Carolyn P. DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles 

Diggs: The Public Figure, the Private Man (Arlington, VA: Barton 

Publishing, Inc., 1998): 184. Sources conflict as to whether 

Charles Diggs, Sr., was the first African American or the first 

African-American Democrat to hold this position.

4 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 212; Thura Mack, “Charles 

C. Diggs, Jr.,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black American 

Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 1999): 304 

(hereinafter referred to as NBAM); Irvin Molotsky, “Charles Diggs, 

75, Congressman Censured Over Kickbacks,” New York Times, 26 

August 1998: 18D.

5 Paul, “Minorities Make a Mark”; Christopher, Black Americans in 

Congress: 209.

6 “Two Senators-Elect Ousted in Michigan,” 15 January 1951, 

Christian Science Monitor: 3; “Sets Elections to Fill Seats of 2 in 

Senate,” 13 January 1951, Chicago Daily Tribune: 10.

7 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 209–210; Mack, 

“Charles C. Diggs, Jr.,” NBAM: 301–302; “Diggs, Charles C(ole), 

Jr.,” Current Biography, 1957 (New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 

1957): 144.

8 “Diggs, Charles C(ole), Jr.,” Current Biography, 1957: 145.

9 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

599; “Michigan’s First Negro Congressman Elected,” 4 November 

1954, Los Angeles Times: 6.

10 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 210.

11 Almanac of American Politics, 1974 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1973): 497–499; Almanac of American Politics, 1978

(Washington, DC: National Journal Inc., 1977): 425–426.

12 For a perspective on the relative strength of Diggs’s early and 

latter committee assignments, see Bruce A. Ray, “Committee 

Attractiveness in the U.S. House, 1963–1981,” American Journal of 

Political Science 26 (August 1982): 610.

H Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. H
316 H Black Americans in Congress 

27 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 212–213.

28 Mack, “Charles C. Diggs, Jr.,” NBAM: 302–303; “Rep. Diggs 

Resigns as a U.N. Delegate,” 18 December 1971, New York Times: 

1.

29 “Rep. Diggs Resigns as a U.N. Delegate”; “Diggs Hits U.S. Stand, 

Quits Post on U.N. Unit,” 18 December 1971, Washington Post: 

A18; William Fulton, “Rep. Diggs Quits U.S. Delegation to 

U.N.,” 18 December 1971, Chicago Tribune: A8.

30 “Black Caucus Sues Against Rhodesia Ore”; Mack, “Charles C. 

Diggs, Jr.,” NBAM: 302–303.

31 Robert David Johnson, Congress and the Cold War (Cambridge: 

Cambridge University Press, 2006): 223.

32 Jo Thomas, “Rep. Diggs of Michigan Indicted on 35 Counts in 

Kickback Case,” 24 March 1978, New York Times: 11; DuBose, The 

Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 198–200.

33 Lawrence Meyer, “Congressman Convicted of Illegally Diverting 

Funds,” 8 October 1978, Washington Post: A1; “Rep. Diggs’ Fraud 

Trial Goes to Jury,” 7 October 1978, Los Angeles Times: A9.

34 Pearson, “Charles Diggs Dies at 75; Former Congressman From 

Mich.”

35 Dubin et al., United States Congressional Elections, 1788–1997: 

710.

36 “House Sidesteps Diggs Ouster; Probe Planned,” 2 March 1979, 

Chicago Tribune: 6.

37 Mary Russell, “Caucus Won’t Tell Diggs to Refrain From Voting,” 

1 March 1979, Washington Post: A9.

38 Damon Chappie, “On Traficant, Talk of Expulsion,” 11 March 

2002, Roll Call; “The Diggs Dilemma,” 3 August 1979, New York 

Times: A22.

39 “Former Rep. Diggs Begins Prison Term,” 25 July 1980, 

Washington Post: A11; Molotsky, “Charles Diggs, 75, Congressman 

Censured Over Kickbacks.”

40 Warikoo, “Advocate of Civil Rights in Congress.”

41 DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 218; James M. 

Manheim, “Charles C. Diggs,” Contemporary Black Biography 21

(Detriot: Gale Research Inc., 1999).

42 “Ex-Rep. Diggs Back in Politics,” 8 March 1990, New York Times: 

B9; Warikoo, “Advocate of Civil Rights in Congress.”

13 For more on Powell’s and Dawson’s divergent styles, see James 

Q. Wilson, “Two Negro Politicians: An Interpretation,” Midwest 

Journal of Political Science 5 (1960): 349–369.

14 “Boy’s Mother ‘Not Surprised,’” 24 September 1955, New York 

Times: 38.

15 Mack, “Charles C. Diggs, Jr.,” NBAM: 302. See the second 

contextual essay in this book, “‘The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell,’” 

covering the period from 1887 to 1929.

16 Arthur Kranish, “House Ends Debate on Rights Bill,” 11 June 

1957, Washington Post: A15; Congressional Record, House, 85th 

Cong., 1st sess. (10 June 1957): 8704–8705.

17 “Charles Diggs,” in Harry A. Ploski, ed., The Negro Almanac (New 

York: Bellwether Company, 1971): 322.

18 For more on the Brown decision, see James T. Patterson, Brown v. 

Board of Education: A Civil Rights Milestone and Its Troubled Legacy

(New York: Oxford University Press, 2001); Michael J. Klarman, 

Brown v. Board of Education and the Civil Rights Movement; an 

abridged edition of From Jim Crow to Civil Rights: The Supreme 

Court and the Struggle for Racial Equality (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 2007).

19 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 211–212.

20 Stephen Green, “Diggs Wants New Look at Home Rule,” 26 

September 1972, Washington Post: A1.

21 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. (17 December 

1973): 42036.

22 Richard Pearson, “Charles Diggs Dies at 75; Former Congressman 

From Mich.,” 26 August 1998, Washington Post: B06; DuBose, The 

Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 188–190.

23 Robert Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: Racial Politics in 

the U.S. Congress (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, Inc.): 

54–55, 73; DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 79–80. See 

also Molotsky, “Charles Diggs, 75, Congressman Censured Over 

Kickbacks.” 

24 John Flesher, “Ex-Congressman Seeks One-Time Return to 

Politics,” 16 April 1990, Associated Press; Pearson, “Charles Diggs 

Dies at 75.”

25 Molotsky, “Charles Diggs, 75, Congressman Censured Over 

Kickbacks.”

26 “Black Legislator to Continue His Tour of South Africa,” 14 

August 1971, New York Times: 28; Paul Dold, “Congressman 

Jolts Along on African Visit,” 14 August 1971, Christian Science 

Monitor: 1; DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 122–127.

H Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. H
former members | 1929–1970 H 317

“When we talk about 

self-determination for the 

District of Columbia,” Diggs 

once said, “we are not only 

talking about a matter of 

local interest, but because 

of the unique role of this 

capital community, it is of 

concern to each one of the 

Members of the 435 districts 

across this country.”
318 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

After gaining experience in Philadelphia politics, 

Robert N. C. Nix earned a seat in the U.S. House of 

Representatives in a special election in 1958. Nix served in 

Congress for more than two decades. As the first African 

American to represent the state of Pennsylvania and only 

the third black Member to chair a standing committee in 

the House, he dedicated himself “to ending the oppression 

of black people.”1

 However, critics claimed Nix fell short 

of this goal, placing party politics before the national black 

agenda. Loyal to the local Democratic machine that helped 

begin his career on the Hill, Nix was disinclined to demand 

radical change for minorities, an approach that conflicted 

with many of his African-American colleagues’ more 

militant politics during the 1960s and 1970s. 

Robert Nelson Cornelius (N. C.) Nix, Sr. was born 

on August 9, 1898, in Orangeburg, South Carolina.2

 The 

third of four children of Nelson Nix—a former slave and 

future dean of South Carolina State College—and Sylvia 

Nix, Robert Nix later moved to New York City to live 

with relatives.3 Nix graduated from Townsend Harris High 

School in New York City (also attended by Nix’s future 

African-American House colleague Adam Clayton Powell, 

Jr. of New York), before enrolling in Lincoln University in 

Oxford, Pennsylvania.4 After earning a B.A. in 1921, Nix 

continued his education at the University of Pennsylvania 

Law School, from which he graduated three years later. 

In 1925, Nix began practicing law in Philadelphia. He 

first became active in politics when he was elected a 

Democratic committeeman from the 44th Ward in 1932. 

He retained this position for 26 years, serving as chairman 

for the final eight.5

 From 1934 to 1938, Nix worked for 

the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania as a special deputy 

attorney general in the revenue department and as a special 

assistant deputy attorney general. Nix and his wife, the 

former Ethel Lanier, had one son, Robert N. C. Nix, Jr.

When five-term Democratic Representative Earl 

Chudoff resigned in 1958 to become a Philadelphia 

judge, Nix entered the special election to fill the vacant 

congressional seat encompassing sections of Philadelphia 

on both sides of the Schuylkill River.6

 With solid backing 

from the local Democratic machine, Nix won the 

unexpired term, defeating Republican Cecil B. Moore, an 

African-American attorney, with 64 percent of the vote.7

House colleagues applauded as Nix was sworn in as a 

Member of the 85th Congress (1957–1959) on May 20, 

1958, joining black Representatives William Dawson of 

Illinois; Adam Clayton Powell; and Charles Diggs, Jr., of 

Michigan.8

 That same year, Nix was chosen unanimously as 

chairman of Philadelphia’s 32nd Ward, a position he held 

until his death in 1987.9

During his first two terms in the House, Nix served on 

the Merchant Marine and Fisheries and Veterans’ Affairs 

committees. In the 87th Congress (1961–1963) Nix 

relinquished his initial assignments for a spot on Foreign 

Affairs (later named International Relations); he remained 

on this committee for the rest of his tenure in the House 

and chaired the Foreign Economic Policy and Asian and 

Pacific Affairs subcommittees.10 After 14 years as a member 

of the Committee on the Post Office and Civil Service, Nix 

became the chairman. 

A landmark study of House committees during 

the 1960s described the Post Office and Civil Service 

Committee as a “low-energy, low-influence, low-prestige” 

assignment. Though considered a valuable assignment by 

Members who sought to improve their chances of reelection by concentrating on constituency-service goals—

particularly those related to the many postal carriers—the 

committee was also characterized by turnover.11 Nix may 

have decided to remain on the committee partially because 

it allowed him to influence the working conditions of 

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.

1898–1987

United States Representative H 1958–1979

Democrat from Pennsylvania

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
320 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

the numerous African Americans employed by the U.S. 

Postal Service. First named head of the committee for the 

95th Congress (1977–1979), Nix faced opposition instead 

of congratulations. A group of young Representatives 

contended that Nix’s “record of inactivity” and age 

(68) disqualified him from the leadership position. The 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)—an organization of 

African-American Members formed in 1971 to promote 

legislation that concerned blacks—thwarted the move 

to block his appointment, promising Nix would be a 

competent and committed chair.12 During his two years as 

chairman, Nix led a movement to “require congressional 

approval of major policy changes” by the U.S. Postal 

System in an effort to improve service.13 He also backed a 

controversial bill put forth by President James Earl (Jimmy) 

Carter to restructure the civil service system.14 Portrayed as 

a plan to improve the efficiency of the federal government, 

the proposed reform was criticized by many veterans’ 

groups and federal unions that feared the legislation would 

undermine the rights of civil service workers.15

A politician who rarely sought publicity, Nix usually 

followed the Democratic Party line by supporting the 

liberal legislation of the John F. Kennedy and Lyndon B. 

Johnson administrations. Although some of his Democratic 

colleagues criticized America’s involvement in the 

Vietnam War, Nix, a senior member of the Foreign Affairs 

Committee, consistently backed executive foreign policy 

initiatives.16 As chairman of the Subcommittee on Foreign 

Economic Policy, Nix led an investigation of the use of 

funds by defense contractors to pay foreign consultants, 

agents, governmental officials, and political parties. He later 

introduced an amendment to the Foreign Military Sales 

Act requiring the Defense Department to provide Congress 

with information on the identities of and fees received by 

agents who negotiated arms sales for American firms.

Throughout his tenure on the Hill, Nix remained 

connected to the political machine that helped him earn 

a spot in Congress. Accordingly, he promoted legislation 

that reflected the concerns of his urban constituents, 

sponsoring bills to preserve the Philadelphia Navy Yard and 

to establish a “senior service corps” to employ workers older 

than 60. He also dedicated considerable effort to lowering 

unemployment, arguing, “This is the richest and most 

technically advanced country in the world. Every citizen 

should enjoy the opportunity to make a living consistent 

with his abilities and skills.”17 In line with the practices of 

the machine organization, Nix held regular Saturday hours 

in his district office to listen to his constituents’ concerns.18

As one of the few black Members in the House and 

the Representative of many African Americans living in 

Philadelphia, Nix backed a national civil rights agenda. In 

1959, early in his congressional career, Nix introduced a 

measure to end racial discrimination in the armed forces. 

“To treat a man who wears that uniform with [contempt] 

merely because of the color of his skin is an insult to 

America and to everything for which our country stands,” 

Nix said on the House Floor.19 He supported passage of 

the landmark civil rights bills of the 1960s, with a focus 

on protecting of voting rights for Black Americans. In 

1963, seeking to enforce the second section of the 14th 

Amendment, Nix authored a bill to decrease a state’s 

representation when voters’ rights were violated—echoing 

previous measures introduced unsuccessfully in the House 

for six decades.20 During the House debate on the Voting 

Rights Act of 1965, Nix countered critics who maintained 

that African Americans from his native state of South 

Carolina had ample opportunity to register to vote. He 

highlighted the many levels of intimidation and the barriers 

that hindered significant black representation in the 

southern state.21 Disturbed by rumors that the March on 

Washington to secure equal rights for minorities, scheduled 

for August 1963, might result in rioting and violence, 

Nix made an impassioned speech to his House colleagues 

expressing his hope that the marchers’ campaign would 

be peaceful. “The promised land is here,” he proclaimed, 

“now, awaiting only the complete and immediate removal, 

by our fellow Americans, of the racial fence which has 

surrounded it and kept Negroes out for 300 years.”22 The 

Pennsylvania Representative also sought to prevent the 

House from denying Representative Powell, his seat in 

H Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 321

the 90th Congress (1967–1969). Declaring “justice will 

prevail,” Nix argued that Powell “did not receive the fair 

and impartial trial guaranteed to every American citizen.” 

He added, “The Congress of the United States is honor 

bound to admit its error, and to correct its wrong.”23

Despite his work to pursue equal rights for African 

Americans, many black leaders, including some fellow 

House Members, denounced Nix for failing to use his 

political position to secure significant gains for minorities. 

A reserved man who preferred to avoid controversy, Nix 

increasingly found himself in the minority among other 

black Members, whose approach to race relations was more 

militant. By 1974, Nix was the second-most-senior black 

Representative, behind Charles Diggs. However, Nix never 

emerged as a leader of the CBC, the symbolic power source 

of African-American legislators, but deferred to less senior 

Members of the House.

Another source of concern for the Philadelphia 

Representative was his high rate of absenteeism. Dubbed 

the “phantom” legislator by some of his congressional 

opponents, Nix appeared rarely at high-profile events, and 

his unwillingness to make himself available to the press 

magnified his image as an ambivalent Representative. 

This experience was not wholly without precedent for a 

machine politician like Nix who spent his final years in 

Congress contending with the decline of the local political 

network that brought him to power.24 Throughout his 

career Nix also dealt with age-related concerns. After Nix’s 

death in 1987, his son Robert, a former chief justice of 

the Pennsylvania supreme court, released a statement that 

his father was seven years older than the age he indicated 

upon entering the special election in 1958; aware that his 

age could impede his congressional career, Nix misled his 

constituents and colleagues in the House.25

Redistricting necessitated by Philadelphia’s declining 

population modified the House district Nix represented, 

which came to encompass portions of northern and 

western Philadelphia that included poor areas populated 

mainly by African Americans in addition to some middleclass black areas and affluent white neighborhoods.26

Although the constituency remained overwhelmingly 

Democratic, Nix did not possess a safe seat, facing frequent 

primary challenges from younger African Americans who 

criticized his close relationship with the Philadelphia 

Democratic machine. By the mid-1970s, with the local 

political establishment waning, Nix was politically 

vulnerable. In 1976, the Representative barely survived 

a primary challenge from a young African-American 

minister, William H. Gray III, capturing only 48 percent 

of the vote.27 Two years later, Nix and Gray squared 

off in a Democratic primary rematch. The incumbent 

emphasized his congressional experience, contending that 

his chairmanship of a House standing committee was “the 

best weapon for helping this district.”28 Nix performed 

poorly at the polls, with only 40 percent of the vote versus 

Gray’s 58 percent.29

After leaving the House in January 1979, Nix remained 

active in politics as the leader of Philadelphia’s 32nd 

Ward until his death in Philadelphia on June 22, 1987. 

Representative Gray praised his predecessor, observing, 

“Because of him, I feel as if I’m standing on the shoulders 

of the congressmen who opened the doors so the next 

generation of black elected officials, like Bill Gray, can do 

the things they are doing now.”30

H Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. H
322 H Black Americans in Congress 

For further reading

“Nix, Robert Nelson Cornelius, Sr.,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=N000113. 

Notes

1 Gordon K. Lee, “Robert N.C. Nix, Sr.,” in Jessie Carney Smith, 

ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale 

Research, Inc., 1999): 878 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM).

2 Tyree Johnson, “Ex-Rep. Nix, ‘Pathfinder,’ Dead at 88,” 23 June 

1987, Philadelphia Daily News: 4. 

3 Lee, “Robert N.C. Nix, Sr.,” NBAM: 876.

4 For more on the early education of Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., see 

Wil Haygood, King of the Cats: The Life and Times of Adam Clayton 

Powell, Jr. (New York: Amistad, 2006): 3–4.

5 Congressional Directory, 86th Cong., 1st sess. (Washington, D.C: 

Government Printing Office, 1959): 135–136.

6 Kenneth C. Martis, The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in 

the United States Congress: 1789–1989, (New York: Macmillan 

Publishing Company, 1989): 211.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; William G. 

Weart, “Party Men Fight in Pennsylvania,” 30 March 1958, 

New York Times: 52; William G. Weart, “Stassen Swamped in 

Pennsylvania Bid,” 21 May 1958, New York Times: 1, 24.

8 “4th Negro in Congress Sworn in,” 5 June 1958, Washington Post: 

A2; Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 216.

9 “Congressman Robert N.C. Nix Sr. Dies,” 22 June 1987, PR

Newswire; Johnson, “Ex-Rep. Nix, ‘Pathfinder,’ Dead at 88”; Lee, 

“Robert N.C. Nix, Sr.,” NBAM.

10 Nix also served brief tenures on the Select Committee on Standards 

of Official Conduct in 1966 (89th Congress), and the Select 

Committee on Crime from 1969 to 1971 (91st Congress).

11 Richard F. Fenno, Jr., Congressmen in Committees (Boston: Little, 

Brown, and Company, 1973): 252–255.

12 “Robert N.C. Nix Sr., 88, Dies; Ex-Congressman from Pa.,” 23 

June 1987, Washington Post: B4; William L. Clay, Just Permanent 

Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: 

Amistad, 1992): 90–91.

13 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 1st sess. (8 September 

1977): 28335–28336.

14 Kathy Sawyer, “Nix Loss Not Seen Affecting Civil Service Reform,” 

18 May 1978, Washington Post: A2; Clay, Just Permanent Interests: 

91–92.

15 Sawyer, “Nix Loss Not Seen Affecting Civil Service Reform”; Mike 

Causey, “2 Hangups in Reform Plan,” 24 April 1978, Washington 

Post: A1.

16 “Robert N.C. Nix Sr., 88, Dies; Ex-Congressman from Pa.”

17 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 216.

18 Johnson, “Ex-Rep. Nix, ‘Pathfinder,’ Dead at 88.”

19 Congressional Record, House, 86th Cong., 1st sess. (27 August 

1959): 17230.

20 Congressional Record, House, 88th Cong., 1st sess. (12 June 1963): 

10741.

21 Congressional Record, House, 89th Cong., 1st sess. (12 May 1965): 

10293.

22 Congressional Record, House, 88th Cong., 1st sess. (22 August 

1963): 15618.

23 Congressional Record, House, 90th Cong., 1st sess. (13 July 1967): 

18727, 18732.

24 Johnson, “Ex-Rep. Nix, ‘Pathfinder,’ Dead at 88.”

25 Ibid.

26 David S. Broder, “The Ambassador, the Congressman and the 

Problem,” 2 May 1978, Washington Post: A1; Almanac of American 

Politics, 1974 (Washington, DC: National Journal Inc., 1973): 

856–857.

27 Almanac of American Politics, 1978 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1977): 723.

28 Broder, “The Ambassador, the Congressman and the Problem.”

29 Almanac of American Politics, 1980 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1979): 748.

30 Johnson, “Ex-Rep. Nix, ‘Pathfinder,’ Dead at 88.”

H Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. H
former members | 1929–1970 H 323

“The promised land is 

here,” Nix proclaimed, 

“now, awaiting only the 

complete and immediate 

removal, by our fellow 

Americans, of the racial 

fence which has surrounded 

it and kept Negroes out 

for 300 years.”
324 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Oil on canvas (Detail), Joseph Maniscalco, 1990, 

Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

Augustus F. Hawkins’s political career spanned 56

 years of public service in the California assembly 

and the U.S. House of Representatives. As the first black 

politician west of the Mississippi River elected to the 

House, Hawkins guided countless pieces of legislation 

aimed at improving the lives of minorities and the urban 

poor. More reserved than many other African-American 

Representatives of the period, Hawkins worked behind 

the scenes to accomplish his legislative goals. Known by 

his colleagues on the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) 

as the “Silent Warrior,” the longtime Representative 

earned the respect of black leaders because of his 

determination to tackle social issues like unemployment 

and his commitment to securing equal educational 

opportunities for impoverished Americans.1

 “The 

leadership belongs not to the loudest, not to those who 

beat the drums or blow the trumpets,” Hawkins said, “but 

to those who day in and day out, in all seasons, work for 

the practical realization of a better world—those who have 

the stamina to persist and remain dedicated.”2

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins was born in 

Shreveport, Louisiana, on August 31, 1907. The youngest 

of five children, he moved to Los Angeles, California, 

with his parents, Nyanza and Hattie (Freeman) Hawkins, 

and siblings in 1918. Nyanza Hawkins, a pharmacist 

and formerly an African explorer, left his native England 

for the United States.3 Resembling his paternal English 

grandfather, Gus was often mistaken for a Caucasian 

throughout his lifetime. After graduating from Los 

Angeles’s Jefferson High School in 1926, he earned a 

bachelor’s degree in economics from the University 

of California at Los Angeles in 1931.4 Although he 

planned to study civil engineering in graduate school, 

Hawkins’s lack of financial support, exacerbated by the 

Great Depression, forced him to alter his career path. He 

opened a real estate company with his brother Edward 

and took classes at the University of California’s Institute 

of Government. Newly interested in politics, Hawkins 

supported the 1932 presidential bid of Franklin D. 

Roosevelt and the 1934 gubernatorial campaign of Upton 

Sinclair, a famous muckraker and author of The Jungle.

5

Hawkins quickly converted his political awareness into a 

career by defeating 16-year veteran Republican Frederick 

Roberts to earn a spot in the California assembly, the lower 

chamber of the state legislature. During the campaign, 

Hawkins criticized Roberts for remaining in office too 

long; ironically, the future Representative became known 

for the longevity of his public service. While serving in the 

state assembly, Hawkins married Pegga Adeline Smith on 

August 28, 1945. After she died in 1966, he married Elsie 

Taylor on June 30, 1977.6

As a member of the California assembly from 1935 

to 1963, Hawkins compiled a substantial legislative 

record that centered on the interests of his predominantly 

African-American and Hispanic Los Angeles district. 

In addition to chairing the joint legislative organization 

committees, he introduced a fair housing act, a fair 

employment practices act, legislation for low-cost housing 

and disability insurance, and provisions for workmen’s 

compensation for domestics. In 1958, Hawkins lost a 

bid to become assembly speaker—widely considered 

the second-most-powerful elected office in the state 

behind the governor—to Ralph M. Brown of Modesto, 

but Brown named Hawkins chairman of the powerful 

rules committee.7 After two years in that post, Hawkins 

set his sights on the U.S. Congress. “I felt that as a 

Congressman I could do a more effective job than in the 

[state] Assembly,” Hawkins remarked. In 1962, Hawkins 

entered the Democratic primary to represent a newly 

created majority-black congressional district encompassing 

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins

1907–2007

United States Representative H 1963–1991

Democrat from California

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
326 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

central Los Angeles. 8 His campaign received a boost 

when President John F. Kennedy endorsed him. With an 

established civil rights record, Hawkins easily defeated 

his three opponents—Everette Porter, an attorney, Ted 

Bruinsma, a business consultant, and Merle Boyce, a 

physician—with more than 50 percent of the vote.9

 His 

momentum continued as he won the general election by 

a landslide, capturing 85 percent of the vote against an 

African-American attorney, Republican Herman Smith, to 

earn a spot in the 88th Congress (1963–1965).10 After the 

election, Hawkins remarked, “It’s like shifting gears—from 

the oldest man in the Assembly in years of service to a 

freshman in Congress.”11 Even though the California state 

legislature reapportioned the Los Angeles district four 

times after Hawkins’s initial election, the district remained 

predominantly African American and Hispanic and 

consistently supported Hawkins, who won by more than 

80 percent throughout his career.12

As a Representative, Hawkins championed many of 

the same causes he promoted in the California assembly. 

During his first term in Congress, he sat on the Education 

and Labor Committee, which was chaired by the 

flamboyant and controversial Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., 

of New York. Eventually rising to chairman, a position he 

held from the second session of the 98th Congress (1983–

1985) until his retirement at the end of the 101st Congress 

(1989–1991), Hawkins wielded considerable authority 

over issues relating to education and employment. He also 

served on the House Administration Committee from the 

91st through the 98th Congresses (1969–1985), acting 

as chairman for the final two terms. Hawkins chaired the 

Joint Committee on the Library during the 97th Congress 

(1981–1983) and the Joint Committee on Printing 

during the 98th Congress. He left all three panels when 

he assumed the chairmanship of the Education and Labor 

Committee.13 The California Representative served on the 

Joint Economic Committee from the 97th Congress to the 

101st Congress. 

Only one term after he took office, Hawkins was 

thrust into the political spotlight by the 1965 Watts riots, 

which leveled an impoverished section of Los Angeles in 

his district. Hawkins challenged his fellow lawmakers to 

help his constituents, saying, “The trouble is that nothing 

has ever been done to solve the long-range underlying 

problems.”14 He described the rioting as an expression of 

desperation, partially due to the absence of long-promised 

federal antipoverty funds, but did not condone the 

violence.15 Throughout his career, Hawkins also eschewed 

the militant approach of some of his congressional 

colleagues, arguing, “We need clearer thinking and fewer 

exhibitionists in the civil rights movement.”16

From the beginning of his career on the Hill, Hawkins 

worked to improve the quality of life for minorities. In 

1964 he toured the South with three white Representatives 

to champion African-American voter registration and to 

observe discrimination. Praising the volunteers who risked 

their lives to fight oppression, Hawkins recalled, “Being 

congressmen didn’t exempt us from the constant terror 

felt by anyone challenging established racial practices.”17

Among Hawkins’s most notable accomplishments in his 

early years in the House was the establishment of the Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission—a federal agency 

to prevent discrimination in the workplace—in Title 

VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Hawkins believed 

targeting discrimination in the workforce was essential to 

the advancement of civil rights. Although pleased with the 

passage of the legislation, he called the civil rights bill “only 

a beginning.” He added, “It is incomplete and inadequate; 

but it represents a step forward.”18 Hawkins also succeeded 

in obtaining an honorable discharge for 167 black soldiers 

who were dismissed from the 25th Infantry Regiment 

of the U.S. Army after being falsely accused of a public 

disturbance in Brownsville, Texas, in 1906.19

Hawkins’s modest role in the CBC strongly suggested 

his divergence from the tactics of black leaders. Selected 

vice chairman of the organization during its first term of 

existence (1971–1973), Hawkins never occupied another 

leadership position in the CBC.

20 In 1980, he remarked 

that the CBC “could do a better job,” since “now it’s 

85 percent social and 15 percent business.”21 Hawkins’s 

H Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 327

nonconfrontational manner did not conform with the 

radical and militant civil rights movement that swept 

through much of the country during the 1960s. While 

other African-American Representatives of the period, 

such as Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and William L. Clay, 

Sr., of Missouri, routinely voiced their outrage about racial 

discrimination on the public stage, Hawkins focused on 

producing change through legislation. But despite his 

dedication to the civil rights movement and his legislative 

efforts to promote racial equality, Hawkins’s political 

pragmatism conflicted with the militant tactics of the 

other black Members. Explaining his position, Hawkins 

said, “Racializing an issue defeats my purpose—which is to 

get people on my side.”22 Unlike some African Americans 

who worked on civil rights legislation only with other 

black politicians, Hawkins formed alliances with labor 

groups and white ethnic groups to increase the likelihood 

of advancing his agenda.23

Hawkins enthusiastically backed much of President 

Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great Society legislation, but he 

found fault with the administration’s foreign policy in 

Southeast Asia. Though he did not believe the Vietnam 

War undermined domestic efforts to end poverty, he 

noted that the United States made a mistake in “believing 

we can impose our way of life on other people.”24

Hawkins’s criticism of the war escalated throughout 

the 1960s and continued into President Richard M. 

Nixon’s administration. Serving on a select committee to 

provide specialized information to the House about U.S. 

involvement in Vietnam, Hawkins and 11 congressional 

colleagues set off on a fact-finding mission to Southeast 

Asia in June 1970.25 During the trip, Hawkins and 

Democratic Representative William Anderson of 

Tennessee—the only Representatives to tour a South 

Vietnamese prison for civilians on Con Son Island—

reported witnessing prisoners, including women and 

children, locked in “tiger cages” and suffering from extreme 

malnutrition.26 They drafted a House Resolution urging 

Congress to “condemn the cruel and inhumane treatment” 

of prisoners in South Vietnam. The two Representatives 

also pressured President Nixon to send an independent 

task force to investigate the prison and “prevent further 

degradation and death.”27 Hawkins’s 1970 tour of Vietnam 

convinced him that America should withdraw its troops 

from Southeast Asia.28

Hawkins was determined to use his position as a 

Member of Congress to curb unemployment in the 

United States. In 1975, an economic downturn caused 

unemployment to soar to 8.5 percent—the highest rate in 

a generation. The joblessness rate for nonwhites—nearly 

14 percent—was especially devastating to inner-city 

African Americans.29 From 1974 to 1975, Hawkins 

worked with Senator (and former Vice President) Hubert 

Humphrey of Minnesota to draft legislation aimed at 

reducing unemployment levels to three percent over a 

period of 18 months. Introduced in 1976, the bill took 

two years until passage. On the House Floor, he rebuked 

his colleagues for allowing the measure to lose momentum 

and urged immediate action, saying both chambers of 

Congress had “a serious responsibility for coming to grips 

with the formulation of a national economic policy.”30

The Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act of 1978, 

also known as the Humphrey–Hawkins Act, set a target of 

reducing the unemployment rate to 4 percent by 1983, but 

the final version of the bill, which only vaguely resembled 

the ambitious first draft, contained few substantive 

guidelines for reaching the target level.31 At the October 

1978 White House signing ceremony, President James Earl 

(Jimmy) Carter observed that the legislation was a tribute 

to Senator Humphrey, who had died earlier that year. 

Hawkins, who received a standing ovation for his role in 

the bill, recalled, “the legislation was clearly symbolic”—a 

judgment shared by many experts.32

Hawkins dedicated much of his career to enacting 

legislation concerning education, job training, and equality 

in the workplace. In 1974, he authored the Juvenile 

Justice and Delinquency Prevention Act. Four years later, 

he served as floor manager for a measure to increase the 

effectiveness of the Comprehensive Employment and 

Training Act; his efforts led to the creation of 660,000 new 

H Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins H
328 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

jobs.33 That same year, Hawkins sponsored the Pregnancy 

Disability Act to increase the rights of working women. 

In an impassioned plea to his colleagues, he said, “We 

have the opportunity to ensure that genuine equality in 

the American labor force is more than an illusion and 

that pregnancy will no longer be the basis of unfavorable 

treatment of working women.”34 With the passage of the 

bill in 1978, discrimination against pregnant employees 

became illegal.

In 1984 Hawkins became chairman of the Education 

and Labor Committee a month after the sudden death 

of the former chair, Representative Carl Perkins.35 As 

chairman, Hawkins continued his aggressive pursuit of 

increased educational opportunities for the underprivileged. 

During the 1980s he focused on legislation to increase 

spending for adult literacy and childhood education. 

In 1988 he helped secure the passage of the School 

Improvement Act (also known as the Hawkins–Stafford 

Act), a bill that altered the Elementary and Secondary 

Education Act (1965)—landmark legislation that 

authorized federal aid to U.S. schools—by stipulating 

that only schools demonstrating improved academic 

achievement would receive federal aid.36 By the time 

Hawkins took over the Education and Labor Committee, 

his liberal politics contrasted with those of a conservative 

President. He sparred repeatedly with President Ronald W. 

Reagan regarding marked increases in military spending, 

while his New Deal-style proposals were periodically 

opposed by Republicans and by many younger Democrats. 

During his final terms in office, Hawkins suffered a series 

of major legislative setbacks. Unable to muster enough 

support for an extensive overhaul of the welfare system, he 

also failed to push through a federal childcare program and 

a substantial increase in the minimum wage.37 The final 

blow was President George H. W. Bush’s veto of a civil 

rights bill sponsored by Hawkins. Passed by both the House 

and Senate, the Civil Rights Act of 1990 sought to increase 

job protection for minorities and women.38 Even with a 

presidential veto looming, Hawkins uncharacteristically 

declined to compromise, declaring, “We have had enough 

input from all parties on the bill.”39 Hawkins portrayed the 

President’s decision as a “national retreat from civil rights,” 

and when the Senate failed to overturn the veto, Hawkins’s 

legislation did not become law.40

In the face of increased opposition, Hawkins continued 

to support federally funded education and employment 

programs. He refused to shift his ideology, despite the fact 

that many in the Democratic Party considered his beliefs 

outdated. His frustration with the tenor of the institution 

and his age led him to retire at the end of the 101st 

Congress in 1991.41 For many years he lived on Capitol 

Hill. Months after his 100th birthday, Hawkins died on 

November 10, 2007, in Bethesda, Maryland. “He passed 

on a new tradition,” noted former House colleague Yvonne 

Burke of California, “that African Americans can be 

elected, get high position in committees and set the tone 

and become leaders.”42

H Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 329

For further reading

“Hawkins, Augustus Freeman (Gus),” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present,

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=H000367. 

Manuscript Collections

Howard University (Washington, DC), Manuscript 

Division, Moorland–Spingarn Research Center. Oral 

History: In the Ralph J. Bunche Oral History Collection, 

1969, 26 pages. An interview with Representative 

Augustus (Gus) Hawkins conducted by Robert Wright 

on February 28, 1969. Representative Hawkins discusses 

the history of Title VII (equal employment) of the 

1964 Civil Rights Act, antipoverty programs and their 

relationship to the 1965 Watts Riots, and the operations 

of congressional committees.

University of California, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, 

CA), Department of Special Collections, Library. Papers:

1935–1990, 137 linear feet. The Augustus Hawkins 

Collection contains the series Legislative Files, Subject Files, 

Correspondence Files, District Office Files, Education and 

Labor Committee Files, California State Assembly Files, 

and Miscellaneous Material. The papers cover subjects such 

as civil rights, employment, equal opportunity, education, 

job training, and childcare. The two series with perhaps 

the greatest research value are the legislative files, since they 

document Hawkins’s attempts to enact legislation and his 

committee service; and the subject files, which provide 

background information, including Hawkins’s handwritten 

notes, for many of his legislative efforts. A finding aid is 

available in the repository and online. 

Notes

1 William L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in 

Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, Inc, 1992): 94.

2 Congressional Record, House, 101st Cong., 2nd sess. (27 October, 

1990): E3656. 

3 “Hawkins, Augustus,” Current Biography, 1983 (New York: H. W. 

Wilson Company, 1983): 176. 

4 Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress

(Washington, DC: United States Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 

39.

5 For the most recent work on Roosevelt’s 1932 election, see 

Donald A. Ritchie, Electing FDR: The New Deal Campaign of 

1932 (Lawrence: University Press of Kansas, 2007). See also Greg 

Mitchell, The Campaign of the Century: Upton Sinclair’s Race for 

Governor of California and the Birth of Media Politics (New York: 

Random House, 1992).

6 Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: 

Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 221–223; Washington, 

Outstanding African Americans of Congress, 39–40; “Hawkins, 

Augustus,” Current Biography, 1983: 176–179.

7 “Still Seeks Assembly Post, Hawkins Says,” 14 November 1958, Los 

Angeles Times: 6; “Both Parties Fill Posts in Legislature,” 5 January 

1961, Los Angeles Times: 13.

8 Gladwin Hill, “16 Men Battling in California for Eight New 

Seats in House,” 20 October 1962, New York Times: 10; Richard 

Bergholz, “Democrats Facing Primary Problems,” 31 May 1962, 

Los Angeles Times: A1.

9 Richard Bergholz, “District Changes Listed for Voters,” 8 April 

1962, Los Angeles Times: A2.

10 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Hill, “16 Men 

Battling in California for Eight New Seats in House.”

11 “Negro, Congress-Bound, Loath to Leave State,” 8 November 

1962, Los Angeles Times: 16.

12 William J. Eaton, “Hawkins Retiring—But Not Quitting,” 23 

December 1990, Los Angeles Times: 3A.

13 Hawkins also served as acting chairman of the Joint Committee 

on Printing during the 96th Congress (1979–1981). See Garrison 

Nelson et al., Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1947–1992: 

Committee Histories and Member Assignments Volume 2 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly, Inc., 1994): 395.

14 Peter Bart, “Officials Divided in Placing Blame,” 15 August 1965, 

New York Times: 81.

15 Augustus Hawkins, Oral History Interview, 29 February 1969, 

Manuscript Division, Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, 

Howard University, Washington, DC: 10–11.

H Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins H
330 H Black Americans in Congress 

32 Jacqueline Trescott, “The Long Haul of Rep. Gus Hawkins; At 83, 

the Steady Champion of Civil Rights Is Retiring From a Battle 

That Won’t End,” 24 October 1990, Washington Post: D1; Edward 

Walsh, “Humphrey–Hawkins Measure Is Signed by the President,” 

28 October 1978, Washington Post: A9; “President Signs Symbolic 

Humphrey–Hawkins Bill,” 28 October 1978, Los Angeles Times: 17.

33 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 42–43.

34 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 2nd sess. (18 July 1978): 

21435.

35 “Reps. Hawkins and Annunzio in Line for Perkins’ Panel Posts,” 

5 August 1984, Washington Post: A2; “Reps. Hawkins, Annunzio 

Receive New Assignments,” 7 September 1984, Los Angeles Times: 

B24.

36 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 42; Irvin 

Molotsky, “A 5-Year Extension of Education Law Adopted by 

House,” 20 April 1988, New York Times: A1. The Elementary and 

Secondary Education Act of 1965 is briefly mentioned on page 25 

of Congressman Hawkins’s 1969 oral history.

37 Eaton, “Hawkins Retiring—But Not Quitting”; Politics in America, 

1990: 181–183. 

38 Steven A. Holmes, “President Vetoes Bill on Job Rights; Showdown 

Is Set,” 23 October 1990, New York Times: A1.

39 Steven A. Holmes, “No Compromise, Say Civil Rights Bill’s 

Sponsors,” 24 July 1990, New York Times: A14.

40 Trescott, “The Long Haul of Rep. Gus Hawkins”; Helen Dewar, 

“Senate Upholds Civil Rights Bill Veto, Dooming Measure for 

1990,” 25 October 1990, Washington Post: A15.

41 Trescott, “The Long Haul of Rep. Gus Hawkins.” See also Eaton, 

“Hawkins Retiring—But Not Quitting.”

42 Quoted in Claudia Luther and Valerie J. Nelson, “Augustus F. 

Hawkins: 1907–2007; A Pioneer for Black Lawmakers in L.A.,” 

13 November 2007, Los Angeles Times. See also Adam Bernstein, 

“Augustus Hawkins; Calif. Congressman,” 14 November 2007, 

Washington Post: B7; Brandace Simmons, “Trailblazing Ex-Rep. 

Hawkins Dies at 100,” 14 November 2007, Roll Call; “Rep. John 

Lewis Mourns Death of Rep. Augustus Hawkins and Celebrates 

His Accomplishments,” 13 November 2007, States News Service.

16 “Augustus F. Hawkins,” Politics in America, 1989 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1988): 181. 

17 Drew Pearson, “Negro Congressman Tours South,” 5 August 1964, 

Los Angeles Times: A6.

18 Congressional Record, House, 88th Cong., 2nd sess. (10 February 

1964): 2733.

19 Paul Houston, “Black Ex-Soldier,” 2 December 1972, Los Angeles 

Times: 1; John Dreyfuss, “Waiting Pays Off,” 19 April 1973, 

Los Angeles Times: A3. For a useful overview of the Brownsville 

affair, see Ann J. Lane, The Brownsville Affair: National Crisis and 

Black Reaction (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1971).

For an additional perspective on Theodore Roosevelt’s role in the 

Brownsville affair, see Edmund Morris, Theodore Rex (New York: 

Random House, 2001): 452–455, 464–467.

20 Robert Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: Racial Politics in the 

U.S. Congress (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998): 65.

21 Jacqueline Trescott, “Caucus Critiques,” 27 September 1980, 

Washington Post: D1.

22 Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1989): 181.

23 Augustus Hawkins, Oral History Interview: 20; “Hawkins, 

Augustus,” Current Biography, 1983: 177.

24 Augustus Hawkins, Oral History Interview: 18.

25 Ibid., 20; “Hawkins, Augustus,” Current Biography, 1983: 177; 

Richard L. Lyons, “House Names Panel of 12 for War Zone 

Inspection Trip,” 16 June 1970, Washington Post: A12.

26 Gloria Emerson, “Americans Find Brutality in South Vietnamese 

Jail,” 7 July 1970, New York Times: 3; George C. Wilson, “S. Viet 

Prison Found ‘Shocking’,” 7 July 1970, Washington Post: A1.

27 Felix Belair, Jr., “House Panel Urges U.S. to Investigate ‘Tiger 

Cage’ Cells,” 14 July 1970, New York Times: 1.

28 “Hawkins, Augustus,” Current Biography, 1983: 177.

29 See “Table Ba583–596, Unemployment Rate, By Age, Sex, Race, 

and Hispanic Origins: 1947–2000,” Historical Statistics of the 

United States, Volume 2: Work and Welfare, Susan B. Carter et al., 

eds (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006): 95.

30 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 2nd sess. (18 August, 

1978): 27021.

31 “Coalition Set Up to Back Full Employment Bill,” 23 November 

1977, New York Times: 68; Washington, Outstanding African 

Americans of Congress: 41–42.

H Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins H
former members | 1929–1970 H 331

“The leadership belongs 

not to the loudest, 

not to those who beat the 

drums or blow the trumpets,” 

Hawkins said, “but to those 

who day in and day out, 

in all seasons, work for the 

practical realization of a 

better world—those who 

have the stamina to persist 

and remain dedicated.”
332 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of U.S. Senate Historical Office 

Edward W. Brooke’s election to the U.S. Senate in 

1966 ended an 85-year absence of African-American 

Senators.1

 Brooke was the first popularly elected Senator 

and the first black politician from Massachusetts to serve 

in Congress. While he professed loyalty to the Republican 

Party, he was an independent thinker who acted 

according to his conscience. Throughout his political 

career, Brooke demonstrated resiliency and defined 

himself as a representative of his entire constituency 

rather than as an African-American Senator seeking solely 

to advance black interests.

Edward William Brooke III, was born in Washington, 

DC, on October 26, 1919. Named for his grandfather, 

father, and deceased sister Edwina, he lived with his father, 

Edward Brooke, Jr., a graduate of Howard University 

Law School and a longtime lawyer with the Veterans 

Administration; his mother, Helen Seldon; and his older 

sister, Helene.2 After graduating from Dunbar High 

School in Washington, DC, in 1936, Ed Brooke enrolled 

in Howard University. Originally intending to pursue 

a career in medicine, he decided to major in sociology, 

earning a bachelor of science degree in 1941. Shortly 

after the Japanese bombed Pearl Harbor on December 

7, 1941, Brooke entered the U.S. Army as a second 

lieutenant. Before serving overseas in World War II, 

Brooke was stationed with the segregated 366th Infantry 

Regiment at Fort Devens in Ayer, Massachusetts. Like 

many black Members of the era, Brooke felt keenly the 

irony of fighting for democracy abroad while facing racial 

discrimination in the armed forces. The Massachusetts 

base implemented a whites-only policy for all clubs, as 

well as the swimming pool, the tennis courts, and the 

general store. “In every regard, we were treated as secondclass soldiers, if not worse, and we were angry,” Brooke 

recalled. “I felt a personal frustration and bitterness I had 

not known before in my life.”3

 While stateside, Brooke 

defended black enlisted men in military court. Despite 

a lack of legal training, he earned a reputation as a 

competent public defender and a “soldier’s lawyer.”4

 His 

experience on the Massachusetts military base inspired 

him to earn an LL.B. in 1948 and an LL.M. in 1949 from 

Boston University.5

Brooke spent 195 days with his unit in Italy. His fluent 

Italian and his light skin enabled him to cross enemy lines 

to communicate with Italian partisans. By the war’s end, 

Brooke had earned the rank of captain, a Bronze Star, and 

a Distinguished Service Award. During his tour in Europe, 

he also met Italian-born Remigia Ferrari-Scacco. After a 

two-year long-distance relationship, they married on June 

7, 1947, in Roxbury, Massachusetts.6

 The couple had two 

daughters: Edwina and Remi. Brooke divorced in 1978 

and married Anne Fleming in 1979. Brooke and his second 

wife had a son, Edward W. Brooke IV. 

Brooke declined offers to join established law 

firms, choosing instead to start his own practice in the 

predominantly African-American community of Roxbury. 

At the urging of friends from his former army unit, Brooke 

interrupted his law career to run for the Massachusetts 

house of representatives in 1950. Lacking party affiliation, 

Brooke took advantage of a state law allowing candidates 

to cross-file. Despite his nonexistent political experience, 

he received the endorsement of the Republican Party for 

the house seat representing Roxbury. Unsuccessful in the 

general election, Brooke entered the race two years later, 

winning the Republican nomination but losing to his 

Democratic opponent.7

Brooke resumed his law career after his failed attempts at 

election to the Massachusetts legislature. During his hiatus 

from politics, he established himself as a successful lawyer 

and built community ties that would prove significant 

Edward William Brooke III

1919–

United States Senator H 1967–1979

Republican from Massachusetts

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
334 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

in future bids for elected office.8 In 1960, he re-entered 

the political fray, running for Massachusetts secretary of 

state. Although Brooke lost once again, he surprised many 

people by capturing more than one million votes in an 

election in which John F. Kennedy of Massachusetts was 

the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee.9

 During this 

period, Brooke attained valuable name recognition and a 

reputation as an honest and determined public servant. In 

recognition of his strong performance in the campaign, 

Republican Governor John Volpe of Massachusetts 

appointed Brooke chairman of the Boston Finance 

Commission, whose purpose was to uncover corruption in 

the city’s municipal agencies. During his two-year tenure, 

Brooke transformed the commission into a respectable and 

effective organization, and his position helped make him 

one of the most popular political figures in the state.10

In 1962, Brooke achieved his goal to win an elected 

position. After earning the Republican nomination for 

Massachusetts attorney general, he easily defeated the 

Democratic challenger. As the only member of his party 

to win statewide election in 1962 and the first African 

American to serve as a state attorney general, Brooke 

garnered national attention.11 Brooke continued his efforts 

to thwart corruption in the state government. He also 

recommended a series of measures to protect consumers’ 

rights and fought to end housing discrimination. Civil 

rights leaders criticized Brooke’s refusal to support a 

1964 boycott by African-American students to protest 

segregation in the Boston school system. “I am not a 

civil rights leader, and I don’t profess to be,” Brooke 

once declared, explaining the divergence between legal 

interpretation and his personal views on racial equality.12

His moderate response to the proposed protest won him 

invaluable backing from many voters in the predominantly 

white state.13

In 1966 Brooke authored The Challenge of Change: 

Crisis in Our Two-Party System, outlining many of his 

political principles, including his beliefs about civil rights. 

The “issue [civil rights] is pressing on the nation, and cries 

out for a solution,” Brooke wrote, arguing that in addition 

to legislation, African Americans needed access to a quality 

education to compete with whites.14 While he promoted 

change, Brooke steadily maintained that militancy 

undermined the civil rights movement. 

After two terms as attorney general (1962–1966), 

Brooke announced his candidacy in 1965 for the U.S. 

Senate seat left vacant by the retirement of Leverett 

Saltonstall. During the campaign against Democrat 

Endicott Peabody, formerly the governor of Massachusetts 

(he was unopposed in the Republican primary), Brooke 

vowed to work for “the establishment of peace, the 

preservation of freedom for all who desire it, and a better 

life for people at home and abroad.”15 Labeling himself 

a “creative Republican,” Brooke successfully courted 

voters from both parties by emphasizing his moderate 

viewpoints.16 His criticism of militant civil rights activists 

resonated with many voters in Massachusetts. Despite the 

enthusiastic backing of popular Massachusetts Senator 

Edward (Ted) Kennedy, Peabody could not best Brooke 

on Election Day. On November 8, 1966, Brooke earned 

a seat in the 90th Congress (1967–1969), winning 62 

percent of the vote.17 His victory met with considerable 

fanfare, both in Massachusetts and the nation; Brooke was 

the first African American elected to the Senate since the 

Reconstruction Era. Asked to comment on his victory, 

Brooke praised the people of Massachusetts for their ability 

to “judge you on your merit and your worth alone.” He 

promised to use his position to “unite men who have not 

been united before,” reiterating his pledge to represent his 

constituents equally regardless of race.18

On the opening day of the 90th Congress, Senator 

Kennedy, the senior Senator of Massachusetts, escorted 

the newly elected Brooke down the aisle of the Senate 

Chamber by long-standing tradition. The Senators 

greeted Brooke with a standing ovation. “I felt like a 

member of the club,” Brooke said. “They didn’t overdo 

it. They didn’t underdo it.”19 Unlike many of his AfricanAmerican colleagues in the House, Brooke experienced 

little institutional racism in the Senate. “In all my years in 

the Senate, I never encountered an overt act of hostility,” 

H Edward William Brooke III H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 335

the Massachusetts Senator asserted.20 Brooke later recalled 

using the Senate gym and the adjoining facilities without 

incident. Early in his first term, Brooke went to the 

Senators’ swimming pool in the Russell Senate Office 

Building. Southern Democrats and staunch segregationists 

John Stennis of Mississippi, John McClellan of Arkansas, 

and Strom Thurmond of South Carolina, greeted Brooke 

and invited him to join them in the pool. “There was no 

hesitation or ill will that I could see,” Brooke recollected 

of this positive reception by his Senate colleagues. “Yet 

these were men who consistently voted against legislation 

that would have provided equal opportunity to others 

of my race. I felt that if a senator truly believed in racial 

separatism I could live with that, but it was increasingly 

evident that some members of the Senate played on 

bigotry purely for political gain.”21

Initially assigned to the Aeronautical and Space 

Sciences, Banking and Currency, and Government 

Operations committees, Brooke also served on the 

Armed Services and the Joint Committee on Bicentennial 

Arrangements committees for one Congress.22 During 

the 92nd to the 95th Congresses (1971–1979), Brooke 

was on the Appropriations, Special Aging, and Banking, 

Housing, and Urban Affairs committees. Brooke also sat 

on the Select Equal Education Opportunity Committee, 

the Joint Committee on Defense Production, and the 

Select Standards and Conduct Committee. His ability 

to secure assignments on prominent committees such as 

Banking and Currency and Armed Services while a junior 

Member was due in large measure to the “Johnson rule,” 

instituted by Lyndon B. Johnson of Texas during his 

tenure as Senate Democratic Minority Leader in the early 

1950s; senior Democrats believed giving junior Members 

at least one important committee assignment benefited 

the entire caucus. Johnson made sure the junior Members 

knew that it was he who conferred the plum assignments 

and considered the practice a means to ensure their fealty. 

He continued this system as Majority Leader, and senior 

Senate Republican leaders, such as Everett Dirksen of 

Illinois (who was Minority Leader when Brooke was first 

elected), adopted it as well.23

President Lyndon B. Johnson appointed Brooke to 

the President’s Commission on Civil Disorders shortly 

after he was elected to the Senate. Governor Otto Kerner 

of Illinois led the group, also known as the Kerner 

Commission. Charged with outlining the causes of the 

urban riots of 1967, the Kerner Commission also proposed 

solutions for the epidemic of racial unrest in American 

cities. The commission reported that American society 

was sharply divided along racial lines. The 11-member 

commission, including Brooke, suggested the government 

fund a series of programs to increase educational, 

housing, and employment opportunities for minorities 

living in urban areas. Although President Johnson was 

dedicated to bettering the circumstances of minorities, 

his preoccupation with the Vietnam War and his decision 

not to seek re-election rendered the commission’s 

recommendations ineffective.24

Working with Democratic Senator Walter Mondale 

of Minnesota, Brooke succeeded in attaching an antidiscrimination amendment to the groundbreaking Civil 

Rights Act of 1968. Title VIII of the legislation included 

provisions to combat racial discrimination in housing. 

“Fair housing does not promise an end to the ghetto,” 

Brooke cautioned. “It promises only to demonstrate that 

the ghetto is not an immutable institution in America.”25

The African-American Senator cited his difficulties finding 

a home after he returned from service in World War II to 

illustrate the prejudice in the American housing market.26

Brooke proposed that to combat the “unconscionable 

bitterness between white and Black Americans, it is 

encumbent [sic] upon our Government to act, and to act 

now.”27 In 1975, Brooke vehemently defended the need 

to extend the 1965 Voting Rights Act. When a proposed 

Senate amendment threatened to dilute the historic voting 

rights legislation, Brooke joined the debate. “I just cannot 

believe that here in 1975 on the floor of the Senate we 

are ready to say to the American people, black or white, 

red or brown, ‘You just cannot even be assured the basic 

right to vote in this country.’”28 Brooke’s eloquent and 

H Edward William Brooke III H
336 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

impassioned plea to his colleagues helped extend the 

landmark measure seven years.29

Shortly after the assassination of Martin Luther 

King, Jr., Brooke urged his congressional colleagues to 

recognize the renowned civil rights leader by declaring 

January 15 (King’s birthday) a national holiday. Arguing 

that it “would be fitting to pay our respects to this noble 

figure by enduring public commemoration of his life and 

philosophy,” the Massachusetts Senator earned the support 

of many African Americans.30 Brooke also made headlines 

when he traveled to Jackson State College in Mississippi 

in May 1970 to help ease tensions resulting from the fatal 

shootings of two black students by the police. Despite 

his support of the civil rights movement and his desire 

to promote equal rights for African Americans, Brooke 

often found himself at odds with other African-American 

leaders. The marked increase of black Members in the 

House of Representatives led to the formation of the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in 1971. Although the 

CBC was billed as a nonpartisan organization to promote 

economic and social issues affecting Black Americans, the 

Republican Brooke did not join the group.31 When the 

CBC announced it would boycott President Richard M. 

Nixon’s 1971 State of the Union address to protest his 

refusal to meet with the caucus, the Senator was not asked 

to participate because the black Representatives expected 

Brooke to place party interests ahead of race. Brooke 

repudiated the CBC’s boycott by publicly declaring, “It is 

my duty as a United States Senator to be present, to listen 

and to consider his recommendations.”32

Although Brooke supported the Republican Party, his 

stances were often contrary to the official party line. He 

typically adopted a liberal agenda with regard to social 

issues. During his two terms in the Senate, Brooke backed 

affirmative action, minority business development, and 

public housing legislation. He also favored extending 

minimum wage standards to unprotected jobs held by 

unskilled workers, providing tax incentives to companies 

with management training programs, and increasing 

operating subsidies for commuter rail services and mass 

transit systems.33 At times Brooke even broke party ranks 

to work with Democrats in the Senate and the House. 

For example, Brooke and House Majority Leader Thomas 

(Tip) O’Neill of Massachusetts recommended a swift 

increase in Social Security benefits in 1972.34

Initially a supporter of President Nixon, Brooke 

grew increasingly critical of the Republican executive. 

“Deeply concerned about the lack of commitment to 

equal opportunities for all people,” Brooke denounced 

the White House for neglecting the black community 

and failing to enforce school integration.35 He also made 

waves with the Republican Party and Nixon when he 

opposed three of the President’s Supreme Court nominees: 

Clement F. Haynsworth, Jr., G. Harrold Carswell, and 

William H. Rehnquist. In May 1973 he introduced a 

resolution authorizing the attorney general to appoint a 

special prosecutor to serve in all criminal investigations 

arising from the Watergate scandal. Six months later 

Brooke became the first Senator to publicly call for 

President Nixon’s resignation. “There is no question that 

the President has lost his effectiveness as the leader of this 

country, primarily because he has lost the confidence of 

the people of the country,” Brooke remarked. “I think, 

therefore, that in the interests of this nation that he loves 

that he should step down, tender his resignation.”36 Brooke 

was also one of the few Republicans to disagree publicly 

with President Gerald R. Ford’s pardon of Nixon, deeming 

it a “serious mistake.”37

Concerned primarily with issues that would affect 

the residents of his state, Brooke also demonstrated 

interest in foreign affairs, especially the Vietnam War. 

During his run for the Senate in 1966, Brooke called 

for increased negotiations with the North Vietnamese 

rather than an escalation of the fighting.38 Determined 

to become an expert, he participated in a fact-finding 

mission in Southeast Asia in 1967. The Massachusetts 

Senator reported on his three-week trip during his first 

formal speech on the Senate Floor. Interpreted as a reversal 

of his position on Vietnam, his speech made national 

headlines. Brooke commented that his trip had convinced 

H Edward William Brooke III H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 337

him “that the enemy is not disposed to participate in 

any meaningful negotiations,” which led him to believe 

that Johnson’s “patient” approach to Vietnam did in fact 

have merit.39 Brooke was praised by those who found his 

willingness to publicly change his position courageous, 

and criticized by many civil rights activists who believed 

the Vietnam War siphoned valuable funding away from 

vital domestic programs.40 Years later, Brooke maintained 

that his speech had been misinterpreted by the press 

because his continued support of a reduction of American 

involvement in the region was overlooked.41 As a moderate 

Republican, Brooke grew impatient with the Nixon 

administration’s aggressive Southeast Asian policies, which 

escalated the conflict with few signs of success. In 1970, 

he and 15 members of his party voted for the Cooper–

Church Amendment, which originated in response to 

Nixon’s decision to invade Cambodia and prohibited 

the use of American troops outside Vietnam. Brooke 

further challenged the President’s war effort by voting for 

legislation that established a time limit for the withdrawal 

of American troops from Vietnam.42

In November 1972, Brooke easily defeated Democrat 

John J. Droney, the Middlesex County district attorney, 

earning 64 percent of the vote to win a second term in the 

Senate.43 After his re-election, Brooke continued his active 

role in domestic politics. In November 1975 he and seven 

colleagues on the Banking Committee rejected President 

Ford’s nomination of former Georgia Representative 

Benjamin B. Blackburn to the Federal Home Loan 

Bank Board because of Blackburn’s opposition to the 

1968 Fair Housing Act. During the James Earl (Jimmy) 

Carter administration, Brooke reaffirmed his support of 

appropriations for low-income rental housing programs, 

construction of public housing, and the purchase and 

refurbishment of existing units. He successfully fought 

a 1977 amendment to a Health, Education and Welfare 

(HEW) bill that would have prevented the department 

from enforcing quotas to meet affirmative action goals, 

but he failed to block an anti-busing clause from a HEW 

funding measure.

Brooke’s solid support base in Massachusetts began to 

wane as a result of his acrimonious and public divorce in 

1978 in addition to allegations of financial misconduct.44

In the Republican primary, Brooke faced a challenge 

from conservative television talk show host Avi Nelson. 

Although he managed to rebuff Nelson’s bid, Brooke 

entered the general election campaign in a weakened 

position.45 In November 1978, Democrat Paul Tsongas, a 

Massachusetts Representative representing a House district 

including the historic mill towns of Lowell and Lawrence, 

defeated Brooke 55 to 45 percent.46

After leaving office, the former Senator resumed the 

practice of law in Washington, DC. In 1984 he became 

chairman of the Boston Bank of Commerce, and one year 

later he was named to the board of directors of Grumman. 

Upon being diagnosed with breast cancer in 2002, Brooke 

returned to the public spotlight to increase awareness of 

breast cancer in men. Asked to comment about his public 

advocacy, Brooke responded, “You never know in life what 

you’re going to be called upon to do.”47 In 2004 President 

George W. Bush awarded Brooke the Presidential Medal 

of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.48 In 2007, 

Brooke, who currently resides in Miami, published his 

autobiography, Bridging the Divide: My Life.

49

For further reading

“Brooke, Edward William III,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000871.

Brooke, Edward W. Bridging the Divide: My Life (New 

Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 2007).

_____. The Challenge of Change: Crisis in Our Two-Party 

System (Boston: Little Brown, 1966). 

Cutler, John Henry. Ed Brooke: Biography of a Senator (New 

York: Bobbs-Merrill Company, 1972).

H Edward William Brooke III H
338 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

Notes

1 The two previous black Senators, Hiram Revels and Blanche K. 

Bruce (both of Mississippi), were elected by state legislatures. John 

H. Fenton, “Brooke, A Negro, Wins Senate Seat,” 9 November 

1966, New York Times: 1.

2 Linda M. Carter, “Edward W. Brooke,” in Jessie Carney Smith, 

ed., Notable Black American Men (Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 

Inc., 1999): 121 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM); John Henry 

Cutler, Ed Brooke: Biography of a Senator (New York: Bobbs-Merrill 

Company, 1972): 16.

3 Edward W. Brooke, Bridging the Divide: My Life (New Brunswick: 

Rutgers University Press, 2007): 22.

4 Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 22.

5 Carter, “Edward W. Brooke,” NBAM.

6 Ibid; Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of 

Congress (Washington, DC: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 

12.

7 Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 54–60; Carter, “Edward W. Brooke,” 

NBAM.

8 “Edward Brooke,” Contemporary Black Biography Volume 8 

(Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1994) (hereinafter referred to as 

CBB).

9 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 12; Carter, 

“Edward W. Brooke,” NBAM: 122.

10 Carter, “Edward W. Brooke,” NBAM: 122. For more information 

on Brooke’s tenure on the Boston Finance Commission, see 

Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 71–79.

11 “Edward Brooke,” CBB; Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 96; 

Layhmond Robinson, “Negroes Widen Political Role; Georgians 

Elect State Senator,” 8 November 1962, New York Times: 42; “Big 

Political Gains Scored by Negroes,” 8 November 1962, Washington 

Post: C16. 

12 Quoted in Maurine Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New 

York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1976): 231.

13 American Bar Association, Black History Month 2002, “Edward 

W. Brooke III,” http://www.abanet.org/publiced/bh_brooke.

html (accessed 22 September 2004); “Edward Brooke,” CBB. For 

more information on the boycott, see Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 

106–107.

14 Edward R. Brooke, The Challenge of Change: Crisis in Our TwoParty System (Boston: Little, Brown, 1966): 159.

15 David S. Broder, “Negro Announces for Senate Race,” 31 

December 1965, New York Times: 6.

16 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 231.

17 John H. Henton, “A Dapper Mr. Brooke Goes to Washington,” 2 

January 1967, New York Times: 22.

Manuscript Collections

Broadcast Pioneers Library (College Park, MD), 

University of Maryland Hornbake Library. Audiotapes: In 

the Westinghouse Broadcasting Company Collection, ca. 

1945–1981, 18 audiotapes.

Gerald R. Ford Library (Ann Arbor, MI). Papers: ca. 

1974–1977. Correspondence between President Ford 

and Senator Edward Brooke, as well as briefing papers of 

Senator Brooke. Finding aids are available in the repository 

and online.

Library of Congress (Washington, DC), Manuscript 

Division. Papers: ca. 1956–1988, 273.6 linear feet. The 

papers of Edward Brooke document his tenure as attorney 

general of Massachusetts and also include his senatorial 

papers. Included are correspondence, reports, notes, subject 

files, draft and printed legislation, briefing books, press 

releases, and photographs. Other topics covered include 

the bicentennial of the American Revolution, civil energy 

policy, fishing rights, foreign policy, military base closures, 

military policy, the financial crisis of New York City, 

nominations of Clement H. Haynsworth and G. Harrold 

Carswell to the U.S. Supreme Court, the Vietnam War, 

and the Watergate scandal. The papers document Edward 

Brooke’s participation in Republican Party politics as well 

as his private legal practice in Washington, DC, relating 

primarily to cases involving the National Association for 

the Advancement of Colored People. Access restrictions 

apply. A finding aid is available in the library and online. 

Film reels, film rolls, videocassettes, and videoreels: ca. 

1963–1978; 12 film reels, 26 film rolls, three videocassettes, 

nine videoreels comprising government and commercially 

produced works and unedited footage. Most of the materials 

relate to Brooke’s political career. Access restrictions apply. 

Library of Congress (Washington, DC), American 

Folklife Center, Archive of Folk Culture. Oral History: In 

the National Visionary Leadership Project Interviews and 

Conference Collection, 1997–2003, amount unknown. 

Interviewees include Senator Edward Brooke. 

H Edward William Brooke III H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 339

18 Edgar J. Mills, “Brooke Seizes Spotlight,” 10 November 1966, 

Christian Science Monitor: 1.

19 “Edward Brooke,” CBB; Henton, “A Dapper Mr. Brooke Goes to 

Washington.”

20 Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 150.

21 Ibid., 149.

22 As a member of the Joint Committee on Bicentennial 

Arrangements, Brooke played an instrumental role in the 

publication of the first edition of Black Americans in Congress.

23 Robert Caro, Master of the Senate (New York: Knopf, 2002): 

especially 562–565. See also Donald A. Ritchie, “Oral History 

Interview with Howard E. Shuman,” 19 August 1987, U.S. Senate 

Historical Office, Washington, DC: 206–207: http://www.senate.

gov/artandhistory/history/resources/pdf/Shuman_interview_4.pdf 

(accessed 12 December 2007).

24 Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 172–174; Christopher, Black 

Americans in Congress: 232–233.

25 Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 176.

26 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 14; 

Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 232–233; “History 

of Fair Housing,” U.S. Department of Housing and Urban 

Development, http://www.hud.gov/offices/fheo/aboutfheo/history.

cfm (accessed 12 October 2004).

27 Congressional Record, Senate, 90th Cong., 2nd sess. (6 February 

1968): 2281.

28 Congressional Record, Senate, 94th Cong., 1st sess. (23 July 1975): 

24226.

29 Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 217–219; Bill Boyarsky, “Voting 

Rights Bill Survives Ford’s Letter,” 24 July 1975, Los Angeles Times: 

B1.

30 Congressional Record, Senate, 90th Cong., 2nd sess. (8 April 1968): 

9227; Cutler, Ed Brooke: Biography of a Senator: 290–291.

31 Sources are ambiguous as to whether the CBC formally extended 

an offer of membership to Brooke.

32 William L. Clay, Sr., Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans 

in Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1992): 

142–143; William Raspberry, “Sen. Brooke and Black Americans,” 

13 February 1971, Washington Post: A15; Robert Singh, The 

Congressional Black Caucus: Racial Politics in the U.S. Congress 

(Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998): 55–56. 

33 Carter, “Edward W. Brooke,” NBAM.

34 Marjorie Hunter, “Brooke Joins Democrats in Urging Speedy Rise 

in Social Security Benefits,” 5 May 1972, New York Times: 10.

35 “Brooke Says Nixon Shuns Black Needs,” 12 March 1970, New 

York Times: 25.

36 Richard L. Madden, “Brooke Appeals to Nixon to Resign for 

Nation’s Sake,” 5 November 1973, New York Times: 1; Brooke, 

Bridging the Divide: 208–209.

37 Harold M. Schmeck, Jr., “Reaction to Pardon of Nixon Is Divided, 

But Not Entirely Along Party Lines,” 9 September 1974, New York 

Times: 25. 

38 “Brooke Calls Vietnam a Prime Issue,” 29 August 1966, 

Washington Post: A2.

39 John Herbers, “Brooke Shifts War View and Supports President,” 

24 March 1967, New York Times: 1.

40 Herbers, “Brooke Shifts War View and Supports President.”

41 Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 162–164.

42 Richard L. Strout, “‘Vote Serves to Warn the President...,’” 2 July 

1970, Christian Science Monitor: 1; Brooke, Bridging the Divide: 

165–167.

43 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Brooke, Bridging 

the Divide: 212.

44 George B. Merry, “A Cloud Crosses Brooke Path,” 30 May 1978, 

Christian Science Monitor: 3; “Brooke Admits to False Statement, 

Under Oath, About a $49,000 Loan,” 27 May 1978, New York 

Times: 47. See also Brooke’s autobiography, in which he discusses 

his divorce and financial statements, Bridging the Divide: 243–249.

45 [No title], 19 September 1978, Associated Press.

46 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

47 David Perera, “Into the Spotlight; Bout With Breast Cancer Turns 

Ex-Sen. Brooke Into Spokesman,” 19 June 2003, Roll Call. See 

Brooke’s autobiography for more information on his bout with 

cancer and his public service concerning breast cancer awareness 

for men, Bridging the Divide: 297–302.

48 Rebecca Dana, “Lucky 13: President Honors Nation’s Best; 

Grosvenor, Podhoretz Among Medal of Freedom Recipients,” 24 

June 2004, Washington Post: C01. 

49 Donna Gehrke-White, “A Vote for Miami: Former Sen. Edward 

Brooke Promotes His New Memoir From His New Home,” 19 

March 2007, Miami Herald; Lynette Clemetson, “A Senator’s 

Ambitious Path Through Race and Politics,” 21 February 2007, 

New York Times: E2.

H Edward William Brooke III H
340 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

The first African-American Congresswoman, Shirley 

Anita Chisholm represented a newly reapportioned 

U.S. House district centered in Brooklyn, New York. 

Elected in 1968 because of her roots in the BedfordStuyvesant neighborhood, Chisholm was catapulted into 

the national limelight by virtue of her race, gender, and 

outspoken personality. In 1972, in a largely symbolic 

undertaking, she campaigned for the Democratic 

presidential nomination. But “Fighting Shirley” Chisholm’s 

frontal assault on many congressional traditions and her 

reputation as a crusader limited her influence as a legislator. 

“I am the people’s politician,” she once told the New York 

Times. “If the day should ever come when the people can’t 

save me, I’ll know I’m finished. That’s when I’ll go back to 

being a professional educator.”1

Shirley Anita St. Hill was born on November 20, 

1924, in Brooklyn, New York. She was the oldest of 

four daughters of Charles St. Hill, a factory laborer from 

Guyana, and Ruby Seale St. Hill, a seamstress from 

Barbados. For part of her childhood, Shirley St. Hill lived 

in Barbados on her maternal grandparents’ farm, receiving 

a British education while her parents worked during 

the Great Depression to settle the family in BedfordStuyvesant. The most apparent manifestation of her West 

Indies roots was the slight, clipped British accent she 

retained throughout her life. She attended public schools 

in Brooklyn and graduated with high marks. Accepted 

to Vassar and Oberlin colleges, Shirley St. Hill attended 

Brooklyn College on scholarship and graduated cum laude 

with a B.A. in sociology in 1946. From 1946 to 1953, 

Chisholm worked as a nursery school teacher and then as 

the director of two daycare centers. She married Conrad 

Q. Chisholm, a private investigator, in 1949. Three years 

later, Shirley Chisholm earned an M.A. in early childhood 

education from Columbia University. She served as an 

educational consultant for New York City’s Division of Day 

Care from 1959 to 1964. In 1964, Chisholm was elected to 

the New York state legislature; she was the second AfricanAmerican woman to serve in Albany.

A court-ordered redistricting that carved a new 

Brooklyn congressional district out of Chisholm’s BedfordStuyvesant neighborhood convinced her to run for 

Congress. The influential Democratic political machine, 

headed by Stanley Steingut, declared its intention to send 

an African American from the new district to the House.

The endorsement of the machine usually resulted in 

a primary victory, which was tantamount to election in 

the heavily Democratic area. In the primary, Chisholm 

faced three African-American challengers: civil court 

judge Thomas R. Jones, a former district leader and New 

York assemblyman; Dolly Robinson, a former district coleader; and William C. Thompson, a well-financed state 

senator. Chisholm roamed the new district in a sound 

truck that pulled up outside housing projects while she 

announced: “Ladies and Gentlemen . . . this is fighting 

Shirley Chisholm coming through.” Chisholm capitalized 

on her personal campaign style. “I have a way of talking 

that does something to people,” she noted. “I have a theory 

about campaigning. You have to let them feel you.”2 In the 

primary in mid-June 1968, Chisholm defeated Thompson, 

her nearest competitor, by about 800 votes in an election 

characterized by light voter turnout.

In the general election, Chisholm faced RepublicanLiberal James Farmer, one of the principal figures of the 

civil rights movement, a cofounder of the Congress for 

Racial Equality, and an organizer of the Freedom Riders 

in the early 1960s. The two candidates held similar 

positions on housing, employment, and education issues, 

and both opposed the Vietnam War. Farmer charged 

that the Democratic Party “took [blacks] for granted and 

Shirley A. Chisholm

1924–2005

United States Representative H 1969–1983

Democrat from New York

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
342 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

thought they had us in their pockets. . . . We must be 

in a position to use our power as a swing vote.”3

 But the 

election turned on the issue of gender. Farmer hammered 

away, arguing that “women have been in the driver’s seat” 

in black communities for too long and that the district 

needed “a man’s voice in Washington,” not that of a “little 

schoolteacher.”4 Chisholm, whose campaign motto was 

“unbought and unbossed,” met that charge head-on, 

using Farmer’s rhetoric to highlight discrimination against 

women and explain her unique qualifications. “There were 

Negro men in office here before I came in five years ago, 

but they didn’t deliver,” Chisholm countered. “People came 

and asked me to do something . . . I’m here because of 

the vacuum.” Chisholm portrayed Farmer as an outsider 

(he lived in Manhattan) and used her fluent Spanish to 

appeal to the growing Hispanic population in the BedfordStuyvesant neighborhood. (Puerto Rican immigrants 

accounted for about 20 percent of the district vote.) The 

deciding factor, however, was the district’s overwhelming 

liberal tilt: More than 80 percent of the voters were 

registered Democrats. Chisholm won the general election 

by a resounding 67 percent of the vote.5

Chisholm’s freshman class included two African 

Americans of future prominence: Louis Stokes of Ohio 

and William L. (Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri—and boosted 

the number of African Americans in the House from six to 

nine, the largest total up to that time.6 Chisholm was the 

only new woman to enter Congress in 1969.

Chisholm’s welcome in the House was not warm, due 

to her immediate outspokenness. “I have no intention 

of just sitting quietly and observing,” she said. “I intend 

. . . to focus attention on the nation’s problems.” She did 

just that, lashing out against the Vietnam War in her 

first floor speech on March 26, 1969. Chisholm vowed 

to vote against any defense appropriation bill “until the 

time comes when our values and priorities have been 

turned right-side up again.”7 She was assigned to the 

Committee on Agriculture, a decision she appealed directly 

to House Speaker John McCormack of Massachusetts 

(bypassing Ways and Means Committee Chairman Wilbur 

Mills of Arkansas, who oversaw Democratic committee 

appointments). McCormack told her to be a “good soldier,” 

at which point Chisholm brought her complaint to the 

House Floor. She was reassigned to the Veterans’ Affairs 

Committee which, though not one of her top choices, 

was more relevant to her district’s makeup. “There are a 

lot more veterans in my district than trees,” she quipped.8

From 1971 to 1977 she served on the Committee on 

Education and Labor, having won a place on that panel 

with the help of Hale Boggs of Louisiana, whom she 

had endorsed as Majority Leader.9 She also served on the 

Committee on Organization Study and Review (known 

as the Hansen Committee), whose recommended reforms 

for the selection of committee chairmen were adopted 

by the Democratic Caucus in 1971. From 1977 to 1981, 

Chisholm served as Secretary of the Democratic Caucus. 

She eventually left her Education Committee assignment to 

accept a seat on the Rules Committee in 1977, becoming 

the first black woman—and the second woman ever—to 

serve on that powerful panel. Chisholm also was a founding 

member of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in 1971 

and the Congressional Women’s Caucus in 1977.

Chisholm continued to work for the causes she had 

espoused as a community activist. She sponsored increases 

in federal funding to extend the hours of daycare facilities 

and a guaranteed minimum annual income for families. 

She was a fierce defender of federal assistance for education, 

serving as a primary backer of a national school lunch bill 

and leading her colleagues in overriding President Gerald 

R. Ford’s veto on this measure. However, Chisholm did 

not view herself as a “lawmaker, an innovator in the field 

of legislation”; in her efforts to address the needs of the 

“have-nots,” she often chose to work outside the established 

system. At times she criticized the Democratic leadership in 

Congress as much as she did the Republicans in the White 

House. She was an explorer and a trailblazer rather than a 

legislative artisan.10

True to this approach, Chisholm declared her candidacy 

H Shirley A. Chisholm H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 343

for the 1972 Democratic nomination for President, 

charging that none of the other candidates represented the 

interests of blacks and the inner-city poor. She campaigned 

across the country and succeeded in getting her name on 

12 primary ballots, becoming as well known outside her 

Brooklyn neighborhood as she was in it. At the Democratic 

National Convention she received 152 delegate votes, or 

10 percent of the total, a respectable showing given her 

modest funding. A 1974 Gallup Poll listed her as one of 

the top 10 most-admired women in America—ahead of 

Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis and Coretta Scott King and 

tied with Indian Prime Minister Indira Gandhi for sixth 

place.11 But while the presidential bid enhanced Chisholm’s 

national profile, it also stirred controversy among her House 

colleagues. Chisholm’s candidacy split the CBC. Many 

black male colleagues felt she had not consulted them or 

that she had betrayed the group’s interests by trying to create 

a coalition of women, Hispanics, white liberals, and welfare 

recipients.12 Pervasive gender discrimination, Chisholm 

noted, cut across racial lines: “Black male politicians are no 

different from white male politicians. This ‘woman thing’ is 

so deep. I’ve found it out in this campaign if I never knew it 

before.”13 Her presidential campaign also strained relations 

with other women Members of Congress, particularly Bella 

Abzug of New York, who endorsed George McGovern 

instead of Chisholm.

By 1976, Chisholm faced a stiff challenge from within 

her own party primary by a longtime political rival, New 

York City Councilman Samuel D. Wright. Born and raised 

in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Wright was a formidable opponent 

who had represented Brooklyn in the New York assembly 

for a number of years before winning a seat on the city 

council. He criticized Chisholm for her absenteeism in 

the House, brought on by the rigors of her presidential 

campaign, and for a lack of connection with the district. 

Chisholm countered by playing on her national credentials 

and her role as a reformer of Capitol Hill culture. “I think 

my role is to break new ground in Congress,” Chisholm 

noted. She insisted that her strength was in bringing 

legislative factions together. “I can talk with legislators from 

the South, the West, all over. They view me as a national 

figure and that makes me more acceptable.”14 Two weeks 

later Chisholm turned back Wright and Hispanic political 

activist Luz Vega in the Democratic primary, winning 54 

percent of the vote to Wright’s 36 percent and Vega’s 10 

percent.15 She won the general election handily with 83 

percent of the vote.16

From the late 1970s onward, Brooklyn Democrats 

speculated that Chisholm was losing interest in her House 

seat. Her name was widely floated as a possible candidate 

for several jobs related to education, including president 

of the City College of New York and chancellor of the 

New York City public school system.17 In 1982, Chisholm 

declined to seek re-election. “Shirley Chisholm would 

like to have a little life of her own,” she told the Christian 

Science Monitor, citing personal reasons for her decision to 

leave the House; she wanted to spend more time with her 

second husband, Arthur Hardwick, Jr., a New York state 

legislator she had married about six months after divorcing 

Conrad Chisholm in 1977.18

Other reasons, too, factored into Chisholm’s decision 

to leave the House. She had grown disillusioned over 

the conservative turn the country had taken with the 

election of President Ronald W. Reagan in 1980. Also, 

there were tensions with people on her side of the 

political fence, particularly African-American politicians 

who, she insisted, misunderstood her efforts to build 

alliances. While her rhetoric about racial inequality could 

be passionate at times, Chisholm’s actions toward the 

white establishment in Congress were often conciliatory. 

Chisholm maintained that many members of the black 

community did not understand the need for negotiation 

with white politicians. “We still have to engage in 

compromise, the highest of all arts,” Chisholm noted. 

“Blacks can’t do things on their own, nor can whites. 

When you have black racists and white racists it is very 

difficult to build bridges between communities.”19

After leaving Congress in January 1983, Chisholm 

H Shirley A. Chisholm H
344 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

helped cofound the National Political Congress of Black 

Women and campaigned for Jesse Jackson’s presidential 

bids in 1984 and 1988. She also taught at Mt. Holyoke 

College in 1983. Though nominated as U.S. Ambassador 

to Jamaica by President William J. Clinton, Chisholm 

declined due to ill health. She settled in Palm Coast, 

Florida, where she wrote and lectured, and died on January 

1, 2005, in Ormond Beach, Florida.

For further reading

Brownmiller, Susan. Shirley Chisholm (New York: 

Doubleday, 1970).

“Chisholm, Shirley Anita,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000371.

Chisholm, Shirley. The Good Fight (Boston: Houghton 

Mifflin, 1973).

—––. Unbought and Unbossed (Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 

1970).

Manuscript Collections

Howard University (Washington, DC), Manuscript 

Division, Moorland–Spingarn Research Center. Oral 

History: In the Ralph J. Bunche Oral History Collection, 

1973, 30 pages. An interview with Shirley Chisholm 

conducted by Edward Thompson III on May 2, 1973. 

Congresswoman Chisholm comments on initial political 

involvement, failures of the National Black Political 

Convention and its leaders, Delegate Fauntroy’s promise 

to deliver her candidacy delegate votes from the District 

of Columbia, support she received from the general 

public, retiring from politics, how her involvement with 

the women’s liberation movement was misconstrued, and 

corruption permeating the American political system.

Rutgers University Library (New Brunswick, NJ), 

Center for American Women and Politics, Eagleton 

Institute of Politics. Papers: 1963–1994, approximately 

3.7 cubic feet. The papers of Shirley Chisholm consist 

of speeches, 1971–1989, on a wide variety of topics; 

congressional files, 1965–1981, composed primarily of 

complimentary letters received and presidential campaign 

materials; general files, 1966–1986, consisting chiefly 

of biographical materials, including information on 

Chisholm’s record in Congress; newspaper clippings, 

1969–1990, in the form of editorials written by 

Chisholm, as well as coverage of her speeches, writings, 

and retirement; constituent newsletters, 1969–1982, 

complemented by selected press releases; photographs 

(including photocopies and other reproductions), 

1969–1990, many of which depict Chisholm with 

other political figures; publications, 1969–1992, with 

additional coverage of Chisholm’s political career and her 

retirement; and campaign miscellany, 1969 and 1972, 

including buttons from her presidential campaign and 

political posters.

H Shirley A. Chisholm H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 345

Notes

1 Susan Brownmiller, “This Is Fighting Shirley Chisholm,” 13 April 

1969, New York Times: SM32.

2 Brownmiller, “This Is Fighting Shirley Chisholm.”

3 John Kifner, “G.O.P. Names James Farmer for Brooklyn Race 

for Congress,” 20 May 1968, New York Times: 34; John Kifner, 

“Farmer and Woman in Lively Bedford-Stuyvesant Race,” 26 

October 1968, New York Times: 22.

4 Shirley Washington, Outstanding Women in Congress (Washington, 

DC: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1995): 17.

5 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

6 In November 1970, George W. Collins of Illinois won a special 

election to the remainder of the 91st Congress (1969–1971), 

bringing the House total to 10 black Members.

7 Current Biography, 1969 (New York: H. W. Wilson and Company, 

1969): 94; Hope Chamberlin, A Minority of Members: Women in 

Congress (New York: Praeger, 1973): 325.

8 Karen Foerstel, Biographical Dictionary of Congressional Women 

(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999): 56.

9 Jane Perlez, “Rep. Chisholm’s Angry Farewell,” 12 October 1982, 

New York Times: A24.

10 Marcy Kaptur, Women of Congress: A Twentieth-Century Odyssey 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1996): 

150–151; see also Shirley Chisholm, Unbought and Unbossed 

(Boston: Houghton Mifflin, 1970): 70, 112.

11 “The Gallup Poll: Meir, Betty Ford Are Most Admired,” 2 January 

1975, Washington Post: B3.

12 Kaptur, Women of Congress: 150; William L. Clay, Sr., Just 

Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991 (New 

York: Amistad Press, 1993): 222.

13 Karen Foerstel and Herbert Foerstel, Climbing the Hill: Gender 

Conflict in Congress (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1996): 30.

14 Charlayne Hunter, “Chisholm-Wright Feud in Brooklyn Is Eroding 

Blacks’ Political Power,” 20 March 1976, New York Times: 24; 

Ronald Smothers, “Rep. Chisholm Battling Wright in Showdown 

Race in Brooklyn,” 30 August 1976, New York Times: 26; Ronald 

Smothers, “Wright, Mrs. Chisholm Trade Charges in Face-to-Face 

Debate in Brooklyn,” 3 September 1976, New York Times: A14.

15 “Voting in Primaries for U.S. House and State Legislature,” 16 

September 1976, New York Times: 34.

16 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

17 Marcia Chambers, “School Post Weighed for Mrs. Chisholm,” 

18 February 1978, New York Times: B13; Samuel Weiss, “Rep. 

Chisholm Is a Candidate for College Job,” 19 February 1981, New 

York Times: B12.

18 Julia Malone, “Advice From Retiring Insiders on Shaping Better 

Congress,” 3 November 1982, Christian Science Monitor: 1.

19 Malone, “Advice From Retiring Insiders on Shaping Better 

Congress.”

H Shirley A. Chisholm H
346 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

The first African-American Representative from 

Missouri, Bill Clay, Sr., served in the House for more 

than three decades—longer than any other former black 

Member of the House. During his extensive tenure, he 

used his experience as a civil rights activist and labor union 

representative in St. Louis to promote legislation to help 

minorities and U.S. workers. Clay zealously represented 

his impoverished inner-city constituents, who he believed 

needed a strong voice in Congress. Never one to avoid 

confrontation, the fiery dean of the Missouri delegation 

observed, “I didn’t get so tied to the job that it stopped me 

from speaking out. People used to say to me, ‘How can 

you do that? You won’t get re-elected.’ I would say, ‘I didn’t 

come here to stay forever.’”1

William Lacy (Bill) Clay was born in St. Louis on 

April 30, 1931, to Irving Clay, a welder, and Luella 

(Hyatt) Clay. His political epiphany occurred in 1949, 

after police arrested him, hauled him to a district police 

station, and tried to coerce him to confess involvement 

in a brutal crime with which he had no connection. His 

aunt, a housekeeper for a member of the St. Louis board 

of police commissioners, telephoned her employer, and 

detectives were swiftly dispatched to end the interrogation. 

That episode, Clay recalled decades later, “convinced me 

that survival and political influence are inseparable in 

American society.”2 In 1953, he graduated from St. Louis 

University with a B.S. in history and political science. 

Drafted into the U.S. Army, Clay served from 1953 to 

1955. While on duty in Alabama, he responded to the 

racial discrimination he and other African Americans faced 

by organizing demonstrations; once, Clay led a boycott 

of the base barbershop to protest its policy of serving 

black soldiers only one day a week. His experiences in the 

armed forces contributed to his future career as a social 

activist and politician.3 Clay returned to St. Louis and 

briefly worked as a real estate broker and a manager with 

a life insurance company. He won his first elective office 

in 1959 as an alderman from a predominantly AfricanAmerican St. Louis ward and served in this position 

through 1964. As a local politician, Clay continued to 

promote civil rights by participating in a series of protests. 

In 1963 he was arrested and jailed for nearly four months 

for his role in a demonstration against the hiring practices 

of a St. Louis bank. “I think things were accomplished 

that far outweighed the 112 days I spent in jail,” Clay 

remarked, alluding to a subsequent change in bank 

policy that increased the number of African Americans in 

professional positions.4 Clay continued to gain experience 

in local politics as a St. Louis committeeman from 1964 

to 1967.5

 His early political career coincided with his 

activity as a union official. Clay worked as a business 

representative for the city employees’ union from 1961 

to 1964 and as an education coordinator with a local 

steamfitter’s union in 1966 and 1967.6 Clay married Carol 

Ann Johnson, and the couple had three children: William 

Lacy, Jr.; Vicki; and Michele.7

A 1964 Supreme Court decision mandating the equal 

population of congressional districts paved the way for 

Clay’s entry to the House. Three years later, the Missouri 

legislature passed a bill that reapportioned the state’s 

districts in compliance with the high court’s ruling. One of 

the new constituencies incorporated the north side of St. 

Louis and some of its outlying suburbs.8

 When the 22-year 

incumbent Frank Karsten of Missouri chose not to seek 

re-election in the newly redrawn majority-black district, 

Clay entered the 1968 Democratic primary for the open 

congressional seat.9

 He defeated five candidates for the 

nomination, earning 41 percent of the vote. His closest 

opponent, Milton Carpenter, a white state auditor and 

state treasurer and formerly a city comptroller, collected 30 

William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr.

1931–

United States Representative H 1969–20 01

Democrat from Missouri

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
348 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

percent.10 Clay faced Curtis Crawford, formerly a St. Louis 

assistant circuit attorney, in the general election. Against the 

backdrop of a turbulent period of racial unrest highlighted 

by the assassination of Martin Luther King, Jr., the 1968 

campaign received national attention because the Missouri 

House election uncharacteristically featured two black 

candidates.11 Clay emphasized his support for employment 

opportunities for African Americans and the promotion 

of civil rights. He also pledged to represent the needs of 

his predominantly urban district, saying, “The conditions 

of poverty found in the First District and other areas of 

the country must be immediately addressed by our federal 

government to bring faith and hope to our people, before 

we can talk of quelling unrest and civil disorder.”12 Clay 

ultimately defeated his opponent in the heavily Democratic 

district with 64 percent of the vote, becoming the first 

African American to represent Missouri in Congress.13

As a new Member of the 91st Congress (1969–1971), 

Clay joined two other African-American freshmen: 

Representatives Shirley Chisholm of New York and Louis 

Stokes of Ohio.14 The three vowed to focus on issues 

affecting their urban constituents, who they believed 

had been neglected by the government. Shortly into his 

first term, Representative Clay, who embraced his radical 

reputation, predicted, “This country is on the verge of a 

revolution and it is not going to be a revolution of blacks, 

but of dissatisfied American people, black and white.”15

Assigned in 1969 to the Committee on Education 

and Labor, Clay served on this panel throughout his 

career. He eventually chaired the Subcommittee on 

Labor–Management Relations and was in line to lead 

the full committee before the Republicans took control 

of the House in 1995. He also served on the Committee 

on House Administration from the 99th to the 103rd 

Congress (1985–1995), chairing the Subcommittee on 

Libraries and Memorials. Clay reaped the benefits of 

the House seniority system, rising through the ranks of 

the Post Office and Civil Service Committee (chairing 

two subcommittees) to head the full panel during the 

102nd and 103rd Congresses (1991–1995) after nine 

terms of service. “From the day you are sworn into 

Congress, you dream of the day that you will rise to chair 

a full committee—and today that time has come,” Clay 

declared in 1990.16 His tenure as chairman ended in 1995 

when the committee was abolished after the Republicans 

took control of the House. Clay also was a member of 

the Joint Committee on the Library during the 101st 

Congress (1989–1991).

Clay was one of the 13 founding members of the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Officially formed in 

1971, the CBC sought to provide a formal network for 

African-American Members to focus on legislative issues 

directly affecting black citizens. Clay successfully lobbied 

to make the CBC nonpartisan—hoping to coax Senator 

Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, the lone black Republican 

of the 92nd Congress (1971–1973), to join the nascent 

organization; however, Senator Brooke did not become a 

member.17 Soon after its creation, the CBC made headlines 

because of its public dispute with President Richard M. 

Nixon. Unhappy with the Nixon administration’s policies 

toward African Americans, the CBC boycotted the January 

1971 State of the Union address. Clay drafted the letter 

outlining the reasons for the CBC’s boycott: “We now 

refuse to be part of your audience,” the letter stated in 

response to the President’s persistent refusals to meet with 

the black Members of Congress.18 When Nixon ultimately 

met with the CBC in March 1971, each member addressed 

a major point of concern for the black community. 

Clay spoke about the need for student grants to help 

impoverished African-American students who could not 

repay educational loans.19

The CBC was also involved with civil rights abroad, 

most notably advocating U.S. sanctions against the 

apartheid government of South Africa. Some black 

Representatives, including Clay, demonstrated at the South 

African Embassy. “South Africa is the most oppressive 

government in the world,” Clay stated before being arrested 

for civil disobedience.20 Reflecting on the significance of 

the CBC, Clay called it “the single most effective political 

entity we have had in articulating, representing, protecting 

H William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr. H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 349

and advancing the interests of black people in this nation 

over the past twenty years.”21

During his congressional career, Clay oversaw the 

passage of notable legislation. For nearly two decades, he 

worked to revise the Hatch Act of 1939, which restricted 

the political activities of federal workers. Clay’s measure, 

which became law in 1993, amended the Hatch Act, 

permitting government employees to publicly endorse 

candidates and to organize political fundraisers, among 

other rights that were previously prohibited.22 “It’s 

exhilarating to see your efforts finally rewarded,” Clay 

remarked after President William J. (Bill) Clinton signed 

the measure at a White House ceremony.23 Clay also 

spent several years promoting the Family and Medical 

Leave Act, which passed earlier the same year, mandating 

that companies with more than 50 workers offer up 

to 12 weeks of unpaid leave for employees to care for 

a newborn or attend to a family medical emergency.24

Clay called the Family and Medical Leave Act “landmark 

legislation, in the same category as legislation against child 

labor, on minimum wage, and occupational safety, and 

health.”25 Although Clinton signed Clay’s amendment 

to the Hatch Act and the Family and Medical Leave Act, 

which previously had been vetoed by President George 

H. W. Bush, Clay and Clinton did not always agree. Clay 

criticized the controversial North American Free Trade 

Agreement (NAFTA), calling it “badly designed” and 

“fatally flawed.” Concerned that NAFTA would undermine 

workers’ well-being, Clay attempted to convince his 

colleagues of the pitfalls of the bill. “Approval of this 

measure will increase the downward pressures on the wages 

of workers in the United States; nullify any movement 

toward greater labor-management cooperation; discourage 

efforts to improve the education and skills of low-wage 

workers; and exacerbate the inequitable distribution 

of income.” 26 However, with the backing of President 

Clinton, NAFTA passed the House on November 17, 

1993, by a vote of 234 to 200.

From his seat on the Education and Labor Committee, 

Representative Clay guided many initiatives through the 

House. In 1996, he served as the floor manager for a bill to 

raise the federal minimum wage. Shortly after the measure 

passed the House, Clay commented, “The American 

people came to know how unfair it was to relegate people 

at the bottom of the economic scale to a wage that is 

unlivable.”27 Clay also sponsored revisions to a pension 

law that was incorporated in the Tax Reform Act of 1986. 

With his background in labor relations, he supported the 

mandatory notification of plant closings and the protection 

of unions’ negotiating rights. Clay successfully sponsored 

legislation in the House to ban the permanent replacement 

of striking workers, but he was frustrated with the Clinton 

administration for what he perceived as a lackluster attempt 

to break a filibuster that caused his bill to languish in the 

Senate.28 An advocate of improving the education of innercity students, Clay worked to reduce class sizes, to increase 

the number of college grants for disadvantaged students, 

and to boost federal funding for historically black colleges. 

“If America is to be prosperous and stay competitive, we 

must continue to improve educational opportunities for 

students of all ages,” Clay commented in response to a 

growing backlash in the Republican-controlled House 

against President Clinton’s agenda targeting public schools.29

Extremely popular among his St. Louis constituents, 

Clay made clear his intention to defend the rights of people 

he believed lacked an adequate voice in the government, 

even in the face of a shifting political environment.30 “I

don’t represent all people,” Clay declared. “I represent those 

who are in need of representation. I have no intention of 

representing those powerful interests who walk over the 

powerless people.”31 Clay’s passionate approach to politics, 

which was manifested in a “show-horse,” or publicitydriven legislative style, resonated with many of his voters. 

Much like Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, Clay 

viewed his position in Congress as an opportunity to 

publicize issues that concerned African Americans in his 

district and throughout the nation. “Rule number one is, 

take what you can, give up what you must,” Clay mused 

when discussing political tactics. “Rule number two is, take 

it whenever, however, and from whomever. Rule number 

H William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr. H
350 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

three is, if you are not ready to abide by the first two rules, 

you are not qualified for a career in politics.”32

Clay’s consistent support from black voters and 

organized labor enabled him to retain his seat—despite a 

series of alleged ethical violations ranging from tax evasion 

to the misuse of congressional funds. Throughout his 

career, the Missouri Representative argued that he was 

the victim of an unfounded government “witch hunt” 

because of his race and his outspoken stance on civil 

rights.33 “Not many elected officials, black or white, have 

suffered harassment, humiliation, or intimidation to the 

degree and extent that I have,” Clay angrily remarked.34

He further contended that African-American leaders faced 

more scrutiny than their white counterparts.35 In the early 

1990s, Clay withstood a significant political setback in the 

wake of a scandal involving the House “bank,” an informal, 

institutional facility some Members used to deposit their 

congressional pay. The revelation of the bank’s longstanding 

practice of allowing Representatives to write checks with 

insufficient funds caused a public outcry. Clay vehemently 

denied “abusing the system” when records revealed he was 

responsible for a number of overdrafts. “No rules were 

broken, and no public money was lost,” he said.36 Clay’s 

constituents remained loyal; both in the 1992 primary and 

in the general election, where he earned 68 percent of the 

vote.37 Moreover, despite several reapportionments that 

resulted in a growing number of conservative white voters 

in the outlying suburbs of his district—a consequence of 

St. Louis’s declining population—Clay handily retained 

his congressional seat. His stiffest opposition for the 

overwhelmingly Democratic district often emerged in 

the primaries. Active in local politics throughout his 

congressional career, Clay faced a series of challenges from 

African-American and white candidates alike in tumultuous 

St. Louis politics, but despite this steady opposition, Clay 

typically won the primaries with ease.38

In May 1999, Clay announced his decision to retire at 

the conclusion of the 106th Congress (1999–2001). “I will 

continue to speak loudly, boisterously, about the inequities 

in our society,” Clay promised of his remaining time in the 

office.39 Clay’s colleagues offered many tributes honoring 

his “brilliant career,” ranging from his legislation on behalf 

of American workers to his commitment to increasing 

funding for education, especially for minorities. The 

longtime Representative also received praise for his 1992 

book, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 

1870–1991.

40 In 2000 Clay’s son, William Lacy Clay, Jr., 

was elected to represent his father’s former St. Louis district, 

making the Clays the second African-American father and 

son ever to serve in Congress (Harold E. Ford and Harold 

Ford, Jr., were the first). In 2004, Clay published a political 

memoir, A Political Voice at the Grass Roots. 

H William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr. H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 351

For further reading

“Clay, William Lacy Sr.,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000488. 

Clay, William L. Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans 

in Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 

1992).

_____. A Political Voice at the Grass Roots (St. Louis: 

Missouri Historical Society Press, 2004).

Manuscript Collections

Harris-Stowe State University (St. Louis, MO), Henry 

Givens Administrative Building. Papers: 1968–2000, 

amount unknown. The papers of William Lacy (Bill) 

Clay, Sr., contain documents, papers, correspondence, and 

artifacts generated throughout his congressional career. The 

papers are restricted until processing is completed.

Howard University (Washington, DC), Manuscript 

Division, Moorland–Spingarn Research Center. Oral 

History: In the Ralph J. Bunche Oral History Collection, 

1968, 18 pages. An interview with William L. Clay 

conducted by Robert Wright on November 25, 1968. In 

the interview, Representative Clay reviews the early civil 

rights activities in Missouri that led to his jail sentence. He 

also discusses his congressional campaigns and elections, 

the role of a black Representative, and his efforts to 

desegregate labor unions.

Notes

1 Deirdre Shesgreen, “I Didn’t Come Here to Stay Forever,” 16 May 

1999, St. Louis Dispatch: A7.

2 Bill Clay, A Political Voice at the Grass Roots (St. Louis: Missouri 

Historical Society Press, 2004): 13–14.

3 Clay, A Political Voice at the Grass Roots: 16; John LoDico, “William 

Lacy Clay,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 8 (Detroit: Gale 

Research Inc., 1994) (hereinafter referred to as CBB); Maurine 

Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. 

Crowell Company, 1971): 250.

4 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 250–251.

5 Politics in America, 1982 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1981): 679.

6 “William L. Clay, Sr.,” Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 

1998.

7 “William L. Clay, Sr.,” Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 

1998; Clay, A Political Voice at the Grass Roots: 16, 175.

8 “Redistricting Bill Passed in Missouri,” 29 June 1967, New York 

Times: 23; Clay, A Political Voice at the Grass Roots: 155.

9 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 1st sess. (13 November 

1985): E5135; John Herbers, “Congress to Get Three More 

Negroes,” 3 October 1968, New York Times: 43; LoDico, “William 

Lacy Clay,” CBB.

10 Clay, A Political Voice at the Grassroots: 156, 165. One of Clay’s five 

opponents withdrew from the contest shortly before the election, 

but his name remained on the ballot. 

11 “Long Calls Missouri Defeat ‘Victory for Snooper,’” 8 August 

1968, New York Times: 26; “Long Calls Defeat Wiretappers’ 

Victory,” 8 August 1968, Chicago Tribune: 2.

12 William L. Clay, Sr., Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans 

in Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1992): 

115–116.

13 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

H William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr. H
352 H Black Americans in Congress 

28 Robert L. Koenig, “Clinton Shares in Loss of Strike Bill,” 14 July 

1994, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 5B.

29 William Clay, “Saving Schools Will Require Bipartisanship,” 7 

December 1998, Roll Call.

30 Tim Poor, “Still Liberal and Proud of It,” 7 October 1996, St. Louis 

Post-Dispatch: 5C.

31 Nathaniel Sheppard, Jr., “Race Is Key Issue in Primary for House 

Seat in St. Louis,” 3 August 1982, New York Times: A12.

32 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: xiv.

33 “Rep. Clay Urges Speed on Inquiry,” 9 May 1975, Washington Post: 

A4; Clay, Just Permanent Interests 322–331.

34 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: 322.

35 Ibid., 335–337. 

36 Fred W. Lindecke and Robert L. Koenig, “Check List Puts 

Clay Near Top; ‘I Categorically Deny Abusing the System,’ the 

Congressman Says,” 15 March 1992, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 1A.

37 Almanac of American Politics, 1994 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1993): 734–735; “Election Statistics, 1920 to 

Present,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/

electionInfo/index.html.

38 See, for example, Representative Clay’s detailed description of the 

1974 Democratic primary, in which he faced African-American 

businessman Clifford Gates; Clay, A Political Voice at the Grass 

Roots: 208–221. See also Almanac of American Politics, 1992

(Washington, DC: National Journal Inc., 1991): 706–707; Politics 

in America, 2000 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly 

Inc., 1999): 775–776; Sheppard, “Race Is Key Issue in Primary for 

House Seat in St. Louis.”

39 Ed Schafer, “Era Ends: Clay Announces Retirement,” 25 May 

1999, Associated Press.

40 “Tribute to the Honorable William L. Clay, Sr.,” Congressional 

Record, House, 106th Cong., 2nd sess. (27 October 2000): 

H11422–11430. 

14 The winner of a special election for the remainder of the 91st 

Congress and an election for a full term in the 92nd Congress, 

George W. Collins of Illinois was sworn in to office on November 

3, 1970, as the fourth African-American freshman Member in the 

91st Congress. Collins therefore began his congressional service 

after Clay, Chisholm, and Stokes began theirs.

15 Robert C. Maynard, “New Negroes in Congress Focus on City 

Problems,” 10 August 1969, Washington Post: 2.

16 Robert L. Koenig, “Clay Voted Chairman of House Committee,” 6 

December 1990, St. Louis Post-Dispatch (Missouri): 19A.

17 Robert Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: Racial Politics in 

the U.S. Congress (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications, 1998): 

55–56. Sources are ambiguous as to whether the CBC formally 

extended an offer of membership to Brooke.

18 “Black Congressmen to Boycott Nixon,” 22 January 1971, 

Washington Post: A2; Clay, Just Permanent Interests: 139–143.

19 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: 145–147.

20 “Congressmen, Bishop, Nobel Prize Winner Arrested,” 6 

December 1984, United Press International.

21 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 210.

22 Robert L. Koenig, “House Passes Clay’s Changes to Hatch Act,” 4 

March 1993, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 10A.

23 Robert L. Koenig, “Clinton Signs Family Leave, Praises Clay; 

President Proclaims End to Washington Gridlock,” 6 February 

1993, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 1A. 

24 Steven W. Stathis, Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002: Major U.S. 

Acts and Treaties (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 

2003): 347.

25 Robert L. Koenig, “Clay Beams as Clinton Signs Hatch Act,” 7 

October 1993, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 1A.

26 Congressional Record, House, 103rd Cong., 1st sess. (17 November 

1993): 29782; “Area Lawmakers React to NAFTA,” 15 September 

1993, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 8A.

27 Bill Lembrecht, “Minimum-Wage Victory Lifts Democrats; 

Party Leaders Hope This Is an Issue They Can Ride Right Up to 

November,” 26 May 1996, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 1B. 

H William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr. H
former members | 1929–1970 H 353

“Rule number one is, take 

what you can, give up what 

you must,” Clay mused when 

discussing political tactics. 

“Rule number two is, take 

it whenever, however, and 

from whomever. Rule number 

three is, if you are not ready 

to abide by the first two 

rules, you are not qualified 

for a career in politics.”
354 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Louis Stokes rose from the local housing projects to 

 serve 30 years in the U.S. House, becoming a 

potent symbol for his Cleveland-based majority-black 

district. Reluctant to enter the political arena, Stokes was 

persuaded to run for office by his prominent brother and 

by community members he had served for decades as a 

civil rights lawyer. His accomplishments were substantive 

and of historic proportions. The first black to represent 

Ohio, Stokes chaired several congressional committees 

(including the Permanent Select Intelligence Committee) 

and was the first African American to win a seat on the 

powerful House Appropriations Committee. He used 

his success to try to increase opportunities for millions 

of African Americans, saying, “I’m going to keep on 

denouncing the inequities of this system, but I’m going to 

work within it. To go outside the system would be to deny 

myself—to deny my own existence. I’ve beaten the system. 

I’ve proved it can be done—so have a lot of others.” Stokes 

continued, “But the problem is that a black man has to be 

extra special to win in this system. Why should you have 

to be a super black to get someplace? That’s what’s wrong 

in the society. The ordinary black man doesn’t have the 

same chance as the ordinary white man does.”1

Louis Stokes was born on February 23, 1925, in 

Cleveland, Ohio, to Charles and Louise Cinthy (Stone) 

Stokes.2

 His father worked in a laundromat and died when 

Louis was young. Stokes and his younger brother, Carl, 

were raised by their widowed mother, whose salary as a 

domestic was supplemented by welfare payments. The 

boys’ maternal grandmother played a prominent role, 

tending to the children while their mother cleaned homes 

in wealthy white suburbs far from downtown Cleveland. 

Years later, Louise Stokes recalled that she had tried to 

instill in her children “the idea that work with your hands 

is the hard way of doing things. I told them over and over 

to learn to use their heads.”3 Louis Stokes supplemented 

the family income by shining shoes around the Cleveland 

projects and clerking at an Army/Navy store. He attended 

Cleveland’s public schools and served as a personnel 

specialist in the U.S. Army from 1943 to 1946. Much of 

his tour of duty was spent in the segregated South, driving 

home for Stokes the basic inequities facing blacks—even 

those who wore their country’s uniform.4

 He returned 

home with an honorable discharge, taking jobs in the 

Veterans Administration and Treasury Department offices 

in Cleveland while attending college at night with the 

help of the GI Bill. He attended the Cleveland College of 

Western Reserve University from 1946 to 1948. Stokes 

eventually earned a J.D. from the Cleveland Marshall 

School of Law in 1953 and, with his brother, opened the 

law firm Stokes and Stokes. On August 21, 1960, Louis 

Stokes married Jeanette (Jay) Francis, and they raised four 

children: Shelly, Louis C., Angela, and Lorene.

Initially, Louis Stokes harbored few, if any, ambitions 

for elective office. He devoted himself to his law practice, 

where he became involved in a number of civil rightsrelated cases—often working pro bono on behalf of poor 

clients and activists. He was an active participant in civic 

affairs, joining the Cleveland chapter of the National 

Association for the Advancement of Colored People 

(NAACP), the board of the Cleveland and Cuyahoga 

bar associations, and the Ohio State Bar Association’s 

criminal justice committee, where he served as chairman.5

He eventually served as vice president of the NAACP’s 

Cleveland chapter and chaired its legal redress committee 

for five years. His brother, Carl, pursued a high-profile 

career in elective office, serving two terms in the Ohio 

legislature, and in 1967, he won election as mayor of 

Cleveland, becoming the first black to lead a major U.S. 

city. “For a long time, I had very little interest in politics,” 

Louis Stokes

1925–

United States Representative H 1969–1999

Democrat from Ohio

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
356 H Black Americans in Congress 

Louis Stokes recalled. “Carl was the politician in the family 

and I left politics to him.”6

Meanwhile, Louis Stokes enjoyed a growing reputation 

as a prominent Cleveland attorney. Working on behalf of 

the Cleveland NAACP, Stokes helped challenge the Ohio 

legislature’s redistricting in 1965 that followed the Supreme 

Court’s “one man, one vote” decision. The state legislature 

had fragmented the congressional districts that overlay 

Cleveland, diluting black voting strength. Stokes joined 

forces with Charles Lucas, a black Republican, to challenge 

that action. They lost their case in U.S. District Court, 

but based on Stokes’s written appeal, the U.S. Supreme 

Court agreed with the brief in 1967. From that decision 

followed the creation of Ohio’s first majority-black district.7

Later that year, in December 1967, Stokes made an oral 

argument before the U.S. Supreme Court in Terry v. Ohio, 

a precedent-setting case that defined the legality of police 

search and seizure procedures.8

At his brother Carl’s behest Louis Stokes made his first 

run for elective office in 1968. He sought to win the seat in 

the newly created congressional district that encompassed 

much of the east side of Cleveland—including Garfield 

Heights and Newburgh Heights—where African Americans 

accounted for 65 percent of the population. Stokes was 

hardly a typical newcomer to the political campaign. First, 

his brother, Mayor Stokes, put the services of his political 

network at Louis’s disposal. “I ran my brother Louis,” Carl 

Stokes recalled, “and put behind him all the machinery that 

just elected me mayor.”9

 With Carl’s help, Louis cofounded 

the Twenty-First Congressional District Caucus—a political 

organization that would serve as his base throughout his long 

congressional career. It provided the supporters, volunteers, 

and organizational structure that sustained Stokes in the 

absence of support of the local Democratic machine; it 

was a loyal cadre that would do everything, from stuffing 

envelopes and knocking on doors to holding an annual 

picnic that became a highlight of the community’s annual 

calendar. The caucus fulfilled Stokes’s twin representational 

goals: to develop black political power in Cleveland and to 

inspire black pride among his constituents.10 Finally, Louis 

Stokes’s credentials within the black community were 

sterling. He won two vital endorsements: the support of the 

Call & Post, the influential local black newspaper, and the 

backing of the vast majority of the local church ministers in 

the new district. 

Stokes perceived the election as a barometer of the way 

newly enfranchised and empowered blacks would organize 

their political clout—less an expression of black pride 

than an experiment in creating a power base outside the 

Democratic Party, which in many urban areas represented 

a competing rather than a supportive entity. As Stokes put 

it, “Carl’s race represented a cause symbolizing the hopes 

of the Negro race. Mine isn’t.”11 The 20 candidates who 

entered the May 1968 primary, many of them African 

Americans, bore out that analysis. However, Stokes’s 

organization proved far superior to his competition’s. He 

successfully portrayed himself as a unity candidate who 

could best serve the diverse factions within Cleveland’s 

black community. He won the primary with 41 percent 

of the vote—double the total of his closest competitor, 

black city councilman Leo A. Jackson. None of Stokes’s 

primary opponents ever challenged him again. “We took 

all the starch out of them, when we beat them so badly 

in the first primary,” he observed.12 Stokes faced minimal 

opposition in his 14 subsequent primaries. Once, white 

leaders in the local Democratic machine recruited one 

of the incumbent’s former staffers to run against him in 

1976. Stokes won by a landslide.13

In the 1968 general election, Stokes faced Republican 

Charles Lucas, an African American and a one-time ally in 

the fight to create a majority-black district. During several 

debates in the campaign between Lucas and Stokes, “law 

and order” emerged as a central theme. Stokes unrelentingly 

tied Lucas to Republican presidential candidate Richard 

M. Nixon (as well as to conservative segregationists like 

Independent George Wallace of Alabama and Republican 

Strom Thurmond of South Carolina), arguing they would 

not promote legislation that advanced black interests.14

Stokes prevailed with 75 percent of the vote.15 He won his 

subsequent 14 general elections by lopsided margins in the 

H Louis Stokes H
former members | 1929–1970 H 357

heavily Democratic district—taking as much as 88 percent 

of the vote.16 Gradually, reapportionment changed the 

makeup of the state, eliminating five of Ohio’s 24 House 

seats. Stokes’s district expanded to include traditionally 

white communities like cultural hubs Shaker Heights and 

Cleveland Heights. Reapportionment in the early 1990s 

brought in working-class white neighborhoods including 

Euclid in east Cleveland. While the proportion of blacks in 

the district fell to 59 percent, Stokes was largely unaffected.17

As a freshman Representative, Stokes received 

assignments on the Education and Labor Committee and 

the Internal Security Committee (formerly the House 

Un-American Activities Committee). He enthusiastically 

accepted the former assignment, believing Education 

and Labor would be a prime platform from which he 

could push the agenda for his urban district: job training, 

economic opportunity, and educational interests. But 

Stokes was less pleased with the Internal Security panel, 

which had lapsed into an increasingly irrelevant entity 

since its heyday investigating communists in the 1940s 

and 1950s. (House leaders disbanded it entirely in the 

mid-1970s.)

During his second term in the House, Stokes earned 

a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, with 

oversight of all federal spending bills. This exclusive 

assignment required him to relinquish his other 

committee assignments. During more than two decades 

on the committee, Stokes steered hundreds of millions 

of federal dollars into projects in his home state. He 

eventually became an Appropriations subcommittee 

chair, or “cardinal,” for Veterans, HUD, and Independent 

Agencies—controlling more than $90 billion annually in 

federal money.18 Stokes was the second African-American 

“cardinal” ever (the first, Julian Dixon of California, 

chaired the DC Subcommittee). Years later, Stokes said of 

the Appropriations Committee, “It’s the only committee 

to be on. All the rest is window dressing.”19 In addition 

to chairing an Appropriations subcommittee, Stokes is 

one of fewer than two dozen African Americans ever 

to chair a House committee and one of just a handful 

to wield the gavel on multiple panels: the Permanent 

Select Committee on Intelligence (100th Congress), the 

Committee on Standards of Official Conduct (97th–98th 

Congresses, 102nd Congress), and the Select Committee 

on Assassinations (95th Congress). 

The growing ranks of black Members sought to create 

a power base, realizing—in the words of Representative 

William (Bill) Clay, Sr. of Missouri they “had to parlay 

massive voting potential into concrete economic results.”20

As freshman House Members, Stokes and Clay quickly 

developed an enduring friendship and became strong 

supporters of the formation of the Congressional Black 

Caucus (CBC), to promote economic, educational, and 

social issues that were important to African Americans. 

This strategy dovetailed with Stokes’s perception of his role 

as an advocate for the “black community” in his district. 21

Stokes served as chairman of the CBC for two consecutive 

terms beginning in 1972, after Chairman Charles Diggs, 

Jr., of Michigan resigned from the post.22 A centrist, 

Stokes was widely credited with shepherding the group 

away from the polarizing politics of various black factions 

toward a more stable and organized policy agenda.23

Using his position as CBC chairman and his 

increasing influence on the Appropriations Committee, 

Representative Stokes pushed a legislative agenda that 

mirrored the needs of his majority-black district. He 

earned a reputation as a congenial but determined activist 

for minority issues, consistently scoring as one of the 

most liberal Members of the House in the Americans for 

Democratic Action and the American Federation of Labor 

and Congress of Industrial Organizations vote tallies. 

He advocated more funding for education (particularly 

for minority colleges), affirmative action programs to 

employ more blacks, housing and urban development 

projects, and initiatives to improve access to health care for 

working-class Americans. In the 1980s, Stokes vocalized 

black concerns that the Ronald W. Reagan administration 

was intent on rolling back minority gains made in the 

1960s and 1970s. He described conservative efforts to 

scale back school desegregation efforts and affirmative 

H Louis Stokes H
358 H Black AAmericans in mericans in CCongress ongress 

action programs—as well as massive spending on military 

programs—as a “full scale attack” on the priorities 

of the black community.24 He also was an early advocate 

of federal government intervention in the fight against 

HIV/AIDS.

From his seat on the Permanent Select Committee on 

Intelligence, Stokes was a particularly forceful critic of the 

Reagan administration’s foreign policy. He gained national 

prominence as a member of the House Select Committee 

to Investigate Covert Arms Transactions with Iran when 

he grilled Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North in 1987 about 

his role in funding anticommunist Nicaraguan Contras 

through weapons sales to Tehran. At one juncture he 

reminded North, “I wore [the uniform] as proudly as 

you do, even when our government required black and 

white soldiers in the same Army to live, sleep, eat and 

travel separate and apart, while fighting and dying for 

our country.”25

House leaders repeatedly sought to capitalize on 

Stokes’s image as a stable, trustworthy, and competent 

adjudicator—turning to him to lead high-profile 

committees and handle controversial national issues, as 

well as the occasional ethics scandals in the House. When 

Representative Henry Gonzalez of Texas abruptly resigned 

as chairman of the Select Committee on Assassinations 

after a dispute with staff and Members, Speaker Thomas 

P. (Tip) O’Neill of Massachusetts tapped Stokes to lead 

the panel, which was investigating the circumstances 

surrounding the deaths of President John F. Kennedy and 

Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. In 1978, Stokes’s committee 

filed 27 volumes of hearings and a final report that 

recommended administrative and legislative reforms. 

While the panel found that the King and the Kennedy 

murders may have involved multiple assassins (James 

Earl Ray and Lee Harvey Oswald have traditionally 

been described as lone killers), it concluded there was 

no evidence to support assertions of a broad conspiracy 

involving domestic groups or foreign governments—an 

assessment that has been upheld for the past three 

decades.26 The committee did suggest that Oswald may 

have had an accomplice on Dealey Plaza, where Kennedy 

was killed in November 1963.27

Stokes’s chairmanship of the Select Committee 

on Assassinations led to his appointment by Speaker 

O’Neill in 1981 as chairman of the House Committee 

on Standards of Official Conduct (often called the Ethics 

Committee). Stokes steered the panel through a turbulent 

period that included investigations of Members implicated 

in the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s ABSCAM sting 

and a sex scandal that involved two House Members and 

current and former House Pages. In the latter case, Stokes’s 

panel recommended reforms that overhauled the Page 

program. Stokes left the post in 1985 but returned to lead 

the panel in early 1991. In 1992, after Stokes was linked to 

the House “Bank” scandal (he wrote 551 overdrafts against 

an informal account maintained by the House Sergeant 

at Arms), his status as an ethics overseer was somewhat 

diminished—but constituents still re-elected him by a 

wide margin.28

During the 1990s, Stokes’s seniority made him an 

influential voice on the Appropriations Committee. In 

1993, at the start of the 103rd Congress, he assumed 

the chairman’s gavel of the Subcommittee on VA, HUD, 

and Independent Agencies, which controlled one of the 

largest chunks of discretionary spending in the federal 

budget. Stokes prodded federal agencies to hire and 

serve more minorities.29 Republicans praised him for his 

nonpartisan leadership of the subcommittee, but when 

the GOP won control of the House in the 1994 elections, 

and Stokes became the Ranking Member of the panel, he 

often found himself fighting Republican efforts to trim 

federal spending that involved cutting welfare programs, 

including public housing. In one committee meeting, 

Stokes noted that he and his brother, Carl, had grown 

up in public housing, and that without such assistance 

“[we] would be either in jail or dead, we’d be some kind 

of statistic.” Appropriations Committee Chairman Robert 

L. Livingston of Louisiana responded, “We can play this 

compassion game all day but it won’t cut it.”30

In January 1998, Stokes announced his retirement 

H Louis Stokes H
fformer mem ormer membbers | 1929–1970 ers | 1929–1970 H 359

from the House, noting that he wanted to leave “without 

ever losing an election.”31 He conceded that politics had 

lost some of its appeal since his brother Carl’s death from 

cancer two years earlier. “We used to talk every day. We 

could run things by one another,” he recalled. “We could 

think and strategize on political issues. I guess without him 

here, it really has taken away a lot of what I enjoy about 

politics. It’s not the same.”32 Moreover, a new generation 

of rising black politicians in Cleveland was displacing 

those of Stokes’s generation.33 Among his proudest 

accomplishments as a Representative, Stokes cited his 

ability to bring Appropriations Committee money 

to his district to address needs in housing and urban 

development and the opportunities that allowed him to 

set “historic precedents” as an African American in the 

House.34 “When I started this journey, I realized that I was 

the first black American ever to hold this position in this 

state,” Stokes told a newspaper reporter. “I had to write 

the book . . . I was going to set a standard of excellence 

that would give any successor something to shoot for.”35

As his replacement, Stokes supported Stephanie Tubbs 

Jones, an African-American judge and a former prosecutor 

who prevailed in the Democratic primary and easily won 

election to the House in 1998. After his congressional 

career, Louis Stokes resumed his work as a lawyer and 

resides in Silver Spring, Maryland.

For further reading

Fenno, Richard F. Going Home: Black Representatives and 

Their Constituents (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

2003).

“Stokes, Louis,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, 

1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=S000948. 

Manuscript Collections

Howard University (Washington, DC), Manuscript 

Division, Moorland–Spingarn Research Center. Oral 

History: In the Ralph J. Bunche Oral History Collection, 

1973, 17 pages. An interview with Louis Stokes (March 

14, 1973) in which he discusses his reasons for entering 

politics. Other subjects include the Congressional Black 

Caucus, including its origin and goals and divisions within 

the group, Stokes’s relationship with President Richard 

M. Nixon’s administration, the Black National Political 

Convention in Indiana (1972), and black support of 

Democratic and Republican presidential candidates.

Western Reserve Historical Society (Cleveland, OH). 

Papers: The Carl Stokes Papers, 1957–1972, 104.51 linear 

feet. The papers include material relating to Carl Stokes’s 

brother, Louis.

Notes

1 Richard F. Fenno, Going Home: Black Representatives and Their 

Constituents (Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2003): 22.

2 “Louise Stokes, Mother of Congressman and Mayor,” 13 February 

1978, New York Times: D8.

3 David Hess, “She Urged Sons ‘To Be Somebody,’” 16 December 

1968, Christian Science Monitor: 6.

4 Tom Brazaitis, “Stokes Era Comes to End,” 18 January 1998, 

Cleveland Plain Dealer: 1A.

5 Congressional Directory, 91st Congress (Washington, DC: 

Government Printing Office, 1969): 141. 

6 Fenno, Going Home: 14.

H Louis Stokes H
360 H Black Americans in Congress 

23 Marguerite Ross Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus,” 

Proceedings of the Academy of Political Science 32 (Volume 1975, 

Number 1): 39–40.

24 Jeffrey M. Elliot, Black Voices in American Politics (New York: 

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich 1986): 40–41. 

25 Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1989): 1206.

26 See, for example, Gerald Posner’s Case Closed: Lee Harvey Oswald 

and the Assassination of JFK (New York: Anchor Books, 2003); 

Vincent Bugliosi’s Reclaiming History: The Assassination of President 

John F. Kennedy (New York: W. W. Norton & Co., 2007); and 

Taylor Branch, At Canaan’s Edge: America in the King Years, 

1965–68 (New York: Simon and Chuster, 2006).

27 George Lardner, Jr., “JFK-King Panel Finds Conspiracy Likely in 

Slayings,” 31 December 1978, Washington Post: A1.

28 See, for example, Politics in America, 1994: 1203; Fenno, Going 

Home: 181.

29 Politics in America, 1996 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1995): 1043; see also Politics in America, 1994: 

1203–1205.

30 Politics in America, 1998 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1997): 1140–1142; quote on 1140.

31 “Louis Stokes, Ohio Democrat, Plans to Retire from Congress,” 

18 January 1998, New York Times: 23; Tom Brazaitis and Sabrina 

Eaton, “Rep. Stokes to Retire; Congressman Won’t Seek ReElection; Clevelander Rose From Poverty to Heights of Power,” 17 

January 1998, Cleveland Plain Dealer: 1A.

32 Brazaitis, “Stokes Era Comes to End.”

33 Politics in America, 1994: 1204.

34 Fenno, Going Home: 188–189. 

35 Brazaitis, “Stokes Era Comes to End.”

7 Ibid., 15.

8 Kermit L. Hall, The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of 

the United States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1992): 

865–866.

9 Fenno, Going Home: 16.

10 Ibid., 37.

11 Roldo Bartimole, “Negroes’ Election in Nonwhite Areas Isn’t 

Automatic, Cleveland Race Shows,” 6 May 1968, Wall Street 

Journal: 12.

12 Fenno, Going Home: 28.

13 Ibid., 42–43, 49.

14 William L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in 

Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, 1992): 113–114. 

15 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

16 Ibid.

17 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1993): 1204.

18 An allusion to the “College of Cardinals,” who elect and advise 

the Pope of the Roman Catholic Church, the cardinal title is 

meant to convey the power and authority vested in the handful 

of Appropriations Committee Members who shape federal 

expenditures. At the time, Stokes was one of 13 Appropriations 

subcommittee chairs.

19 Fenno, Going Home: 188.

20 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: 111, 173–174. Clay also observed 

that he, Chisholm, and Stokes “considered ourselves, along with 

other black representatives, to have a mandate to speak forcefully 

and loudly in behalf of equitable treatment of minorities by 

government.”

21 Fenno, Going Home: 62.

22 Paul Delaney, “Rep. Stokes Heads the Black Caucus,” 9 February 

1972, New York Times: 23.

H Louis Stokes H
former members | 1929–1970 H 361

“I’m going to keep on 

denouncing the inequities of 

this system, but I’m going to 

work within it,” Stokes said. 

“To go outside the system 

would be to deny myself—to 

deny my own existence. 

I’ve beaten the system. I’ve 

proved it can be done—so 

have a lot of others.”
362 H Black Americans in Congress

former members H 1929 – 1970

Congressional Pictorial Directory, 92nd Congress

Adiligent but reserved public servant, George Collins 

 served only two years in Congress. He entered the 

political scene at the local level in Chicago, and converted 

his loyal service to Mayor Richard Daley’s Democratic 

machine to a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Unaffected by the redistricting many experts predicted 

would lead to his political demise, Collins won a second 

term in the House. His untimely death in a plane crash 

ended a promising House career but launched a long term 

of service by his widow, Cardiss.

George Washington Collins was born in Chicago, 

Illinois, on March 5, 1925. The son of Wash and Leanna 

Collins, George grew up during the Great Depression in 

the impoverished Cabrini-Green neighborhood, an area 

in the North Side of Chicago that was later known for its 

failed public housing experiment.1 After graduating from 

Waller High School in Chicago, Collins entered the U.S. 

Army as a private in 1943. He served with the Engineers 

Corps in the South Pacific during World War II before 

being discharged as a sergeant in 1946. Upon returning 

to civilian life, Collins continued his education, earning a 

business law degree in 1957 from Northwestern University. 

On August 5, 1958, he married Cardiss Robertson. The 

couple had one son, Kevin.2

Collins gained his first political experience in the 

local Democratic organization headed by Mayor Daley. 

Appointed precinct captain in 1954 for Chicago’s 24th 

Ward on the West Side—a section of the city known 

for its loyalty to the Democratic Party and the local 

machine—he went on to serve as deputy sheriff of Cook 

County from 1958 to 1961. Collins ascended further 

in local government as secretary to veteran alderman 

Benjamin Lewis of the 24th Ward and as an administrative 

assistant to the Chicago Board of Health.3 After Lewis’s 

brutal murder in 1963—he was handcuffed and shot 

in his ward office—Collins succeeded his former supervisor 

as 24th Ward alderman, a position he held until his election 

to Congress in 1970.4

When Representative Daniel J. Ronan of Illinois died 

during his third term in Congress in August 1969, Collins 

decided to run for the vacant seat. As a faithful member of 

the Cook County Democratic organization, Collins received 

the solid backing of Mayor Daley in the special election for 

Ronan’s unexpired term for the 91st Congress (1969–1971) 

and for the election for a full term in the 92nd Congress 

(1971–1973). The March 1970 Democratic primary 

for the congressional district encompassing Chicago’s 

predominantly black West Side and two working-class white 

suburbs, Cicero and Berwyn (once labeled the “Selma of 

the North” by Martin Luther King, Jr.), received national 

media attention because both candidates were African 

American.5

 During the campaign, Collins emphasized his 

political experience and his ability to bring improvements 

to the district because of his connections with city hall. He 

easily defeated his opponent Brenetta Howell, an outspoken 

community activist, social worker, and mother, with 86 

percent of the vote.6

 Due in great part to the citywide 

influence of the Daley machine, Collins bested Alex 

Zabrosky—a white engineer and steel executive who resided 

in Berwyn—in the general election, 56 to 44 percent.7

 With 

this victory, Collins became the first African-American 

Member of the 20th century to represent a minority-black 

district. (Two black Members from districts without a black 

majority—Ron Dellums of California and Parren Mitchell 

of Maryland—joined Collins in the House in the 92nd 

Congress.8

) Collins’s 1970 election also marked the first time 

two African Americans represented Chicago simultaneously 

in Congress.9

Sworn in on November 3, 1970, Collins was assigned to 

the Public Works and Government Operations committees. 

George Washington Collins

1925–1972

United States Representative H 1970–1972

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������
H Edward w. Burke H
364 H Black Americans in Congress 

Vowing to serve his constituents “in any way,” he made 

frequent trips to Chicago to ensure that he kept in touch 

with voters.10 To advance the interests and concerns of 

his urban district, the Illinois Representative promoted a 

wide range of legislation aimed at improving the lives of 

the poor in American cities. Although Collins supported 

President Richard M. Nixon’s proposals to provide a 

minimum federal payment to low-income families with 

children and to share federal tax revenues with states 

and localities, he judged funding levels to be inadequate. 

Collins sought to increase spending for the Elementary 

and Secondary Education Act and advocated the passage of 

federal highway legislation that addressed the needs of mass 

transit programs and of urban residents uprooted from 

their neighborhoods by road construction. He introduced 

a bill requiring the Treasury Department to provide free tax 

preparation to low- and moderate-income taxpayers and 

backed a measure to offer fiscal relief to states burdened 

by high welfare costs.11 Collins participated in efforts to 

reform the Federal Housing Administration after hearings 

conducted by the Government Operations Subcommittee 

on Legal and Monetary Affairs revealed that low-income 

homeowners had been defrauded by speculators, real estate 

brokers, and home repair companies.

As a veteran of World War II, Collins cared deeply 

about the welfare of American soldiers, and he devoted 

particular attention to ending racial discrimination in 

the armed services. In 1971, Collins and nine other 

members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)—

the newly-formed organization created to promote 

economic, educational, and social issues affecting African 

Americans—toured American military bases to investigate 

widespread allegations of racial discrimination. He and 

his CBC colleagues conducted a series of hearings to 

investigate the complaints.12 Known as a Member who 

preferred to work quietly behind the scenes, Collins 

made only occasional speeches on the floor during his 

tenure in the House. When Vice President Spiro Agnew 

accused African-American Representatives of exaggerating 

the desperate circumstances of many blacks living in the 

United States, several members of the CBC, including 

Collins, reproached him. “Mr. Agnew, take off those 

rose-colored glasses,” Collins retorted. “When the black 

leadership talk about social, economic, and financial 

conditions of the black and the poor, it is very real.”13

Despite a comfortable margin of victory in his 

initial election to office, Collins’s bid for a second term 

in Congress was met with uncertainty. As a result of a 

court-ordered redistricting plan for the state of Illinois, 

Collins found himself facing another product of the 

Chicago Democratic machine, Frank Annunzio—an 

Illinois Representative first elected in the 89th Congress 

(1965–1967)—in a newly drawn district extending east to 

west from the heart of downtown Chicago to the western 

portion of the city.14 Unconcerned with the restructuring 

that would potentially pit two Daley followers against 

one another, Annunzio confided to friends on Capitol 

Hill that the situation “will be taken care of by the 

organization.”15 Allegedly offered a position in the city 

administration in return for not opposing Annunzio, 

Collins defied the mayor, declaring his intention to enter 

the upcoming election. In a different political climate, 

Daley might not have tolerated such insubordination. 

But relations between the Chicago Democratic machine 

and the city’s African-American political leadership had 

deteriorated in the aftermath of a split between the mayor 

and South Side Representative Ralph Metcalfe, William 

Dawson’s successor. Metcalfe had accused Daley of 

devoting insufficient attention to the death of an unarmed 

black teenager shot by a Chicago policeman. Given his 

difficulties with Metcalfe, Daley could not afford to 

alienate the city’s other African-American Representative, 

so he accommodated Collins’s wishes to stand for another 

term.16 In an attempt to avoid a direct contest between 

the two politicians, Daley successfully encouraged 

Annunzio to run for an open congressional seat in a 

more affluent Chicago district vacated by Representative 

Roman Pucinski, who unsuccessfully challenged 

Republican Senator Charles Percy.17 With a formidable 

foe eliminated, Collins handily defeated Rhea Mojica 

H George Washington Collins H
former members | 1929–1970 H 365

Hammer, an associate producer of a Spanish-language 

television program, in the March primary.18 In the heavily 

Democratic district, Collins trounced his Republican 

opponent, real estate broker Thomas Lento, in the general 

election, garnering 83 percent of the vote.19

On December 8, 1972, a month after his re-election to 

a second term, Collins died in an airplane crash that killed 

45 of the 61 passengers and the crew onboard a flight from 

Washington, DC, to Chicago, where Collins had planned 

to organize a Christmas party for children in his district.20

Then-CBC chairman Louis Stokes of Ohio eulogized his 

congressional colleague: “The legacy which George Collins 

leaves is an abiding devotion to the people. . . .Those of 

us who served with him saw his strength and balance. 

The legacy he left all of us is that we should renew our 

devotion to mankind.”21 Shortly after Collins’s death, his 

widow, Cardiss, entered and won the special election to fill 

his vacant congressional seat. The only African-American 

widow to succeed her husband in Congress, Cardiss 

Collins served 24 years in the House. 

For further reading

“Collins, George Washington,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000637. 

Notes

1 James S. Stephens, “Collins Lauded at Rites,” 22 December 1972, 

Chicago Daily Defender: 29. This article lists Collins’s parents as 

Wash and Leanna. Wash is presumably short for Washington, 

which is George Collins’s middle name. See also Maurine 

Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. 

Crowell Publishers, 1976): 266.

2 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 266; “Crash Takes Life 

of Congressman,” 9 December 1972, New York Times: 70.

3 Grayson Mitchell, “Rep. George Collins (D.-Ill.) Killed in Chicago 

Jet Crash,” 10 December 1972, Washington Post: B4; “Crash Takes 

Life of Congressman.”

4 “Ben Lewis’ Aid Named as 24th Ward Leader,” 4 July 1963, 

Chicago Tribune: 7; “Aid of Lewis Named to Fill His Ward Job,” 9 

July 1963, Chicago Tribune: 14.

5 David E. Rosenbaum, “3 White Districts Choose Negroes for 

House Seats,” 5 November 1970, New York Times: 28; Guy 

Halverson, “Few New Blacks Expected to Land Seats in Congress,” 

30 October 1970, Christian Science Monitor: 1; “Crash Takes Life 

of Congressman.”

6 Francis Ward, “Chicago Congress Race Tests Black Militancy,” 

1 February 1970, Los Angeles Times: L4; Michael Kilian, “Most 

Exciting Contest to Be in 6th District,” 22 February 1970, Chicago 

Tribune: W3; Michael Kilian, “Congressional Race Contested in 

the 6th,” 15 March 1970, Chicago Tribune: W8; Michael Kilian, 

“Daley Choices Win Key Tests,” 18 March 1970, Chicago Tribune: 

1.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Almanac of 

American Politics, 1972 (Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 1971): 205–206; Becky Beaupre, “Alex J. Zabrosky, 

Steel Company Exec.,” 4 February 2001, Chicago Sun Times, 

http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qn4155/is_20010204/

ai_n13896147 (accessed 12 September 2007).

8 Rosenbaum, “3 White Districts Choose Negroes for House Seats”; 

Carol M. Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation 

of African Americans in Congress (Cambridge, MA: Harvard 

University Press, 1993): 117; “Crash Takes Life of Congressman”; 

Philip Warden, “2 Democrats Battle Over New District,” 11 

November 1971, Chicago Tribune: 12.

H George Washington Collins H
366 H Black Americans in Congress 

9 The other African-American Representative representing Chicago, 

William Dawson, died just six days after Collins’s election. 

Representative Ralph Metcalfe succeeded Dawson in the House, 

thereby keeping two African Americans representing Chicago.

10 Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 266.

11 Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 1st sess. (17 November 

1971): 41864.

12 Thomas A. Johnson, “10 in Black Caucus Visit Bases in Study 

of Charges of Bias,” 16 November 1971, New York Times: 62; 

Mitchell, “Rep. George Collins (D.-Ill.) Killed in Chicago Jet 

Crash.”

13 Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 1st sess. (21 July 1971): 

26518.

14 John Elmer, “House Remap May Give G.O.P. 3 Seats,” 23 

September 1971, Chicago Tribune: 2; Warden, “2 Democrats Battle 

Over New District.”

15 R. W. Apple, Jr., “Blacks May Lose in Redistricting,” 25 October 

1971, New York Times: 15.

16 R. W. Apple, Jr., “Black Leader’s Rebellion Is Hurting Daley 

Machine,” 10 May 1972, New York Times: 36.

17 Joel Weisman, “Daley Seen Re-Slating Negro,” 10 December 1971, 

Washington Post: A3; Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 

267. 

18 Stephen Crews, “2 Democrats Face Spunky Challengers in 5th, 7th 

District,” 19 March 1972, Chicago Tribune: SCL6; Stephen Crews, 

“Mikva, Young Easy Winners in 10th Dist.; Hanrahan in 3d,” 22 

March 1972, Chicago Tribune: 3; Stephen Crews, “Novice Shakes 

Slate,” 16 March 1972, Chicago Tribune: S1.

19 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Michael J. 

Dubin et al., United States Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland and Company, Inc., 1998): 678; “Split 

Ballots Threat to Coattail Theory,” 15 October 1972, Chicago 

Tribune: W3.

20 “Rep. George Collins (D.-Ill.) Killed in Chicago Jet Crash”; John 

Kifner, “Toll in Chicago Crash Rises to 45 as 2 More Bodies Are 

Found,” 10 December 1972, New York Times: 77; Christopher, 

Black Americans in Congress: 267–268.

21 Stephens, “Collins Lauded at Rites.” 

H George Washington Collins H
“Mr. Agnew, take off those 

rose-colored glasses,” 

Collins remarked when 

Vice President Spiro Agnew 

accused African-American 

Representatives of exaggerating 

the desperate circumstances 

of many black people 

living in the United States. 

“When the black leadership 

talk about social, economic, 

and financial conditions of 

the black and the poor, 

it is very real.”

former members | 1929–1970 H 367
The modern era of African Americans’ nearly 140-year history in 

Congress began in 1971. Black Members enjoyed a tremendous surge in 

numbers, at least in the House, reflecting a larger historical process, as 

minority groups and women exercised their new freedom to participate 

in American society. Fully 71 percent of all African Americans who 

have served in Congress entered the House or Senate after 1970 (84 

Representatives and two Senators).1

 These startling gains derived 

from the legacy of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 and its subsequent 

extensions, as well as from Supreme Court decisions requiring legislative 

redistricting so that black voters could be represented more equitably. 

Greater numbers of African-American Members provided renewed 

momentum for convening a formal group and, in 1971, 13 individuals 

created the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).2

 The CBC became a 

focal point for addressing issues important to blacks nationally by acting 

as an advocacy group for African Americans within the institution and 

forming a potent bloc for pushing legislative items. A growing influence, 

more focused and forceful than in previous generations, accompanied 

the organizational trend. The electoral longevity of African-American 

Members (boosted by districts that were drawn with black majorities), 

coupled with the CBC’s lobbying of House leaders and progressive 

On January 4, 2005, the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) swore in its first male Senator, Barack Obama of Illinois. 

Representatives Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas and Donald Payne of New Jersey take the CBC oath in the foreground. 

Since 1971, the CBC has played a major role in advocating African-American issues and advancing black Members 

within the institution of Congress. 

Image courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos

Permanent Interests:

The Expansion, Organization, and Rising 

Influence of African Americans

in Congress, 1971–2007 

370 H Black Americans in Congress

institutional reforms in the 1970s, placed many black Members in key committee 

and party leadership positions. Over time, black advancement within the institution 

changed Members’ legislative strategies. “Many of the [early] Black Caucus members 

came out of the heat of the civil rights struggle,” William (Bill) Gray III of 

Pennsylvania observed. “We have a group of new members whose strategies were 

shaped in the post-civil rights movement—who use leverage within the system. 

We see ourselves not as civil rights leaders, but as legislators . . . the pioneers had 

made it possible for us to be technicians.”3

The post-1970 generation of black Americans in Congress marked a watershed 

in American history—a transition from a period of prolonged protest to full political 

participation. Similar to other minority groups on Capitol Hill entering a stage of 

institutional maturity, African Americans faced new and sometimes unanticipated 

challenges resulting from their numerical, organizational, and leadership successes. 

Redistricting that dramatically boosted the numbers of African-American Members 

in the early 1990s evoked opposition that sought to roll back or dilute black voting 

strength. Moreover, by the end of the decade, redistricting had largely run its course 

in areas where black votes could be concentrated with a goal of electing more African 

Americans to Congress. The net result was that the number of African Americans 

in Congress leveled off by the early 1990s and hovered in the high 30s and low 40s 

for eight election cycles from 1992 through 2006. Although organizational trends 

provided African-American Members a forum to discuss their legislative agendas 

and strategies, black Members disagreed about many issues, partially because each 

Member represented the interests of a unique constituency. Finally, while AfricanAmerican Members enjoyed unprecedented leadership strength for most of this 

era, greater power often placed black leaders in a quandary when the imperatives of 

promoting the leadership or party agenda conflicted with perceived “black interests.”

Background and Precongressional Experience

Like earlier generations of black legislators on Capitol Hill, the 86 African 

Americans who entered Congress in the period from 1971 through 2007 generally 

ranked far above the norm in terms of education, professional attainment, and civic 

achievements. Successful careers in state government propelled the large numbers 

The 13 founding members of the newly 

formed CBC gathered for a picture. 

Standing left to right are: Parren Mitchell 

of Maryland, Charles Rangel of New York, 

William L. (Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri, 

Ronald Dellums of California, George 

Collins of Illinois, Louis Stokes of Ohio, 

Ralph Metcalfe of Illinois, John Conyers, 

Jr., of Michigan, and Walter Fauntroy 

of the District of Columbia. Seated left to 

right are: Robert Nix, Sr., of Pennsylvania, 

Charles Diggs, Jr., of Michigan, Shirley 

Chisholm of New York, and Augustus 

(Gus) Hawkins of California.

Image courtesy of Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center, 

Howard University
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 371

of African Americans elected to Congress in the 1990s.4 Like all the previous 

generations of black Members, these individuals were typical of their peers among 

the general membership of the House and Senate—composed largely of business, 

law, public service, and other professional elites. They were exceedingly well 

educated, as was the general congressional membership, and their level of education 

ranked far above the statistical averages for the general U.S. population.5

 They also 

largely experienced trends that were prevalent among the general congressional 

population, including a decline in prior military experience and a higher median 

age at first election.6

Civil Rights Activism 

A defining precongressional experience for many in this generation was their 

shared background in local and national civil rights protests. Many of the Members 

from this era, especially those first elected in the 1970s and 1980s, came of age 

during the civil rights movement. Some were prominent figures. John R. Lewis of 

Georgia (elected in 1986) cofounded and led the Student Nonviolent Coordinating 

Committee (SNCC), which became a pillar of the movement—staging sit-ins 

in segregated stores, participating in the Freedom Rides of 1961, and helping to 

organize the 1963 March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom. Andrew Young 

of Georgia (elected in 1972) was a principal aide to Martin Luther King, Jr., 

serving as executive director and executive vice president of the Southern Christian 

Leadership Conference (SCLC). King also tapped a young Washington minister, 

Walter Fauntroy, as director of the city’s SCLC bureau. As the SCLC’s congressional 

lobbyist, Fauntroy (elected the District of Columbia’s Delegate in 1971) honed his 

skills as a coalition-builder.

Early in their political careers, some future black Members of Congress also 

grappled with internal divisions in the civil rights movement between those who 

embraced King’s nonviolent protests and those who preferred a more aggressive 

and militant stance (such as Stokely Carmichael, who succeeded Lewis as head 

of SNCC).7 Out of this schism came the Black Power movement and the more 

In 1963, civil rights leaders, from left 

to right, John Lewis (future Georgia 

Representative), Whitney Young, Jr., A. 

Philip Randolph, Martin Luther King, Jr., 

James Farmer, and Roy Wilkins met at the 

Hotel Commodore in New York City for 

a strategy session.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
372 H Black Americans in Congress

radical black nationalist factions of the latter 1960s, such as the Black Panthers. 

“Black Power” had different meanings within the movement. For Carmichael’s 

cohorts, Black Power expressed frustration and rage with intransigent racism and 

advocated black separatism and the use of violence, if necessary, to achieve a measure 

of independence for African Americans. Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, who 

served in the House in 1966 when Carmichael first employed the term, briefly allied 

himself with the “new black militants” and defined Black Power as “a new philosophy 

for the tough, proud young Negroes who categorically refuse to compromise any 

longer for their rights.”8

 John Lewis, who resigned from SNCC in July 1966 because 

of its militancy and confrontational rhetoric, recalled that SNCC had used a similar 

phrase during the Selma protests but that “it had more to do with self-reliance than 

with black supremacy.” Lewis added that as articulated by Carmichael, Black Power 

“tended to create a schism, both within the movement itself and between the races. 

It drove people apart rather than brought them together.”9

Ronald Dellums of California, who represented an Oakland–Berkeley House 

district, found himself at the center of a virtual war between Black Panthers and the 

Oakland police force in the late 1960s. “The Black Panther Party for Self Defense” 

had been formed in 1966 by Huey Newton and Bobby Seale to counter what both 

men believed to be a long history of police abuses against African-American citizens 

of Oakland. As a member of the Berkeley city council, Dellums once convinced 

Seale to disperse an angry, agitated crowd of Panther supporters at a council 

meeting, probably avoiding bloodshed. Dellums noted that juggling the complex 

and competing agendas of radical factions developed his political acumen by forcing 

him “to employ all the skills at my command to build legislative majorities.” A 

former member of the Chicago Black Panthers, Bobby Rush, who quit the group 

in the early 1970s because of its violent tactics, served a decade as a Chicago city 

councilman before winning election to the U.S. House in 1992.

Prior Elective Office

This generation’s elective experience differed significantly from that of previous 

generations. The vast majority of African Americans who entered Congress after 

1970 held prior elective office (68 of the 86, or 79 percent), with a substantial 

increase in the numbers with service in state legislatures. Half (43) of the African 

Americans elected to Congress from 1971 through 2007 served as state legislators, 

19 in the lower chamber, six in the upper chamber, and 18 in both chambers of 

their respective statehouses. Of these, several performed leadership functions in 

their respective chambers, including Barbara Jordan (president pro tempore of 

the Texas senate), Harold E. Ford, Sr., (majority whip of the Tennessee house of 

representatives), and Carol Moseley-Braun (assistant majority leader of the Illinois 

house of representatives).11 This development, perhaps more than any other 

precongressional characteristic, brought black Members of Congress into near-total 

congruence with the experiential background of the general population of House 

and Senate membership. 

Voting rights reforms and redistricting drove diversity trends in the state 

legislatures in the decades after Congress enacted civil rights legislation. For 

instance, between 1970 and 1992, the number of African Americans serving in 

state legislatures increased 274 percent (from 168 to 463). The growth occurred 

fastest in the South—where the largest number of blacks lived and where voting 

rights legislation and court decisions provided greater access to the ballot. From 32 

Ronald Dellums of California, who ran 

as a peace candidate and Vietnam War 

opponent, won a seat on the Armed 

Services Committee in 1973. The 

first African American to serve on the 

committee, Dellums’s goal was to rein 

in the military’s budget. 

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

Harold Washington of Illinois used his 

seat in the House as a springboard for his 

successful effort to become the first black 

mayor of Chicago.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

Redistricting:

The redrawing of U.S. House 

districts within states, following the 

constitutionally mandated decennial 

census and the apportionment of seats. 

State legislatures draw new districts 

based on the need to accommodate 

population declines or increases that 

result in the addition or subtraction 

of House seats apportioned to the state.
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 373

seats in 1970, blacks held 226 in 1992—a gain of 894 percent.12 These trends have 

continued, albeit more slowly, in the last 15 years. According to 2003 figures from 

the National Conference of State Legislators, 595 African Americans held seats 

in the upper or lower house in state legislatures, accounting for 8.1 percent of all 

(7,382) state legislators nationwide.13

At the state and the national levels, these gains have been particularly striking 

among women. Over time, African-American women have accounted for an 

increasing percentage of the sum total of black legislators in state capitals and in 

Washington, DC. For instance, in 1970 there were only 15 black women state 

legislators—accounting for less than 10 percent of all African-American state 

legislators. By 1992, the number of black women state legislators had increased 

to 131, or roughly 28 percent of all black state legislators. As with other women 

in Congress, legislative experience at the state level provided a vehicle for election 

to the U.S. Congress. In 1971, there was only one African-American woman 

in Congress—Shirley Chisholm of New York—among a total of 14 blacks in 

Congress. By late 2007, African-American women accounted for nearly one-third 

of all the sitting black Members of Congress.14

State legislatures were just one avenue to attain higher office. Traditional 

experience in local and municipal elective office also typified this post-1971 cohort 

of black Members of Congress. Fifteen served on city councils, and five were elected 

county council members or commissioners. Four persons served as mayors, nine 

served as local or municipal judges, and several others held other elected positions, 

such as school board member, recorder of deeds, and justice of the peace. Three 

individuals held high-ranking state or territorial positions: Mervyn Dymally, 

lieutenant governor of California; Melvin Evans, governor of the Virgin Islands; and 

G. K. Butterfield, North Carolina supreme court justice. Finally, several individuals 

held prominent federal positions prior to winning their first congressional election, 

including Eleanor Holmes Norton, commissioner of the Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission in the 1970s and Diane Watson, U.S. Ambassador 

to the Federated States of Micronesia from 1999 through 2000.

Creation and Evolution of the Congressional Black Caucus

As the number of African Americans serving in Congress grew, a long-desired 

movement to form a more unified organization among black legislators coalesced. 

When Charles C. Diggs, Jr., of Michigan entered the House of Representatives in 

1955, he joined black Members William Dawson of Illinois and Adam Clayton 

Powell—the largest delegation of African Americans on Capitol Hill since 

Reconstruction. “In Congress, there was little, if any communication between 

Dawson and Powell,” Diggs noted. “Their styles were different. In terms of exercise 

between them, there was not any.”15 Diggs keenly felt the isolation endured by 

black Members due to their small numbers in Congress and, in some cases, an 

inability to connect on a personal level. Frustrated that black Representatives lacked 

a forum to discuss common concerns and issues, Diggs proposed the organization 

of the Democratic Select Committee (DSC) at the opening of the 91st Congress 

(1969–1971), maintaining that the DSC would fill a significant void by fostering 

the exchange of information among the nine African Americans serving in 

Congress, as well as between black Representatives and House leadership. 

“The sooner we get organized for group action, the more effective we can become,” 

Barbara Jordan became the first black 

female state senator in the United States 

when she was elected to the Texas senate in 

1966. This 1968 photograph shows Jordan 

at a White House meeting with President 

Lyndon B. Johnson (not pictured) and other 

legislators. When Jordan was elected to the 

U.S. House in 1972, Johnson persuaded 

congressional leaders to assign Jordan to the 

influential Judiciary Committee.

Photograph by Yoichi R. Okamoto, 

Courtesy of LBJ Library 

More women joined the first black 

Congresswoman, Shirley Chisholm of New 

York, on Capitol Hill during this period. 

Pictured from left to right are: Cardiss 

Collins of Illinois, Yvonne Brathwaite 

Burke of California, and Chisholm. In 

the 110th Congress (2007–2009), women 

account for one-third of the total number 

of African-American Members.

Image courtesy of Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center, 

Howard University 
374 H Black Americans in Congress

Diggs remarked.16 The informal group held sporadic meetings that were mainly 

social gatherings and had no independent staff or budget.

Newly elected Members and beneficiaries of court-ordered redistricting, William 

(Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri, Louis Stokes of Ohio, and Shirley Chisholm embraced 

the concept of a group for black legislators to “seize the moment, to fight for 

justice, to raise issues too long ignored and too little debated”—all of which quickly 

translated into a more influential association for African-American Members.17

Representative Clay and Stokes formed a fast and enduring friendship. Their close 

personal relationship boosted momentum to craft a permanent organization. Stokes 

drew upon his efforts to forge an independent political organization within his own 

district. “The thrust of our elections was that many black people around America 

who had formerly been unrepresented, now felt that the nine black members of 

the House owed them the obligation of also affording them representation in the 

House,” Stokes explained. He added that “in addition to representing our individual 

districts, we had to assume the onerous burden of acting as congressman-at-large for 

unrepresented people around America.”18

With the opening of the 92nd Congress (1971–1973), the number of black 

Representatives rose to 13—the greatest number of African Americans ever to serve 

simultaneously in Congress. The DSC met on February 2, 1971, and accepted a 

recommendation put forth by Clay to create a nonpartisan, formal network for 

African-American Members.19 Charles Rangel of New York, who narrowly defeated 

longtime Representative Powell in 1970, thought of a new name for the group: 

the Congressional Black Caucus.20 The CBC elected Diggs as its first chairman. 

“Black people have no permanent friends, no permanent enemies ... just permanent 

interests,” Clay declared—a theme that set the tone for the CBC during its 

formative years and evolved into its motto.21 Unlike many Members of Congress, 

Clay surmised, the participants in the new caucus did not owe their elections to 

traditional liberal or labor bases of support. “We were truly uninhibited, really 

free to decide our own issues, formulate our own policies, and advance our own 

programs,” Clay recalled. “Our mission was clear. We had to parlay massive voting 

potential into concrete economic results.”22

John Conyers, Jr., of Michigan, Charles 

Diggs, Jr., of Michigan, Bill Clay, Sr., 

of Missouri, Louis Stokes of Ohio, Charles 

Rangel of New York, Parren Mitchell 

of Maryland, George Collins of Illinois, 

and Walter Fauntroy of the District of 

Columbia gathered as a show of unity 

among black Members of Congress of the 

92nd Congress (1971–1973).

Image courtesy of U.S. House of 

Representatives Photography Office

Caucus: 

A meeting of party members in each 

chamber (House Republicans, Senate 

Democrats, and Senate Republicans 

refer to their respective gatherings as 

"Conferences"). These meetings are 

used primarily to select candidates for 

office and to consider other important 

business for furthering party interests. 

The term also describes an organization 

of House and Senate Members that 

is devoted to a special interest or 

legislative area. 
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 375

In the midst of its transition to a more formal organization, the CBC waged 

its first public battle during the early months of 1971.23 Upset with President 

Richard M. Nixon’s refusal to meet with the group, African-American Members 

made national headlines when they boycotted the January 1971 State of the Union 

address. “We now refuse to be part of your audience,” Clay wrote on behalf of the 

caucus, explaining that it perceived the President’s persistent refusal to grant them 

a White House meeting as symptomatic of the administration’s abandonment of 

African-American interests.24 The group won a public relations victory when Nixon 

agreed to a March 1971 meeting. “Our people are no longer asking for equality 

as a rhetorical promise,” Diggs declared. “They are demanding from the national 

Administration, and from elected officials without regard to party affiliation, the 

only kind of equality that ultimately has any real meaning—equality of results.”25

Press coverage provided instant national recognition for the CBC.26 The CBC 

thereafter skillfully used such tactics to wield clout and build a reputation as a 

congressional irritant.27

A rapid transformation took place in the organization’s early years as it began a 

maturation process. Heavy expectations were placed upon the group, initially leading 

the CBC to adopt a collective approach to representation to present a unified voice 

for black America.28 The CBC collected and disseminated information on AfricanAmerican preferences regarding policy, assisted individual black Americans with 

a range of requests by providing casework services, and spoke on behalf of special 

interest groups within the black community.29

Countervailing currents pushed and pulled at the CBC membership, who 

represented diverse constituencies and practiced individual legislative styles. 

Representative Diggs, a strong backer of the collective leadership model, attempted 

to organize a national black political convention in 1972. Ultimately, the caucus 

declined to sponsor the event for fear it would lead to future obligations in which 

the CBC would not have direct oversight.30 Shirley Chisholm’s 1972 presidential 

campaign also proved disuniting. The only woman among the CBC’s founders, 

Chisholm claimed that her gender, in addition to her willingness to form coalitions 

with liberal whites, Hispanics, and women, irritated her CBC colleagues. Indeed, 

some felt she betrayed the unified mission of the caucus by reaching out to other 

groups and undermined the effectiveness of the organization by placing gender 

After an August 1974 meeting with 

President Gerald R. Ford, the CBC posed 

for a picture. Standing from left to right 

are: Ronald Dellums of California, Robert 

Nix, Sr., of Pennsylvania, John Conyers of 

Michigan, Shirley Chisholm of New York, 

Andrew Young, Jr., of Georgia, Assistant to 

the President Stan Scott, Ralph Metcalfe 

of Illinois, Walter Fauntroy of the District 

of Columbia, Barbara Jordan of Texas, 

Louis Stokes of Ohio, Charles Diggs, Jr., 

of Michigan. Seated left to right are: Gus 

Hawkins of California, Cardiss Collins 

of Illinois, Charles Rangel of New York, 

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke of California, 

Bill Clay, Sr., of Missouri, and Parren 

Mitchell of Maryland. 

Image courtesy of Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center, 

Howard University
376 H Black Americans in Congress

above race. Only Ronald Dellums and Parren Mitchell of Maryland publicly 

endorsed Chisholm for President.31

Given the burdens and tensions that arose from collective representation, the 

organization shifted its emphasis. CBC members began classifying themselves as 

“just” legislators—moving away from the national spotlight and back to responding 

to the needs of their constituencies.32 That shift in priorities occurred largely under 

Stokes’s leadership after he succeeded Diggs in 1972 as CBC chairman.33 During his 

two terms leading the CBC, Stokes downplayed the role of the caucus as a champion 

of African-American issues. “We had to analyze what our resources were, what we 

should be doing, and how best to do it,” he explained. “And our conclusion was this: 

if we were to be effective, if we were going to make the meaningful contribution 

to minority citizens in this country, then it must be as legislators. This is the area 

in which we possess expertise—and it is within the halls of Congress that we must 

make this expertise felt.”34

According to political scientist Marguerite Ross Barnett, after spending its early 

years reacting to events, the CBC entered another stage of maturation in 1975 

when it sought to foster a proactive, anticipatory method for crafting a legislative 

agenda. Key elements of the earlier organizational strategies informed this approach. 

By balancing collective leadership with individual representation, the CBC fully 

embraced the challenge of the dual role African-American legislators faced—

speaking for the concerns of black America while simultaneously representing 

unique constituencies. Political scientist Carol Swain maintains that the group 

followed this blended leadership approach into the 1990s.35

During this period the CBC also confronted questions about its identity and core 

values. In 1975, Fortney (Pete) Stark, a white Member representing a congressional 

district in Oakland, California, with a substantial African-American population, 

asked to join the all-black caucus. After intense deliberation, the group rejected 

Stark’s application. “The caucus symbolizes black political development in this 

country,” CBC Chairman Charles Rangel explained. “We feel that maintaining this 

symbolism is critical at this juncture in our development.”36 The CBC retained its 

unwritten rule to limit membership to African Americans but briefly allowed whites 

to join as nonvoting associates. In 1988, 41 white Representatives joined the CBC 

when the caucus instituted its new policy.37

Institutional Advancement

Member Characteristics: Electoral Longevity

Incumbency success rates for Members of Congress have risen throughout the 

20th century for the entire congressional population. African Americans, of course, 

have been elected in their greatest numbers in an era in which incumbency rates 

have remained consistently at 95 percent (the rate in 1970) or greater—indeed 

in the late 1980s and the 1990s it reached 98 percent.38 While the longevity of all 

Members of Congress increased, African-Americans’ longevity has exceeded the 

norm. From the World War II Era forward, black Members have served longer than 

the general membership.39

The average length of service for former African-American Members elected 

between 1964 and 2004 reached 10.1 years—higher than the 8.65-year average for 

the entire congressional population during that time span.40 Of the black Members 

who entered Congress after 1970, Charles Rangel has had the longest span of 

The first African-American woman 

to campaign for the presidency, Shirley 

Chisholm of New York ran with the 

slogan of “Unbought and Unbossed.” 

This 1972 campaign poster featured 

her famous mantra. 

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

Incumbency:

The holding of an office or the term 

of an office (usually political). 
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 377

service: nearly 37 years at the end of 2007. In the history of African Americans in 

Congress, Rangel ranked second only to John Conyers of Michigan (also a current 

Member of the 110th Congress, 2007–2009), a Member for nearly 43 years by late 

2007. During this era, Bill Clay, Sr., and Louis Stokes also accumulated more than 

three decades of service, with 32 and 30 years, respectively, at their retirements. 

By the 110th Congress, active African-American Members held an even more 

consequential service advantage: While the average length of service for the entire 

congressional population was at a near all-time high of 10.1 years, black Members 

averaged 12 years.41

Member Characteristics: Seniority and Leadership Posts

Longevity meant that many black Members of Congress in this era benefited 

from the long-standing tradition of parceling out desirable committee assignments 

and leadership positions to those who had accrued the most years of continuous 

service. The trend that awarded perquisites based on committee seniority solidified 

in the second decade of the 20th century in the House and remained dominant 

through the 1970s (and still figures prominently in the way assignments are 

distributed).42 “When I first came to Congress, I was opposed to the seniority 

system,” District of Columbia Delegate Walter Fauntroy remarked. However, he 

later said, “The longer I am here, the better I like it.”43 Indeed, seniority boosted 

the influence of black Representatives and that of the CBC in the latter part of 

the century. “We don’t really think that racism in this country has so diminished 

that given the opportunity to vote on individuals based on their experience and 

ability that we could overcome that without the assistance of the seniority system,” 

Representative Rangel acknowledged.44

Between 1971 and 1975, African-American Members eclipsed long-standing 

barriers on the three elite House committees: Appropriations, which originates 

all federal spending bills; Ways and Means, with power over taxation and revenue 

measures; and Rules, which reviews and structures bills passed by various committees 

in preparation for debate and vote by the full House. In 1971, Louis Stokes won a 

seat on the Appropriations Committee, becoming the first of 12 African Americans 

to serve on the panel in this era (the first black woman, Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 

of California, joined the committee in 1975). Stokes eventually served as one of the 

Appropriations “cardinals.”45 As chairman of the Subcommittee on Veterans Affairs, 

Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies in the 103rd Congress 

(1993–1995), Stokes oversaw a huge percentage of the discretionary spending in 

the annual federal budget. The first African American to lead an Appropriations 

subcommittee was Representative Julian Dixon of California, who chaired the 

District of Columbia Subcommittee beginning in the 97th Congress (1981–1983).

During this period, black House Members capitalized upon decentralizing 

reforms to solidify and extend gains in terms of committee assignments and 

leadership positions. In 1974, control of committee assignments of Democratic 

Members was transferred from the Ways and Means Committee (then chaired 

by Wilbur Mills of Arkansas) to the Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, 

chaired by the Speaker of the House. The CBC used the opportunity to pressure 

House leaders, including Speaker Carl Albert of Oklahoma, to place African 

Americans on prominent committees. Under Representative Rangel’s leadership, 

the group struck a deal with Speaker Albert stipulating that at least one AfricanRepresentative Charles Rangel of New 

York, featured in this 2007 image, has 

the second longest career in congressional 

history among African Americans. 

Image courtesy of U.S. House of 

Representatives Photography Office

Seniority:

Priority or precedence in office 

or service; superiority in standing 

to another of equal rank by reason 

of earlier entrance into the service 

or an earlier date of appointment. 
378 H Black Americans in Congress

American Member would serve on each of the major standing committees.46 The 

ability of the CBC to attain more-attractive committee assignments was one of a 

handful of “clear achievements of black representatives organizing as a Caucus.”47

As a result of the new agreement between the CBC and the House leadership, each 

of the highest-ranking House committees included at least one African-American 

Member on its roster during the 94th Congress (1975–1977).48

Throughout its history, the CBC continued to rally to the support of individual 

black Members seeking to make institutional inroads that would better position 

them to secure some of their legislative goals. One example was the case of 

Ronald Dellums, a vocal critic of the Vietnam War, who faced resistance when he 

announced his interest in serving on the Armed Services Committee, chaired by 

longtime southern Democrat F. Edward Hébert of Louisiana. The CBC, led by 

Stokes and Clay, drafted a letter to the Democratic leadership on behalf of Dellums. 

When Speaker Albert informed Stokes that the CBC could have a black Member 

on Armed Services, but not Dellums, Stokes angrily replied that “white people don’t 

tell black people who their leaders are.”49 With the backing of the CBC, Dellums 

became the first black to serve on the Armed Services Committee.

Rising rank within the committee system had a reinforcing effect on the CBC. 

By the 99th Congress (1985–1987), CBC membership had grown to 20—only 

seven more than the original number in 1971.50 But despite this modest numerical 

gain, African Americans chaired an unparalleled five standing committees, two select 

committees, and 16 subcommittees in the 99th Congress.51 “We don’t have to go 

hat in hand begging anybody,” Representative Clay observed. “In fact, it’s just the 

reverse. Now a lot of people have to come hat in hand [to us] asking us for favors.”52

Of the 18 African Americans who have held House committee chairmanships 

in congressional history, 16 attained those positions in the post-1970 era. Five have 

held at least two chairmanships, and Augustus (Gus) Hawkins of California held 

chairmanships on four committees: Education and Labor; House Administration; 

Joint Committee on Printing; and Joint Committee on the Library.53 Additionally, 

of the 46 African-American Members who have chaired subcommittees in Congress, 

41 attained those posts for the first time in the post-1970 period.54 Such presence 

within the echelons of the leadership constituted a significant base of institutional 

support. In summary, these developments indicated that African Americans were 

now represented throughout the committee structure of the House—ranging from 

constituency-oriented panels to power committees—and provided powerful evidence 

of their assimilation into the institution.55

During the era from 1971 through 2007, black Members made history by 

attaining posts in the leadership ranks of both major parties in the House. John 

Conyers made the first effort to attain a leadership post by challenging then-Majority 

Leader Carl Albert for the speakership in 1971. Conyers lost the Democratic 

Caucus vote 220 to 20 in what was widely described as a symbolic undertaking.56

But African-American Members made inroads in other leadership routes during this 

era. Barbara Jordan of Texas, Ralph Metcalfe of Illinois, and Harold E. Ford, Sr., of 

Tennessee, for instance, were early appointees to the Democratic Steering and Policy 

Committee, which set the parameters of the party’s legislative agenda in addition to 

parceling out committee assignments. In 1983, Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill of 

Massachusetts chose Representative Rangel as a Deputy Majority Whip, making the 

Representatives Yvonne Brathwaite 

Burke of California, Harold Ford, Sr., 

of Tennessee, Walter Fauntroy of the 

District of Columbia, and Louis Stokes 

of Ohio were members of the House 

Select Committee on Assassinations. The 

committee, chaired by Stokes, investigated 

the assassinations of Dr. Martin Luther 

King, Jr., and President John F. Kennedy. 

In this image of a committee hearing, 

Burke (upper left), Fauntroy (second from 

upper left), and Stokes (fifth from upper 

left) listen to witness testimony.

Image courtesy of U.S. House of 

Representatives Photography Office

In the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), 

a large turnover among the House 

Membership allowed Lucien Blackwell 

of Pennsylvania to make the largest jump 

in seniority of any returning Member. 

Blackwell traded his assignment on 

Merchant Marine and Fisheries for a 

coveted position on the Budget Committee.

Image courtesy of 

Philadelphia Inquirer
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 379

New York Representative one of the most powerful Democrats in the House. John 

Lewis later served as Chief Deputy Democratic Whip.57

Just four African Americans have held elected positions within the Democratic 

Caucus and Republican Conference. Shirley Chisholm held the position of 

Democratic Caucus Secretary in the 95th and 96th Congresses (1977–1981). Bill 

Gray made the most dramatic climb up the leadership ladder: After winning the 

position of Democratic Caucus chairman in December 1988, he made history six 

months later when his colleagues elected him Democratic (Majority) Whip. As the 

first African American to hold the post, Gray was the third-ranking Democrat in 

the House. Others followed his lead. In 1999, J. C. Watts of Oklahoma became the 

highest-ranking African American in the history of the Republican Party when his 

GOP colleagues elected him Chairman of the Republican Conference; he held the 

position until his retirement from the House in 2003.58 James Clyburn of South 

Carolina served as Chairman of the Democratic Caucus for part of the 109th 

Congress, relinquishing that post to Rahm Emanuel of Illinois in November 2006, 

and becoming the second African American to hold the position of Majority Whip.59

Legislative Interests

The legislative agendas of African-American Members in the post-1970 era 

reflected the diversity of their committee assignments and the range of interests 

within the general membership of Congress. Most sought to advance a broad 

progressive legislative agenda supported by advocacy groups such as the National 

Urban League and the National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People (NAACP)—extending voting rights protections, improving educational 

and economic opportunities, fostering urban renewal, and providing access to 

better health care. With greater frequency, some departed from traditional “black 

interests” and pursued legislative agendas that reflected the unique needs of their 

constituencies or their personal positions on issues.60

Voting Rights 

Extensions of civil rights era voting protections were a touchstone for AfricanAmerican Members of Congress. Efforts to retain and expand upon the provisions 

of the Voting Rights Act of 1965—which Barbara Jordan once referred to as the 

“frontispiece” of the civil rights movement—provided continuity between Members 

of the civil rights generation and their successors in the post-1970 generation of 

Black Americans in Congress. Two extensions were of particular importance: the 

Voting Rights Acts of 1975 and 1982. 

The Voting Rights Act of 1975 (P.L. 94–73) strengthened the provisions of the 

Voting Rights Act of 1965 (as well as its 1970 extension).61 The House passed the act 

on June 4, 1975, by a vote of 341 to 70. After Senate passage, and House acceptance 

of some Senate amendments, President Gerald R. Ford signed the measure into 

law on August 6, 1975, the 10th anniversary of the original landmark bill. As with 

earlier acts, jurisdictions covered by the 1975 extension had to submit to the U.S. 

Attorney General any changes in local and state election law for “preclearance”—a 

determination of whether the modification had discriminatory intent. The 1975 

act also increased jurisdictions covered by the act to include locations in the North 

and West. Moreover, it applied not just to African Americans, but also “language 

minorities,” including Spanish speakers, Native Americans, and Asian Americans. 

Whip:

An assistant House or Senate Floor 

leader who helps round up party 

members for quorum calls and 

important votes. Coined in the British 

Parliament, this term is derived from 

“whipper-in,” a person who kept the 

dogs from straying during a fox hunt.

In 1994, J.C. Watts of Oklahoma received 

the Republican nomination for his district 

and won election as one of only five black 

Republicans to serve in Congress in the 20th 

century. “I knew what I was doing would 

not be popular,” Watts recalled. “It created 

some strain, even in relationships I had 

built over the years. But I knew in my heart 

that this was the right road, the honest road 

for me to take and remain true to my 

own principles.”

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives
380 H Black Americans in Congress

It required bilingual elections in areas where there were large numbers of minorities 

whose English literacy was below the national average.62

African-American Members played a prominent part in this debate. “The voting 

rights act may have overcome blatant discriminatory practices,” noted Barbara 

Jordan, testifying before the House Judiciary Subcommittee on Civil Rights and 

Constitutional Rights. But she added, “it has yet to overcome subtle discriminatory 

practices.” Charles Rangel agreed that the protections were needed. “Malevolent 

local government must not be exposed to any temptation to take back the political 

rights and powers that have so recently come to southern blacks,” Rangel said.63

Andrew Young pointed to vastly improved registration numbers in the seven 

southern states covered by the original 1965 act (29 percent registered in 1964 had 

expanded to 56 percent in 1972) as well as in the number of elected black officials in 

the South (72 in 1965 compared with 1,587 in 1975). “The remarkable effect of this 

act is that it has a preventative effect,” Young observed. “There are some reports that 

the threat of suing examiners has a deterrent effect—that local registrars began to 

register black voters so that federal examiners would be kept out.”64

The 1982 Voting Rights Act (P.L. 97–205) extension provided another victory 

for the civil rights movement and also paved the way for the expansion of Black 

American representation in Congress in the 1990s.65 During floor debate prior 

to overwhelming passage by the House, a number of black Members of Congress 

spoke on behalf of the bill. Representative Bill Clay, Sr., cast the debate in broad 

terms: “Are we willing to continue our forward momentum in America’s bold and 

noble attempt to achieve a free and just democratic society? Or, will we embrace 

the politics of reversal and retreat; the super rich against the wretchedly poor, the 

tremendously strong against the miserably weak?”66 The bill extended the act’s 

major provisions for 25 years. It also established a procedure by which jurisdictions 

that maintained a clean voting rights record for at least a decade could petition a 

panel of judges to be removed from the preclearance list. The bilingual election 

materials requirements established in the 1975 act were also enacted for another 

decade. Mickey Leland, who succeeded Representative Jordan in her Houstoncentered district, addressed the House in Spanish to make a point about the need 

As leaders in Congress, Barbara Jordan 

of Texas (left foreground) and Ronald 

Dellums of California (center background) 

sought to build coalitions inside and 

outside of the CBC.

Image courtesy of Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center, 

Howard University

As a Member of the U.S. House, Mickey 

Leland of Texas successfully lobbied 

Congress to create the Select Committee on 

Hunger in 1984. Leland was killed in a 

1989 airplane crash while ferrying relief 

supplies to Ethiopia.

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 381

for extending those provisions. “Many of you cannot understand me,” Leland 

said in Spanish, “and if you cannot understand me . . . nor can you understand 

17 percent of all the adult workers in the Southwest. . . . And even though you 

cannot understand me when I speak Spanish maybe you can begin to understand 

the hypocrisy of our political system which excludes the participation of HispanicAmericans only for having a different culture and speaking a different language.”67

Most significant, the Voting Rights Act of 1982 established that certain voting 

rights violations could be proven to be the result of voting modifications, even if 

intent could not be established. That section of the bill overturned a 1980 Supreme 

Court decision in Mobile v. Bolden (446 U.S. 55) that found a violation could be 

proven only if the intent to discriminate could be substantiated. This legislative 

instrument provided the basis for a round of creating majority-black districts 

following the 1990 Census, particularly in southern states.

Economic Opportunity

Another primary area of legislative concern for numerous African-American 

Members of this generation was the desire to promote economic opportunities 

for blacks as a means to further the political civil rights advances won in the 

1960s. Economic disparities among racial groups remained a problem throughout 

this time period. One of Congress’s strongest supporters of urban economic aid, 

Representative Floyd Flake of New York noted, “We in America have created a Third 

World within our borders, if we conglomerate all of the rural and all of the urban 

communities in this Nation who are not able to provide the basic necessities for 

people who are part of those communities.”68 For instance, from 1980 to 1990 the 

unemployment rate for blacks was more than double that of whites. Throughout 

that decade, the median income for African Americans constituted just 60 percent 

of the median income for whites.69 Many of the Members profiled in this generation 

supported an array of programs to advance African-American economic equality, 

including job training programs, urban renewal projects, affirmative action 

programs, and “empowerment zones” (urban and rural areas designated to receive 

federal grants and loans for job training and tax incentives for minority-owned 

businesses). At times these positions were championed by the CBC; at others, 

individual Members acted as policy entrepreneurs. 

The CBC consistently made the economic advancement of African Americans 

a top priority in its legislative agenda. For example, the caucus strongly backed the 

extension of the Office of Economic Opportunity programs under the Economic 

Opportunity Act of 1964 (P.L. 88–452).70 From 1974 to 1975, Gus Hawkins 

and Senator Hubert Humphrey of Minnesota drafted a measure to drastically cut 

unemployment in the United States, which reached 8 percent among the general 

population and more than 13 percent for nonwhites by the mid-1970s.71 Concerned 

about the disproportionate joblessness rate for African Americans, each member of 

the CBC cosponsored the Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced 

Growth Act of 1978 (P.L. 95–523).72 Among its provisions, the act declared the 

federal government’s intention to promote full employment, real income gains, 

price stability, and a balanced budget. Signed into law on October 28, 1978, the 

final version of the bill failed to include the more ambitious full employment goals 

drafted by Humphrey and Hawkins, leading some analysts to describe the legislation 

as “an empty symbol.”73 But the CBC’s ability to persuade President James Earl 

(Jimmy) Carter to publicly support a bill linked so closely to the caucus resulted in 

Affirmative Action:

First used in the United States during 

the 1960s and 1970s, a policy to 

promote opportunities for minorities 

and women by favoring them in hiring 

and promotion in government and 

private jobs, college admissions, and the 

awarding of government contracts as a 

means to compensate for their historic 

exclusion or underrepresentation.

The Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment 

Act of 1978 attempted to resolve persistent 

unemployment in the United States. The 

CBC placed its support behind the bill. 

Civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, Sr., 

(center) marched to draw attention to 

the legislation.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
382 H Black Americans in Congress

a noteworthy victory.74 “We would never have struggled so hard to get this act passed 

if we did not consider it significant,” declared Representative Parren Mitchell.

Mitchell, the brother of longtime NAACP lobbyist Clarence Mitchell, Jr., used 

a networking strategy to help push legislation aimed at business development 

in African-American communities through the House. Primarily interested in 

promoting economic opportunities in inner cities, Mitchell assembled a “brain 

trust” of national advisers (mostly businessmen, lawyers, bankers, and economists) 

to make recommendations on policy and legislation.75 The CBC embraced this 

approach, often calling upon subject experts for assistance in crafting legislation. 

Mitchell also employed his encyclopedic knowledge of House procedures—another 

facet of effective representation that many CBC Members refined during the period 

to promote the organization’s legislative agenda. Called the “Little General” for 

his ability to organize and coordinate support for key legislation, the Maryland 

Representative attached an amendment to a $4 billion public works program that 

required state and local governments applying for federal contracts to reserve 10 

percent of the money for minority-owned companies.76 Signed into law in 1977, the 

measure constituted not only a personal triumph for Mitchell but also a significant 

early legislative victory for the CBC. That success lent credibility to the group’s 

coalition-building efforts and burnished its reputation for using House procedures 

to achieve its legislative goals.

During the 1970s the CBC sporadically presented budget proposals that 

emphasized increased spending for domestic programs. However, in 1981 the 

group answered President Ronald W. Reagan’s call for alternatives to his fiscal plan, 

which emphasized defense spending, by drafting their own detailed budget.77 The 

CBC plan received national attention but little backing in the House. As an annual 

offering of the period, the CBC alternative included a consistent call to increase 

federal funding for domestic programs, to slash defense spending, and to raise taxes 

for the wealthiest Americans. “Even in defeat we have a responsibility to fight the 

In 1950, Parren Mitchell of Maryland 

successfully sued the University of Maryland 

at College Park for admission. He became 

the school’s first African-American graduate 

student. Mitchell eventually became a 

professor of sociology and taught at Morgan 

State College in Baltimore. In 1970, he 

was elected to the first of eight consecutive 

terms in the House, representing 

a Baltimore district.

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration 

During President Ronald Reagan’s eight 

years in office, he met once with the CBC. 

Pictured at the White House on February 

3, 1981, the CBC sought Reagan’s 

assistance on domestic issues.

Image courtesy of National Archives 

and Records Administration
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 383

fight,” Dellums remarked about the persistent failure of an alternative annual budget 

to attract meaningful support in the House. “We have to articulate the alternative.”78

District of Columbia

Another issue of ongoing importance to black Members of Congress was 

the matter of representation and “home rule” (self-government) for the city of 

Washington, DC. Since its creation after the Residence Act of 1790, the capital had 

been administered by a patchwork of governing mechanisms: an appointed mayor 

and elected city council (both a board of aldermen and common council); briefly, 

a territorial government in 1871, when the city was designated the “District of 

Columbia”; a presidentially appointed commission; and congressional committees. 

After 1960, because of its new majority-black urban population, congressional 

debates about representation and the administration of the District resonated within 

the larger African-American community. 

Representative Charles Diggs, an ardent advocate for Washingtonians, became 

chairman of a District of Columbia subcommittee in 1967. Six years later, he 

chaired the full committee, symbolically marking the end to the exclusive history of 

white congressional control over the capital. In 1970, with Diggs’s leadership, the 

House passed the District of Columbia Act, which reinstituted the post of Delegate 

to represent the city in the House.79 In March 1971, District residents elected 

Walter Fauntroy, a minister and civil rights activist, as the city’s first congressional 

Delegate in a century.

Fauntroy tirelessly advocated “home rule” in the District of Columbia. The 

CBC, seeking to increase the independence of the predominantly AfricanAmerican population, joined him. Fauntroy oversaw a lobbying campaign aimed 

at building support from white Members who represented southern districts with 

a substantial black constituency. The effort prevailed. In December 1973, Congress 

passed a compromise measure—the District of Columbia Self-Government 

and Governmental Reorganization Act—that gave the District limited self-rule, 

permitting citizens to elect a mayor and a city council.80

Based partially on the success of the “Fauntroy strategy,” the CBC later created 

the Action-Alert Communications Network (AACN) to mobilize support from 

nonblack legislators on a range of policy issues affecting black Americans.81

Encompassing the National Black Leadership Roundtable and the Black Leadership 

Forum, the AACN tapped into a network of national black organizations suited 

for grass-roots campaigns capable of applying pressure on white leaders with large 

African-American populations. “We are organizing ourselves to impact the political 

process, to reach out on a very careful basis in coalition with those whose interests 

coincide with ours,” Fauntroy remarked.82

Other African-American Members played key roles in later decades. Julian Dixon, 

a District native who represented a Los Angeles-area district, became chairman of 

the House Appropriations Committee’s Subcommittee on the District of Columbia. 

During the 1980s and 1990s, Dixon was one of the city’s primary congressional 

allies during an era of budget woes. In 1991, after Fauntroy’s retirement from the 

House, Eleanor Holmes Norton won election as Delegate. An advocate for full 

congressional voting rights for the District, Norton has served as the District’s 

Delegate since then. 

Delegate:

A Member of Congress who represents 

a U.S. territory. Able to serve and 

vote in committees, Delegates cannot 

participate in the final vote on a bill.

Walter Fauntroy, the former Southern 

Christian Leadership Conference’s 

congressional lobbyist, became the District 

of Columbia’s first Delegate in nearly 

100 years.

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
384 H Black Americans in Congress

Conflicting Interests

Some Members promoted policy positions that put them at odds with the 

majority of their CBC colleagues—either because they were required to balance the 

unique demands of their constituencies or because of their individual ideological 

beliefs. For instance, Mike Espy of Mississippi was elected from a farming district 

in the 1980s with considerable cross-over support from white voters, making him 

the first black Representative from that state in more than a century. His legislative 

agenda reflected the conservative ideological contours of his rural constituency. 

Consequently, Espy belonged to a group of centrist Democrats; he opposed gun 

control measures and supported the death penalty—positions that were largely 

contradictory to those of black Representatives from urban areas. 

Welfare policy proved to be a contentious subject during the latter decades of the 

20th century. The CBC often found itself in conflict with the Reagan administration 

during the 1980s. Reagan met only once with the CBC—a marked reversal from 

the Carter administration, which, while it did not always back the organization’s 

initiatives, regularly consulted with African-American Members.83 At the heart of 

this struggle lay the CBC’s fundamental disagreement with President Reagan’s core 

agenda: vastly increasing the defense budget to outpace the Soviets in a climactic 

Cold War arms race while scaling back social programs established in the 1960s. 

Not all African-American Members were consonant on welfare. As chairman of 

the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public Assistance in the 1980s, Harold E. 

Ford, Sr., proposed a welfare overhaul plan that linked benefits to work. Dubbed 

the “Family Support Program,” it required parents of children six and older to 

participate. In many respects Ford’s plan foreshadowed welfare reforms enacted in 

the mid-1990s.84 Representative Floyd Flake, a minister representing a constituency 

in Queens, also staked out an independent position on welfare reform. Flake’s 

bipartisanship with the new Republican majority in Congress in the mid-1990s 

caused friction with black colleagues. Republican House Speaker Newt Gingrich 

of Georgia convinced Flake to cosponsor the Community Renewal Act in 1997, 

which offered tax breaks and school vouchers (credits given to parents for partial 

or full reimbursement for their children to attend private school) to poor, urban 

neighborhoods.85 Flake’s support of school vouchers, partially on the grounds that 

such schools had better graduation rates and that vouchers might force public 

schools to craft better curricula and focused budgets, drew the most criticism from 

his fellow Democrats.86 “We get caught up in group-thought ideology, and we think 

that we all have to think alike, speak alike, say the same things, do the same things,” 

Flake observed after abruptly resigning from the House to return to the ministry. 

“I’ve never seen a leader who allows himself to be kept in the box. I am beyond 

race and party now.”87

After many decades of near-exclusive Democratic Party affiliation among African 

Americans, three black Republican Members were elected to the House: Delegate 

Melvin Evans of the Virgin Islands (1979–1981), Representative Gary Franks of 

Connecticut (1991–1997), and Representative J. C. Watts (1995–2003). During 

his brief tenure in the House, Delegate Evans made history by becoming the first 

Republican member of the CBC. Franks, the first Republican African-American 

Representative elected to the House since Oscar De Priest, joined the CBC in the 

102nd Congress (1991–1993). His contentious relationship with the organization 

revealed a new dynamic of conflicting partisan affiliations in the CBC. From 

Floyd Flake, a proponent of urban economic 

development in the 1990s, served on the 

influential House Budget Committee. 

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 385

its inception, the overwhelmingly Democratic organization billed itself as being 

nonpartisan, but the CBC denied Franks access to strategy sessions, and some 

individual members complained his presence undermined their mission. Franks 

eventually opted to skip CBC meetings, though he refused to resign.88 Watts chose 

not to join the group.

Commemorative Legislation

African-American Members of Congress often used their influence to pass 

legislation commemorating great leaders and seminal events in the civil rights 

movement and to call attention to unrecognized black contributions to American 

history. Such efforts included the designation of February as Black History Month 

and, in the 1990s, the awarding of Congressional Gold Medals to distinguished 

African-American citizens. Some African-American Members also called for 

Congress to apologize for the institution of slavery and to study remedies, 

including reparations, for the harm done to blacks by slavery and subsequent racial 

discrimination.89

One landmark commemorative achievement was the designation of the Reverend 

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday as a national holiday. That effort began only days 

after King’s death in 1968 when Representative Conyers introduced legislation to 

designate a federal holiday in his honor; Conyers sponsored similar measures in each 

successive Congress for the next 15 years.90 Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts 

offered a compromise measure in the Senate to mark King’s birthday as a “day of 

commemoration” when it became clear that Conyers and the CBC could not rally 

enough support for their bill in the House.91 His alternative measure failed to make 

headway in the Senate. By the mid-1970s, the CBC had elevated the King holiday 

to a major legislative priority. The caucus directed a successful campaign to build 

congressional support and to increase public knowledge of the bill.92 In 1979, the 

legislation had enough support to pass the House; however, the CBC withdrew the 

bill when an attached amendment called for a Sunday observance of the holiday 

instead of the originally proposed observance of King’s birthday on January 15, a 

compromise measure for Members concerned about the high cost of shutting down 

the federal government.93

Freshman Representative Katie Hall of Indiana, chairwoman of the Post Office 

and Civil Service’s Subcommittee on Census and Population—the panel with 

jurisdiction over the bill—provided the necessary spark in the 98th Congress 

(1983–1985) when the CBC tapped her to introduce the legislation and to serve as 

the floor manager. Hall courted detractors by moving the proposed public holiday 

from a fixed date—King’s January 15 birthday—to the third Monday of January 

to prevent government offices from opening twice in one week, thereby saving 

money.94 The House passed her version of the King holiday bill by a vote of 338 to 

90; the Senate followed suit, 78 to 22. President Reagan, who initially opposed the 

legislation, signed the bill into law on November 2, 1983.95 Some viewed the episode 

as a symbolic victory, but it constituted an important triumph for the CBC, which 

marshaled public support and exerted decisive institutional pressure to overcome an 

unsupportive President and also organized opposition in the Senate.

African-American Members also undertook numerous other efforts to recognize 

civil rights icons and distinguished public figures. In 1977, singer Marian Anderson 

became the first Black American to be awarded a Congressional Gold Medal—the 

highest honor the nation can bestow on outstanding citizens.96 Representative Julia 

Congress enacted legislation in 1983 to 

commemorate the birth date of Martin 

Luther King, Jr., as a national holiday—

marking a major legislative triumph 

for the CBC. This hand bill, noting the 

anniversary of King’s 1968 assassination, 

sought to rally public support for the 

creation of the holiday.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
386 H Black Americans in Congress

Carson of Indiana played a central role securing legislation to recognize Rosa Parks, 

whose act of civil disobedience (refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus in 

Montgomery, Alabama, in 1955) galvanized the modern civil rights movement. 

Additionally, Congress conferred an unprecedented honor on Parks by passing a 

resolution to have her body lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda from October 30 

to 31, 2005—a right normally reserved for Presidents, military leaders, and other 

statesmen. Parks was the first woman ever accorded this honor.97

In the 21st century, African-American Members of Congress pressed successfully 

for greater recognition of blacks' contributions to congressional history in the art of 

the Capitol. Portraits of pioneering Representatives Joseph Rainey of South Carolina 

and Shirley Chisholm, as well as Senator Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi, were 

commissioned. Congress also created a task force to document the work of enslaved 

African Americans who labored to build the Capitol itself.

Foreign Policy: Africa and Apartheid

Since the 1950s, black Members of Congress perceived the Cold War through 

a complex frame of reference. Even the most outspoken Members, such as Adam 

Clayton Powell, broadly endorsed the Cold War containment strategy and the 

necessity to combat communist international aggression. But African Americans 

were keenly aware of the gap between American rhetoric about the necessity to 

defend democratic freedoms abroad and the practice of racial segregation at home. 

Further, they questioned Washington’s generous support for authoritarian regimes 

abroad, particularly in sub-Saharan African nations emerging from the yoke of 

decades of European imperialism. In the post-1970 period, leading AfricanAmerican Members of Congress questioned the massive budgetary outlays that 

funded America’s decades-long struggle against the Kremlin.98 Representatives 

Dellums and Mitchell warned that excessive spending on Cold War initiatives was 

especially detrimental to minority groups, postponing or eliminating long-delayed 

domestic social programs and urban renewal projects. Dellums opposed the military 

buildup under the Reagan administration in the 1980s and sharply criticized 

On June 15, 1999, civil rights icon 

Rosa Parks, (center) next to Speaker J. 

Dennis Hastert of Illinois, received the 

Congressional Gold Medal in a ceremony 

in the Capitol Rotunda. Minority Leader 

Richard Gephardt of Missouri (left) and 

President William J. (Bill) Clinton (right) 

attended the event. 

Image courtesy of U.S. House of 

Representatives Photography office
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 387

nuclear weapons programs such as the MX missile—a land-launched weapon that 

could deliver multiple, independently targeted nuclear warheads when it re-entered 

the earth’s atmosphere. 

No single foreign policy issue united African Americans in Congress more 

than their efforts to overturn the South African government’s system of apartheid, 

the strict segregation of the races that began in 1948 and was imposed by whites 

descended from colonial immigrants. Even before the formation of the CBC 

in 1971, Charles Diggs used his position as chairman of the Foreign Affairs 

Subcommittee on Africa to call attention to racial discrimination in South Africa. 

Other black Members followed suit, and ending apartheid became a central policy 

concern. During the next 15 years the CBC oversaw a torrent of activism to enact 

economic sanctions against South Africa. 

According to political scientist Alvin Tillery, Representative Powell kindled 

Diggs’s interest in African foreign policy.99 Diggs, who became the first black 

Member to travel to Africa (1957) and the first to serve on the Foreign Affairs 

Committee (1959), was known as “Mr. Africa” because of his knowledge of SubSaharan issues. When the Detroit-area Representative was appointed chairman of 

the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa in 1969, he effectively used his position 

to draw attention to the continent. “I think if I had any one priority, it is to try to 

put Africa in proper perspective, to try to get the attention of policy makers in the 

government, the attention of the American investors in Africa and the attention 

of the American public, in general, and to arouse the substantive interest of black 

Americans,” Diggs remarked.100

Diggs held a series of hearings on South Africa and led many fact-finding 

missions during his tenure on the Foreign Affairs Committee to highlight what he 

described as “an appalling amount of racial injustice in South Africa—a blatant, 

ever-present, and all-pervasive discrimination based on race, color, and creed.”101

From 1969 to 1971, he led an unsuccessful charge against the renewal of a special 

U.S. sugar quota for South Africa. “I have been in over 37 African countries, and 

the first question that is always asked at a press conference is when we are going to 

implement our pronouncements in the United Nations, and stop being inconsistent, 

by providing this kind of subsidy to South Africa, which is one of the most racist 

countries in the world.”102 Diggs cosponsored legislation calling for an end to the 

subsidy.103 He also kept apartheid in the congressional spotlight with his criticism 

of the labor conditions of American companies in South Africa. He faulted the 

National Aeronautics and Space Administration and major U.S. carmakers for the 

discriminatory practices in their South African facilities. In 1971 he introduced 

a measure to implement fair employment practices for U.S. firms eligible for 

government contracts. Diggs also urged an end to new American investment in 

South Africa to protest apartheid.104

With the establishment of the CBC in 1971, Diggs cultivated the group’s 

international agenda. “Diggs being the great leader that he was reckoned that getting 

us involved in foreign policy would make a big splash on the Hill,” Representative 

Clay recalled.105 The CBC adopted this strategy to lend credibility to the fledgling 

caucus, and from its inception, the CBC took an active stance in the anti-apartheid 

movement.106 In February 1971, Ronald Dellums introduced the first legislation for 

U.S. economic sanctions against South Africa, on behalf of the CBC.107 Though the 

measure had little chance of passing the House, Dellums recollected, “Nonetheless, 

A leader behind the congressional 

movement to end apartheid in South 

Africa, Charles Diggs, Jr., of Michigan 

was an authority on African-related 

issues. Representative Diggs and a House 

Page posed for this image in his office 

in the 1970s.

Image courtesy of U.S. House of 

Representatives Photography Office
388 H Black Americans in Congress

we had raised the issue before the elected representatives of the American people, 

and our resolution provided an organizing device for those on the outside to use to 

begin to build pressure on Congress for legislative action.”108 The anti-apartheid bill 

emerged from a petition drafted by employees from a major U.S. camera and film 

company, who demanded that the corporation cease operations in South Africa. 

Responsible for producing photographs for the mandatory identity passbooks 

carried by blacks in South Africa—a major symbol of the racial oppression prevalent 

in the country—the corporation eventually bowed to public pressure and withdrew 

its business.109

In 1975, the CBC helped establish the Black Forum on Foreign Policy, a 

legislative support group interested in better representation of black interests 

abroad. The Black Forum’s early mission epitomized a “detached study group” rather 

than a formal lobbying assembly.110 At a 1976 CBC conference, caucus members 

recognized the need for a more influential vehicle to shape American foreign policy 

in Africa and the Caribbean. The new lobbying group, renamed TransAfrica, began 

operations in Washington, DC, in 1978. TransAfrica employed a grass-roots strategy 

that mobilized local black leaders who were interested in foreign policy. The group 

also adopted an aggressive posture on South Africa, refusing to accept donations 

from U.S. corporations with business ties to South Africa and calling for tough 

economic sanctions against the African nation.111

TransAfrica received a boost when Representative Andrew Young, one of the 

primary architects of the Black Forum on Foreign Policy, resigned from Congress 

in 1977 to accept President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter’s appointment as U.S. 

Ambassador to the United Nations. Young became a conduit for black lobbyists to 

the Oval Office. But while TransAfrica advocated a boycott by American businesses in 

South Africa, Young and the Carter administration maintained that promoting U.S. 

economic involvement in South Africa would have a liberalizing effect on the whitecontrolled regime.112 At the time, the internal resistance movement against apartheid 

had been sparked by the Soweto uprising of June 1976. When students gathered for 

a mass protest to oppose a new government regulation that instructors teach school 

President Jimmy Carter hosted 

members of the CBC at this 1978 

White House meeting. 

Image courtesy of Jimmy Carter 

Presidential Library
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 389

in Afrikaans, the government brutally dispersed protestors; in the ensuing riots, 

hundreds were killed, including many children. The event shocked international 

observers and initiated a long period of internal turmoil in South Africa. 

In 1981, the Reagan administration implemented a policy of “constructive 

engagement,” or maintaining diplomatic and economic relations with South 

Africa while advocating domestic reforms. Fearful that Reagan’s 1984 re-election 

would be interpreted as a mandate for the status quo of racial discrimination in 

South Africa, TransAfrica’s executive director Randall Robinson changed the tenor 

of the movement.113 On November 21, just weeks after the President’s landslide 

victory, Robinson, DC Delegate Walter Fauntroy, and Mary Frances Berry from 

the U.S. Commission on Civil Rights staged a sit-in at the South African Embassy 

in Washington, DC.114 The resulting arrests of the high-profile protesters garnered 

national attention and sparked a new “direct action” approach by TransAfrica and 

the CBC. Fauntroy described the demonstration as an act of “moral witness” and 

indicated that a “national campaign” against apartheid would follow; a few days 

after the incident, Robinson, Fauntroy, and Berry formed the Free South Africa 

Movement (FSAM) to publicize racial inequality in South Africa and pressure the 

Reagan administration to toughen its stance toward the apartheid regime.115 The 

FSAM orchestrated a series of demonstrations outside the South African Embassy 

that tapped into the long domestic civil rights tradition of nonviolent protest. 

Representative Charles Hayes of Illinois, Clay, and Dellums were among the first 

Representatives who were arrested. “I knew immediately why Fauntroy was calling,” 

Dellums remarked, recalling the coordinated effort by the FSAM to draw attention 

to South Africa. “‘Hello, Walter’ I said. ‘It’s a good day to go to jail. Where do you 

want me to be and what time?’ He laughed. ‘How did you know?’ ‘I just knew that 

it would one day be my turn, so when you called it was pretty easy to figure out 

why.’”116 The movement drew black and white Americans from all walks of life: 

national and local leaders, celebrities, teachers and students, and even Members 

of Congress who had been ambivalent about the issue. “It was very interesting to 

see colleagues from both sides of the aisle and of all races, who had previously paid 

little attention to our efforts, scramble to get arrested in front of the South African 

embassy and introduce sanctions when the [effects of the] movement hit home in 

their districts,” Dellums later observed.117 The protests, which eventually spread 

beyond the South African Embassy in Washington, DC, to other American cities, 

kept apartheid in the public eye.118

More than any other congressional cohort, African-American Members 

consistently drew attention to apartheid. Between the 92nd and 99th Congresses 

(1971–1987), black Representatives introduced more than 100 pieces of legislation 

concerning South Africa, encompassing issues such as diplomatic relations, 

economic sanctions, and trade restrictions.119 Representative Bill Gray, chairman of 

the House Committee on the Budget, compared the situation in South Africa to the 

history of segregation in the United States. “It took us 200, 300 years to eradicate 

apartheid here by law,” Gray observed. “People forget that only 20 years ago, when I 

came here to Washington, DC, as a boy, I couldn’t go into the downtown hotels. . . . 

We are only 20 years away from our own story, and that plays a part in our double 

standard” toward South Africa.120 In 1985, Gray introduced a bill endorsed by the 

House leadership banning new loans and implementing limited economic sanctions 

in South Africa to “stop the future financing of apartheid.”121 The House approved 
390 H Black Americans in Congress

the Anti-Apartheid Act of 1985 by a vote of 295 to 127, but soundly defeated a 

stronger disinvestment substitute put forth by Representative Dellums and backed 

by the CBC. The next month the Senate overwhelmingly passed a weaker version 

of the House anti-apartheid bill by a vote of 80 to 12.122 Wary of the mounting 

public pressure for action against South Africa, the President avoided a direct 

confrontation with Congress and a potential veto override by signing an executive 

order in September that included some of the congressionally approved sanctions. 

Gray described the action as “an ill-disguised and ill-advised attempt to circumvent 

an overwhelmingly bipartisan consensus in Congress.”123

The push for a comprehensive sanctions bill against South Africa reached a 

crescendo in the second session of the 99th Congress. Gray’s anti-apartheid bill made 

it to the House Floor again for a vote, where it was expected to pass. For a second 

time, Dellums offered a substitute. In an unexpected move, the House approved 

Dellums’s measure by a voice vote. The bill called for a trade embargo and total 

disinvestment; it was the first legislation that mandated a withdrawal of American 

companies to pass either chamber. Elated and stunned, Dellums proclaimed, “We 

haven’t simply altered the debate on apartheid, we’ve changed the environment. 

Whatever the dynamics of that moment, its effect can’t be changed.”124 A Senate 

bill sponsored by Richard Lugar of Indiana, which passed 84 to 14, resembled 

Gray’s more modest anti-apartheid legislation. In the interest of securing passage 

of a sanctions bill, CBC members, including Dellums, supported Lugar’s measure, 

which passed the House in September 1986 by a 308 to 77 vote.125 President Reagan 

vetoed the anti-apartheid legislation, but on October 2, 1986, the Comprehensive 

Anti-Apartheid Act (CAAA) of 1986 became law when the Senate overrode the 

veto, following the House.126 The historic legislation marked the first congressional 

override of a presidential veto on a major foreign policy issue since the enactment of 

the War Powers Resolution in 1973.127 Mickey Leland observed, “This is probably 

the greatest victory we’ve ever experienced. The American people have spoken and 

will be heard around the world.”128

After the passage of the CAAA, black Members continued their fight to abolish 

apartheid. In 1986, for instance, Gray led a delegation of Representatives to tour 

South Africa and observe the effects of the sanctions.129 Leading the anti-apartheid 

movement on the Hill, Dellums persisted in introducing legislation for 

comprehensive economic sanctions.130 When President George H. W. Bush 

considered rescinding sanctions against South Africa, Dellums and the CBC 

remained firm in their conviction that “sanctions should be lifted only when the 

oppressed people of South Africa say they should be lifted.”131 With the release 

of Nelson Mandela in 1990 and the establishment of majority rule in South Africa 

in 1994, the CBC achieved its longtime goal of contributing to the abolishment 

of apartheid.132

Crafting an Identity on Capitol Hill

As African-American Members entered Congress during this era, they 

encountered an institution that, like American society generally, was becoming more 

accessible and offered more opportunities for minority participation. Though there 

were exceptions, the culture of overt racism of earlier decades—discrimination in 

the House Restaurant and barbershop, insulting floor tirades by pro-segregationist 

Members, and many other, unspoken slights—had largely vanished. Black Members 

Serving a total of nearly 13 years in 

the House, William (Bill) Gray III, of 

Pennsylvania became the first African 

American to serve as Majority Whip. House 

Democrats elected him in 1989. 

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 391

now embarked on the mature phase of their institutional advancement by accruing 

service, winning better committee assignments, and gaining the attention and 

trust of House and Senate leadership. However, their ascent in Congress was 

accompanied by new challenges and questions about their identity and legislative 

strategies on Capitol Hill.

Like their predecessors in the previous century, African-American Members 

of Congress who served after 1970 generally perceived themselves as surrogate 

representatives for the larger black community. In the CBC’s 1971 meeting with 

President Nixon, Representative Diggs said, “Our concerns and obligations as 

members of Congress do not stop at the boundaries of our districts, our concerns 

are national and international in scope. We are petitioned daily by citizens living 

hundreds of miles from our districts who look on us as Congressmen-at-large for 

black people and poor people in the United States.”133 Cardiss Collins, one of the 

few women members of the caucus in its early years, agreed: “Our main goal is 

to have greater influence. It’s that simple. When we represent black people in our 

districts, we are representing all black people because their needs are very similar.”134

Never a monolithic group, the black Members of Congress became, if anything, 

more fragmented in the modern era because of their changing stature and growing 

numbers within the institution. While most black Members understood and 

accepted their role as surrogate representatives, there was no consensus on how to 

pursue the legislation that was important to their broad constituency. “We all have 

basically the same goals,” Mickey Leland observed. “The question is how to attain 

those goals.”135

Some, such as Barbara Jordan, chose an insider route that often took precedence 

over racial or gender issues. “I sought the power points,” she once said. “I knew if 

I were going to get anything done, [the congressional and party leaders] would be 

the ones to help me get it done.” Jordan was careful not to align herself too closely 

with the agenda of any special interest group, including the CBC and the Women’s 

Caucus, both of which she nevertheless joined. “I am neither a black politician nor a 

woman politician,” Jordan said in 1975. “Just a politician, a professional politician.” 

Her choice of seating in the House Chamber was revealing. Jordan chose to sit in the 

center aisle (away from the section customarily occupied by the CBC) because she 

could hear better, be seen by the presiding officer, and save a seat for colleagues who 

wanted to stop and chat. Her seating preference as well as her loyalty to the Texas 

delegation agitated fellow CBC members, but both were consistent with Jordan’s 

strategy for seeking congressional influence.136 Similarly, Julian Dixon accrued 

influence in the institution by working quietly with various factions. Syndicated 

political columnist David Broder observed, “Dixon is a fascinating example of the 

emerging alternative style of black leadership: a person who makes his way not by 

the militance of his advocacy of civil rights or other racially linked issues, but on the 

basis of personal and intellectual qualities that cross racial and ideological divisions 

and make an effective bridge-builder.”137

In many respects, Representatives Jordan and Dixon introduced a new legislative 

style that emerged among black Members during this generation: In de-emphasizing 

race, they served to foster a consensus-crafting approach among various factions. 

One political observer described this shift among black House Members in the 

1980s, suggesting they bore “striking similarities” to their “independent” 

contemporary colleagues in both major parties. “First, they worked painstakingly to 

Following the unexpected death of George 

W. Collins of Illinois, his widow, Cardiss 

Collins, won the special election for his 

seat. Congresswoman Collins served nearly 

24 years in Congress.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

In 1976, Barbara Jordan of Texas, 

a captivating public speaker, became 

the first woman and the first African 

American to deliver a keynote address 

at a Democratic National Convention.

Image courtesy of Library 

of Congress
392 H Black Americans in Congress

build their own organizations to win election,” political commentator Richard 

Cohen wrote. “Once in the House, they have become issue activists and coalition 

builders eager for influence, not necessarily inclined to await the delayed rewards of 

the seniority system.”138 Political scientists also noted a gradual shift in the style of 

African-American representation during this era. During the 1960s and 1970s, 

legislative reformers and civil rights advocates emphasized the need for “descriptive” 

representation, i.e., electing more blacks to Congress with the goal of providing 

better representation for the African-American community. But by the latter part of 

the 20th century, many black Members of Congress had a new focus: “substantive” 

representation, which involved a connection between constituents and their 

Representatives that was based on legislative agenda and achievements rather than 

solely on the color of their skin.139

Even those who were elected to Congress because they dissented from the 

prevailing political establishment underwent a process of institutional integration 

that conferred upon them legislative success and leadership positions. Several 

Members adapted their activism to prevailing institutional norms. Elected to 

Congress from the epicenter of the anti–Vietnam War movement, Ronald Dellums 

was a prime example. Soon after being elected to the House, he introduced 

legislation to investigate alleged U.S. war crimes in Southeast Asia, as well as a 

measure to impose penalties on the apartheid regime in South Africa. Dellums 

declared, “I am not going to back away from being called a radical. If being an 

advocate of peace, justice, and humanity toward all human beings is radical, then 

I’m glad to be called a radical.”140 He worked his way onto the Armed Services 

Committee largely to try to curb vast Pentagon expenditures. Dellums was literally 

denied a seat at the table when he first joined that panel: He was forced to share 

a single chair with Patricia Schroeder of Colorado (then the only woman on the 

committee) by Chairman F. Edward Hébert of Louisiana as a sign of contempt.141

But Dellums’s activism was tempered by the need to craft legislation through 

compromise. Contrary to opponents’ expectations, Dellums forged a reputation 

as an effective coalition builder to achieve his legislative goals; for instance, he 

allied with fiscal conservatives to halt production of the controversial B-2 bomber 

in the early 1980s. In 1993, partially reflecting the degree to which the Bay Area 

Representative had mastered institutional politics, Dellums became the senior 

Democrat and assumed the chair of the Armed Services Committee. “If you are 

around the House long enough, you learn its rules and customs and come to 

understand that no point of principle is served by remaining a permanent outsider,” 

Dellums reflected in retirement. “My constituency, like any other, had sent me to 

Washington to legislate. I owed them nothing less than my best.”142

Other Members of this generation followed a similar trajectory. For instance, 

Delegate Walter Fauntroy drew upon his experience in the civil rights movement 

and as a community activist in Washington, DC, to develop effective coalitions 

in the House on issues ranging from apartheid to home rule in the District of 

Columbia; he eventually chaired more than a half-dozen House subcommittees.143

As supporters, and in some cases, participants, in the civil rights movement, many 

of the founding members of the CBC initially believed that working outside the 

system—following Powell’s militant example during his House career—would 

best serve African Americans. But gradually it became apparent that working with 

House leaders, particularly with high-ranking Democratic Members, could produce 

In this 1971 photograph, freshman House 

Members and outspoken peace advocates 

Ronald Dellums of California (center) 

and Bella Abzug of New York (in hat, 

at Dellums’s left), speak to reporters about 

their proposal to conduct an unofficial 

inquiry into alleged U.S. war crimes in 

Vietnam. Two years later, at the insistence 

of House leaders who overrode Chairman 

F. Edward Hébert of Louisiana, Dellums 

earned a seat on the House Armed Services 

Committee, which had jurisdiction over 

every facet of the defense establishment. 

Image courtesy of Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center, 

Howard University
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 393

measurable and substantive results. Mickey Leland, a self-described “revolutionary,” 

explained that many of his black colleagues could now bargain for legislative goals 

from a position of strength. “We understand that in order to get our point across 

we don’t have to jump up and down on the table or shoot off fireworks to get the 

attention of the leadership,” Leland remarked. “We go in and negotiate.”144

Over time, black Members forged alliances with congressional groups with similar 

policy goals. “The technique now is coalitions,” Julian Dixon remarked in the 1980s. 

“I don’t think we want to stand alone on the issues. The numbers tell us we won’t 

be successful.”145 Representative Schroeder, a cofounder of the Women’s Caucus, 

acknowledged the necessity for cooperative efforts among minorities in Congress 

during the 1980s: “It seemed that the three chairpersons of the women’s, black and 

Hispanic caucuses have been sewn together around issues of equal concern, such as 

hunger, the feminization of poverty, the extension of the Voting Rights Act and the 

reauthorization of the civil rights commission.”146

African-American politicians’ electoral success in the latter half of the 20th 

century presented new challenges. New black Members, including more women and 

southern blacks, altered the gender and the geographic composition of the CBC. 

In 1997, Maxine Waters of California became the first woman elected to head the 

CBC since Cardiss Collins held the position in the 96th Congress (1979–1981), 

indicating the growing influence of women in the caucus; in the subsequent decade, 

Eddie Bernice Johnson of Texas (107th Congress, 2001–2003) and Carolyn Cheeks 

Kilpatrick of Michigan (110th Congress) also chaired the CBC.147 The influx of 

new Members from rural and suburban districts modified the substance of the 

caucus, which historically had fielded Representatives from northern cities.148

New committee assignments and issues that were significant to southern and rural 

districts, such as support for the space industry and tobacco farmers, were included 

in black Members’ more diversified approach to the political landscape.149

Consequently, the CBC had difficulty sustaining the collective voice envisioned 

by its founders in 1971. Although most black Members still represented majorityblack districts, the swelling membership of the caucus and the conflicting opinions 

of its individual members resulted in internal divisions.150 Still, the group managed 

to focus on the common goals of opposing racism and backing equal opportunity. 

“Like coalition building in any context, holding the Black Caucus together required 

fluidity and flexibility, the constant search for common ground, and no rigid tests 

of membership,” Representative Dellums later noted, “otherwise the fate of other 

caucuses and coalitions that had arisen during the same period would have befallen 

the CBC as well.”151

In 1992, with the election of the second Democratic President during the CBC's 

history, William J. (Bill) Clinton, political commentators believed the group would 

be able to advance a broad legislative agenda. Yet, much as with President Carter, 

the CBC was often at odds with the Clinton administration, particularly because 

of its willingness to compromise with conservatives on Capitol Hill.152 Many black 

Members dissented from key administration policies, such as portions of the 1993 

Clinton budget, the North American Free Trade Agreement, relations with Haiti, 

and the controversial nomination (and then withdrawal) of civil rights scholar Lani 

Guinier for Assistant U.S. Attorney General for Civil Rights. However, the CBC’s 

clout ensured that the President seriously considered the group’s point of view and 

often consulted the caucus regarding policy affecting African Americans.153

Representative Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick 

of Michigan presented the Tuskegee Airmen 

of World War II with the Congressional 

Gold Medal in 2007. In the 110th 

Congress, Congresswoman Kilpatrick 

chairs the CBC.

Image courtesy of U.S. House of 

Representatives Photography Office

In June 1993, the CBC met with 

President William J. (Bill) Clinton. 

Though the CBC agreed with Clinton 

on many issues, the group sometimes 

was critical of the Democratic President 

because of his willingness to compromise 

with conservative lawmakers on efforts 

to reduce the federal budget deficit 

by curtailing entitlement programs.

Image courtesy of William J. Clinton 

Presidential Library
394 H Black Americans in Congress

After the Republicans won control of Congress in 1995—and a majority in the 

House for the first time in 40 years—the CBC’s legislative momentum and hardfought institutional gains dissipated. The institutional structure of the House, which 

favors the majority, relegated Democratic black Representatives to a secondary 

role, much like the status of their white Democratic colleagues. Nevertheless, many 

members of the caucus promised to continue their mission, regardless of the party 

change. “The Congressional Black Caucus has got to yell louder and scream or be 

steamrollered,” asserted Cynthia McKinney of Georgia, epitomizing the pitched 

partisanship during the latter half of the decade.154 Political scientist Robert C. 

Smith, writing shortly after the GOP takeover, voiced widely shared frustration 

with black Members’ inability to advance a legislative agenda. Despite numerical 

gains, the attainment of leadership positions, and prominent civil rights efforts, 

“blacks in Congress are frequently an isolated, invisible, inconsequential minority 

unable to enact (or often even to get serious debate and deliberation on) proposals 

it deems minimally necessary to meliorate the problems of joblessness, crime and 

dispossession that plague its core constituency.”155

Still, the change in party control—largely the result of southern white 

Democrats in the House being replaced by an insurgent Republican Party in the 

South—had ancillary benefits for black Members. In the minority Democratic 

Party, black Members now represented a larger percentage of the Democratic 

Caucus.156 Given the relative electoral safety of their districts, this increase portended 

significant consequences for boosting blacks into a greater share of leadership roles 

in the party as they collectively accounted for greater percentages of the more 

experienced cadre of Democrats.157

Conflicting Imperatives: Black Interests Versus Party Agenda

While the institutional headway made by African-American Members during 

the 1970s and 1980s strengthened the collective authority of the CBC, it posed 

new challenges to the cohesiveness of the organization. Its success advancing black 

Representatives into the upper echelons of the institutional establishment raised 

expectations for the group and for individual Members to produce immediate, 

tangible results for Black Americans. Moreover, some black Members began 

to experience conflicting pressures between their allegiance to the CBC, their 

responsibilities as committee and party leaders, and their debt to the Democratic 

leaders who had placed them in positions of power. The development of conflicts 

between individual aspirations and collective goals was a sign of African-American 

institutional maturation, and other minority groups in Congress experienced such 

conflicts as well. A similar process unfolded among women Members of Congress, 

often creating tension between the institutional apprenticeship generation of the 

1940s and 1950s, who had attained leadership positions, and the feminist activists 

who followed them.158

This theme recurs throughout the service of this generation of Black Americans 

in Congress. The career of Representative Bill Gray provides an illustrative example. 

As chairman of the House Budget Committee for the 99th and 100th Congresses 

(1985–1989), Gray asserted his independence: “I am not here to do the bidding of 

somebody just because they happen to be black. If I agree with you, I agree with 

you. I set my policy.”159 Once he rose to the chairmanship of the Budget Committee, 

Gray encouraged the CBC to continue submitting an alternative budget, although 

he did not publicly support it. His decision to vote “present” when the CBC 

A reserved but influential advocate for civil 

rights, Gus Hawkins of California once 

said, “The leadership belongs not to the 

loudest, not to those who beat the drums 

or blow the trumpets, but to those who day 

in and day out, in all seasons, work for the 

practical realization of a better world—

those who have the stamina to persist and 

remain dedicated.” 

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 395

measure came to the House Floor disrupted the public solidarity of the organization 

and angered some of his black colleagues, who thought Gray was placing personal 

interests ahead of caucus goals.160 Similarly, Julian Dixon, who chaired the CBC in 

the 98th Congress, refused to bring the Caucus’s alternative budget to the House 

Floor for a vote. House leaders had asked Dixon, also a subcommittee chairman 

of the Appropriations Committee, to pledge his support for the House Budget 

Committee’s budget proposal to attract rank-and-file Democrats’ votes for the 

measure. Knowing he could extract some concessions for his support, the CBC 

chairman agreed. “Our purpose, hopefully, is not to go down to defeat with honor,” 

Dixon explained. “Our purpose is to have some success.”161

Investigations, Corruption, and Race

Concerns about public corruption became commonplace in the post-Watergate 

Era as the number of Americans who trusted their government decreased. That 

distrust was magnified by a growing adversarial relationship between the press and 

public officials. Throughout this period, a number of African-American officeholders, 

including a significant number of black Members of Congress, observed that 

federal investigations into political corruption unfairly targeted black politicians.162

This perception may have been partially due to an increase in the total number of 

corruption probes conducted by the federal government, which soared more than 

2,300 percent between 1970 (63) and 1991 (1,452).163 Additionally, the number of 

black officials who held public positions increased from 1,469 in 1970 to 6,681 in 

1987. Nevertheless, African-American officials seemed disproportionately targeted. 

One study found that of the 465 political corruption probes initiated by the Justice 

Department between 1983 and 1988, 14 percent investigated black officeholders—

even though they represented just 3 percent of all U.S. officeholders.164 Black 

Members of Congress often believed they were the targets of such investigations, 

asserting that they were singled out for scrutiny on racial grounds and were held 

to higher standards than their white counterparts. Some interpreted such scrutiny 

as a coordinated effort to silence black officeholders by “diluting [their] influence 

and credibility.”165 Representative Bill Clay, Sr., maintained that the legal problems 

encountered by Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., and Harold Ford, Sr., were examples 

of a “pattern” of investigatory practices and “harassment.”166

From 1981 to 1993, roughly half the members of the CBC were the subjects 

of federal investigations or indictments, though few were convicted.167 Bill Clay, Sr., 

claimed that federal investigations and political corruption probes into the careers and 

personal lives of black officeholders were often part of a long-standing “conspiracy to 

silence dissent.” According to Clay, business and “elite” interests—using government, 

judicial, and law enforcement mechanisms as well as a pliant press—sought to ruin 

the reputations of those who spoke out about racial, economic, or social inequality.168

Some political observers did not fully agree with that viewpoint. “There is no question 

there is real racism in our country,” said African-American journalist Juan Williams in 

1987, but he added, “Unfortunately, it is not the case that racism explains all charges 

of corruption.” Some prominent black officials, such as then-Virginia Governor L. 

Douglas Wilder and Representative John Lewis, publicly disputed the conspiracy 

viewpoint. An official from a black political organization succinctly described the 

relationship between blacks’ new role in the political process and the increased 

scrutiny by public officials: “White folks are in a fishbowl; they get to swim. Black 

folks are in a test tube; they have to go straight up or down.”169

Elected to the House at age 29, Harold 

Ford, Sr., of Tennessee later became 

one of the youngest Members ever 

to chair a subcommittee on Ways and 

Means. He left his position 

as chairman amid legal problems, 

but regained his seniority and 

chairmanship after his acquittal.

Image courtesy of Office of the 

Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives
396 H Black Americans in Congress

Within Congress, African-American Members were appointed to chair the 

House Standards of Official Conduct (Ethics) Committee more often than any 

other congressional panel.170 In the 1980s and 1990s, respected insiders such as 

Representatives Stokes and Dixon led the Ethics Committee, once during a highly 

sensitive investigation into alleged standards violations by Speaker Jim Wright 

of Texas. The scandal with the strongest effect on black Members during this era 

occurred in 1992 when the press publicized General Accounting Office and House 

internal investigations revealing that dozens of lawmakers (some 220 former and 

current Members) had overdrawn their accounts at the informal House “Bank” run 

by the House Sergeant at Arms. Nine African-American Members revealed that they 

had written checks without sufficient funds, and five were on the list of the “worst 

offenders” that was released by the House Ethics Committee.171 The occurrence of 

the scandal in an election year, with the economy in recession, magnified voters’ 

discontent with incumbents. However, only one black incumbent, Charles Hayes, 

lost his primary re-election campaign in the Chicago district he had represented 

for a decade; his name appeared on a list that was leaked days before the contest.172

As in the preceding generation, African Americans who faced such investigations 

or congressional disciplinary actions enjoyed unusually strong loyalty from 

their constituencies. 

Redistricting and “Deracialization”: 

Opportunities and Limits

The return of African Americans to Congress in the third generation 

(1929–1970) and the phases of rapid expansion (1971–1977, 1991–1995) in the 

fourth generation are attributable to unique historical forces, the intervention of the 

courts, and legislative remedies. These developments include the Great Migration, 

which concentrated blacks in northern cities; the passage and implementation of 

the landmark 1965 Voting Rights Act (and its extensions); and court decisions 

in subsequent decades that supported the creation of majority or minority 

congressional districts.

Title 2 of the Voting Rights Act Amendment of 1982 was critical to the 

development of racial redistricting after the 1990 Census. That provision marked 

a significant shift from an emphasis on “process-oriented” remedies, which focused 

on providing minority voters equal access and opportunity (such as the Civil Rights 

Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965) to an emphasis on end results 

achieved by prohibiting electoral arrangements that had the intent or the effect 

of diluting minority votes. In addition, the growing number of African-American 

state legislators on key committees with oversight of election and redistricting issues 

(by one account, 17 percent of all black state legislators in 1992 served on such 

committees) significantly boosted black electoral prospects in the early 1990s.173

Redistricting imposed by the courts and the decennial reapportionment mandated 

by the Constitution were carried out by state legislatures and accounted for major 

changes in 1992, in combination with an anti-incumbent mood and the election 

of a Democratic President for the first time in 12 years. That year, more blacks 

were elected to Congress than in any previous decade (16 Representatives and one 

Senator), and 13 of the 16 newly elected black House Members were from districts 

that had been redrawn for black majorities. The other new black Representatives 

succeeded retiring or defeated black incumbents.174 “I think the Congressional Black 

Former union leader Charles Hayes 

of Illinois won his first-ever campaign 

for elective office when he prevailed 

in a 1983 special election to succeed 

Harold Washington, who had been 

elected as Chicago’s first black mayor. 

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives 

Apportionment:

The allocation of congressional seats 

in the House of Representatives 

in proportion to states’ populations 

as tabulated by the U.S. Census 

Bureau every 10 years. Although 

the House determines the total 

number of Representatives, states 

determine the size and boundaries 

of their congressional districts based 

on population changes revealed 

in each census. 
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 397

Caucus has moved to a whole other level,” Ronald Dellums observed. “We can win. 

We’ve gone beyond just being ‘the conscience of the House.’”175

At the opening of the 103rd Congress African-American representation reached 

a then-historic high of 40, including the first black woman Senator, Carol MoseleyBraun. Moseley-Braun’s election was significant for other reasons, too: She became 

just the fourth African American ever to serve in the upper chamber and the first to 

be elected as a Democrat. She won decisively in majority-black districts in Chicago 

but also drew broad-based support from voters from across the state, including a 

core black constituency, women, and liberal whites.176 Her campaign strategy was 

essentially one of “deracialization,” a term coined by political scientists to describe an 

African-American candidate running in a majority-white jurisdiction (often against 

a white opponent) and energetically seeking white voter support. Black candidates 

who employed this method avoided strong racial appeals. This strategy was not new; 

in the 1980s, House Members John Lewis and Mike Espy both won election in 

districts that, while majority black, required them to develop significant coalitions 

of both white and African-American voters.177

Nevertheless, African Americans seeking election to the Senate faced an obstinate, 

seemingly insuperable barrier. Lingering racial prejudices, difficulty in securing 

funding, and the diminished strength of black voting blocs in statewide elections 

cumulatively discouraged many qualified blacks from seeking a Senate seat. The 

major parties nominated only nine African Americans as Senate candidates in the 

20th century, and these included Brooke and Moseley-Braun.178 Reflecting on his 

career as the longest-serving African American in the chamber’s history, Senator 

Brooke noted that when he came to Washington in 1967, Margaret Chase Smith 

of Maine, a former House Member, was the lone woman. But by 2007, 16 women 

served in the Senate—many of whom had served in the House. No such transition 

has yet occurred for black Members. To date, no African-American Representatives 

have been elected to the Senate, though several have attempted to make this 

transition, including Alan Wheat, Denise Majette, and Harold Ford, Jr. The lack 

of black representation in the Senate “deeply saddened” Brooke and, he added, 

remained “a blight on the American electorate that should be removed.”179 In 2004, 

Barack Obama—a theretofore little-known Illinois state senator—won election to a 

seat held by retiring incumbent Peter Fitzgerald, who had defeated Senator MoseleyBraun in her 1998 re-election bid. Employing a campaign strategy (running 

against African-American GOP nominee Alan Keyes) that echoed Moseley-Braun’s 

efforts, the charismatic and energetic Senator Obama rapidly evolved into a serious 

contender for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. However, halfway 

through his first Congress he remained the only African-American Senator, 

as were his four African-American predecessors. 

While race-based redistricting of the early 1990s dramatically boosted the 

number of black Americans in the House, it also produced a tide of lawsuits by 

voters whose former districts were bifurcated and dissected by state legislatures. In 

1993, the U.S. Supreme Court rendered a judgment in Shaw v. Reno (509 U.S. 630) 

that reinstated a suit by five North Carolinians who charged that one of the state’s 

new congressional districts (a district represented by Representatives Mel Watt that 

wound along the I-85 corridor and took in several urban areas) violated their 14th 

Amendment rights to equal protection under the law by diluting their votes. In a 5 

to 4 decision, the court questioned the constitutionality of drawing congressional 

The first black woman to serve in the U.S. 

Senate, Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois 

won her 1992 campaign with a coalition 

of African Americans, women, and liberal 

white voters. In this image taken after 

she left the Senate, she is seen testifying 

during Senate confirmation hearings 

on her concurrent appointment in 1999 

as U.S. Ambassador to both New Zealand 

and Samoa. 

Image courtesy of U.S. Senate 

Historical Office 

Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts 

(left) confers with Senator Robert Taft, Jr., 

of Ohio in this undated photograph. Brooke 

was the first popularly elected AfricanAmerican Senator and one of just two to 

serve in the 20th century. Brooke later 

noted that the lack of black Senators was 

“a blight on the American electorate that 

should be removed.”

Image courtesy of U.S. Senate 

Historical Office
398 H Black Americans in Congress

districts with “bizarre” shapes. While the decision did not overturn a lower-court 

ruling that rejected the suit, it was returned to the lower courts with what seemed to 

be a new standard for scrutiny.180

Within a few years, Shaw v. Reno spawned redistricting challenges in a number 

of states, with the potential to affect the boundaries of roughly a dozen U.S. 

congressional districts represented by African Americans. On June 29, 1995, 

the Supreme Court struck down Georgia’s congressional district map in the 

case of Miller v. Johnson (515 U.S. 900), a case brought by plaintiffs in a district 

represented by Representative Cynthia McKinney that stretched from Atlanta to 

the Georgia coast—some 260 miles away.181 The judgment called into question the 

creation of any district in which race was the “predominant factor.” Writing for the 

majority, Justice Anthony M. Kennedy explained, “just as the state may not, absent 

extraordinary justification, segregate citizens on the basis of race in its public parks, 

buses, golf courses, beaches, and schools,” the government also “may not separate its 

citizens into different voting districts on the basis of race.” The decision reconfigured 

McKinney’s district, as well as that of another African-American Member from 

Georgia, Sanford Bishop. Over the course of the next several years, lawsuits 

challenged the boundaries of African American-held seats in Florida, Texas, Virginia, 

and South Carolina.182

Virtually all of the black Members whose districts were reconfigured midway 

through the decade emerged unscathed, and in many cases, reapportionment after 

the 2000 Census reinforced their positions. Cleo Fields of Louisiana, who spent 

much of his second term in Congress fighting redistricting challenges in court, was 

the only casualty. In 1996 a federal district court that relied on the Shaw v. Reno

and Miller v. Johnson rationale struck down the Louisiana legislature’s redrawing of 

Cleo Fields’s Z-shaped district, which included jurisdictions in the state’s northern, 

eastern, and southern quadrants. Fields’s district was reconfigured so that it no 

longer had a majority-black population; of even greater significance, his hometown 

was outside the boundaries of the new district. Consequently, Fields declined to run 

against the longtime incumbent who represented the new district. 

As the first African-American woman 

elected to Congress from the state of 

Georgia, Cynthia McKinney focused on 

human rights abuses and international 

relations during her House service.

Collection of U.S. House 

of Representatives

On January 6, 2001, members of the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and 

other House Democrats gathered in the 

House Chamber to witness the Electoral 

College vote count that secured the 

presidency for George W. Bush. Unable to 

obtain the required support of a Senator to 

object formally to the results, CBC members 

later marched out of the chamber in protest. 

Image courtesy of 

AP/Wide World Photos
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 399

The long-term impact of these decisions was ambiguous, with opinion closely 

divided over the issue. Racially gerrymandered districts remained a politically 

contentious electoral device on both sides of the political spectrum.183 Liberals 

believed the districts offered “descriptive” rather than “substantive” representation, 

and those from the civil rights generation suggested that lumping blacks into 

specially designated districts ran counter to the movement’s goal of fostering 

commonality among blacks and whites. In the mid-1990s, John Lewis expressed 

the concern that majority-black districts could “ensnare blacks in separate enclaves, 

the exact opposite of what the civil rights movement intended.”184 Conservatives 

have argued that the creation of the districts endorsed a kind of “racial apartheid” 

and, more pointedly, that those elected from such districts—which were created 

to express the interests of a particular racial group—would as a matter of practical 

politics place their primary allegiance with that group rather than the 

entire constituency. 

Despite major gains in the 1990s, African Americans were still considerably 

underrepresented in Congress and the state legislatures. According to figures from 

the 2000 Census, African Americans constituted roughly 12.5 percent of the U.S. 

population, but accounted for 8.1 percent of the total number of state legislators 

nationally in 2003 and just 8 percent of the membership in the 110th Congress.185

Conclusion

The post-1970 generation of Black Americans in Congress exemplified 

the maturation of African-American influence on Capitol Hill in nearly every 

quantifiable measure. By the beginning of the 21st century, the number of black 

Members of Congress had increased dramatically, expanding their hold on leadership 

positions, practicing legislative entrepreneurship, developing important coalitionand consensus-building specialties, and winning key legislative triumphs. Despite 

the attendant growing pains, these were remarkable achievements in an institution 

that was often resistant to change. 

The inception and growth of the CBC during this era marked a principal 

institutional development in the story of Black Americans in Congress. The caucus 

acquired stature rapidly, transforming itself from a congressional irritant to a potent 

bloc for advocating issues and promoting African Americans to positions of power 

within Congress. Examining the historic power of the CBC to shape legislation, 

political scientist Milton D. Morris observes, “There is no clear evidence of influence 

beyond routine advocacy and/or a contact point for the interested black public, but 

as a vehicle for articulating positions held by African American members of Congress 

it almost certainly strengthens their voice on selected issues.”186 The marked increase 

in the number of Black Americans in Congress during the 1990s renewed hope and 

expectations that the CBC would play a more influential role in Congress. 

A new era began in the 110th Congress when the Democrats regained control 

of the House for the first time in 12 years. The change in party control amplified 

the power of the all-Democratic CBC. Once again, seniority positioned the 

longest-serving African Americans for influential roles throughout the committee 

system and the House leadership. When the 110th Congress convened in January 

2007, African Americans held the chairmanships of five full House committees 

and 17 subcommittees. In all, 22 of the 43 African Americans in Congress—51 

percent—held committee leadership positions.187 Leadership positioning for African 
400 H Black Americans in Congress

Americans crystallized as a significant institutional strength—an ironic development 

in light of the immense power wielded just decades earlier by entrenched southern 

conservative committee chairs who used it to thwart civil rights legislation. 

The debate about minority districts during the 1990s touched on a broader 

dialogue about representation in a democratic government. Whether descriptive 

or substantive representation best advanced the interests of African Americans was 

not resolved. Some believed majority–minority districts to be necessary for the 

democratization of the political process: Most important, they provide historically 

underrepresented African-American voters representation in Congress, and instead 

of promoting the notion that only blacks can or should represent black voters, 

they foster political commonality. As political scientist David T. Canon explains, 

“factions within the African-American community produce candidates with different 

ideological backgrounds and different visions of the representation of racial interests. 

One significant effect of this ideological diversity among black candidates is to give 

a centrist coalition of moderate white and black voters the power to elect the black 

candidate of their choice in many districts.”188 In essence, descriptive representation 

and substantive representation were not mutually exclusive.

Such coalition-building may well be the key to creating an even larger and more 

influential role for future Black Members of Congress. Undoubtedly, new challenges 

lie ahead, but even a brief survey of African-American history on Capitol Hill 

since 1870 reveals a pattern: Through distinct stages—symbolic, apprentice, and 

mature—black Americans have persisted, overcoming obstacles to achieve a position 

of unprecedented influence in Congress. In legislating for an uncertain future, 

current black Members and their successors will be able to draw strength from their 

predecessors’ historic accomplishments and experiences. 

Members of the CBC gathered for a 

group portrait on the House steps of the 

U.S. Capitol during the 110th Congress 

(2007–2009).

Image courtesy of U.S. House of 

Representatives Photography Office
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 401

Notes

1 On December 31, 2007, the figure stood at 86 of the 121 who had served in all of congressional 

history.

2 According to Robert Singh, “The central function of caucuses is to bring together legislators with 

shared interests, backgrounds, and policy goals.” Robert Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 

Racial Politics in the U.S. Congress, (Thousand Oaks, California: Sage, 1998): 58. As internal 

congressional organizations, caucuses like the CBC formed in great part to pursue a collective 

agenda with a “strength in numbers” strategy. 

3 Quoted in Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 51.

4 For a discussion of this phenomenon among women Members, see Office of History and 

Preservation, U.S. House of Representatives, Women in Congress, 1917–2006 (Washington, DC: 

Government Printing Office, 2006): 326–327, 545.

5 Ninety-one percent (78 individuals) held an undergraduate degree; three others took coursework 

at the college level. Additionally, 66 percent (57 individuals) earned a graduate degree—11 of 

these held multiple graduate degrees. Nearly 40 percent of all the individuals (34) from this era 

held law degrees. African-American Members also held 20 master’s degrees, four MBA degrees, 

and three MSW degrees. Three individuals were Ph.Ds, and two were MDs. While in line 

with the educational backgrounds of the general congressional membership, African-American 

Members of Congress far outstripped the education rates for the general U.S. population. As 

recently as 1997, just 16.3 percent of all black males and 16.5 percent of all black females 

graduated from college (compared with 30.1 percent of white men and 26.6 percent of white 

women, respectively). See Matthew Sobek, “Table Bc798–805, College Graduation Rate, by Sex, 

Nativity, and Race, 1940–1997,” and “Table Bc806 – 813, High School Noncompletion Rate, by 

Sex, Nativity, and Race: 1940–1997,” in Historical Statistics of the United States, Volume 2: Work 

and Welfare, Susan B. Carter et al., eds. (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2006): 469–470.

6 Reflecting a trend among the general congressional population, relatively few African-American 

Members from this era were service veterans. Among black Members of Congress elected from 

1971 through 2007, slightly more than 17 percent served in the U.S. military. Most of these 

served in the U.S. Army. Four were World War II veterans, and one was a Korean War veteran. 

With the end of the compulsory draft in 1971, fewer Americans served in the military; unlike 

earlier generations, for whom military service was a common formative experience, this generation 

had fewer members that were linked by the commonalities of life in uniform. After 1970, 

the average age of African-American Members upon their first election to Congress was 46.4 

years. Men (61 individuals) won their first elections at an average age of 45 years; women (25 

individuals) averaged 50 years of age at the time of first election. This consequential statistical 

difference, in theory, benefited men who had more time to accrue seniority necessary to attain 

leadership positions and high-ranking or prestigious committee assignments. The youngest 

Members elected during this era were a father–son duo: Harold E. Ford, Jr., who succeeded his 

father in a Memphis, Tennessee, district in the 1996 elections, was 26 years of age (Ford, Sr., was 

29 at the time of his first election in 1974). The younger Ford has the distinction of being the 

second-youngest African American ever elected to Congress: John Roy Lynch of Mississippi first 

won election to Congress in 1872 at the age of 25. The oldest African American elected during 

this time period was George Crockett of Michigan, who was 71 when he succeeded Charles Diggs, 

Jr., in 1980.

7 For a comprehensive treatment of the civil rights movement—its origins, triumphs, principal 

leaders, and internal divisions—see the three-volume history by Taylor Branch: Parting the Waters: 

America in the King Years, 1954–63 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988); Pillar of Fire: America 

in the King Years, 1963–65 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1998); and At Canaan’s Edge: America 

in the King Years, 1965–68 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 2006).

8 Charles V. Hamilton, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr.: The Political Biography of an American Dilemma

(New York: Atheneum, 1991): 28.

9 John Lewis with Michael D’Orso, Walking With the Wind: A Memoir of the Movement (New York: 

Simon and Schuster, 1998): 371.

10 Ronald V. Dellums and H. Lee Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: A Public Life From the 

Streets of Oakland to the Halls of Power (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000): 44–45. 
402 H Black Americans in Congress

11 At least three other African-American Members held leadership positions in their respective state 

legislatures: Mervyn Dymally (chairman of the California senate’s Democratic caucus), Elijah 

Cummings (speaker pro tempore of the Maryland house of delegates), and Gwen Moore (president 

pro tempore of the Wisconsin senate). President Pro Tempore is a Senator who serves as presiding 

officer of the chamber when the Vice President is absent. (The president pro tempore position 

is also used in state senates, in the absence of the Lieutenant Governor.) Latin for “the time 

being” or “temporarily,” the president pro tempore not only presides over the U.S. Senate but is 

also empowered to swear in Senators and sign legislation. After World War II, the Senate began 

electing the senior member of the majority party to this position. This person may hold the office 

until retirement or until the party loses its majority status. Since 1947, the position is third in line 

for the presidency, behind the Vice President and the Speaker of the House. The House Member 

appointed to preside over chamber activities when the Speaker of the House is absent is called the 

Speaker pro tempore. In accordance with House Rules, the Speaker pro tempore typically serves for 

only one legislative day at a time.

12 Milton D. Morris, “African American Legislators,” in the Encyclopedia of American Legislative 

Systems, Volume 1, Joel Silbey ed. (New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1994): 375–376. For an 

even wider perspective, see Andrew Young’s remarks in the Congressional Record, citing Voter 

Education Project figures for the number of blacks holding elective office in 11 Deep South states 

in 1965 (72) versus 1975 (1,587). See Congressional Record, House 94th Cong., 1st sess. (2 June 

1975): 16241–16242.

13 The largest recent gains for African-American state legislators have been made in state senates. 

For more on black state legislators, their effect on their institutions and public policy, their 

representational patterns, and their peers’ perceptions about them, see Kerry L. Haynie, African 

American Legislators in the American States (New York: Columbia University Press, 2001). The 

figures from 2003, the most recent year for which racial breakdowns are available, are reported 

in “Numbers of African-American Legislators, 2003,” National Conference of State Legislators: 

http://www.ncsl.org/programs/legismgt/about/afrAmer.htm (accessed 19 November 2007).

14 Minority women comprise a larger percentage of their ethnic group in Congress than does the 

general population of Congresswomen relative to the entire Membership—16.6 percent (90 of 

540). Groups of other minority women are much smaller, but of roughly equal proportions to 

black women: Asian-American women in the 110th Congress accounted for a third of current 

Asian Americans in Congress (2 of 6), and Hispanic-American women accounted for about 29 

percent of all current Hispanic Americans in Congress (7 of 24). Caucasian women accounted 

for about 14 percent of all Caucasians in Congress (67 of 467). For statistics on women in state 

legislatures through the mid-1990s, see Morris, “African American Legislators”: 376.

15 Carolyn P. DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: The Public Figure, the Private Man

(Arlington, Virginia: Barton Publishing House, Inc., 1998): 33.

16 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 54–55; Norman C. Miller, “Negroes in the House Join 

Forces for Black Interests,” 31 March 1970, Wall Street Journal: 1.

17 William L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: 

Amistad Press Inc., 1992): 116–117; For more on Clay, Stokes, and Chisholm, see Robert C. 

Maynard, “New Negroes in Congress Focus on City Problems,” 10 August 1969, Washington 

Post: 2.

18 Richard Fenno, Going Home: Black Representatives and Their Constituents (Chicago: University of 

Chicago Press): 62. 

19 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 55–56. According to Singh, Clay’s strategy for crafting a 

nonpartisan organization included an unsuccessful attempt to coax the lone black Republican 

of the 92nd Congress, Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, to join the CBC. Sources are 

ambiguous about whether the CBC formally extended an offer of membership to Brooke. See also 

Clay, Just Permanent Interests, Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: 116–117.

20 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: 121. For a brief history 

of the CBC and additional information on the organization, see http://www.avoiceonline.org. 

See also the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, Inc.: http://www.cbcfinc.org/About/

CBC/index.html. There were 13 founding members of the CBC: Shirley Chisholm, Bill Clay, 

Sr., George Collins, John Conyers, Ronald Dellums, Charles Diggs, Walter Fauntroy, Augustus 

Hawkins, Ralph Metcalfe, Parren Mitchell, Robert Nix, Charles Rangel, and Louis Stokes.
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 403

21 Clay, Just Permanent Interests, Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: ix, 165.

22 Ibid., 173–174. Clay also observed that he, Chisholm, and Stokes “considered ourselves, along 

with other black representatives, to have a mandate to speak forcefully and loudly in behalf of 

equitable treatment of minorities by government.” Ibid., 111.

23 At the time of the boycott, the group was still referred to as the DSC, but by the time it met with 

Nixon, the organization had been re-established as the more formal CBC. To avoid confusion, in 

this account the group is referred to as the CBC for the entire episode.

24 “Black Congressmen to Boycott Nixon,” 22 January 1971, Washington Post: A2; Clay, Just 

Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: 139–143. “Benign neglect” of 

African Americans, postulated by senior Nixon advisor (and later New York Senator) Daniel 

Patrick Moynihan, became a subject of public debate when an internal White House memo he 

drafted on race legislation was leaked to the press in March 1970. Black Americans, Moynihan 

wrote, had made “extraordinary progress” in the previous decade, adding that a cooling-off period 

would serve the advancement of civil rights, which were “too much talked about” and “too much 

taken over to hysterics, paranoids and boodlers on all sides.” Moynihan concluded, “the time may 

have come when the issue of race could benefit from a period of ‘benign neglect.’” See Peter Kihss, 

“‘Benign Neglect’ on Race Is Proposed by Moynihan,” 1 March 1970, New York Times: 1; “Is 

‘Benign Neglect’ the Real Nixon Approach?” 8 March 1970, New York Times: E1. For a modern 

assessment of President Nixon’s policy of “benign neglect” that stresses the administration’s 

“schizophrenic” but nevertheless “surprisingly progressive record” on minority and civil rights 

see Melvin Small, The Presidency of Richard Nixon (Lawrence, University Press of Kansas, 1999): 

161–177, 162 (“schizophrenic”), 183 (“surprisingly progressive”).

25 Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 1st sess. (30 March 1971): 8710–8714; “Key Proposals 

of Black Caucus,” 26 March 1971, Washington Post: A6; Paul Delaney, “Blacks in House Get 

Nixon Pledge,” 26 March 1971, New York Times: 1. For a more detailed version of the meeting 

between President Nixon and the CBC, see Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in 

Congress, 1870–1991: 145–148, and DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 96–103. 

26 Marguerite Ross Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus,” Proceedings of the Academy of Political 

Science 32 (1975): 36.

27 Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus”: 36–39. Barnett concluded that the group’s greatest 

virtue “was the brilliance of political innovation inherent in the decision of black representatives 

to work together to represent the interests of the black community.” During the 1970s, the CBC 

struggled to pass meaningful legislation as it worked on building a reputation as an effectual 

House organization. Representing only a fraction of the total House membership, it faced 

formidable challenges: small enrollment, initial lack of seniority among individual Members, and, 

apart from the black community, a lack of popular support. 

28 Ibid., 36–38.

29 Ibid., 36. See also Carol M. Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African 

Americans in Congress (Cambridge, Massachusetts: Harvard University Press, 1993): 38.

30 Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus”: 37–38; Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 76. 

31 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 77.

32 Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus”: 39.

33 Paul Delaney, “Rep. Stokes Heads the Black Caucus,” 9 February 1972, New York Times: 23.

34 Quoted in Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus”: 39. Under Stokes’s direction, however, 

the CBC continued to pursue unified efforts. In 1972, the CBC issued a “Black Declaration of 

Independence” that included a “Black Bill of Rights” intended to “create a society which is truly 

founded upon the principles of freedom, justice and full equality.” The CBC’s demands, meant to 

influence the Democratic Party platform and presidential nominee selection process, encompassed 

issues ranging from national health insurance to increased foreign aid to Africa. See also Austin 

Scott, “Black Caucus Warns Democrats,” 2 June 1972, Washington Post: A6; Paul Delaney, “House 

Caucus Lists ‘Black Bill of Rights,’” 2 June 1972, New York Times: 22.

35 Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus”: 48; Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 38. 

The internal structure of the CBC remained quite consistent throughout this period and it 

developed a considerable administrative staff. Established in 1976, the Congressional Black 

Caucus Foundation (CBCF), a nonpartisan, nonprofit organization, complemented the CBC 
404 H Black Americans in Congress

by conducting research and technical assistance and promoting the political participation of 

African Americans. The CBCF grew more important when, in 1981, the House Administration 

Committee wrote new regulations stipulating that Legislative Service Organizations (LSOs), 

including the CBC, using House office space, supplies, and equipment could no longer receive 

funding from outside sources such as corporations or nonprofit foundations. However, LSOs 

could continue to use tax-exempt foundations for research and other caucus activities. The CBC 

responded to the rule change by transferring most of its responsibilities to the CBCF. In 1995, 

when the Republican majority abolished LSOs across the board, forcing all caucuses to operate 

without House resources, the CBC’s administrative functions were entirely subsumed by the 

CBCF. See Singh, The Congressional Caucus: 63, 68; Dorothy Collin, “Time of Growth for Black 

Caucus,” 19 September 1982, Chicago Tribune: A3; Lynn Norment, “Our Team on Capitol Hill,” 

Ebony 39 (August 1984): 44; David C. Ruffin and Frank Dexter Brown, “Clout on Capitol Hill,” 

Black Enterprise 15 (October 1984): 100. See also the CBCF Web site, at http://www.cbcfinc.org/.

36 “Congress Caucus for Blacks Only,” 22 June 1975, Chicago Tribune: 30; Paul Houston, “Black 

Caucus Won’t Let White Congressman Join,” 19 June 1975, Los Angeles Times: B18. The issue of 

white membership in the CBC would surface again in 2007. See Josephine Hearn, “Black Caucus: 

Whites Not Allowed,” 24 January 2007, Roll Call.

37 Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 38. This development roughly paralleled the decision by the 

Women’s Caucus to admit dues-paying male members on a nonvoting basis in 1982. See Office 

of History and Preservation, Women in Congress, 1917–2006: 548. 

38 Morris P. Fiorina, “Legislative Incumbency and Insulation,” in The Encyclopedia of American 

Legislative Systems, Volume 1, Silbey, ed.: 516–518.

39 Roughly one-third (32 of the 97 African Americans to enter the House since 1943) have served 

more than 14 years—compared with roughly 29 percent of all House Members, and nearly 18 

percent (17 of 97) have served 20 or more years—compared with about 15 percent of the general 

membership. General House Member statistics are drawn from David C. Huckabee, “Length 

of Congressional Service: First Through 107th Congresses,” 9 August 2002, Report RS21285, 

Congressional Research Service (hereinafter referred to as CRS), Library of Congress, 

Washington, DC.

40 See, for instance, Mildred Amer, “Average Years of Service for Members of the Senate and House 

of Representatives, First through 109th Congresses,” 9 November 2005, Report RL32648, CRS.

41 See the chart on Members’ terms of service from 1965 through 2007, at the end of this essay. 

See also Mildred Amer, “Membership of the 110th Congress: A Profile,” 12 September 2007, 

Report RS22555, CRS. The Congress with the longest average length of service was the 102nd 

(1991–1993), which was 10.4 years. 

42 On the general topic of centralization of power in the House that gave rise to the hierarchical 

committee system, see Peter Swenson, “The Influence of Recruitment on the Structure of Power 

in the U.S. House, 1870–1940,” Legislative Studies Quarterly VII (February 1982): 7–36. For an 

analysis of committee seniority, see Michael Aboam and Joseph Cooper, “The Rise of Seniority 

in the House of Representatives,” Polity 1 (Fall 1968): 52–84. For an analysis of factors that 

mitigate seniority as the determining factor in committee hierarchy as well as a discussion of when 

the seniority system solidified in the House, see Nelson Polsby, Miriam Gallaher, and Barry S. 

Rundquist, “The Growth of the Seniority System in the U.S. House of Representatives,” American 

Political Science Review 63 (September 1969): 787–807.

43 Eric Pianin, “Black Caucus Members Face Dilemma of Hill Loyalties,” 23 September 1987, 

Washington Post: A1.

44 Milton Coleman, “Black Caucus Comes of Age,” 7 January 1985, Washington Post: A1.

45 “Cardinals” alludes to the College of Cardinals of the Catholic Church who set church policy. 

In this usage, the term conveys the authority of the Appropriations Committee subcommittee 

chairs—each of whom has control over allocations for a portion of the federal budget.

46 Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 38.

47 Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus”: 46.

48 Richard D. Lyons, “Ways and Means in Liberal Shift,” 12 December 1974, New York Times: 38. 

The elite committee Members included Louis Stokes on Appropriations, Charles Rangel and 

Harold Ford, Sr., on Ways and Means, and Andrew Young on Rules. During this era, African 

Americans also registered major gains on second-tier committees where none had previously 

served, including Banking and Currency (Parren Mitchell, 1971), Budget (Mitchell, 1974), 
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 405

Energy and Commerce (Cardiss Collins and Mickey Leland, 1981), and Public Works (George 

Collins and Charles Rangel, 1971). The most common committee assignment for AfricanAmerican Members during this era was the Small Business Committee, created in 1974. 

Including the first, Parren Mitchell, a total of 31 black Members have served on the committee 

through 2007. Since 1971, a total of 21 black Members have served on the Transportation and 

Infrastructure Committee (and its previous iterations, Public Works and Public Works and 

Transportation), another 21 African Americans have served on the Oversight and Government 

Reform Committee (and its previous iterations, Government Reform, Government Reform 

and Oversight, and Government Operations), and 20 have served on the Education and Labor 

Committee (and its predecessor, Education and the Workforce).

49 Quoted in Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 79. According to Dellums’s recollections in 

Lying Down With the Lions, the CBC helped him get a spot on Armed Services in 1973. 

50 At the opening of the 99th Congress there were 20 African Americans in Congress. Alton Waldon, 

Jr., of New York became the 21st black Member to serve in the 99th Congress after he won a 

special election on June 10, 1986.

51 Nadine Cohadas, “Black House Members Striving for Influence,” Congressional Quarterly Weekly 

Report 43 (13 April 1985): 675; Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 92; Coleman, “Black 

Caucus Comes of Age.”

52 Cohadas, “Black House Members Striving for Influence”: 675. 

53 See Appendix E, Black Americans Who Have Chaired Congressional Committees. In the modern 

era, no African Americans have held full or select committee chairmanships in the Senate. Only 

Blanche Bruce of Mississippi has led Senate panels: the Select Committee to Investigate the 

Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company in the 46th Congress and the Select Committee on the 

Mississippi River in the 44th Congress.

54 See Appendix F, Black-American Chairs of Subcommittees of Standing Committees in the U.S. 

House and Senate, 1885–2007. James O’Hara, Adam Clayton Powell, William Dawson, Robert 

Nix and Charles Diggs, held subcommittee chairmanships before 1970. Nix and Diggs also held 

subcommittee chairman posts after 1970.

55 See, for example, Carol Swain, “Changing Patterns of African-American Representation in 

Congress,” in The Atomistic Congress: An Interpretation of Congressional Change, Allen D. Hertzke 

and Ronald M. Peters, Jr. (Armonk, NY: M.E. Sharpe, Inc., 1992): 132.

56 Swain, “Changing Patterns of African-American Representation in Congress”: 129.

57 Black Members also held minor leadership positions during this era. For example, Shirley 

Chisholm served as Secretary of the Democratic Caucus, Cardiss Collins was the first black 

woman to serve as an At-Large Democratic Whip, and Parren Mitchell also served as an At-Large 

Democratic Whip.

58 For an analysis of J. C. Watts’s House career with an emphasis on his challenging task of building 

bridges between the Republican Party and black voters, see Jake Tapper, “Fade to White: The Only 

African American Republican in Congress Is Headed Home. Can the Party of Lincoln—and Trent 

Lott—Afford the Loss of J. C. Watts?” 5 January 2003, Washington Post Magazine: W06.

59 For analyses of Clyburn’s leadership and his ascendancy within the context of the rising influence 

of southern blacks in Congress, see Richard E. Cohen, “A Different Kind of Whip,” 20 January 

2007, National Journal: 42–44; David Rogers, “Clyburn Leads Southern Blacks’ Ascent to Top 

Posts in Congress,” 3 January 2007, Wall Street Journal: A5; and Jennifer Yachnin, “No ‘Sharp 

Elbows’ for Whip Clyburn,” 11 December 2006, Roll Call.

60 Swain, “Changing Patterns of African-American Representation in Congress”: 132–133.

61 For a detailed legislative history, see “Congress Clears Voting Rights Act Extension,” Congressional 

Quarterly Almanac, 94th Congress, 1st Session, 1975, Volume 1 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly, 1976): 521–532. For a listing of major civil rights bills, see Appendix J, Constitutional 

Amendments and Major Civil Rights Acts of Congress Referenced in the Text.

62 Representative Barbara Jordan was instrumental in sponsoring a bill to expand the definition 

of literacy tests to include election registration materials printed only in English in areas with 

large non-English-speaking populations—in the case of her Houston district, Hispanics. “I am 

persuaded that the only means available to language minority citizens, and specifically MexicanAmericans in Texas, to gain equal access to the franchise is through application of the remedies 

of the Voting Rights Act.” See “Congress Clears Voting Rights Act Extension”: 525.
406 H Black Americans in Congress

63 Ibid.

64 Ibid., 527. See also Young’s floor remarks and statistics in the Congressional Record, House, 94th 

Cong., 1st sess. (2 June 1975): 16241–16242.

65 For a legislative history of the bill, see “Voting Rights Act Extended, Strengthened,” Congressional 

Quarterly Almanac, 97th Cong., 2nd sess., 1982 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

1983): 373–377.

66 Congressional Record, House, 97th Cong., 1st sess. (5 October 1981): 23204.

67 Ibid., 23187–23188. For comments by Cardiss Collins and Shirley Chisholm, see pages 

23199–23201, 23202–23203.

68 Congressional Record, House, 103rd Cong., 1st sess. (28 July 1993): H5431.

69 U.S. Department of Commerce figures (1991) cited in Haynie, African American Legislators in the 

American States: 20–21. 

70 Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus”: 40; Austin Scott, “Blacks Assail Nixon’s Budget,” 1 

February 1973, Washington Post: A1; Paul Houston, “Black Caucus Assails Nixon Budget Cuts,” 1 

February 1973, Los Angeles Times: 11.

71 For U.S. unemployment rates in the post–World War II period, see “Table Ba583-596, 

Unemployment Rate, by Age, Sex, Race, and Hispanic Origin: 1947–2000,” in Carter et al., eds., 

Historical Statistics of the United States, Volume 2: Work and Welfare: 95.

72 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: 95.

73 Robert C. Smith, We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post-Civil Rights Era (Albany: State 

University of New York Press, 1996): 187–210, quotation on page 206.

74 Barbara Reynolds, “Carter Endorses Andy Young, Jobs Bill,” 1 October 1978, Chicago Tribune: 

12; Paul Houston, “Black Congressmen, Carter Clash Over Employment Bill,” 27 October 1978, 

Los Angeles Times: B1; Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 86–90.

75 Barnett, “The Congressional Black Caucus”: 43; Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 84.

76 Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress (Washington, DC: U.S. 

Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 64; Thomas Goldwasser, “Liberal’s Liberal Mitchell Is Fiscal 

Conservative,” 15 September 1980, Washington Post: A1; Sandra Sugawara, “Retiring Mitchell Still 

Has Passion for Justice,” 1 December 1985, Washington Post: 37.

77 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 97.

78 Tom Kenworthy, “Congressional Black Caucus Facing New Circumstances After 20 Years,” 17 

September 1989, Washington Post: A22.

79 For a historical overview of nonvoting Delegates, including Resident Commissioners, see Earl S. 

Pomeroy, The Territories of the United States, 1861–1980 (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 

1969); Betsy Palmer, “Territorial Delegates to the U.S. Congress: Current Issues and Historical 

Background,” 6 July 2006, Report RL32340, CRS; R. Eric Petersen, “Resident Commissioner 

from Puerto Rico,” 31 March 2005, Report RL 31856, CRS; Michael Fauntroy, “District of 

Columbia Delegates to Congress,” 4 April 2001, Report RS 20875, CRS. See also “At the Starting 

Gate for the Delegate Race,” 25 September 1970, Washington Post: A24. While the position of 

Delegate was previously reserved for territories that were likely to become states, the District of 

Columbia Act of 1970 launched a new trend, creating Delegates for areas without statehood on 

the legislative horizon: District of Columbia, 1970; U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam, 1972; and 

American Samoa, 1978. Currently, a Resident Commissioner represents Puerto Rico.

80 “After 8 Years, House Will Weigh District of Columbia Home Rule,” 8 October 1973, New York 

Times: 22; “Home Rule Bill for Washington Signed,” 25 December, 1973, Los Angeles Times: 4; 

81 For more information on the AACN, see Charles E. Jones, “Testing a Legislative Strategy: The 

Congressional Black Caucus’s Action-Alert Communications Network,” Legislative Studies 

Quarterly 4 (November 1987).

82 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 156. For more on the establishment of the AACN, see 

Thomas A. Johnson, “Black Conferees Establish Network to Influence White Congressman,” 28 

May 1979, New York Times: A7; William Raspberry, “A Black Voter Network,” 19 October 1981, 

Washington Post: A1.

83 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 93.
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 407

84 “Top House Democrats Back ‘Workfare,’” 20 March 1987, Associated Press. The plan called for 

developing “a system requiring education, training, or work for many recipients. States would 

have to provide a minimum level of cash assistance, and child support collections would be 

strengthened.” Ford figured the program “would cost the federal government roughly $600 to 

$850 million in fiscal 1988 and about $2.5 billion when phased in fully.”

85 “Floyd H. Flake,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 18 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 

1998) (hereinafter referred to as CBB); Jonathan P. Hicks, “Rep. Flake Breaks with Party to Back 

School Vouchers,” 12 March 1997, New York Times: B3.

86 “Floyd H. Flake,” CBB. Terry M. Neal, “Ex-Lawmaker Refuses to be Boxed In; The Rev. Flake Left 

Congress to Pursue Urban Renewal Beyond Party Lines,” 10 January 1998, Washington Post: A1.

87 Neal, “Ex-Lawmaker Refuses to be Boxed In.”

88 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 101; Jill Zuckman, “Black Republican Says Party Lags on 

Ending Preferences,” 6 August 1995, Boston Globe: 19; Tapper, “Fade to White.”

89 Such proposals had been considered by Congress since the Reconstruction Era. See Garrine P. 

Laney, “Proposals for Reparations for African Americans: A Brief Overview,” 22 January 2007, 

Report RS20740, CRS.

90 Douglas Reid Weimer, “Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.: Commemorative Works and Other Honors 

Authorized by Congress,” 17 December 2007, Report RL 33704, CRS.

91 Edward W. Brooke, Bridging the Divide: My Life (New Brunswick: Rutgers University Press, 

2007): 178–179.

92 Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 95.

93 Mary Russell, “King Holiday Frustrated,” 6 December 1979, Washington Post: A6.

94 Larry Margasak, “Courting Conservatives to Back King Holiday,” 14 August 1983, 

Associated Press. 

95 For a detailed account of the legislative history of the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday, see 

Congressional Quarterly Almanac 1983 (Washington DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1983): 

600–602. The federal holiday honoring King was first observed in 1986. 

96 Other black recipients followed, including sports legends, military heroes, and social activists such 

as boxer Joe Louis (1982), Olympic track and field gold medalist Jesse Owens (1987), General 

Colin Powell (1991), educator Dr. Dorothy Height (2003), and the Tuskegee Airmen (2006). The 

award also celebrated the contributions of civil rights leaders and icons Roy Wilkins (1984), the 

Little Rock Nine (1998), Rosa Parks (1999), and the Rev. Martin Luther King, Jr., and his wife, 

Coretta Scott King (2004). See “Congressional Gold Medal Recipients,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/art_history/house_history/goldMedal.html; see also Stephen W. Stathis, “Congressional 

Gold Medals, 1776–2007,” 30 January 2008, Report RL30076, CRS.

97 See “Individuals Who Have Lain in State or in Honor,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/art_

history/house_history/lieinstate.html.

98 The Center for Defense Information, a Washington, DC-based nonprofit, estimated that the total 

cost of the Cold War U.S. military budgets (excluding intelligence and foreign aid) exceeded $13 

trillion (in 1996 dollars) from 1948 until the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. See http://

www.cdi.org/issues/milspend.html (accessed 15 February 2008).

99 Alvin B. Tillery, Jr., “Foreign Policy Activism and Power in the House of Representatives: Black 

Members of Congress and South Africa,” Studies in American Political Development 20 (Spring 

2006): 95–96.

100 DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 76.

101 Paul Dold, “U.S. Firms in South Africa: New Pressure,” 20 August 1971, Christian Science 

Monitor: 1.

102 Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 1st sess. (10 June 1971): 19110.

103 Spencer Rich, “South Africa Sugar Quota Draws Fire,” 16 April 1969, Washington Post: A2. Diggs 

was not alone in the early battle to bring the issue of racial segregation in South Africa to the 

House Floor; Louis Stokes of Ohio introduced a measure to terminate the sugar quota during 

the 91st Congress (1969–1971), and William (Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri cosponsored a similar 

bill. When the House voted to extend the South Africa sugar quota in 1971, the CBC voiced its 

disapproval, characterizing the decision as “complicity with apartheid.” See David E. Rosenbaum, 

“Sugar Vote Voted by House, 229–128,” 11 June 1971, New York Times: 44.
408 H Black Americans in Congress

104 Jesse W. Lewis, “Diggs Presses Anti-Apartheid Bill,” 31 March 1972, Washington Post: A2; 

DuBose, The Untold Story of Charles Diggs: 129–133; Paul Dold, “U.S. Firms in South Africa: 

New Pressure”; Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 2nd sess. (29 March 1972): 10931.

105 Tillery, “Foreign Policy Activism and Power in the House of Representatives: Black Members of 

Congress and South Africa”: 93.

106 For more on the CBC’s role in the anti-apartheid movement, see http://www.avoiceonline.org/

aam/history.html (accessed 8 February 2008).

107 Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 2nd sess. (16 February 1972): 4247. In his memoirs, 

Dellums provides a detailed account of how he and Representative John Conyers met with 

Polaroid employees to discuss their petition and subsequently drafted a bill to terminate business 

interests in South Africa and other African countries with discriminatory policies. See Dellums 

and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 122–124. According to the Congressional Record, 

Dellums and Conyers first introduced a sanctions bill in December 1971. The bill was reintroduced in February on behalf of the CBC. See Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 1st 

sess. (15 December 1971): 47236.

108 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 123; “Polaroid Cuts Off Goods to S. Africa,” 

22 November 1977, Los Angeles Times: A1.

109 “Polaroid Cuts Off Goods to S. Africa.”

110 Robert K. Massie, Loosing the Bonds: The United States and Africa in the Apartheid Years (New 

York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1997): 405; Paula Stern, “Ethnic Groups: Shaping the Course of 

American Foreign Policy,” 10 January 1976, Washington Post: A15.

111 Harold J. Logan, “A Black Political Group Set Up as Africa Lobby,” 21 May 1978, Washington 

Post: A18; “New Lobby of Blacks Will Seek to Influence U.S. Policy in Africa,” 22 April 1978, 

Washington Post: A9; Tillery, “Foreign Policy Activism and Power in the House of Representatives: 

Black Members of Congress and South Africa”: 100.

112 David L. Hostetter, Movement Matters: American Antiapartheid Activism and the Rise of 

Multicultural Politics (New York: Routledge, 2006): 78–79. On a 1977 trip to South Africa, Young 

was quoted as saying, “I’m not advocating [a boycott] because to do so would be to interfere in 

your internal affairs. I’m a sophisticated diplomat and I wouldn’t want to do that.” Massie, Loosing 

the Bonds: 413. Young’s short tenure as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations ended with his 

resignation in 1979.

113 Massie, Loosing the Bonds: 558–560.

114 Eleanor Holmes Norton, then a Georgetown law professor, and Fauntroy’s eventual successor as 

DC Delegate, accompanied Fauntroy, Berry, and Robinson to the South African Embassy, but left 

before the group’s arrest to notify the press of the protest. Dorothy Gilliam, “DC Sit-In Led the 

Way,” 9 September 1985,” Washington Post: A1; “Capital’s House Delegate Held in Embassy SitIn,” 22 November 1984, New York Times: B10.

115 Massie, Loosing the Bonds: 558–560; Kenneth Bredemeier and Michael Marriott, “Fauntroy 

Arrested in Embassy,” 22 November 1984, Washington Post: 1; Courtland Milloy, “Blacks Form 

‘Free S. Africa Movement,’” 24 November 1984, Washington Post: C1; “Capital’s House Delegate 

Held in Embassy Sit-In.”

116 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 128.

117 Quoted in Tillery, “Foreign Policy Activism”: 100.

118 Karlyn Barker and Michael Marriott, “Protest Spreads to Other U.S. Cities,” 4 December 1984, 

Washington Post: A1; “New Tactics on South Africa,” 10 May 1986, New York Times: 8.

119 According to the Congressional Record more than 100 bills and resolutions were introduced during 

this period. In some cases, Members introduced similar legislation on several occasions, thereby 

increasing this number. For example, Charles Diggs introduced a Joint Resolution entitled “A 

Joint Resolution to Protect United States Domestic and Foreign Policy interests by Making Fair 

Employment Practices in the South African Enterprises of United States Firms a Criteria for 

Eligibility for Government Contracts” seven times during the 93rd and 94th Congresses. In his 

article “Foreign Policy Activism and Power in the House of Representatives: Black Members of 

Congress and South Africa, 1968–1986,” political scientist Alvin Tillery writes that AfricanAmerican Representatives introduced 12 bills on South Africa in the 91st Congress and 26 bills 

in the 92nd Congress. According to the Congressional Record, three bills on South Africa were 

introduced in the House during the 91st Congress, followed by eight in the House during the 
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 409

92nd Congress. In addition, two bills were introduced in the Senate during the two Congresses. 

Of the 11 bills on South Africa in the House, five were sponsored by black Members. Many of the 

measures consisted of resolutions condemning the regime or requests urging the U.S. government 

to change its policy toward South Africa. Whereas the majority of legislation sponsored by CBC 

members never made it to the floor for a vote, a few resolutions passed the House. In the 95th 

Congress (1977–1979), for example, a concurrent resolution introduced by Cardiss Collins of 

Illinois “expressing concern about the recent acts of repression by the Government of the Republic 

of South Africa” passed the House. George Crockett of Michigan successfully sponsored the 

“Mandela Freedom Resolution” in 1984, calling for the release of the imprisoned South African 

leader; an identical resolution passed the Senate. Despite a low rate of success, the steady flow of 

legislation on South Africa that was put forth by African-American Representatives kept the issue 

of apartheid in the congressional spotlight. With a new sense of vigor spurred by the embassy 

demonstrations and increased violence in South Africa, black Members of Congress intensified 

their legislative effort to fight apartheid. According to Representative Clay, the CBC sponsored 

24 bills concerning U.S. policy toward South Africa between 1985 and 1986. See Clay, Just 

Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: 281; Omang, “Rep. Crockett and 

the Volley From the Right.”

120 Juan Williams, “Antiapartheid Actions Await Turn of Events; Rep. Gray Says U.S. Moves Depend 

Upon South Africa,” 28 September 1985, Washington Post: A7.

121 Jonathan Fuerbringer, “House Votes Sanctions Against South Africa,” 6 June 1985, New York 

Times: A1.

122 Bob Secter, “S. Africa Sanctions Passed by the Senate,” 12 July 1985, Los Angeles Times: A1.

123 George da Lama and Dorothy Collin, “Reagan Slaps S. Africa’s Wrist,” 10 September 1985, 

Chicago Tribune: 1.

124 James R. Dickenson, “Dellums: Exoneration Is His,” 20 June 1986, Washington Post: A17; 

Edward Walsh, “House Would Require U.S. Disinvestment From South Africa,” 19 June 1986, 

Washington Post: A1. Dellums provides a detailed account of the floor action concerning the antiapartheid legislation in his memoirs, Lying Down With the Lions: 132–138.

125 Typical protocol dictated that a conference report would be drafted as a compromise between 

the House and Senate bills. However, leaders from both chambers decided to adopt the Senate 

bill to avoid the possibility of a pocket veto by President Reagan. See Massie, Loosing the Bonds: 

617–618; Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 136–138. 

126 The Senate voted 78 to 21 and the House voted 313 to 83 to override the presidential veto. 

“Senate Overrides Reagan’s Veto Sanctions 78 to 21,” 2 October 1986, Los Angeles Times: A1; 

Edward Walsh, “House Easily Overrides Veto of South African Sanctions,” 30 September 1986, 

Washington Post: A1.

127 “Hill Overrides Veto of South Africa Sanctions,” 1986 Congressional Quarterly Almanac

(Congressional Quarterly Inc.: Washington, DC, 1987): 359.

128 Desson Howe, “Cheers for Sanctions Vote,” 4 October 1986, Washington Post: G1.

129 Allister Sparks, “6 Congressmen Begin Tour of S. Africa,” 8 January 1986, Washington Post: A1.

130 E. A. Wayne, “Congress Considers Boosting Sanctions Against South Africa,” 5 November 1987, 

Christian Science Monitor: 3; Dellums wrote about his continued attempts to pass stricter sanctions 

against South Africa in his memoirs. See Dellums, Lying Down With the Lions: 138–148. 

131 Dellums, Lying Down With the Lions: 143. President Bush eventually lifted the majority of 

U.S. sanctions due to what he perceived as a “profound transformation” in the attempt to 

promote racial equality in South Africa. See Ann Devroy and Helen Dewar, “Citing S. Africa’s 

‘Transformation,’ Bush Ends Most Sanctions,” 11 July 1991, Washington Post: A23. 

132 Scholars have yet to systematically examine the effect of the anti-apartheid campaign on the CBC’s 

institutional powers: Did it gain legislative savvy and increased influence on other issues? Did it 

make any new congressional allies? Or did it achieve an expanded national prominence? 

133 Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 1st sess. (30 March 1971): 8710.

134 “A Time of Testing for Black Caucus as Its Members Rise to Power in House,” 27 April 1985, 

National Journal: 911.

135 Cohadas, “Black House Members Striving for Influence”: 680.

136 See Fenno, Going Home: 106–109.
410 H Black Americans in Congress

137 David Broder, “Ethics Committee Head Passes Colorblind Test,” 17 April 1989, St. Louis PostDispatch: 3B.

138 Richard Cohen, “New Breed for Black Caucus,” 26 September 1987, National Journal: 2432.

139 For a discussion of the topic, see Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 5–6, 207–225. For a 

countervailing viewpoint, see Kenny J. Whitby, The Color of Representation: Congressional Behavior 

and Black Interests (Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 1997): especially 135–144.

140 Ray Mosley, “Violence Disavowed by Rep. Dellums,” 14 February 1971, Washington Post: 113.

141 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 149–150. 

142 Ibid., 175.

143 See Appendix F, Black-American Chairs of Subcommittees of Standing Committees in the U.S. 

House and Senate, 1885–2007.

144 Coleman, “Black Caucus Comes of Age.”

145 Cohadas, “Black House Members Striving for Influence”: 681.

146 Ruffin and Brown, “Clout on Capitol Hill”: 102.

147 See Appendix I, Congressional Black Caucus Chairmen and Chairwomen, 1971–2007; Juliet 

Eilperin, “Black Caucus Taps Rep. Maxine Waters as New Chair; First Woman Since 1979,” 21 

November 1996, Roll Call: 18.

148 For more on changing southern representation in the late 20th-century Congresses, see Nelson 

Polsby, How Congress Evolves: Social Bases of Institutional Change (New York: Oxford University 

Press, 2004).

149 Jeremy Derfner, 27 March–10 April 2000, The American Prospect: 16. In his autobiography, 

Dellums discusses the growing diversity of the CBC during the 1990s and also reflects upon an 

incident in which he mistakenly assumed the CBC would back one of his proposals based on past 

experience. Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 117–121.

150 For example, while the CBC as a group publicly denounced the controversial North American 

Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1993, nine members of the caucus voted in favor of the 

measure. Eight House Members from the CBC voted in favor of NAFTA in addition to the lone 

black Senator, Carol Moseley-Braun. See Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: 183. 

151 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 120. 

152 For more on the CBC’s relationship with President Clinton, see Singh, The Congressional Black 

Caucus: 178–192. Clinton’s nearly 1,000-page memoirs contain no substantive policy discussion 

or debate involving the CBC. See Bill Clinton, My Life (New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2004).

153 Ronald A. Taylor, “Congressional Black Caucus Displays Growing Clout,” 13 September 1993, 

Washington Times: A10; Adam Clymer, “Black Caucus Threatens Revolt on Clinton Budget,” 10 

June 1993, New York Times: A22; “The Black Caucus,” 16 July 1993, Christian Science Monitor: 

18. See also, for example, Brent Staples, “Wanted: A Million Black Republicans,” 21 June 1993, 

New York Times: A18; Max Boot, “Black Caucus Feels Left Out of Clinton Plans,” 30 June 1993, 

Christian Science Monitor: 1; Michael Wines, “Democrats Expect Tight Budget Vote,” 26 July 

1993, New York Times: A12.

154 John E. Yang, “Black Caucus Adjusts to New Political Scene,” 23 September 1995, Washington 

Post: A15.

155 Smith, We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post-Civil Rights Era: 211–225, quotation on 

page 222.

156 For instance, in the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), after the landmark 1992 elections brought a 

record number of 40 blacks to the House, African Americans constituted 15 percent of the 

House Democrats. In the following Congress, the 41 black Representatives accounted for 20 

percent of the Democratic Caucus. These totals reflect the largest number of blacks serving at any 

one time during a Congress, not the total that served during the Congress. See Mildred Amer, 

“Black Members of the United States Congress, 1870–2007,” 27 September 2007, 

Report RL30378, CRS.

157 For an early example of such analysis, see Alan Gerber, “African Americans’ Congressional Careers 

and the Democratic House Delegation,” The Journal of Politics 58 (August 1996): 831–845.
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 411

158 See for example, Office of History and Preservation, Women in Congress, 1917–2006: 3–5, 

340–341, 546–547. Some outside critics of this transformation implied that the process amounted 

to a cooptation that marginalized the interests of the black community. Political scientist Robert 

C. Smith concluded in the mid-1990s that, “The institutional norms and folkways of the House 

encourage exaggerated courtesy, compromise, deference, and above all loyalty to the institution. 

And the black members of Congress are probably more loyal to the House and their roles in it 

than they are to blacks.” See Smith, We Have No Leaders: African Americans in the Post-Civil Rights 

Era: 225.

159 Eric Pianin, “Black Caucus Members Face Dilemma of Hill Loyalties,” 23 September 1987, 

Washington Post: A1.

160 Pianin, “Black Caucus Members Face Dilemma of Hill Loyalties”; Kenworthy, “Congressional 

Black Caucus Facing New Circumstances After 20 Years.”

161 Richard Simon and Nick Anderson, “Respected Lawmaker Julian Dixon Dies,” 9 December 2000, 

Los Angeles Times: B1.

162 See, for example, the chapter titled, “A Conspiracy to Silence Dissent,” in Clay, Just Permanent 

Interests: Black Americans in Congress 1870–1991: 312–338. For more on the subject, see George 

D. Musgrove, “The Harassment of Black Elected Officials: Race, Party Realignment, and State 

Power in the Post-Civil Rights United States,” Ph.D Dissertation, New York University, 2005.

163 Richard Sutch, “Table Ec1356–1370, Federal Prosecutions of Public Corruption: 1970–1996,” in 

Carter et al., eds., Historical Statistics of the United States, Volume 5: Governance and International 

Relations: 331.

164 Gwen Ifill, “Black Officials: Probes and Prejudice—Is There a Double Standard for Bringing 

Indictments? The Jury’s Still Out,” 28 February 1988, Washington Post: A9.

165 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: 314–337. For a 

countervailing viewpoint, see Ifill, “Black Officials: Probes and Prejudice.” 

166 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: 82–83, 332–334. Of the 

accusations made against Powell, writes Clay, they “could have been leveled against every chairman 

of every full committee in the House of Representatives. He did no more, and no less, than any 

other in terms of exercising traditional legal privileges that accompanied the powerful position of 

committee chairman. His private life, including intimate relations with numerous and glamorous 

women, was routine activity for many members of Congress, committee chairmen or not.”

167 “Were Black Office-Holders More Routinely Investigated During the ‘80s?” 19 December 1993, 

Atlanta Daily World: 5.

168 Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991: 312–316, 335–337.

169 For the Juan Williams quote, see Charles J. Abbott, “Panel Says Smear Tactics Used to Discredit 

Black Politicians,” 10 October 1987, New Pittsburgh Courier: 1. For “fishbowl” and “test tube,” see 

Ifill, “Black Officials: Probes and Prejudice.” 

170 Indeed, from 1981 forward, when Democrats controlled the House Chamber (e.g., eight 

Congresses) African Americans have led the Standards of Official Conduct Committee for all 

but one Congress. The black chairs were Louis Stokes (1981–1985; 1991–1993), Julian Dixon 

(1985–1991), and Stephanie Tubbs Jones (2007 to present). 

171 “The 22 Worst Offenders,” 17 April 1992, Los Angeles Times: A18; “List of Members of the House 

of Representatives Who Acknowledge Having Written Checks on Insufficient Funds at the House 

Bank,” 13 April 1992, Associated Press.

172 “House Check-Kiter List Official: 2 Names Missing from Panel’s Record of Worst Abusers,” 2 

April 1992, Chicago Tribune: 6.

173 Morris, “African American Legislators”: 379, 381; David T. Canon, Race, Redistricting, and 

Representation: The Unintended Consequences of Black Majority Districts (Chicago: The University of 

Chicago Press, 1999): 1.

174 See, for instance, Carol Swain, “Black Members: Twentieth Century,” in the Encyclopedia of the 

United States Congress, Volume 1, Donald Bacon et al. (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1995): 

173–176.
412 H Black Americans in Congress

175 Kenneth J. Cooper, “For Enlarged Congressional Black Caucus, a New Kind of Impact,” 19 

September 1993, Washington Post: A4. “The conscience of the House” was the self-described role 

of the CBC shortly after its establishment in 1971.

176 Roger K. Oden, “The Election of Carol Moseley-Braun in the U.S. Senate Race in Illinois,” in 

Race, Politics, and Governance in the United States, Huey L. Perry, ed. (Gainesville: University Press 

of Florida, 1996): 47–61, quotation on page 57.

177 Huey L. Perry, “Introduction: An Analysis of Major Themes in the Concept of Deracialization,” in 

Race, Politics, and Governance in the United States, Perry, ed.: 1–11, especially 4–5.

178 John Mercurio, “The Senate Color Barrier: Just Nine African-Americans Nominated in 20th 

Century,” 8 November 1999, Roll Call: 13. The article relied on statistics compiled in a report 

on elected black officials by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. For more on 

this phenomenon and possible explanations, see Linda F. Williams, “White/Black Perceptions 

of Electability of Black Political Candidates,” The National Political Science Review 2 (1990): 

45–64; and Gerber, “African Americans’ Congressional Careers and the Democratic House 

Delegation”: 833.

179 Brooke, Bridging the Divide: My Life: 305.

180 For a brief overview of Shaw v. Reno, see Kermit Hall, ed., The Oxford Companion to the Supreme 

Court of the United States, 2nd ed. (New York: Oxford University Press, 2005): 913.

181 Linda Greenhouse, “The Supreme Court: Congressional Districts—Justices, in 5–4 Vote, Reject 

Districts Drawn with Race the ‘Predominant Factor’; New Voting Rules,” 30 June 1995, New 

York Times: A1. For a brief overview of Miller v. Johnson, see Hall, The Oxford Companion to the 

Supreme Court of the United States: 637.

182 For concise annual summaries of redistricting cases, see Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1995 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1996): 12-3–5, 6-39–40; Congressional 

Quarterly Almanac, 1996 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1997): 5-48–50.

183 The clustering of black votes has electoral repercussions for the major parties, irrespective of their 

stated ideological preferences. For instance, particularly in the South during the 1980s and 1990s, 

Democrats lost seats in districts coterminous with black majority districts, when redistricting 

had shifted sizeable minority populations from their old districts into the new borders of black 

majority districts. “Thus,” explains political scientist David T. Canon, “Republicans tend to 

oppose the districts on principle, but quietly support them for political reasons, while many 

white Democrats support the districts in principle but privately hope they will be abolished.” See 

Canon, Race, Redistricting, and Representation: 5; Bernard Grofman, ed., Race And Redistricting in 

the 1990s (NY: Agathon Press, 1998).

184 Sean Wilentz, “The Last Integrationist: John Lewis’s American Odyssey,” 1 July 1996, The New 

Republic: 19–26; Canon, Race, Redistricting, and Representation: 5.

185 Some analysts believe the numbers may already have peaked. Political scientist Carol Swain has 

observed problems arising from the concentration of the black population in majority-black 

districts, particularly as the voting-age populations in these districts decline. That factor and 

the natural population level of African Americans create a ceiling that prevents greater gains. 

See, for instance, Swain, “Black Members: Twentieth Century”: 175–176; see also Swain, Black 

Faces, Black Interests: 207–225. For the 2003 figures (the most recent available) on state legislator 

demographics, see the National Conference of State Legislators Web site at http://www.ncsl.org/

programs/legismgt/about/afrAmer.htm (accessed 11 December 2007).

186 Morris, “African American Legislators”: 383.

187 This figure includes Juanita Millender-McDonald, who led the House Administration Committee 

from January 2007 until her death in April 2007. The percentage of African Americans in 

Congress holding committee leadership positions far exceeded that of women in committee 

leadership. For instance, women chaired six full committees and 28 subcommittees in the House 

and Senate combined at the start of the 110th Congress. With 90 women combined in both 

chambers, this constituted 38 percent in committee leadership posts. Smaller minority groups 

in the 110th Congress compared favorably to black Members in this regard. Of the 27 Hispanic 

Americans in the House and Senate, 15 held full and subcommittee gavels (55.5 percent). An 

equal percentage of Asian-Pacific Islander Americans (five of the nine) combined held committee 

leadership positions in both chambers.

188 Canon, Race, Redistricting, and Representation: 3, 261–264; see also Perry, “Introduction: An 

Analysis of Major Themes in the Concept of Deracialization”: 1–11.

412 H Black Americans in Congress
The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 413

Denise Majette

Frank Ballance

Julia Carson

Harold Ford, Jr.

Juanita Millender-McDonald

J. C. Watts

Walter Tucker

Mel Reynolds

Carrie Meek

Cynthia McKinney

Earl Hilliard

Victor Frazer

Cleo Fields

Eva Clayton

Lucien Blackwell

Gary Franks

Barbara-Rose Collins

Craig Washington

Kweisi Mfume

Floyd Flake

Mike Espy

Alton Waldon

Charles Hayes

Alan Wheat 

Major Owens

Katie Hall

Harold Washington

Gus Savage

Mervyn Dymally

George Crockett

Bennett Stewart

Mickey Leland

William Gray III

Melvin Evans

Julian Dixon

Harold Ford, Sr.

Cardiss Collins

Andrew Young

Barbara Jordan

Yvonne Burke

Walter Fauntroy

Parren Mitchell

Ralph Metcalfe

Ronald Dellums

Carol Moseley-Braun

1971 1975 1979 1983 1987

 

 

 

 

1991 1995 1999 2003 2007

Congressional Service for Former Black Members

First Elected, 1971–2005

H Visual Statistics V H

The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 413

Source: Biographical Directory of the United States Congress, 1774–2005 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2005); also available at http://bioguide.congress.gov.
414 H Blacack Ammerica ricanss iin Congrgressss 

Party Divisions in the Senate 

92nd–110th Congresses (1971–2009)*

*110th Congress through December 31, 2007.

[1] Party division changed to 56 Democrats and 44 Republicans after the June 5, 1993, election of Kay B. Hutchison (R-TX).

[2] Party ratio changed to 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats after Richard Shelby of Alabama switched from the Democratic to Republican Party on November 9, 1994. 

It changed again, to 54 Republicans and 46 Democrats, when Ben Nighthorse Campbell of Colorado switched from the Democratic to Republican Party on March 3, 1995. 

When Robert Packwood (R-OR) resigned on October 1, 1995, the Senate divided between 53 Republicans and 46 Democrats with one vacancy. Ron Wyden (D) returned 

the ratio to 53 Republicans and 47 Democrats when he was elected to fill the vacant Oregon seat.

[3] As the 106th Congress began, the division was 55 Republican seats and 45 Democratic seats, but this changed to 54-45 on July 13, 1999, when Senator Bob Smith of 

New Hampshire switched from the Republican Party to Independent status. On November 1, 1999, Smith announced his return to the Republican Party, making the division 

once more 55 Republicans and 45 Democrats. Following the death of Senator Paul Coverdell (R-GA) on July 18, 2000, the balance shifted again, to 54 Republicans and 46 

Democrats, when the governor appointed Zell Miller, a Democrat, to fill the vacancy.

[4] From January 3 to January 20, 2001, with the Senate divided evenly between the two parties, the Democrats held the majority due to the deciding vote of outgoing 

Democratic Vice President Al Gore. Senator Thomas A. Daschle served as majority leader at that time. Beginning on January 20, 2001, Republican Vice President Richard 

Cheney held the deciding vote, giving the majority to the Republicans. Senator Trent Lott resumed his position as Majority Leader on that date. On May 24, 2001, Senator 

James Jeffords of Vermont announced his switch from Republican to Independent status, effective June 6, 2001. Jeffords announced that he would caucus with the Democrats, 

giving the Democrats a one-seat advantage, changing control of the Senate from the Republicans back to the Democrats. Senator Thomas A. Daschle again became Majority 

Leader on June 6, 2001. Senator Paul D. Wellstone (D-MN) died on October 25, 2002, and Independent Dean Barkley was appointed to fill the vacancy. The November 5, 

2002 election brought to office elected Senator James Talent (R-MO), replacing appointed Senator Jean Carnahan (D-MO), shifting balance once again to the Republicans, 

but no reorganization was completed at that time since the Senate was out of session.

Source: U.S. Senate Historical Office. S

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

92nd (1971–1973)

93rd (1973–1975)

94th (1975–1977)

95th (1977–1979)

96th (1979–1981)

97th (1981–1983)

98th (1983–1985)

99th (1985–1987)

100th (1987–1989)

101st (1989–1991)

102nd (1991–1993)

103rd (1993–1995)

104th(1995–1997)

105th (1997–1999)

106th (1999–2001)

107th (2001–2003)

108th (2003–2005)

109th (2005–2007)

110th (2007–2009)

[1] [2] [3] [4]

other

democrats republicans

414 H Black Americans in Congress 
Thhe EExpapansi sion, Orga Organiizati ation, aand Risi isingg Inffluuencce off Africa frican Ammerica ricanss iin Congrgressss, 1971–2007 1971–2007 H 415

50

100

150

200

250

300

92nd (1971–1973)

93rd (1973–1975)

94th (1975–1977)

95th (1977–1979)

96th (1979–1981)

97th (1981–1983)

98th (1983–1985)

99th (1985–1987)

100th (1987–1989)

101st (1989–1991)

102nd (1991–1993)

103rd (1993–1995)

104th(1995–1997)

105th (1997–1999)

106th (1999–2001)

107th (2001–2003)

108th (2003–2005)

109th (2005–2007)

110th (2007–2009)

R

republicans

other

democrats

Party Divisions in the House of Representatives

92nd–110th Congresses (1971–2009) [1]

[1] Does not include Delegates or Resident Commissioners; 110th Congress through December 31, 2007.

[2] Including Delegates.

[3] Including Delegates and Resident Commissioners.

Source: Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives.

Less than 10 years 

15

(35%)

10-14 years

10

(23%)

15-19 years 

14

(33%)

20-24 years

1

(2%)

25-29 years

1

(2%)

30 or more years

2

(5%)

Length of Service of Current Black 

Members of Congress 

 (42 Individuals as of December 31, 2007) [2]

Black Members 

(42 of 540)

8%

Other

(498 of 540)

92%

Black Americans as a Percentage of Congress, 

110th Congress (2007–2009)

as of December 31, 2007 [3]

The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 H 415

50

100

150

200

250

300

92nd (1971–1973)

93rd (1973–1975)

94th (1975–1977)

95th (1977–1979)

96th (1979–1981)

97th (1981–1983)

98th (1983–1985)

99th (1985–1987)

100th (1987–1989)

101st (1989–1991)

102nd (1991–1993)

103rd (1993–1995)

104th(1995–1997)

105th (1997–1999)

106th (1999–2001)

107th (2001–2003)

108th (2003–2005)

109th (2005–2007)

110th (2007–2009)

R

republicans

other

democrats
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Oil on canvas (detail), Andre White, 1997, Collection of 

U.S. House of Representatives

Born and raised in the northern California district 

that founded the free speech movement and 

the Black Panthers in the 1960s, Ronald Dellums 

embraced the activist spirit of the region, taking his 

seat in Congress in 1971 as an outspoken critic of the 

Vietnam War. Throughout his nearly three decade career 

in the House, Dellums remained true to his antiwar 

principles, consistently working to reduce the military 

budget. Initially a politician who believed more could be 

accomplished outside the establishment, the California 

Representative chaired two standing committees and 

became adept at building congressional coalitions to 

achieve his legislative agenda. “It was never about personal 

battles,” Dellums recalled upon his retirement from the 

House. “It has always been about ideas. Individuals come 

and go, but ideas must ultimately transcend, and ideas 

must ultimately prevail.”1

Ronald V. Dellums was born on November 24, 1935, in 

Oakland, California, to Verney Dellums, a Pullman porter 

and a longshoreman, and Willa Dellums, a beautician and 

government clerk. His uncle, C. L. Dellums—a leader in 

the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters union—served 

as a role model and as a political influence. Ron Dellums 

attended McClymonds High School before graduating 

from Oakland Technical High School in 1953. After a 

short stint at San Francisco City College, he enlisted in 

the Marine Corps in 1954. While in the service, Dellums 

married and had two children: Michael and Pam. He and 

his wife Athurine later divorced. In 1956, at the end of his 

two-year enlistment in the Marines, he enrolled at Oakland 

City College, where he earned an associate’s degree in 

1958. He continued his education at San Francisco State 

College, graduating with a B.A. in 1960. Two years later 

he was awarded a master’s degree in social work from 

the University of California at Berkeley.2

 In 1962 he 

married Leola Roscoe Higgs, an attorney; the couple had 

a daughter, Piper, and two sons, Erik and Brandy. They 

divorced in 1999, and Dellums married Cynthia Lewis 

in 2000.3

After earning his master’s degree, Dellums worked in a 

series of social work jobs that promoted his involvement 

with community affairs and local politics in the Bay Area. 

He began his career as a psychiatric social worker for the 

California department of mental hygiene from 1962 to 

1964. Between 1964 and 1968, Dellums directed several 

area programs, including the Bayview Community Center 

in San Francisco, Hunter’s Point Youth Opportunity 

Council, and the San Francisco Economic Opportunity 

Council. He later found employment at San Francisco 

State College and the University of California at Berkeley 

as a lecturer and was employed as a senior consultant for 

manpower programs at Social Dynamics, Inc., from 1968 

through 1970.4

 At the urging of friends and members of 

the community, Dellums made his first foray into politics 

when he sought and won a seat on the Berkeley city 

council in 1967. Asked to describe his approach to politics, 

he responded, “I’d listen and try to understand what people 

had to say, but then I’d act on my own beliefs. That’s the 

only way anyone should run for office.”5

From his seat on the council, Dellums, who had 

become a spokesperson for minorities and the disadvantaged, mounted a campaign in 1970 for the congressional 

seat encompassing the liberal bastion of Berkeley and 

nearby Oakland, one of the most populated and 

impoverished cities in California. In the primary, Dellums 

squared off against the six-term incumbent Jeffery 

Cohelan. Running on an antiwar platform, he criticized 

Cohelan’s late opposition to America’s involvement in 

Vietnam.6

 As a young (34-year-old), African-American 

candidate, Dellums connected with the anti-establishment 

Ronald V. Dellums

1935–

United States Representative H 1971–1998

Democrat from California

������������������������������������������������������������������������

416 H Black Americans in Congress
H Edward w. Burke H
current that was prevalent in Berkeley and Oakland. He 

also made a concerted effort to appeal to voters of various 

races in the diverse district. “[I] entered the campaign for 

Congress with a fervent belief that beyond ethnicity, it 

would be possible to bring women, labor, seniors, youths, 

and the poor into a coalition of the ‘powerless,’” he later 

recollected.7

 Dellums’s grass-roots campaigning ultimately 

helped him upset Cohelan. After garnering 55 percent of 

the vote, Dellums remarked that the race “brought up the 

new versus the old generation issue, war versus peace, open 

versus closed politics.”8

 The November general election 

attracted national attention despite the fact that Dellums 

was virtually assured of winning the heavily Democratic 

district. Vice President Spiro Agnew campaigned against 

the vocal critic of the Richard M. Nixon administration’s 

policy in Vietnam, labeling Dellums an “out-and-out 

radical” and an “enthusiastic backer of the Black 

Panthers.”9

 The Vice President’s visit to the district did 

little to slow Dellums’s momentum and, in fact, seemed 

to generate more publicity for his campaign. “One person 

I forgot to thank,” Dellums quipped in his victory 

speech, “my public relations agent, Spiro T. Agnew.”10

Dellums defeated Republican candidate John Healy, a 

25-year-old accountant, and third-party candidate Sarah 

Scahill with 57 percent of the vote to become one of the 

first African Americans to represent a majority-white 

congressional district.11

With his election to the 92nd Congress (1971–1973), 

Dellums quickly made headlines in his district and around 

the country. Unlike many freshman Members of Congress, 

who chose to learn the ropes quietly, Dellums adopted 

an active and vocal approach, introducing more than 200 

pieces of legislation.12 Groomed in the radical tradition of 

his district, he displayed little patience for congressional 

customs and the inner workings of the institution. 

After the House refused to conduct an investigation on 

possible American war crimes in Vietnam, he spearheaded 

a plan to hold his own ad hoc hearings—an unusual 

and controversial move that provoked scorn from some 

longtime politicians but drew considerable media 

attention.13 “I am not going to back away from being 

called a radical,” Dellums remarked defiantly during his 

first term. “If being an advocate of peace, justice, and 

humanity toward all human beings is radical, then I’m 

glad to be called a radical.”14 He also convened informal 

hearings on racism in the military, an issue of personal 

importance because of the discrimination he encountered 

in the Marines.15

Dellums continued to make waves in the House, 

introducing a measure for comprehensive economic 

sanctions in South Africa during the 92nd Congress. The 

first legislator to propose such severe restrictions against the 

apartheid regime, Dellums, alongside the Congressional 

Black Caucus (CBC), waged a long, intense battle to 

highlight the discriminatory practices of South Africa.16

“We are serious in our determination that positive action 

be taken soon to terminate U.S. business relationships with 

apartheid and repression in Africa,” Dellums affirmed on 

behalf of the CBC in 1972. As one of the 13 Members 

who founded the organization in 1971 and served as its 

chairman for the 101st Congress (1989–1991), Dellums 

discovered an outlet for his activism with the CBC.17

During the next 15 years, the California Representative 

led the charge against apartheid by sponsoring numerous 

bills to end U.S. support for the South African government 

and participating in a series of peaceful demonstrations—

which, on one occasion, led to his arrest at the South 

African Embassy in Washington, DC.18 In 1986, Dellums 

achieved one of his most significant legislative triumphs. 

As the floor manager of a bill calling for a U.S. trade 

embargo against South Africa and divestment by American 

companies of their holdings in the African nation, 

Dellums edged out a similar bill put forth by another 

black Member, William (Bill) Gray III of Pennsylvania, 

that included more modest sanctions. In an unusual turn 

of events, the opposition chose not to request a recorded 

roll call vote after a voice vote passed Dellums’s measure. 

Dellums expressed shock at how easily the bill had passed 

as well as profound satisfaction: “This is the highest point 

of my political life, the most significant and personally 

H Ronald V. Dellums H

418 H Black Americans in Congress 
HHREonald V. dward w. Dellums Burke HH

rewarding,” Dellums rejoiced. “It’s been a long journey to 

this moment.”19 Although the Senate ultimately passed a 

less stringent measure than the House, the two chambers 

united to override a veto by President Ronald W. Reagan 

easily. The Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act became law 

on October 2, 1986.20

One of Dellums’s long-standing goals as a 

Representative was to slash the military budget. To pursue 

this objective effectively he sought a seat on the powerful 

Armed Services Committee for the 93rd Congress 

(1973–1975). While this decision may have seemed out 

of character for an antiwar politician, the Representative 

explained that if he could become well versed in military 

affairs, he would be better able to argue the merits of 

his views on military oversight.21 The CBC drafted a 

letter to the Democratic leadership on Dellums’s behalf, 

but the chair of Armed Services, F. Edward Hébert of 

Louisiana, and the Committee on Committees opposed 

the appointment of an outspoken war critic. Refusing to 

yield, the CBC, led by Louis Stokes of Ohio and William 

(Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri, won the backing of Speaker 

Carl Albert of Oklahoma to place Dellums on the panel. 

He became the first African American to serve on the 

committee.22 Retaliating for Dellums’s addition and 

that of a woman (Patricia Schroeder of Colorado) to his 

committee roster, Hébert set aside one seat for the two 

newcomers at the first Armed Services meeting in 1973. 

“Let’s not give these guys the luxury of knowing they can 

get under our skin,” Dellums urged Schroeder. “Let’s sit 

here and share this chair as if it’s the most normal thing 

in the world.”23

Despite this inauspicious start, Dellums rose through 

the ranks of Armed Services, serving on the panel for the 

rest of his House career. In 1983 he became chairman of 

the influential Subcommittee on Military Installations 

and Facilities. A decade later he made history as the first 

African-American chairman of Armed Services.24 Initially 

some Members warned that Dellums’s record of opposition 

to defense appropriations would stymie the committee. 

But Dellums surprised his critics with his impartial 

leadership that allowed a continued ban on gays in the 

military, a pay increase for the armed services, and a boost 

in anti-missile funding—all despite his objections.25 He 

retained the chairmanship for one term but became the 

Ranking Member in 1995 when the Republicans took 

control of the House for the first time in 40 years. 

Throughout his tenure on Armed Services, Dellums 

sought to build coalitions—even on the other side of 

the aisle—to accomplish his legislative goals. On several 

occasions, he worked with Republican John Kasich of 

Ohio to stop production of the B-2 bomber.26 Dellums 

also consistently challenged another Cold War weapon, 

the MX missile—a land-based intercontinental ballistic 

missile that could deploy as many as 10 re-entry rockets, 

each topped by a 300-kiloton nuclear warhead. Beginning 

in 1977, he offered amendments to block its funding, 

and in 1980, after receiving a symbolic and short-lived 

nomination for President (he withdrew from contention 

moments later), Dellums used the forum to make a 

fervent speech about the need to cease MX manufacturing 

and “to reject war and inflation-combating policies that 

caused a rise in unemployment.”27 In 1982 he proposed 

an alternative military budget—mirroring the CBC’s 

substitute budget—that slashed spending by more than 

$50 billion. Though the resolution received little support 

outside the CBC, Dellums considered it one of his most 

meaningful legislative endeavors. “We will be back next 

year and the year after that and the year after that until 

we right the wrongs in this madness,” he asserted.28

Dellums remained steady in his opposition to most U.S. 

military operations, including the American invasion of 

Grenada in 1983 and the Persian Gulf War in 1991, but 

he did support some peacekeeping efforts in Africa and 

the Caribbean.29 His unswerving commitment to reduce 

military funding became a hallmark of his House tenure.

Assigned to the District of Columbia Committee 

during his first term in office, Dellums eventually 

chaired the panel from the 96th to the 102nd Congresses 

(1979–1993). Under his direction, the committee 

examined a range of issues affecting the nation’s capital 

former members | 1971–2007 H 419
and other urban areas, such as transportation, schools, 

housing, and public safety.30 Envisioning himself as “an 

advocate, not an overseer, of District affairs,” Dellums 

worked to achieve one of his major priorities, which he 

first introduced in 1971: statehood for Washington, DC. 31

“There should be no colonies in a democracy, and the 

District of Columbia continues to be a colony,” Dellums 

said after the committee voted in favor of a statehood 

measure in 1987.32 As as Representative, he also served 

on the Foreign Affairs, Post Office and Civil Service, and 

Select Intelligence committees. 

Dellums rarely faced serious re-election challenges, 

averaging more than 60 percent of the vote throughout 

most of his House career. Although Dellums reportedly 

had more than 800 overdrafts from the House “Bank,” his 

popularity among his constituents, especially in the urban 

areas of Oakland and Berkeley, allowed him to escape the 

fate of several Members who lost their congressional seats 

after they were linked to the House “Bank” scandal in 

the 102nd Congress (1991–1993). The reapportionment 

that took effect in 1992 created a safer district for the 

incumbent; with the elimination of the outlying suburbs, 

Dellums captured more than 70 percent of the vote in his 

three remaining contests.33

In February 1998, the 14-term Representative shocked 

his colleagues when he resigned from the House, citing 

personal reasons.34 In his farewell speech, Dellums reflected 

on his long and successful career in the House: “To get up 

every day and put on your uniform and put on your tie 

and march on the floor of Congress knowing that, in your 

hands, in that card, in your very being, you have life and 

death in your hands, it is an incredible thing.”35 After 

Congress, Dellums worked as a lobbyist, starting his own 

firm in Washington, DC. In 2006, he returned to the 

political spotlight when he was elected mayor of Oakland 

at age 70. “You just asked an old guy to come out 

of the comfort zone and play one more game,” 

Dellums observed.36

For further reading

“Dellums, Ronald V.,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000222. 

Dellums, Ronald V., and H. Lee Halterman. Lying Down 

with the Lions: A Public Life from the Streets of Oakland to 

the Halls of Power (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000).

James, Victor V., Jr. “Cultural Pluralism and the Quest 

for Black Citizenship: The 1970 Ronald V. Dellums 

Congressional Primary Campaign.” Ph.D. dissertation, 

University of California at Berkeley, 1975.

Manuscript Collection

African American Museum and Library at Oakland

(Oakland, CA). Papers: ca. 1971–1998, approximately 235 

cubic feet. The papers of Ronald V. Dellums are closed 

until processing is completed.

H Ronald V. Dellums H

420 H Black Americans in Congress 
Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 105th Cong., 2nd sess. (5 February 

1998): H363.

2 Ronald V. Dellums and H. Lee Halterman, Lying Down With 

the Lions: A Public Life From the Streets of Oakland to the Halls 

of Power (Boston: Beacon Press, 2000): 9–12, 17–19, 25; Helen 

R. Houston, “Ronald V. Dellums,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed., 

Notable Black American Men (Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 

1999): 289 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM); “Dellums, Ronald 

V.,” Current Biography, 1972 (New York: H. W. Wilson and 

Company, 1972): 104.

3 Sources conflict regarding Dellums’s divorce and remarriage dates. 

See Houston, “Ronald V. Dellums,” NBAM: 289; Guy Ashley, 

“City Holds Breath for Dellums,” 27 September 2005, Contra 

Costa Times (Walnut Creek, CA): F4.

4 “Dellums, Ronald V.,” Current Biography, 1993 (New York: H.W. 

Wilson and Company, 1993): 152.

5 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 41.

6 Daryl Lembke, “Cohelan Faces Strong Challenge in the Primary,” 

27 May 1970, Los Angeles Times: 30. 

7 Carol M. Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of 

African Americans in Congress (Cambridge: Harvard University 

Press, 1993): 134.

8 “Black Defeats Veteran White Congressman,” 4 June 1970, 

Chicago Tribune: E11; Daryl Lembke, “Cohelan Upset in Congress 

Race by Negro,” 4 June 1970, Los Angeles Times: 3.

9 Daryl Lembke, “Welcomes Attack by Agnew, Dellums Says,” 10 

October 1970, Los Angeles Times: 9; Bill Boyarsky, “Veysey Takes 

Lead in Tunney’s Old District,” 4 November 1970, Los Angeles 

Times: A33; William Chapman, “Agnew Says Democrats Embrace 

Radicalism,” 9 October 1970, Washington Post: A12.

10 “Nixon Backer, Agnew Target Win Contests,” 5 November 1970, 

Los Angeles Times: A3.

11 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Swain, Black 

Faces, Black Interests: 133–140.

12 Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 139.

13 Dellums led the movement for informal hearings on alleged war 

crimes in Vietnam. He was joined by three other Democrats: 

Bella Abzug of New York, John Conyers, Jr., of Michigan, and 

Parren Mitchell of Maryland. See “4 in the House Plan Hearings 

on War,” 7 April 1971, New York Times: 10; Lois Romano, “Ron 

Dellums, Waging Peace: The Longtime Anti-War Activist, From 

Grandstander to Seasoned Player,” 20 February 1991, Washington 

Post: C1; William Chapman, “4 Congressmen to Hold Inquiry on 

War Crimes,” 7 April 1971, Washington Post: A8.

14 Ray Mosley, “Violence Disavowed by Rep. Dellums,” 14 February 

1971, Washington Post: 113.

15 In his memoirs, Dellums describes how an overt act of racism 

disqualified him for consideration as an officer in the Marines. See 

Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 22–23.

16 Ronald V. Dellums Interview: Conversations With History; 

Institute of International Studies, UC Berkeley: http://globetrotter.

berkeley.edu/people/Dellums/dellums-con0.html (accessed 10 

February 2000); Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the 

Lions: 121–123; Congressional Record, House, 92nd Cong., 2nd 

sess. (16 February 1972): 4247. In his memoirs, Dellums cites 

February 1972 for the introduction of the measure, matching 

the Congressional Record. However, there is an earlier listing 

for proposed sanctions against South Africa by Dellums and 

Congressman John Conyers, Jr. See Congressional Record, House, 

92nd Cong., 1st sess. (15 December 1971): 47236.

17 Robert Singh, The Congressional Black Caucus: Racial Politics in the 

U.S. Congress (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 1998): 65.

18 For example, see “Dellums Arrested in Ongoing South African 

Protest,” 29 November 1984, Associated Press; “Apartheid Protest 

Greets President Reagan at Capitol,” 7 February 1985, Washington 

Post: A19. For a detailed account of his arrest, see Dellums and 

Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 127–129.

19 James R. Dickerson, “Dellums: Exoneration Is His,” 20 June 

1986, Washington Post: A17; Edward Walsh, “House Would 

Require U.S. Disinvestment From South Africa,” 19 June 1986, 

Washington Post: A1.

20 Helen Dewar, “Congress Votes Sanctions on South Africa,” 13 

September 1986, Washington Post: A1; Edward Walsh, “House 

Easily Overrides Veto of South Africa Sanctions,” 30 September 

1986, Washington Post: A1; “Senate Overrides Reagan’s Veto of 

Sanctions 78 to 21,” 2 October 1986, Los Angeles Times: A1. 

Dellums provides a detailed account of the legislative effort in Lying 

Down With the Lions: 97–98.

21 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 97–98.

22 Ibid., 99–103; Romano, “Ron Dellums, Waging Peace.”

23 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 149–150. 

Historian Julian Zelizer referred to this incident and also detailed 

the downfall of Hébert as chairman of Armed Services in the postWatergate reform era. See On Capitol Hill: The Struggle to Reform 

Congress and Its Consequences, 1948–2000 (Cambridge: Cambridge 

University Press, 2004): 135, 167–169.

24 “Dellums Approved to Head House Armed Services Committee,” 

27 January 1993, Associated Press.

25 Gilbert A. Lewthwaite, “Dellums’ Lonely Fight in Armed Services,” 

19 March 1994, Baltimore Sun: 2A.

H Ronald V. Dellums H

former members | 1971–2007 H 421
26 Eric Schmitt, “House Panel Votes to Cut Off Bomber,” 1 August 

1990, New York Times: B6; Romano, “Ron Dellums, Waging 

Peace”; Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 118.

27 Herbert Denton Washington, “Dellums Uses His Brief Candidacy 

to Try to ‘Energize’ the Gathering,” 14 August 1980, Washington 

Post: A15; Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 87.

28 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down With the Lions: 171; 

Dickenson, “Dellums: Exoneration Is His.”

29 Lewthwaite, “Dellums’ Lonely Fight in Armed Services”; Politics in 

America, 1998 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

1997): 113.

30 Dellums and Halterman, Lying Down with the Lions: 95–96.

31 Donald P. Baker, “Dellums to Be ‘Advocate’ for DC,” 27 January 

1979, Washington Post: B1; “Fauntroy Attacks Plan on Statehood,” 

15 July 1971, Washington Post: E2.

32 “House Committee OKs Bill to Make District of Columbia a 

State,” 4 June 1987, Associated Press.

33 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Politics in 

America, 1998: 113–114; Clifford Krauss, “Committee Names 

All Who Overdrew at the House Bank,” 17 April 1992, New York 

Times: A1. 

34 “House Welcomes New Member, Bids Farewell to 27-Year 

Veteran,” 5 February 1998, Associated Press. Dellums provided 

more insight on his decision to retire from the House in his 

memoirs. “While for thirty years I had been willing to accept the 

call to service, it was now time for me to recapture my life. I had 

never had any intention of being ‘carried out’ of the Congress. I 

had always imagined returning to private life.” See Lying Down 

With the Lions: 195.

35 Congressional Record, House, 105th Cong., 2nd sess. (5 February 

1998): H363.

36 Guy Ashley, “Dellums Announces Run for Mayor,” 8 October 

2005, Contra Costa Times; Heather MacDonald, “Dellums 

Promises Oakland Revival; City’s 48th Mayor Focuses on Street 

Violence During Fiery Inaugural Speech at Famous Paramount 

Theatre,” 9 January 2007, Contra Costa Times: F4.

H Ronald V. Dellums H

422 H Black Americans in Congress
“I am not going to back away 

from being called a radical,” 

Dellums remarked defiantly 

during his first term. 

“If being an advocate of 

peace, justice, and humanity 

toward all human beings is 

radical, then I’m glad to be 

called a radical.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 423
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Ralph Metcalfe achieved worldwide fame as an 

 Olympic athlete years before he became involved in 

politics on Chicago’s South Side. Like William Dawson, 

his predecessor from the predominantly black, urban 

Illinois district, Metcalfe rose through the ranks of the 

Chicago Democratic political machine before winning a 

seat in Congress. However, Metcalfe differentiated himself 

from other machine loyalists of the period by elevating race 

above local party interests. Metcalfe’s willingness to risk 

his political career to follow his conscience won him loyal 

support among the majority of his constituents and his 

black colleagues in the House. “I know the political reality 

of what I am doing, but I am prepared to let the chips fall 

where they may,” Metcalfe remarked. “I’m willing to pay 

whatever political consequences I have to, but frankly, I 

don’t think there will be any. . . . In the caucus we have 

decided to put the interests of black people first—above 

all else, and that means even going against our party 

or our political leaders if black interests don’t coincide 

with their positions.”1

Ralph Harold Metcalfe was born in Atlanta, Georgia, 

on May 29, 1910, to Marie Attaway, a seamstress, and 

Clarence Metcalfe, a stockyard worker.2

 As a child, he 

moved with his family to the South Side of Chicago. 

After graduating from Chicago’s Tilden Technical School 

in 1930, Metcalfe attended Marquette University where 

he received a bachelor of philosophy degree in 1936. He 

completed his education by earning an M.A. in physical 

education from the University of Southern California 

in 1939. During high school Metcalfe began a long and 

successful career as a track athlete. “I was told by my coach 

that as a black person I’d have to put daylight between me 

and my nearest competitor,” Metcalfe recalled. “I forced 

myself to train harder so I could put that daylight behind 

me.”3

 Metcalfe became a household name in the United 

States when he medaled in the 1932 and 1936 Olympics. 

During the infamous Berlin Games of 1936, Metcalfe and 

Jesse Owens led the American 400-meter relay team to a 

world record, much to the dismay of German onlookers, 

especially Adolf Hitler, who expected the German athletes 

to prove their superiority by sweeping all the track 

and field events.4

 Years later, Owens credited Metcalfe 

with helping his black teammates overcome the many 

distractions they faced. “He said we were not there to get 

involved in the political situation. We were there for one 

purpose—to represent our country.”5

Following his retirement from competitive sports in 

1936, Metcalfe taught political science and coached track 

at Xavier University in New Orleans until 1946. He also 

served in the U.S. Army Transportation Corps from 1942 

to 1945, where he rose to the rank of first lieutenant and 

earned the Legion of Merit for his physical education 

training program. After World War II, Metcalfe returned 

to Chicago in 1945 to become director of the civil rights 

department of the Chicago Commission on Human 

Relations, a position he held until 1949. He then headed 

the Illinois State Athletic Commission from 1949 to 1952. 

In 1947, Metcalfe married Madalynne Fay Young. The 

couple had one child, Ralph Metcalfe, Jr.6

In 1952, Metcalfe began his political career by 

winning election as Chicago’s Third Ward Democratic 

committeeman. Quickly earning the respect and trust 

of Richard J. Daley, Chicago’s mayor and leader of 

the city’s powerful political machine, Metcalfe secured 

more prominent positions in the local government. 

After becoming an alderman in 1955, he was later 

selected by Daley to serve as president pro tempore of 

the Chicago city council.7

 When the powerful but aging 

Representative William L. Dawson, a longtime member 

of the Democratic machine, decided to retire from the 

Ralph Harold Metcalfe

1910–1978

United States Representative H 1971–1978

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������

424 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
House, he chose Metcalfe to replace him in Congress. In 

the Democratic primary, Metcalfe faced A. A. (Sammy) 

Rayner, an alderman and an undertaker, who blamed 

the predominantly white power structure of Chicago 

for the problems facing many African Americans in the 

urban district. Running on a platform of “law and order,” 

Metcalfe defended his ties to Daley’s machine, reassuring 

voters that the political organization “is structured in a 

businesslike manner to get things done and, therefore, 

it is an asset.”8

 With the backing of Daley and Dawson, 

Metcalfe defeated Rayner and went on to win election 

to the House easily, with 91 percent of the vote against 

Republican Jayne Jennings, a schoolteacher, a few days 

before Dawson’s death in November 1970.9

 Metcalfe 

entered the House on January 3, 1971, and was assigned to 

the Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries and the 

Interstate and Foreign Commerce Committee; he served 

on both committees throughout his tenure in the House. 

Metcalfe’s appointment to the influential Interstate and 

Foreign Commerce Committee marked the first time an 

African-American Member served on the panel in the 20th 

century.10 The Illinois Representative also served on the 

Post Office and Civil Service Committee during the 95th 

Congress (1977–1979).

Metcalfe’s legislative focus in the House, like his 

predecessor’s, was assisting the residents on Chicago’s 

South Side. Using his experience as chairman of the 

Chicago city council’s housing committee, Metcalfe 

introduced legislation to increase the availability of 

home improvement loans and federal housing programs 

to benefit the many impoverished people living in his 

district. He also advocated funding for security measures 

to protect residents in public projects and fought to 

eliminate “redlining,” the practice of withholding 

funds for home loans and insurance from low-income 

neighborhoods. Defending the need for such measures, 

Metcalfe asserted, “It is essential that individuals living 

in our cities, or individuals of low or moderate income 

residing in rural areas, be provided with the means and 

incentive to remain in their communities.”11 As a strong 

proponent of gun control, the Illinois Representative 

introduced legislation to prohibit the manufacture 

and sale of handguns, stating, “The people in the First 

Congressional District of Illinois know the terror of 

uncontrolled handguns. They know that the only solution 

to this epidemic of violent handgun crime is an absolute 

ban on the manufacture, sale, and distribution of these 

weapons throughout the United States.”12

Throughout his House career, Metcalfe also advanced 

issues that extended beyond his congressional district. 

He drafted provisions to the Railroad Revitalization and 

Regulatory Reform Act to combat discrimination in the 

industry present more than a decade after the passage 

of the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1964.13 Concerned 

about the quality of health care for minorities, the 

Illinois Representative criticized the Richard M. Nixon 

administration for failing to support legislation aimed 

at improving health services for those most in need and 

exhorted his House colleagues to “design a health care 

package which adequately meets the needs and aspirations 

of poor and minority groups.”14 Drawing on his own 

athletic experience, Metcalfe cosponsored the Amateur 

Sports Act of 1978, which provided federal funding for 

American Olympic athletes and increased opportunities for 

minorities, women, and disabled Americans to participate 

in amateur sports.15

Although his legislative agenda focused heavily on 

domestic issues, Metcalfe had an interest in U.S. foreign 

policy. As chairman of the Merchant Marine and Fisheries 

Subcommittee on the Panama Canal, he advocated more 

opportunities for education, housing, and jobs in the 

Canal Zone and worked to secure the passage of 

legislation that eventually ceded American control of the 

Panama Canal.16 Like other African-American Members 

of the era, Metcalfe called for increased U.S. involvement 

in African affairs, especially in South Africa. In 1975 he 

introduced a measure to cease American support for 

South Africa to protest its government-sanctioned 

policy of racial discrimination. Metcalfe praised the 

recommendations of the Organization of African Unity 

H Ralph Harold Metcalfe H

426 H Black Americans in Congress 
(OAU) for the South African region, which included 

ending apartheid in South Africa and instituting majority 

rule in Rhodesia. “In order to insure [sic] that the 

tremendous potential for violent conflict in southern 

Africa, a potential born of people’s desire to throw off the 

yoke of oppression and racism, is not realized, it is 

imperative that the United States follow the lead of the 

OAU and reassess its own policies in Southern Africa.”17

Metcalfe received national attention when he publicly 

broke ranks in 1972 with Chicago Mayor Richard Daley, 

his friend and political ally, and the Democratic machine. 

Outraged by what he perceived as Daley’s lenient stance 

on police brutality in the black community—specifically 

with regard to a violent raid of the local Black Panthers 

and two incidents that involved the harassment of 

black dentists—Metcalfe declared, “the Mayor doesn’t 

understand what happens to black men on the streets 

of Chicago, and probably never will.”18 Metcalfe used 

his position on the Interstate and Foreign Commerce 

Committee to conduct public hearings for victims and 

witnesses of police brutality and organized a citizens’ 

group to lobby the city government for reforms.19 “I’ve 

always spoken out for my people—for what I believe 

but in the past I’ve tried to remedy situations on a caseby-case basis, trying to work within the party or official 

government circles,” Metcalfe said. “In the brutality 

field, however, I can’t just stand by while each and every 

case is investigated. I want the system changed.”20 When 

Metcalfe backed William Singer, Daley’s opponent in the 

1975 Chicago mayoral primary, the powerful political 

boss retaliated by depriving the Illinois Representative of 

his Third Ward patronage positions and orchestrating a 

challenge in the 1976 Democratic primary for Chicago’s 

South Side congressional seat.21 In a fight against what 

he termed a “political dictatorship” in Chicago, Metcalfe 

asserted, “There is only one issue. The right of black people 

to choose their own public officials and not have them 

picked from downtown.”22 With the outspoken support of 

the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC)—an organization 

Metcalfe helped found in 1971—he handily defeated 

Daley aide Erwin A. France with more than 70 percent 

of the vote in the bitterly contested primary. “This is a 

people’s victory,” the Chicago Representative declared.23

After reapportionment in 1972, the metropolitan district 

continued to boast a predominantly black population, 

even with the significant change in boundaries that 

included a largely white neighborhood surrounding the 

University of Chicago. As with the two previous general 

elections for the Chicago congressional district, Metcalfe 

faced little Republican opposition, and he easily earned a 

seat in the 95th Congress.24

With the death of Mayor Daley in December of 

1976, tensions eased between Metcalfe and the Chicago 

machine.25 However, Metcalfe called attention to racial 

discrimination in Chicago and also continued to try to 

improve police service for his constituents residing in 

impoverished neighborhoods. “If we want to strengthen 

and rebuild Chicago, then we must help the people 

who are sticking it out in the inner city to survive.”26

During the 95th Congress, Metcalfe demonstrated his 

determination to recognize the accomplishments of 

African Americans, sponsoring several resolutions to 

declare February as Black History Month. 

Metcalfe’s congressional career ended when he died 

suddenly of an apparent heart attack on October 10, 1978, 

only a month before his almost certain re-election to a 

fifth term. Representative Louis Stokes of Ohio praised 

Metcalfe’s dedication to his district and the CBC. “Ralph 

was a man who had the ability to inspire people,” Stokes 

recalled. “The type of individual who, as you came to 

know him, you would have to admire.”27

H Ralph Harold Metcalfe H

former members | 1971–2007 H 427
For further reading

“Metcalfe, Ralph Harold” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000675.

Manuscript Collection

The Metcalfe Collection (Chicago, IL). Papers: ca. 

1932–1977, amount unknown. The collection documents 

Ralph Metcalfe’s athletic pursuits, including his Olympic 

track victories; his public service, including his tenure with 

the U.S. House of Representatives; and his involvement 

with the civil rights movement. The collection has not yet 

been processed.

Notes 

1 “Ralph Harold Metcalfe,” 14 October 1978, Washington Post: A16. 

2 David L. Porter, “Metcalfe, Ralph Harold,” American National 

Biography 15 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 386 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB). ANB lists Metcalfe’s mother’s first 

name as Marie, whereas other sources indicate her first name was 

Mayme.

3 “Rep. Ralph Metcalfe,” 11 October 1978, Chicago Tribune: D2.

4 Jean R. Hailey, “Rep. Ralph H. Metcalfe Dies,” 11 October 1978, 

Washington Post: C8; Darius L. Thieme, “Ralph H. Metcalfe,” in 

Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington 

Hills, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 1999): 803–804 (hereinafter 

referred to as NBAM); Porter, “Metcalfe, Ralph Harold,” ANB. 

For more information on the 1936 Olympics, see Alan Gould, 

“Metcalfe Runs Second to Ohio Negro in Sprint Finals,” 4 August 

1936, Washington Post: X15 and Shirley Povich, “What Price 

Olympic Glory?—America’s Sports Public Demands,” 16 August 

1936, Washington Post: B5.

5 Dorothy Collin, “Jesse Owens Recalls a Beloved Teammate,” 11 

October 1978, Chicago Tribune: 1.

6 Thieme, “Ralph H. Metcalfe,” NBAM.

7 Hailey, “Rep. Ralph H. Metcalfe Dies.”

8 Michael Kilian, “Daley Choices Win Key Tests,” 18 March 1970, 

Chicago Tribune: 1; Norman C. Miller, “A Primary in Chicago 

Between Two Blacks Is Big Test for Daley,” 24 February 1970, Wall 

Street Journal: 1.

9 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Maurine 

Christopher, Black Americans in Congress (New York: Thomas Y. 

Crowell Company, 1976): 264.

10 Charles Stewart III, “Committee Hierarchies in the Modernizing 

House, 1875–1947,” American Journal of Political Science 36 

(1992): 845–846.

11 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 2nd sess. (30 April 

1974): 12437–12438; Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 

2nd sess. (20 May 1974): 15592.

12 Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 1st sess. (26 February 

1975): 4491; Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 265.

13 Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 1st sess. (17 December 

1975): 41339; Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 2nd sess. 

(28 January 1976): 1357; Porter, “Metcalfe, Ralph Harold,” ANB.

14 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. (31 January 

1973): 2845–2846; C. Gerald Fraser, “Wider Health Care Urged 

for Blacks,” 12 December 1971, New York Times: 77.

H Ralph Harold Metcalfe H

428 H Black Americans in Congress 
15 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 September 

1978): 31671.

16 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 2nd sess. (18 April 

1978): 10453–10454; Porter, “Metcalfe, Ralph Harold,” ANB; 

“Ralph Metcalfe,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 26 

(Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 2000).

17 Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 1st sess. (8 May 1975): 

13646.

18 R. W. Apple, Jr., “Black Leader’s Rebellion Is Hurting Daley 

Machine,” 10 May 1972, New York Times: 36; Nathaniel Sheppard, 

Jr., “19 Seeking House Seat Vacated by Chicago Mayor,” 8 July 

1983, New York Times: A7. 

19 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. (6 December 

1973): 39929–39930; Christopher, Black Americans in Congress: 

264.

20 “Police Acts Create New Daley Critic,” 7 May 1972, Washington 

Post: A14.

21 As was the case with other machine politicians, Metcalfe retained 

his local leadership positions in Chicago until his death. See Hailey, 

“Rep. Ralph H. Metcalfe Dies”; Barbara Reynolds, “Track Star 

Metcalfe Running Hard,” 7 March 1976, Chicago Tribune: 28.

22 Vernon Jarrett, “Ralph Metcalfe Comes Out Fighting,” 23 January 

1976, Chicago Tribune: A4; Barbara Reynolds, “Metcalfe Seeks 

New Term, Rips ‘Dictator,’” 12 November 1975, Chicago Tribune: 

3.

23 Barbara Reynolds, “Metcalfe Victory Seen as Freedom From 

Daley,” 17 March 1976, Chicago Tribune: 3; Reynolds, “Track Star 

Metcalfe Running Hard”; Vernon Jarrett, “France Has Bitter Taste 

of Politics,” 9 April 1976, Chicago Tribune: A4; “5 Congressmen 

Here to Aid Rep. Metcalfe,” 15 February 1976, Chicago Tribune: 

20.

24 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

25 “Ralph Metcalfe Is Dead at 68,” 11 October 1978, Los Angeles 

Times: E11.

26 The Chicago Tribune printed an article based on a speech by 

Metcalfe that outlined his goals for improvements in law 

enforcement in Chicago. See “Police Protection Is Everyone’s 

Right,” 11 June 1977, Chicago Tribune: S10. 

27 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 2nd sess. (11 October 

1978): 35723.

H Ralph Harold Metcalfe H

former members | 1971–2007 H 429
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Photograph (detail), Joseph Daniel Clipper, 1982, Collection of 

U.S. House of Representatives

A lifelong activist who carried on his family’s tradition 

of public service, Parren Mitchell won election to 

the U.S. House in 1970, becoming the first AfricanAmerican Representative from Maryland. As a Member 

of Congress, he earned a reputation as a dedicated and 

successful legislator who focused on improving the 

economic welfare of minorities residing in his Baltimore 

district and other urban centers. Mitchell’s passion and 

determination to extend the gains made in the civil rights 

movement—mainly through increased opportunities for 

minority-owned businesses—guided his eight terms in the 

House. After Mitchell’s death in May 2007, Representative 

Elijah Cummings of Maryland described him as “a true 

servant leader, never concerning himself about fame or 

fortune but, rather, devoting himself entirely to uplifting 

the people he represented.”1

Parren James Mitchell was born in Baltimore, 

Maryland, on April 29, 1922, to Clarence Mitchell, Sr., 

a waiter, and Elsie Davis Mitchell. His older brother, 

Clarence Mitchell, Jr., became an influential and longtime 

lobbyist for the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People (NAACP), serving as director of the 

Washington bureau from 1950 to 1978.2

 In their youth, 

Clarence and Parren participated in demonstrations 

protesting segregation in Baltimore. This early activism 

fostered Parren Mitchell’s interest in promoting civil 

rights, which shaped much of his future legislative career. 

Mitchell’s political family tree also extended to his sisterin-law, Juanita Jackson Mitchell, who led the Maryland 

office of the NAACP, and a nephew who served in the 

Maryland state senate.3

 After graduating from Douglass 

High School in Baltimore in 1940, Parren Mitchell 

joined the U.S. Army in 1942, serving as a commissioned 

officer and a company commander with the all-black 

92nd Infantry Division. Mitchell earned a Purple Heart 

during his World War II service in Italy.4

 Following his 

discharge from the armed services in 1946, Mitchell 

used funding from the 1944 GI Bill of Rights to enroll 

in Morgan State College in Baltimore. After graduating 

with an A.B. from Morgan State in 1950, he sued the 

University of Maryland for admission to the main campus 

in College Park. Mitchell became the school’s first AfricanAmerican graduate student, earning an M.A. in sociology 

in 1952.5

 After becoming an instructor of sociology at 

his undergraduate alma mater, Morgan State, from 1953 

to 1954, Mitchell supervised probation work for the 

Supreme Bench of Baltimore City from 1954 to 1957. 

He was appointed the executive secretary of the Maryland 

Commission on Interracial Problems and Relations in 

1963 and oversaw the implementation of the state’s 

new public accommodations law.6

 Mitchell also led the 

Baltimore Community Action Agency, an antipoverty 

program, from 1965 to 1968, before returning to Morgan 

State as a professor of sociology and the assistant director 

of its Urban Affairs Institute. In 1969 Mitchell became 

president of Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc., a nonprofit 

fair housing organization.7

 Mitchell never married and had 

no children. 

Persuaded by local community groups to run for 

elective office, Mitchell believed he could best help 

the inner-city residents of Baltimore from Congress. 

Consequently, he entered the 1968 Democratic primary 

for the Maryland House seat that encompassed much of 

western Baltimore and its bordering suburbs. During the 

campaign, Mitchell accused the 16-year incumbent and 

chairman of the Committee on House Administration, 

Samuel Friedel, of losing touch with his constituents, 

saying, “He doesn’t understand the dimensions of the 

urban crisis, the mood of the people.”8

 Mitchell ultimately 

lost his first election by 5,000 votes.9

 Two years later, 

Parren James Mitchell

1922–2007

United States Representative H 1971–1987

Democrat from Maryland

������������������������������������������������������������������������

430 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
he again challenged Friedel in the Democratic primary. 

Mitchell countered his opponent’s political experience 

by accentuating his family’s civil rights activism and deep 

roots in Baltimore. In a grass-roots campaign that focused 

on his antiwar stance and record of community outreach, 

Mitchell won by a razor-thin margin of 38 votes.10 He 

went on to defeat his Republican opponent, lawyer 

Peter Parker, in the overwhelmingly Democratic district, 

becoming the first African American to represent the state 

of Maryland in Congress. Mitchell also became one of the 

first black Members to win election in a minority-black 

congressional district.11 After his Maryland district was 

redrawn in 1971, Mitchell rarely encountered any serious 

opposition in his bids for re-election. Once predominantly 

Jewish and African American, the district now 

encompassed much of Baltimore’s minority population; 

most of the white suburbs were eliminated. With this shift, 

the district became even safer for Democrats.12

After being sworn in as a member of the 92nd Congress 

(1971–1973) on January 3, 1971, Mitchell reflected, “I 

was part of that breed that came in with some clear-cut 

objectives. I was part of that movement in the country that 

was deeply dissatisfied with the way the political process 

was working, and deeply dissatisfied with involvement 

in Vietnam.”13 Early in his first term, Mitchell used 

his seat in the House to speak out against the war. The 

Maryland Representative joined nine of his congressional 

colleagues on a national tour in 1971 criticizing American 

foreign policy in Southeast Asia.14 He and 22 Members of 

Congress also sought to publicize the antiwar movement 

by drafting a lawsuit demanding an end to the American 

bombing and mining of North Vietnamese ports.15

Mitchell and a handful of Representatives sought to force 

President Richard M. Nixon to end a bombing campaign 

in Cambodia, declaring the action unconstitutional since 

Congress had not authorized it.16 Frustrated because 

the allotment of money to subsidize the war in Vietnam 

drained funding for social programs, Mitchell balked at a 

Nixon administration proposal to provide North Vietnam 

financial aid “to contribute to healing the wounds of war 

and to postwar reconstruction of the Democratic Republic 

of Vietnam and throughout Indochina.”17

Mitchell served on the Banking and Currency 

Committee (later Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs) for 

the duration of his House tenure and on the House Budget 

panel from the 93rd to the 95th Congresses (1973–1979). 

He also was a member of the Small Business Committee 

for the 94th Congress (1975–1977) and from the 96th to 

the 99th Congresses (1979–1987), serving as chairman 

from 1981 to 1987.18 As a Representative, Mitchell also 

sat on two joint committees: Defense Production and 

Economic. Mitchell’s legislative focus took shape while 

he was a member of the Small Business Committee. 

Throughout his congressional career, he directed a series 

of measures promoting minority-owned businesses and 

small firms. In 1976 the Maryland Representative attached 

an amendment to a $4 billion public works program 

that required state and local governments applying for 

federal contracts to reserve 10 percent of this money for 

minority-owned companies. He later described this effort 

as “my proudest congressional accomplishment.”19 Mitchell 

achieved another major legislative triumph in 1982 when 

he guided a bill through the House to set aside funding 

for small businesses whose owners were economically 

disadvantaged.20 Despite criticism that his affirmative 

action proposals constituted a quota system, Mitchell and 

other proponents maintained that such legislation was 

necessary to balance the economic scales.21 To provide 

small businesses with more opportunities to procure 

contracts from the Defense Department, he fought to 

remove constraints on the number of companies that were 

permitted to bid for spare parts contracts. Mitchell strongly 

supported the Small Business Administration (SBA) and 

opposed efforts to increase interest rates on loans to small 

businesses and efforts to reduce SBA disaster loans. He 

also resisted the establishment of a subminimum wage for 

workers aged 18 and younger.

As one of the 13 founding members of the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), Mitchell played a 

significant role in crafting the identity of the fledgling 

H Parren James Mitchell H

432 H Black Americans in Congress 
organization. Dubbed the “Little General” for his ability to 

assemble and organize caucus members with little notice, 

Mitchell chaired the CBC during the 95th Congress 

(1977–1979).22 Representative Cardiss Collins of Illinois 

noted that Mitchell’s efficient and selfless leadership helped 

lend credibility to the organization. “Parren works hard 

to make sure each person gets his share of spotlight. He’s 

forging the caucus forward because now we are acting 

rather than reacting,” she said.23

Throughout his career in Congress, Mitchell 

consistently opposed increased funding for the military.24

In 1977, for instance, he proposed transferring $15 

million from the military budget for programs to increase 

employment opportunities in the U.S. “I have no great 

fear of the Soviet Union or China,” Mitchell remarked. “If 

this democracy should ever fail it will come from within 

because of the enormous disparity between the rich and 

the poor.”25 Under his direction, the CBC took a more 

public stance to curb defense spending. He lashed out 

against the James Earl (Jimmy) Carter administration’s 

proposed 1979 fiscal year budget, which allotted a 3 

percent hike for military spending. Calling the boost 

“unconscionable,” Mitchell added, “I certainly feel duped 

in so far as the military budget is concerned.”26 In 1980 

Mitchell sponsored a CBC-backed amendment as an 

alternative to the House Budget Committee’s legislation 

to balance the budget. Mitchell’s unsuccessful proposal 

would have increased funding for domestic programs for 

education, job training, and income assistance. According 

to the Maryland Representative, the measure put forth 

by the Budget Committee plunged “an economic dagger 

into the bodies of the poor, the nearly poor and the 

elderly.”27 The following year, the CBC launched its 

own comprehensive substitute budget—an initiative put 

forth annually by the caucus—emphasizing the need for 

increased funding for domestic programs.

Mitchell’s legislative agenda stretched beyond national 

borders; he was an outspoken supporter of strong 

economic sanctions against South Africa’s apartheid 

government. When the House passed a watered-down 

version of a bill to limit trade between the United 

States and South Africa, he angrily remarked, “You can’t 

compromise with total evil. You can’t take a mid-point on 

immorality.”28 Mitchell also urged U.S. participation in 

the African Development Fund, an international financial 

institution that focused on providing money for basic 

infrastructure projects in Africa. “A brief cost-analysis 

will show that the benefits received by the United States 

far exceeds [sic] the cost of participating in the African 

Development Fund, mainly because African countries 

serve the commercial interests of the United States,” 

Mitchell informed his House colleagues.29

Mitchell was known as an outspoken and passionate 

legislator. One of the first to call for President Nixon’s 

resignation after the Watergate scandal, he routinely 

criticized the White House during his eight terms in the 

House for what he perceived as a willingness to neglect 

the needs of poor Americans. Mitchell’s characterization 

in the press as an “unhappy warrior” with “seething anger” 

stemmed from his frustration with Black Americans’ 

lack of economic advancement. “I know I get emotional. 

But it’s been more than 20 years from 1954 (the year 

of the landmark Supreme Court decision on school 

desegregation). How many people have been jailed, lost, 

and now you see those gains unraveling.”30

During the 1980s, Mitchell often sparred with the 

Ronald W. Reagan administration. Against the backdrop 

of the Cold War, the Maryland Representative accused 

President Reagan of excessive defense spending without 

regard for vital social programs. In particular, he criticized 

budget initiatives he believed neglected the welfare of 

America’s neediest citizens. At a time when he thought 

Democrats should stand firm in their commitment to 

help the poor, Mitchell claimed his party was “trying to 

out-Republican the Republicans.”31 As a conservative 

mood swept the electorate in the early 1980s, Mitchell also 

disputed the growing backlash against the term “liberal”: 

“I’m a liberal, not a post-liberal or a neo-liberal or a 

reformed liberal, and I plan to stay that way.”32 Mitchell 

took great pride in his determination to stay 

H Parren James Mitchell H

former members | 1971–2007 H 433
in close contact with his constituents—he commuted 

to the Capitol every day from Baltimore to ensure his 

accessibility to voters. “I know it sounds hokey, but I enjoy 

all this work,” Mitchell admitted. “When you’re asked to 

take this job, you’re asked to perform a public service. And 

that’s what I think I do.”33

Mitchell’s announcement in September 1985 that 

he would not seek re-election to a ninth term came as a 

surprise to many. “I’m concerned about what you might 

call the heart of Congress,” he said, adding, “Those who 

are poor are generally treated with contempt. The concerns 

of minorities are no longer the concerns of this Congress. 

. . . It’s a step backward.”34 Mitchell denied speculation 

that his retirement resulted from an ideological rift with 

the Democratic Party, saying he was leaving because “16 

years is a long time to be here.”35 In 1986, he accepted an 

invitation from Maryland Attorney General Stephen H. 

Sachs to join his gubernatorial ticket as a candidate for 

state lieutenant governor; Mitchell’s political aspirations 

ended when he and Sachs failed to win the Democratic 

nomination.36 After his retirement from Congress, 

Mitchell continued to promote economic opportunities for 

minorities, founding the Minority Business Legal Defense 

and Education Fund, a private organization that offered 

legal assistance for the minority business community.37

Mitchell died on May 28, 2007, in Baltimore, 

Maryland, of complications from pneumonia. “If you 

believe in fighting racism, you make a commitment for 

the rest of your life,” Mitchell said after he retired from the 

House. “There’s no getting off that train. You can’t say, ‘I’ve 

put five years in fighting racism and now I am finished.’ 

No, you are not finished. Our job is to fight it every day, 

to continue to shove it down and when it rises up to shove 

it down even harder.”38

For further reading

“Mitchell, James Parren,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000826. 

Manuscript Collections

Howard University (Washington, DC), Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center. Oral History: 1973, 

20 pages. An oral history interview with Parren J. 

Mitchell conducted by Edward Thompson III on 

February 22, 1973. In the interview, Parren Mitchell 

discusses the Congressional Black Caucus, including its 

accomplishments and relationship to Democratic National 

Committee. Mitchell also comments on the 1972 National 

Black Political Convention, describes the purpose and 

function of the Committee on Banking and Currency and 

its importance to blacks, and discusses the usurpation of 

congressional power by President Nixon and the economic 

policies of his administration. Mitchell also recalls his 

congressional campaign. 

John F. Kennedy Library and Museum (Boston, MA), 

Oral History Collection. Oral History: 1988, 110 pages. 

An interview with Parren Mitchell by Anthony Shriver 

in 1988. The interview concerned John F. Kennedy’s 

telephone call to Coretta Scott King during the 1960 

presidential campaign.

Morgan State University (Baltimore, MD). Papers:

Memorabilia. 

H Parren James Mitchell H

434 H Black Americans in Congress 
Notes

1 Joe Holley, “Parren Mitchell; Politician, Civil Rights Activist; 

Activist Was Maryland’s 1st Black Congressman,” 30 May 2007, 

Washington Post: B05; Kelly Brewington, “Fighter, Pioneer, 

Activist, Mentor; Hundreds Attend Service to Honor, Laud 

Parren Mitchell,” 6 June 2007, Baltimore Sun: 1A. Representative 

Cummings has represented Mitchell’s former Maryland 

congressional district since 1996. 

2 For more information on Clarence Mitchell, Jr., see Denton L. 

Watson, Lion in the Lobby: Clarence Mitchell, Jr.’s Struggle for 

the Passage of Civil Rights Laws (New York: William Morrow & 

Company, 1990).

3 Sandra Sugawara, “Retiring Mitchell Still Has Passion for Justice,” 

1 December 1985, Washington Post: 37; Jacqueline Trescott, “‘One 

of God’s Angry Men,’” 23 September 1977, Washington Post: 

C1; Richard M. Cohen, “Mitchell Victory Seen in Black, Liberal 

Turnout,” 17 August 1970, Washington Post: B1.

4 Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress

(Washington, DC: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 61–62; 

Delphine Ava Gross, “Parren J. Mitchell,” in Jessie Carney Smith, 

ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale 

Research Inc., 1999): 825 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM).

5 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 62; 

Jacqueline Trescott, “Mitchells of Maryland: Standing Up and 

Speaking Out,” 1 February 1976, Washington Post: 93; Gross, 

“Parren J. Mitchell,” NBAM; “Negro Admitted to Baltimore Unit 

of Maryland U.,” 31 August 1950, Washington Post: 1; “Accept 

Negro Student,” 31 August 1950, New York Times: 31.

6 William Chapman, “Negro Appointed Secretary of Maryland 

Commission,” 11 April 1963, Washington Post: B1; “Civil 

Rights Workshop Set in Mount Pleasant,” 25 September 1964, 

Washington Post: C6. Most contemporary newspaper articles refer 

to the commission as the Maryland Commission on Interracial 

Problems and Relations; however, variations of the name appear 

in other sources. Mitchell was most likely appointed to the 

commission by the governor of Maryland, J. Millard Tawes.

7 “Parren James Mitchell,” Who’s Who Among African Americans, 

2002 (New York: Gale Research, 2002); “Parren J. Mitchell,” 

Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 1986; Gross, “Parren 

J. Mitchell,” NBAM. For more information on the history of 

Baltimore Neighborhoods, Inc., see http://www.bni-maryland.org/

about/index.htm (accessed 3 December 2007).

8 According to a contemporary newspaper article, Mitchell did not 

reside in the district when he ran for the open congressional seat 

in Maryland. For more information on Mitchell’s first campaign 

for elective office, see Richard Homan, “Negro Poses Solid Threat 

to Friedel,” 25 August 1968, Washington Post: C1; Washington, 

Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 63; Friedel became 

chairman of the Committee on House Administration on July 

30, 1968, when the previous chairman, Omar Burleson of Texas, 

moved to the House Committee on Ways and Means. See Garrison 

Nelson, Committees in the U.S. Congress 1947–1992, Volume 2 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1994): 545.

9 Cohen, “Mitchell Victory Seen in Black, Liberal Turnout”; 

Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 63.

10 Richard M. Cohen, “Mandel to Aid Parren Mitchell as Race 

Issue Surfaces in Drive,” 7 October 1970, Washington Post: C2; 

“Maryland’s Friedel Concedes,” 6 October 1970, New York Times: 

36; Cohen, “Mitchell Victory Seen in Black, Liberal Turnout.”

11 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; David E. 

Rosenbaum, “3 White Districts Choose Negroes for House Seats,” 

5 November 1970, New York Times: 28.

12 Cohen, “Mandel to Aid Parren Mitchell as Race Issue Surfaces in 

Drive”; Cohen, “Mitchell Victory Seen in Black, Liberal Turnout”; 

Politics in America, 1982 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1981): 535.

13 Sugawara, “Retiring Mitchell Still Has Passion for Justice.”

14 “10 in House Open an Antiwar Tour,” 8 May 1971, New York 

Times: 13.

15 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 61–62; 

Bart Barnes, “Rallies on War Stir Capitol,” 12 May 1972, 

Washington Post: A1. 

16 Trescott, “‘One of God’s Angry Men’”; Paul Hodge, “AntiBombing Suit Loses Second Test,” 25 July 1973, Washington Post: 

A6.

17 Herbert H. Denton, “U.S. Aid to North Vietnam Opposed in 

Lawmakers’ Mail,” 22 March 1973, Washington Post: B1.

18 Mitchell stepped down from the Small Business Committee on 

May 15, 1975, to serve on the Budget Committee. He returned 

to the Small Business Committee at the beginning of the 96th 

Congress (1979–1981). See Nelson, Committees in the U.S. 

Congress 1947–1992, Volume 2: 624.

19 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 64; 

Thomas Goldwasser, “Liberal’s Liberal Mitchell Is Fiscal 

Conservative,” 15 September 1980, Washington Post: A1.

20 Sugawara, “Retiring Rep. Mitchell Still Has Passion for Justice”; 

Martin Weil and Gwen Hill, “Rep. Mitchell to Retire,” 1 October 

1985, Washington Post: D1. 

21 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 64.

22 Trescott, “‘One of God’s Angry Men.’”

23 Ibid.

24 Ibid.; Sugawara, “Retiring Mitchell Still Has Passion for Justice.” 

25 Jean Campbell, “A Move to Transfer $15 Billion From Defense,” 

23 April 1977, Los Angeles Times: B4.

H Parren James Mitchell H

former members | 1971–2007 H 435
31 Sandra Sugawara and Michel McQueen, “Rep. Mitchell: Time for 

Something New,” 2 October 1985, Washington Post: B1.

32 Thomas Korosec, “Blacks in Congress: Frustration and Bitterness,” 

28 March 1982, Chicago Tribune: A1.

33 Goldwasser, “Liberal’s Liberal Mitchell Is Fiscal Conservative.”

34 Sugawara, “Retiring Mitchell Still Has Passion for Justice.” 

35 Sugawara and McQueen. “Rep. Mitchell: Time for Something 

New.”

36 Tom Kenworthy, “Mitchell Teams With Sachs in Md. Race,” 3 

June 1986, Washington Post: B1; Tom Kenworthy and Michael 

McQueen, “Shaefer, Mikulski Win,” 10 September 1986, 

Washington Post: A1. 

37 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 65–66.

38 “Parren J. Mitchell, 85; Maryland Congressman Championed Civil 

Rights,” 30 May 2007, Los Angeles Times: B6.

26 John K. Colley, “US Budget Critics Rally in Congress,” 29 January 

1979, Christian Science Monitor: 9; John Dillin, “Carter Arms 

Budget Draws Flak From Liberals,” 1 February 1978, Christian 

Science Monitor: 5. 

27 Robert Parry, “House Liberals Fail to Rewrite 1981 Budget,” 

1 May 1980, Associated Press; Robert Parry, “House Rejects 

Republican Plan on Revenue Sharing,” 30 April 1980, Associated 

Press.

28 Mary Russell, “Ex-Im Bank Curb for S. Africa Voted,” 3 June 

1978, Washington Post: A6; “Black Caucus Asks New Ban on S. 

Africa,” 29 October 1977, Washington Post: A7.

29 Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 1st sess. (9 December 

1975): 39381; William L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black 

Americans in Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 

1992): 382.

30 Trescott, “‘One of God’s Angry Men’”; Sugawara, “Retiring 

Mitchell Still Has Passion for Justice.”

H Parren James Mitchell H

436 H Black Americans in Congress 
When the House passed a 

watered-down version of a 

bill to limit trade between 

the United States and 

South Africa, Mitchell 

angrily remarked, “You can’t 

compromise with total evil. 

You can’t take a mid-point 

on immorality.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 437
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Walter Fauntroy’s leadership in the civil rights 

movement paved the way for his two-decade career 

as the District of Columbia’s Delegate in the House of 

Representatives. While he was concerned with many issues 

during his tenure, Fauntroy dedicated much of his career 

to attaining home rule (a municipal government elected by 

the people) for Washington, DC, and to ending apartheid 

in South Africa. “When you carry a big stick you can walk 

quietly,” Fauntroy once remarked, revealing his political 

strategy, which embraced compromise and coalitionbuilding to accomplish his legislative goals.1

Walter Edward Fauntroy was born in Washington, 

DC, on February 6, 1933, the fourth of seven children of 

Ethel (Vine) and William Fauntroy, a U.S. Patent Office 

clerk. Fauntroy graduated from Dunbar High School in 

Washington, DC, in 1952 and earned a B.A. from Virginia 

Union University in 1955. On August 3, 1957, Fauntroy 

married Dorothy Simms. The couple had a son, Marvin, 

and later adopted a baby girl, Melissa Alice. After receiving 

a bachelor of divinity degree from Yale University Divinity 

School in 1958, Fauntroy became pastor of Washington’s 

New Bethel Baptist Church.2

Through his ministry and his devotion to improving 

conditions for African Americans, Fauntroy, like many 

other black clerics of the era, became actively involved 

in the civil rights movement. Impressed by the DC 

minister’s organizational skills and commitment to the 

movement, civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr., 

appointed Fauntroy director of the Washington bureau of 

the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC).3

After honing his political skills as the SCLC’s lobbyist in 

Congress, Fauntroy urged President Lyndon B. Johnson 

and Congress to pass civil rights legislation. President 

Johnson subsequently appointed Fauntroy vice chairman 

of the 1966 White House Conference “To Fulfill These 

Rights,” which focused on recommendations for improving 

the lives of African Americans after the passage of the 

landmark 1964 Civil Rights Act.4

 Fauntroy also served as 

the District of Columbia coordinator for the March on 

Washington for Jobs and Freedom on August 28, 1963. In 

preparation for the Washington march, Fauntroy and other 

leading civil rights activists, such as future Representative 

Andrew Young of Georgia, assisted King with his famous “I 

Have a Dream” speech. When Fauntroy learned that King 

would have only eight minutes to speak, he indignantly 

told his mentor, “They can’t limit you—the spokesman of 

the movement—to that.”5

 Fauntroy also helped organize 

the 1965 march from Selma, to Montgomery, Alabama, 

and was national coordinator of the 1968 Poor People’s 

Campaign, an extended vision of King’s plan to draw 

attention to poverty and force government action to 

combat it.6

Fauntroy centered many of his civil rights, antipoverty, 

and neighborhood revitalization activities on the nation’s 

capital as the founder and director of the Shaw Urban 

Renewal Project, an economic initiative to restore the 

historic African-American neighborhood of Washington, 

DC, where Fauntroy grew up.7

 He served as vice chair 

of the District of Columbia Council from 1967 until 

he resigned in 1969 to spend time with the Model 

Inner City Community Organization, a neighborhood 

planning agency he founded with other Washington 

ministers. The following year, Fauntroy’s political 

fortunes advanced when Congress passed the District of 

Columbia Delegate Act. The legislation reinstituted a 

nonvoting Delegate to represent the nation’s capital in the 

House of Representatives, a position last held by Norton 

Chipman from 1871 to 1875.8

 In the crowded January 

1971 Democratic primary, Fauntroy ran on a platform 

of instituting home rule for the District, eliminating job 

Walter Edward Fauntroy

1933–

Delegate H 1971–1991

Democrat from the District of Columbia

������������������������������������������������������������������������

438 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
discrimination for African Americans, and providing 

federally funded daycare.9

 With the help of campaign 

appearances by Coretta Scott King, the widow of the 

famous civil rights leader, and strong support from local 

black churches, Fauntroy orchestrated a surprising upset 

over six opponents, garnering 44 percent of the vote.10

Overwhelmingly elected in the March general election 

with a 59 percent majority, Fauntroy routed his closest 

opponent, Republican John Nevius, a white lawyer with 

a strong civil rights record, to become the first African 

American to represent the District of Columbia.11 “It was 

an exhilarating experience in learning the ways of politics, 

in being Americans for the first time,” Fauntroy exclaimed 

after his victory.12 Fauntroy won by comfortable margins 

in his subsequent re-election bids in the predominantly 

African-American and Democratic city.13

Sworn in to the House of Representatives on April 19, 

1971, Delegate Fauntroy immediately began work on 

accomplishing his major campaign promise: achieving 

home rule for the District of Columbia. Although as 

a Delegate Fauntroy was unable to vote on the House 

Floor, he could serve on and vote in committees and 

introduce legislation. Fauntroy used his seat on the 

District of Columbia Committee—a position he retained 

throughout his tenure in the House—to build support 

among his colleagues and in the capital for a measure that 

would provide self-government for the residents of the 

District, who had lacked the ability to choose their own 

municipal government since a failed experiment during 

the Reconstruction Era.14 “The election of a congressman 

is but the first step toward full self-government for the 

District,” Fauntroy commented. “The immediate next step 

is that of organizing the people for political action to make 

their congressman effective.”15 Only a few months after 

becoming a Delegate, Fauntroy introduced a home rule bill 

to expand the independence of the District by removing 

some of Congress’s oversight authority and allowing DC 

residents to select their own local officials.16 He also ran 

as a “favorite-son” candidate in the 1972 DC Democratic 

presidential primary in a symbolic move to draw attention 

to home rule and issues affecting Black Americans. After 

winning the election, he threw his support (the 15 votes 

of the Washington, DC, delegation) behind the eventual 

Democratic nominee, George McGovern, who endorsed 

much of Fauntroy’s DC agenda. “We must learn to use our 

power and stop relying on simple benevolence,” Fauntroy 

declared.17

In 1972, the defeat of District of Columbia Committee 

Chairman John L. McMillan of South Carolina, a 

longtime opponent of home rule, removed a critical 

obstacle from the pursuit of self-government for the 

nation’s capital. Fauntroy, Charles Diggs, Jr., of Michigan, 

the new chairman of the District of Columbia Committee, 

and the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) helped 

pass the District of Columbia Self-Government and 

Governmental Reorganization Act in December 1973. 

The bill gave the District limited self-rule, permitting 

citizens to elect a mayor and a city council.18 Although 

pleased with this progress, Fauntroy continued his 

efforts to attain greater independence for the District 

from the federal government. In 1978 he helped guide a 

proposed constitutional amendment through the House 

to give the District full representation in both bodies of 

Congress—one of his most significant accomplishments. 

The vote “reaffirmed my great faith in the American 

people,” asserted an elated Fauntroy.19 Despite his intense 

lobbying efforts, which included nationwide speaking 

tours, the DC Voting Rights Amendment failed to achieve 

ratification, with only 16 of the necessary 38 states 

approving the measure by 1985. Some critics blamed the 

DC Delegate for neglecting to muster enough support 

for the amendment and for causing a public backlash 

against the legislation after a controversial meeting with 

Palestine Liberation Organization leader Yasser Arafat.20

“The District is too urban, too liberal, too Democratic 

and too black,” Fauntroy remarked bitterly after the defeat 

of the proposed amendment.21 Undaunted by the earlier 

failure, Fauntroy and Senator Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy 

of Massachusetts each introduced (unsuccessful) legislation 

in 1987 that would have granted the District of Columbia 

H Walter Edward Fauntroy H

440 H Black Americans in Congress 
statehood and full representation without amending 

the Constitution.22

As chairman of several subcommittees on the District 

of Columbia Committee, Fauntroy vowed to improve 

conditions for his many poor constituents, focusing on 

affordable housing and antidrug legislation. He introduced 

a measure to convert vacant land on the former BollingAnacostia military complex into affordable housing and 

hospitals.23 Fauntroy criticized urban renewal efforts 

in the nation’s capital that adversely affected its many 

impoverished black residents. In 1978 he compiled a 

housing and community proposal to address common 

neighborhood problems such as housing shortages, 

abandoned buildings, resident displacement, and 

inadequate community services.24 He also cosponsored 

antidrug bills as a member of the House Select Committee 

on Narcotics and a resolution to create an organization to 

battle regional drug trafficking.25

During his tenure in the House, Fauntroy served on 

the Banking and Currency Committee (later named 

the Banking, Currency, and Housing Committee and 

subsequently the Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs 

Committee) from the 93rd to the 101st Congresses 

(1973–1991) and chaired three of its subcommittees, 

including the influential Domestic Monetary Policy 

Subcommittee.26 He also served on the Select 

Assassinations Committee during the 94th and 95th 

Congresses (1975–1979).

Despite his nonvoting status in the House, Fauntroy 

played an active role in the CBC, seeking to use his 

position to highlight issues concerning African Americans, 

both in the District and nationwide. As chairman of the 

CBC during the 97th Congress (1981–1983), he criticized 

the economic and social policies of President Ronald W. 

Reagan, insisting that they undermined progress made 

during the civil rights movement.27 In 1977, Fauntroy 

sought to increase the CBC’s effectiveness by founding the 

National Black Leadership Roundtable (NBLR), a group 

of national organizations encompassing black civil rights, 

business, and labor leaders, to promote the public policy 

agenda of the caucus. Under Fauntroy’s direction, the 

NBLR successfully promoted the election of more African 

Americans to federal office.28

Fauntroy’s legislative interests extended beyond 

domestic affairs, and he used his position in the House 

to effect change internationally. The DC Delegate made 

headlines on November 21, 1984, along with Mary 

Frances Berry, a member of the U.S. Commission on Civil 

Rights, and Randall Robinson, director of the foreign 

policy advocacy organization TransAfrica. The group was 

arrested for refusing to vacate the premises of the South 

African Embassy in Washington, DC, while protesting 

the imprisonment of several South African labor and 

civil rights leaders. Their arrest, the first of many until 

the passage of comprehensive economic sanctions by the 

United States against South Africa in 1986, sparked a 

national wave of civil disobedience. “We knew we had 

to humble ourselves and go to jail,” explained Fauntroy 

after his highly publicized arrest.29 The three subsequently 

launched the Free South Africa Movement (FSAM) to 

publicize racial inequality in South Africa and to pressure 

the Reagan administration into stiffening its foreign policy 

toward the apartheid regime.30 Fauntroy drew upon his 

experience as a civil rights leader to help orchestrate a 

relentless campaign of peaceful demonstrations outside 

the South African Embassy that included many highprofile figures, such as Members of Congress, civil rights 

leaders, and celebrities.31 In January 1986, he joined five 

congressional colleagues on a tour of South Africa to assess 

the effects of limited economic sanctions imposed by the 

United States during the first session of the 99th Congress 

(1985–1987).32 Fauntroy continued his work with the 

FSAM and the CBC to pressure Congress to pass stronger 

sanctions against South Africa. On October 2, 1986, the 

Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act became law after 

the House and Senate mustered enough votes to override 

a veto by President Reagan.33

Fauntroy also spent considerable time during his 

congressional career highlighting human rights violations 

in Haiti and promoting economic development for 

H Walter Edward Fauntroy H

former members | 1971–2007 H 441
the impoverished country.34 Believing he should use 

his position to focus on international affairs as well as 

domestic affairs, Fauntroy responded to critics who argued 

he spent too much time away from the nation’s capital. 

“When I sought the office of delegate, I ran on the theme 

that once elected I would build a network of friends 

for the District, and my traveling is for the purpose of 

strengthening that network.”35

Fauntroy opted to leave his safe congressional seat to 

run for mayor of Washington, DC, in 1990. While the 

longtime Delegate indicated his decision to run surfaced 

from a desire to heal a polarized and beleaguered city, 

some speculated he had become frustrated with his limited 

authority as a Delegate. Fauntroy joined a crowded field in 

the Democratic primary to replace Mayor Marion Barry, 

who had been arrested, imprisoned, and later entered a 

rehabilitation facility to be treated for drug addiction. 

During the campaign, Fauntroy had difficulty convincing 

his political base that he understood the problems facing 

the District—a criticism that stemmed from his global 

approach to politics as a Delegate. “The people do not 

know me,” Fauntroy admitted. “They don’t know what 

I do on the Hill.”36 After winning less than 10 percent 

of the vote in the Democratic primary, Fauntroy noted, 

“I am disappointed, of course, that I did not win and that 

I will not have the opportunity to personally implement 

solutions to some of the most serious problems facing any 

city in this nation.”37 In 1995, Fauntroy was sentenced 

to two years of probation for filing a false financial report 

in 1988 when he served in Congress.38 Fauntroy currently 

serves as pastor of the New Bethel Baptist Church in 

Washington, DC—a position he held while in Congress 

—and has been involved in a series of community projects.

For further reading

“Fauntroy, Walter Edward,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000046. 

Manuscript Collection

The George Washington University, Special Collections, 

Gelman Library (Washington, DC). Papers: ca. 

1963–1991, 681 boxes. The papers of Walter Fauntroy 

include materials generated during his 39 years of 

community service. The collection includes 623 boxes that 

have not been processed, and portions may be restricted. A 

finding aid for the papers is available in the repository.

H Walter Edward Fauntroy H

442 H Black Americans in Congress 
Notes

1 Martha M. Hamilton, “Outspoken Fauntroy Manner Changes in 

His Second Term,” 15 July 1973, Washington Post: B1. 

2 “Walter E. Fauntroy,” Contemporary Black Biography (Detroit, MI: 

Gale Research Inc., 1996); Marcia Slacum Greene, “Fauntroys 

Welcome New Baby,” 2 June 1990, Washington Post: B3; 

Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress

(Washington, DC: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 29. For 

more information on Delegate Walter Fauntroy, see http://www.

walterfauntroy.com/home.html (accessed 4 December 2007).

3 For more on King’s early years in the civil rights movement, see 

Taylor Branch, Parting the Waters: America in the King Years, 

1954–1963 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1988). 

4 Cortez Rainey, “Walter E. Fauntroy,” in Jesse Carney Smith, ed., 

Notable Black American Men (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 

1998): 397 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM); Washington, 

Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 30; Robert E. Baker, 

“Civil Rights Talks Begin Here Today,” 1 June 1966, Washington 

Post: A1.

5 Stephen B. Oates, Let the Trumpet Sound: The Life of Martin Luther 

King, Jr. (New York: Harper & Row, 1982): 256.

6 “Fauntroy, Walter,” Current Biography, 1979 (New York: H. W. 

Wilson and Company, 1979): 124–127.

7 Willard Clopton Jr., “$18 Million Grant Goes to Shaw Area,” 24 

October 1966, Washington Post: A1.

8 Michael Fauntroy, “District of Columbia Delegates to Congress,” 

4 April 2001, Report RS208785, Congressional Research Service, 

Library of Congress, Washington, DC; “At the Starting Gate for 

the Delegate Race,” 25 September 1970, Washington Post: A24. The 

position of House Delegate was previously reserved for territories 

that were likely to become states. The District of Columbia Act 

launched a new trend of creating Delegates for areas without 

statehood on the legislative horizon: the District of Columbia 

(1970), the U.S. Virgin Islands and Guam (1972), and American 

Samoa (1978).

9 “Fauntroy Plans Plank on Job Bias,” 17 October 1970, Washington 

Post: E2; Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 

30.

10 “Delegate Hopefuls Push Hard as Campaigning Nears End,” 9 

January 1971, Washington Post: B1; R. W. Apple, Jr., “Dr. King 

Aide Wins Capital Primary,” 14 January 1971, New York Times: 24.

11 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 30; R. W. 

Apple, Jr., “Black Minister Wins Election as House Delegate for 

Capital,” 24 March 1971, New York Times: 24.

12 “Fauntroy Exhilarated Over Victory,” 24 March 1971, Washington 

Post: A10.

13 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

14 The mayor and the city council of the District of Columbia were 

appointed by the President before the passage of the District of 

Columbia Self-Government and Governmental Reorganization 

Act. See, for example, Washington, Outstanding African Americans 

of Congress: 30.

15 Joseph D. Whitaker, “Fauntroy, Negro Congressmen Urge Nixon 

to Back Home Rule,” 26 March 1971, Washington Post: A6.

16 “Fauntroy Introduces Home Rule Bill,” 30 June 1971, Washington 

Post: A7.

17 R. W. Apple, Jr., “Black in the Capital to Enter Primary,” 8 

December 1971, New York Times: 26; Richard E. Prince, “Fauntroy 

May Scrap ‘Favorite-Son Strategy,’” 25 May 1972, Washington Post: 

B1; Current Biography, 1979: 126.

18 “After 8 Years, House Will Weigh District of Columbia Home 

Rule,” 8 October 1973, New York Times: 22; “Home Rule Bill for 

Washington Signed,” 25 December 1973, Los Angeles Times: 4.

19 “House Approves Full Vote Rights on Hill for DC,” 3 March 1978, 

Washington Post: A1.

20 Jacqueline Trescott, “Walter Fauntroy—His Days of Trial,” 

7 November 1979, Los Angeles Times: C8; Rainey “Walter E. 

Fauntroy,” NBAM: 398.

21 Barbara Gamarekians, “A Legislator With Statehood on His Mind,” 

30 November 1986, New York Times: 77.

22 Eric Pianin, “Fauntroy Renews Bid for DC Statehood,” 8 January 

1987, Washington Post: D7.

23 David R. Boldt, “Fauntroy Challenges Nixon to Build Housing at 

Bolling,” 5 January 1971, Washington Post: B4; Current Biography, 

1979: 126.

24 Patricia Camp, “Fauntroy Heckled on DC Housing Plan,” 12 May 

1978, Washington Post: B2.

25 Sandra Sugawara, “Lawmakers Propose Metropolitan Drug 

Authority,” 7 June 1985, Washington Post: C7.

26 Gamarekians, “A Legislator With Statehood on His Mind.”

H Walter Edward Fauntroy H

former members | 1971–2007 H 443
the Bonds (New York: Nan A. Talese/Doubleday, 1997): 558–560.

31 Ed Bruske, “Fauntroy: District’s Man in Congress,” 1 September 

1986, Washington Post: B1; Massie, Loosing the Bonds: 559–560.

32 Allister Sparks, “Six Congressmen Begin Tour of S. Africa,” 8 

January 1986, Washington Post: A1; Eric Pianin, “DC Statehood 

Fauntroy’s Big Loss,” 12 November 1987, Washington Post: C1. 

33 Helen Dewar, “Congress Votes Sanctions on South Africa,” 13 

September 1986, Washington Post: A1; Edward Walsh, “House 

Easily Overrides Veto of South Africa Sanctions,” 30 September 

1986, Washington Post: A1; “Senate Overrides Reagan’s Veto of 

Sanctions 78 to 21,” 2 October 1986, Los Angeles Times: A1.

34 “Fauntroy Faults Haiti,” 13 April 1985, Washington Post: B6; 

“Fauntroy Explores Financial Aid for Haiti Development,” 7 April 

1985, Washington Post: C2.

35 Bruske, “Fauntroy: District’s Man in Congress.”

36 R. H. Melton, “Fauntroy’s Giant Leap of Faith,” 5 March 1990, 

Washington Post: E1; R. H. Melton, “Underdog Reprising a 

Familiar Role,” 28 August 2000, Washington Post: A1. 

37 Mary Ann French and Keith Harriston, “Fauntroy Sanguine in the 

Face of Resounding Defeat,” 12 September 1990, Washington Post: 

A21.

38 “Former Delegate to Congress Is Sentenced,” 10 August 1995, New 

York Times: 16A.

27 “Congressional Black Caucus Picks Fauntroy as Chairman,” 

13 December 1980, Washington Post: A28; Rainey “Walter E. 

Fauntroy,” NBAM: 399.

28 Gamarekians, “A Legislator With Statehood on His Mind”; 

William L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in 

Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1992): 

269–272. According to the National Black Leadership Roundtable 

Web site, Fauntroy currently serves as the chairman of the 

organization, see http://www.nblr.us/index.html (accessed 4 

December 2007).

29 Eleanor Holmes Norton, then a Georgetown University law 

professor, and Fauntroy’s eventual successor as DC Delegate, 

accompanied Fauntroy, Berry, and Robinson to the South African 

Embassy but left prior to the group’s arrest to notify the press 

of their protest. Dorothy Gilliam, “DC Sit-In Led the Way,” 9 

September 1985, Washington Post: A1; “Capital’s House Delegate 

Held in Embassy Sit-In,” 22 November 1984, New York Times: B1.

30 Kenneth Bredemeier and Michael Marriott, “Fauntroy Arrested 

in Embassy,” 22 November 1984, Washington Post: 1; Courtland 

Milloy, “Blacks Form ‘Free S. Africa Movement,’” 24 November 

1984, Washington Post: C1; “Capital’s House Delegate Held in 

Embassy Sit-In.” For more information on the formation of the 

Free South Africa Movement, see Robert Kinloch Massie, Loosing 

H Walter Edward Fauntroy H

444 H Black Americans in Congress 
“The election of a 

congressman is but the first 

step toward full 

self-government for 

the District,” Fauntroy 

commented. “The immediate 

next step is that of 

organizing the people for 

political action to make 

their congressman effective.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 445
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke was a rising star in California 

and national politics years before she won a seat in 

the U.S. House. In 1966, she became the first AfricanAmerican woman elected to the California assembly. At 

the 1972 Democratic National Convention she served 

as vice chair of the platform committee, gaining national 

television exposure. That same year she became the first 

black woman from California (and one of only three 

black women ever) elected to the House. Her meteoric 

career continued with a prime appointment to the 

Appropriations Committee and her election as the first 

woman chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). 

But Burke’s most notable distinction in the eyes of much 

of the public occurred in 1973, when she became the first 

Congresswoman to give birth and be granted maternity 

leave while serving in Congress.

Perle Yvonne Watson was born on October 5, 1932, 

in Los Angeles, California, the only child of James 

Watson, a custodian at the MGM film studios, and Lola 

(Moore) Watson, a real estate agent in East Los Angeles. 

Yvonne (she rejected the name Perle) grew up in modest 

circumstances and at first was enrolled in a public school.1

At age four she was transferred to a model school for 

exceptional children. Watson became the vice president 

of her class at Manual Arts High School in Los Angeles. 

She enrolled at the University of California at Berkeley 

in 1949 but transferred to the University of California at 

Los Angeles, where she earned a B.A. in political science 

in 1953. She became only the second black woman to be 

admitted to the University of California School of Law, 

earning her J.D. and passing the California bar in 1956. 

After graduating, she found that no law firms would hire 

an African-American woman and, consequently, entered 

into her own private practice, specializing in civil, probate, 

and real estate law. In addition to her private practice, 

she served as the state’s deputy corporation commissioner 

and as a hearing officer for the Los Angeles Police 

Commission. In 1957, Yvonne Watson wed mathematician 

Louis Brathwaite. The marriage ended in divorce in 

1964. Yvonne Brathwaite organized a legal defense team 

for Watts rioters in 1965 and was named by Governor 

Edmond Brown to the McCone Commission, which 

investigated the conditions that led to the riot. A year later 

she won election to the California assembly. She eventually 

chaired the assembly’s committee on urban development 

and won re-election in 1968 and 1970.2

Brathwaite ultimately grew impatient with the pace 

of social legislation in the California assembly and, 

when court-mandated reapportionment created a new 

congressional district, decided to enter the race for the seat. 

The district encompassed much of southwest Los Angeles, 

was nearly 75 percent registered Democrats, and had a large 

African-American constituency. In the Democratic primary, 

Brathwaite faced Billy Mills, a popular African-American 

Los Angeles city councilman. She amassed 54 percent of the 

vote to defeat Mills and three other challengers. Just days 

after the primary, on June 14, 1972, Yvonne Brathwaite 

married businessman William Burke, who had been an 

aide to Mills. Less than a month later, Yvonne Brathwaite 

Burke garnered national media attention as the vice chair 

of the Democratic National Convention in Miami Beach 

that nominated George McGovern. She spent much of 

the convention controlling the gavel during the long and 

sometimes-raucous platform deliberations, eventually 

helping to pass revised rules that gave minorities and young 

voters a greater voice in shaping party policy.3

The convention exposure only added to Burke’s luster, 

though it was hardly a factor in the general election that 

November in the heavily Democratic district. Burke faced 

31-year-old Gregg Tria, a recent law school graduate, who 

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke

1932–

United States Representative H 1973–1979

Democrat from California

������������������������������������������������������������������������

446 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
ran on an anti-busing and anti-abortion platform. Burke 

defeated Tria easily, winning 73 percent of the vote. In 

Burke’s subsequent re-election bids in 1974 and 1976, 

she won 80 percent of the vote against Republicans Tom 

Neddy and Edward Skinner, respectively.4

In Burke’s first term during the 93rd Congress 

(1973–1975), she received assignments on two 

committees: Public Works and Interior and Insular Affairs. 

She gave up both of those panels in December 1974 to 

accept a seat on the powerful Appropriations Committee, 

where she served for the duration of her House career. 

Burke’s appointment to the panel occurred at a time when 

African Americans began to serve simultaneously on the 

most influential House committees: Appropriations (Burke 

and Louis Stokes of Ohio), Ways and Means (Charles 

Rangel of New York and Harold E. Ford of Tennessee), 

and Rules (Andrew Young of Georgia).5

 In the 94th 

Congress (1975–1977), Burke was appointed chair of the 

Select Committee on the House Beauty Shop, an honorific 

position that rotated among the women Members.

Burke made national headlines again as a freshman 

Member when she revealed in the spring of 1973 that 

she was expecting a child. When Autumn Roxanne 

Burke was born on November 23, 1973, Yvonne Burke 

became the first Member to give birth while serving in 

Congress, “a dubious honor,” she observed.6

 The House 

subsequently granted Burke maternity leave, another first 

in congressional history.7

 The Burkes also had a daughter, 

Christine, from William Burke’s previous marriage.

Representative Burke recognized that the civil rights 

struggle had shifted to a phase in which less overt 

discrimination must be confronted. “The kinds of things 

we faced in my generation were easy to understand,” 

she explained. “Your parents said, ‘They don’t let you sit 

down here, they don’t let you go to that place.’ Everybody 

knew. But now it is so complex, so frustrating to young 

people when they are led to believe that everything is fine, 

yet at the same time it is not fine.”8

 Minority interests 

were always at the forefront of Burke’s legislative agenda. 

During her first term in office she fought the Richard 

M. Nixon administration’s efforts to unravel some of the 

programs established under Lyndon B. Johnson’s Great 

Society, particularly the Office of Economic Opportunity 

(OEO), which Nixon stripped of many of its programs. 

One of Burke’s earliest House Floor speeches defended 

the OEO.9

Burke also fought for equal opportunities for minorityowned businesses in the construction of the TransAlaskan Pipeline by adding two amendments to the bill 

that provided the framework for the nearly 800-milelong project. One amendment required that affirmative 

action programs be created to award some pipeline 

contracts to minority businesses. A later version of that 

amendment would require that any project funded with 

federal dollars must provide affirmative action incentives, 

reminiscent of the legislative technique used by Adam 

Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, which involved the 

attachment of antidiscrimination riders to legislation 

involving federal funding. “The construction of the 

Alaskan Pipeline will create substantial employment 

opportunities, and it therefore seems desirable and 

appropriate to extend the existing programs for nondiscrimination and equal employment opportunity” to 

that project, Burke told colleagues on the House Floor.10

Burke’s second amendment to the bill, the Buy America 

Act, required that the materials to construct the pipeline 

be manufactured in the United States “to the maximum 

extent feasible.”11 Despite voicing strong concerns about 

potential environmental problems, Burke continued to 

back the Alaska pipeline project, believing it would help 

the impending energy crisis in the United States.12

In the House, Burke earned a reputation as a legislator 

who avoided confrontation and controversy yet worked 

determinedly behind the scenes to effect changes she 

believed were important. “I don’t believe in grand-standing 

but in the poverty areas, if there is something we need, 

then I’ll go after it,” she explained.13 Using her experience 

as a former state legislator in the California assembly, 

Burke chose her positions carefully and usually refrained 

from partisan rhetoric in debates. She also seemed to take 

H Yvonne Brathwaite Burke H

448 H Black Americans in Congress 
to heart the advice of former President Johnson, who had 

counseled her as a freshman Member, “Don’t talk so much 

on the House Floor.”14

With quiet determination, Representative Burke 

supported most major feminist issues and joined the 

Congressional Women’s Caucus when it was founded 

in 1977, serving as the group’s first treasurer.15 She 

was part of a successful effort to extend the time limit 

for ratification of the Equal Rights Amendment by an 

additional three years.16 That same year, the California 

Representative introduced the Displaced Homemakers 

Act, which authorized the creation of job training centers 

for women entering the labor market, particularly 

middle-aged, self-supporting women who were reentering the job market after an absence of many years. 

The purpose of the bill, which also provided health and 

financial counseling, was “to help displaced homemakers 

make it through a readjustment period so that they 

may have the opportunity to become productive, selfsufficient members of society,” Burke explained.17 In 

1977, she vigorously criticized the Hyde Amendment, 

which prohibited the use of federal Medicaid funds for 

abortions. “The basic premise which we cannot overlook 

is that if the Government will not pay for an indigent 

woman’s abortion, she cannot afford to go elsewhere,” 

Burke wrote in a New York Times op-ed piece.18 In 1978, 

Burke introduced a bill to prohibit pregnancy-related 

discrimination in the workplace, particularly employer 

policies that kept women out of their jobs for long periods 

before and after childbirth.19

Despite her prominent committee assignments and 

her role as chair of the CBC, which she assumed in 1976, 

Representative Burke never seemed completely at home 

on Capitol Hill. Publicly, she expressed her desire to have 

a more direct and administrative effect on policy than 

the demands of her job allowed her. However, associates 

believed that by 1977 the distance from her husband and 

her 4-year-old daughter in Los Angeles and the 3,000-mile 

biweekly commute had left her exhausted and unhappy.20

In 1978, Burke declined to run for re-election to the 

96th Congress (1979–1981), in order to campaign for 

the office of California attorney general, the chief law 

enforcement position for the state (and a position no 

woman had ever held in any state government). She won 

the Democratic nomination but lost to Republican State 

Senator George Deukmejian in the general election. In 

June 1979, California Governor Jerry Brown appointed 

Burke to the Los Angeles County board of supervisors, 

making her the first black person ever to sit on the panel. 

In 1980, she lost her bid to a new four-year term and 

returned to private law practice. In 1984, Burke was 

the vice chair of the Los Angeles Olympics Organizing 

Committee. Burke became the first African American 

to win outright election as an L.A. County supervisor in 

1992, defeating future Representative Diane Watson by a 

narrow margin.21 A year later, she became the first woman 

and the first member of a racial minority group to chair 

the board. Burke has been re-elected three times, chairing 

the board of supervisors in 2002–2003 and, most recently, 

in 2007–2008. She resides in her native Los Angeles.22

H Yvonne Brathwaite Burke H

former members | 1971–2007 H 449
For further reading

“Burke, Yvonne Brathwaite,” Biographical Directory of 

the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B001102. 

Gray, Pamela Lee. “Yvonne Brathwaite Burke: The 

Congressional Career of California’s First Black 

Congresswoman, 1972–1978.” Ph.D. diss., University 

of Southern California, 1987.

Manuscript collections

University of California (Berkley, CA), The Bancroft 

Library. Oral History: 1982, 46 pages. The title of the 

interview is “New Arenas of Black Influence.” The 

interview includes a discussion of Representative Burke’s 

political offices, including her drive for social legislation, 

her entry into Democratic Party politics, and her tenure 

in the California assembly during Governor Ronald W. 

Reagan’s administration, as well as a discussion about 

minorities and women.

University of Southern California (Los Angeles, CA), 

Regional Cultural History Collection, Department of 

Special Collections, Doheny Memorial Library. Papers:

1966–1980, 452 feet. Correspondence, photographs, 

sound recordings, and memorabilia relating to 

Representative Burke’s years in the California assembly, 

U.S. Congress, and Los Angeles County board of 

supervisors. Also included are materials relating to her 

campaign for attorney general of California. Some 

restrictions pertain to the collection. A finding aid is 

available in the repository.

Notes

1 Leroy F. Aarons, “Legislator With a Subtle Touch,” 22 October 

1972, Washington Post: K1.

2 “Yvonne Brathwaite Burke,” Notable Black American Women, Book 

1 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research: 1992).

3 Leroy F. Aarons, “That Woman in the Chair Aims for Hill,” 14 July 

1972, Washington Post: A8.

4 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

5 “Committee Sizes Shift in the House,” 13 December 1974, 

Washington Post: A2.

6 “Rep. Burke: ‘A Dubious Honor,’” 5 July 1973, Washington Post: 

C7; “7-lb. 9-oz. Girl for Rep. Burke,” 24 November 1973, New 

York Times: 19.

7 “Congressional First,” 24 November 1973, Washington Post: D3.

8 Yvonne Burke, “‘The World I Want for My Child,” 27 March 

1974, Christian Science Monitor: 20. This is an op-ed piece based 

on excerpts of an Ebony article from March 1974 that Burke had 

authored.

9 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. (31 January 

1973): 2835–2836.

10 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. (2 August 1973): 

27655.

11 Ibid., 27710; “Trade Proposals Causing Concern,” 3 September 

1973, New York Times: 23.

12 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. (2 August 1973): 

27653–27655.

13 “2 Black Women Head for House,” 7 October 1972, New York 

Times: 18.

14 Dorothy Gilliam, “He’d Have Said, Go ‘Head,’” 25 January 1973, 

Washington Post: C1.

15 Irwin Gertzog, Congressional Women: Their Recruitment, Integration, 

and Behavior (Westport, CT: Praeger, 1995): 186.

16 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 2nd sess. (15 August 

1978): 26226–26232.

17 Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 2nd sess. (25 May 1976): 

15449–15450; Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 1st sess. 

(21 October 1975): 33482–33483.

18 Yvonne Brathwaite Burke, “Again, ‘Back-Alley and Self-Induced 

Abortions,’” 22 August 1977, New York Times: 23.

19 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 2nd sess. (18 July 1978): 

21442.

20 Lacey Fosburgh, “Women’s Status a Key Factor in Race by Rep. 

Burke,” 13 May 1978, New York Times: 10.

21 “Ex-Lawmaker Seems Victor in Los Angeles,” 22 November 1992, 

New York Times: 29.

22 “Biography of the Honorable Yvonne B. Burke,” at http://burke.

lacounty.gov/bio.htm (accessed 1 March 2008).

H Yvonne Brathwaite Burke H

450 H Black Americans in Congress 
In the House, Burke earned 

a reputation as a legislator 

who avoided confrontation 

and controversy yet worked 

determinedly. . . .“I don’t 

believe in grand-standing but 

in the poverty areas, if there 

is something we need, then 

I’ll go after it,” she explained.

former members | 1971–2007 H 451
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Library of Congress

Barbara Jordan emerged as an eloquent and powerful 

interpreter of the Watergate impeachment 

investigation at a time when many Americans despaired 

about the Constitution and the country. As one of the 

first African Americans elected from the Deep South since 

1898 and the first black Congresswoman ever from that 

region, Jordan lent added weight to her message by her 

very presence on the House Judiciary Committee.

Barbara Charline Jordan was born in Houston, 

Texas, on February 21, 1936, one of three daughters of 

Benjamin M. Jordan and Arlyne Patten Jordan. Benjamin 

Jordan, a graduate of Tuskegee Institute, worked in a 

local warehouse before becoming pastor of Good Hope 

Missionary Baptist Church, which his family had long 

attended. Arlyne Jordan was an accomplished public 

speaker. Barbara Jordan was educated in the Houston 

public schools and graduated from Phyllis Wheatley 

High School in 1952. She earned a B.A. from Texas 

Southern University in 1956 and a law degree from Boston 

University in 1959. That same year she was admitted 

to the Massachusetts and Texas bars, and she began to 

practice law in Houston in 1960. To supplement her 

income (she worked temporarily out of her parents’ home), 

Jordan was employed as an administrative assistant to a 

county judge.1

Barbara Jordan’s political turning point occurred 

when she worked on the John F. Kennedy presidential 

campaign in 1960. She eventually helped manage a 

highly organized get-out-the-vote program that served 

Houston’s 40 African-American precincts. In 1962 and 

1964, Jordan ran for the Texas house of representatives 

but lost both times, so in 1966 she ran for the Texas senate 

when court-enforced redistricting created a constituency 

that consisted largely of minority voters. Jordan won, 

defeating a white liberal and becoming the first AfricanAmerican state senator in the U.S. since 1883 as well 

as the first black woman ever elected to that body.2 The 

other 30 (male, white) senators received her coolly, but 

Jordan won them over as an effective legislator who pushed 

through bills establishing the state’s first minimum wage 

law, antidiscrimination clauses in business contracts, and 

the Texas Fair Employment Practices Commission. On 

March 28, 1972, Jordan’s peers elected her president pro 

tempore of the Texas legislature, making her the first black 

woman in America to preside over a legislative body. In 

seconding the nomination, one of Jordan’s male colleagues 

on the other side of the chamber stood, spread his arms 

open, and said, “What can I say? Black is beautiful.”3 One 

of Jordan’s responsibilities as president pro tempore was to 

serve as acting governor when the governor and lieutenant 

governor were out of the state. When Jordan filled that 

largely ceremonial role on June 10, 1972, she became the 

first black chief executive in the nation.

In 1971, Jordan entered the race for the Texas 

congressional seat encompassing downtown Houston. 

The district had been redrawn after the 1970 Census and 

was composed of a predominantly African-American and 

Hispanic-American population. In the 1972 Democratic 

primary, Jordan faced Curtis Graves, another black state 

legislator, who attacked her for being too close to the white 

establishment. Jordan blunted Graves’s charges with her 

legislative credentials. “I’m not going to Washington and 

turn things upside down in a day,” she told supporters at 

a rally. “I’ll only be one of 435. But the 434 will know 

I am there.”4

 Jordan took the primary with 80 percent 

of the vote. In the general election, against Republican 

Paul Merritt, she won 81 percent of the vote. Along with 

Andrew Young of Georgia, Jordan became the first African 

American in the 20th century elected to Congress from 

the Deep South. In the next two campaign cycles, Jordan 

Barbara Jordan

1936–1996

United States Representative H 1973–1979

Democrat from Texas

������������������������������������������������������������������������

452 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
overwhelmed her opposition, capturing 85 percent of the 

total vote in both general elections.5

Representative Jordan’s political philosophy from 

her days in the state legislature led her to focus on local 

issues. Civil rights and women’s rights activists sometimes 

criticized her when she chose to favor her community 

interests rather than theirs. She followed this pattern 

in the House. “I sought the power points,” she once 

said. “I knew if I were going to get anything done, [the 

congressional and party leaders] would be the ones to help 

me get it done.”6

 Jordan was reluctant to commit herself 

fully to any one interest group or caucus, such as the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), of which she was a 

member. House women met informally too, but Jordan’s 

attendance at those meetings was irregular, and she was 

noncommittal on most issues that were brought before the 

group. She was especially careful not to attach herself too 

closely to an agenda she had little control over that might 

impinge on her ability to navigate and compromise within 

the institutional power structure. “I am neither a black 

politician nor a woman politician,” Jordan said in 1975. 

“Just a politician, a professional politician.”7

In both her Texas legislative career and in the U.S. 

House, Jordan made the conscious decision to pursue 

power within the established system. One of her first 

moves in Congress was to establish relations with 

Members of the Texas delegation, which had strong 

institutional connections. Her attention to influence 

inside the House was demonstrated by where she sat 

in the House Chamber’s large, theater-style seating 

arrangement. CBC members traditionally sat to the 

far left of the chamber, but Jordan chose to sit near the 

center aisle because she could hear better, be seen by the 

presiding officer, and save an open seat for colleagues who 

wanted to stop and chat. Her seating preference as well 

as her loyalty to the Texas delegation agitated fellow CBC 

members, but both were consistent with Jordan’s model 

of seeking congressional influence.8

Jordan also believed that an important committee 

assignment, one where she would be unique because 

of her gender and race, would magnify her influence. 

Thus, she disregarded suggestions that she accept a seat 

on the Education and Labor Committee, and used her 

connection with Texan Lyndon Johnson—she had been 

his guest at the White House during her time as a state 

legislator—to secure a plum committee assignment on 

the Judiciary Committee. Securing former President 

Johnson’s intercession with Wilbur Mills of Arkansas, the 

chairman of the Committee on Committees, she landed 

a seat on the Judiciary Committee, where she served 

for her three terms in the House. In the 94th and 95th 

Congresses (1975–1979), she was also assigned to the 

Committee on Government Operations.

It was as a freshman Member of the Judiciary 

Committee, however, that Jordan earned national 

recognition. In the summer of 1974, as the committee 

considered articles of impeachment against President 

Richard M. Nixon for crimes associated with the Watergate 

scandal, Jordan delivered opening remarks that shook the 

committee room and the large television audience tuned in 

to the proceedings. “My faith in the Constitution is whole, 

it is complete, it is total,” Jordan said. “I am not going to 

sit here and be an idle spectator to the diminution, the 

subversion, the destruction of the Constitution.” She then 

explained the reasoning behind her support of each of 

the five articles of impeachment against President Nixon. 

In conclusion, Jordan said that if her fellow committee 

members did not find the evidence compelling enough, 

“then perhaps the eighteenth-century Constitution should 

be abandoned to a twentieth-century paper shredder.”9

Reaction to Jordan’s statement was overwhelming. Jordan 

recalled that people swarmed around her car after the 

hearings to congratulate her. Impressed by her articulate 

reasoning and her knowledge of the law, many people 

sent the Texas Representative letters of praise. One 

person even posted a message on a series of billboards in 

Houston: “Thank you, Barbara Jordan, for explaining 

the Constitution to us.”10 The Watergate impeachment 

hearings helped create Jordan’s reputation as a respected 

national politician.

H Barbara Jordan H

454 H Black Americans in Congress 
From her first days in Congress, Jordan encouraged 

colleagues to extend the federal protection of civil rights to 

more Americans. She introduced civil rights amendments 

to legislation authorizing law enforcement assistance 

grants and joined seven other Members on the Judiciary 

Committee in opposing Gerald R. Ford’s nomination as 

Vice President, citing a mediocre civil rights record. In 

1975, when Congress voted to extend the Voting Rights 

Act of 1965, Jordan sponsored legislation that broadened 

the provisions of the act to include Hispanic Americans, 

Native Americans, and Asian Americans. Although she 

voted for busing to enforce racial desegregation in public 

schools, she was one of the few African-American Members 

of Congress to question the utility of the policy.11

Jordan’s talent as a speaker continued to contribute 

to her national profile. In 1976, she became the first 

woman and the first African-American keynote speaker 

at a Democratic National Convention. Appearing after 

a subdued speech by Ohio Senator John Glenn, Jordan 

energized the convention with her oratory. “We are a 

people in search of a national community,” she told the 

delegates, “attempting to fulfill our national purpose, to 

create and sustain a society in which all of us are equal. . . . 

We cannot improve on the system of government, handed 

down to us by the founders of the Republic, but we can 

find new ways to implement that system and to realize our 

destiny.”12 Amid the historical perspective of the national 

bicentennial, and in the aftermath of the Vietnam War 

and Watergate, Jordan’s message, like her commanding 

voice, resonated with Americans. She campaigned widely 

for Democratic presidential candidate James Earl (Jimmy) 

Carter, who defeated President Ford in the general election. 

Though Carter later interviewed Jordan for a Cabinet 

position, he did not offer her the position of U.S. Attorney 

General, the one post she said she would accept.

In 1978, downplaying reports about her poor health, 

Jordan declined to run for what would have been 

certain re-election to a fourth term, citing her “internal 

compass,” which she said was pointing her “away from 

demands that are all consuming.”13 She also said she 

wanted to work more directly on behalf of her fellow 

Texans. Jordan was appointed the Lyndon Johnson Chair 

in National Policy at the LBJ School of Public Affairs 

at the University of Texas in Austin, where she taught 

until the early 1990s. She continued to lecture widely on 

national affairs. In 1988 and 1992, she delivered speeches 

at the Democratic National Convention. Her 1992 

keynote address was delivered from a wheelchair while 

she was in the midst of a lengthy battle with multiple 

sclerosis. In 1994, President William J. (Bill) Clinton 

appointed her to lead the Commission on Immigration 

Reform, a bipartisan group that delivered its findings 

in September of that year. Jordan received nearly two 

dozen honorary degrees and, in 1990, was named to the 

National Women’s Hall of Fame in Seneca, New York. 

She never married and carefully guarded her private life. 

Jordan died in Austin, Texas, on January 17, 1996, from 

pneumonia that was a complication of leukemia.

H Barbara Jordan H

former members | 1971–2007 H 455
For further reading

Bryant, Ira Babington. Barbara Charline Jordan: From the 

Ghetto to the Capital (Houston: D. Armstrong, 1977).

Fenno, Richard F. Going Home: Black Representatives and 

Their Constituents (Chicago, IL: University of Chicago

Press, 2003).

“Jordan, Barbara Charline,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000266. 

Jordan, Barbara, and Shelby Hearon. Barbara Jordan: A 

Self-Portrait (Garden City, NY: Doubleday, 1979).

Rogers, Mary Beth. Barbara Jordan: American Hero (New 

York: Bantam Books, 1998).

Manuscript collections

Lyndon B. Johnson Library (Austin, TX). Oral History: 

March 28, 1984. 16 pages. Description in library.

Texas Southern University (Houston, TX). Papers: 

1966–1996, 462 linear feet. The papers are divided into

three major groups: State senate papers, U.S. House of

Representatives papers, and personal papers. A finding aid 

is available in the repository and online.

Notes

1 For information on Jordan’s early life, see Barbara Jordan and 

Shelby Hearon, Barbara Jordan: A Self-Portrait (Garden City, 

NY: Doubleday, 1979) and Mary Beth Rogers, Barbara Jordan: 

American Hero (New York: Bantam Books, 1998).

2 Current Biography, 1993 (New York: H. W. Wilson and Company, 

1993): 291; Rogers, Barbara Jordan.

3 Richard Fenno, Going Home: Black Representatives and Their 

Constituents (Chicago: University of Chicago Press): 106–109.

4 Fenno, Going Home: 89–92.

5 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

6 Susan Tolchin, Women in Congress (Washington, DC: Government 

Printing Office, 1976): 96–97.

7 Fenno, Going Home: 106–109.

8 Ibid.

9 Quotations from Barbara Jordan and Shelby Hearon, “Barbara 

Jordan: A Self-Portrait,” 7 January 1979, Washington Post: A1.

10 Jordan and Hearon, “Barbara Jordan: A Self-Portrait.”

11 Current Biography, 1993: 291. See also Tolchin, Women in Congress: 

96–97.

12 Current Biography, 1993: 292.

13 Ibid.

H Barbara Jordan H

456 H Black Americans in Congress
“I am neither a 

black politician nor 

a woman politician,” 

Jordan said in 1975. 

“Just a politician, 

a professional politician.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 457
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Asenior aide to Martin Luther King, Jr., in the 

Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) 

during the 1960s, Andrew Young had a meditative 

temperament that shaped his views as a proponent of 

nonviolent resistance. By the time he was sworn in to 

Congress in 1973, Young was committed to bringing 

King’s vision of civil rights to the nation and the world.1

His experiences in the grass-roots politics of the civil rights 

movement and his diplomatic perspective allowed Young to 

take principled but pragmatic stands for his constituents.

Andrew Jackson Young, Jr., was born in New Orleans, 

Louisiana, to Andrew and Daisy Fuller Young. His father 

was a dentist and his mother was a schoolteacher. Andrew 

and his younger brother Walt “grew up as the only black 

children in a middle-class, predominantly Irish and Italian 

neighborhood” in New Orleans.2

 After graduating from 

Gilbert Academy in 1947, he attended Dillard University 

for one year and then transferred to Howard University 

in Washington, DC. Young earned a bachelor of science 

degree in biology in 1951. After graduating from Howard, 

Young considered a career in dentistry, but decided to 

pursue a career in the ministry instead. He attended the 

Hartford Theological Seminary in Hartford, Connecticut, 

earning a bachelor of divinity degree from Hartford in 

1955, and was ordained a minister in the United Church 

of Christ. While at seminary, Young met his future wife, 

Jean Childs, a teacher, in 1952; after a brief courtship, they 

married on June 7, 1954. They had four children: Andrea, 

Lisa, Paula, and Andrew III. Two years after his wife died 

of cancer in 1994, Young married Carolyn Watson, an 

elementary school teacher.3

 After graduating from the 

seminary, Young served as a pastor, teacher, and civil rights 

activist in Marion, Alabama, and in Thomasville, and 

Beachton, Georgia, until he was invited to work in the 

Youth Work Division of the National Council of Churches 

in New York City, where he served as assistant director 

from 1957 to 1961. In 1961, Young returned to the South 

to participate in a voter education program sponsored by 

the United Church of Christ. He moved from New York 

to Atlanta and joined the SCLC.

Young organized a citizenship training program at the 

SCLC and collaborated with its members. By mid-1962, 

he began to work closely with Reverend King’s staff, 

including civil rights leader Ralph Abernathy. Arrested for 

training students to register voters, King and Abernathy 

relied on Young to handle various duties while incarcerated 

in Albany, Georgia, for seven weeks. Young also served as 

a mediator between the SCLC and the Albany police. He 

subsequently volunteered to mediate between the SCLC 

and white southerners.4

 His effectiveness multiplied his 

responsibilities: in 1964, King named Young executive 

director of the SCLC. In his leadership role, Young 

provided logistical and legal support for prominent 

demonstrations and legislation such as the Civil Rights 

Act of 1964 and the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

When civil rights activist Julian Bond declined to run 

in the Democratic primary for the congressional district 

encompassing metropolitan Atlanta, Georgia, and its 

northern suburbs, Young resigned from the SCLC in 

1970 to enter the race. Young suggested his campaign 

was motivated by the belief that he could initiate 

change from inside the political power structure, rather 

than from outside: “There just comes a time when any 

social movement has to come in off the street and enter 

politics.”5

 He also benefited from a reapportionment that 

increased the number of black voters in the Atlanta district 

to almost 40 percent.6

 Young advocated what he called the 

New South Coalition, which he defined as “black votes, 

liberal votes, [and] white labor votes,” acknowledging, 

“The problem is to involve those new white voters without 

Andrew Jackson Young, Jr.

1932–

United States Representative H 1973–1977

Democrat from Georgia

������������������������������������������������������������������������

458 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
stirring up the dyed-in-the-wool racists in the process.”7

The New South Coalition was a base of electoral support 

that Young and other Atlanta politicians such as Mayor 

Sam Massell and future Mayor Maynard Jackson relied 

upon. In the Democratic primary, Young defeated Wyman 

C. Lowe, a white lawyer, in a runoff election, with 60 

percent of the vote.8

 However, in the general election 

Young lost to two-term incumbent Republican Fletcher 

Thompson, who garnered 57 percent of the vote.9

 Young 

believed that “if a little more than half of the 35,000 

registered . . . who did not vote had gone to the polls, 

he would have defeated the Republican incumbent.”10

After losing the general election, he chaired Atlanta’s 

Community Relations Commission. This position allowed 

Young to acclimate himself with the political environment 

of the Fifth District and provided him greater exposure 

to local constituents.11

In 1972 Young orchestrated a second campaign for the 

House when the incumbent, Thompson, ran for the U.S. 

Senate. After defeating three primary opponents with 60 

percent of the vote, he ran in the general election against 

Republican Rodney Cook, a veteran politician who served 

four terms in the Georgia house and also on the Atlanta 

board of aldermen.12 Young opposed highway building and 

commercial development along the Chattahoochee River, 

both issues that resonated with Atlanta residents. He also 

described a four-point plan for improving public education 

that advocated federal and state grants instead of property 

taxes for funding, greater community involvement, a 

curriculum that was relevant to its urban constituents, 

and racial integration at all levels of the system.13 Young 

ran a savvy campaign that incorporated aggressive voter 

registration and a media blitz. He also benefited from 

redistricting that added blacks while reducing the number 

of conservative white communities.14 As a result, he 

achieved victory in the majority-white district, winning 

an estimated 95 percent of the black vote and 23 percent 

of the white vote.15 

Young was the first black Representative from Georgia 

since Jefferson Long’s election a century earlier. Young 

and Barbara Jordan of Texas, also entering Congress 

for the first time, served as the first black Members 

from the Deep South since Reconstruction. “I consider 

this victory a little more than just being the first Black 

man to go to Congress from this deep South state,” 

Young noted. “I see this as a city-wide mandate of 

people of both races working together to achieve the 

kind of representation that this area so badly needs.”16

During the 93rd Congress (1973–1975), he sought to 

improve public education and the social infrastructure 

of his district by serving on the Committee on Banking 

and Currency and its Subcommittee on Housing, 

Transportation, and Finance.17

During his first term, Young developed a record as a 

liberal advocate who supported governmental solutions 

to complications arising from social disfranchisement 

and promoted economic opportunities to benefit 

society.18 One of his early initiatives was the Urban Mass 

Transportation Assistance Act, a program to facilitate 

the building of mass transit systems such as MARTA in 

Atlanta. Although a public transportation system would 

help all Atlanta businesses, the Georgia Representative 

argued that blacks would benefit directly from the $1 

billion in federal support. He also insisted that residents 

should have a voice in such mass transit development.19

Young ensured that he visited his district on weekends 

because he understood the importance of being visible 

to his constituents, especially newly enfranchised black 

voters. “[W]e’re terribly cynical about people we don’t 

see,” Young once remarked. “We don’t read too much 

about our men in the paper, so it’s their physical presence 

and accessibility that counts.”20

Young also joined the Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC), and established a liberal voting record on 

domestic issues. He rejected cuts in domestic spending 

for the poor while supporting an increase in wages 

for workers in the public sector.21 Young criticized the 

Richard M. Nixon administration’s cuts in rural spending 

by linking the rural poverty with forced migration to 

urban centers and the problems that ensued. He also 

H Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. H

460 H Black Americans in Congress 
argued that both black and white middle-class families 

could suffer because of Nixon’s economic policies, such 

as the federal moratorium on financing new housing.22

Throughout his congressional career, both on his own 

and through the CBC, Young challenged the President to 

preserve legislation that benefited black constituents. He 

denounced the Nixon administration for an anti-busing 

bill and for failing to support mass transit, suggesting 

that some of these policies could hurt white middleclass constituents as much as black constituents.23 In a 

CBC forum called the “True State of the Union,” Young 

declared, “the overall goal [for Congress] must be to 

return the economy to a system which generates growth 

and production instead of death and destruction,” and 

to “provide the aggressive leadership in rebuilding an 

economy of peace and justice.”24

Young was able to work successfully with Republicans 

across the aisle by approaching them one-on-one to 

discuss political issues. Using negotiating skills he 

developed in the SCLC—dubbed “the Atlanta style”— 

he reached compromises with political allies and 

opponents.25 Although Young clearly staked out his 

position as a Democratic liberal, he exhibited a shrewd 

political pragmatism that surprised his allies. It was noted 

that the Atlanta Representative, “avoids[s] the appearance 

of doctrinaire politics, while fulfilling the promise implicit 

in his progression from black civil rights leader to U.S. 

Congressman—the promise of effective representation 

for black as well as white citizens.”26 In October 1973, 

Young was the only CBC member who voted for 

Republican Minority Leader Gerald Ford of Michigan 

as Richard Nixon’s Vice President, despite their political 

disagreements. Young explained, “I decided that here was 

a guy I wanted to give a chance. He was certainly better 

than a Reagan or any of the other alternatives at the time. 

Besides, Atlanta was going to need to work very closely 

with the next administration.”27

Young developed a keen interest in U.S. foreign 

policy, especially concerning Africa, Asia, and Latin 

America. One of his earliest bills called for barring 

U.S. government contracts to companies that practiced 

racial discrimination in South Africa.28 Young also made 

congressional visits to South Africa in 1972 and to 

Zambia, Kenya, and Nigeria in 1975.29 He opposed the 

Byrd Amendment and testified before the Senate against 

the nomination of Nathaniel Davis for Assistant Secretary 

of State for African Affairs, due to his ambassadorship 

to Chile during a CIA-sponsored coup d’état against its 

president in 1973.30

In July 1973, Young and some southern Republicans 

successfully lobbied for a foreign aid bill provision that 

authorized the President to cancel aid that Portugal would 

use for military action in its African colonies. The House 

passed the amendment.31 Young commented “[s]ome of 

the people I disagree with the most are some of the people 

I have come to respect the most . . . I can usually swing 

Democratic support, but unless you can get Republican 

support, nothing happens around here. I’m not going to 

ask them . . . to do anything that’s going to hurt them 

politically and they know better than to ask me.”32

Young won re-election to a second term with 72 

percent of the vote in 1974.33 In the 94th Congress 

(1975–1977), he became the first black Representative 

appointed to the House Rules Committee.34 Young was 

also elected treasurer of the CBC and a member of its 

executive committee.In the summer of 1975 he worked 

to pass an extension of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. 

During deliberations on the House Floor, Young delivered 

a prepared statement that outlined the successes of the 

Voting Rights Act: increasing the number of black elected 

officials in the South, boosting black voter turnout, 

initiating monitoring by federal examiners and observers, 

and helping “language minorities,” such as Latinos. He 

believed the Voting Rights Act was necessary to ensure 

minority participation in voting and argued that the 

act allowed politicians to appeal to a cross-section of 

society instead of only to a privileged few. “There was 

a time, when, in order to be elected from our part of 

the country, you had to present yourself at your worst,” 

Young observed. “The man who was the chairman of 

H Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 461
my campaign . . . had to run as a segregationist when he 

wanted to run statewide.” Following these deliberations, 

the House voted 341 to 70 to extend coverage of the 

Voting Rights Act.35

For the remainder of the Congress, Young continued 

to seek ways to improve the lives of his rural and 

urban constituents. He sponsored bills that outlined 

comprehensive health care plans and testified on behalf 

of bills that preserved food stamp programs and economic 

development in his district and in Africa. Young sponsored 

the Food Stamp Act of 1976, an act that proposed an 

overhaul of the program.36

During the early 1970s, Young became acquainted 

with James Earl (Jimmy) Carter, who was the governor 

of Georgia. Carter’s sincerity and the men’s mutual interest 

in promoting human rights formed the basis for a strong 

relationship. The Georgia Representative supported 

Carter’s bid for the presidency in 1976 with a seconding 

speech at the Democratic National Convention in New 

York City and organized voter registration drives in urban 

areas for the successful Carter campaign.37 In 1976, Young 

won re-election to a third term in the House with 80 

percent of the vote.38 On January 25, 1977, after accepting 

President Carter’s offer to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the 

United Nations, Young resigned from Congress.

As the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, 

Young became the initial point of contact for the Carter 

administration’s foreign policy in Africa and Asia. By 

using the network of contacts that had been developing 

since the 1950s, he played an active role in articulating 

Carter’s position on human rights and liberal capitalism 

in Rhodesia, South Africa, and Angola.39 Young resigned 

the ambassadorship in 1979 in the wake of severe criticism 

following his meeting with Zehdi Labib Terzi, the U.N. 

observer for the Palestine Liberation Organization. From 

1982 to 1990, he served as mayor of Atlanta. He spent a 

great deal of time traveling nationally and internationally 

to build Atlanta’s reputation as a financial competitor on 

the world stage. Young also succeeded in bringing the 

Olympic Games to the city in 1996. In 1990, he launched 

a gubernatorial bid, but lost to Lieutenant Governor 

Zell Miller, who garnered 65 percent of the vote in a 

runoff election.40 He eventually formed a consulting firm 

dedicated to fostering economic development in Africa and 

the Caribbean.41 In 2003, Young considered a run for the 

U.S. Senate, but declined because winning “would mean 

I would spend the next seven years in Washington, and 

Washington is not always the center of action.”42 Young 

remains involved with a number of consulting firms and 

nonprofit organizations in the Atlanta area. 

H Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. H

462 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

DeRoche, Andrew J. Andrew Young: Civil Rights 

Ambassador (Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2003).

Gardner, Carl. Andrew Young: A Biography (New York: 

Drake, 1978).

Young, Andrew. An Easy Burden: The Civil Rights 

Movement and the Transformation of America (New York: 

HarperCollins, 1996).

“Young, Andrew Jackson, Jr.,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=Y000028.

Manuscript Collection

The Auburn Avenue Research Library on AfricanAmerican Culture and History (Atlanta, GA). Papers:

Dates and amount unknown.

Notes

1 Andrew J. DeRoche, Andrew Young: Civil Rights Ambassador

(Wilmington, DE: Scholarly Resources, 2003): xi.

2 Current Biography, 1977 (New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 

1977): 449.

3 “Jean C. Young, 61, an Educator and Wife of Ex-Envoy to 

U.N.,” 17 September 1994, New York Times: 12; Nadine Brozan, 

“Chronicle,” 21 May 1996, New York Times: B5. 

4 DeRoche, Andrew Young: 15–19.

5 Hamilton Bims, “A Southern Activist Goes to the House,” Ebony 

28 (February 1973): 84.

6 Because of the large number of black voters and liberal white 

voters, black political leaders in Atlanta believed a black candidate 

could win the seat. For a detailed discussion about antagonism 

between rural and urban southerners, see V.O. Key, Southern 

Politics in State and Nation (Knoxville: University of Tennessee 

Press, 1984): 378–382.

7 Bims, “A Southern Activist Goes to the House”: 84. Young 

observed, “In 1970, when I ran and lost, we sent white volunteers 

into certain white areas. It didn’t work. Many of the whites were 

as resentful of those kids as they would have been of black people 

banging on their doors. In 1972, we did it a little differently: more 

low-key, I suppose, and apparently, we succeeded.”

8 Bruce Galphin, “Former King Aide Wins Runoff in Ga.,” 24 

September 1970, Washington Post: A2; Earl Caldwell, “Negro’s 

Aides Optimistic on House Race in White-Dominated District 

in Atlanta.” 9 August 1970, New York Times: 26.

9 Almanac of American Politics, 1974 (Boston: Gambit Press, 1973): 

232.

10 Kenneth Reich, “Black Vote Disappoints Ga. Candidate,” 19 

November 1970, Washington Post: H4. Young cited two reasons 

why black turnout wasn’t larger. The first reason was the “‘extreme 

mobility’ of poor black people . . . All of the public housing 

projects have a high transient rate. . . . People register there, move 

away, and don’t come back to vote.” The second reason was “a 

lack of transportation in the black community” and the fact that 

“many blacks hold down two jobs,” hampering their ability to get 

to the polls.

11 DeRoche, Andrew Young: 42–43.

12 William L. Chaze, “Atlanta Black Wooing Votes,” 1 October 1972, 

Washington Post: F20; Current Biography, 1977: 450.

13 “At the Hungry Club, Young Talks of Education Plans for the 

70’s,” 12 May 1972, Atlanta Daily World: 1.

14 Chaze, “Atlanta Black Wooing Votes.” Voter registration drives in 

black areas also added roughly 5,000 new voters to the rolls.

15 Almanac of American Politics, 1974: 232; Bims, “A Southern 

Activist Goes to the House”: 90; “The South’s Black Congressman 

Reflects on His Stunning Victory,” 18 November 1972, New York 

Amsterdam News: B9.

16 “‘Will Work Hard to Deserve Victory,’ for the People, Young Says,” 

10 November 1972, Atlanta Daily World: 1.

17 Almanac of American Politics, 1974: 232. Young sat on the 

following Banking and Currency subcommittees: Consumer 

Affairs; International Finance; International Trade; and Urban 

Mass Transportation.

18 De Roche, Andrew Young: 44; Current Biography, 1977: 450. 

H Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 463
administration supported the U.N. sanctions. After the passage 

of the amendment, the United States joined Portugal and South 

Africa in accepting Rhodesian chrome. According to DeRoche, 

Young and the CBC were ahead of their time, calling attention to 

an issue that was not addressed by the House until 1974.

31 Gardner, Andrew Young: 182.

32 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 2nd sess. (11 April

1974): 10794; Gardner, Andrew Young: 182; Congressional 

Quarterly Almanac, 1973 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1974): 826.

33 Current Biography, 1977: 451.

34 DeRoche, Andrew Young: 54; John S. Lewis, Jr., “3 Blacks Named 

to Powerful Congressional Committees,” 21 December 1974, New 

Pittsburgh Courier: 1. 

35 Congressional Record, House, 94th Cong., 1st sess. (3 June 1975): 

16774; John W. Lewis, Jr., “Black Congressmen Wage Fight For 

Extension of Voting Rights Act,”14 June 1975, New Pittsburgh 

Courier: 1.

36 “Young Introduces Bill for Health Care of All People,” 2 May 

1975, Atlanta Daily World: 5; “Young Defends U.S. Food Stamp 

Program,” 17 October 1975, Atlanta Daily World: 5; “Young 

Reports MARTA Grant, Africa Development Fund,” 19 December 

1975, Atlanta Daily World: 2; “Young Introduces Bill Revising 

Food Program,” 1 April 1976, Atlanta Daily World: 2.

37 Current Biography, 1977: 451.

38 Ibid., 450.

39 For a detailed articulation of Young’s humanitarian and political 

pragmatism toward Africa, see Andrew Young, “The Promise of 

U.S. Africa Policy,” 17 May 1976, Washington Post: A21. 

40 Jim Barber, “Young Loses Democratic Gubernatorial Primary,” 7 

August 1990, United Press International.

41 DeRoche, Andrew Young: 151–159; “Ex-UN Envoy Andrew Young 

Replaces Leon Sullivan as Summit Chair,” 20 August 2001, Jet: 16; 

Sheila M. Poole, “Catching Up With Atlanta’s Mr. International,” 

30 October 2002, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 2.

42 Dick Pettys, “Young Rejects Bid for Senate, Send State Democrats 

Scrambling,” 4 October 2003, Chattanooga Times Free Press: B1.

19 Carl Gardner, Andrew Young: A Biography (New York: Drake, 

1978): 181; Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 1st sess., 

(3 October 1973): 32796; “Grants Revealed for 5th District,” 19 

January 1973, Atlanta Daily World: 1.

20 Current Biography, 1977: 450; Bims, “A Southern Activist Goes to 

the House”: 84.

21 “Young Urges Pay Hike for Maids, Youths,” 17 June 1973, Atlanta 

Daily World. Young argued that domestic work “is a profession 

that has never been given the respect of a profession. If you do 

not believe it, just stay home one day and try to clean house from 

top to bottom, wash and iron all the clothing, take care of the 

dishes and the children, and then you will realize what a significant 

accomplishment it is when someone can do this systematically 

and routinely, and what a contribution this makes to one’s home.” 

Subsequently, the House “voted to include domestic workers and 

youth in a bill to increase the federal minimum wage and extend its 

coverage to 6 million additional workers.”

22 Gardner, Andrew Young: 181. Young “pointed out that the 

moratorium hurt more white people than black through its effect 

on the building trades and the savings and loan association.”

23 Ibid., 181–182.

24 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 1st sess. (22 February 

1973): 5077.

25 Congressional Record, House, 93rd Cong., 2nd sess. (11 April 

1974): 10793.

26 Ibid.

27 Current Biography, 1977: 451.

28 “Young Seeks Biased Firms Funds Halt,” 16 February 1973, 

Atlanta Daily World: 8.

29 DeRoche, Andrew Young: 53, 59.

30 Murray Marcer, “Role in Chile Haunts Pick for State Job,” 20 

February 1975, Washington Post: A2.; DeRoche, Andrew Young: 

44–45, 54–55. The Byrd Amendment of 1971, sponsored by 

Harry Byrd of Virginia, allowed the United States to import 

chrome from Rhodesia. After Prime Minister Ian Smith declared 

Southern Rhodesia’s independence from Great Britain in 1965, 

the United Nations imposed sanctions. The Lyndon B. Johnson 

H Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. H

464 H Black Americans in Congress 
“Blacks don’t say, 

‘Go up there and do a good 

job.’ They say, ‘Don’t forget 

about us, hear?’ We’ve been 

betrayed and used so much 

in the past that we must be 

constantly assured that 

our politicians are with us,” 

Young once remarked.

former members | 1971–2007 H 465
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Elected to 12 consecutive terms in the U.S. House 

of Representatives, Cardiss Collins ranks as one of 

the longest-serving minority women in the history of 

Congress. Succeeding her late husband, Representative 

George Collins, after his death in 1972, Cardiss Collins 

continued his legacy as a loyal politician in the Chicago 

Democratic organization directed by Mayor Richard Daley. 

One of only a handful of women to serve in Congress 

for more than 20 years, and the only black woman in the 

chamber for six years, Representative Collins evolved into 

a dedicated legislator who focused on the economic and 

social needs of her urban district.

Cardiss Hortense Robertson was born on September 

24, 1931, in St. Louis, Missouri, to Finley, a laborer, and 

Rosia Mae Robertson, a nurse. Upon graduating from the 

Detroit High School of Commerce in Michigan, she began 

work in a factory tying mattress springs while living with 

her maternal grandmother in Chicago. She later found 

employment as a stenographer at a carnival equipment 

company. Attending night classes at Northwestern 

University, she earned a business certificate in 1966 and a 

diploma in professional accounting one year later.1 After 

graduation, Cardiss Robertson remained in Chicago, 

where she worked for the Illinois department of labor as a 

secretary and later with the Illinois department of revenue 

as an auditor until her election to Congress.

Robertson gained her first political experience serving 

as a committeewoman for Chicago’s Democratic ward 

organization. In 1958 she married George Washington 

Collins and participated in his various campaigns for 

alderman, committeeman, and U.S. Representative, 

while raising their son, Kevin.2

 On November 3, 

1970, George Collins won both a special and a 

general election to fill a U.S. House seat representing 

Chicago that was vacant following the death of Illinois 

Representative Daniel J. Ronan. In his two terms in 

Congress, Collins served on the House Government 

Operations and Public Works committees. As a World 

War II veteran, the Democratic Representative worked 

to improve conditions for African Americans serving in 

the military. Known as a diligent, but quiet, Member 

who rarely spoke on the House Floor, Collins had close 

political ties to Richard Daley.3

In December 1972, shortly after George Collins 

won election to another term in Congress, he died in 

an airplane crash near Chicago’s Midway Airport. His 

widow later recalled, “I never gave politics a thought for 

myself. When people started proposing my candidacy 

right after the crash, I was in too much of a daze to think 

seriously about running.”4

 Collins overcame her initial 

reluctance, however, and announced her candidacy for the 

special election to fill the vacant congressional seat that 

encompassed the predominantly African-American west 

side of Chicago.5

 Created in the apportionment of 1947, 

the inner-city district was one of five congressional seats 

located in Chicago, each a product of the local political 

machine.6

 With the solid backing of Mayor Daley’s Cook 

County Democratic organization, Collins handily defeated 

her opponents Otis Collins, a former state representative, 

and Milton Gardner, a Columbia University law student, 

in the Democratic primary, winning 84 percent of the 

vote.7

 On June 5, 1973, she became the first AfricanAmerican woman to represent the state of Illinois in 

Congress by defeating Republican contender Lar Daly and 

Independent Angel Moreno, with a convincing 92 percent 

of the vote.8

Although she was anxious to continue the work 

begun by her husband in Congress, Collins had much 

to learn. Her lack of political experience, exacerbated 

by her entrance midterm, led to unfamiliarity with 

Cardiss Collins

1931–

United States Representative H 1973–1997

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������

466 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Cardiss Collins H

congressional procedures. During her early tenure, Collins 

often relied upon her colleagues in the House to teach her 

more about the basic rules of Congress. Collins also had to 

overcome her reserved demeanor. A few years after taking 

office, she noted, “Once people learned I had something to 

say, I gained confidence.”9

During her first term in Congress, Collins served 

on the Committee on Government Operations (later 

Government Reform and Oversight). As a member of 

the panel throughout her tenure in Congress, Collins 

chaired two Government Operations subcommittees: 

Manpower and Housing and Government Activities and 

Transportation. As chair of the latter subcommittee from 

1983 to 1991, Collins worked to improve safety in air 

travel and fought for stricter controls on the transportation 

of toxic materials. She eventually rose to the position 

of Ranking Democrat of the full committee during the 

104th Congress (1995–1997). Collins also served on 

the Committee on International Relations (later Foreign 

Affairs) from 1975 to 1980, the District of Columbia 

Committee during the 95th Congress (1977–1979), and 

the influential Committee on Energy and Commerce 

(later Commerce) from the 97th through the 104th 

Congresses (1981–1997), chairing the Commerce, 

Consumer Protection, and Competitiveness Subcommittee 

in the 102nd and the 103rd Congresses (1991-1995). 

Additionally, Collins was the first African American and 

woman selected as a Democratic Whip At-Large.

Four years after taking office in 1973, Collins 

commented that her primary objective as a Representative 

was to “provide better living and working conditions 

for people [on Chicago’s west side] and other low and 

moderate income people throughout the country.” Known 

for her commitment to the issues directly affecting her 

constituents, Collins spent eight days each month in her 

district to ensure that she stayed abreast of their concerns.10

The close attention Collins paid to her district reaped 

benefits at the polls. For more than two decades, Collins 

won by comfortable margins in the strongly Democratic 

district, typically defeating her Republican opponents by 

more than 80 percent.11 Collins did, however, experience 

some difficult primary races during the mid-1980s (against 

Danny Davis, who later succeeded her)—a consequence 

of the decline in power of the Cook County Democratic 

organization that accelerated with the death of Richard 

Daley in 1976.12 She proved resilient without the 

influential machine that helped launch her congressional 

career; devoid of its strict control, Collins was able 

to develop as a politician and to pursue her own 

legislative interests.

During the 96th Congress (1979–1981), Collins 

became the chairwoman of the Congressional Black 

Caucus (CBC), augmenting both her influence and 

her standing in the House. As only the second woman 

to hold the leadership position in the CBC and as the 

fourth black woman ever to serve in the U.S. House of 

Representatives, Collins found herself in the spotlight. The 

high visibility of her position encouraged her to become 

more outspoken. At one fundraiser, Collins voiced the 

growing disillusionment of the CBC, declaring, “We will 

no longer wait for political power to be shared with us, we 

will take it.”13 Members of the CBC praised Collins, citing 

her ability to lead with fairness and to create an atmosphere 

that encouraged unity through debates rather than 

arguments.14 As chairwoman, Collins voiced disapproval 

with President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter’s record on civil 

rights. She criticized the President for failing to gather 

enough congressional support to pass legislation making 

Martin Luther King, Jr.’s, birthday a federal holiday. 

Collins also disparaged the House for its failure to pass the 

bill, alleging that “racism had a part in it.”15

Throughout her 24 years in Congress, Collins dedicated 

herself to the advancement of African Americans and other 

minorities. According to Collins, some federal agencies, 

such as the National Endowment for the Humanities, 

the Federal Trade Commission, and the U.S. Justice 

Department, were not upholding the provisions of the 

Civil Rights Act requiring agencies that received federal 

funding to provide information on their affirmative 

action programs. Her 1985 findings as chair of the 

468 H Black Americans in Congress 
House Subcommittee on Government Activities and 

Transportation led her to ask Congress to curb funding to 

specific agencies, arguing, “Laws that have been debated 

and passed by the courts cannot arbitrarily be negated 

by individuals.” In the 1980s, she continued her defense 

of affirmative action by drawing attention to the hiring 

practices of U.S. airlines, which rarely placed African 

Americans in professional positions.16 Representative 

Collins’s push for equality in the aviation industry helped 

pave the way for an amendment to the Airport and Airway 

Safety, Capacity, and Expansion Act of 1987, requiring 

that 10 percent of all concession stands in airports be run 

by minority- and women-owned businesses.

Collins also worked to prevent federal tax write-offs 

for advertising firms that discriminated against minorityowned media companies. Hoping to “provide black 

and other minority station owners with a mechanism 

for redress,” Collins argued that financial penalties for 

offending agencies would help combat discrimination 

and level the playing field for all media organizations. 

She also crusaded against gender and racial inequality 

in broadcast licensing. On several occasions, Collins 

introduced legislation to preserve Federal Communications 

Commission policies designed to increase the number of 

women and minorities owning media companies.17

In an effort to promote equal opportunities for women 

in sports at colleges and universities, Collins introduced 

the Equality in Athletic Disclosure Act on February 17, 

1993. This amendment to the Higher Education Act 

of 1965 directed colleges and universities to publicize 

the rate of participation in athletic programs by gender. 

In recognition of her commitment to gender equity in 

athletics, Collins was inducted into the Women’s Sports 

Hall of Fame in 1994.18 Collins also cosponsored the 

Universal Health Care Act and the Health Security Act 

in 1993 and urged the National Institutes of Health to 

focus on the health issues that concern minorities, since 

“little use has been made of studies on minority prone 

diseases despite the significant disproportionate array of 

health conditions.”19 A longtime advocate of increasing 

breast cancer awareness, Collins drafted legislation to help 

elderly and disabled women receive Medicare coverage for 

mammograms and introduced a law designating October 

as National Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

Collins declined to run for re-election to the 105th 

Congress (1997–1999). Although she vowed to remain 

active in Democratic politics, she decided to end her career 

in elective office, telling reporters, “I’m going to be 65 

next year, and that’s the time many people retire.”20 After 

completing her last term, Collins returned to Chicago, 

Illinois. She later moved to Alexandria, Virginia.

H Cardiss Collins H

former members | 1971–2007 H 469
For further reading

“Collins, Cardiss,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000634. 

Notes

1 Marie Garrett, “Cardiss Collins,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed., 

Notable Black American Women (Detroit, MI: Gale Research, 

2003): 204 (hereinafter referred to as NBAW).

2 Garrett, “Cardiss Collins,” NBAW.

3 “Rep. George Collins (D-Ill.) Killed in Chicago Jet Crash,” 10 

December 1972, Washington Post: B4.

4 Garrett, “Cardiss Collins,” NBAW : 205.

5 Joel Weisman, “Congressman’s Widow Elected in His Place,” 6 

June 1973, Washington Post: A7.

6 Leo M. Snowiss, “Congressional Recruitment and Representation,” 

American Political Science Review 60 (1966): 628–629.

7 “House Race Won By Widow,” 18 April 1973, Washington Post: 

A22.

8 “Widow Wins a Bid for Husband Seat,” 18 April 1973, New York 

Times: 42; Andrew H. Malcolm, “Illinois Elects Its First Black 

Woman to Congress, on 92% of Vote,” 7 June 1973, New York 

Times: 11; “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://

clerk.house.gov/member_info/election.html.

9 Jacqueline Trescott, “The Coming Out of Cardiss Collins,” 21 

September 1979, Washington Post: C1.

10 Garrett, “Cardiss Collins,” NBAW.

11 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

12 Roger Biles, Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race and the Governing 

of Chicago (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1995): 

221–222, 232; Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, D.C: 

Congressional Quarterly Press, 1993): 474–475.

13 Jacqueline Trescott and Elisabeth Bumiller, “The Raucous Caucus,” 

24 September 1979, Washington Post: B1.

14 Trescott, “The Coming Out of Cardiss Collins.”

15 Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1989): 345.

16 “Cardiss Collins,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 10 

(Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Group, 2002) (hereinafter referred to 

as CBB). See also Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 1st sess. 

(26 February 1985): E633.

17 Congressional Record, House, 102nd Cong., 1st sess. (3 January 

1991): E32.

18 Karen Foerstel, Biographical Dictionary of Congressional Women 

(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999): 63; “Colleges Told to 

Publish Sports Costs,” 3 December 1995, New York Times: 37.

19 “Cardiss Collins,” CBB.

20 “A Chicago Democrat is Quitting Congress,” 9 November 1995, 

New York Times: B14.

H Cardiss Collins H

470 H Black Americans in Congress
. . . Collins commented that 

her primary objective as 

a Representative was to 

“provide better living and 

working conditions for 

people [on Chicago’s west 

side] and other low and 

moderate income people 

throughout the country.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 471
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

The first African American to represent Tennessee in 

the U.S. Congress, Harold E. Ford transformed his 

family’s entrepreneurial success into a political dynasty that 

shaped state and national politics. Ford’s membership on 

the influential House Ways and Means Committee enabled 

him to build support among his constituents by directing 

ample federal funding to his district. Elected at age 29, 

Ford was one of the youngest Members ever to chair a 

subcommittee on Ways and Means. During his more-thantwo-decade career in the House, Ford strongly advocated 

government assistance for the poor and set out to reform 

welfare in the United States. “Harold Ford has been a 

staunch defender of justice and equality,” acknowledged 

William (Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri upon his colleague’s 

retirement at the end of the 104th Congress (1995–1997). 

“He has shown a special dedication to representing the 

needs of the underprivileged and has left his signature on 

our Nation’s welfare and employment programs.”1

The eighth of 15 children, Harold Eugene Ford was 

born on May 20, 1945, in Memphis, Tennessee. Ford’s 

father, Newton, worked as an undertaker; his mother, Vera, 

was a housewife. Ford earned a bachelor of science degree 

from Tennessee State University in 1967 and an associate 

of arts degree in mortuary science from John Gupton 

College in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1969. On February 10, 

1969, he married Dorothy Bowles. The couple had three 

children—Harold, Newton Jake, and Sir Isaac—before 

divorcing in 1999.2

 Ford later earned a master’s degree 

in business administration from Howard University in 

1982. After entering the family mortuary business, he ran 

for a seat in the Tennessee state house of representatives. 

“This fellow came in looking for a campaign contribution 

for his race for the state legislature,” Ford later recalled. 

“When he stepped out the door, I decided to run.” Ford 

lobbied support from “the silent majority—through 

churches, civic clubs, PTAs” and other groups of affluent 

blacks in Memphis. His well-organized campaign also 

tapped into his father’s mortuary business—an invaluable 

community network that laid the groundwork for his 

victorious bid for the state legislature in 1972. Ford made 

his mark early in the Tennessee house of representatives. 

Named majority whip in his first term, he also chaired a 

legislative committee that investigated utility rates and 

practices. During his political career, Ford used his family’s 

deep roots in the community to assemble a formidable 

machine in Memphis politics. Raised with respect for 

public service—his great-grandfather held a county office, 

and his father (unsuccessfully) campaigned for a seat in 

the Tennessee house—Ford also benefited from changes 

in the political landscape. With a spike in the number of 

African-American voters in the Memphis area, Ford and 

his family were able to solidify a power base that included 

representation at the federal, state, and local levels.3

At the urging of local black politicians, Ford ran for a 

seat in the U.S. House in 1974 after two terms as a state 

legislator.4

 He easily defeated his three opponents—Mary 

A. Guthrie, a Catholic nun; Joan Best, a schoolteacher; 

and Lee Whitman, a lawyer—in the Democratic primary, 

with 63 percent of the vote.5

 Ford faced Dan Kuykendall, 

a four-term incumbent Republican Member, in the general 

election. The southwestern Tennessee congressional district 

boasted a diverse constituency; although redistricting 

increased the number of African-American voters, Ford 

faced an uphill battle in the majority-white district. 

To strengthen his standing with black voters and the 

liberal whites in the district, Ford ran on a bipartisan 

platform that emphasized economic development for the 

community. “Inflation knows no color . . . that’s what 

the people will vote on,” Ford remarked.6

 His campaign 

enlisted an army of paid workers and volunteers that 

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. 

1945–

United States Representative H 1975–1997

Democrat from Tennessee

������������������������������������������������������������������������

472 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
included blacks and whites and received financial support 

from black churches and luminaries such as Isaac Hayes, 

an African-American singer. An energetic campaigner, 

Ford “organized the headquarters and phone banks . . . 

put together caravans that . . . would wind slowly through 

residential neighborhoods carrying campaign workers 

who would put up yard signs and hand out candy to 

kids.”7

 With the Watergate scandal as a backdrop to the 

early part of the campaign, Ford called for the immediate 

impeachment of President Richard M. Nixon. Kuykendall, 

who had faced little previous opposition, had difficulty 

separating himself from the embattled President.8

 After 

contesting the initial results, Ford narrowly won the 

general election by 744 votes, becoming the first black 

Representative to represent Tennessee.9

 He joined an influx 

of freshman Members of the House elected to the 94th 

Congress (1975–1977). Dubbed the “Watergate Babies,” 

the 75 new Democratic Representatives capitalized on an 

anti-Republican sentiment in the wake of the scandal.10

In his subsequent re-election campaigns, Ford typically 

won by comfortable margins. He locked in the black 

vote and a larger number of white voters in his district 

to win 61 percent of the vote in 1976.11 Before the 1976 

election, redistricting eliminated 12,000 white suburban 

voters, increasing the black constituency to more than 45 

percent. During the 1980s, Ford increased his margins of 

victory, typically garnering more than 70 percent of the 

vote. In his latter terms on the Hill, he failed to secure as 

many dominant victories, partially because of a series of 

legal problems; however, his constituents remained loyal, 

consistently electing him with more than 50 percent of 

the vote.12

During his first term, Ford was assigned to the 

Committee on Banking, Currency, and Housing, the 

Committee on Veterans’ Affairs, the Select Committee 

on Aging, and the Select Committee on Assassinations. 

In September 1975, the Tennessee Representative became 

the second African American selected to serve on the 

prestigious House Ways and Means Committee, which 

set federal tax and revenue policy.13 In 1987, Speaker of 

the House Jim Wright of Texas appointed Ford to the 

powerful Democratic Steering and Policy Committee, 

which makes committee assignments for Democratic 

Members of the House.

Ford focused on helping lower-income constituents 

with government-sponsored aid such as job training and 

maintaining a social safety net through programs such 

as welfare. He also sought opportunities for economic 

development to assist both rich and poor constituents 

through his representation and grass-roots efforts. During 

the 95th Congress (1977–1979), Ford attempted to 

cultivate public support for President James Earl (Jimmy) 

Carter’s comprehensive urban policy plan—an initiative 

to rebuild American cities that had suffered economic 

setbacks. Ford informed his constituents that they were 

“in a position to impact directly upon the 5–10 pieces of 

legislation which are required to implement these proposals 

. . . Only through such actions can we as black people ever 

make the ‘system’ work as it should.”14 As a member of the 

Ways and Means Committee’s Subcommittee on Health, 

Ford tried to assist senior citizens who needed health care 

in his district. He cosponsored the extension of the Older 

Americans Health Services Act, which was due to expire in 

1978. To draw constituent support for the measure, Ford 

scheduled hearings in his district. “The response . . . has 

been overwhelming with ‘aging’ enthusiasts in my district 

who are anxious to have their voices heard,” Ford said.15

In the 97th Congress (1981–1983), Ford became 

chairman of the Ways and Means Subcommittee on Public 

Assistance and Unemployment Compensation. In his new 

leadership role, he attacked President Ronald W. Reagan’s 

efforts to curtail government-sponsored programs aimed 

at assisting the poor. He fought against administration 

initiatives to reduce Medicare funding and to force the 

poor to pay for food stamps. The Tennessee Representative 

also attempted to block a measure by the Ways and Means 

Committee to cut more than $1.7 billion from Medicare.16

Ford used his Ways and Means subcommittee 

chairmanship to secure federal government aid for 

unemployed workers who had exhausted state benefits. 

H Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. H

474 H Black Americans in Congress 
Through his efforts, a supplemental benefits program 

was added to existing tax legislation.17 During the 99th 

Congress (1985–1987), Ford led an unsuccessful battle 

to extend the life of the supplemental benefits.18 Ford 

proposed a welfare overhaul plan that linked benefits 

to work. Called the Family Support Program, it was an 

alternative to Aid to Families With Dependent Children. 

The work component, called the National Education, 

Training, and Work program (NETWork), would require 

the participation of parents whose children were age six or 

older and would outline “specific education, employment, 

and counseling services” for the states. Although the 

initial cost was high, Ford pointed out, “We will save 

revenue for the federal government three to four years 

down the road.”19

Ford’s ambition to reform welfare hit a major 

roadblock when the veteran lawmaker was indicted 

in 1987 on 19 federal counts that included charges of 

obstruction against the Internal Revenue Service, mail 

and bank fraud, and embezzlement.20 The Congressional 

Black Caucus (CBC) publicly backed Ford, pledging 

to raise $250,000 to help pay his legal bills. Like Ford, 

the CBC questioned the legitimacy of the investigation, 

arguing that it was racially or politically motivated.21

Ford fought to remain effective on Capitol Hill despite 

having to resign his subcommittee chairmanship.22 He 

supported a bill to raise the ceiling on the number of 

immigrants admitted to the United States, and introduced 

legislation that would provide college scholarships and 

job training for the poor. In tune with his legislative focus 

on local issues, Ford helped attain a multimillion-dollar 

development project for downtown Memphis. During his 

congressional tenure he also obtained federal funding for 

public housing improvements and upgrades for Memphis 

International Airport, as well as increased opportunities for 

minority businesses in his Tennessee district.23

After a mistrial was declared in April 1990, a federal 

judge ruled that Ford’s second trial would take place in 

Memphis, but that jurors would be selected from several 

outlying counties due to the publicity from the first 

proceeding. House leaders filed an amicus curiae brief on 

Ford’s behalf arguing that the Representative’s right to a 

fair trial had been violated by the decision to bus jurors in 

from rural western Tennessee.24 Ford’s defense team and 

the CBC made an unsuccessful request for a review by the 

Justice Department.25 In April 1993, the predominantly 

white jury acquitted Ford of all charges.26

After his acquittal, Ford’s seniority privileges were 

restored, and he reclaimed his position as chair of the 

Ways and Means Subcommittee on Human Resources 

following a six-year absence.27 “I don’t think I can walk 

in on Day One and be fully alert . . . In ample time, four 

to six weeks, I think I should be back in the swing of 

things,” Ford admitted upon his return. The Tennessee 

Representative continued his dedication to welfare reform. 

He agreed with President William J. (Bill) Clinton’s 

proposal to change welfare, but opposed a finite limitation 

on benefits. “I don’t think welfare reform worked . . . I’m 

not going to wait to see [Clinton’s] package. We’re going 

to hit the road running.” Ford proposed a more gradual 

approach to getting people off of welfare that included 

standardizing and increasing benefits rather than abruptly 

ending services.28 He also put forward a more ambitious 

welfare-to-work plan that would pay workers a minimum 

of $9 to $9.50 an hour. In return for receiving double the 

minimum wage, workers would relinquish welfare benefits 

such as food stamps and housing subsidies. “What I’m 

looking at, on a national level, is replacing welfare with a 

jobs program,” Ford noted.29 Ultimately, the 1995 welfare 

reform bill signed into law by President Clinton failed to 

include Ford’s comprehensive initiatives.

For several years, speculation swirled around Ford’s 

possible retirement from the House. “I didn’t want history 

to show I was on my way down,” Ford revealed when 

asked if he had thought of stepping down after his legal 

vindication in 1993.30 Three years later, Ford announced 

his decision to leave Congress. “I’m going to leave while 

I’m on top,” he remarked. “I’ve been there (in Congress) 

a long time. I’ve seen how members of Congress stayed 

beyond the level of capacity where they can really be 

H Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 475
effective.”31 Ford’s son, Harold, Jr., won his father’s House 

seat for the 105th Congress (1997–1999), making Harold 

Ford the first African-American Representative whose son 

succeeded him in Congress. After his career in the House, 

Ford managed a political consulting firm in Tennessee.

For further reading

“Ford, Harold Eugene,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000261.

Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 104th Cong., 2nd sess. (30 September 

1996): E1889.

2 “Ford, Harold Eugene,” The Complete Marquis Who’s Who 

Biographies, 11 February 2003; James W. Brosnan, “Harold, 

Dorothy Ford Avoid Divorce Trial With Agreement,” 31 March 

1999, Commercial Appeal (Memphis, TN): B2. 

3 Dorothy Gilliam, “Harold Ford,” 23 February 1975, Washington 

Post: H1; Charles Bernsen, “Political Machine of Ford Clan 

Took a Century to Build,” Commercial Appeal, 1 July 1990: A1; 

Charles Bernsen, “Ford Team Scored Big in 1974,” 2 July 1990, 

Commercial Appeal: A1; Almanac of American Politics, 1996 

(Washington, DC: National Journal Inc., 1995): 1253.

4 Bernsen, “Ford Team Scored Big in 1974.”

5 Almanac of American Politics, 1976 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1975): 809–810; Bill Terry, “Nun, Mortician Vie in 

Tenn. Hill Race,” 1 August 1974, New York Times: A12.

6 Terry, “Nun, Mortician Vie in Tenn. Hill Race.” A contemporary 

noted that Ford “was liberated from the notion that he had to be in 

an all black area in order to win an election”; see Gilliam, “Harold 

Ford.”

7 Bernsen, “Ford Team Scored Big in 1974.”

8 Terry, “Nun, Mortician Vie in Tenn. Hill Race”; Haynes 

Johnson, “Nixon’s the One Hurting the GOP,” 27 October 1974, 

Washington Post: C1.

9 Bernsen, “Ford Team Scored Big in 1974;” Politics in America, 

1982 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1981): 

1140–1141; “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at 

http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; 

Mildred L. Amer, “Black Members of the United States Congress: 

1870–2007,” 27 September 2007, Report RL30378, Congressional 

Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, DC; Gilliam, 

“Harold Ford.”

10 “‘Freshmen Have Never Been Treated So Well,’” 15 January 1975, 

Washington Post: B1. While entertaining Memphis constituents, 

Ford “couldn’t get tickets for them for the swearing-in ceremony 

itself, so he borrowed a large committee room and restaged the 

oath-taking for their benefit.” Ford’s congressional style resembles 

one of the archetypes outlined by Richard Fenno, Jr., Home Style: 

House Members in Their Districts, (New York: Longman, 2003): 

114–124.

11 Henry Mitchell, “A Symbolic Gathering,” 6 January 1977, 

Washington Post: D9; Politics in America, 1982: 1141.

12 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. For example, 

Ford won 82 percent of the vote in 1988. Two years later he 

garnered 58 percent in the general election.

13 Charles Rangel of New York was the first black member of the 

panel when he joined the committee at the beginning of the 94th 

Congress.

14 Harold Ford, “Carter’s Urban Policy: A Workable Mish-Mash?” 20 

April 1978, Atlanta Daily World: 4.

15 Congressional Record, House, 95th Cong., 1st sess. (4 November 

1977): 37420.

16 Ford “tried to persuade the committee to restore $71 million in 

Medicare cuts, but failed. In the past, he has backed legislation 

to expand Medicare payments to cover dentistry, chiropractic 

treatment, eyeglasses, and hearing aids.” Quoted in Politics in 

America, 1982: 1140. See also Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 

97th Congress, 1st Session, 1981: Volume 38 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Press, 1982): 479.

17 Congressional Directory, 98th Congress (Washington, DC: 

Government Printing Office, 1983): 356; Politics in America, 1990

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1989): 1416.

18 Politics in America, 1990: 1416.

19 “Top House Democrats Back ‘Workfare,’” 20 March 1987, 

Associated Press. The plan would incorporate “a system requiring 

education, training, or work for many recipients. States would have 

to provide a minimum level of cash assistance, and child support 

collections would be strengthened.” Ford figured the program 

“would cost the federal government roughly $600 to $850 million 

in fiscal 1988 and about $2.5 billion when phased in fully.”

H Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. H

476 H Black Americans in Congress 
20 Howard Kurtz, “Tennessee Rep. Ford Indicted on Tax, Bank 

Fraud Charges,” 25 April 1987, Washington Post: A1. The most 

controversial aspects of the case stemmed from the establishment 

of a “sham corporation” that processed a $350,000 loan from the 

financiers to Ford’s funeral home business. The indictment alleged 

that instead of using the money for those purposes, Ford used the 

loan for personal reasons. C. H. Butcher, a bank financier, pleaded 

guilty to conspiracy and bankruptcy fraud charges and agreed to 

cooperate with prosecutors. Another member of the Butcher family 

was serving a 20-year prison term for defrauding depositors.

21 Woody Baird, “Congressman Says His Indictment Racially 

Motivated,” 28 April 1987, Associated Press; Kenneth B. Noble, 

“Blacks in Congress Join to Help Indicted Colleague,” 28 May 

1987, New York Times: A20. With legal costs then estimated at 

$750,000, Ford raised $500,000 from two sources, the CBC and 

200 black ministers from Memphis, in a successful grass-roots 

effort. For more on Ford’s legal problems, see William L. Clay, Just 

Permanent Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991 (New 

York: Amistad Press, Inc., 1992): 332–334. 

22 “Ford’s Defense,” 24 July 1987, New York Times: 14. “All 

contributions to his political committee, the Harold Ford 

Committee for Better Government, in the first six months of the 

year have been used for his defense . . . taking in just over $75,000 

and spending just over $75,000 on attorney fees.” According to 

the 1987 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, a Democratic Caucus 

rule required Members indicted for “serious felonies” to resign 

their chairmanships until they were acquitted. Congressional 

Quarterly Almanac, 100th Congress, 1st Session, 1987: Volume 43

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1988): 479.

23 James W. Brosnan, “Tennessee Congressmen Line Up Solidly 

Against Immigration Bill, But Still Lose,” 5 October 1990, 

Commercial Appeal: A5; “Ford Offers Two Measures to Aid Poor,” 

19 October 1990, Commercial Appeal: A13. “Sundquist, Ford Will 

Try to Revive Peabody Place Bill,” 29 October 1990, Commercial 

Appeal: B1; James W. Brosnan, “No Apologies, Ford Is Proud of 

Liberal Legacy,” 21 April 1996, Commercial Appeal: 5B.

24 Susan B. Glasser, “Hill Leadership Intervenes in Rep. Ford’s Fraud 

Case,” 2 May 1991, Roll Call. 

25 Susan Glasser, “Six Years After Indictment, Rep. Ford’s Second 

Trial on Fraud Charges Begins,” 4 February 1993, Roll Call; Chris 

Conley and James W. Brosnan, “Justice to Join Ford, Seek New 

Jury; U.S. Atty. Bryant Resigns; Prosecutors Leave Case,” 20 

February 1993, Commercial Appeal: A1; Chris Conley, “Ford Case 

Returns to Court Amid Questions Over Jury, Prosecutors,” 21 

February 1993, Commercial Appeal: A1; “Turner Cited ‘Tactics,’ 

Coverage in Decision on Jury in Ford Trial,” 23 February 1993: 

A8; Chris Conley, “Appeals Court Affirms Ford Jury,” 27 February 

1993, Commercial Appeal: A8; Susan Glasser, “GOP Asks Probe of 

Justice Dept. Over Ford Trial,” 1 March 1993, Roll Call; “Clinton 

Says No Improprieties Intruded on Rep. Ford’s Case,” 7 March 

1993, Reuters.

26 Almanac of American Politics, 1994 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1993): 1196–1197; Alan Fram, “Exonerated 

Congressman Wants Government to Pay His Legal Costs,” 14 

April 1993, Associated Press; Susan Glasser, “Acquitted, Rep. Ford 

Moves to Settle Some Scores, Wants the US to Pay His Legal Bills,” 

15 April 1993, Roll Call.

27 Previously named the Subcommittee on Public Assistance 

and Unemployment Compensation, it had been renamed the 

Subcommittee on Human Resources by the time Ford resumed his 

chairmanship.

28 Leslie Phillips, “For Congressman, Reputation Retrieval,” 21 April 

1993, USA Today: 8A; Kenneth J. Cooper, “Rep. Ford Finds New 

Faces, Old Issues; Long-Absent Subcommittee Chairman Retakes 

Helm and Tackles Welfare Overhaul,” 22 April 1993, Washington 

Post: A21.

29 William M. Welch, “Ford ‘Ready’ to Redo Welfare,” 27 January 

1994, USA Today: 5A.

30 Brosnan, “No Apologies, Ford Is Proud of Liberal Legacy.”

31 James W. Brosnan, “Harold Ford Will Announce Today Decision 

to Retire From Congress,” 11 April 1996, Commercial Appeal: 1A.

H Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 477
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

For more than two decades, Representative Julian 

Dixon operated as a congressional insider who 

succeeded in several key committee assignments because 

of his low-key, evenhanded style. “I don’t mean to be 

critical of anyone else’s style, but I think it’s better to have 

an impact on the issue than to give a speech that gets 

picked up in the national press,” Dixon said.1

 A native of 

Washington, DC, who represented a Los Angeles district, 

Dixon became the first African American to head an 

Appropriations subcommittee in 1980 when he took over 

the chairmanship of the Subcommittee on the District 

of Columbia. Additionally, he chaired the Committee 

on Standards of Official Conduct, which investigated 

allegations that Speaker Jim Wright of Texas had violated 

House rules (the investigation eventually precipitated 

Wright’s resignation in 1989). He also held a high-ranking 

position on the sensitive Permanent Select Committee on 

Intelligence, solidifying his status as one of the House’s 

important behind-the-scenes institutionalists.

Julian Carey Dixon was born in Washington, DC, on 

August 8, 1934. His father was a longtime postal worker. 

Dixon attended Monroe Elementary School in northwest 

Washington, DC, before moving to the Culver City section 

of Los Angeles with his mother at age 11.2

 He graduated 

from Dorsey High School in 1953. From 1957 to 1960, 

Dixon served in the U.S. Army, attaining the rank of 

sergeant. In 1962, he graduated with a bachelor of science 

degree from Los Angeles State College; five years later he 

earned a law degree from Southwestern University in Los 

Angeles. Dixon married Felicia Bragg, and the couple had 

a son, Cary Gordon, before divorcing. Dixon later married 

Betty Lee.3

Dixon’s political career began when he became a 

legislative aide to California State Senator Mervyn 

Dymally. In 1972, he won election to the California 

assembly, filling the seat of Yvonne Burke, who embarked 

on a successful campaign for a Los Angeles-based seat in 

the U.S. House. Dixon registered as an immediate force in 

Sacramento, chairing the assembly’s Democratic caucus—

he was the first freshman legislator to hold that post—and 

attaining positions on the influential ways and means and 

criminal justice committees. His signal piece of legislation 

was a criminal and juvenile justice measure that brought 

$55 million in state funding to California counties. 

Dixon built a network of important allies in addition to 

Dymally and Governor Jerry Brown, including Speaker 

Leo T. McCarthy, Assemblyman Henry Waxman, and 

Assembly Majority Leader Howard Berman. (The latter 

two eventually served alongside Dixon in the U.S. House 

of Representatives.4

) 

When three-term U.S. Representative Yvonne Burke 

announced she was retiring from the House to run for 

the post of California attorney general in 1978, Dixon 

entered the race for the vacant House seat. The district 

encompassed much of West Los Angeles, including Culver 

City, Inglewood, and Palms, a neighborhood adjacent 

to Beverly Hills. With registered Democrats composing 

76 percent of the constituency, the district contained a 

cross section of wealthy, middle-class, and working-class 

voters and a plurality-black population (estimated at 38 

percent of the district); the constituency also included a 

large white population and a growing Hispanic segment.5

Dixon was one of three major contenders in a field of 

eight that vied for the Democratic nomination, including 

two other prominent African Americans: California State 

Senator Nate Holden and Los Angeles City Councilman 

David S. Cunningham. The primary reflected an ongoing 

conflict among three political factions competing for 

control of the black vote in Los Angeles. Dixon was 

supported by Lieutenant Governor Dymally, Holden 

Julian Carey Dixon

1934–2000

United States Representative H 1979–20 0 0

Democrat from California

������������������������������������������������������������������������

478 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
was backed by Los Angeles County Supervisor Kenneth 

Hahn, and Los Angeles Mayor Tom Bradley endorsed 

Cunningham.6

 During the primary, Dixon relied on 

his connections to state legislators such as Berman and 

Waxman, using their help to launch a complex direct-mail 

campaign that challenged Holden’s credentials as a state 

legislator.7

 Berman’s brother, Michael, served as Dixon’s 

campaign manager. In September, Dixon handily won the 

primary, with 48 percent of the vote; Holden was runnerup, with 34 percent.8

 That win assured Dixon a House 

seat. Without an opponent in the general election, he 

did not maintain a campaign headquarters and did little 

campaigning, emphasizing health care and moderately 

priced housing for seniors, as well as energy issues, during 

his relatively few appearances.9

 Redistricting after the 1980 

and 1990 censuses changed the geography of the district, 

eliminating some precincts, but did not dilute the district’s 

heavily Democratic composition; African Americans still 

accounted for roughly 40 percent of the population after 

1980, and that percentage remained steady through 2000. 

In his subsequent 11 re-election bids, Dixon won by 

lopsided margins, capturing between 73 and 87 percent 

of the vote.10

When Dixon claimed his seat in the House in 

January 1979, he won a coveted assignment on the 

Appropriations Committee—a rare coup for a freshman 

Member. Dixon later claimed that he had convinced party 

leaders to give him the seat “using three hats”: First, his 

predecessor, Yvonne Burke, had served on the panel for 

the previous two Congresses; second, he had experience 

in the appropriations process in the California assembly; 

finally, he suggested the panel needed more minority 

representation.11 Dixon remained on the Appropriations 

Committee for the rest of his long House career. In 

1980 he became the first African American to win a 

subcommittee chairmanship on the Appropriations 

panel, taking over as head of the District of Columbia 

Subcommittee. In the 98th Congress (1983–1985), Dixon 

received an additional assignment on the Committee 

on Standards of Official Conduct (widely known as the 

Ethics Committee). In 1993, House leaders tapped Dixon 

for a seat on the influential Permanent Select Committee 

on Intelligence, where he remained through the 106th 

Congress (1999–2001), by which time he had become the 

Ranking Democrat on the panel.

Dixon quickly earned a reputation as an institutional 

player who worked effectively behind the scenes and 

shunned the limelight. “I do not work the press,” he said. 

“I never had a press aide, as such. I realize that there are 

sexy issues one can get a lot of public attention working 

on. I have not avoided those issues but I have not pursued 

them.”12 Dixon’s quiet, but effective, approach brought 

him several difficult assignments, demonstrating the level 

of trust House leadership placed in him. He was eventually 

tapped as chairman of the rules committee for the 1984 

Democratic National Convention—another first for 

an African American. At the start of the 99th Congress 

(1985–1987), House leaders chose Representative Dixon to 

head a sensitive post as chairman of the Ethics Committee. 

Political columnist David Broder, called Dixon’s selection 

as Ethics Committee chairman a “sign of the maturation of 

American politics,” adding, “Dixon is a fascinating example 

of the emerging alternative style of black leadership: a 

person who makes his way not by the militance of his 

advocacy of civil rights or other racially linked issues, but 

on the basis of personal and intellectual qualities that 

cross racial and ideological divisions and make an effective 

bridge-builder.”13 It was during the following Congress that 

Dixon presided over an investigation into a book deal that 

critics suggested had earned Speaker Jim Wright outside 

income in violation of House rules. Numerous other 

complaints were filed against Wright after the investigation 

began. Under Dixon’s leadership, the Ethics Committee 

released a 456-page report by an outside counsel indicating 

that the Speaker had violated House rules on numerous 

counts. When the committee signaled its willingness to 

investigate the allegations in the report, Wright stepped 

down in June 1989.14 Dixon was lauded as a fair-minded, 

effective leader who imparted a bipartisan ethos to the 

committee’s deliberations and conclusions. 

H Julian Carey Dixon H

480 H Black Americans in Congress 
Dixon also chaired the Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC) in the 98th Congress. His role as a conciliator 

sometimes caused friction among the members of the 

caucus. In 1983, several CBC members criticized Dixon 

for refusing to bring the caucus’s alternative budget to 

the House Floor for a vote. Submitted annually, the CBC 

budget was a symbolic effort to highlight the legislative 

needs and programs that were important to the AfricanAmerican community. Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill of 

Massachusetts had asked Dixon to pledge support for the 

House Budget Committee measure in an effort to secure 

rank-and-file Democrats’ votes. Knowing he could extract 

some concessions for his support, the CBC chairman 

agreed. “Our purpose, hopefully, is not to go down to 

defeat with honor,” Dixon explained. “Our purpose is to 

have some success.”15

Dixon’s other principal focus was the District 

of Columbia Subcommittee of the Appropriations 

Committee. He took over the post from Representative 

Charlie Wilson of Texas in early 1980, having said, 

“because of my background in dealing with urban 

problems in the state legislature, and my fondness for 

the District by way of birth, I would take it if it became 

available.”16 While some Members would have considered 

the post an insular burden because it afforded little 

opportunity to address issues in individual districts, 

Dixon believed his subcommittee chairmanship dovetailed 

nicely with the interests of his urban and working-class 

constituents: “My people aren’t parochial,” he explained. 

“They have expanded horizons.”17

From that post, Dixon balanced competing tensions 

and political impulses in the House between those seeking 

to grant the federal city greater autonomy on the path to 

complete home rule and those who sought to exercise a 

greater oversight role of the capital, particularly through 

the power of the purse. Throughout the 1980s and early 

1990s, Dixon sought to bring the District of Columbia’s 

budget under control while appropriating federal dollars 

for important programs. Some political observers noted 

that he had as much impact on the city as its congressional 

delegates during that period. The editors of the Almanac 

of American Politics summed up Dixon’s approach to the 

District and its various leaders, such as longtime Mayor 

Marion S. Barry, as “sympathetic but not sycophantic.”18

Eventually, Dixon grew disillusioned with the actions of 

city officials as the city fell deeper into debt and Barry 

was beset by legal problems because of his use of illicit 

drugs. “I have personally come to the conclusion that the 

District government has not acted in good faith with the 

Congress,” Dixon said at an Appropriations Committee 

hearing in 1995. “I wanted to think the best. Now I 

believe the worst.”19 Even then, he fought efforts by the 

Republican-led House to cut the city’s federal payment.

Dixon also pursued legislative items pertaining to issues 

that were important to the African-American community. 

He authored a resolution, passed by the House, to award 

the Presidential Medal of Freedom to Dr. Benjamin Mays, 

the longtime president of Morehouse College in Atlanta 

and a mentor to Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. He also 

sponsored a resolution designating September 1983 Sickle 

Cell Anemia Awareness Month. Among Dixon’s legislative 

interests that related directly to his district were initiatives 

to establish a mass transit system in Los Angeles (for which 

he secured more than $3.8 billion in federal funding from 

1983 to 2000), as well as programs to promote low-and 

moderate-income housing and better access to health 

care. He also helped secure federal relief funding for Los 

Angeles after the 1992 race riots and the 1994 Northridge 

earthquake. In a 1997 omnibus measure, he managed 

to win a $400 million loan for the development of the 

Alameda Corridor, which connected the ports of Los 

Angeles and Long Beach with national rail lines.20 Dixon 

also worked to create a loan guarantee program for small 

businesses and contractors that were hurt economically by 

military base closings in southern California.21 Although 

he campaigned only minimally in his district, Dixon 

remained close to his constituency and was widely regarded 

as a facilitator between the political and ethnic factions 

of the area. At several points, Dixon was mentioned as a 

possible candidate for a seat on the powerful Los Angeles 

H Julian Carey Dixon H

former members | 1971–2007 H 481
County board of supervisors (where his predecessor served 

after she left the House), but he chose to remain in the 

U.S. House.

From his seat on the Subcommittee on Foreign 

Operations of the Appropriations Committee, 

Representative Dixon influenced U.S. assistance to foreign 

countries. During his tenure on the subcommittee, he 

drafted legislation that required the United States to 

oppose loans by the International Monetary Fund to any 

country that employed apartheid. As further evidence of 

his resolve to draw attention to apartheid, in December 

1984, Dixon, along with two other leaders, was arrested 

outside the South African Embassy in Washington, DC, 

in a peaceful demonstration against the minority-white 

apartheid government.22 Dixon also was instrumental in 

securing increased aid for development for sub-Saharan 

Africa, disaster assistance for Jamaica, and scholarships for 

disadvantaged South African students.

Just a month after being re-elected to a 12th consecutive 

term, Representative Dixon died of a heart attack on 

December 8, 2000, in Los Angeles. A close friend and 

fellow House Member from Los Angeles, Representative 

Howard Berman of California, described Dixon as 

“unique for the political class because he had his ego under 

control. . . . His interest was in accomplishing things 

and in loyalty to the institution.”23 Recalling his service 

on the Appropriations Subcommittee on the District 

of Columbia, the Washington Post eulogized Dixon for 

his “unfailing respect for city residents,” calling him a 

Washington native “who never forgot his roots . . . one of 

the best friends the District ever had.”24

H Julian Carey Dixon H

482 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Dixon, Julian Carey,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000373. 

Manuscript Collection

California State University, Los Angeles (Los Angeles, 

CA). Special Collections, University Library. Papers:

Details are not yet available.

Notes

1 Betty Cuniberti, “Rep. Dixon Named One of Unsung Heroes on 

the Hill,” 12 September 1985, Los Angeles Times: Section 5, page 1.

2 Donald P. Baker, “Californian Heads Hill Unit on DC Funds,” 5 

March 1980, Washington Post: A1; Courtland Milloy, “Mr. Dixon,” 

2 August 1984, Washington Post: A1.

3 Baker, “Californian Heads Hill Unit on DC Funds”; Vernon 

Jarrett, “Can Black Voters Renew Their Faith?” 25 April 1980, 

Chicago Tribune: D4; David Stout, “Julian C. Dixon Is Dead at 

66; Longtime Member of Congress,” 9 December 2000, New York 

Times: C15. Some sources spell Julian Dixon’s second wife’s name 

“Bettye.”

4 Doug Shuit, “Power Factions Clash in Congress Race,” 26 April 

1978, Los Angeles Times: E1; Donald P. Baker, “Dixon Hopes to 

Change Attitudes; New District Appropriations Boss Sees No 

Quick Shift,” 6 March 1980, Washington Post: B2.

5 Almanac of American Politics, 1980 (New York: E. P. Dutton, 

1979): 107.

6 Shuit, “Power Factions Clash in Congress Race.”

7 Dixon and his opponents called on both black and white 

politicians in an effort to court African-American voters.

8 Almanac of American Politics, 1980: 108.

9 Jean Merl, “Two Candidates Have It All to Themselves,” 29 

October 1978, Los Angeles Times: WS1; Doug Shuit, “Bitter 

Campaign by Mail Rages in 28th District,” 4 June 1978, Los 

Angeles Times: D1.

10 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

11 Baker, “Dixon Hopes to Change Attitudes; New District 

Appropriations Boss Sees No Quick Shift.”

12 Cuniberti, “Rep. Dixon Named an Unsung Hero: Only 

Californian to Make Editor’s ‘Underrated’ List.”

13 David Broder, “Bridge-Builder in Congress,” 12 April 1989, 

Washington Post: A23.

14 Politics in America, 1998 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1997): 180; Tom Kenworthy, “House Ethics 

Panel to Release Unabridged Report on Wright,” 8 April 1989, 

Washington Post: A2.

15 Richard Simon and Nick Anderson, “Respected Lawmaker Julian 

Dixon Dies,” 9 December 2000, Los Angeles Times: B1.

16 Baker, “Californian Heads Hill Unit on DC Funds.” 

17 Baker, “Dixon Hopes to Change Attitudes; New District 

Appropriations Boss Sees No Quick Shift.”

18 Almanac of American Politics, 1988 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1987): 142; see also Politics in America, 1990 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1989): 179.

19 Stout, “Julian C. Dixon Is Dead at 66; Longtime Member of 

Congress.”

20 Politics in America, 1998: 178.

21 Simon and Anderson, “Respected Lawmaker Julian Dixon Dies.”

22 Lexie Verdon, “Political Precedent Worries Some Members,” 6 

May 1983, Washington Post: A1; “Arrests in 3 Cities,” 19 December 

1984, New York Times: A28.

23 Simon and Anderson, “Respected Lawmaker Julian Dixon Dies”; 

Stout, “Julian C. Dixon Is Dead at 66; Longtime Member of 

Congress.” 

24 Editorial, “Julian C. Dixon,” 10 December 2000, Washington Post: 

B6.

H Julian Carey Dixon H

former members | 1971–2007 H 483
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos

Melvin Evans achieved distinction as the first 

popularly elected governor of the Virgin Islands— 

a multi-island territory in the eastern Caribbean. As the 

first black Delegate to represent the American territory in 

the U.S. Congress, Evans used his political experience to 

promote health care, education, and other areas of concern 

to his constituents during his brief tenure in the House 

of Representatives. “A man of conviction and high 

integrity, Congressman Evans would not be swayed from 

his principles,” asserted Representative Donald Clausen 

of California. “A spokesman for the common man, 

he assured that the interests of his constituents were 

never overlooked.”1

Melvin Herbert (Mel) Evans was born in Christiansted, 

St. Croix, on August 7, 1917, soon after the United 

States purchased the Virgin Islands from Denmark. 

After graduating from high school on St. Thomas, Evans 

received a bachelor of science degree in 1940 from Howard 

University and an M.D. from the Howard University 

College of Medicine in 1944. In 1945, Evans married 

Mary Phyllis Anderson, a nurse he met in a New York 

hospital; the couple had four sons: William, Melvin, Jr., 

Robert, and Cornelius.2

 During the next 15 years he 

served in a variety of medical and public health posts at 

hospitals and institutions in the United States and the 

Virgin Islands. From 1959 to 1967 Evans served as the 

Commissioner of Health for the Virgin Islands; he also was 

the chairman of the Governor’s Commission on Human 

Resources from 1962 to 1966. In 1967 he furthered his 

academic credentials by earning a master’s degree in public 

health from the University of California at Berkeley. He 

returned to private practice for two years before President 

Richard M. Nixon appointed him governor of the Virgin 

Islands. In August 1968 Congress passed the Virgin Islands 

Elective Governor Act, providing for the election of a 

governor by the territory’s residents. Evans was elected as 

a Republican to the governor’s office in 1970 and served 

until 1975. After his unsuccessful bid for re-election in 

1974, he was Republican National Committeeman from 

the Virgin Islands and chairman of the board of trustees 

of the College of the Virgin Islands.3

In 1972, Congress authorized nonvoting Delegates 

for the Virgin Islands and Guam in the House of 

Representatives.4

 When the first Delegate of the Virgin 

Islands, Democrat Ron de Lugo, announced his decision 

to leave the House at the end of the 95th Congress 

(1977–1979) to run for governor of the American territory, 

Evans entered the 1978 general election to fill his open 

seat. In a tight race, Evans narrowly defeated Democrat 

Janet Watlington, a congressional aide to de Lugo, with 

52 percent of the vote, to become the Virgin Islands’s 

first black Delegate.5

 Sworn in to the 96th Congress 

(1979–1981) on January 3, 1979, Evans served on the 

Armed Services, Interior and Insular Affairs, and Merchant 

Marine and Fisheries committees. 

During his congressional career, Evans paid close 

attention to the needs of his unique constituency, 

focusing on a legislative agenda to improve education 

and health care in the Virgin Islands. He secured federal 

funds to provide the territory’s public education system 

with additional programs and services for its expanding 

school-age population. A longtime professional in the 

medical field, Evans introduced legislation to alleviate 

the critical shortage of doctors at local health facilities by 

permitting foreign physicians to practice in the Virgin 

Islands. “I firmly believe that the 120,000 people of 

the U.S. Virgin Islands, in addition to the 1.5 million 

tourists who annually visit our islands, must be provided 

adequate medical assistance to which they are entitled,” 

he told his colleagues on the House Floor.6

 He also urged 

Melvin Herbert Evans

1917–1984

Delegate H 1979–1981

Republican from the Virgin Islands

������������������������������������������������������������������������

484 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
the House to authorize funding to build two hospitals to 

accommodate the growing population of the territory.7

Determined to improve the quality of life on the 

Virgin Islands, Evans used his position in Congress to 

bring awareness to a variety of local issues and concerns. 

He attempted to make farm credit loans available to local 

fishing and agricultural industries and succeeded in having 

the Virgin Islands classified as a ‘state,’ making the territory 

eligible to receive full law enforcement funding.8

 Following 

the devastation wrought by Hurricane David and Tropical 

Storm Frederic in 1979, Evans urged Congress to approve 

flood control measures for the islands. In 1980 he organized 

congressional hearings in St. Croix and St. Thomas 

to investigate chronic delays in mail delivery between 

the United States and the Virgin Islands.9

 Evans also 

successfully sponsored a bill allowing federal recognition for 

National Guard officers from the Virgin Islands. 

As one of only 17 blacks serving in the 96th Congress, 

Evans advocated increased rights for blacks. Shortly after 

joining the House, he remarked, “No one who has not 

been disenfranchised does not understand what it means 

to be disenfranchised.” He added, “I’m from an area, you 

know, that got its first delegate to Congress only six years 

ago.”10 Despite his Republican affiliation, the entirely 

Democratic Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) welcomed 

Evans, contending that partisanship should not play a 

role in advancing the rights of minorities.11 The Virgin 

Islands Delegate and the first-ever Republican caucus 

member expressed great satisfaction at joining the CBC 

but warned, “Not only do I speak with a Republican point 

of view but I represent it in the caucus.”12 During his 

one term, Evans supported efforts to designate a national 

holiday for Martin Luther King, Jr., and after the death of 

A. Philip Randolph in May 1979, he eulogized the civil 

rights leader on the House Floor.13 He strongly opposed 

a proposed constitutional amendment to eliminate courtordered busing in public schools: “When people protest 

how strongly they favor civil rights and how vehemently 

they oppose segregation and then seek to remove one 

of the only, if not the only remedies, however imperfect 

without offering a viable alternative, it causes serious 

concern.”14 Evans’s dedication to civil rights also extended 

to international politics. He joined many of his House 

colleagues in expressing outrage against the South African 

government’s practice of racial segregation.15

Evans lost his 1980 re-election bid against Ron de Lugo, 

who had returned to seek his old seat after failing to win 

his bid for governor of the territory. Evans garnered 47 

percent of the vote in a close contest.16 Many Members of 

the House paid tribute to the retiring Evans, commending 

his commitment to the Virgin Islands, even though 

he served in the House for only two years.17 In 1981, 

President Ronald W. Reagan nominated Evans as United 

States Ambassador to Trinidad and Tobago. Evans served in 

that office until his death of a heart attack in Christiansted 

on November 27, 1984.18

H Melvin Herbert Evans H

486 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Evans, Melvin Herbert,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000254. 

Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 2nd sess. (9 December 

1980): 32938.

2 “Dr. Melvin H. Evans Is Dead; Served as Envoy to Trinidad,” 28 

November 1984, New York Times: D27; Roderick Nordell, “Island 

Governor’s Wife and Life,” 19 January 1971, Christian Science 

Monitor: 10; “Deaths Elsewhere,” 28 November 1984, Washington 

Post: B7.

3 “Dr. Melvin H. Evans Is Dead; Served as Envoy to Trinidad”; 

“Deaths Elsewhere”; “Washington News,” 6 November 1981, 

United Press International.

4 Betsy Palmer, “Territorial Delegates to the U.S. Congress: Current 

Issues and Historical Background,” 6 July 2006, Report RL32340, 

Congressional Research Service, Library of Congress, Washington, 

DC. House Delegates from the Virgin Islands, Guam, American 

Samoa, and the District of Columbia can vote in committee and 

introduce legislation but cannot vote on the House Floor or offer a 

motion to reconsider a vote.

5 “Governor of Virgin Islands Wins a Full Term on ‘No-Party’ 

State,” 12 November 1978, New York Times: 52; “Election 

Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

6 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (8 June 1979): 

14073.

7 “Two Hospitals in Virgin Islands Are Warned of Cutoffs in Funds,” 

20 May 1979, New York Times: 46.

8 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (19 July 1979): 

19527.

9 Ellen Hume, “Rep. Wilson Presides at Hearings in Virgin Islands,” 

12 April 1980, Los Angeles Times: A3.

10 Donnie Radcliffe, “Honoring Newcomers to the Black Caucus,” 6 

February 1979, Washington Post: A1.

11 Luix Overbea, “Jobs—Still Black Caucus Priority,” 24 November 

1978, Christian Science Monitor: 5.

12 Radcliffe, “Honoring Newcomers to the Black Caucus.” 

13 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (5 December 

1979): 34759; Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. 

(21 May 1979): 12001.

14 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (24 July 1979): 

20379.

15 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 2nd sess. (24 March 

1980): 6225.

16 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

17 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 2nd sess. (9 December 

1980): 32937–32941.

18 “Dr. Melvin H. Evans Is Dead; Served as Envoy to Trinidad.”

H Melvin Herbert Evans H

former members | 1971–2007 H 487
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Oil on canvas, Simmie Knox, 1996, 

Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

A third-generation pastor of a large Philadelphia-area 

Baptist church and community activist, William Gray 

defeated a longtime incumbent to take his first elected 

office in the United States House of Representatives. 

Though new to elective office, Gray proved adept at 

Capitol Hill politics, rising meteorically in power during 

his 12 years in Congress primarily because he was skilled 

at lobbying for top posts. “If preachers, lawyers, business 

entrepreneurs, and teachers can engage in politics, why not 

a Baptist minister?” Gray asked. “Congress needs a strong 

moral force within its chambers. What better person than 

a man of moral integrity to serve his district?”1 Gray was 

the first black Member of Congress to chair the powerful 

and partisan Budget Committee and the first black 

Representative to become the third-ranking Democrat 

in the House. Yet, at the height of his political career, he 

abruptly resigned to take a position to assist historically 

black colleges and to return to the pulpit. 

William Herbert (Bill) Gray III was born in Baton 

Rouge, Louisiana, on August 20, 1941. The second child 

of Dr. William H. Gray, Jr., and Hazel Yates Gray, he had 

an older sister, Marion. William Gray spent the first nine 

years of his life in St. Augustine, and Tallahassee, Florida, 

where his father served as president of Florida Normal and 

Industrial College (now Florida Memorial College) and 

Florida Agricultural and Mechanical College (now Florida 

A&M University). His mother was a high school teacher 

and once served as dean of Southern University in Baton 

Rouge, Louisiana. When William Gray III’s grandfather 

and namesake died in 1949, the Grays moved to North 

Philadelphia, where William Gray, Jr., took over his father’s 

pastoral position at Bright Hope Baptist Church, which 

William Gray, Sr., had held since 1925. William Gray III 

graduated from Simon Gratz High School in Philadelphia 

in 1959 and earned a B.A. from Franklin and Marshall 

College in Lancaster, Pennsylvania, in 1963. Gray majored 

in sociology, but one of his professors encouraged him 

to become involved in politics. During his senior year in 

college, Gray interned for Philadelphia Representative 

Robert N. C. Nix.2

After college, Gray followed his father and grandfather 

into the ministry. He received a master’s degree in divinity 

from Drew Theological Seminary in Madison, New Jersey, 

in 1966 and a master’s degree in theology from Princeton 

Theological Seminary in 1970. He became a community 

activist in 1970 while living in Montclair, New Jersey, after 

he won a housing discrimination suit against a landlord 

who denied him an apartment because of his race. The 

New Jersey superior court awarded him financial damages, 

setting a legal precedent and earning Gray national 

attention.3 Gray founded the nonprofit Union Housing 

Corporation in Montclair to build affordable homes for 

low- and moderate-income tenants. In 1971, he married 

Andrea Dash, a marketing consultant. They raised three 

sons: William IV, Justin, and Andrew.

After his father died in 1972, Gray assumed the 

pastor’s position at Philadelphia’s Bright Hope Baptist 

Church.4

 The congregation swelled to more than 4,000 

members, and Gray continued his community activism. 

In 1975, he cofounded the Philadelphia Mortgage 

Plan, an organization that helped people in low income 

communities to obtain mortgages.5

 Concern about 

community housing issues and the high unemployment 

rate in his West Philadelphia neighborhood drew Gray 

back into politics in 1976. Never having held elected 

office, Gray took interest in the northwest Philadelphia 

congressional district that was represented by his former 

boss, Representative Nix, a longtime Representative 

and a Philadelphia political powerbroker. Gray had 

become disillusioned with what he perceived as Nix’s 

William Herbert Gray III

1941–

United States Representative H 1979–1991

Democrat From Pennsylvania

������������������������������������������������������������������������

488 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
unresponsiveness to his constituents, nearly one-third of 

whom lived below the poverty line. Since the registered 

voters in northwest Philadelphia were overwhelmingly 

Democratic, winning the Democratic primary was 

tantamount to victory in the general election.6 Gray 

narrowly lost the 1976 primary election by about 300 

votes.7 Gray returned in 1978, dubbing Nix “the phantom” 

due to the infrequency of the aging Representative’s visits 

to his district. Gray also called attention to the district’s 

ailing economy, which had the highest unemployment rate 

in the state.8

 Encouragement from former Representative 

Andrew Young of Georgia, who was serving as U.S. 

Ambassador to the United Nations, gave Gray the 

confidence to enter elective politics. “Bill, if you can 

pastor Bright Hope Baptist Church, Congress will not be 

difficult,” Gray recalls Young telling him. “It is essentially 

pastoring, ministering to the folks in your district.”9

 Bright 

Hope Baptist members played an integral part in Gray’s 

campaign, hosting events and helping him plan strategy.10

He defeated the incumbent in the 1978 primary, with 58 

percent to Nix’s 41 percent.11

Unconcerned about the general election in his 

overwhelmingly Democratic district, Gray spent the 

time between the primary and the November elections 

lobbying for choice committee posts. His friendship with 

Young provided Gray with important connections in 

Washington.12 After winning the general election by a wide 

margin (82 percent) over Republican Roland Atkins, Gray 

received several plum committee assignments in the 96th 

Congress (1979–1981) as a result of his earlier lobbying 

efforts. In addition to a seat on the Committee on the 

District of Columbia, the only post he would hold for his 

entire career, Gray occupied seats on the prestigious Budget 

and Foreign Affairs panels. The Democratic leadership 

as well as the leaders of the Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC) took note of his political acumen and pegged 

him as a rising star. CBC Chairman Parren Mitchell of 

Maryland called Gray’s skills “top flight.”13 The caucus 

elected Gray as its secretary and in his second term he 

served as vice chairman. Also, Gray’s fellow freshman 

Democrats elected him as their representative to the 

Steering and Policy Committee, which sets committee 

assignments for Democratic Members and writes party 

policy. Gray later served on the House Administration 

Committee (102nd Congress, 1991–1993) and the Joint 

Committee on Deficit Reduction (100th Congress, 

1987–1989).

Gray typically won re-election with little opposition, 

garnering margins of at least 90 percent.14 Careful not to 

suffer the same fate as Nix, he kept in close contact with 

the district and remained attentive to the needs of the 

black community. Throughout his congressional career, 

Gray continued to preach two Sundays per month at 

Bright Hope Church. “I was elected to Congress,” he once 

told the Washington Post, “I was called to preach. One I 

do because people allow me to do it. The other I have to 

do.”15 In May 1985, Gray’s dedication to his constituents 

was tested. His district was the scene of disaster after 

members of MOVE, a radical, black Muslim cult, clashed 

with police. The violence led to 11 deaths, and several 

city blocks in a West Philadelphia neighborhood were 

burned. Gray escaped the political fallout for the massacre; 

Philadelphia Mayor Wilson Goode bore the brunt of the 

criticism. Gray responded to his constituents’ needs by 

touring the scene of the destruction and obtaining federal 

aid for the victims from the Department of Housing and 

Urban Development (HUD).16

Gray’s work on the Foreign Affairs Committee focused 

on Africa. Though he left the committee after his freshman 

term, throughout his career, Gray requested aid for Africa 

on a scale that was later compared to the Marshall Plan, 

which provided billions of dollars to war-torn Europe after 

World War II.17 In his freshman term, Gray sponsored a 

bill that created the African Development Foundation, 

which delivered U.S. aid to African villages.18 In 1983, he 

sponsored a series of allotments guaranteeing minorityowned businesses, private agencies, and historically black 

universities greater participation programs in Africa that 

were administered by the U.S. Agency for International 

Development. Gray also was one of the first politicians 

H William Herbert Gray III H

490 H Black Americans in Congress 
in the early 1980s to predict an impending famine 

in Ethiopia. In 1984 he led the House in providing 

emergency food rations to the starving nation. Three years 

later, he made a rare break from his own party, supporting 

a Republican-sponsored bill to condemn Ethiopia’s 

communist leaders for human rights violations and for 

exacerbating the famine.19 Also, Gray was a chief opponent 

of South Africa’s apartheid system.

Gray received his initial position on the Budget 

Committee with the blessing of outgoing panel member 

Representative Parren Mitchell, who was eager to find 

a CBC member to replace him on the committee in 

1979.20 Serving his first term on the Budget Committee, 

Gray grew increasingly frustrated with the committee 

Democrats’ seemingly weak defense against cuts in social 

spending. He was one of a few Members who regularly 

voted against his party’s budgets. Gray left the Budget 

Committee in 1981 for a spot on the Appropriations 

panel, where he would remain for the rest of his career, 

and returned to the Budget Committee in 1983 at the 

beginning of the 98th Congress (1983–1985). With seats 

on the Budget and Appropriations panels, Gray occupied 

a position of power and was much more receptive to 

compromise. He began working to persuade Democrats 

to accept more moderate proposals, and he arbitrated 

differences between House and Senate versions of the 

federal budget.21 Gray’s political expertise and integrity 

earned him a solid reputation. In 1984, conservative 

Democrat Charles Stenholm of Texas noted, “Bill’s shown 

flexibility and a mastery of the budget process. He’s very 

articulate and he’s always been fair.”22

House rules allowed Members to serve on the Budget 

Committee for a maximum of six successive years. In 

1984, sitting chairman Representative Jim Jones of 

Oklahoma faced the end of his allotted term. He and 

outgoing Representative Leon Panetta of California, who 

also aspired to the chairmanship, sought a change in 

the rule so that they could continue serving, but lastminute opposition from Speaker Thomas (Tip) O’Neill of 

Massachusetts thwarted their plan. Having quietly secured 

support in case the rule had not changed, Gray was the 

only member of the panel who had enough votes for 

the chairmanship upon Jones’s departure, despite a lastminute bid by Democratic Texas Representative Martin 

Frost.23 Nearly two thousand of Gray’s proud constituents 

organized by Bright Hope congregants flooded the Capitol 

to watch his swearing-in as the first black chairman of the 

Budget Committee.24 Gray downplayed the symbolism. 

“There is no title here called ‘Black America Budget 

Chairman’,” Gray declared. “It’s called House Budget 

Committee Chairman. I happen to be black and there is 

no conflict in that. . . . it’s been proven over the years that 

blacks can provide leadership in Congress.”25

A natural politician who was comfortable on the 

House Floor, Chairman Gray tactfully managed the 

often-explosive, partisan Budget Committee. Gray’s 

congressional colleague Washington Democrat Mike 

Lowry speculated about the origins of Gray’s ability to 

broker compromises: “It’s maybe his professional training 

as a minister. He’s a great judge of knowing how far he can 

push his members. He never gets mad.”26 Gray often was 

successful in unifying an increasingly diverse Democratic 

Party—and some Republicans—around a budget that 

incorporated his commitment to social spending. He also 

quelled initial Democratic concerns about the message 

a liberal northeastern African American in his powerful 

position would send to more-moderate voters by forging 

a strong coalition that spanned the party’s broad fiscal 

spectrum. Surprisingly, Gray found strong allies in 

the “boll weevils,” southern Democrats who tended to 

support the Ronald W. Reagan administration’s cuts in 

social spending; two boll weevils, Representatives Marvin 

Leath and Stenholm, both from Texas, were among Gray’s 

biggest supporters.27

Despite his reputation for compromise, Gray did not 

back down from creating a budget that was consistent with 

his liberal Democratic ideals. He guided four successive 

Democratic budget resolutions through the House—

often over vehement protests from many committee 

Republicans. One observer remarked, “Gray treated the 

H William Herbert Gray III H

former members | 1971–2007 H 491
budget process as a political puzzle, not an economic 

problem; he saw the budget for what it is: a political 

statement rather than a blueprint for fiscal governance.”28

However, the increasing federal deficit became a sticking 

point. Gray battled Republican attempts to reduce deficit 

spending. His focus was preserving funding for social 

programs, and he believed efforts to reduce the deficit 

should not override compassionate spending.29 “A balanced 

budget is good for the country, the affluent and poor 

alike,” Gray noted. “I seek [a budget] that doesn’t sacrifice 

programs for the poor and minorities, one that is fair and 

equitable.”30 The Budget Committee under Gray virtually 

ignored the Gramm–Rudman–Hollings Act of 1985 

(revised in 1987), which demanded automatic budget cuts 

across the board if the President and Congress were unable 

to cap the deficit at a specific annual level.31 As a result, 

Gray oversaw the first trillion-dollar budget in U.S. history 

for fiscal year 1988. The Democratic Party’s show of unity 

regarding the Gray budgets was impressive, especially 

in view of the party’s growing fiscal diversity. Few of the 

Democratic rank and file voted against Gray’s budgets. A 

record low of 15 Democrats refused to support their party’s 

budget resolution in Gray’s first year as chairman. His first 

three budget resolutions combined totaled 53 “nay” votes 

from Democrats; previously, this figure was more typical 

for a single year.32

Capitalizing on his favorable reputation in Democratic 

circles, Gray sought to move up in the party leadership. 

In 1987, Gray began lobbying to succeed Representative 

Richard Gephardt of Missouri as Chairman of the 

House Democratic Caucus in order to head party 

efforts to develop a consensus and dole out committee 

assignments. Though his work on the Budget Committee 

reflected Gray’s ability to unite Democrats, it was his 

efforts as chairman of the committee drafting the party 

platform for the 1988 Democratic Convention that truly 

shone. Gray’s committee brought together the broad 

coalition of Democrats under a platform of “that which 

uniquely binds us together as Democrats.”33 The House 

Democratic Caucus overwhelmingly elected Gray to 

Gephardt’s former position in December 1988. Again, 

Gray downplayed the milestone he had achieved as the 

first African-American chairman of the House Democratic 

Caucus, noting that his new position called for building 

coalitions, not representing one arm of the Democratic 

Party. “I hope we can tie our ropes together so we can 

be one party and show the nation what we stand for as 

Democrats,” Gray declared.34 Just six months later, Gray 

took one more step up the leadership ladder when he 

succeeded Representative Tony Coelho of California as 

Majority Whip. In this position Gray was responsible for 

determining and coalescing votes from the Democratic 

Members for issues of party interest. With his ascent to 

Majority Whip, the third-ranking leadership position 

in the House, Gray became the highest-ranking African 

American in congressional history. 

At the peak of his political power, Gray abruptly 

announced his resignation from Congress on June 20, 

1991, effective the following September 11. He outlined 

his plan to head the United Negro College Fund (later 

known as the College Fund/UNCF)—which allocates 

federal money to augment the facilities, programs, and 

faculty at historically black colleges and universities—

saying his new duties were “just as important as being a 

member of the leadership in Congress.” Gray’s departure 

sent shockwaves through the political community.35 Gray 

served as President and CEO of the College Fund/UNCF 

until March 2004.36 In 1994, President William J. (Bill) 

Clinton asked Gray to serve as his special adviser on Haiti, 

which was then embroiled in civil war. Gray’s efforts to 

restore democracy to the island nation won him a Medal of 

Honor from Haitian President Jean-Bertrand Aristide.

H William Herbert Gray III H

492 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Gray, William Herbert, III,” Biographical Directory of 

the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=G000402.

Manuscript Collection

The New York Public Library, Schomburg Center 

for Research in Black Culture (New York, NY). Papers:

1979–1991, 90 feet. The congressional papers of William 

Herbert Gray III have not yet been processed.

Notes

1 Luix Overbea, “Pennsylvania’s Gray—Budgeteer, Congressman, 

and Minister,” 21 October 1985, Christian Science Monitor: 11.

2 “William H. Gray III,” in Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black 

American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1999): 

478–481 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM).

3 “William H. Gray III,” NBAM; Ronald Sullivan, “Negro, Denied 

Apartment, Wins $50 Court Award for ‘Trauma,’” 6 May 1970, 

New York Times: 1.

4 Gray served as pastor of Bright Hope Baptist Church until 

2007. The position of head pastor was filled by a member of 

the Gray family for more than 80 years; see Philadelphia Baptist 

Association, “Our Churches” at http://www.philadelphiabaptist.

org/PBAChurches.htm (accessed 27 February 2006).

5 “William H. Gray III,” NBAM.

6 Politics in America, 1988 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1987): 1284; Brooks Jackson, “Many Blacks Show 

Little Urge to Vote,” 3 October 1980, Wall Street Journal: 1.

7 “William H. Gray III,” NBAM.

8 “Gray, William H., 3d,” Current Biography, 1988 (New York: H. 

W. Wilson Company, 1988): 198.

9 Carla Hall, “Bill Gray, Baron of the Budget,” 24 May 1985, 

Washington Post: B1.

10 Hall, “Bill Gray, Baron of the Budget.”

11 Politics in America, 1988: 1285.

12 Hall, “Bill Gray, Baron of the Budget.”

13 Mary Russell, “Minister Proves Skillful Politician,” 21 January 

1979, Washington Post: A3.

14 The only exception was in 1982, when Republican activist Milton 

Street ran as an Independent because he missed the filing date. 

However, Street’s misconduct, which included assault charges and 

unpaid taxes, boosted support for Gray, and he won easily, with 

76 percent of the vote. See “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/election.html.

H William Herbert Gray III H

former members | 1971–2007 H 493
30 Overbea, “Pennsylvania’s Gray—Budgeteer, Congressman, and 

Minister.”

31 See James A. Thurber, “Balanced Budget and Emergency Deficit 

Control Act,” in Donald C. Bacon et al., The Encyclopedia of the 

United States Congress, Volume 1 (New York: Simon and Schuster, 

1995): 129–130.

32 Politics in America, 1988: 1283.

33 “Gray, William H., 3d,” Current Biography, 1988: 200. See also 

Herbert S. Parmet, “Election of 1988,” in Arthur M. Schlesinger, 

Jr., ed., History of American Presidential Elections, 1789–2001, 

Volume XI (Philadelphia: Chelsea House Publishers, 2002): 

4229–4239.

34 Elaine S. Povich, “Black Democrat Gets No. 4 Post in House,” 6 

December 1988, Chicago Tribune: 4.

35 “Gray Tells Colleagues His Reasons for Resigning,” 20 June 1991, 

Seattle Post-Intelligencer: A3; quoted in “William H. Gray III,” 

NBAM. A 1989 Justice Department probe into Gray’s office staff 

as well as his personal and congressional finances fueled rumors 

that fiscal misconduct spurred his resignation. Accusations against 

Gray weakened when a top aide for U.S. Attorney General 

Dick Thornburgh was charged with leaking information on the 

investigation. Thornburgh repeatedly denied that Gray was the 

specific target of an investigation, and charges against Gray were 

never filed. See Paul M. Rodriguez and Jerry Seper, “Gray Quit 

After Start of Probe in FBI,” 21 June 1991, Washington Times: 

A1; Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 

37; “William H. Gray III,” CBB; “Outgoing House Whip Says 

Financial Probe Just a Rumor,” 22 June 1991, Associated Press.

36 See Michael Anft, “A Politician and Fund Raiser Returns to the 

Ministry,” 30 October 2003, The Chronicle of Higher Philanthropy, 

at http://www.philanthropy.com/free/articles/v16/i02/02006201.

htm (accessed 18 April 2008).

15 Hall, “Bill Gray, Baron of the Budget” (author’s emphasis).

16 “Gray, William H., 3d,” Current Biography, 1988: 200; Hall, “Bill 

Gray, Baron of the Budget.”

17 “Gray, William H., 3d,” Current Biography, 1988: 200.

18 Though Gray’s bills (H.R. 5509 and H.R. 6288) did not pass, 

his measure was folded into a successful omnibus international 

development bill (H.R. 6942), which Gray cosponsored. See 

Congressional Record, 96th Cong., 2nd sess.

19 “William H. Gray III,” Contemporary Black Biography Volume 3 

(Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1992) (hereinafter referred to 

as CBB).

20 Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress

(Washington, DC: United States Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 

34.

21 “Gray, William H., 3d,” Current Biography, 1988: 198.

22 Dan Balz, “Minister May Head Budget Panel; Rep. Gray Has 

Quietly ‘Done All the Right Things’,” 6 December 1984, 

Washington Post: A4.

23 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 35; Politics 

in America, 1988: 1284.

24 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 36.

25 Hall, “Bill Gray, Baron of the Budget.”

26 Ibid.

27 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 36.

28 Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1989): 1273.

29 “William H. Gray III,” NBAM; Washington, Outstanding African 

Americans of Congress: 36.

H William Herbert Gray III H

494 H Black Americans in Congress 
“There is no title here called 

‘Black America Budget 

Chairman’,” Gray declared. 

“It’s called House Budget 

Committee Chairman. I 

happen to be black and there 

is no conflict in that. . . . 

it’s been proven over the 

years that blacks can provide 

leadership in Congress.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 495
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

I

nspired by an extended stay on the continent as a young 

legislator, Representative Leland poured his energy into 

focusing attention on a disastrous East African famine and 

raising funds for relief efforts. Leland worked tirelessly 

as chairman of the House Select Committee on Hunger, 

which he had lobbied Congress to create. Responding to 

critics who felt he should focus on domestic poverty first, 

Leland retorted, “I am as much of a citizen of this world 

as I am of this country. To hell with those people who 

are critical of what I am able to do to help save people’s 

lives. I don’t mean to sound hokey, but I grew up on 

the Christian ethic which says we are supposed to help 

the least of our brothers.”1

 This statement encapsulated 

Leland’s career and life goals. He became a martyr for the 

cause of eradicating world hunger, perishing in a plane 

crash on a humanitarian mission to transport supplies to 

an Ethiopian refugee camp.

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland was born in 

Lubbock, Texas, on November 27, 1944, to Alice Rains.2

It was Leland’s maternal grandfather who nicknamed 

him “Mickey.” Shortly after Leland’s birth, his parents 

separated. Alice Rains moved with her two sons, Mickey 

and Gaston, to a poor section of Houston, where she 

worked as a short-order cook. Rains put herself through 

school and became a teacher. Mickey Leland graduated 

from Phyllis Wheatley High School in Houston in 1963 

and attended Houston’s Texas Southern University. 

Earning his degree in pharmacy in 1970, Leland worked as 

an instructor of clinical pharmacy at Texas Southern before 

taking a job as a pharmacist. He also served with several 

university organizations, setting up free clinics and other 

aid for the Houston-area poor.

Influenced by diverse doctrines—the writings of black 

activists and the emphasis of his Roman Catholic faith 

on helping the disadvantaged—Leland was active in the 

civil rights movement as a student in the late 1960s, often 

participating in unruly protests, and describing himself 

as a “Marxist” and a “revolutionary.”3

 His arrest while 

demonstrating against police brutality in Houston proved 

to be a pivotal moment in his life, persuading Leland 

to work within the political system rather than against 

it. Leland was first elected to the Texas state house of 

representatives in 1972 and served his polyglot Houston 

neighborhood from 1973 to 1979. He quickly earned a 

reputation as a militant, firebrand politician in the state 

legislature, appearing on the first day in a tie-dyed dashiki 

shirt, an Afro haircut, and platform shoes.4

 While in 

the state legislature, Leland made his first trip to Africa. 

The young politician developed a deep affection for the 

continent, staying in Tanzania for three months rather 

than his scheduled three weeks.5

 “Nobody knew where I 

was,” Leland recalled, “My mother thought I was dead. 

But the fact is that I got totally absorbed in Africa.”6

Leland stepped onto the national political scene by serving 

as a delegate to the Democratic National Convention 

in 1972. He also served as a delegate to the Texas state 

constitutional convention in 1974, where he helped 

rewrite Texas’s 97-year-old Jim Crow-Era constitution, 

focusing on reforming the judicial and executive branches 

of the state government.7

In 1978, three-term Houston Representative Barbara 

Jordan announced her retirement from Congress. The 

first Member to serve the newly created district, Jordan 

represented central city neighborhoods where the 

population was almost three-quarters minority, dominated 

by lower- and middle-class African and Mexican 

Americans.8

 Leland entered the May 6 Democratic 

primary, garnering 48 percent of the vote against seven 

other candidates. Falling short of the necessary 50 percent 

to win the nomination, Leland faced the primary runnerGeorge Thomas (Mickey) Leland

1944–1989

United States Representative H 1979–1989

Democrat from Texas

������������������������������������������������������������������������

496 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H George Thomas (Mickey) Leland H

up, African-American candidate Anthony Hall, in a 

runoff primary on June 3. Hall had won 24 percent of 

the May 6 votes. Hall and Leland had remarkably parallel 

backgrounds: they were both age 33, grew up in similar 

Houston neighborhoods, and served simultaneously in the 

state legislature. Though Jordan refused to endorse any one 

candidate, Leland’s ability to garner support from both the 

district’s black and Hispanic constituents sealed his victory 

over Hall, with 57 percent of the vote.9

 Without official 

opposition in the general election, Leland won 97 percent 

of the vote for the 96th Congress (1979–1981). He was 

re-elected five times, typically winning majorities of 90 

percent or more.10

Upon his arrival in Washington, Leland won a seat 

on the powerful Interstate and Foreign Commerce 

Committee (later Energy and Commerce)—often sought 

after by Members because of its regulatory powers across a 

broad swath of industry. He was also assigned to the Post 

Office and Civil Service Committee, where he chaired 

the Subcommittee on Postal Operations and Services. 

In addition, Leland served on the Committee on the 

District of Columbia and became an active member of the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). Leland later chaired 

the CBC in the 99th Congress (1985–1987). While 

attending an annual CBC weekend party in 1982, Leland 

met 24-year-old Georgetown University Law student 

Alison Walton. The two married in 1983, and Alison 

Leland worked as an investment banker. In 1986, the 

couple celebrated the birth of their first son, Jarrett.11

Leland proved an active advocate for all minorities, 

focusing particularly on the needs of his black and 

Hispanic constituents. To best serve the large MexicanAmerican population in his district, Leland learned 

Spanish. He once shocked his colleagues by arguing in 

Spanish on the House Floor in favor of maintaining 

the bilingual clauses in the Voting Rights Act.12 His 

bilingualism allowed him to develop a controversial 

working relationship with Cuban leader Fidel Castro. 

Leland disagreed emphatically with Castro’s philosophy 

but admired his political influence among poorer nations. 

Leland continued to look abroad, focusing on international 

cooperation and exchange. One of his first acts in 

Congress was to fund a six-week trip to Israel to allow 

underprivileged black teenagers from the Houston area to 

learn about Jewish culture and to create a cross-cultural 

dialogue between the youths in the two countries.13

Leland also led the demand for increased hiring quotas 

for women and minorities at telecommunications 

companies, taking on television executives and advocating 

more minority hires for on and off screen positions. In 

1984 Leland supported the presidential candidacy of 

his longtime friend Vice President Walter Mondale over 

that of black civil rights activist Jesse Jackson, angering 

several of his African-American colleagues. However, 

Leland returned as Jackson’s lead fundraiser for the 1988 

presidential campaign.14

Leland’s greatest passion developed from his threemonth stay in East Africa. He spent most of his 

congressional career attempting to redirect American 

foreign policy away from the military imperatives of the 

Cold War confrontation between superpowers toward 

examining the inequalities between rich and poor nations. 

When famine struck East Africa in the mid-1980s, Leland 

was an outspoken advocate for alleviating hunger on the 

continent. Throughout his first two terms, he lobbied 

for the creation of a congressional committee to focus 

on world poverty and hunger. While sympathetic to his 

cause, many Members provided less support than Leland 

requested, as they believed it would only add to the 

institution’s mounting bureaucracy.15 While critics claimed 

Leland should focus on domestic hunger before turning 

his attention abroad, he also involved himself in domestic 

poverty and hunger issues, proposing tax exemptions for 

American companies that donated to food banks. In 1987, 

he spent a night on a Washington, DC, steam grate to 

emphasize the plight of the homeless.16 Leland regularly 

raised aid for Houston-area food banks, which provided 

him with greater leverage for creating a committee on 

hunger.17 Leland often invoked two images from his 

frequent trips to Ethiopian refugee camps: a throng of 

498 H Black Americans in Congress 
starving people rubbing their stomachs and pleading for 

food and an Ethiopian girl who died in his arms as he 

turned to ask her caretakers about her condition. “Every 

day I see her face,” Leland said.18

After gathering 258 cosponsors and the support of 

60 national organizations, Leland realized his goal in 

1984 of creating a congressional committee to examine 

global hunger and poverty.19 Leland’s Hunger Committee 

resolution passed on February 22 by a vote of 309 

to 78.20 He was appointed the first chairman of the 

Temporary Select Committee on Hunger in the 98th 

Congress (1983–1985). Modeled after a similar panel 

(the Committee on Children, Youth and Families), the 

Hunger Committee studied the effects of domestic and 

international hunger and poverty. In 1984, partially 

aided by publicity from American and British musicians, 

Leland’s committee pushed through Congress an aid 

package for famine relief of nearly $800 million.21

Though successful in raising awareness about hunger, 

Leland complained of his congressional colleagues’ lack 

of interest.

Leland traveled frequently to Africa, often guiding 

Members and their staffs to refugee camps so they could 

witness firsthand how aid money was being used in 

Africa. On August 7, 1989, he took advantage of the 

congressional summer recess to check on the progress of a 

refugee camp near the Sudanese–Ethiopian border. Shortly 

after his plane took off from Addis Ababa, it crashed over 

a mountainous region in Ethiopia while navigating a 

storm. All 15 people aboard were killed, including Leland 

and three congressional aides. Out of mutual respect 

for Leland, the United States and Ethiopia temporarily 

repaired their strained diplomatic relations, and Ethiopian 

military leader Mengistu Haile Mariam allowed American 

military spy planes to search for Leland’s downed 

aircraft.22 The U.S. military discovered the wreckage after 

seven days of searching, and a congressional delegation 

accompanied Leland’s remains to Texas for burial.

Representative Leland was widely eulogized. Visitors 

poured into his Capitol Hill office to offer their 

condolences. Staff in the neighboring office occupied 

by Representative George Crockett of Michigan helped 

field the overwhelming number of phone calls.23

Communities touched by Leland were quick to honor 

him: The CBC renamed its humanitarian award for him 

in 1989, Houston International Airport named its largest 

terminal for him, and the National Association for the 

Advancement of Colored People sponsored a project to 

plant trees in Africa in his name.24 The tragedy of Leland’s 

death was compounded when Alison Leland gave birth in 

January 1990 to premature twin sons, Cameron George 

and Austin Mickey, five months after her husband’s death. 

Democratic leaders in the House led a fundraiser to collect 

donations for Leland’s three children. Alison Leland 

declined an offer to run for her husband’s vacant House 

seat. With her support, Houston-area legislator Craig 

Washington succeeded Leland in the December 9 special 

election. Without Leland’s forceful support and leadership, 

the Select Committee on Hunger was eventually 

eliminated in the 103rd Congress (1993–1995).

H George Thomas (Mickey) Leland H

former members | 1971–2007 H 499
For further reading

“Leland, George Thomas (Mickey),” Biographical Directory 

of the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000237.

Manuscript Collection

Texas Southern University (Houston, TX). The Leland 

Archives, The Mickey Leland Center on World Hunger 

and Peace. Papers: 1970–1989, 653 boxes. The collection 

documents Mickey Leland’s public service career as a 

Texas state representative and as a U.S. Representative 

from Texas. Materials include correspondence, news 

clippings, artifacts, photographs, audio and videotapes, 

speeches, news releases, committee testimony, and 

casework. Topics include health care rights for the poor, 

prison reform, police harassment and brutality, racial 

discrimination, affirmative action, budget discrimination 

in higher education, labor legislation, political election 

organization, infant mortality, minority rights in business, 

health education, parks and recreation for the indigent, 

apartheid and racial discrimination issues worldwide, 

Third World development, emergency shelters for the 

homeless, nutrients for the malnourished, and food 

security for victims of hunger. A finding aid database is 

available in the repository.

Notes

1 Lisa Belkin, “Representative Mickey Leland, 44, Dies in Crash,” 14 

August 1989, New York Times: D9.

2 Leland’s father is unknown.

3 Stephen Chapman, “Mickey Leland: Good Intentions, Serious 

Errors,” 17 August 1989, Chicago Tribune: 29C.

4 Politics in America, 1984 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1983): 1495.

5 Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress

(Washington, DC: United States Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 

56.

6 Belkin, “Representative Mickey Leland, 44, Dies in Crash.”

7 Molly Ivins, “Constitution Time Again in Texas,” 20 January 1974, 

Washington Post: C3.

8 Almanac of American Politics, 1986 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1985): 1327.

9 Politics in America, 1982 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1981): 1191.

10 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

11 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 57.

12 Congressional Record, House, 97th Cong., 1st sess. (5 October 

1981): 23187.

13 “Mickey Leland,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 2 

(Detroit: Gale Research Inc., 1992).

14 Jacqueline Trescott, “Leland and the War on Hunger,” 27 

September 1985, Washington Post: B1.

15 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 57.

16 Chapman, “Mickey Leland: Good Intentions, Serious Errors.”

17 Lori Rodriguez, “Leland’s Legacy In Need of Boost,” 28 March 

1992, Houston Chronicle: A25; “Select Committee on Hunger,” in 

Garrison Nelson, Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1947 to 1992, 

Volume 2 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 

1994): 1035; Congressional Record, House, 98th Cong., 2nd sess. 

(22 February 1984): 2967–2968.

18 Belkin, “Representative Mickey Leland, 44, Dies in Crash.”

19 Congressional Record, House, 98th Cong., 2nd sess. (22 February 

1984): 2967; “Select Committee on Hunger,” in Nelson, 

Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1947 to 1992, Volume 2: 1035.

20 Congressional Record, House, 98th Cong., 2nd sess. (22 February 

1984): 2986–2987.

21 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 57.

22 Politics in America, 1986 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1985): 1524.

23 Richard L. Berke, “Friends and Relatives Mourn Texas Lawmaker,” 

14 August 1989, New York Times: A10.

24 “NAACP Launches African Tree-Planting: To Honor Congressman 

Mickey Leland,” 6 July 1991, Michigan Citizen: 2.

H George Thomas (Mickey) Leland H

500 H Black Americans in Congress 
“I am now an activist 

on behalf of humanity 

everywhere, whether it is 

Ethiopia. . . South Africa 

. . . any part of the world 

where people are desperate 

and hungry for freedoms 

and rights they [deserve] 

as human beings. That is 

my community, that is 

my battleground,” Leland 

told the Washington Post 

in 1985. 

former members | 1971–2007 H 501
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, Howard University

Elected to succeed Representative Ralph Metcalfe after 

 his sudden death shortly before the general election 

in 1978, Bennett McVey Stewart continued the tradition 

of African-American representation of Chicago’s South 

Side that began with the election of Oscar De Priest in 

1928. A product of the once-powerful Chicago machine, 

Stewart never gained a solid footing in his district during 

his one term in the U.S. House. His re-election defeat in 

1980 symbolized the waning influence of the local political 

organization and marked the end of a historic era of 

machine dominance in Chicago. 

Bennett McVey Stewart was born in Huntsville, 

Alabama, on August 6, 1912, to Bennett Stewart and 

Cathleen Jones. He attended public schools in Huntsville 

and graduated from high school in Birmingham, Alabama. 

In 1936, Stewart received a B.A. from Miles College, in 

Birmingham, Alabama. While attending college, Stewart 

met his future wife, Pattye Crittenden. The couple married 

in 1938 and had three children: Bennett, Jr., Ronald, 

and Miriam.1

 From 1936 to 1938 he served as assistant 

principal of Irondale High School in Birmingham. Stewart 

returned to Miles College as an associate professor of 

sociology from 1938 until 1940, when he joined an 

insurance company as an executive. In 1950 he became 

Illinois state director for the company, a position he held 

for 18 years. Stewart’s subsequent position—as an inspector 

with Chicago’s building department of urban renewal 

advising property owners on financing renovations—

sparked his involvement with politics. Following a path 

similar to those of other influential African-American 

politicians in Chicago, Stewart won election to the Chicago 

city council as an alderman from the 21st Ward in 1971. A 

year later he was elected Democratic committeeman for the 

same ward; he held both offices until 1978.

When Representative Ralph Metcalfe died unexpectedly 

in October 1978, Stewart became a central figure in the 

power struggle that emerged to fill the vacant House 

seat. Desperate to regain control of the political scene in 

Chicago after the death of Mayor Richard J. Daley and 

the much-publicized falling-out between Metcalfe and the 

machine organization, the ward committeemen from the 

Chicago district named Stewart the Democratic candidate 

for the general election. Recognized as a party loyalist, 

Stewart resembled previous machine-backed candidates for 

Congress who had a clear allegiance to the Democratic city 

organization. Stewart’s candidacy was controversial among 

many constituents in the predominantly black urban 

district who had recently grown accustomed to a new 

style of representation that placed race above local party 

concerns.2

 Although speculation surfaced that Metcalfe’s 

son would seek the Democratic nomination, or that 

black leaders would stage a write-in campaign to re-elect 

Metcalfe posthumously in order to force a special election, 

Stewart ultimately prevailed as the Democratic nominee.3

Stewart was originally slated to run against political novice 

and shoe salesman Jackie Brown, but Republican leaders, 

sensing the untested Stewart’s vulnerability, hoped to 

make a late substitution on the ballot. A. A. (Sammy) 

Rayner, a former alderman and perennial candidate for the 

congressional seat, filed suit when the Illinois state board 

of elections rejected a petition to replace Brown.4

 Rayner 

eventually won his case, but Stewart proved victorious in 

the November election, defeating his Republican opponent 

with 58 percent of the vote.5

 Despite Rayner’s claim of 

voting fraud, Stewart earned a spot in the 96th Congress 

(1979–1981) on January 3, 1979, and received a premier 

assignment on the Committee on Appropriations.6

During his short tenure in the House, Stewart focused 

on the needs of his urban constituents. He vigorously 

supported federal loan guarantees for the financially 

Bennett McVey Stewart

1912–1988

United States Representative H 1979–1981

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������

502 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
troubled Chrysler Corporation, which employed more 

than 1,500 workers in his Chicago district.7

 As a member 

of the Appropriations Committee, Stewart backed federal 

emergency relief to provide low-income constituents with 

heating assistance. Declaring that the appropriation was “a 

small price to pay to help alleviate the burdens imposed on 

the poor,” Stewart praised his House colleagues for passing 

the measure, which helped many of his constituents.8

 The 

Illinois Representative also worked to extend the length of 

public service employment programs, citing the necessity 

for a longer transition period for residents of cities like 

Chicago, which had a higher rate of unemployment 

than the national average.9

 In 1980, Stewart requested 

a General Accounting Office (GAO) analysis of the 

Chicago Housing Authority (CHA). Prompted by a 

charge of financial misconduct, the GAO revealed that 

inefficient management had driven the CHA to the verge 

of bankruptcy.10

Although not as outspoken on racial issues as some 

black Members of the 96th Congress, at times Stewart 

drew attention to matters concerning African Americans. 

In 1979, he criticized a proposed constitutional 

amendment to prohibit public school busing. Recalling 

the humiliating segregation practices he had grown up 

with in Birmingham, he branded the proposal an “attempt 

to undermine the Fourteenth Amendment” and an 

effort to re-establish segregation in the United States.11

Stewart carried on the efforts of Ralph Metcalfe when he 

introduced a resolution designating February as Black 

History Month. “We must not continue to permit the 

history and heritage of black people to be ignored,” Stewart 

exclaimed. “If we educate our Nation’s youth, black and 

white, about the heritage of our whole society we may be 

able to eliminate racial tensions that have existed in the 

past.”12 A vocal supporter of the establishment of Martin 

Luther King, Jr., Day as a federal holiday, he remarked 

that recognizing the civil rights leader in this manner 

would be an important step in promoting equality among 

the races in the United States. In 1983 Congress passed a 

law designating the third Monday in January as a public 

holiday honoring King.13

Having secured the endorsement of the Democratic 

committeemen from the South Side for a second term in 

Congress, Stewart nonetheless faced mounting dissension 

in his party. Some local politicians harbored residual anger 

regarding the strong-arm tactics of party leaders who chose 

Stewart to replace Metcalfe after his sudden death.14 In an 

atypical open Chicago Democratic primary (for much of 

the century, the local organization selected a loyal nominee 

to run for Congress, who in turn rarely had any real 

opposition), Stewart faced three well-known opponents: 

Harold Washington, an Illinois state senator; John Stroger, 

a Cook County commissioner; and Ralph Metcalfe, Jr., the 

son of the late Representative.15 The results of the crowded 

and competitive primary indicated the growing rift 

between machine-backed candidates and politicians who 

wanted to disassociate themselves from city hall: Stewart 

placed a distant third behind Metcalfe, and the victorious 

Democratic nominee, Washington, who earned nearly 50 

percent of the vote.16

After leaving Congress, Stewart served as interim 

director of the Chicago Department of Inter-Governmental 

Affairs from 1981 to 1983 and was one of Chicago Mayor 

Jane Byrne’s administrative assistants.17 Stewart remained a 

resident of Chicago until his death on April 26, 1988.

H Bennett McVey Stewart H

504 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Stewart, Bennett McVey,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000902. 

Notes

1 “Bennett Stewart, 76; Former Congressman,” 28 April 1988, 

Chicago Tribune: 10C; Leo J. Daugherty III, “Stewart, Bennett 

McVey,” American National Biography 20 (New York: Oxford 

University Press, 1999): 744–745 (hereinafter referred to as ANB).

2 William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Political 

Machine, 1931–1991 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

1995): 153–154.

3 F. Richard Ciccone and David Axelrod, “Dems Name Ald. Stewart 

to Replace Metcalfe on Ballot,” 17 October 1978, Chicago Tribune: 

3; “Ralph Metcalfe’s ‘Replacement,’” 18 October 1978, Chicago 

Tribune: B2; Jay Branegan and David Axelrod, “Rayner Sues State 

in Bid for Metcalfe Job,” 25 October 1978, Chicago Tribune: 3. 

4 Branegan and Axelrod, “Rayner Sues State in Bid for Metcalfe 

Job”; David K. Fremon, Chicago Politics, Ward by Ward

(Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 1988): 53–54.

5 Jay Branegan, “Rayner on Ballot, Court Rules,” 28 October 1978, 

Chicago Tribune: S3; “Election Information, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/

index.html; Fremon, Chicago Politics: Ward by Ward: 53.

6 “Rayner Charges Vote Fraud,” 23 December 1978, Chicago 

Tribune: B11; Bruce A. Ray, “Committee Attractiveness in the 

U.S. House, 1963–1981,” American Journal of Political Science 26 

(August 1982): 610.

7 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (13 December 

1979): 35758–35759.

8 “Fuel Aid for Poor Gets House OK,” 26 October 1979, Chicago 

Tribune: 2; Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (30 

October 1979): 30149–30150.

9 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (27 September 

1979): 26580.

10 “Bennett Stewart, 76; Former Congressman”; “And Now the 

CHA,” 9 May 1980, Chicago Tribune: D2; “CHA Board to 

Conduct Own Audit,” 14 May 1980, Chicago Tribune: A2.

11 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (24 July 1979): 

20404.

12 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 2nd sess. (21 February 

1980): 3506. The legislation, referred to the House Committee 

on Post Office and Civil Service, never made it to the floor for a 

vote. Metcalfe introduced several measures during his tenure to 

“recognize the heritage of black citizens in the United States.”

13 Congressional Record, House, 96th Cong., 1st sess. (13 November 

1979): 32142.

14 David Axelrod, “A Tossup at Polls in the 1st District,” 26 February 

1980, Chicago Tribune: A1; David Axelrod, “Dems Endorse 

Stewart for Re-election in 1st District,” 4 December 1979, Chicago 

Tribune: B9; William L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black 

Americans in Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, Inc., 

1992): 262–263.

15 Axelrod, “A Tossup at Polls in the 1st District.”

16 Aldo Beckman, “Campaign ’80: The Illinois Primary,” 20 March 

1980, Chicago Tribune: B6. Washington, a former machine 

politician who severed ties with the local organization, served a 

little more than a term in the House before he was elected as the 

first African-American mayor of Chicago. 

17 Daugherty, “Stewart, Bennett McVey,” ANB: 745.

H Bennett McVey Stewart H

former members | 1971–2007 H 505
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

George Crockett won a seat in the U.S. House of 

Representatives in 1980 after a lengthy career as a 

lawyer and a judge. At age 71, he was the oldest AfricanAmerican Member ever elected to Congress. The Michigan 

Representative came to the House with a reputation as a 

tireless civil rights advocate and a staunch defender of civil 

liberties. An earlier prison sentence for contempt of court 

that resulted from the zealous representation of his clients 

in a contentious federal trial shaped much of his outlook 

on American justice and politics: “If there’s one thing 

you learn in a place like this, it is patience. Time is always 

passing, and your time is bound to come.”1

Born in Jacksonville, Florida, on August 10, 1909, 

Crockett was the son of George Crockett, Sr., a carpenter, 

and Minnie Jenkins Crockett. He attended public schools 

in his native city and graduated with an A.B. from 

Morehouse College in Atlanta in 1931. Crockett went 

north to study law at the University of Michigan, where 

he earned a J.D. in 1934. That same year he married Dr. 

Ethelene Jones, the first black woman to practice obstetrics 

and gynecology in Michigan and the first woman president 

of the American Lung Association.2

 The couple had three 

children: Elizabeth Ann Hicks, George William Crockett 

III, and Ethelene Crockett Jones. After his wife died in 

1978, Crockett remarried two years later, to Harriette 

Clark Chambliss, a pediatrician with two sons.3

Crockett worked in Jacksonville, Florida, and 

Fairmont, West Virginia, as a lawyer in private practice. 

His involvement with labor law took him to Washington 

in 1939 as the first African-American attorney with the 

U.S. Department of Labor.4

 In 1943 President Roosevelt 

appointed Crockett a hearing examiner with the newly 

formed Fair Employment Practices Committee. A year 

later, he moved to Detroit to direct a Fair Employment 

Practices office with the United Auto Workers. During this 

time he remained active in the defense of labor unions and 

civil rights organizers, representing clients before the House 

Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) and the U.S. 

Supreme Court. Crockett gained notoriety in 1949 for his 

participation in a highly publicized federal trial in which 

11 communist leaders were convicted of subversion against 

the U.S. government under the Smith Act, a law which 

made teaching about the overthrow of the government a 

criminal offense. Upon the conclusion of the nine-month 

proceedings, the judge sentenced Crockett and the other 

defense attorneys to jail for alleged attempts to delay and 

confuse the proceedings. The Supreme Court eventually 

upheld the penalty.5

 Recalling his four-month prison 

term, the Michigan lawyer said, “I think I have always 

been a champion of the underdog in our society and, if 

anything, that segregated prison life probably pushed me a 

little farther along the road.”6

 Crockett also argued before 

the Supreme Court on behalf of Eugene Dennis, the top 

defendant in the 1949 trial, for an earlier sentence for 

contempt of Congress and was one of the defense lawyers 

in the influential case Dennis v. United States, which 

upheld the convictions of the communist leaders and the 

constitutionality of the controversial Smith Act.7

During his career before Congress, Crockett established 

a solid civil rights record. He helped found Michigan’s 

first integrated law firm and organized the Mississippi 

Project to provide free legal services for civil rights workers 

imprisoned in Mississippi.8

 As a judge of the Recorder’s 

Court in Detroit from 1966 to 1978 and the presiding 

official of the court for the latter four years, Crockett often 

dispensed lenient sentences for defendants arrested in 

civil rights protests.9

 Of the belief that African-American 

judges should be the “conscience of the judiciary,” Crockett 

garnered national attention in 1969 when he released 

more than 100 members of a black separatist group after 

George William Crockett, Jr.

1909–1997

United States Representative H 1980–1991

Democrat from Michigan

������������������������������������������������������������������������

506 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
a violent encounter with the Detroit police.10 Crockett 

defended his actions by asking, “Can any of you imagine 

the Detroit police invading an all-white church and 

rounding up everyone in sight to be bused to a wholesale 

lockup in a police garage?”11 After retiring from the 

Recorder’s Court, he served as a visiting judge on the 

Michigan Court of Appeals and as corporation counsel 

for the City of Detroit.12

As a celebrated leader in Detroit’s black community, 

Crockett entered the race for the House seat left vacant 

by the resignation of Charles Diggs, Jr., in 1980. The 

overwhelmingly Democratic congressional district, 

entirely within the city limits of Detroit, encompassed 

the downtown commercial center. During his campaign 

Crockett promised to fight unemployment, improve health 

care and provide housing opportunities for the residents 

of Detroit.13 His integrity and civil rights record, along 

with the backing of Detroit Mayor Coleman Young and 

former Representative Diggs, helped Crockett secure 

the Democratic nomination with a 42 percent plurality 

in the crowded August primary.14 He went on to defeat 

his Republican opponent, Theodore Wallace, easily with 

92 percent of the vote in the 1980 special election to 

fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 96th Congress 

(1979–1981). He also trounced Republican M. Michael 

Hurd in the general election for the full term in the 97th 

Congress (1981–1983), again earning 92 percent of 

the vote.15 Crockett retained his House seat for another 

four terms, rarely facing any formidable challenge in 

the majority-black, inner-city district, except in his final 

primary run against future Representative Barbara-Rose 

Collins, when he collected only 51 percent of the vote.16

Sworn in to office on November 12, 1980, Crockett 

briefly served on the Small Business Committee before 

switching to the Judiciary Committee—a spot he retained 

from 1982 through the 101st Congress (1989–1991). 

He also served on the Select Committee on Aging from 

the 97th Congress until his retirement at the end of the 

101st Congress and on the Committee on Foreign Affairs 

for his entire congressional career. During the 100th and 

101st Congresses (1987–1991), Crockett chaired the 

Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Western Hemisphere 

Affairs, which oversaw United States policy in Latin 

America and the Caribbean. His appointment earned 

the disdain of some conservative groups that categorized 

Crockett as a security risk. “I’ve never collaborated with 

the Communist Party as such,” Crockett responded. 

“Admittedly, some of the positions I’ve taken, dictated by 

the U.S. Constitution, have coincided with desires and 

positions of the Communist Party, like supporting freedom 

of speech.”17 In his position as chairman of the Western 

Hemisphere subcommittee, the Detroit Representative 

strongly denounced President Ronald W. Reagan’s policy 

in the region, speaking out against the administration’s 

support of the contras in Nicaragua.18 He also participated 

in lawsuits against the President—for authorizing military 

aid to El Salvador and the American invasion of Grenada.19

Greatly interested in U.S. foreign policy, Crockett served 

as a member of the United States delegation to the 42nd 

General Assembly of the United Nations in 1987 and 

1988. He also traveled with a U.S. congressional delegation 

to the Inter-Parliamentary Conference in Havana, Cuba, 

in 1981 and to the Seventh U.N. Congress on Prevention 

of Crime meeting in Milan, Italy, in 1984.20

During his congressional tenure, Crockett rarely 

introduced any measures on the House Floor. The 

Michigan Representative explained, “We have enough 

legislation now to take care of just about every situation 

that arises, if we will just enforce it and apply it.”21 He 

did, on occasion, make exceptions to this practice. In 

1984, for instance, Crockett authored a resolution calling 

for the release of Nelson Mandela, the imprisoned South 

African leader; the Mandela Freedom Resolution went on 

to pass the House.22 Throughout his tenure in Congress, 

he remained a consistent critic of the apartheid regime and 

was arrested in 1984 for participating in a demonstration 

outside the South African Embassy.23

Only a few months after President George H. W. Bush 

proposed a more stringent antidrug policy in September 

1989, Crockett made headlines as the first Member of 

H George William Crockett, Jr. H

508 H Black Americans in Congress 
Congress to call for the decriminalization of drugs. The 

former judge, known for taking controversial positions, 

noted, “Our courts are burdened down with these drug 

cases and there is nothing we can do about it.” He went 

on to point out that federal money slotted for drug 

enforcement could be invested in programs to help his 

urban constituents and other impoverished Americans.24

In March 1990, at the age of 80, Crockett announced 

his intention to retire from the House: “After 68 years 

of working, I’m hoping to enjoy a little time off.” The 

Michigan Representative denied that his decision had been 

influenced by the prospect of another difficult primary 

race against Barbara-Rose Collins. “I’ve just gotten older 

and wiser,” he said.25 In his retirement Crockett continued 

his record of activism, joining the Detroit branch of the 

National Association for the Advancement of Colored 

People in its fight in 1996 to prevent the closing of the 

Detroit Recorder’s Court, the court where Crockett began 

his career as a judge.26 On September 7, 1997, Crockett 

died of complications from cancer and a stroke.27

For further reading

“Crockett, George William, Jr.,” Biographical Directory of 

the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000919. 

Manuscript Collections

Howard University (Washington, DC). Moorland–

Spingarn Research Center. Papers: 1980–1990, 

approximately 155 linear feet. The papers of 

George Crockett consist of speeches, photographs, 

correspondence, and other material documenting his 

legislative activities, particularly his service on the Select 

Committee on Aging, the Committee on Foreign Affairs, 

and the Judiciary Committee. An inventory is available in 

the repository.

Wayne State University (Detroit, MI). Walter P. Reuther 

Library Archives of Labor and Urban Affairs. Oral History: 

1968, 42 leaves. Oral history interview with George W. 

Crockett, Jr.

H George William Crockett, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 509
Notes

1 Iver Peterson, “Judge Caps Career in Race for House,” 10 August 

1980, New York Times: 25.

2 George Crockett, Jr., Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 10 

(Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1995); “People,” 13 August 

1981, Washington Post: DC4.

3 Kathleen E. Bethel, “George W. Crockett Jr.,” in Jessie Carney 

Smith, ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: 

Gale Research, Inc., 1999): 236 (hereinafter referred to as NBAM); 

Martin Weil, “Former Rep. George Crockett Jr., 88, Dies,” 9 

September 1997, Washington Post: B06.

4 Weil, “Former Rep. George Crockett Jr., 88, Dies.”

5 “11 Top Reds Found Guilty and Medina Jails Counsel,” 15 

October 1949, Washington Post: 1; Lewis Wood, “Top Court 

Upholds Contempt Jailing,” 11 March 1952, New York Times: 11.

6 Weil, “Former Rep. George Crockett Jr., 88, Dies.”

7 “Justices to Review Dennis’ Conviction,” 8 November 1949, New 

York Times: 14; Willard Edwards, “Court Upholds Prison Terms 

for 11 Top Reds,” 5 June 1951, Chicago Daily Tribune: 6. For more 

on the Supreme Court case, Dennis v. United States, see Kermit 

L. Hall, The Oxford Companion to the Supreme Court of the United 

States (New York: Oxford University Press, 1995): 225–226.

8 Bethel, “George W. Crockett Jr.,” NBAM; Bill McGraw, “Activist 

Crockett Fighting for Life; Retired Congressman Comatose After 

Stroke,” 5 September 1997, Detroit Free Press: 1A; Robert Mcg. 

Thomas, Jr., “George W. Crockett Dies at 88; Was a Civil Rights 

Crusader,” 15 September 1997, New York Times: B7.

9 Weil, “Former Rep. George Crockett Jr., 88, Dies.”

10 William K. Stevens, “Black Judges Becoming a Force in U.S. 

Justice,” 19 February 1974, New York Times: 1.

11 Jerry M. Flints, “Judge in Detroit Answers Critics,” 4 April 1969, 

New York Times: 18.

12 Bethel, “George W. Crockett Jr.,” NBAM.

13 Peterson, “Judge Caps Career in Race for House.” 

14 John Hyde, “13 Democrats Vie for Diggs’ Old Seat in Detroit 

Primary,” 4 August 1980, Washington Post: A1; Politics in America, 

1982 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1981): 610.

15 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Michael J. 

Dubin et al., United States Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., 1998): 714, 720.

16 Almanac of American Politics, 1990 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1989): 620.

17 Joanne Omang, “Rep. Crockett and the Volley From the Right,” 

10 February 1987, Washington Post: A19.

18 John Flesher, “Outspoken Liberal to Retire,” 28 March 1990, 

Associated Press.

19 Omang, “Rep. Crockett and the Volley From the Right”; Martin 

Tolchin, “45 in House Sue to Bar Bush From Acting Alone,” 

21 November 1990, New York Times: A11; Bethel, “George W. 

Crockett Jr.,” NBAM.

20 Bethel, “George W. Crockett Jr.,” NBAM.

21 Omang, “Rep. Crockett and the Volley From the Right”; “George 

W. Crockett, Jr., 88, Detroit Judge, Rights Activist,” 15 September 

1997, Chicago Tribune: 6N; Thomas, “George Crockett Dies at 88; 

Was a Civil Rights Crusader.”

22 Bethel, “George W. Crockett Jr.,” NBAM.

23 Ed Bruske, “Apartheid Foes Freed Without Arraignment,” 2 

December 1984, Washington Post: B1.

24 “Michigan’s Crockett First Congressman on Record for 

Decriminalization,” 17 December 1989, Associated Press; Thomas, 

“George Crockett Dies at 88; Was a Civil Rights Crusader”; 

Bernard Weinraub, “President Offers Strategy for U.S. on Drug 

Control,” 6 September 1989, New York Times: A1.

25 “Michigan Rep. Crockett to Retire,” 29 March 1990, Washington 

Post: A4.

26 “Civil Rights Veterans Coleman Young, and George Crockett, 

Jr. Join Detroit NAACP Campaign to Save Recorder’s Court,” 7 

October 1996, PR Newswire.

27 McGraw, “Activist Crockett Fighting for Life; Retired 

Congressman Comatose After Stroke”; Weil, “Former Rep. George 

Crockett Jr., 88, Dies.” 

H George William Crockett, Jr. H

510 H Black Americans in Congress
“If there’s one thing you 

learn in a place like this, 

it is patience,” Crockett 

wrote while serving a prison 

sentence for contempt of 

court as a result of his 

zealous representation of 

his clients’ civil rights in a 

contentious federal trial. 

“Time is always passing, and 

your time is bound to come.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 511
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

A Caribbean immigrant, a longtime member of the 

California legislature, and the first black elected to 

statewide office in California, Mervyn Dymally represented 

a southern Los Angeles County district in the U.S. House 

of Representatives for 12 years. Representative Dymally 

eventually served as a subcommittee chairman on the 

Foreign Affairs Committee, where he was an outspoken 

advocate for international human rights and economic 

development, particularly in Africa and the Caribbean. 

“I have an obligation as a Third World person. I make 

no excuses,” Dymally explained. “I do have a very keen 

interest in the Third World. We do not live in just 50 

states. We contribute significant sums of taxpayer money 

in the Third World.”1

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally was born on May 12, 

1926, in Cedros, Trinidad, in the British West Indies, 

to Hamid A. and Andreid S. (Richardson) Dymally. He 

attended Cedros Government School and graduated 

from St. Benedict and Naparima Secondary School in 

Trinidad in 1944. Dymally worked as a janitor and a labor 

organizer early in his career. He also worked as a reporter, 

covering labor issues for The Vanguard, a weekly newspaper 

published by the Oil Workers’ Trade Union. Inspired 

by the story of Booker T. Washington, Dymally arrived 

in the U.S. to study journalism at Lincoln University in 

Jefferson City, Missouri.2

 After a semester, he transferred 

to Chapman University in southern California. Dymally 

earned a B.A. in education from California State University 

in Los Angeles in 1954. After college, he taught students 

with exceptional needs for six years in Los Angeles. He 

earned an M.A. in government from California State 

University in Sacramento in 1969 and a Ph.D. in human 

behavior from the United States International University 

(now Alliant International University) in San Diego in 

1978. He married the former Alice M. Gueno, an educator 

from New Orleans, and they raised two children, Mark 

and Lynn. 

While a teacher, Dymally volunteered as a campaign 

worker and joined the California Young Democrats, where 

he served as state treasurer. In 1960, he worked for the 

Democratic National Convention in Los Angeles, where 

John F. Kennedy was chosen as the party’s presidential 

nominee. He later served as field coordinator for the 

Kennedy presidential campaign. 

Dymally’s political career began in 1962 when he 

won election to the California state assembly to succeed 

assemblyman Augustus (Gus) Hawkins (who had won 

a U.S. House seat) in a district representing southern 

Los Angeles County, becoming the first foreign-born 

black elected to the California legislature. Four years 

later, Dymally became the first black ever elected to the 

California senate. He chaired the senate Democratic 

caucus, three full committees on social welfare, military 

and veterans affairs, and elections and reapportionment, 

and the joint committee on legal equality for women, 

from which he authored the legislation that eventually 

resulted in the state’s ratification of the Equal Rights 

Amendment. He also was chairman of the California 

state black caucus. “I see politics as becoming the cutting 

edge in the entire civil rights movement,” Dymally told 

the Christian Science Monitor in a retrospective article on 

the Watts Riots of 1965.3

 In 1974, Dymally was elected 

lieutenant governor of California—becoming the first 

black elected to statewide office. His campaign focused 

on the state’s energy and environmental problems as well 

as on equal rights for women. “I’m not shying away from 

race questions, but neither am I running a campaign on 

black issues,” he noted during the contest.4

 He served in 

that capacity until 1979, heading the State Commission 

for Economic Development and the Commission of the 

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally

1926–

United States Representative H 1981–1993 

Democrat from California

������������������������������������������������������������������������

512 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
Californias. In his 1978 re-election bid, Dymally won just 

43 percent of the vote, losing to Republican candidate 

Mike Curb.

In 1980, Dymally entered the Democratic primary for 

a U.S. congressional district that encompassed suburbs 

in southern Los Angeles County: Gardena, Compton, 

Torrance, and Hawthorne. Representative Charles H. 

Wilson had represented the Democratic-leaning district 

for nearly two decades, with no serious opposition until 

the late 1970s. Wilson entered the primary while under 

investigation for “financial misconduct” stemming from 

his acceptance of a gift from businessman Tongsun Park, 

the center of the Koreagate scandal, which involved 

suspected influence buying in Congress by Korean 

business interests. (A week after the primary of June 3, 

1980, the House censured Wilson.5

) Joining the field 

of contenders was former U.S. Representative Mark W. 

Hannaford of California. Dymally had a core group of 

support among African-American voters, who accounted 

for about 36 percent of the district’s population. He also 

had backing from the political machine run by California 

Assemblyman Howard Berman and U.S. Representative 

Henry A. Waxman—two of his allies from his days in the 

state legislature.6

 With a large financial advantage over the 

other candidates, Dymally relied on a targeted mass mailing 

campaign. In the Democratic primary, he received 51 

percent of the vote while Hannaford and Wilson received 

just 25 and 16 percent, respectively. In the general election, 

Dymally won handily over Republican candidate Don 

Grimshaw, capturing 64 percent of the vote.7

One of the most ethnically and culturally diverse 

localities in California, the district remained heavily 

Democratic (more than 70 percent by the end of the 

1980s), though its borders changed due to reapportionment 

during Dymally’s 12 years in office. By 1992, it included 

large portions of Watts, Carson, and Wilmington in 

addition to Compton and Lynwood. Also, the district was 

one of the poorest in the state, with seven housing projects.8

In his subsequent five re-election campaigns Dymally 

prevailed easily, with 70 percent or more of the vote.9

When Dymally took his seat in the House in January 

1981, he won assignments on the Foreign Affairs, District 

of Columbia, and Science and Technology committees. 

In the 99th Congress (1983–1985), Dymally left his post 

on Science and Technology for a seat on the Post Office 

and Civil Service Committee. He served on that panel, 

Foreign Affairs, and the District of Columbia until he 

retired in 1993. For a single term in the 99th Congress 

(1985–1987), Dymally also served on the Education and 

Labor Committee. In the 100th Congress (1987–1989), 

he chaired the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

As chairman of the Foreign Affairs Subcommittee 

on International Operations, Dymally became a 

leading spokesperson on human rights and economic 

development, particularly in Africa, the Middle East, and 

the Caribbean. He was an outspoken critic of apartheid

in South Africa and advocated imposing sanctions against 

the minority-white government. Dymally also emphasized 

the necessity of economic development. As a member of 

the Subcommittee on Africa, Dymally made numerous 

trips to Africa and pushed the committee to focus on a 

wider spectrum of issues from “human relations to trade.” 

He observed, “Most African countries are moving toward 

democracy; human rights belongs to a subcommittee on 

human rights; and there is an absence of trade between 

Africa and African Americans, in particular, and America, 

in general. We’ve been building up a network and trying 

to convince Africans about the importance of trade. It is 

proper to want to get Africans out of jail. But, I want to get 

them out of poverty, too.”10

Dymally’s interest in human rights extended to other 

parts of the globe as well. Having emigrated from the 

Caribbean, Representative Dymally was sensitive to 

political, economic, and immigrant concerns affecting 

countries in the Caribbean Basin. He was an advocate for 

Haitian immigrants in the United States, explaining, “The 

Haitian system is very oppressive . . . The taking of a life 

is like pouring a cup of coffee. Poor people have no rights 

at all.”11 He was critical of the Soviet Union (for refusing 

to allow Russian Jews to emigrate to Israel), of Israel (for 

H Mervyn Malcolm Dymally H

514 H Black Americans in Congress 
continuing its trade with South Africa and suppressing 

Palestinian protest efforts in the West Bank and Gaza 

Strip), and of Iran’s fundamentalist Islamic government 

(for engaging in bellicose rhetoric aimed at Israel). 

Dymally was also a steadfast supporter of Palestinian selfdetermination, advocating the creation of a Palestinian 

state on the West Bank. Dymally weighed in on many 

internal political practices in developing countries from 

Zaire to Micronesia and, in the 1980s, was critical of 

U.S. aid to authoritarian regimes in Latin America, and 

particularly the Nicaraguan contras.

As a member of the District of Columbia and the Post 

Office and Civil Service committees, and as chairman of 

the CBC, Dymally consistently spoke about the minority 

issues that were important to his urban constituency. 

He chaired the District of Columbia’s Subcommittee on 

Judiciary and Education and supported statehood for the 

majority-black city and increased funding for education 

programs for minorities. Representative Dymally was 

also an advocate for blue-collar Capitol Hill workers and 

staff, many of whom were African American. He backed 

an increase in federal contracts for minority businesses, 

including those that leased federal lands for oil and gas 

development. He served briefly as chairman of the Post 

Office and Civil Service Committee’s Subcommittee on 

Census and Population, advocating an upward adjustment 

of the 1990 Census figures to compensate for projected 

undercounts in urban districts with large African-American 

and Hispanic populations. This issue was significant 

because federal aid was allocated partially on the basis 

of the census.

Dymally’s reputation in Congress—and his portrayal 

by the media—was sometimes that of a brash and 

blunt insider. “Merv builds a lot of good will,” said his 

friend Representative Julian Dixon, who represented 

a neighboring Los Angeles district, “but he certainly 

has his controversial side.” Dixon added that Dymally’s 

legacy was his role as “a mentor, responsible, in part, for 

a lot of elected people in the black community.”12 He 

received some criticism in his district for being aloof 

and seemingly more interested in affairs overseas than 

in South Los Angeles. Dymally argued that the Reagan 

administration’s emphasis on slashing entitlement 

programs in the 1980s, had been exceedingly difficult 

for urban districts and the Members who represented 

them. “It’s a very serious dilemma. How do you get 

help for your constituents?” Dymally asked. “You have 

to measure the worth of a congressman in the context 

of the administration’s cuts in services.”13 Of his more 

controversial legislative positions Dymally said, “I do not 

seek to be popular. I seek to be right.”14

In February 1992, Dymally announced that he would 

retire from the U.S. House at the end of the 102nd 

Congress in January 1993. “I did not get elected to stay 

in office forever,” Dymally remarked. “I have no regrets. 

The people have supported me. They have permitted me 

to be independent and even wrong sometimes.”15 Though 

he endorsed his daughter, Lynn, to succeed him, Compton 

Mayor Walter R. Tucker III won the Democratic primary 

and easily prevailed in the general election for Dymally’s 

vacant seat. 

In his retirement, Dymally worked as a foreign affairs 

consultant for Caribbean, African, and Asian interests. In 

2002, he was elected to the California state assembly to 

represent a district that encompassed South Los Angeles 

and the cities of Compton, Paramount, and Long Beach. 

He topped his closest opponent, Paramount Mayor Diane 

J. Martinez, by a 2 to 1 margin in a race that ran counter 

to electoral trends favoring Hispanic over black candidates 

in California’s urban areas.16 Dymally’s peers elected him 

chairman of the assembly’s Democratic study group, which 

develops and promotes progressive legislation. 

H Mervyn Malcolm Dymally H

former members | 1971–2007 H 515
For further reading

“Dymally, Mervyn Malcolm,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=D000592.

Manuscript Collections

California State University (Los Angeles, CA). Special 

Collections, University Library. Papers: ca. 1962–1993, 

approximately 440 linear feet. The papers of Mervyn 

Malcolm Dymally document his service in the U.S. 

House of Representatives, the California state assembly, 

California state senate, and his tenure as lieutenant 

governor of California.

University of California (Los Angeles, CA). Oral History 

Program. Oral History: 1996–1997, three volumes. Oral 

history interviews with Mervyn Dymally conducted by 

Elston L. Carr between 1996 and 1997. In the interviews, 

Representative Dymally discusses his family background 

and education, his decision to move to California, the lack 

of opportunities for blacks to become politically active, and 

his joining the American Federation of Teachers. Dymally 

also discusses gaining support in the 1962 campaign 

for the 53rd Assembly District, the impact of the Watts 

Riots, running for the 29th senate district seat in 1966, 

legislation to teach black history in public schools (Early 

Childhood Education Act and the California Fair Plan), 

prison reform, and 1965 reapportionment. The interview 

continues with events leading to Dymally’s decision to run 

for lieutenant governor in 1974, endorse Jerry Brown for 

President in 1976, and run for a seat in the U.S. House 

of Representatives after his loss for a second term as 

lieutenant governor in 1978, as well as issues he focused on 

during his tenure in the U.S. House and the reasons for his 

decision to leave Congress in 1992 after 12 years of service.

Notes

1 Jeffrey L. Rabin, “Outspoken Dymally Favored to Win Re-Election 

to Congress,” 6 October 1988, Los Angeles Times: Metro 8.

2 A. S. Young, “An Interview With Dymally,” 29 January 1992, Los 

Angeles Sentinel: 7.

3 Curtis J. Sitomer, “Watts . . . Six Years Later: Optimism Vies With 

Despair,” 3 February 1972, Christian Science Monitor: 1.

4 Albert R. Hunt, “The New Black Pragmatism,” 23 May 1974, Wall 

Street Journal: 14.

5 For more on the House reprimand of Wilson, see the Committee 

on Standards of Official Conduct historical database, available at 

http://www.house.gov/ethics/Historical_Chart_Final_Version.htm 

(accessed 4 December 2007).

6 Politics in America, 1982 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1981): 156.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

8 Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Press, 1989): 189; Tina Griego, “Stormy Race for 37th 

District Seat Steals the Thunder,” 31 May 1992, Los Angeles Times: 

J1.

9 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Politics in 

America, 1990: 189.

10 A. S. Young, “Dymally Interview, II,” 12 February 1992, Los 

Angeles Sentinel: 7.

11 Young, “Dymally Interview, II.” 

12 Tina Griego, “Dymally to Retire; Blazed Path for Blacks in 

Politics,” 11 February 1992, Los Angeles Times: B1.

13 Rabin, “Outspoken Dymally Favored to Win Re-Election to 

Congress.”

14 Ibid.

15 Griego, “Dymally to Retire; Blazed Path for Blacks in Politics.”

16 “Mervyn Dymally Wins Calif. Assembly Seat in Political 

Comeback,” 25 March 2002, Jet: 7.

H Mervyn Malcolm Dymally H

516 H Black Americans in Congress
“I have an obligation as a 

Third World person. 

I make no excuses,” Dymally 

explained. “I do have a very 

keen interest in the Third 

World. We do not live in 

just 50 states.” 

former members | 1971–2007 H 517
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Congressional Pictorial Directory, 101st Congress

Gus Savage ascended to Congress as an outsider 

to elective politics. A veteran civil rights activist 

and pioneer African-American journalist, he used his 

strong community ties to earn a seat in the U.S. House 

from South Chicago. During his 12 years in Congress, 

Savage’s flamboyant personality and militant approach 

to highlighting racial inequalities in his district and 

around the nation made headlines and often provoked 

controversy.1

 “I value my independence,” Savage avowed. 

“And I view struggle as desirable. I don’t crave acceptance. I 

march to my own tune. If the machine doesn’t like it, that’s 

tough. If my colleagues don’t like it, that’s also tough.”2

Born in Detroit, Michigan, on October 30, 1925, 

Gus Savage moved to the South Side of Chicago with 

his family at age five.3

 He attended public schools in 

Chicago, graduating from Wendell Phillips High School 

in 1943. Savage served in a segregated unit of the U.S. 

Army from 1943 to 1946; the racial discrimination he 

witnessed contributed to his future radicalism.4

 After he 

completed a tour of duty in World War II, Savage attended 

Roosevelt University in Chicago, where he earned a B.A. 

in philosophy in 1951. Enrolled in Chicago-Kent College 

of Law during 1952 and 1953, he changed his career to 

journalism in 1954 and later edited and published Citizen 

Newspapers, a chain of independent weekly newspapers 

based in Chicago.5

 Savage married Eunice King on August 

4, 1946. The couple had two children: Thomas James and 

Emma Mae. Savage’s wife died of lung cancer in 1981, and 

he never remarried.6

A lifelong civil rights advocate, Savage fought against 

discrimination in housing, employment, and labor 

unions. In the 1960s he chaired Chicago’s South End 

Voters Conference and the Protest at the Polls. Savage also 

served as the campaign manager for the Midwest League 

of Negro Voters.7

 Savage organized and participated in a 

series of protests, including one against the National Tea 

Co. (an advertiser in his newspapers) to draw attention to 

the company’s poor record on minority hiring practices.8

He also played an important role in publicizing the 

brutal murder of Emmett Till by printing a photograph 

of the body of the 14-year-old African-American boy 

from Chicago who was killed in Mississippi for allegedly 

whistling at a white woman. The shocking photographs 

of the boy’s dead body, first published by Savage in The

American Negro: A Magazine of Protest, as well as Jet and 

the Chicago Defender, caused a public outcry.9

Savage entered political life in 1948 as a Progressive 

Party organizer for former Vice President Henry A. 

Wallace’s presidential campaign against the incumbent, 

Harry S. Truman.10 The future Representative became 

involved in local politics as an outspoken critic of Mayor 

Richard J. Daley and the Chicago machine. Beginning 

in the 1960s, Savage used his newspapers to express his 

discontent with the white power structure that dominated 

the city during much of the 20th century. Not satisfied 

with watching from the sidelines, he made five unsuccessful 

bids for elective office at the local and the national levels 

before eventually earning a seat in Congress.11 Savage 

entered two Democratic primaries for one of Chicago’s 

U.S. House seats; in 1968 he lost to five-term incumbent 

William T. Murphy, and in 1970 he lost to the machinebacked candidate, Morgan Murphy, Jr.12

When Representative Morgan Murphy announced 

his retirement in December 1979, Savage joined the race 

to succeed him. Created in 1971, the predominantly 

African-American working-class congressional district 

formed a U-shape that encompassed much of Chicago’s 

far South Side, several suburban neighborhoods, and the 

industrial section surrounding Lake Calumet.13 In the 

Democratic primary, Savage faced the machine candidate, 

Gus Savage

1925–

United States Representative H 1981–1993

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������

518 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
Reginald Brown, who was the principal of the Chicago 

Vocational School, in addition to Leon Davis and Robert 

Unger.14 Throughout the campaign, Savage emphasized his 

reputation as an independent politician and an alternative 

to the Chicago machine. After winning the primary by 

earning 45 percent of the vote, Savage commented, “All 

those years, you see, the machine was getting weaker, and 

I was getting stronger.”15 In the general election, Savage 

trounced his Republican opponent, Marsha Harris, a 

25-year-old registered nurse, garnering 88 percent of 

the vote to become the district’s first African-American 

Representative.16 “For 32 years, some battles I’ve won and 

some I’ve lost,” Savage remarked after the election. “But 

those who know me know my objective in life has never 

been personal; so my satisfaction now is not personal.” He 

joined two other black politicians from Chicago in the 

97th Congress (1981–1983)—Cardiss Collins and Harold 

Washington; it was the first time three African Americans 

represented Chicago simultaneously and an indication of 

the growing influence of Chicago’s black community.17

Savage became a Member of Congress on January 3, 

1981. He later observed that he viewed his election to 

the House as “a vehicle to effect change.”18 During his six 

terms he served on the Post Office and Civil Service, Public 

Works and Transportation, and Small Business committees. 

Savage chaired the Public Works and Transportation 

Subcommittee on Economic Development during the 

101st and 102nd Congresses (1989–1993).

Savage’s primary concerns as a Representative focused on 

advancing the rights of African Americans and improving 

conditions in his Chicago district. In 1986 he sponsored 

an amendment to the National Defense Authorization 

Act for Fiscal Year 1987. A major legislative triumph, the 

amendment imposed the largest federal contract set-aside 

program in history on all military procurements, providing 

a possible $25 billion for minority-owned and -controlled 

businesses and institutions and historically black colleges. 

“I would only remind our colleagues that our great Nation, 

America, was founded on an impossible dream, and 

America was built by doing the improbable,” Savage had 

proclaimed, attempting to persuade the House to back his 

measure. “Do not limit your goal to the attainable; set your 

goal at what is right.”19 In 1988 he sponsored legislation to 

build a new federal office building in his district and urged 

the use of minority contractors for the expensive project.20

Savage also sponsored measures to reduce home mortgages 

in poor communities and fought to curb toxic pollution 

in his Chicago district.21

Savage used his position in the House to highlight 

issues he believed harmed African Americans. The 

Chicago Representative joined his Congressional Black 

Caucus (CBC) colleagues in blasting President Ronald W. 

Reagan’s economic agenda during the 1980s: “Reagan is a 

reverse Robin Hood, robbing the poor and giving to the 

rich,” Savage quipped, referring to a 1981 administration 

proposal that included tax cuts for wealthy Americans 

and decreased federal spending for programs to assist the 

poor.22 He also found fault with much of the President’s 

foreign policy, including the U.S. invasion of Grenada.23

The Illinois Representative favored military cuts for 

programs such as the Strategic Defense Initiative—a 

space-based missile defense system touted by the Reagan 

administration—and called for a reduction of the armed 

forces. “I don’t want to take young men into the Army 

to train them to kill,” he said. “I’d rather we send them 

to college to train them to heal.”24 A proponent of 

increased American attention on Africa, Savage toured the 

continent on several occasions, including congressional 

visits to Zimbabwe, South Africa, Zaire, Somalia, Angola, 

and Kenya.25

One of the more outspoken Members of the House, 

Savage often lashed out against Congress’s record on civil 

rights, accusing the government of applying many “BandAids and salves” but failing to succeed in the “liberation 

of black people.”26 He also provoked anger from some 

for implying that the U.S. was excessively concerned 

with Israeli interests because of a strong Jewish lobbying 

presence. One of only three Members of the House who 

voted against a resolution requesting the United States 

to withhold funds from the United Nations if Israel 

H Gus Savage H

520 H Black Americans in Congress 
was barred from participating in General Assembly 

proceedings, Savage declared, “the powerful Zionist 

lobby in this country must understand that it can no 

longer dictate to every member of Congress.”27 Savage 

also found his actions scrutinized on several occasions, 

including a confrontation with the District of Columbia 

police involving a traffic violation committed by his son, 

an investigation by the Federal Election Commission of 

incomplete financial reports for his campaign, and his 

congressional attendance and voting records.28 In 1989, the 

House Ethics Committee, chaired by Savage’s fellow CBC 

member Julian Dixon of California, investigated allegations 

of sexual misconduct involving a Peace Corps volunteer 

while he was on an official congressional visit to Zaire. The 

subsequent public report condemned the Representative’s 

behavior but did not recommend punishment, citing 

Savage’s effort to apologize to the volunteer.29 Covered 

widely by the media, the incident soured an already-volatile 

relationship between Savage and the press. Questioned by 

reporters, Savage said the “white racist” press had attacked 

him unfairly, asserting, “Black leadership is under attack 

in this county, and I’m the No. 1 target.”30 Savage 

granted few interviews as a Representative, preferring 

to disseminate information about his House record 

through his weekly newsletter.

Unable to capitalize on his status as an incumbent, 

Savage had many competitive primary races during his 

career and never received more than 52 percent of the 

vote.31 In three successive primaries he was opposed by 

Mel Reynolds, a former Rhodes Scholar and a South Side 

professor. However, Savage had the advantage of running 

against multiple contenders until his final primary election 

on March 17, 1992, in which he faced only Reynolds.32

Redistricting, in addition to the intense rivalry between 

the two candidates, complicated Savage’s bid for a seventh 

term in the House. The district’s redrawn boundaries 

encompassed more suburban neighborhoods, which 

ultimately aided Reynolds by depriving Savage of some 

of his most loyal urban voting base.33 Savage lost by an 

unexpectedly wide margin of 63 to 37 percent.34 In his 

concession speech, he stated, “I have tried to serve as best 

as I know how.”35 Savage resides in Washington, DC.

H Gus Savage H

former members | 1971–2007 H 521
For further reading

“Savage, Gus,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, 

1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=S000081. 

Manuscript Collection

The HistoryMakers (Chicago, IL). Oral History: 2001, 

six Betacam SP videocassettes and one half-document box 

containing accompanying materials. Interview with Gus 

Savage conducted by Julieanna Richardson on April 26, 

2001, in Washington, DC. 

Notes

1 Richard Wolf, “Congressman Again in Eye of the Storm,” 10 

March 1992, USA Today: 2A.

2 Jeffrey M. Elliot, ed., Black Voices in American Politics (New York: 

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986): 8.

3 Frank James, “Behind the ‘Scenes’: Who Is Gus Savage and Why 

Does a Ruckus Follow Him Wherever He Goes?” 31 July 1989, 

Chicago Tribune: 1C; Elliot, Black Voices in American Politics: 3.

4 James, “Behind the ‘Scenes’: Who Is Gus Savage and Why Does a 

Ruckus Follow Him Wherever He Goes?”

5 “Gus Savage,” 1992 Associated Press Candidate Biographies.

6 “Rep. Savage’s Wife Dies of Lung Cancer,” 24 February 1981, 

Chicago Tribune: A7.

7 Gary Rivlin, Fire on the Prairie: Chicago’s Harold Washington and the 

Politics of Race (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1992): 51. 

8 James, “Behind the ‘Scenes’: Who Is Gus Savage and Why Does a 

Ruckus Follow Him Wherever He Goes?” For a brief summary of 

Savage’s involvement in the civil rights movement see, Elliot, Black 

Voices in American Politics: 4–5.

9 John Bachtell, “From the Emmett Till Case to the Election of 

Harold Washington; Arlene Brigham; Foot Soldier for Equality,” 

13 August–19 August 2005, People’s Weekly World: 10; Michael 

McQueen, “Rep. Savage’s Controversial Style, Values Face Critical 

Test in Tough Democratic Race,” 15 March 1990, Wall Street 

Journal: A16; Sheila Dewan, “How Photos Became Icon of Civil 

Rights Movement,” 28 August 2005, New York Times: 12.

10 James, “Behind the ‘Scenes’: Who Is Gus Savage and Why Does a 

Ruckus Follow Him Wherever He Goes?”

11 George de Lama, “Gus Savage Wins; City Puts Three Blacks in 

House,” 5 November 1980, Chicago Tribune: C1.

12 “William Murphy, Congressman From Illinois for 12 Years,” 1 

February 1978, Washington Post: C4; Michael Killian, “Savage 

Courts Whites in 3d District Primary,” 1 March 1979, Chicago 

Tribune: SCL5.

H Gus Savage H

522 H Black Americans in Congress 
13 Michael Arndt, “Rep. Savage Draws Crowd of Opponents for 

Primary,” 26 February 1986, Chicago Tribune: 1C; “Gus Savage,” 

Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1989): 420.

14 David Axelrod, “Contests Heat up on S. Side for Two Seats in U.S. 

House,” 17 January 1980, Chicago Tribune: W_A3.

15 Jeff Lyon, “Savage to Fight on the Inside for a Change,” 24 March 

1980, Chicago Tribune: 5.

16 “Election Information, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; De Lama, “Gus 

Savage Wins; City Puts Three Blacks in House”; “Our Choices for 

Congress,” 23 October 1980, Chicago Tribune: B2.

17 De Lama, “Gus Savage Wins; City Puts Three Blacks in House.”

18 Elliot, Black Voices in American Politics: 8.

19 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 2nd sess. (14 August 

1986): 21718.

20 John Gorman, “Loop to Get Third Federal Office Building in ’91,” 

30 December 1988, Chicago Tribune: 1C; “Rep. Savage Urges 

Minority Contracting,” 26 April 1988, Chicago Tribune: 4C.

21 Elliot, Black Voices in American Politics: 4, 11.

22 Robert Shepard, 19 February 1981, United Press International.

23 Howard Kurtz, “Black Legislators Seek Withdrawal of American 

Forces From Grenada,” 29 October 1983, Washington Post: A7.

24 Tom Brune and Michael Briggs, “Past Troubles Shape Savage, 

Reynolds Race,” 3 March 1992, Chicago Sun-Times: 8.

25 “Congressional Delegation Heading to Africa,” 4 August 1981, 

Associated Press.

26 Juan Williams, “Lawmaker Tells Muslims Congress Isn’t Liberator,” 

24 February 1985, Washington Post: A5.

27 Mike Robinson, “Savage Condemns ‘Zionist Lobby,’” 12 May 

1982, Associated Press.

28 Robert Davis, “Rep. Savage Familiar With Controversy,” 20 July 

1989, Chicago Tribune: 11C. In a published interview with Jeffrey 

Elliot, Savage responded to criticism concerning his sporadic 

voting record: “I’m one of the hardest-working, most able, and 

loyal servants of the people in Washington. I believe that members 

should be judged more by how they vote than merely by the 

number of times they vote.” See Elliot, Black Voices in American 

Politics: 10.

29 See House Report No. 101-397, 101st Cong., 2nd sess. (1990); 

and the historical summary on the Committee on Standards 

of Official Conduct Web page: http://www.house.gov/ethics/

Historical_Chart_Final_Version.htm (accessed 11 March 2008). See 

also Holmes, “Panel Is Critical of Representative.” According to 

one newspaper account, Representative Savage denied ever writing 

a letter of apology. See Susan F. Rasky, “Congressman in Sex Case 

Bitterly Attacks Critics,” 2 February 1990, New York Times: A15.

30 David Dahl, “Savage Lashes Out at Media,” 27 June 1991, St. 

Petersburg Times (Florida): 10A; for more detail on Savage’s rocky 

relationship with the press, see Elliot, Black Voices in American 

Politics: 14–16.

31 Politics in America, 1992 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1991): 360–361.

32 Steve Neal, “Reynolds Is Upbeat About His Third Race,” 3 January 

1992, Chicago Sun-Times: 25.

33 Neal, “Reynolds Is Upbeat About His Third Race”; Craig 

Winneker, “Reynolds Whips Savage on 3rd Try, 63-37%; Shooting 

May Have Helped,” 19 March 1992, Roll Call; Carol M. Swain, 

Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation of African Americans 

in Congress (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1995): 

66–67.

34 Winneker, “Reynolds Whips Savage on 3rd Try, 63-37%.”

35 Ibid; Robert A. Davis and Tom Cruze, “Savage Loses to Reynolds; 

Hayes, Rush Tight; Rosty, Lipinski Win,” 18 March 1992, Chicago 

Sun-Times: 6.

H Gus Savage H

former members | 1971–2007 H 523
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Moorland–Spingarn Research Center, Howard University 

Born and raised in a political family, Harold 

Washington converted his early access to prominent 

lawmakers and the local government structure into a 

memorable career as a Chicago politician. Like his early 

mentor Representative Ralph Metcalfe, Washington 

ascended the ranks of the powerful Chicago political 

machine, only to break with the organization later because 

he resented the lack of independence and power he 

experienced as a black politician.1

 Washington abandoned 

an outwardly safe congressional seat after winning a second 

term in the U.S. House in order to run for mayor of 

Chicago, and he made history when he became the first 

African American to hold the influential elective position. 

“The reason my face and my name are known all over is 

because of the history of the Chicago political machine 

and the movement that brought it down,” Washington 

remarked. “I just happened to be there at the right time 

to capitalize on it.”2

Harold Washington was born on April 15, 1922, in 

Chicago, Illinois. His mother, Bertha Price, left his father, 

Roy Lee Washington, a minister, lawyer, and Democratic 

politician, and her four children when Harold was a 

toddler.3

 After his parents divorced in 1928, Washington 

lived with his father, who married Arlene Jackson, an area 

schoolteacher, in 1935.4

 Roy Washington’s connections 

with the influential black Democrats in Chicago, forged 

while he was a precinct captain in the predominantly black 

South Side, provided his son with many political contacts. 

Accompanying his father to political rallies and meetings, 

Washington learned about Chicago politics by observing 

future Representative Arthur Mitchell, William Dawson, 

and Ralph Metcalfe.5

 Harold Washington attended 

Forrestville School and DuSable High School in Chicago 

before dropping out to work in a meat-packing factory. 

Interested in athletics, he competed as an amateur boxer 

and a hurdler.6

 In 1941, Washington married Dorothy 

Finch. The couple had no children and divorced in 1951.7

Drafted into the military in 1942, Washington served with 

the U.S. Air Force Engineers in the Pacific until 1946. 

After World War II, he attended Roosevelt University 

in Chicago, one of the few integrated universities in the 

nation. During his senior year he was class president—the 

first elective position of his career. After earning a B.A. in 

political science in 1949, he went on to receive a J.D. from 

Northwestern University’s School of Law in 1952, joining 

his father in a private law practice in Chicago once he 

passed the bar in 1953.8

When Roy Washington died in 1953, Harold 

Washington succeeded him as a precinct captain in 

the Third Ward regular Democratic organization in 

1954. He also continued practicing law, joining the city 

corporation counsel’s office as an assistant prosecutor 

from 1954 to 1958. Beginning in 1960, he served for 

four years as an arbitrator for the Illinois Industrial 

Commission.9

 Washington bolstered his political 

experience and credentials by serving in the Illinois 

state house of representatives from 1965 to 1976 and in 

the Illinois state senate from 1976 to 1980.10 As a state 

legislator, Washington revealed an independent streak 

that foreshadowed his eventual rift with the Chicago 

machine. Although he often followed the “idiot card”—the 

derogatory name for the voting instructions assembled 

for machine candidates, Washington defied organization 

leaders on occasion, backing liberal agendas such as the 

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), a fair housing code, 

and the establishment of a statewide holiday honoring 

civil rights leader Martin Luther King, Jr.11 Despite some 

legal problems—Washington spent a month in jail on a 

1971 conviction for failure to file income tax returns—he 

managed to maintain political viability.12

Harold Washington

1922–1987

United States Representative H 1981–1983

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������

524 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Harold Washington H

In 1977, Washington entered the special primary 

held to replace Chicago Mayor Richard J. Daley after his 

sudden death. Aggravated by the Democratic organization, 

which he believed stifled independent black politicians,

Washington decided to challenge the machine-backed 

candidate, Michael Bilandic, for the Democratic mayoral 

nomination. Unable to raise sufficient funds, he focused 

much of his attention on Chicago’s South Side. During 

the campaign, he likened the city’s black population to a 

“sleeping giant,” predicting that if “the potential black vote 

ever woke up, we’d control the city.”13 Washington finished 

a distant third, with only 11 percent of the vote, in a field 

of four contenders.14 Unapologetic after his failed mayoral 

bid, Washington went on the offensive, promising voters 

that his split with the machine would be permanent. “I’m 

going to do that which maybe I should have done 10 or 

12 years ago,” Washington exclaimed. “I’m going to stay 

outside that damned Democratic Party and give it hell.”15

True to his word, Washington jumped at the chance to 

challenge freshman Representative Bennett Stewart, the 

machine incumbent in the 1980 Democratic primary for 

Chicago’s South Side seat in the House. Well known in 

the majority-black district, which included middle-class 

and poor neighborhoods running southward along Lake 

Michigan as well as the downtown commercial Loop, 

Washington emphasized his independence from City 

Hall during his campaign.16 Garnering nearly 50 percent 

of the vote in the primary, Washington defeated Stewart, 

who placed third in a field of four candidates including 

Ralph Metcalfe, Jr. (the son of the late Representative).17

In the November general election, Washington trounced 

his Republican opponent, George Williams, securing 

95 percent of the vote and earning a seat in the 97th 

Congress (1981–1983).18 Sworn in on January 3, 1981, 

Washington received assignments on three favorable 

committees: Education and Labor, Judiciary, and 

Government Operations. 

The sixth in a succession of African-American 

Representatives from his inner-city district, beginning with 

Oscar De Priest’s election in 1928, Washington differed 

from his predecessors in that he lacked the backing of the 

Chicago political machine.19 At the Capitol, Washington 

continued his anti-machine posture. Of the 30 freshman 

Members who held positions in their respective state 

legislatures, the Chicago native was the only one who 

refused to resign his seat in the statehouse.20 Furious 

with Chicago Mayor Jane Byrne, who inherited the 

Daley machine and intended to replace him with a party 

regular from her personal staff, Washington protested 

for several weeks before ultimately relinquishing his 

position. Conceding “I must go about my business in 

Congress,” Washington nonetheless took the opportunity 

to criticize the machine organization, declaring, “I was 

elected to Congress because the people are sick and tired 

of downtown bosses who want to handpick individuals 

to control our political lives.”21

Elected to office at the same time as President Ronald 

W. Reagan, Washington spent much of his short tenure on 

Capitol Hill attacking the President’s proposed spending 

cuts for social programs and his supply-side economic 

plan. Fearful that reduced funding for initiatives such 

as college financial aid would hinder many of his urban 

constituents who relied upon federal assistance, the 

South Side Representative deemed such cuts “unfairly 

targeted,” and predicted that diminished accessibility to 

a college education would have a detrimental effect on 

the economy.22 Washington repeatedly condemned the 

administration’s budget and tax proposals, convinced they 

would help rich Americans at the expense of the poor, such 

as those residing in his district, and he urged his colleagues 

to reject proposals “to balance the budget on the backs 

of the poor.”23 During the 1981 budget reconciliation 

process, rather than agree to a proposal by the Education 

and Labor Committee to cut $11.7 billion from student 

aid, employment training, and child nutrition programs, 

Washington voted “present.” Washington also disagreed 

with much of the President’s foreign policy, especially the 

increased production of nuclear weapons, the emphasis 

on defense spending, and U.S. military intervention in 

Central America.24

526 H Black Americans in Congress 
Washington’s most enduring influence as a 

Representative was his commitment to civil rights. 

Unlike many freshman Members, who lacked extensive 

legislative experience, Washington had a long career in 

local and state government, which paved the way for his 

prominent role in the effort to extend the provisions of 

the 1965 Federal Voting Rights Act. The Congressional 

Black Caucus (CBC), which Washington labeled “the one 

forum by which black leaders can speak to the nation,” 

chose the Illinois Representative as its floor manager for 

the significant legislation.25 As the CBC’s representative 

and a member of the Judiciary Committee, Washington 

helped negotiate an extension of sections of the 1965 

Voting Rights Act that disallowed jurisdictions with a 

history of voting rights abuses from using “bail-out” 

provisions to avoid inclusion under the measure.26

During his time in the House, Washington denounced 

proposals to weaken the enforcement of affirmative action 

and reiterated one of his positions as an Illinois state 

legislator: endorsement of the Equal Rights Amendment 

(ERA).27 After the defeat of the ERA, he expressed regret 

and blamed the Reagan administration for its failed 

ratification. “To me, the ERA is a nondebatable issue,” 

Washington noted. “Black people have suffered from 

discrimination, degradation, and inequality in all areas 

of life. So, on this issue of peoples’ rights, it is easy to 

identify with the inequities women are facing.”28

Concerned that Mayor Byrne and other local machine 

leaders would launch a significant challenge to his 

re-election bid, Washington spent considerable time 

campaigning in Chicago during his first term.29 But despite 

his apprehension, he ran unopposed in the Democratic 

primary and easily won a second term in the House, 

garnering 97 percent of the vote in the general election.30

Shortly after his victory in November 1982, 

Washington announced his candidacy for mayor of 

Chicago. Approached by several African-American groups 

interested in fielding a strong black candidate to oppose 

Byrne, Washington, who was content with his position in 

Congress, agreed to run only after a campaign to register 

voters added more than 100,000 blacks to Chicago’s 

rolls.31 Throughout his campaign in the Democratic 

primary against the incumbent mayor and Richard M. 

Daley, the son of the late former mayor, Washington used 

a grass-roots approach, emphasizing his anti-machine 

record, especially when courting African-American voters. 

“It’s our turn,” Washington said repeatedly. “We’re not 

going to apologize for it and we’re not going to waste 

a lot of time explaining it. It’s our turn—that’s all.”32

Drastically outspent by both his opponents, Washington 

nonetheless stunned the nation by emerging victorious 

in the competitive Democratic primary, which boasted 

its largest turnout in 25 years—bolstered by thousands 

of newly registered black voters.33 In the general election, 

Washington narrowly defeated former Illinois state 

legislator Republican Bernard Epton to become Chicago’s 

first African-American mayor. Aware of the magnitude 

of his victory, Washington commented shortly after his 

election that “the whole Nation was watching and Chicago 

sent a profound message out of the crucible of our city’s 

most trying election.”34 On April 30, 1983, a little 

more than two weeks after the election, he resigned his 

House seat.35

Washington struggled to reform the Chicago political 

scene, but he eventually experienced some success in 

weakening the power of the machine. Seven months 

after winning election to a second term, Washington 

died suddenly of a heart attack on November 25, 1987.36

“Losing our mayor is like losing a black folk hero,” noted 

a Chicago constituent. Even the Chicago Tribune, which 

had at times criticized Mayor Washington, observed that 

few people “have made quite so powerful an impact” 

on the city. The newspaper also noted that though he 

experienced discrimination, “Harold Washington did not 

neglect white Chicago the way his predecessors neglected 

black Chicago, and let that be a permanent part of his 

legacy and a lasting tribute to him.”37 During a salute to 

his former colleague on the House Floor, Mervyn Dymally 

of California recognized Washington’s political legacy: “He 

was purposeful and constantly focused, for his battle did 

H Harold Washington H

former members | 1971–2007 H 527
not begin and end with the roll call, but extended into a 

crusade to heal the cancerous lesions of race hatred and 

generations of divisive political warfare.”38

For further reading

Levinsohn, Florence Hamlish. Harold Washington: A 

Political Biography (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1983). 

Rivlin, Gary. Fire on the Prairie: Chicago’s Harold 

Washington and the Politics of Race (New York: Henry Holt, 

1992).

Travis, Dempsey. Harold: The People’s Mayor: An Authorized 

Biography of Mayor Harold Washington (Chicago: Urban 

Research Press, 1989).

“Washington, Harold,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000180. 

Manuscript Collection

Chicago Public Library, Harold Washington Archives & 

Collections, Special Collections & Preservation Division 

Reading Room (Chicago, IL). Papers: 1981–1983, 

54 linear feet. The congressional records of Harold 

Washington document his promotion and sponsorship 

of legislation, his committee work, and his involvement 

with the Congressional Black Caucus. The papers contain 

correspondence and other contacts with his constituents, 

including casework, fundraising, and the organization of 

task forces for such issues as housing and health. A finding 

aid is available in the repository.

Notes

1 Paul Taylor, “Washington: A Thoughtful Legislator,” 24 February 

1983, Washington Post: A7.

2 Quoted in a December 1987 Ebony article that was entered into 

the Congressional Record as part of a tribute to Harold Washington 

after his death in 1987. See Congressional Record, House, 100th 

Cong., 1st sess. (2 December 1987): 33747.

3 Florence Hamlish Levinsohn, Harold Washington: A Political 

Biography (Chicago: Chicago Review Press, 1983): 23. 

4 Jessie Carney Smith, ed., “Harold Washington,” Notable Black 

American Men (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1998).

5 Shirley Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress

(Washington, DC: U.S. Capitol Historical Society, 1998): 73; 

Taylor, “Washington: A Thoughtful Legislator”; Levinsohn, Harold 

Washington: A Political Biography: 20–21.

6 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 73.

7 “Harold Washington,” Contemporary Black Biography (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 1994). Several sources refer to his wife as 

Dorothy Finch; however, one source, Notable Black American Men

(1999), mentions Harold Washington’s meeting and later marrying 

Nancy Dorothy Finch, who lived in the same building as the 

Washington family after 1935. 

8 Thaddeus Russell, “Washington, Harold” American National 

Biography 22 (New York: Oxford University Press, 1999): 768–769 

(hereinafter referred to as ANB).

9 Washington, Outstanding African Americans of Congress: 74.

10 William E. Schmidt, “Leader Who Personified Black Rise to Urban 

Power,” 26 November 1987, New York Times: 19D. 

11 Gary Rivlin, Fire on the Prairie: Chicago’s Harold Washington and the 

Politics of Race (New York: Henry Holt, 1992): 55–56; Levinsohn, 

Harold Washington: A Political Biography: 101. 

12 Neil Mahler and David Axelrod, “Blacks Favor Mayor Bid by 

Washington,” 20 January 1977, Chicago Tribune: 10.

13 Roger Biles, Richard J. Daley: Politics, Race, and the Governing of 

Chicago (DeKalb: Northern Illinois University Press, 1995): 234.

14 Rivlin, Fire on the Prairie: 56–57; Taylor, “Washington: A 

Thoughtful Legislator.”

15 Vernon Jarrett, “For Washington, the Party’s Over,” 11 May 1977, 

Chicago Tribune: A4.

H Harold Washington H

528 H Black Americans in Congress 
16 William L. Clay, Just Permanent Interests: Black Americans in 

Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: Amistad Press, 1992): 262; 

Levinsohn, Harold Washington: A Political Biography: 135–136. 

17 Aldo Beckman, “Campaign ’80: The Illinois Primary,” 20 March 

1980, Chicago Tribune: B6; “Election 80—New Faces in the 

House,” 23 November 1980, Washington Post: A15.

18 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

19 Even though Ralph Metcalfe ultimately severed ties with Mayor 

Daley’s organization, his initial election owed much to machine 

support.

20 T. R. Reid, “New House Member Won’t Yield State Senate Seat 

to Byrne Machine,” 18 January 1981, Washington Post: A7; Sam 

Smith, “Washington Won’t Resign His Seat in State Senate,” 18 

January 1981, Chicago Tribune: 16.

21 Robert Benjamin, “Rep. Washington Resigns His Seat in Illinois 

Senate,” 21 January 1981, Chicago Tribune: D1.

22 Congressional Record, House, 97th Cong., 1st sess. (11 March 

1981): 4075.

23 Congressional Record, House, 97th Cong., 1st sess. (24 February 

1981): 2945.

24 Russell, “Washington, Harold,” ANB.

25 “The Power Seekers: Chicago’s Mayoral Races,” 13 February 1983, 

Chicago Tribune: A1; Washington, Outstanding African Americans 

of Congress: 76.

26 Levinsohn, Harold Washington: A Political Biography: 171; Schmidt, 

“Leader Who Personified Black Rise to Urban Power”; Russell, 

“Washington, Harold,” ANB; Taylor, “Washington: A Thoughtful 

Legislator.”

27 John C. White, “Rep. Washington Criticizes Plans to Relax 

Affirmative Action Rules,” 27 August 1981, Chicago Tribune: A13.

28 Congressional Record, House, 97th Cong., 2nd sess. (14 July 1982): 

16116.

29 William J. Grimshaw, Bitter Fruit: Black Politics and the Chicago 

Machine, 1931–1991 (Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

1992): 169.

30 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

31 Kevin Klose, “Chicago Mayoral Primary; Rep. Washington Leads 

Byrne,” 23 February 1983, Washington Post: A1; David Axelrod, 

“Washington Key Black in Mayor Race,” 26 July 1982, Chicago 

Tribune: A1; “The Power Seekers: Chicago’s Mayoral Race,” 13 

February 1983, Chicago Tribune: A1.

32 Taylor, “Washington: A Thoughtful Legislator.” 

33 Frederick C. Klein, “Chicago Is Likely to Get First Black Mayor 

After Rep. Washington’s Primary Victory,” 24 February 1983, Wall 

Street Journal: 19; Kevin Klose, “Black Turnout, Split White Vote 

Aided Rep. Washington,” 24 February 1983, Washington Post: A1.

34 Quoted in a tribute to Washington’s victory delivered by fellow 

Chicago Representative Gus Savage. See Congressional Record, 

House, 98th Cong., 1st sess. (13 April 1983): 8369.

35 Ibid.

36 Bob Secter and Wendy Leopold, “Washington, 1st Black Mayor of 

Chicago Dies,” 26 November 1987, Los Angeles Times: 1.

37 “Harold Washington and Chicago,” 26 November 1987, Chicago 

Tribune: 30; Jerry Thornton and Cheryl Devall, “It’s ‘Like Losing a 

Black Folk Hero,’” 26 November 1987, Chicago Tribune: 6.

38 Congressional Record, House, 110th Cong., 1st sess. (2 December 

1987): 33746.

H Harold Washington H

former members | 1971–2007 H 529
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Unable to exercise her constitutional right to vote 

before the civil rights era and subject to segregation 

laws, Katie Hall felt trapped in her tiny southern 

hometown until she heard speeches by African-American 

Representatives Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York 

and William Dawson of Illinois that led her to believe 

she could attain a quality education and a better life 

outside Mississippi.1

 Hall eventually sought public office 

and became the first African American from Indiana to 

serve in the House of Representatives. Among her chief 

accomplishments was piloting a bill through Congress to 

make Martin Luther King, Jr.’s birthday a national holiday.

On April 3, 1938, Katie Beatrice Green was born to 

Jeff and Bessie Mae Hooper Green, in Mound Bayou, 

Mississippi. One of 12 children, Katie attended the public 

schools in Mound Bayou and received a bachelor of science 

degree from Mississippi Valley State University in 1960. 

During her junior year of college, in 1957, she married 

John H. Hall. The couple had three children: Jacqueline, 

Junifer, and Michelle. In 1968, Katie Hall received an 

M.S. degree from Indiana University in Bloomington. 

She subsequently taught social studies in Gary, Indiana, 

an industrial city on the south shore of Lake Michigan. 

Hall’s early political involvement included campaigning for 

black lawyer Richard Hatcher, a Gary mayoral candidate. 

This experience encouraged her to enter electoral politics 

herself. Hall ran an unsuccessful campaign for the Indiana 

state house of representatives in 1972 but won a seat in 

1974. Two years later, Hall was elected to the state senate, 

where she served from 1976 until 1982. She also served 

as the chairwoman of the Lake County Democratic 

Committee from 1978 to 1980 and chaired the 1980 

Indiana Democratic convention.

In September of 1982, Indiana Democratic 

Representative Adam Benjamin, Jr., died suddenly 

of a heart attack. Katie Hall attended a public forum a 

week after the Representative’s death to discuss a possible 

successor and was surprised to hear her name mentioned, 

although her aspiration to national office was not new. 

“I had always thought about running for Congress,” she 

admitted, but refrained because “I saw Adam as a very 

highly respected Congressman who did the job very well. 

I saw him as a person who was undefeatable.”2

 Patricia 

Benjamin, the Representative’s widow, also expressed 

interest in succeeding her husband. Under Indiana law, the 

chairman of the district’s Democratic committee selected 

the nominee to fill the vacancy for the remainder of the 

97th Congress (1981–1983).3 Then-chairman Richard 

Hatcher, whom Hall considered her political mentor, 

remembered Hall’s support for his mayoral campaigns.4

He selected his protégé to run for the vacant seat that 

represented the northwest corner of the state, anchored by 

Gary. At the same time, the committee nominated Hall—

with Hatcher casting the deciding vote—for a full term 

in the 98th Congress (1983–1985) to represent a newly 

reapportioned district.5

 The district’s boundaries remained 

relatively unchanged after the reapportionment, and white 

northern Indiana Democrats expressed concern over Hall’s 

electability because of her race. Although downtown Gary 

was primarily black, the racial composition of the entire 

district was 70 percent white.6

 A legal battle ensued when 

Patricia Benjamin’s supporters claimed that, as chairman 

of the old district, Hatcher did not have the right to select 

a candidate for the new district.7

 The courts refused to 

overturn Hatcher’s decision. Hall’s nomination as the 

Democratic nominee for both the vacancy and the full 

term was tantamount to election in the working-class, 

Democratic district and she defeated her Republican 

opponent, Thomas Krieger, with 63 percent to win election 

to the remainder of the 97th Congress.8

 She simultaneously 

Katie Beatrice Hall

1938–

United States Representative H 1982–1985

Democrat from Indiana

������������������������������������������������������������������������

530 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
won election with 56 percent of the vote for the 98th 

Congress.9

 Upon her election, Hall became the first black 

woman from Indiana to serve in the U.S. Congress.

When she arrived in Washington to be sworn in on 

November 2, 1982, Representative Hall received seats 

on the Committee on Post Office and Civil Service and 

the Committee on Public Works and Transportation, 

assignments that were typical for freshman Members. 

Representative Hall voted with the Democratic majority 

against much of the Ronald W. Reagan administration’s 

legislative agenda, focusing on education, labor, and 

women’s issues. In addition, Representative Hall became 

involved in the fight to alleviate famine in Africa when 

she witnessed widespread suffering during a congressional 

trip to northern Ethiopia. Hall also supported a variety of 

measures designed to reduce her urban, industrial district’s 

high rate of unemployment and to mitigate the attendant 

social problems of crime, family debt and bankruptcy, and 

alcohol and drug abuse. As a member of the House Steel 

Caucus, Hall endorsed the Fair Trade in Steel Act, which 

was intended to revitalize Gary’s ailing steel industry.

Katie Hall made her most lasting legislative contribution 

as chairwoman of the Post Office and Civil Service 

Subcommittee on Census and Population. Devoted to 

commemorating the memory of Dr. Martin Luther King, 

Jr., in July 1983 Hall introduced a bill to make King’s 

birthday a federal holiday. Since King’s assassination in 

1968, similar measures had been introduced annually, 

but all had failed. As a nod to her negotiating abilities, 

Hall was assigned as the floor manager for the measure. 

The primary argument against the bill, advanced by fiscal 

conservatives, was the large cost of the holiday to the 

federal government, estimated at $18 million in holiday 

overtime pay and lost work time.10 Hall courted detractors 

by moving the holiday from a fixed date—King’s January 

15 birthday—to the third Monday in January to prevent 

government offices from having to open twice in one week 

and thereby saving money. Under Hall’s leadership, the 

House Subcommittee on Census and Population passed 

the measure in a five to one vote, sending it to the House 

Floor. In opening the debate on the House Floor, Hall 

reminded her colleagues, “The legislation before us will 

act as a national commitment to Dr. King’s vision and 

determination for an ideal America, which he spoke of the 

night before his death, where equality will always prevail.”11

Hall’s persistence paid off. On August 2, 1983, more than 

15 years after King’s assassination, the bill passed the House 

by a vote of 338 to 90. On November 2, 1983, President 

Ronald Reagan signed the measure into law.12 Impressed 

by Hall’s success, veteran lawmaker William (Bill) Gray III 

of Pennsylvania observed, “Sometimes when you get 

to the goal line it’s good to go to someone fresh and new 

to take it over. She brought a freshness of approach, 

a spirit of reconciliation to what had sometimes been 

a bitter battle.”13

In her 1984 bid for renomination and re-election 

to the 99th Congress (1985–1987), Katie Hall faced 

a formidable challenge. Despite her many widespread 

supporters, including Speaker Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill of 

Massachusetts, two strong Democrats challenged Hall in 

her district primary: former Adam Benjamin aide Peter 

Visclosky and county prosecutor Jack Crawford. Hall 

maintained that intraparty opposition was based partially 

on her race and gender. During one debate Hall declared, 

“If I wasn’t black and female, there wouldn’t be a contest.”14

Reverend Jesse Jackson, whose name appeared on the 

primary ballot for the Democratic presidential nominee, 

also rallied to her aid.15 In the May primary, Hall lost the 

Democratic nomination to Visclosky by a margin of 2,367 

votes and immediately cited racial injustice.16 However, 

the most detrimental development was that aside from 

Hatcher, prominent African-American officials in Gary 

had failed to support her, resulting in only a 50 percent 

voter turnout in the predominantly black city.17 Hall also 

questioned returns in areas where polls indicated she ran 

stronger than the final count.18 She filed a petition and won 

a suit for a recount of the primary results; however, the 

recount only confirmed her losing margin.

After Congress, Hall continued to be active in Indiana 

Democratic politics. In 1986 and in 1990, she tried 

H Katie Beatrice Hall H

532 H Black Americans in Congress 
unsuccessfully to recapture the Democratic nomination in 

her old House district. Hall returned to Gary and served as 

the vice chair of the city’s housing board. Hall became the 

Gary city clerk in 1985. She resigned in January 2003 after 

pleading guilty to charges of federal mail fraud.19

For further reading

Catlin, Robert A. “Organizational Effectiveness and Black 

Political Participation: The Case of Katie Hall,” Phylon 46 

(September 1985): 179–192.

“Hall, Katie Beatrice,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000058. 

Notes

1 Steven V. Roberts, “Mississippi Gets a Representative From 

Indiana,” 26 November 1982, New York Times: B8.

2 Jan Carroll, “Katie Hall Could Be First Black Representative From 

Indiana,” 21 September 1982, Associated Press.

3 “Black Woman Nominated to Succeed Benjamin,” 13 September 

1982, Associated Press.

4 Carroll, “Katie Hall Could Be First Black Representative From 

Indiana.”

5 James R. Dickerson, “Indiana Democrats Feud Over Benjamin’s 

Seat,” 19 September 1982, Washington Post: A10.

6 “Black Woman Nominated to Succeed Benjamin”; for statistics 

on the white majority, see Almanac of American Politics, 1984 

(Washington, DC: National Journal Inc., 1983): 387; Julia 

Malone, “Folks Back Home Speak Their Piece to Representatives,” 

8 September 1982, Christian Science Monitor: 1.

7 Dickerson, “Indiana Democrats Feud Over Benjamin’s Seat.”

8 “Gary Indiana Newspaper Rejects Candidate’s Newspaper Ad,” 27 

October 1982, United Press International; Roberts, “Mississippi 

Gets a Representative From Indiana.”

9 “Election Information, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

10 Larry Margasak, “Courting Conservatives to Back King Holiday,” 

14 August 1983, Associated Press.

11 Congressional Record, House, 98th Cong., 1st sess. (2 August 

1983): 22208.

12 A three-year grace period also was part of the compromise; see 

Sandra Evans Teeley, “King Holiday Bill Approved by House 

Panel,” 1 July 1983, Washington Post: A10. The Martin Luther 

King, Jr., holiday was first observed on January 20, 1986. See 

Steven V. Stathis, Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2003). See also the House 

bill history in the final House Calendar for the 98th Congress. For 

the Reagan bill signing, see David Hoffman, “King Is Saluted as 

President Signs Holiday Into Law,” 3 November 1983, Washington 

Post: A1.

13 Margasak, “Courting Conservatives to Back King Holiday.”

14 E. R. Shipp, “Rep. Katie Hall Facing Tough Fight in Indiana,” 7 

May 1984, New York Times: B8.

15 David S. Broder and Kevin Klose, “Two States’ House Primaries 

Will Involve Interracial Battles,” 5 May 1984, Washington Post: A7.

16 “Mrs. Hall Loses Bid for Renomination in Indiana; Racism 

Charged,” 10 May 1984, Washington Post: B19.

17 “Racism, Low Voter Turnout Blamed for Black Congresswoman’s 

Defeat,” 9 May 1984, Associated Press.

18 “Black Congresswoman Seeks Recount After Loss in Democratic 

Primary,” 22 May 1984, Associated Press.

19 Barbara Sherlock, “Gary Official Resigns After Pleading Guilty; 

City Clerk Accepts Mail Fraud Charges,” 29 January 2003, 

Chicago Tribune: N2.

H Katie Beatrice Hall H

former members | 1971–2007 H 533
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

Trained as a librarian, civil rights activist Major Owens 

was a community reformer who went on to serve in 

the New York state senate and then won the seat of 

legendary Brooklyn Representative Shirley Chisholm—the 

first African-American woman elected to Congress—when 

she retired from the U.S. House. Owens became a 

significant advocate for education during his 12 terms in 

the House.1

 “Education is the kingpin issue,” he explained. 

“Proper nurturing of and attention to the educational 

process will achieve a positive domino reaction which will 

benefit employment and economic development. . . . The 

greater the education, the lesser the victimization by drugs, 

alcoholism, and swindles. . . . We have to believe that all 

power and progress really begins with education.”2

Major Robert Odell Owens was born in Collierville, 

Tennessee, on June 28, 1936, to Ezekiel and Edna (Davis) 

Owens. Owens’s father, a day laborer in a furniture factory 

who espoused President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal 

philosophy, shaped Owens’s political views at an early age. 

“I can’t remember a time when I wasn’t aware of the fact 

that a much bigger world than my own personal universe 

was out there,” Owens once remarked. “We were very poor 

and always had to struggle to make ends meet. Still, I was 

also aware that we were not alone—that millions of people, 

in this country and abroad, faced similar kinds of 

problems. I also realized that what happened in the larger 

world affected my family and its personal welfare.”3

 He 

also recalled that his mother, “the scholar of the family,” 

influenced his approach to academics. His parents’ 

optimism about their children’s future left Owens with the 

attitude that “there was no reason why I couldn’t go out 

and scale life’s summits.”4

 Early on, he aspired to be a 

novelist. He attended public schools in Memphis, 

Tennessee, graduating from Hamilton High School. In 

1956, Owens earned a B.A. with high honors from 

Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia. A year later, he 

completed an M.A. in library science at Atlanta University 

(now Clark Atlanta). In 1956, he married Ethel Werfel. 

They raised three children—Christopher, Geoffrey, and 

Millard—before divorcing in 1985. Geoffrey, an actor, 

landed a regular part on The Cosby Show; Chris became a 

community activist and ran unsuccessfully for city council 

in 1989. Major Owens later married Marie Cuprill, the 

staff director of an Education and Labor subcommittee in 

the U.S. House.5

 She brought two children, Carlos and 

Cecilia, to the marriage. 

Once out of school, Owens took a job as a librarian at 

the Brooklyn Public Library in 1958, where he worked 

until 1966. He became active in the Democratic Party 

during that time and was involved in community 

organizations and the broader civil rights movement. In 

1961, Owens joined the Brooklyn chapter of the Congress 

of Racial Equality (CORE), later chairing the organization. 

He also was vice president of the metropolitan New York 

council of housing. Additionally, Owens taught as an 

adjunct professor of library science and was director of the 

Community Media Program at Columbia University. 

From 1966 to 1968, he served as the executive director of 

the Brownsville community council. One observer 

described him as “the most canny and capable of the 

community corporation directors.”6

 That post brought 

widespread recognition in the borough and its president 

designated September 10, 1971, “Major R. Owens Day.” 

Based on his work on antipoverty programs in the 

Brownsville neighborhood, New York Mayor John Lindsay 

appointed Owens the commissioner of the community 

development agency, giving him responsibility for the city’s 

antipoverty programs.7

 Owens left the post in late 1973 

near the end of Lindsay’s term as mayor, charging that 

there was corruption within the antipoverty and school 

Major Robert Odell Owens

1936–

United States Representative H 1983–20 07

Democrat from New York

������������������������������������������������������������������������

534 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
programs in Brownsville and further asserting that newly 

elected African-American New York City Councilman 

Samuel Wright had awarded school board contracts as 

“political payoffs.”8

 That episode sparked a feud between 

Wright and Owens that persisted into the 1980s. In 1972, 

Owens served on the International Commission on Ways 

of Implementing Social Policy to Ensure Maximum Public 

Participation and Social Justice for Minorities at The 

Hague in the Netherlands. Owens also participated in the 

1979 White House Conference on Libraries.

Owens first ran for elective office in 1974, winning a 

seat in the New York state senate, where he chaired the 

senate democratic operations committee. Eventually, 

Owens served on the finance committee and the social 

services committee, and was ranking member of the 

chamber’s daycare task force. He also tended to back local 

and statewide candidates from outside the Brooklyn 

Democratic machine—a role he would take on in a U.S. 

congressional race in the early 1980s.

After Representative Shirley Chisholm announced her 

retirement in 1982, Owens became a candidate for her 

Brooklyn-based seat, which encompassed the 

neighborhoods of Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brownsville, and 

Crown Heights. The district was roughly 80 percent black, 

overwhelmingly Democratic, and was afflicted by a high 

poverty rate and urban blight. Also, voter turnout was 

traditionally low. In the Democratic primary, Owens faced 

former New York State Senator Vander L. Beatty. 

Considered the leading reformer among local politicians, 

Owens had grass-roots support and the endorsement of the 

New York Times. Beatty, a wealthy African American, was 

backed by many top Democratic leaders, including 

Representative Chisholm; the Brooklyn political machine 

led by Borough President Howard Golden; and a 

patronage network Beatty had cultivated from Albany. 

Owens exploited Beatty’s connection to corrupt local 

officials, stressing his own honesty and independence from 

the local political machine. Winning the endorsements of 

the Amsterdam News (a well-respected newspaper in the 

black community) and the Village Voice, he prevailed in the 

primary by 2,400 votes and he survived a court challenge 

from Beatty and his backers, who questioned the results. 

Six months later, Beatty was indicted on charges of election 

fraud.9

 In the general election, Owens cruised to victory, 

defeating Republican David Katan with 91 percent of the 

vote. 

Like his predecessor, Representative Chisholm, Owens 

monitored potential primary challengers, especially since 

he came from outside the political establishment, but he 

lacked significant opposition for most of his congressional 

career. Although he did face a serious primary challenge in 

2000, Owens never stumbled in any of his general election 

campaigns, despite redistricting that reconfigured his 

district after the 1990 Census. He won each of his 10 

subsequent elections with at least 89 percent of the vote.10

When Representative Owens took his seat in the 

House, he received assignments on the Education and 

Labor Committee (later Education and the Workforce) 

and the Government Operations Committee (later 

Government Reform). He remained on both panels 

throughout his House career. In 1987, Owens became 

chair of the Education and Labor Subcommittee on Select 

Education and Civil Rights—a position he held until the 

Republicans won control of the chamber in the 1994 

elections and abolished the subcommittee. By the 109th 

Congress (2005–2007), Representative Owens was the 

third-ranking Democrat on the Education and the 

Workforce and the Government Reform committees. In 

addition, he served as the Ranking Minority Member on 

the Education and the Workforce Subcommittee on 

Workforce Protections. Owens also was a member of the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and the Progressive 

Caucus, which comprised the House’s most liberal 

Members.11

As a junior Member in the House, surveying the effects 

of the depressed economy in the early 1980s, Owens 

explained that he planned to “push the prerogatives of a 

congressman to the limit” to publicize the needs of innercity Americans. “My principal focus is on jobs and 

employment. From my perspective the DemocraticH Major Robert Odell Owens H

536 H Black Americans in Congress 
controlled House has been extremely negligent in this area. 

It has shown little, if any, urgency about the plight of the 

unemployed.”12 As a Representative, Owens focused on a 

cause near to his heart: advocating more federal money for 

education and libraries, which dovetailed with the needs of 

his urban district. From his post as chairman of the 

Subcommittee on Select Education and Civil Rights, 

Owens focused on restoring federal funding for library 

services, institutions of higher learning, and programs to 

alleviate the high school dropout crisis in the black 

community. In 1985, he wrote portions of a higher 

education bill that provided a fund of $100 million to 

improve the programs and the infrastructure of historically 

black colleges. He called the measure “the payment of a 

long overdue debt” in response to critics who charged it 

was “unwarranted special treatment.”13 Owens also served 

as chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus Higher 

Education Brain Trust. When the Cold War ended in the 

early 1990s, Owens advocated that money being shifted 

from military to domestic programs should be 

appropriated for American inner cities. “We need our fair 

share of this peace divided, in particular to rehabilitate 

crumbling and dilapidated inner-city schools, and to 

guarantee a first-rate education for urban youths,” he 

said.14 Owens criticized budgets under Republican 

Presidents Ronald W. Reagan and George H. W. Bush, 

asserting that they neglected the pressing need of 

minorities. On the House Floor in 1990, he belted out 

some lines from a rap song he wrote: “At the big white DC 

mansion/There’s a meeting of the mob/And the question 

on the table/Is which beggars they will rob.”15

From his subcommittee post, Representative Owens 

was a primary backer and a floor manager of the 

Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, a landmark law 

Owens said set forth “clear, strong, consistent, enforceable 

standards addressing discrimination against individuals 

with disabilities.”16 Among the provisions were the first 

guidelines prohibiting discrimination against persons with 

disabilities in businesses and public spaces and the 

establishment of standards for accessibility to public 

buildings. The measure also contained provisions to 

promote development programs for preschool children 

and to introduce new technologies to assist students with 

disabilities, which Owens had championed earlier.17 “A 

civilized and moral government which is also seeking to 

enhance its own self-interest must strive to maximize the 

opportunities for the educational development, equal 

access and productive employment of all its citizens,” 

Owens noted. “Greater than all the physical barriers are 

the barriers of entrenched attitudes and the silent 

insistence that people with disabilities should be grateful 

for minimal governmental protection and assistance.”18

Representative Owens was the lead sponsor of the 

Domestic Volunteer Service Act, providing for major 

reforms to the long-established Volunteers in Service to 

America (VISTA) program, which assigns volunteers to 

community-based aid agencies to combat urban and rural 

poverty. Additionally, he was a key backer of the Child 

Abuse Prevention Challenge Grants Reauthorization Act of 

1989, which renewed a measure first passed in 1974. The 

bill provided states federal funding to assess, investigate, 

and prosecute cases of child abuse; conduct research; and 

compile data. The bill also defined child abuse and neglect. 

In the early 1990s, Owens helped reauthorize legislation 

that encouraged states to offer people with disabilities 

jobs through rehabilitation centers and homes where they 

could live independently. From his seat on the Education 

and the Workforce Committee in the late 1990s, Owens 

supported hikes in the federal minimum wage, opposed 

efforts to eliminate cash compensation for overtime work, 

advocated the continued need for the Occupational 

Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and defended 

organized labor.19 Since many of his constituents were of 

Caribbean descent, Owens also sponsored two pieces of 

legislation that were important to immigrants: a bill that 

prevented the Immigration and Naturalization Service 

from deporting the parents of American-born children 

under age 18 and a measure that extended citizenship to 

immigrant children under age 12 who were in the U.S. 

without their parents.20

H Major Robert Odell Owens H

former members | 1971–2007 H 537
Over time, the makeup of Owens’s Brooklynbased district changed. In the early 1990s, following 

reapportionment after the 1990 Census, blacks still 

made up a sizable majority of the district; 19 percent 

was white, and 12 percent was Hispanic. That round of 

reapportionment expanded the western borders of the 

district to take in the wealthy Park Slope neighborhood 

and middle-class Kensington.21 During the 1980s and 

1990s, large numbers of Haitians began moving into 

the district, making it the second-largest community 

of Haitians in the country, second to Miami. Roughly 

two-thirds of the district’s black population (then 55 

percent) were from nations in the Caribbean Basin. 

Immigrant groups complained that Owens was “totally 

out of touch with the Haitian community,” willing to 

support the return to power of ousted President JeanBertrand Aristide, but less active regarding issues such 

as housing and political asylum. Owens dismissed such 

charges as “total distortion,” ascribing them to members 

of the Haitian community who did not approve of his 

support for Aristide.22 In 2000, Owens received a stiff 

primary challenge from New York City Councilwoman 

Una Clarke, a Jamaican-born politician with roots among 

the growing number of Caribbean immigrants in Owens’s 

district. A one-time political ally of Owens’s, Clarke 

capitalized on simmering immigrant discontent and ran 

against the Representative, charging he had not done 

enough to bring federal economic aid to the district and 

that he was unresponsive to immigration issues. Owens 

relied on support from First Lady and New York Senate 

candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton and other prominent 

Democrats. The race revealed frictions between the 

growing community of Caribbean blacks and African 

Americans. Owens eventually turned back Councilwoman 

Clarke’s primary challenge by a 54 to 46 percent margin. 

Reapportionment following the 2000 Census did not 

significantly reconfigure the district and increased its 

proportion of blacks to 59 percent. Owens cruised to reelection in 2002, but when he announced in early 2003 

that he would seek re-election in 2004 and then retire in 

2007, two young female New York City council members 

jumped into the primary. Yvette Clarke, daughter of 

Owens’s 2000 primary opponent, drew 29 percent of the 

vote, while Tracy Boyland won 22 percent of the vote. 

Representative Owens won the primary with 45 percent 

of the vote and election to his final term with 94 percent 

of the vote. Among those who announced their candidacy 

for his open seat in 2006 was Owens’s son Chris. Yvette 

Clarke eventually won the Democratic primary and the 

general election to succeed Representative Owens. In 

retirement, Owens suggested he would pursue his interest 

in literature. “It’s something that I have always wanted to 

do,” Owens said. “I even began writing a novel when I was 

younger. And that’s one of the things I want very much 

to get back to.”23 In late 2006, Representative Owens was 

named a distinguished visiting scholar at the John W. 

Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. He is currently 

at work on a case study of the CBC and its impact on 

national politics.24

H Major Robert Odell Owens H

538 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Owens, Major Robert Odell,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=O000159.

Manuscript Collection

University at Albany, SUNY (Albany, NY). M. E. 

Grenander Department of Special Collections and 

Archives. Papers: ca. 1983–2006, 106 cubic feet. The 

collection includes the office files and personal papers 

of Representative Major Owens from his 24 years in the 

U.S. House of Representatives.

Notes

1 Quoted in “Major R. Owens: The Predicament of Power,” in 

Jeffrey M. Elliot, Black Voices in American Politics (New York: 

Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1986): 68.

2 Quoted in “Major Owens,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 

6 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1994) (hereinafter referred to 

as CBB).

3 “Biography of Congressman Major R. Owens,” undated (c. 1990) 

official news release from the Office of Representative Owens, 

files of the Office of History and Preservation, U.S. House of 

Representatives.

4 Elliot, Black Voices in American Politics: 56–57. 

5 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc. 1993): 1052.

6 Charles R. Morris, The Cost of Good Intentions: New York City and 

the Liberal Experiment, 1960–1975 (New York: W.W. Norton and 

Company, 1980): 65.

7 Peter Kihss, “Brooklyn Negro Leader Named Head of a City 

Poverty Agency,” 13 March 1968, New York Times: 38.

8 Peter Kihss, “Community Aide Charges Corruption in 

Brownsville,” 29 November 1973, New York Times: 48.

9 Beatty was found guilty of forgery and conspiracy in December 

1983. See Joseph P. Fried, “Beatty Is Guilty of a Conspiracy in 

Vote Forgery,” 23 December 1983, New York Times: A1; Almanac 

of American Politics, 1984 (Washington, DC: National Journal Inc., 

1983): 811–812; Ronald Smothers, “2 Ex-State Senators Vie for 

Rep. Chisholm’s Job,” 16 September 1982, New York Times: B8; 

“Primary Day Choices,” 23 September 1982, New York Times: A26; 

Almanac of American Politics, 1988 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1987): 1036.

10 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html; for the 2000 primary, see 

Jonathan P. Hicks, “Bitter Primary Contest Hits Ethnic Nerve 

Among Blacks,” 31 August 2000, New York Times: A1.

11 “Official Biography of Major Owens,” at http://www.house.gov/

owens/biography.htm (accessed 17 May 2006); Mildred L. Amer, 

“Black Members of the United States Congress, 1870–2007,” 

27 September 2007, RL30378, Congressional Research Service, 

Library of Congress, Washington, DC.

12 Quoted in Elliot, Black Voices in American Politics: 68–69. 

13 Politics in America, 1988 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1987): 1036.

14 “Major Owens,” CBB.

15 “Colorful Characters,” 22 May 1994, New York Times: CY13.

16 Stephen W. Stathis, Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002 

(Washington, DC: CQ Press, 2003): 336.

17 Politics in America, 1994: 1052.

18 Congressional Record, House, 101st Cong., 1st sess. (2 August 

1989): E2814.

19 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2005): 717–718; “Official Biography of Major 

Owens.”

20 Politics in America, 2006: 718.

21 Politics in America, 1994: 1053.

22 Garry Pierre-Pierre, “Haitians Seek New Influence in Local 

Politics,” 7 August 1994, New York Times: CY7.

23 Jonathan P. Hicks, “Congressman From Brooklyn Will Seek One 

Final Term,” 23 November 2003, New York Times: 33.

24 “U.S. Congressman Major Owens Named Distinguished 

Visiting Scholar at John W. Kluge Center,” 26 December 2006, 

Library of Congress press release, at http://www.loc.gov/today/

pr/2006/06-237.html (accessed 20 September 2007).

H Major Robert Odell Owens H

former members | 1971–2007 H 539
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of National Archives and Records Administration 

Alan Wheat’s rare appointment as a freshman Member 

 to the prestigious House Committee on Rules shaped 

his congressional career. “Rules gave me the opportunity 

to immediately start making an impact on the House 

of Representatives,” the Missouri Representative once 

remarked. “Perhaps not so much as a sponsor of legislation 

but being able to have an impact on legislation as it 

came through the committee.”1

 During his six terms in 

Congress, Wheat used his position on the influential 

panel to skillfully represent a broad constituency in his 

majority-white Missouri district. Known for his ability 

to forge alliances between African-American and white 

groups, Wheat wielded considerable political clout by 

working within the institution to push through legislation 

important to his district and the Democratic Party. 

Alan Dupree Wheat was born in San Antonio, Texas, 

on October 16, 1951, to James Wheat, an officer and 

civil engineer in the U.S. Air Force, and Emogene (Jean) 

Wheat, a teacher. Wheat grew up on military bases and 

attended schools in Wichita, Kansas, and Seville, Spain, 

before graduating from Airline High School in Bosier City, 

Louisiana, in 1968. After earning a B.A. in economics 

from Grinnell College, in Iowa, Wheat joined the 

Department of Housing and Urban Development as an 

economist in 1972. He worked in the same capacity for the 

Mid-America Regional Council in Kansas City from 1973 

to 1975. Wheat then served as an aide to Jackson County, 

Missouri, executive Mike White in 1975 and 1976 and 

won election to the Missouri general assembly in 1976 

at age 25. Wheat served three terms in the Missouri state 

legislature, where he chaired the urban affairs committee. 

On August 11, 1990, Wheat married Yolanda Townsend, 

a lawyer; the couple had two children: Christopher and 

Nicholas. Wheat also had another daughter, Alynda, from 

a previous relationship.2

When longtime Missouri Representative Richard 

W. Bolling announced his retirement in August 1981, 

Wheat joined seven other candidates in the Democratic 

primary to represent the majority-white, predominantly 

Democratic district encompassing much of Kansas 

City, including the downtown area, and Independence, 

Missouri, hometown of President Harry S. Truman. The 

only African-American candidate in the crowded field, 

Wheat narrowly earned the Democratic nomination, with 

31 percent of the vote. He went on to win the general 

election against Republican Missouri State Representative 

John Sharp, with 58 percent of the vote, by appealing 

to middle- and working-class voters with his criticism 

of President Ronald W. Reagan’s economic policies 

and his promise to continue the legislative agenda of 

Representative Bolling.3

 Wheat became the first AfricanAmerican Member to represent Kansas City and the 

second black Representative in Congress from Missouri.4

Elected to the 98th Congress (1983–1985) in 

November 1982 at age 31, Wheat received a spot on 

the House Rules Committee (previously chaired by his 

predecessor, Dick Bolling), which controls the flow of 

legislation on the House Floor. He used his committee 

assignment to secure federal funding for a series of projects 

affecting his district, ranging from flood control initiatives 

to highway and transit spending and the building of a 

new Kansas City courthouse. He also played a significant 

role in the passage of legislation to prohibit the foreign 

servicing of American planes—which saved the jobs of 

hundreds of Kansas City-based airline employees—as 

well as the passage of legislation to expand the Harry S. 

Truman National Historic Site.5

 Wheat’s seat on the Rules 

Committee was instrumental in allowing him to push 

contentious legislation through the House. In 1989, he 

helped institute a ban on smoking on most domestic flights 

Alan Dupree Wheat

1951–

United States Representative H 1983–1995

Democrat from Missouri

������������������������������������������������������������������������

540 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Alan Dupree Wheat H

by attaching the bill to a routine procedural measure so 

as to avoid undue attention from tobacco lobbyists and 

other opponents.6

 From the 99th to the 103rd Congresses 

(1985–1995), Wheat served on the District of Columbia 

Committee, chairing the Government Operations and 

Metropolitan Affairs Subcommittee during his final four 

terms in office. Wheat was also a member of the House 

Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families and 

a member of the Select Committee on Hunger. 

Wheat’s legislative approach in Congress appealed to 

a broad voting base. “My job is to do what’s best for my 

country and district,” he noted. “What I do legislatively 

has ramifications for both.”7

 By focusing attention on 

issues affecting his Missouri district and the domestic 

front, he effectively balanced the interests of AfricanAmerican and white voters. In 1994, Wheat responded to 

constituent concerns about neighborhood violence with 

his enthusiastic backing of the Violent Crime Control and 

Law Enforcement Act.8

 His consistent votes along party 

lines resonated with the constituents in his Democratic 

district. However, Wheat eschewed the political labels 

(mainly liberal) his opponents used to categorize his 

outspoken support for issues such as free speech and gun 

control and his opposition to the death penalty. “The only 

label I’d accept is Democrat,” he asserted. “That’s because 

I believe Roosevelt, Truman, Kennedy and Johnson did 

a pretty damned good job.”9

Throughout his tenure in the House, Wheat advocated 

a strong stance on civil rights. In his position on the Rules 

Committee he played an integral part in the passage of 

the Civil Rights Bill of 1990, a comprehensive measure 

to combat employment discrimination—Wheat called it 

“the single most important civil rights legislation since the 

1964 Civil Rights Act”—ensuring that the version that 

reached the House Floor retained much of its original 

language.10 In the 102nd Congress (1991–1993) he joined 

fellow Missouri Representative William (Bill) Clay, Sr., in 

co-sponsoring legislation to provide financial assistance 

to historically black colleges and universities; the measure 

became part of the Higher Education Act of 1992.11 As 

vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) 

during the 100th and 101st Congresses (1987–1991), 

Wheat instituted a policy that allowed whites to join the 

organization as associate members, reflecting his ability to 

address the interests of both black and white constituents. 

Although he was a vocal supporter of the CBC, Wheat 

emphasized his political independence: “I apply the 

same standard to the activities of the Black Caucus as 

to the activities of other groups. If I agree, I participate. 

If not, I don’t.”12 Additionally, Wheat served as president 

of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation, an 

independent, nonprofit organization geared toward 

public policy analysis. 

Also concerned with civil rights abroad, Wheat 

denounced South Africa’s apartheid regime. The Missouri 

Representative was a member of a congressional delegation 

that visited the African nation in 1990. After meeting 

with South African President Frederik de Klerk, and 

touring the country, Wheat remarked, “It is true that a 

start has been made, but it is only a start down the long 

road that must be trod toward freedom in South Africa.”13

He urged his colleagues to maintain economic sanctions 

against South Africa until the country instituted full 

demographic reforms.14 Wheat’s interest in foreign affairs 

extended beyond Africa. He opposed the U.S. invasion 

of Grenada in 1983 and President Reagan’s decision to 

furnish military aid to the contras in Nicaragua. In 1991, 

Wheat joined the Democratic majority in condemning the 

Persian Gulf War resolution.15

Wheat’s commitment to the constituents of his district 

paid off at the polls, where he enjoyed comfortable margins 

of victory. During his re-election bids he reminded voters 

of his valuable position on the Rules Committee and 

employed clever campaign advertisements with wheat 

stalks—a play on his name and a symbol of midwestern 

agriculture.16 Wheat suffered a temporary political setback 

in 1992 when his name appeared on a list of dozens of 

Members who overdrew their accounts at the informal 

House “Bank” managed by the Sergeant at Arms. Records 

revealed that Wheat had many overdrawn checks. 

542 H Black Americans in Congress 
However, Wheat was elected to a sixth term in the House, 

with 59 percent of the vote (the lowest percentage since 

his first run for Congress), avoiding the fate of some other 

Representatives whose careers were ended by 

the controversy.17

When Republican Senator John Danforth announced 

his decision to retire at the conclusion of the 103rd 

Congress (1993–1995), Wheat entered the race to fill the 

vacant Senate seat. “I want my career to be meaningful,” 

he stated. “I don’t want to look back after 30 or 40 years’ 

service and have nothing to say except that I grew in 

seniority and inherited a committee chairmanship.”18

Wheat narrowly earned the Democratic nomination, with 

41 percent of the vote, against Jackson County executive 

Marsha Murphy, becoming the first African American 

in Missouri to be nominated for statewide office. In the 

general election he faced an uphill battle against former 

Missouri Governor John Ashcroft. The competitive 

primary had depleted Wheat’s campaign funds, and 

a rising anti-incumbent sentiment put Wheat on the 

defensive. In an election year in which the GOP gained 

control of the House and the Senate for the first time since 

the Eisenhower Era, Ashcroft soundly defeated Wheat, 

who garnered only 36 percent of the vote.19

After his congressional service, Wheat served as 

vice president of SmithKline Beecham pharmaceutical 

company and as vice president of public policy and 

government relations of the global relief organization 

CARE. In 1996 he resumed his political career, accepting 

a position as deputy campaign manager for the ClintonGore presidential re-election campaign. Two years later 

in 1998, he founded Wheat Government Relations, a 

political consulting firm in Virginia.20

For further reading

“Wheat, Alan Dupree,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000326. 

Manuscript Collection

University of Missouri-Kansas City, Western Historical 

Manuscript Collection (Kansas City, MO). Papers: ca. 

1982–1994, 257 cubic feet. The papers of Alan Dupree 

Wheat consist of his congressional files, including press 

releases, newsletters, correspondence, individual voting 

records, office files, calendars, speeches, photographs, and 

videotapes.

H Alan Dupree Wheat H

former members | 1971–2007 H 543
Notes

1 Andrew C. Miller, “Wheat’s Influence Felt Behind the Scenes,” 25 

September 1994, Kansas City Star: A23.

2 Jon Sawyer, “Wheat Answers Critics, Touts Record in Senate 

Race,” 15 July 1994, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 1C; “Alan Wheat,” 

Who’s Who Among African Americans (New York: Gale Research, 

2002); “Alan Wheat,” Contemporary Black Biography Volume 14 

(Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1997) (hereinafter referred to as 

CBB). The CBB entry lists Wheat’s father as James Weldon.

3 Carol M. Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: The Representation 

of African Americans in Congress (Cambridge, MA: Harvard 

University Press, 1993): 120–121; “Alan Wheat,” CBB; “Election 

Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Politics in America, 1994 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1993): 881–882.

4 Mark Schlinkmann, “Broad Support Gives Wheat 5th District 

Win,” 3 November 1982, Kansas City Times.

5 Miller, “Wheat’s Influence Felt Behind the Scenes;” Swain, Black 

Faces, Black Interests: 125; Katherine Tate, Black Faces in the Mirror: 

African Americans and Their Representatives in the U.S. Congress

(Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2003): 101.

6 Miller, “Wheat’s Influence Felt Behind the Scenes.”

7 Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 127.

8 “Alan Wheat,” CBB.

9 Sawyer, “Wheat Answers Critics, Touts Record in Senate Race.”

10 Robert Shepard, “House Debates Civil Rights Bill,” 2 August 

1990, United Press International; William L. Clay, Just Permanent 

Interests: Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1991 (New York: 

Amistad Press, Inc., 1992): 392; Richard L. Berke, “House 

Approves Civil Rights Bill; Veto Is Weighed,” 4 August 1990, 

New York Times: 1. The 1990 civil rights legislation also passed the 

Senate but was vetoed by President George H. W. Bush.

11 Politics in America, 1994: 881.

12 Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 127.

13 Congressional Record, House, 101st Cong., 2nd sess. (6 February 

1990): 1283.

14 Politics in America, 1994: 881.

15 Sawyer, “Wheat Answers Critics, Touts Record in Senate Race;” 

Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 126.

16 Swain, Black Faces, Black Interests: 122, 124.

17 Miller, “Wheat’s Influence Felt Behind the Scenes”; Robert L. 

Koenig, “303 Lawmakers Wrote Bad Checks,” 17 April 1992, St. 

Louis Post-Dispatch: 1A; Politics in America, 1994: 882–883.

18 Miller, “Wheat Answers Critics, Touts Record in Senate Race.”

19 “Alan Wheat,” CBB; “Former Governor Wins Missouri G.O.P. 

Primary for Governor,” 3 August 1994, New York Times: A22; 

Richard L. Berke, “Blow for Clinton: Democratic Mainstays 

Ousted in Big Upsets Around the Nation,” 9 November 1994, 

New York Times: A1; “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available 

at http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

20 “Alan Wheat,” CBB; “The Honorable Alan Wheat: Wheat 

Government Relations, Inc.,” at http://www.wheatgr.com/

alanwheat.html (accessed 21 March 2007); Philip Dine, “Wheat 

May Be Compromise for Labor Department Post,” 19 December 

1996, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 13C.

H Alan Dupree Wheat H

544 H Black Americans in Congress
Although he was a vocal 

supporter of the CBC, Wheat 

emphasized his political 

independence: 

“I apply the same standard to 

the activities of the Black 

Caucus as to the activities 

of other groups. If I agree, 

I participate. If not, I don’t.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 545
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

Elected in his first bid for public office, Charles Arthur 

Hayes succeeded Representative Harold Washington 

when he resigned from the 98th Congress (1983–1985) 

to become mayor of Chicago. During his five terms in the 

House, Hayes gradually sought to separate himself from 

the shadow of his popular predecessor when representing 

his South Side Chicago constituents, by combining 

his major interests and strengths: labor and civil rights. 

“Charlie Hayes was a giant in the history of the struggle 

for civil rights and political rights for Americans of African 

descent,” Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois said after 

Hayes died in 1997. “He was a trailblazer in the tradeunion movement and to the end maintained his passionate 

commitment to working men and women.”1

Born in Cairo, Illinois, on February 17, 1918, Charles 

Arthur Hayes graduated from Cairo’s Sumner High School 

in 1935. After high school, Hayes worked in Cairo as 

a machine operator. His long career of union activism 

began when he helped organize Local 1424 of the United 

Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America. Hayes 

served as president of this organization from 1940 to 

1942. In 1943, he joined the grievance committee of the 

United Packinghouse Workers of America (UPWA) and 

became a UPWA field representative in 1949. He served as 

district director for the UPWA’s District One from 1954 

to 1968. From 1979 until his retirement in September 

1983, Hayes served as the international vice president 

of the United Food and Commercial Workers Union.2

As a trade unionist, he promoted increased benefits and 

improved conditions for workers, fought to eliminate 

segregation and discrimination in hiring and promotion 

in industry, and provided African-American and women 

workers with opportunities to serve as leaders in the labor 

movement. Twice widowed and once divorced, Hayes had 

four children.3

Although he had no direct experience as a politician, 

Hayes was not a stranger to Congress. In 1959, the 

future Representative testified before the House UnAmerican Activities Committee. Questioned about his 

alleged ties to the Communist Party as a trade union 

leader, he denounced communism but declined to answer 

questions about any personal connections with the 

party.4

 As a veteran meatpacking union lobbyist, Hayes 

gained valuable experience about the inner workings of 

Congress.5

 Interested in politics at the local level as well, 

he actively supported the anti-establishment candidate 

Harold Washington in his bids for mayor of Chicago—his 

unsuccessful run in 1977 and his victorious campaign 

in 1983. Like Washington, Hayes opposed the powerful 

Chicago political machine, preferring a more independent 

style of governing that focused on the welfare of the city’s 

many impoverished black residents.6

 The friendship of 

the two Chicago leaders figured prominently in Hayes’s 

unlikely path to Congress.

Following Washington’s resignation from the House on 

April 30, 1983, upon his election as Chicago’s first AfricanAmerican mayor, Hayes joined 13 other candidates in the 

special Democratic primary to fill the vacant congressional 

seat. Well known in certain areas of the community because 

of his extensive labor activities, Hayes nonetheless faced an 

array of challengers with more name recognition, including 

Ralph Metcalfe, Jr., the son of a former Representative; 

civil rights leader Al Raby; and Lu Palmer, a newspaper 

columnist and community activist. During the campaign, 

the 65-year-old Hayes promised to help the many poor 

people living in the congressional district encompassing 

Chicago’s predominantly black South Side. In particular, he 

ran on a platform advocating federal assistance for public 

housing and employment programs.7

 With the enthusiastic 

backing of organized labor and the newly elected Mayor 

Charles Arthur Hayes

1918–1997

United States Representative H 1983–1993 

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������

546 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Charles Arthur Hayes H

Washington, Hayes emerged victorious with 45 percent of 

the vote in the crowded and competitive primary on July 

26, 1983.8

 Although Washington’s active campaigning 

on Hayes’s behalf contributed to his win, Hayes assured 

his supporters that “I’m not going to be a mouthpiece 

for him.” He continued, “If I can just do what he did 

when he was there [Congress], just do my own thing as a 

representative, I’ll be all right.”9

 One month later, Hayes 

easily defeated his Republican opponent, community 

newspaper columnist Diane Preacely, in the special election 

with 94 percent of the vote.10

Hayes began his second career when he took his seat 

in Congress on September 12, 1983, to complete the 

remainder of Washington’s term. During his tenure in 

the House he served on the Education and Labor, Small 

Business, and Post Office and Civil Service committees. 

As a member of the Education and Labor Committee, 

Hayes authored one of his most significant pieces of 

legislation: the Dropout Prevention and Reentry Act. 

Concerned about the high dropout rate among students 

in Chicago, which far exceeded the national average, 

Hayes successfully proposed that the federal government 

allocate $500 million to state and local government 

officials to alleviate the problem. In 1986, the Illinois 

Representative remarked, “The greatest security our Nation 

can have is to have our children properly educated.”11

Echoing many of his African-American colleagues in 

the House, Hayes questioned the Ronald W. Reagan 

administration’s commitment to education. He criticized 

President Reagan’s proposed budget cuts of the mid-1980s, 

labeling the federal spending reduction “a callous disregard 

for the dreams and aspirations of millions of poor and 

disadvantaged children and young adults.”12

During his congressional career, Hayes attempted 

to follow through on his campaign promise to help the 

unemployed in his district and nationwide. He sponsored 

bills to reduce high unemployment rates, to provide 

disadvantaged youth with job training, and to create 

public works programs to rebuild the infrastructures of 

cities like Chicago. Alarmed by the rising unemployment 

in his district that was precipitated by the economic 

recession of the early 1980s, Hayes urged lawmakers to 

support legislation to assist workers laid off in the massive 

plant closings in Chicago.13 He frequently expressed 

a determination to strengthen the 1978 Humphrey–

Hawkins Full Employment and Balanced Growth Act, 

which was crafted to promote employment opportunities 

in accordance with a growth in productivity.14 Hayes 

sponsored the Income and Jobs Action Act of 1985 to 

reinforce the principles outlined in the 1978 measure and 

to “focus attention and find solutions to the problem of 

unemployment and stop acting as though the problem 

does not exist.”15 Drawing on his experience as a labor 

leader, Hayes consistently supported legislation to protect 

American workers through higher wages, restrictions on 

imports, and more-comprehensive benefits for children 

and health care.16

Hayes boasted a strong record of civil rights activism 

spanning four decades. He joined Martin Luther King, 

Jr., in the 1955 Montgomery, Alabama, bus boycott, and 

worked closely with the Southern Christian Leadership 

Conference and Operation PUSH (People United to Save 

Humanity). 17 Once elected to the House, he viewed the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) as an important tool 

for advancing the rights of African Americans. Hayes 

once remarked, “to say that a person can just go (to 

Congress) and change it all—it doesn’t work that way.” 

He believed that working cooperatively with the CBC 

would help him to achieve one of his primary legislative 

goals: the endorsement of racial equality in Chicago and 

in the nation.18 A consistent opponent of South Africa’s 

white-minority government, Hayes introduced legislation 

to impose economic and diplomatic sanctions against 

the African nation as a means of ending apartheid.19

In November 1984, he protested at the South African 

Embassy in Washington, DC. As one of several Members 

arrested during the staged protests, Hayes defended the 

demonstrations, remarking “these acts should force the 

South African Government to stop oppressing, jailing, and 

killing its black citizens who are only seeking justice.”20

548 H Black Americans in Congress 
Throughout his time in the House, Hayes faced little 

opposition in his re-election bids, typically winning more 

than 90 percent of the vote.21 In the 1992 Democratic 

primary, however, several factors contributed to an 

unusually difficult campaign for the five-term incumbent. 

Partially because of a decline in population during 

the 1980s in Hayes’s impoverished urban district, the 

boundaries were redrawn, changing the composition 

of the constituency. Although the district still included 

the predominantly African-American South Side, it also 

picked up several white neighborhoods and suburban areas 

of southwest Chicago.22 Hayes had a formidable challenger 

in the primary—Bobby Rush, a Chicago alderman and 

a former member of the Black Panther Party. During the 

campaign, Rush accused Hayes of making many promises 

to his constituents but failing to secure enough substantial 

legislative victories.23 Despite the potential obstacles to 

his re-election, Hayes seemed to be on his way to securing 

another term in Congress until his name was linked to a 

breaking Capitol Hill scandal just days before the March 

18 primary. A Government Accounting Office study 

indicated that many Members consistently overdrew 

their accounts in the House “Bank,” an informal service 

provided by the House Sergeant at Arms. The ensuing 

investigation by the House Ethics Committee revealed 

that Hayes wrote 716 checks exceeding his account 

balance in a 39-month period.24 He had the dubious 

distinction of being identified as one of the roughly two 

dozen “abusers” (the Members with the worst records of 

bouncing checks).25 “I believe the whole thing is a personal 

matter,” Hayes commented after his overdrafts became 

public. “It did not cost the taxpayers a dime and is a side 

issue when our nation is in a serious crisis.”26 Reluctant to 

accept blame or apologize to his constituents, Hayes lost to 

Rush 42 to 39 percent.27 In 1993, the Justice Department 

cleared Hayes of any criminal wrongdoing for bouncing 

checks while he was a Member of the House.28

Hayes remained active in labor and community affairs 

after his congressional career.29 Stricken with cancer, 

he died in Chicago on April 8, 1997.30 In 1999, the 

Charles A. Hayes Family Investment Center, a nonprofit 

technology center for disadvantaged Chicago residents 

that was named for the former Representative, opened 

in a historic building previously used by the UPWA.31

H Charles Arthur Hayes H

former members | 1971–2007 H 549
For further reading

“Hayes, Charles Arthur,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000388.

Notes 

1 Steve Neal, “Former Lawmaker Charles Hayes Dies,” 10 April 

1997, Chicago Sun-Times: 4.

2 “Former S. Side Congressman Charles Hayes Dies at 79,” 9 

April 1997, Chicago Tribune: 2C; “Charles Arthur Hayes,” 1992 

Associated Press Candidate Biographies.

3 “Charles Hayes, 79, Former Chicago Lawmaker,” 13 April 1997, 

New York Times: 38; Congressional Directory, 99th Congress 

(Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1985): 52.

4 Mitchell Locin and Robert Davis, “Lifetime of Union Work Leads 

Hayes to Threshold of Congress,” 28 July 1983, Chicago Tribune: 

A9.

5 “Former S. Side Congressman Charles Hayes Dies at 79.” 

6 Locin and Davis, “Lifetime of Union Work Leads Hayes to 

Threshold of Congress.”

7 “Chicago Mayor’s Candidate Wins Primary for House Seat,” 28 

July 1983, New York Times: A17.

8 David Axelrod and Mitchell Locin, “Hayes Wins 1st District 

House Race,” 27 July 1983, Chicago Tribune: 1; Kevin Klose, “For 

Chicago Mayor, a Change in Fortune,” 28 July 1983, Washington 

Post: A8.

9 Locin and Davis, “Lifetime of Union Work Leads Hayes to 

Threshold of Congress.”

10 Michael J. Dubin et al., United States Congressional Elections, 

1788–1997: The Official Results (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & 

Company, Inc., 1998): 735; “Labor Leader Wins Easily in Chicago 

Special Election,” 24 August 1983, Washington Post: A3. Dubin 

et al. spell Hayes’s opponent’s surname, “Pracely,” whereas the 

contemporary Washington Post uses the spelling “Preacely.”

11 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 2nd sess. (7 August 

1986): 19646.

12 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 1st sess. (26 February 

1985): 3534.

13 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 1st sess. (12 November 

1985): 31409.

14 Stephen W. Stathis, Landmark Legislation, 1774–2002: Major U.S. 

Acts and Treaties (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 

2003): 302.

15 Congressional Record, House, 100th Cong., 1st sess. (9 April 1987): 

8654; Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1989): 417.

16 Congressional Record, House, 100th Cong., 1st sess. (9 April 1987): 

8655; Politics in America, 1990: 417.

17 “Funeral Held for Former Rep. Hayes,” 14 April 1997, United 

Press International; “Chicago Mayor’s Candidate Wins Primary for 

House Seat,” 28 July 1983, New York Times: A17.

18 Andrew Herrmann, “Rush, Hayes Put Records on the Line in 1st

District,” 21 February 1992, Chicago Sun-Times: 8.

19 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 1st sess. (28 February 

1985): 4165.

20 “Congressman and Rights Leader Arrested at South African 

Embassy,” 27 November 1984, New York Times: A20; “Rep. Hayes, 

SCLC Head Are Arrested in Protest,” 27 November 1984, Wall 

Street Journal: 64; “2 Congressmen Held After Embassy Protest,” 1 

December 1984, New York Times: 10.

21 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

22 Robert Davis, “Well-known Name Plays Role in 1st District Race,” 

21 September 1992, Chicago Tribune: 1; Politics in America, 1994 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1993): 455–456.

23 “Hayes Targets Jobless Voters With $5 Billion Public Works Bill,” 

28 January 1992, Chicago Tribune: C2. 

24 Amy Keller, “Members Misbehaving: Congress’ Top Scandals,” 14 

June 2005, Roll Call.

25 Steve Johnson and Teresa Wiltz, “Rep. Hayes Bounced 716 

Checks, List Shows,” 15 March 1992, Chicago Tribune: 1C.

26 Larry Margasak, “Rep. Hayes Listed Among Top Abusers of House 

Bank,” 15 March 1992, Chicago Sun-Times: 3.

27 Adam Clymer, “The Rumble of Discontent Rattles Illinois 

Incumbents,” 19 March 1992, New York Times: A20.

28 “Hayes Cleared in Check-Writing Scandal,” 19 May 1993, Chicago 

Tribune: 14.

29 “Charles Hayes, Former Congressman,” 10 April 1997, Milwaukee 

Journal Sentinel: 7.

30 “Charles Hayes, 79, Former Chicago Lawmaker”; “Former S. Side 

Congressman Charles Hayes Dies at 79.”

31 “Governor Unveils Computer Lab for Disabled at Charles A. 

Hayes Center,” 28 April 2004, Chicago Defender: 3.

H Charles Arthur Hayes H

550 H Black Americans in Congress
Concerned about the 

high dropout rate among 

students in Chicago, 

which far exceeded the 

national average, Hayes 

successfully proposed that 

the federal government 

allocate $500 million to 

state and local government 

officials to alleviate the 

problem. In 1986, the Illinois 

Representative remarked, 

“The greatest security our 

Nation can have is to 

have our children 

properly educated.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 551
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos

Upon being sworn in to the U.S. House of 

Representatives after a heated special election, Alton 

Waldon, Jr., noted of the U.S. Capitol: “This is a nice place 

to work for a man whose father had a strong back and not 

much else. I’m a bit of a romantic, a bit of a dreamer. This 

is a place that is the repository of the history of America.”1

Declaring, “I want to devote myself to being a 24-houra-day, seven-day-a-week, Congressman,” Walton devoted 

his short term to protesting apartheid in South Africa.2

Though he served in the House for less than six months, 

Waldon made his mark as the first black Representative 

elected from New York’s Queens borough.

Alton Ronald Walton, Jr., was born on December 21, 

1936, in Lakeland, Florida. His parents, Rupert Juanita 

Wallace and Alton R. Waldon, Sr., moved to New York 

City when their son was six years old, and he grew up 

in the Bedford-Stuyvesant section of Brooklyn. Alton 

Waldon, Sr., worked as a longshoreman. Waldon, Jr., 

joined the U.S. Army in 1953 and served until he was 

discharged in 1959 as a Specialist, 4th Class. He married 

Barbara DeCosta, a graphic designer, in 1961. They had 

three children: Alton III, Dana, and Ian. Waldon spent his 

first few years out of the military pursuing a professional 

singing career before he joined the New York City housing 

authority’s police force in 1962. The housing authority 

police, which provided security for residents of the city’s 

public housing, was at the time separate from the New 

York City Police Department. Before leaving the force 

in 1975, Waldon advanced from the rank of patrolman 

to captain. He also became chief administrator and 

commander of the police academy for the New York City 

housing department. Waldon received a B.S. in criminal 

justice from John Jay College in New York City in 1968, 

and earned a J.D. from New York University Law School 

in 1973. During his time in law school, Waldon won 

the prestigious Thurgood Marshall Fellowship, awarded 

every three years to promising minority law students by 

the New York state trial lawyers association. In 1975, 

Waldon was appointed deputy commissioner of the New 

York state division of human rights. In 1981 and 1982, 

he served as assistant counsel for the New York state office 

of mental retardation and developmental disabilities. 

In 1982, Waldon won election to represent his Queens 

neighborhood in the New York state assembly, where he 

served until 1986.

In April 1986, Representative Joseph Addabbo, after 

a long battle, succumbed to cancer. Addabbo had risen to 

chair the House Defense Appropriations Subcommittee 

during his 25-year congressional tenure. During that 

span, his southeastern Queens district grew by about 25 

percent, transforming from a primarily white lower- to 

middle-class neighborhood to a community that was nearly 

65 percent black. 3 In May 1986, Queens Democrats 

nominated Waldon to run for Addabbo’s seat in the June 

10 special election. If elected in the crowded five-way 

race, Waldon would be the first black man to represent 

the overwhelmingly Democratic district in Congress. 

Three Democrats joined the canvass under third party 

banners. Floyd Flake, a popular pastor of the Allen 

African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Jamaica, 

ran as a Unity Party candidate. New York City health 

department official Kevin McCabe entered the race as 

the Good Government Party candidate. State senator 

Andrew Jenkins, who was runner-up to Waldon for the 

Democratic nomination, ran on the Liberal Party ticket. 

Lone Republican-Conservative Richard Dietl also joined 

the race. 

Though he did not have the backing of the Democratic 

Party, Flake was considered Waldon’s strongest opponent. 

Flake’s position in the religious community gained him the 

Alton R. Waldon, Jr.

1936–

United States Representative H 1986–1987

Democrat from New York

������������������������������������������������������������������������

552 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Alton R. Waldon, Jr. H

support of nearly all of the black ministers in the district. 

Churches were instrumental in influencing voters, and 

also provided transportation to the polls.4

 Flake gained the 

endorsement of the New York Times just five days before 

the election, though the newspaper also portrayed Waldon 

favorably.5

 At the close of polls on Election Day, Flake led 

by 197 votes (out of more than 40,000 cast), but absentee 

ballots had yet to be counted. Flake’s name did not appear 

on the absentee ballots because a filing technicality had 

temporarily eliminated him from the race; by the time his 

candidacy was reinstated right before the election, it was 

too late to change the absentee ballots.6

 The final count 

put Waldon ahead of Flake by a mere 278 votes. Flake 

attempted to discard the absentee ballots in court, but a 

three-judge federal appeals panel ruled in Waldon’s favor 

on July 25.7

 Waldon was in Washington, DC, visiting 

Representative Charles Rangel of New York when he 

received the news of his election. He was sworn in five 

days later on July 29, 1986. “How sweet it is,” he declared. 

“I’m the son of a man who could not read and write. Only 

in America could this happen, to have someone to come 

from abject poverty . . . and sit in this august body.”8

During his brief term, Waldon received assignments 

to the Committee on Education and Labor and the 

Committee on Small Business, but his focus was primarily 

on U.S. relations with South Africa. Waldon entered 

Congress at the height of the battle for strict sanctions 

against South Africa’s white-minority government to 

condemn its apartheid system. Waldon and other black 

Members led the fight to override President Ronald W. 

Reagan’s veto of a bill calling for sanctions against South 

Africa. “America is the cradle of freedom,” Waldon 

declared on the House Floor. “But unless we move with 

determination and dispatch, the babe of hope will be 

stillborn in Pretoria.”9

 He also opposed aid to Angolan 

rebels, who received support from South Africa’s whiteminority government and called on President Reagan to 

participate in a summit with the leaders of the nations 

bordering South Africa.10 Waldon also submitted 

legislation combating drug abuse, focusing on reducing 

the use of crack cocaine. Recalling his father’s inability to 

read and write, he called for a national task force to focus 

on illiteracy, describing the inability to read as a “corrosive 

force that is silently eroding the social infrastructure of 

our Nation.”11

Just two months after he took his seat, Waldon found 

himself battling Flake for re-election. Though Waldon had 

the benefit of incumbency as well as support from New 

York Governor Mario Cuomo, Flake returned with his 

strong base as well as support from New York City Mayor 

Edward Koch. Waldon lost the nomination to Flake by 

about 3,000 votes.12

Waldon left Congress in January 1987 and received 

an appointment to the New York state investigation 

commission, where he served until 1990. The following 

year, he won a seat in the New York state senate, serving 

in that body for a decade. In 2000, Waldon accepted 

a judicial appointment to the New York court of claims 

in New York City.

554 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Waldon, Alton R., Jr.,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000038. 

Notes

1 Esther B. Fein, “Warmth and Work Greet Waldon,” 31 July 1986, 

New York Times: B3.

2 “Man in the News; After Court Victory, A Congressman-Elect: 

Alton Ronald Waldon, Jr.,” 26 July 1986, New York Times: A31.

3 “Good—and Better—in Queens,” 5 June 1986, New York Times: 

A26.

4 Dan Jacobson, “Queens Elects First Black Congressman,” 11 June 

1986, United Press International.

5 “Good—and Better—in Queens.”

6 “Election Laws on Trial in Queens,” 20 June 1986, New York 

Times: A30.

7 “Man in the News; After Court Victory, A Congressman-Elect: 

Alton Ronald Waldon, Jr.”

8 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 2nd sess. (29 July 1986): 

17956.

9 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 2nd sess. (29 September 

1986): 27094.

10 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 September 

1986): 26410.

11 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 2nd sess. (8 October 

1986): 29605.

12 Esther B. Fein, “Flake Defeats Waldon; Abzug Leading Teicher,” 

10 September 1986, New York Times: B5.

H Alton R. Waldon, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 555
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Mike Espy Collection, Congressional and Political 

Research Center, University Libraries, Mississippi State University

As the only black student at a newly integrated high 

school, Mike Espy learned firsthand how to navigate 

the strict racial division between blacks and whites in his 

home state of Mississippi. This ability won him a seat in 

the U.S. House of Representatives—the first held by a 

black Mississippian in more than 100 years—in his first 

bid for elective office in 1986. “Service, service, service” 

was the way Espy described his legislative strategy; he 

focused on economic development and procuring aid for 

farmers in his impoverished rural district.1

 His centrist 

approach to politics won over constituents of both races 

and eventually earned him a top position in the Cabinet 

of his friend President William J. (Bill) Clinton.

Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy was born in Yazoo 

City, Mississippi, on November 30, 1953. He and his 

twin, Althea Michelle, were the youngest of Henry and 

Willie Jean (Huddelston) Espy’s seven children. Though 

Yazoo City was located in an impoverished section of the 

Mississippi River Delta, the Espy family was affluent. 

Educated (along with his wife) at Alabama’s Tuskegee 

Institute, Henry Espy served as a county agent for the U.S. 

Department of Agriculture in the 1930s.2

 He later joined 

his father-in-law’s family-owned funeral home business. 

Mike Espy’s maternal grandfather, T. J. Huddleston, Sr., 

founded a chain of nursing homes and built the first black 

hospital in Mississippi in 1921. Huddleston, who died in 

the 1950s, was a local celebrity and one of the wealthiest 

black men in the South.3

 The prosperous family business 

initially sheltered the Espy children from segregated public 

schools. Mike Espy attended a local parochial school 

through his first two years of high school. After the school 

closed, in 1969, he transferred to Yazoo City High School. 

Espy was the only black student, and he carried a stick to 

fend off racist attacks from fellow students.4

 “Relative to 

the civil rights experiences of snarling dogs and whips and 

things it was pretty tame,” Espy recalled of his schooldays. 

“But I’d always have a fight. The teacher would leave the 

room, and then you’re among 35 in the classroom and 

they’d make racial jeers.”5

 A year later, in 1970, Yazoo City 

High School was fully integrated, and Espy was elected 

president of the black student body in his senior year. (The 

white students had their own president.) Espy went on to 

earn a B.A. in political science from Howard University in 

Washington, DC, in 1975. He earned a J.D. from Santa 

Clara University Law School, near San Jose, California, 

in 1978, and then returned to Mississippi to practice law. 

He married Sheila Bell and the couple had two children, 

Jamilia and Michael, before divorcing.

Espy began his political career working in several state 

government positions. He served as the first black assistant 

secretary of state, managing the Mississippi central legal 

services division from 1978 to 1980. For the next four 

years, Espy served as assistant secretary of state for the 

public lands division, in charge of enforcing a state law 

that set aside one of every 36 square miles for educational 

purposes. From 1984 to 1985, Espy was assistant state 

attorney general for the consumer protection division. 

Espy also drew national attention within the Democratic 

Party when he served on the rules committee for the 1984 

national convention.

Following the 1980 Census—nearly 100 years after 

the last black Representative to serve Mississippi (John 

Roy Lynch) departed the House in 1883—a statewide 

redistricting effort created a majority-black congressional 

district that stretched along the Mississippi River on the 

western side of the state and encompassed the cities of 

Vicksburg and Greenville. In 1984, black state legislator 

Robert Clark came close to unseating white freshman 

Republican incumbent Webb Franklin in a racially 

charged campaign. In 1986, the U.S. Justice Department 

Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy

1953–

United States Representative H 1987–1993

Democrat From Mississippi

������������������������������������������������������������������������

556 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
supervised the redrawing of district lines to include 

more black voters in response to the 1965 Voting Rights 

Act, which called for higher black percentages in single 

districts.6

 The new Mississippi district, with its slight black 

majority, was the most impoverished in the country; 42 

percent of its residents lived below the national poverty 

line and five counties had an unemployment rate of at least 

20 percent.7

 Studying the 1984 election, Espy believed he 

could improve on Clark’s campaign.8

 Narrowly avoiding 

a runoff election, Espy won a 50 percent plurality in the 

Democratic primary against runner-up Paul B. Johnson, 

a grandson of a former Mississippi governor, and Hiram 

Eastland, a cousin of the late segregationist U.S. Senator 

James Eastland. 

In the general election, Espy faced the incumbent, 

Franklin. Both candidates realized that voter turnout 

would be key since the district’s population was evenly 

divided between blacks and whites—particularly in a 

state where race was still a significant dividing line.9

 For 

example, Mississippi was the only state that still categorized 

drivers’ licenses by skin color, and blacks and whites 

coexisted in generally peaceful, but separate worlds. Social, 

civic, and educational institutions practiced an almost de 

facto segregation—black churches held services down the 

street from white churches; black lawyers served black 

clients and vice versa; and black children dominated the 

public schools down the road from the private schools that 

were mostly white.10 Combating black voters’ traditionally 

low turnout, Espy went door-to-door, calling on supporters 

to volunteer transportation and other services on Election 

Day. “I need you; I can’t do it by myself,” he implored. 

“Please sir, please ma’am, turn out, serve as a poll watcher 

or a driver or a food-fixer. The answer is in your hands.”11

A lifelong Baptist campaigning in a religious area, Espy 

adopted the slogan, “Stand by Me, Pray for Me, Vote for 

Me.”12 Espy stepped across the deep racial divide to court 

white voters, too. Describing the balancing act required 

by his strategy, Espy said, “You must excite your black 

voters and not incite your white voters.”13 He promised 

to combat the agricultural depression that plagued his 

white constituents (widely known as “planters” in local 

circles), touting a letter from House Speaker Jim Wright 

of Texas ensuring him a seat on the powerful Agriculture 

Committee.14 The strategy paid off. Espy won 12 percent 

of the white turnout, while many other white voters 

stayed home in a show of de facto support.15 Espy took 

52 percent of the total returns to Franklin’s 48 percent, 

winning his first elective office and becoming the only 

black Representative in the 100th Congress (1987–1989) 

to represent a rural district.16 Asked by a Washington Post

reporter how he felt after his victory, Espy responded, 

“peaceful,” belying the frenzy of national attention. 17

Espy’s ability as a black candidate to attract white voters 

was unprecedented in a Mississippi federal election.18

Espy’s election, declared a state newspaper, “did more than 

shatter the age-old color barrier. . . . It is further evidence 

that Mississippi is ready for a change.”19

House leaders rewarded Espy with favorable committee 

assignments for a freshman Representative, enabling him 

to look after the interests of his rural district.20 He took his 

promised seat on the Agriculture Committee as well as an 

assignment on the equally prestigious Budget Committee. 

He also served on the Select Committee on Hunger. 

Espy was re-elected three times. His 1988 campaign was 

difficult, but he won with 65 percent of the vote. Espy’s 

opponent, Republican attorney Jack Coleman, accused 

him of supporting the “radical left” and insinuated that 

Espy had defaced his home with racial epithets in order 

to elicit sympathy from voters.21 In Espy’s next two 

election campaigns in 1990 and 1992, he defeated 

Republican Dorothy Bedford with 84 and 76 percent 

of the vote, respectively.22

Espy attributed his electoral success to his focus on 

constituent service.23 As a freshman, he sponsored the 

Lower Mississippi River Valley Delta Development 

Act, enlisting the aid of fellow Mississippi Democrat 

and powerful Appropriations Committee Chairman 

Jamie Whitten, who helped secure $3 million to fund 

the project. 24 The bill established a nine-member panel 

to study the region’s widespread poverty and created a 

H Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy H

558 H Black Americans in Congress 
plan for economic development along the banks of the 

Mississippi River. The governors of participating states 

(Mississippi, Louisiana, Arkansas, Tennessee, Kentucky, 

Missouri, and Illinois) selected the commission’s members. 

Espy also helped create the Lower Mississippi Delta 

Congressional Caucus, later serving as its chairman. The 

group persuaded Congress to pass the 1990 Housing and 

Community Development Act, which funneled money to 

underserved areas. In addition, Espy became a spokesman 

for the Mississippi Delta’s fastest-growing enterprise: 

catfish farming. He sought huge federal grants for the 

thousand-acre pools to breed the fish and sponsored a 

resolution declaring June 25 National Catfish Day. He 

even persuaded the U.S. Army to serve soldiers catfish at 

least once a week.25

Reflecting the nearly even racial and political divisions 

among his constituents, Espy embraced the political 

center to a greater degree than did many of his AfricanAmerican colleagues in Congress.26 Espy’s voting record 

received high ratings from liberal groups. As an active 

member of the liberal Congressional Black Caucus, he 

generally disagreed with President Ronald W. Reagan’s 

focus on the Cold War military buildup and he supported 

abortion rights. Yet Espy also embraced some conservative 

positions on social issues: For instance, he was in favor 

of school prayer and advocated the death penalty for 

those who committed drug-related crimes. A longtime 

member of the National Rifle Association—a conservative 

organization whose primary interest was to protect 

Second Amendment rights to gun ownership—Espy made 

headlines as the first federal lawmaker to appear in one of 

the organization’s advertisements.27 He also favored U.S. 

funding for the Nicaraguan contras, who were fighting 

communist insurgents.28

Espy developed a close working relationship with 

fellow moderate, then-Arkansas Governor Bill Clinton. 

Both politicians served on the Democratic Leadership 

Council, a centrist coalition that was shunned by most 

black lawmakers. In an effort to support self-reliance 

over welfare handouts, the coalition often sided with 

Republican-sponsored economic enterprises. The council 

also promoted “microenterprises,” through which 

welfare recipients would receive loans from local banks 

to start their own small businesses. Espy endorsed the 

idea, noting that similar programs had been successful 

in developing countries such as Bangladesh and the 

Dominican Republic.29

As one of the first Democratic lawmakers to endorse 

Clinton’s 1992 candidacy for President, Espy benefited 

from his election to the presidency. Having won a fourth 

term in Congress, Espy sought a promotion to chair an 

Agriculture subcommittee or a seat on the prestigious 

Appropriations Committee. Receiving neither, Espy 

reportedly sent the President-elect a memo with the 

top 10 reasons he should head the U.S. Department of 

Agriculture (USDA).30 Clinton offered him the post, and 

Espy resigned from Congress on January 22, 1993, to 

begin his new position.

Most occupants of the USDA’s top post had been 

Midwesterners, and Espy was the first African American 

and the first Mississippian to receive the appointment. 

As the fourth-largest federal department, the USDA 

oversaw services ranging from the administration of 

food stamp programs to farm subsidies. The agency 

also had a reputation as a top-heavy bureaucracy. Espy 

directed several noteworthy achievements at the USDA, 

including improved meat inspections after an outbreak 

of illness caused by the bacterium E. coli in fast-food 

hamburgers. He also trimmed the agency’s bureaucracy 

and provided relief for farming areas following devastating 

Mississippi River floods in 1993. However, his career in 

the Clinton Cabinet ended prematurely when he resigned 

on December 31, 1994, after being charged with ethics 

violations. Although he was indicted on federal bribery 

and fraud charges, Espy was acquitted.31 He returned to 

Jackson, Mississippi, to practice law.32

H Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy H

former members | 1971–2007 H 559
For Further Reading

“Espy, Alphonso Michael (Mike),” Biographical Directory of 

the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=E000218. 

Manuscript Collection

Mississippi State University Libraries, Congressional and 

Political Research Center (Mississippi State, MS). Papers:

ca. 1987–1994, 100 cubic feet. The collection includes 

papers, publications, photographs, and memorabilia 

documenting Mike Espy’s tenure on the following 

House committees: Agriculture, Budget, and the Select 

Committee on Hunger. The collection is closed pending 

processing.

Notes

1 Robin Toner, “Real-Life Politics in Deep South,” 30 March 1989,

New York Times: B7.

2 “Mike Espy,” Contemporary Black Biography Volume 6 (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 1994) (hereinafter referred to as CBB).

3 Carla Hall, “Espy’s Mississippi Milestone,” 19 December 1986, 

Washington Post: C1.

4 “Espy, Mike,” Current Biography, 1993 (New York: H. W. Wilson 

Company, 1993): 184.

5 Quoted in Hall, “Espy’s Mississippi Milestone.”

6 Kenneth Martis, The Historical Atlas of Political Parties in the 

United States Congress: 1789–1989 (New York: Macmillan, 1989): 

235–239; Almanac of American Politics, 1988 (Washington, DC: 

National Journal Inc., 1987): 655.

7 Current Biography, 1993: 185; James R. Dickerson, “House Rivals 

Tread Fine Line in Race-Conscious Mississippi,” 29 October 1986, 

Washington Post: A1.

8 Current Biography, 1993: 185.

9 Dickerson, “House Rivals Tread Fine Line in Race-Conscious 

Mississippi.”

10 See Hall, “Espy’s Mississippi Milestone” for a summary of racial 

divisions in Espy’s Mississippi district.

11 Dickerson, “House Rivals Tread Fine Line in Race-Conscious 

Mississippi.”

12 Current Biography, 1993: 185.

13 Quoted in “Mike Espy,” CBB.

14 Dickerson, “House Rivals Tread Fine Line in Race-Conscious 

Mississippi”; Marshall Ingwerson, “In Deepest of Deep South, 

Black Lawmaker Wins Many Whites,” 21 October 1988, Christian 

Science Monitor: NL7.

15 Ingwerson, “In Deepest of Deep South, Black Lawmaker Wins 

Many Whites.”

16 Robin Toner, “Real-Life Politics in Deep South.”

17 Hall, “Espy’s Mississippi Milestone.”

18 Marshall Ingwerson, “Espy’s Mississippi Victory,” 22 December 

1986, Christian Science Monitor: 1.

19 Quoted in Hall, “Espy’s Mississippi Milestone.”

20 Bruce A. Ragsdale and Joel D. Treese, Black Americans in Congress, 

1870–1989 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 

1990): 50.

21 Current Biography, 1993: 185.

22 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

23 Toner, “Real-Life Politics in Deep South.”

24 Helen Dewar, “For Impoverished Mississippi River Delta, Change 

Is in the Air,” 17 April 1988, Washington Post: A3.

25 Current Biography, 1993: 186.

26 Toner, “Real-Life Politics in Deep South.”

27 Ibid.

28 “Mike Espy,” CBB.

29 Ibid.

30 Current Biography, 1993: 185.

31 “The Dizzying Fall of Mike Espy,” 5 October 1994, Chicago 

Tribune: 20. Espy was indicted on felony bribery and fraud 

charges when it was discovered that various food companies 

had paid his way to sporting events and awarded his girlfriend a 

scholarship. Also, Espy drove a car leased with government funds 

on non–work-related visits to Mississippi. He was acquitted in 

1998. See, for example, Bill Miller, “Espy Acquitted in Gifts Case,” 

3 December 1998, Washington Post: A1.

32 Lori Michelle Muha, “Mike Espy,” in Jessie Carney Smith, 

ed., Notable Black American Men (Farmington Hills, MI: Gale 

Research, Inc., 1999): 380.

H Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy H

560 H Black Americans in Congress
Espy’s ability as a black 

candidate to attract white 

voters was unprecedented in 

a Mississippi federal election.

Espy’s election, declared a 

state newspaper, “did more 

than shatter the age-old 

color barrier. . . . It is further 

evidence that Mississippi is 

ready for a change.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 561
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

Although Floyd Flake arrived in Congress without 

having held public office, he was bolstered by his 

experience managing one of the largest churches in 

New York City: the Allen African Methodist Episcopal 

(AME) Church. As a provider of a broad range of social 

services, the church was the economic focal point of the 

Queens neighborhood of Jamaica. Flake was part of a new 

generation of black Representatives who sought to work 

within the congressional hierarchy and who viewed race as 

less important in their role as Representatives. A Democrat, 

Flake often found himself teamed with Republicans to 

fund urban renewal efforts. But Flake’s calling ultimately 

remained his church, and halfway through his sixth term 

in Congress he left to return to New York. “I realize I could 

never be a Beltway politician,” Flake noted. “[Back home] 

there are real people with real everyday problems that need 

to be addressed.”1

Floyd Harold Flake was born in Los Angeles, California, 

on January 30, 1945, one of 13 children of Robert Flake, 

Sr., a janitor, and Rosie Lee Johnson-Flake, a homemaker. 

Both his parents had only an elementary school education.2

The Flakes moved to Houston, Texas, where Floyd Flake 

attended public schools and joined the AME church at 

the age of ten. Flake was the first in his family to attend 

college. He graduated from Ohio’s historically black 

college, Wilberforce University, with a B.A. in psychology 

in 1967, and subsequently did graduate work at Payne 

Theological Seminary at Wilberforce before earning his 

master’s degree in divinity at the United Theological 

Seminary in Dayton, Ohio, in 1995.3

 Flake later studied 

business administration at Northeastern University in 

Boston. Between his studies, he was employed as a social 

worker in Dayton, Ohio, a salesman for a large tobacco 

company, and a marketing analyst for an international 

technology and document management company. Flake 

eventually drew on his background in religious studies and 

education, working as the director of the Martin Luther 

King, Jr. Afro-American Center and the chaplain at Boston 

University. Flake married Margaret Elaine McCollins, also 

an ordained minister, and they raised four children: Aliya, 

Nailah, Robert Rasheed, and Harold Hasan.

In 1976, Flake and his wife took over the Allen AME 

Church in Jamaica, a primarily black neighborhood and 

one of the poorest sections of the mostly middle-class 

Queens Borough in New York. Named for Richard Allen 

of the Free African Society, Flake’s church was the oldest 

AME church in Queens, dating back to the 1860s.4

 Under 

Flake’s leadership, Allen AME became the second-largest 

black church in New York City, swelling from 1,000 to 

more than 5,000 members in a little more than a decade.5

As a provider of community outreach services such as a 

health clinic, a primary school, and affordable housing, 

Allen AME became the economic focal point of the 

Jamaica neighborhood.6

 Other local black pastors spoke 

highly of Flake’s ministry. “He is a master builder,” noted a 

local Pentecostal reverend. A regional Baptist leader called 

him “a role model for the clergy.”7

Flake did not consider running for public office 

until Joseph Addabbo, a longtime Representative from 

southeastern Queens, died in April 1986, opening a House 

seat. Democratic leaders sought a black man to replace 

Addabbo, whose constituency had changed dramatically 

during his 25-year career—from a large, middle-class 

Irish and Italian majority to one that was 65 percent 

black. Excluding Flake’s impoverished neighborhood in 

Jamaica, the district constituted one of the largest black 

middle-class communities in the nation.8

 Flake lost the 

party’s nomination for the seat to Alton Waldon, Jr., a 

black community lawyer and a former police officer. In 

a crowded special election, Flake ran on the Unity Party 

Floyd Harold Flake

1945–

United States Representative H 1987–1997

Democrat from New York

������������������������������������������������������������������������

562 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Floyd Harold Flake H

platform. Several other Democrats also joined the race on 

third-party tickets, providing Waldon with competition 

in the overwhelmingly Democratic district. Flake was 

Waldon’s chief opponent; he enjoyed the endorsement 

of the New York Times as well as the powerful support 

of local clergy.9

 Flake won the initial canvass in June by a 

mere 197 votes, but Waldon took the lead by 276 votes 

after the absentee ballots were counted. Flake’s name was 

not the absentee ballots, due to a filing error that occurred 

shortly before the election. Although Flake attempted 

to nullify the absentee ballots in federal court, he was 

unsuccessful.10 “It was mindboggling,” Flake noted of his 

loss to Waldon. “One day you go to bed having won an 

election. A week later you discover you’ve lost because 

of absentee ballots.”11 Flake returned three months later 

to face Waldon for the Democratic nomination for the 

100th Congress (1987–1989). In addition to his Jamaica 

base, Flake also enjoyed an endorsement from New York 

City Mayor Edward Koch, who delivered him some of the 

heavily Jewish and Italian neighborhoods that remained in 

the district. Flake defeated the incumbent in the primary 

by 3,000 votes.12 Tantamount to a win in the Democratic 

district, Flake’s nomination propelled him into the general 

election, where he won with 68 percent of the vote. 

Flake won re-election five times, typically garnering 

between 60 and 70 percent of the vote in somewhatcrowded general elections.13 In 1992, a well-publicized 

legal controversy catapulted Flake into a primary battle. 

Black Democrat Simeon Golar, a local judge, challenged 

his nomination.14 Golar claimed that Flake focused more 

on his church and its surrounding neighborhood than 

on his congressional duties and neighborhoods outside 

Jamaica.15 The Democratic establishment in Queens 

chose to support Golar in the primary.16 Flake retaliated 

by providing a slate of candidates for local elections 

who were loyal to him and running against the party’s 

handpicked candidates. Election officials threw several of 

Flake’s candidates off the ballot for failure to observe filing 

rules.17 Despite the Democrats’ anger at his defiance, Flake 

remained on the primary ballot and emerged victorious. 

Flake’s background in business and urban 

redevelopment won him appointments to the Banking and 

Small Business committees. Following the loss of several 

incumbents on the Banking Committee in the 1992 

elections, Flake rose to chair the panel’s Subcommittee 

on General Oversight.18 Flake effectively used his 

committee assignments to help steer federal money 

toward urban renewal projects in his district. In 1995, 

a New York publication cited him as one of the most 

effective downstate New York Representatives regarding 

the procurement of federal funds.19 Flake’s willingness to 

work with Republicans and their traditional corporate 

constituents often helped him to meet his goals. In 

1993, taking advantage of his new chairmanship on a 

Banking subcommittee, Flake introduced a comprehensive 

community development plan that outwardly opposed 

a plan advanced by Democratic President William J. 

(Bill) Clinton. Along with the Ranking Member on the 

Banking Committee, Representative Jim Leach of Iowa, 

Flake crafted legislation that redirected one-third of the 

funding for the Clinton proposal from local community 

development banks to large lending institutions.20

According to Flake, this move provided incentives for big 

banks to lend to poor communities—first, by underwriting 

local lenders in order to help small businesses get off the 

ground and second, by encouraging larger lenders to 

take on the businesses as they matured. Parts of Flake’s 

legislation were later incorporated into the Community 

Development Banking and Financial Institutions Act, 

which was signed into law in 1994.21

Flake’s support for portions of the GOP’s Contract 

With America was controversial. House Democrats 

almost unanimously opposed the 1994 list of campaign 

promises for reform legislation, but the contract helped 

vault Republicans into power in the House in 1995. Flake’s 

support was not without reservation; he informed new 

GOP Speaker and Contract With America champion 

Newt Gingrich of Georgia that the legislative agenda 

ignored urban America. Gingrich later took note of 

Flake’s work at Allen AME and brought him on in 

564 H Black Americans in Congress 
1997 to cosponsor another Republican reform bill, the 

Community Renewal Act, which offered tax breaks and 

school vouchers to poor urban neighborhoods.22 Flake’s 

support of school vouchers—tax credits given to parents 

so their children could attend private schools—drew the 

most criticism from within his party. Citing the successful 

Allen AME Christian School, Flake argued that private 

schools used fewer tax dollars per student annually and 

graduated more students than did public schools. He also 

believed that vouchers would motivate public schools 

to better manage their finances and curricula.23 Most 

Democrats viewed the program as an across-the-board 

abandonment of the public school system. Foes included 

the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and a powerful 

lobby composed of many New York City teachers and 

administrators. Many of these teachers were members of 

Allen AME. House Minority Leader Richard Gephardt 

of Missouri noted, “I’ve been to Floyd Flake’s school, and 

I’ve seen how truly remarkable it is. But if we’re going to 

rip the rug from underneath public schools, we’ve made 

a grave error.”24

Yet Flake voted with the Democrats more often 

than not. Though wary of dependence on government 

assistance, the passage of a 1996 welfare reform bill caused 

Flake to rail against the slashes in programs, which he 

noted would cost New Yorkers $750 million in lost federal 

benefits. Flake noted the role of the federal safety net 

in keeping the poor in major cities afloat.25 He also was 

an active member of the CBC and supported its broad 

mission. “With those 39 votes, we were able to do a very 

effective job of lobbying the President and Congress 

because those votes made a big difference,” Flake noted 

after an increase in the caucus membership following 

the 1992 elections. But he cautioned against the CBC’s 

leftward lean in the face of the increasingly conservative 

Congress. The caucus should “become more bipartisan,” 

Flake concluded, as well as “work with [President Bill 

Clinton with the] understanding that he, as the leader 

of the nation, cannot afford to make policies that were 

effective for us in the 1970s.”26

Allen AME remained a significant part of Flake’s life, 

and in July 1997 he announced that he was resigning from 

Congress to concentrate on his pastoral duties. “My calling 

in life is as a minister,” Flake told reporters, “so I had to 

come to a real reconciliation . . . and it is impossible to 

continue the sojourn where I am traveling back and forth 

to DC.”27 Flake served out the remainder of the session, 

officially leaving on November 15. Candidates who hoped 

to succeed Flake immediately sought his endorsement, 

recognizing the local political power of Allen AME’s 

thousands of congregants.28 Flake backed the eventual 

winner, former state assemblyman Gregory Meeks.

Flake continued to be politically active following his 

departure from Congress, writing op-ed pieces for the 

New York Post and working for various conservative think 

tanks to promote school vouchers. “The best thing that’s 

happened to me is getting out of Congress,” Flake declared 

in a 1997 interview, “Because I’m going to be a real hellraiser from now on!”29 In addition to fulfilling his duties 

as head pastor at Allen AME, Flake also was appointed 

president of Wilberforce University in October 2002, after 

serving six months as interim president. 

H Floyd Harold Flake H

former members | 1971–2007 H 565
For Further Reading

“Flake, Floyd Harold,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000184.

Notes

1 Robert M. Garsson, “Rep. Flake, a New York Liberal—a Bank 

Defender,” 2 August 1993, The American Banker: 15.

2 James Traub, “Floyd Flake’s Middle America,” 19 October 1997, 

New York Times: 245. 

3 Whether Flake received his graduate degree at the Payne Theological 

Seminary of Wilberforce, Ohio, or at United Theological Seminary 

in Dayton, Ohio, is unclear. According to Flake’s Allen AME 

biography, he received his degree from United and did some 

graduate work at Payne. See “Professional Profile: Rev. Dr. Floyd H. 

Flake,” The Greater Allen A.M.E. Cathedral of New York, http://www.

allencathedral.org (accessed 5 April 2006).

4 Josh Barbanel, “Congressman Flake’s Indictment: Good Works or 

Greed?” 6 August 1990, New York Times: B1.

5 The congregation of Allen A.M.E. has grown significantly since 

the 1980s. In a 2004 interview, Flake claimed more than 18,000 

members. See Public Broadcasting System (PBS), “Interview: Floyd 

Flake,” 24 September 2004, Religion and Ethics Newsweekly, at 

http://www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/week804/interview.html 

(accessed 5 April 2006).

6 Barbanel, “Congressman Flake’s Indictment: Good Works or Greed?”

7 Ibid.

8 “Good—and Better—in Queens,” 5 June 1986, New York Times: 

A26; Traub, “Floyd Flake’s Middle America.”

9 Dan Jacobson, “Queens Elects First Black Congressman,” 11 June 

1986, United Press International; “Good—and Better—in Queens.”

10 “Election Laws on Trial in Queens,” 20 June 1986, New York Times: 

A30; “Man in the News; After Court Victory, A CongressmanElect: Alton Ronald Waldon Jr.,” 26 July 1986, New York Times: 31.

11 Ken Fireman, “The Crazy Case of Floyd Flake,” 12 September 1988, 

Newsday (New York): 22.

12 Esther B. Fein, “Flake Defeats Waldon; Abzug Leading Teicher,” 10 

September 1986, New York Times: B5.

13 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.house.

gov/member_info/election.html.

14 In 1990, Floyd and Elaine Flake were charged with income tax 

evasion and embezzlement of federal funds appropriated to build 

the church’s senior citizen housing complex in 1981. The Flakes 

maintained their innocence, and their supporters claimed the 

charges were politically and racially motivated. Following a well 

publicized, three-week trial in March 1991, a judge dismissed the 

charges against the Flakes, declaring the prosecution’s evidence 

insufficient. See “Floyd H. Flake,” Associated Press Candidate 

Biographies, 1996; “Floyd H. Flake,” Contemporary Black Biography

(Detroit, MI: Gale Research, Inc., 2002) (hereinafter referred to as 

CBB); Susan B. Glasser, “Rep. Flake Is Indicted in Church Fraud 

Plot,” 6 August 1990, Roll Call; Joseph P. Fried, “Flake Pleads 

Not Guilty to All Charges,” 21 August 1990, New York Times: 

B1; Murray Kempton, “The Quiet Trial of U.S. Rep. Flake,” 13 

March 1991, Newsday (New York): 11; Barbanel, “Congressman 

Flake’s Indictment: Good Works or Greed?”; M. A. Farber, “U.S. 

Dismisses Charges Faced by Rep. Flake,” 4 April 1991, New York 

Times: A1.

15 Joseph P. Fried, “Rep. Flake Is Fighting Hard Race in Queens,” 24 

August 1992, New York Times: B3.

16 Politics in America, 1996 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1995): 897.

17 “Rev. Flake Loses Bid for District Leader in Queens,” 26 August 

1992, New York Voice (Volume 34, Number 20): 1.

18 Though Flake also sought more powerful assignments on the 

Budget and Appropriations committees, the Democratic leadership 

passed him over. This snub was attributed to his reputation as an 

independent lawmaker. See Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1989): 1014; Jack Sirica, 

“Dems Bypass Flake,” 8 December 1992, Newsday: 106.

19 Traub, “Floyd Flake’s Middle America.”

20 Politics in America, 1996: 895.

21 See 103rd Cong., 1st sess., H.R. 2707 and H.R. 3474.

22 “Floyd H. Flake,” CBB; Jonathan P. Hicks, “Rep. Flake Breaks 

With Party to Back School Vouchers,” 12 March 1997, New York 

Times: B3.

23 “Floyd H. Flake,” CBB.

24 Terry M. Neal, “Ex-Lawmaker Refuses to Be Boxed In; The Rev. 

Flake Left Congress to Pursue Urban Renewal Beyond Party 

Lines,” 10 January 1998, Washington Post: A1.

25 Ralph Roach, “A Conversation With Cong. Floyd Flake,” 10 

August 1996, New York Amsterdam News: 11.

26 Ed Laiscell, “Congressman Floyd Flake Prepares to Leave 

Congress,” 17 September 1997, Washington Informer: 18.

27 Laiscell, “Congressman Floyd Flake Prepares to Leave Congress.”

28 Jonathan P. Hicks, “Flake to Leave Congress to Devote Time to 

Church,” 1 August 1997, New York Times: B3.

29 Ronald Powers, “Flake Leaves Congress to Work at His Church,” 

15 November 1997, Telegraph Herald (Dubuque, IA): B10.

H Floyd Harold Flake H

566 H Black Americans in Congress
“My calling in life is as 

a minister,” Flake told 

reporters [explaining his 

decision to retire in 1997], 

“so I had to come to a real 

reconciliation . . . and it is 

impossible to continue the 

sojourn where I am traveling 

back and forth 

[from Queens] to DC”

former members | 1971–2007 H 567
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Congressional Pictorial Directory, 102nd Congress 

An epiphany in his mid-20s called Frizzell Gray away 

from the streets of Baltimore and into politics under 

a new name: Kweisi Mfume, which means “conquering 

son of kings” in a West African dialect. “Frizzell Gray had 

lived and died. From his spirit was born a new person,” 

Mfume later wrote.1

 An admirer of civil rights leader Dr. 

Martin Luther King, Jr., Mfume followed in his footsteps, 

becoming a well-known voice on Baltimore-area radio, the 

chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), and 

the leader of one of the country’s oldest advocacy groups 

for African Americans, the National Association for the 

Advancement of Colored People (NAACP). 

Kweisi Mfume, formerly named Frizzell Gray, was 

born on October 24, 1948, in Turners Station, Maryland, 

a small town 10 miles south of Baltimore. His mother, 

Mary Elizabeth Gray, was employed in odd jobs that 

included positions as a maid and a worker in an airplane 

components factory. His stepfather, Clifton Gray, a truck 

driver, left the family in 1959.2

 In 1960, Mary Gray 

and her children moved to West Baltimore, where they 

struggled financially. Education was segregated, and Gray 

recalled being confused about having to pass three schools 

on the way to his own.3

 The Grays drew inspiration from 

Martin Luther King, Jr., and President John F. Kennedy. In 

1962, Gray heard President Kennedy speak in Baltimore. 

A year later, the Grays wanted to attend King’s civil rights 

March on Washington but could not afford the trip.4

Two events changed Gray’s life when he was a young 

man. In 1965, his mother died in his arms after battling 

cancer. Though the Gray children were parceled out among 

relatives, Gray felt responsible for the well-being of his 

sisters: Darlene, LaWana, and Michele. At 16, he left high 

school and worked as many as three jobs simultaneously, 

finding employment as a grocery clerk, a bread factory 

employee, and a shoe shiner. Eventually succumbing to 

stress and frustration, Gray quit his jobs. He hung out 

on street corners, participated in illegal gambling, joined 

a gang, and fathered five sons (Ronald, Donald, Kevin, 

Keith, and Michael) with four different women. In the 

summer of 1972, Gray saw a vision of his mother’s face, 

convincing him to leave his life on the streets.5

 Earning 

a high school equivalency degree, Gray changed his 

name to symbolize his transformation. He adopted the 

name Kweisi Mfume at the suggestion of an aunt who 

had traveled through Ghana. An earlier encounter with 

future Baltimore-area Representative Parren Mitchell, who 

challenged Mfume to help solve the problems of poverty 

and violence, profoundly affected the troubled young 

man.6

 “I can’t explain it, but a feeling just came over me 

that I shouldn’t be [on the streets] and I had to change. 

I was headed nowhere,” he later told reporters.7

 Mfume 

continued to provide for his sons. He married Linda 

Shields in July 1972, but they later divorced.

A renewed Mfume began classes at the Community 

College of Baltimore and served as an announcer for 

WEBB Radio Baltimore, which was owned by legendary 

singer James Brown. Mfume volunteered for Parren 

Mitchell’s 1968 campaign. Though Mitchell lost the 

primary election (he was elected to Congress in 1970 

and would serve 16 years in the House), the experience 

sparked Mfume’s interest in politics. He soon went from 

introducing popular records on the radio to hosting his 

own ad hoc political talk show.8

 From 1974 to 1976, 

Mfume was the dee-jay for “Ebony Reflections,” a radio 

show that discussed African-American political concerns 

between musical selections and aired recordings of 

Malcolm X and King.9

 Uncomfortable with the show’s 

political content, Brown eventually dismissed Mfume.10

After transferring to Morgan State University, Mfume 

helped start a college radio station. By the time Mfume 

Kweisi Mfume

1948–

United States Representative H 1987–1996

Democrat from Maryland

������������������������������������������������������������������������

568 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
earned his bachelor of science degree in urban planning in 

1976, he was the program director for the station.11

In 1978, Mfume ran for a seat on the Baltimore 

city council. Adopting the slogan “Beat the Bosses,” he 

conducted a massive, but disorganized, door-to-door 

campaign.12 Mfume won the seat by a mere three votes.13

Shortly after Mfume’s razor-thin victory, a mentor 

encouraged him to change his attire from more-eclectic, 

African-inspired clothing to suits and ties. Mfume followed 

the advice; however, he remained outspoken and often 

instigated famously heated battles with Democratic 

Mayor William Donald Schaefer. Yet he soon tempered 

his confrontational style. “I realized I had to find a way to 

put together a majority of the votes on the council, and 

that meant developing a consensus,” Mfume said.14 In his 

eight years as a city councilman, Mfume rose to chair the 

city’s health subcommittee and led Baltimore’s divestment 

from companies doing business in South Africa. He also 

earned a master’s degree in liberal arts from Johns Hopkins 

University in 1984.

In 1985, Representative Parren Mitchell announced 

his retirement after more than a decade and a half in the 

House. Rooted in inner-city Baltimore, Mitchell’s district 

was overwhelmingly black (73 percent) and Democratic 

presidential candidates regularly received 80 percent 

of the vote throughout the 1980s.15 Mfume entered a 

crowded 1986 Democratic primary to succeed Mitchell as 

a dark horse among well-recognized names. Front-runner 

Clarence Mitchell III (Parren Mitchell’s nephew), a 24-year 

state senate veteran, entered the race. Wendell H. Phillips, 

a civil rights activist and pastor of a large Baltimore church, 

proved to be Mitchell’s closest rival. Phillips had the full 

support of former Mayor Schaefer, who was running for 

governor. As Phillips and Mitchell attacked one another, 

Mfume emerged as a viable compromise and unexpectedly 

won the nomination with 47 percent of the vote.16 In the 

general election, Mfume faced Republican Saint George 

I. B. Crosse III. Crosse attacked Mfume by drawing 

attention to his former life on the street. In front of a 

media entourage, Crosse held up a cup and challenged 

Mfume to take a drug test.17 Mfume deflected the attacks 

by pointing to his changed life and easily won the election, 

with 87 percent of the vote. Though redistricting in 1993 

added some rural communities west of the city to his 

constituency, the district remained predominantly black 

(71 percent) due to African-American migration to the 

suburbs.18 Mfume won all of his subsequent elections by 

margins greater than 80 percent, and he ran unopposed 

in 1988.19

Mfume’s background led him to focus on urban 

economic renewal, and his committee assignments 

reflected this emphasis. Mfume received assignments on 

the Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Committee 

and the Small Business Committee. He also received 

an assignment on the Select Committee on Hunger. In 

1990, he convinced the Subcommittee on Housing of 

the Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Committee to 

include an amendment that would prorate rents in public 

housing on the basis of real income—less alimony and 

child support payments—rather than net income.20 Mfume 

presided over a debate that preceded the passage of the civil 

rights bill by the House in 1991; the measure facilitated 

the collection of damages by victims of job discrimination 

based on race, sex, disability, or national origin.21 In 

1993, Mfume teamed with Connecticut Republican 

Christopher Shays on a bill to create enterprise zones and 

provide tax breaks for minority businesses.22 “People are 

being discriminated against by mortgage lenders based 

on the color of their skin,” Mfume told the New York 

Times. “Banks have a long way to go for meeting the 

legitimate needs of neighborhoods.”23 Mfume’s experience 

on the streets motivated him to craft legislation to help 

inner-city youth and he proposed the Youth Employment 

Services Act, which sought to connect local businesses and 

governments with teenage workers.24 Mfume also received 

national attention in the 101st Congress (1989–1991) 

when he attempted to restrict the sale of beepers to young 

people, claiming the devices made drug transactions 

H Kweisi Mfume H

570 H Black Americans in Congress 
easier.25 In the 102nd Congress (1991–1993), Mfume 

earned an additional assignment on the Joint Economic 

Committee. He continued to advocate urban renewal 

projects as chairman of the Small Business Committee 

in the 103rd Congress (1993–1995). To revitalize urban 

areas, Mfume unveiled a seven-point plan that included 

the expansion of the enterprise zones program and the 

development of nationally sponsored service projects for 

urban youth. 

Mfume was an active member of the CBC from the 

beginning of his congressional career. As a freshman in the 

100th Congress (1987–1989), he served as CBC treasurer. 

The following Congress, he was vice chairman. In the 

103rd Congress, he sought the caucus chairmanship. 

Mfume’s promise of bold leadership helped him prevail 

against Representative Craig Washington of Texas, and he 

won the chairmanship by a vote of 27 to 9.26

As CBC chairman, Mfume quickly established that 

the caucus would not automatically support the policies 

of Democratic President William J. (Bill) Clinton. In 

April 1993, Mfume led the CBC and a handful of other 

Democrats in a threat to join Republicans in blocking 

Clinton’s request for a line-item veto (the ability to strike 

certain provisions of an appropriations bill without vetoing 

it). Explaining his stance as a “pure position of principle,” 

Mfume argued that granting the President’s request would 

give him too much power. “Even the most naïve student 

of constitutional history knows that no legislator since 

the beginning of this nation has come to the point that 

we are at today, to cede unto the executive branch, those 

powers,” he declared. Mfume and other liberals were also 

uneasy about the power that could be given to a future 

conservative executive.27 Realizing they were hemorrhaging 

votes, Democratic leaders quickly pulled the measure from 

the floor. After several weeks of cajoling black Members 

to get on board with the line-item veto, the leadership 

managed to pass the measure; Mfume voted against it.28

Under Mfume’s leadership the CBC also challenged the 

Clinton administration’s budget-cutting priorities as it 

scaled back welfare and other entitlement programs.29

The CBC also weighed in on foreign affairs. The caucus’s 

pressure on the Clinton administration affected the 

President’s policies toward former Haitian President JeanBertrand Aristide. The CBC wanted to help reinstate the 

exiled leader and change American policy toward Haitian 

refugees, many of whom were sent back to Haiti when 

they arrived in the United States.30 In April 1994, Mfume 

was one of six Members of Congress—five of them CBC 

members—who were arrested after a sit-in at the White 

House to protest the Clinton administration’s Haitian 

policy.31 Mfume and the caucus pushed the Clinton 

administration to turn its attention to Africa’s problems: 

war, famine, and slow development.32 Additionally Mfume 

and the CBC denounced the North American Free Trade 

Agreement, a Clinton proposal to relax trade restrictions 

with neighboring countries.

Mfume stepped down as CBC chairman after one 

term in December 1994, per caucus tradition, though 

he remained active in a supporting role. In December 

1994, Mfume unsuccessfully campaigned for chairman 

of the Democratic Caucus—an organization that set 

congressional party policy—for the 104th Congress 

(1995–1997) against Representative Vic Fazio of 

California.33 The “Republican Revolution” in the 1994 

election, which ushered in the first GOP majority in 40 

years, also discouraged Mfume and reduced the political 

power of the liberal CBC.34 In December 1995, he 

announced his retirement from his safe congressional seat 

to head the NAACP, whose headquarters are in Baltimore. 

Mfume faced the daunting task of revitalizing an 

organization that was beset by financial difficulties, internal 

bickering, and scandal.35 By February 1997, Mfume had 

nearly erased the organization’s $3 million debt and had 

rekindled interest in the association.36 Mfume left the 

NAACP after nine years of service to spend time with his 

sons. (He adopted a sixth son, four-year-old Christopher, 

in 2004.37) Reflecting on his political career, Mfume 

mused, “I could just stand on the side and be a spectator. 

H Kweisi Mfume H

former members | 1971–2007 H 571
But politics is not a spectator sport. And in Washington, 

it’s a contact sport. I don’t play to tie, I try to play to win. 

But you can only win if you are in the game.”38 Mfume 

attempted a return to elective political office in 2005, 

when he announced his candidacy to succeed retiring U.S. 

Senator Paul Sarbanes in the 2006 election. In a crowded 

Democratic primary, Mfume lost by a narrow four-point 

margin to Maryland Representative Ben Cardin, taking 40 

percent of the vote.39

For Further Reading

“Mfume, Kweisi,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000687.

Mfume, Kweisi with Ron Stodghill II. No Free Ride: 

From the Mean Streets to the Mainstream. (New York: One 

World, 1996).

Notes

1 Kweisi Mfume with Ron Stodghill II, No Free Ride: From the Mean 

Streets to the Mainstream (New York: One World Books, 1996): 

187.

2 Family friend Rufus Tate later revealed that he was Mfume’s 

biological father. Damien Bayard Ingram, “Kweisi Mfume,” in 

Jessie Carney Smith, ed., Notable Black American Men (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 1999): 809 (hereinafter referred to as 

NBAM).

3 “Kweisi Mfume,” Contemporary Heroes and Heroines, Volume 3 

(Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 1998) (hereinafter referred to as CHH).

4 Mfume, No Free Ride: 109.

5 “Kweisi Mfume,” CHH; Ingram, “Kweisi Mfume,” NBAM; 

Mfume, No Free Ride: 176–177. See also “Kweisi Mfume,” 

Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 6 (Detroit, MI: Gale 

Research Inc., 1994) (hereinafter referred to as CBB).

6 Mfume, No Free Ride: 165–166.

7 Kent Jenkins, Jr., “Mfume on the Move,” 8 December 1992, 

Washington Post: D1.

8 “Kweisi Mfume,” CBB.

9 Ingram, “Kweisi Mfume,” NBAM.

10 Mfume, No Free Ride: 210.

11 Jenkins, “Mfume on the Move.”

12 “Kweisi Mfume,” CBB; “Mfume, Kweisi,” Current Biography, 1996 

(New York: H. W. Wilson Company, 1996): 368.

13 Jenkins, “Mfume on the Move.”

H Kweisi Mfume H

572 H Black Americans in Congress 
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Texas State Senate Media Services

Elected to fill the House seat of the late Mickey Leland, 

Craig Washington proved to be a staunch supporter of 

civil rights and the rights of criminal defendants. However, 

his career in a downtown Houston district that boasted 

African-American representation since its creation in 1973 

ended abruptly when constituents eventually rejected his 

maverick and often-erratic voting record. Washington 

frequently voted with the minority in lopsided roll call 

votes and he took pride in his independence. “I did this my 

way,” he said, conceding his loss in the 1994 Democratic 

primary to future Representative Sheila Jackson Lee. 

“There are a lot of easier ways to be a congressman or run 

for Congress. I wanted people to hear the truth.”1

Craig Anthony Washington was born to Roy and Azalea 

Washington on October 12, 1941, in Longview, Texas. He 

received a bachelor of science degree in 1966 from Prairie 

View A&M University, a historically black college located 

40 miles northwest of Houston. In 1969, he received a 

J.D. from Texas Southern University. Washington was on 

the law school faculty from 1969 to 1970, before opening 

his own criminal defense practice in Houston.2

 In 1973, 

Washington was elected a Texas state representative in a 

freshman class that included future U.S. Representative 

Mickey Leland. In 1983, Washington moved to the Texas 

state senate, where he proved to be a commanding orator 

and legislative strategist. Washington soon became one 

of the foremost faces in the Texas civil rights movement. 

He worked to increase the participation of minorities and 

women in state government, supported Texas divestment 

from South Africa, and coordinated his state’s fight against 

the spread of HIV/AIDS. Washington married twice and 

raised five children.3

On August 7, 1989, popular Houston Representative 

Mickey Leland died in a plane crash in Ethiopia while en 

route to a United Nations’ refugee camp. Leland’s district 

had been served by an African American since its creation. 

(Representative Barbara Jordan preceded Leland, deciding 

not to run for re-election in 1978.) A longtime Leland ally, 

Washington entered the primary election to succeed him 

after Leland’s widow, Alison, declined to run.4

 Under the 

campaign slogan, “Pass the Torch,” emphasizing the Leland 

family’s support of his candidacy, Washington was the top 

vote-getter in the nonpartisan primary. In a December 9 

special election, Washington easily defeated Houston City 

Councilman Anthony Hall (who had lost to Leland in 

1978) with 56 percent of the vote.5

 Washington invoked 

Leland’s memory in his victory speech: “I claim this victory 

not for myself,” he told reporters, “but for our brother 

who died on the side of a hill in Ethiopia.”6

 Taking his 

oath of office on January 23, 1990, on the opening day of 

the second session for the 101st Congress (1989–1991), 

Washington said, “I could never replace Mickey Leland. 

I’m merely his successor.”7

 Washington filled Leland’s 

vacant seat on the Select Committee on Hunger, which 

the former Representative had created. Continuing his 

predecessor’s focus on world hunger, Washington admitted, 

“I may not be a champion on the issue of hunger. But I 

will be a drum major.”8

 Washington’s legal background 

won him appointments to the Judiciary Committee and 

the Committee on Education and Labor. After easily 

winning two re-election campaigns in his liberal district—

running unopposed in 1990 and capturing 65 percent 

of the vote in 1992—Washington traded his seat on the 

Education and Labor Committee for a place on the highly 

desirable Energy and Commerce Committee in the 103rd 

Congress (1993–1995).9

Whereas Leland had made his name as an advocate 

for hunger, Washington earned a reputation as an 

independent politician. Compiling a solid liberal record, 

Washington frequently voted with the handful of Members 

Craig Anthony Washington

1941–

United States Representative H 1989–1995

Democrat from Texas

������������������������������������������������������������������������

574 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
in the minority of a one-sided vote. He was one of five 

Representatives (all African-American) who opposed 

sending U.S. troops into Kuwait in 1991 to drive out 

Iraqi forces under President Saddam Hussein.10 Instead, 

Washington proposed a resolution calling for an upor-down vote on the use of force against Iraq. “Either 

you are for war or you are against war,” Washington 

declared on the House Floor. “Let it be said by history 

that the Congress of the United States saw its duty and 

we did it.”11 He also cast some perplexing votes against 

proposed projects that would have benefited his state 

and district. Washington was one of two Texans to vote 

against continuing funding for the superconducting 

super collider in 1993. The project, which would enable 

scientists to study small particles of matter, was sited for 

East Texas and would have brought the state millions of 

federal dollars. Washington was also the only Texan to 

vote against building a space station whose construction 

and maintenance would have employed constituents of 

his Houston district, which was home to the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration’s (NASA) Lyndon 

B. Johnson Space Center. Washington justified both votes 

by asserting that federal dollars would be better spent 

on more-basic needs, such as education, health care, and 

social services.12 Yet at other times he voted in favor of his 

district’s interests. Washington was one of seven Texans to 

vote against the North American Free Trade Agreement 

(NAFTA), despite its support by Houston-area businesses, 

arguing that the measure would ship 3,000 jobs from his 

district to Mexico.13

Washington’s experience as a defense lawyer and a 

civil rights activist influenced his work on the Judiciary 

Committee. He was one of the more vocal opponents 

of the 1991 Civil Rights Bill, which was backed by 

President George H. W. Bush. Bush had vetoed a 1990 

bill seeking to reverse a series of Supreme Court decisions 

that narrowed the scope of laws against employment 

discrimination based on race, sex, or ethnicity. The 1990 

bill required employers to meet controversial racial quotas, 

whereas the 1991 compromise focused less on racial quotas 

than on greater gender equity in the job market.14 From 

his seat on the Judiciary Committee, Washington argued 

for the return of racial quotas, calling the compromise 

measure a “hollow shell of a civil rights bill.”15 “Where did 

the quotas go?” he asked on the House Floor. “They swam 

upstream like red herrings often do.”16 Washington was the 

only Democrat to vote against the 1991 compromise bill.

Washington was also a strict defender of Members’ 

rights and privacy within Congress. In 1992, he came 

out strongly against a federal subpoena for House “Bank” 

records, despite a public outcry following the revelation 

that Members had overdrawn their accounts. Also, 

Washington was one of two Members who voted against 

restricting franking privileges from within Members’ 

districts. “I don’t have a right to tell other members of 

Congress where they should mail,” he declared. “If the 

people don’t like [the mailing practices] they will respond 

in kind at election time.”17 The former criminal defense 

lawyer also upheld the rights of those accused of crimes. 

Washington argued against the 1994 Omnibus Crime 

Bill, which he deemed overly punitive, calling for a greater 

focus on crime prevention. Washington was particularly 

concerned about trying juveniles as adults. As a member 

of the Judiciary Subcommittee on Crime and Criminal 

Justice, Washington quipped, “Certifying 13-year-olds 

as adults is an oxymoron.” Though the final bill classified 

young teenagers participating in violent criminal activity as 

adults, it attempted to balance prevention programs with 

harsher punishments for particularly violent crimes.18

In January 1991, Washington filed for bankruptcy, 

admitting he owed $250,000 in federal taxes and $65,000 

in local taxes. Yet in spite of personal financial trouble, 

he ran for chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC) in 1992. The 103rd Congress (1993–1995) was 

pivotal for the CBC, whose membership skyrocketed by 

50 percent following the 1992 elections. Washington 

proposed assigning a caucus member to every House 

subcommittee and cited his independent voting record 

as proof of his commitment to bold leadership. However, 

he lost the bid to Maryland Democrat Kweisi Mfume. 

H Craig Anthony Washington H

576 H Black Americans in Congress 
Washington faced further difficulty when Congressional 

Quarterly reported that he was absent from nearly 

25 percent of the votes during the 102nd Congress 

(1991–1993), giving him the worst attendance record in 

the Texas delegation and the second-worst record of any 

Representative.19 Washington expressed exasperation with 

the lengthy voting process, claiming he skipped votes 

that had no bearing on his Houston districts so he could 

meet with constituents and focus on projects closer to 

home.20 Washington began logging his missed votes and 

recording his alternative activities. “When it comes to a 

choice between form and substance, I choose substance,” 

he declared.21

In 1994, Washington’s district was redrawn. The new 

boundaries included a few wealthier Houston suburbs 

but retained a predominantly minority constituency 

that was 51 percent black and 15 percent Hispanic.22

Washington’s financial troubles, poor attendance, and 

maverick voting record inspired a strong challenge 

from Houston City Councilwoman Sheila Jackson Lee, 

a Democrat who ran under a slogan “Representation 

You Can Be Proud Of,” an allusion to Washington’s 

controversial positions. Houston-area businessmen 

rallied around Jackson Lee, upset that Washington had 

voted against NASA projects and against NAFTA. Six of 

Washington’s congressional colleagues flew to Houston 

to show their support for his re-election. Charlie Rose 

of North Carolina noted re-electing Washington would 

add to his power in Congress by increasing his seniority. 

“Texas is not powerful in Washington because it changes 

its congresspeople every two or three terms,” Rose 

advised.23 Nevertheless, Washington lost the nomination 

to Jackson Lee, who handily defeated the incumbent 

with 63 percent of the vote. Easily winning the general 

election, Jackson Lee continued the district’s trend of 

African-American representation.

Following his departure from Congress, Washington 

resumed practicing law and bought a farm outside 

Houston. He expressed no interest in returning to politics. 

“I loved it when I did it, but there’s not a snowball’s chance 

in hell that I’d ever run again,” he remarked in 2001. “It’d 

be like putting my hand back in the meat grinder.”24

H Craig Anthony Washington H

former members | 1971–2007 H 577
For Further Reading

“Washington, Craig Anthony,” Biographical Directory of 

the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000177.

Notes

1 Todd Ackerman, “Election ’94: Craig Washington Goes Down to 

Defeat Fighting,” 9 March 1994, Houston Chronicle: A21.

2 While a defense attorney, Washington faced possible jail time for 

failing to appear for two of his clients’ court dates. He claimed 

he was not aware of the court dates; however, he was sentenced 

for contempt of court. Washington settled the matter without 

serving the prescribed jail time. See Karen Timmons, “Facing Jail, 

Washington Becomes Congressman,” 24 January 1990, United 

Press International; Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1993): 1502.

3 Based on a c.v. provided by the Honorable Craig Washington’s 

law firm, the names of his children are: Craig Anthony, II; Chival 

Antoinette; Alexander Haller; Cydney Alexandra; and Christopher 

Alfred. For additional information, see Who’s Who Among AfricanAmericans, 15th Ed. (Gale Group, 2002).

4 Craig Winneker, “Washington Wins Last Special of ’89,” 14 

December 1989, Roll Call.

5 “Craig Anthony Washington,” Associated Press Candidate 

Biographies, 1992.

6 Ibid.

7 Quoted in “Craig Anthony Washington,” Associated Press 

Candidate Biographies, 1994.

8 Ibid.

9 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html; Garrison Nelson, 

Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1947 to 1992, Volume 2 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1994): 916.

10 Six Members, several of them African-American, also voted 

“present.” Twenty-four Members were recorded as absent. See 

“Final Vote Results for Roll Call 10,” Office of the Clerk, available 

at http://clerk.house.gov/evs/1991/roll010.xml. 

11 Congressional Record, House, 102nd Cong., 1st sess. (10 January 

1991): H115.

12 Alan Bernstein, “U.S. Representative, District 18,” 25 October 

1992, Houston Chronicle: 3. 

13 Alan Bernstein, “U.S. Representative, District 18,” 27 February 

1994, Houston Chronicle: 4.

14 Congress and the Nation, 1989–1992, Volume 8 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Press, 1993): 780–785.

15 Quoted in Politics in America, 1994: 1500.

16 Congressional Record, House, 102nd Cong., 1st sess. (7 November 

1991): H9538.

17 Alan Bernstein, “Washington, Blum Spar Over Free Stamps,” 26 

June 1992, Houston Chronicle: A22.

18 “Jesse Jackson Says Crime Bill Is ‘Fascist’,” 23 February 1994, The 

Record: 8; Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1994 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1995): 278–279; 287–294.

19 Jim Simmon, “The New Year Rings With . . . Politics,” 4 January 

1994, Houston Chronicle: A11; Washington’s 74 percent voting 

record tied that of Representative Joseph McDade of Pennsylvania 

and was second only to that of Representative Harold Ford, 

Sr. of Tennessee, who had a 69 percent attendance record; see 

Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1993 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1994): 34C–35C. The Washington 

Post vote database lists Washington as having the most absences 

in the 103rd Congress. See “The U.S. Congress Votes Database,” 

103rd Congress, House: http://projects.washingtonpost.com/

congress/103/house/ (accessed 26 July 2006).

20 Bernstein, “U.S. Representative, District 18” (1994). 

21 Politics in America, 1994: 1501.

22 Ibid.

23 Jennifer Leinhart, “Rep. Washington Gets ‘Fly-In’ Help From 

Capitol Hill Peers,” 6 March 1994, Houston Chronicle: A31.

24 Brian D. Sweany, “Craig Washington,” Texas Monthly (September 

2001): 51.

H Craig Anthony Washington H

578 H Black Americans in Congress 
Washington was one of five 

Representatives (all AfricanAmerican) who opposed 

sending U.S. troops into 

Kuwait in 1991 to drive out 

Iraqi forces under President 

Saddam Hussein. . . . 

“Either you are for war 

or you are against war,” 

Washington declared on the 

House Floor. “Let it be said 

by history that the Congress 

of the United States saw its 

duty and we did it.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 579
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Congressional Pictorial Directory, 102nd Congress

A longtime community activist and single mother, 

Barbara-Rose Collins was elected to Congress in 1990 

on a platform to bring federal dollars and social aid to 

her economically depressed neighborhood in downtown 

Detroit. In the House, Collins focused on her lifelong 

advocacy for minority rights and on providing economic 

aid to and preserving the family in black communities.

The eldest child of Lamar Nathaniel and Lou Versa 

Jones Richardson, Barbara Rose Richardson was born 

in Detroit, Michigan, on April 13, 1939. Her father 

supported the family of four children as an auto 

manufacturer and later as an independent contractor 

in home improvement. Barbara Richardson graduated 

from Cass Technical High School in 1957 and attended 

Detroit’s Wayne State University majoring in political 

science and anthropology. Richardson left college to marry 

her classmate, Virgil Gary Collins, who later worked as a 

pharmaceutical salesman to support their two children, 

Cynthia and Christopher.1

 In 1960, the couple divorced, 

and, as a single mother, Barbara Collins was forced to work 

multiple jobs. She received public financial assistance until 

the physics department at Wayne State University hired her 

as a business manager, a position she held for nine years. 

Collins subsequently became an assistant in the office of 

equal opportunity and neighborhood relations at Wayne 

State. In the late 1960s, Collins heard a speech by black 

activist Stokely Carmichael at Detroit’s Shrine of the Black 

Madonna Church. Inspired by Carmichael’s appeal to 

African Americans to improve their own neighborhoods, 

Collins purchased a house within a block of her childhood 

home and joined the Shrine Church, whose sociopolitical 

agenda focused on uplifting black neighborhoods. In 1971, 

Collins was elected to Detroit’s region one school board, 

earning widespread recognition for her work on school 

safety and academic achievement. Encouraged by the 

Shrine Church pastor, Collins campaigned for a seat in the 

state legislature in 1974, hyphenating her name, BarbaraRose, to distinguish herself from the other candidates.2

Victorious, she embarked on a six-year career in the 

statehouse. Collins chaired the constitutional revision and 

women’s rights committee, which produced Women in the 

Legislative Process, the first published report to document 

the status of women in the Michigan state legislature.3

Bolstered by her work in Detroit’s most downtrodden 

neighborhoods, Collins considered running for the U.S. 

House of Representatives in 1980 against embattled 

downtown Representative Charles Diggs, Jr.; however, 

Collins’s mentor Detroit Mayor Coleman Young advised 

her to run for Detroit city council instead, and she did 

successfully.4

 Eight years later in the Democratic primary, 

she challenged incumbent U.S. Representative George 

W. Crockett, who had succeeded Diggs. In a hard-fought 

campaign, Collins held the respected, but aging, Crockett 

to a narrow victory with less than 49 percent of the vote. 

Crockett chose not to run for re-election in 1990, leaving 

the seat wide open for Barbara-Rose Collins. Collins’s 1990 

campaign focused on bringing federal money to Detroit, 

an economically depressed city whose population was 

moving to the suburbs. Her district’s rapidly rising crime 

rate (one of the highest in the nation) also affected the 

candidate.5

 In 1989, Collins’s son was convicted of armed 

robbery, and she concluded that he went astray because he 

lacked a strong male role model. “I could teach a girl how 

to be a woman, but I could not teach a boy how to be a 

man,” she later told the Detroit Free Press.

6

 Drawing from 

this experience, Collins tried to strengthen black families, 

rallying under the banner “Save the Black Male.” In a 

crowded field of eight candidates, Collins won her primary 

with 34 percent of the vote, a victory that amounted to 

election to Congress in the overwhelmingly Democratic 

Barbara-Rose Collins

1939–

United States Representative H 1991–1997

Democrat from Michigan 

������������������������������������������������������������������������

580 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
district. Collins sailed through the general election with 

80 percent of the vote and was re-elected twice with even 

higher percentages.7

One of three black women in her freshman class, 

Collins sought the influence and counsel of longtime 

Michigan Representative John Dingell, Jr., who helped 

her gain a seat on the Public Works and Transportation 

Committee (later Transportation and Infrastructure).8

 She 

also received assignments to the Committee on Science, 

Space, and Technology and the Select Committee on 

Children, Youth, and Families. She later traded these 

two panels for Government Operations (later named 

Government Reform and Oversight) and the Post Office 

and Civil Service Committee, where she chaired the 

Subcommittee on Postal Operations and Services in 

the 103rd Congress (1993–1995). A member of the 

Congressional Black Caucus and the Congressional 

Women’s Caucus, Representative Collins was appointed 

a Majority Whip At-Large from 1993 until 1994.

Collins’s career was focused on her campaign promises 

of economic and social aid for the urban black poor. In 

October 1992 Collins began encouraging agricultural 

growers to donate excess food that would otherwise go to 

waste to urban food banks and shelters.9

 Collins generally 

supported President William J. (Bill) Clinton’s economic 

and job stimulus initiatives; however, she vocally opposed 

adopting the North American Free Trade Agreement, 

arguing that opening American borders to cheaper 

Mexican products would take domestic manufacturing 

jobs away from urban minority workers.10 Though she 

favored the bill’s final version, she voted against the 

President’s April 1994 omnibus crime bill, objecting to 

its extension of the death penalty to several more federal 

crimes and opposing a section that mandated life in 

prison for people convicted of three felonies. Collins 

argued that these provisions would affect minorities 

disproportionately, declaring, “I think justice is dispensed 

differently for people of color, be they black or Hispanic.”11

Collins’s family advocacy was apparent in her enthusiastic 

support of the October 1995 Million Man March, a mass 

rally of African-American men in Washington, DC, to 

demonstrate commitment to family. Collins planned to 

provide water for the marchers, “The idea is electrifying. 

. . . Black men will be reaffirming their responsibility 

for black women and for the black family,” she said.12

Collins also advocated considering housework, childcare, 

volunteer work, and time devoted to a family business as 

components of the gross national product. “If you raise 

the status of women,” she declared, “we would be more 

conscious of the family unit.”13

With her focus on domestic issues, Representative 

Collins generally opposed increasing foreign aid. “Our 

cities are hurting,” she observed. “We must learn how 

to take care of America first.”14 However, in April 1994 

Collins and five other Democratic House Members 

were arrested after staging a sit-in at the White House 

to protest American policy toward Haiti. In the wake of 

the island nation’s military coup, the protestors called for 

greater acceptance of Haitian refugees and demanded a 

stronger embargo against Haiti.15 “What’s being done 

to Haitians is inhumane and immoral,” Collins said. 

“The fact of the matter is we welcome Hungarians with 

open arms, we welcome Vietnamese with open arms, we 

welcome Cubans with open arms, but when it comes to 

black Haitians, we tell them, ‘Stand back we don’t want 

you,’ the result being that hundreds are drowned at sea, 

children and women eaten by sharks.”16 All six Members 

were fined and released.

While Collins was popular among her constituents, 

she drew negative publicity when the Justice Department 

and the House Ethics Committee investigated her office in 

1996 for the alleged misuse of campaign and scholarship 

funds.17 Though Collins was initially unopposed in the 

1994 primary, six opponents entered the race following 

the controversy. Challenger Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick 

defeated the incumbent in the primary by a 21-point 

margin and went on to win the general election. BarbaraRose Collins remained active in local politics. In 2001, she 

won a seat on the Detroit city council. Collins was reelected to the council for a second term in 2005.

H Barbara-Rose Collins H

582 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Collins, Barbara-Rose,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000633. 

Notes

1 The couple’s third child died in infancy.

2 DeWitt S. Dykes, Jr., “Barbara-Rose Collins,” Notable Black 

American Women, Volume 2, Jessie Carney Smith, ed. (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 1996): 135 (hereinafter referred to as 

NBAW). The couple’s third child died in its infancy.

3 Dykes, “Barbara-Rose Collins,” NBAW.

4 Ibid.

5 Almanac of American Politics, 1996 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1995): 710.

6 Dykes, “Barbara-Rose Collins,” NBAW.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

8 Dykes, “Barbara-Rose Collins,” NBAW.

9 Congressional Record, House, 102nd Cong., 2nd sess. (5 October 

1992): 3074.

10 Congressional Record, House, 103rd Cong., 1st sess. (21 October 

1993): 8336; Congressional Record, House, 103rd Cong., 1st sess. 

(26 October 1993): 8436.

11 Politics in America, 1996: 685.

12 Francis X. Clines, “Organizers Defend Role of Farrakhan in March 

by Blacks,” 13 October 1995, New York Times: A1.

13 Maria Odum, “If the G.N.P. Counted Housework, Would Women 

Count for More?” 5 April 1992, New York Times: E5.

14 Adam Clymer, “House Votes Billions in Aid to Ex-Soviet 

Republics,” 7 August 1992, New York Times: A1.

15 Peter H. Spiegel, “Members Arrested in Haiti Protest,” 25 April 

1994, Roll Call.

16 Kenneth R. Bazinet, “Congressmen Arrested Outside White 

House,” 21 April 1994, United Press International.

17 In January 1997, the House Standards of Official Conduct 

Committee found Representative Collins guilty of violating 

11 House rules and federal laws; however, the panel did not 

recommend disciplinary action because Collins had already left 

office. A historical chart of all formal House ethics actions is 

available at http://www.house.gov/ethics/Historical_Chart_ Final_ 

Version.htm. See also Robyn Meredith, “Ethical Issues Pose Test to 

a Detroit Lawmaker,” 2 August 1996, New York Times: A10; Sarah 

Pekkanen, “Ethics Committee Issues Scathing Report on Collins,” 

8 January 1997, The Hill.

H Barbara-Rose Collins H

former members | 1971–2007 H 583
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos

As the first black Republican Representative to serve 

in the U.S. House in nearly six decades, the GOP 

promoted Gary Franks as its newest African-American 

spokesperson when he won his seat in Congress in 1990.1

Franks was a zealous champion of conservative causes, 

including welfare reform, opposition to affirmative 

action, and support for Supreme Court nominee Clarence 

Thomas. “The whole Republican philosophy is self-help,” 

Franks avowed. “I believe in less government. I believe that 

we don’t have to tax and spend constantly to maintain our 

society.”2

 Ultimately, Franks’s difficulty connecting with 

his primarily middle-class white constituency, as well as his 

contentious fights with the Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC), and at times, with the leadership within his own 

party, contributed to his political defeat.

Gary Alvin Franks was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, 

on February 9, 1953. He was the youngest of six children 

of Janery Petteway Franks and Richard Franks, a mill 

worker who left school in the sixth grade. Education 

was valued in the Franks home; all the children attended 

college, and three earned doctoral degrees.3 Gary Franks 

was an all-state basketball player at Sacred Heart High 

School in Waterbury. In 1975 he earned a B.A. from 

Yale University. After working as an industrial relations 

agent for three companies in Connecticut, Franks started 

his own real estate firm in Waterbury. Inspired by his 

friend, Representative John Rowland of Connecticut, 

Franks entered politics to bring “new blood” to the 

Waterbury Republicans.4

 Franks ran unsuccessfully for 

state comptroller in 1986. That same year, he was elected 

to the Waterbury board of aldermen, where he served until 

1990. Franks married Donna Williams in 1990, gaining a 

stepdaughter, Azia. The couple’s daughter, Jessica, was born 

in 1991, and their son, Gary, Jr., arrived in 1994.

In 1990, Rowland, whose district encompassed a 

mix of working-class and wealthy towns in western and 

central Connecticut, including Gary Franks’s hometown 

of Waterbury, vacated his House seat to run for governor 

of Connecticut. Franks sought the Republican nomination 

based on his conservative politics, winning the GOP 

endorsement by beating out five candidates at the district’s 

Republican convention in July 1990.5

 In the general 

election, Franks faced former Democratic Representative 

and television anchor Toby Moffett. Formerly representing 

a neighboring district, Moffett was elected to Congress 

in 1974, serving four terms before losing bids for the 

U.S. Senate in 1982 and the Connecticut governor’s 

post in 1986.6

 The campaign drew national attention. 

Though a Republican had held the district since 

Rowland upset the Democratic incumbent in 1984, the 

seat was considered vulnerable. Registered Democrats 

outnumbered Republicans almost three to two. The 

district contained only a small black population (under 

10 percent), and Franks’s campaign did not emphasize 

his race.7

 The campaign came down to a referendum on 

economic policy, as the northeastern economy spiraled 

toward recession. Franks ran on a conservative platform, 

promising no new taxes, supporting a cut in the capital 

gains tax, and advocating a constitutional amendment 

outlawing the desecration of the American flag. He also 

attacked the American welfare system for creating a “spiral 

of government dependency.”8

 Moffett tried to tie Franks’s 

platform to former President Ronald W. Reagan’s economic 

policies, claiming that the former administration had 

left the economy flat in its wake.9

 The tight race drew 

high-powered endorsements and campaign appearances. 

President George H. W. Bush, First Lady Barbara Bush, 

and Vice President Dan Quayle visited the district on 

Franks’s behalf. Actor Robert Redford and former Speaker 

Thomas P. (Tip) O’Neill campaigned for Moffett. Franks 

Gary A. Franks

1953–

United States Representative H 1991–1997

Republican from Connecticut

������������������������������������������������������������������������

584 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Gary A. Franks H

won the election with 52 percent of the vote.10 He was 

the first African-American Representative to be elected 

from Connecticut. Franks’s unique position immediately 

attracted a barrage of media attention, making him one 

of the most recognizable Members of his freshman class.11

He won assignments on the Armed Services and Small 

Business committees, as well as on the Select Committee 

on Aging. 

The CBC—a traditionally liberal organization that 

was then composed entirely of Democrats—accepted 

Franks as a member upon his election. Franks spoke 

regularly at caucus meetings during his first term, and he 

often disagreed with the other members of the CBC. For 

example, Franks voted against the 1990 Civil Rights Bill, 

which the CBC almost universally supported. Although 

he had experienced discrimination, Franks said he did 

not approve of a system requiring employers to hire a 

certain percentage of minorities; he argued that enforced 

quotas would encourage employers to move jobs from 

his Connecticut district to states that were more racially 

homogeneous to avoid the requirements.12 Furthermore, 

Franks said, “I question whether some Democrats truly 

want a civil rights bill or if they want a political issue.”13

President George H. W. Bush rejected the bill, primarily 

because of the quotas provision, and the House failed to 

override his veto.14

Franks also attracted national attention as the only 

member of the CBC to support the nomination of federal 

Judge Clarence Thomas—an African American who 

was slated to replace Thurgood Marshall, the first black 

Supreme Court Justice, when he retired. The CBC rejected 

Thomas’s conservative record, particularly his opposition 

to affirmative action. By contrast, Franks defended him, 

calling the CBC’s failure to endorse Thomas “politics at 

its worst.” Franks noted that Thomas’s “approach to issues 

may be different from liberals, but his determination and 

concern for fairness and justice would be the same.”15

Black conservatives rallied behind Thomas, and the Senate 

confirmed him on October 15, 1991, by a vote of 52 to 48 

that was split nearly along party lines.16

In 1992, Franks faced the first of a series of tough reelection campaigns. Though a looming national figure, two 

strong candidates opposed Franks: Democratic probate 

judge James Lawlor and Independent Lynn Taborsak, a 

former Democratic state representative.17 Both opponents 

attacked what they called Franks’s weak stance on federal 

plans to cancel the construction of Seawolf submarines 

in Groton, Connecticut. The project was important to 

the state’s economy and, as Connecticut’s sole member 

on the Armed Services Committee, Franks received mail 

from constituents about the rumored closing of the 

military base in Groton. Concerned voters claimed he was 

often unavailable for comment on the subject.18 Franks 

dismissed the attacks as a liberal smear campaign spawned 

by fear that he would lure African-American voters to the 

Republican Party. He ultimately benefited from a split 

Democratic vote, winning with a 44 percent plurality.19

Franks relinquished his seat on the Armed Services 

Committee for an assignment to the Committee on Energy 

and Commerce (later Commerce), a highly desirable 

panel that usually requires Members to give up all other 

committee assignments. He also returned as a member 

of the CBC, which added 14 Representatives after the 

1992 elections, bringing the organization’s membership 

to 40 and establishing it as a significant voting bloc. 

Courting a sympathetic Democratic President, William 

J. (Bill) Clinton, liberals in the caucus began to assert 

their authority. Previously a link between the CBC and 

Republican President George H. W. Bush, Franks lost 

power within the caucus. Several members objected 

to Franks’s attendance at the caucus’s strategy sessions, 

insisting that he was a mole for the Republicans, and the 

CBC unofficially ejected Franks from these meetings.20

An exasperated Franks publicly announced his intention 

to resign from the CBC on Friday, June 14, 1993, but 

recanted the following Monday, citing an influx of 

phone calls and mail from constituents imploring him 

not to resign.21 Though he continued to criticize some 

of the caucus’s policies, Franks declared, “As long as I 

am a Member of Congress and black, I will continue to 

586 H Black Americans in Congress 
belong to the CBC.”22 However, Franks was soon barred 

from the first half-hour of CBC meetings—traditionally 

reserved for lunch—marking the first official barrier to his 

membership. Faced with growing negative publicity, CBC 

chairman Kweisi Mfume of Maryland eventually smoothed 

over the rift, announcing in August 1993 that Franks 

would be allowed full participation in all caucus activities 

and promising that, during his tenure as chairman, the 

caucus would embrace “diversity and plurality.”23 Yet 

Franks remained at odds with the majority of the caucus 

and eventually stopped attending meetings.

In the 1994 election, Connecticut State Senator James 

Maloney overcame a close primary to win the Democratic 

nomination, and using a strategy employed by Franks’s 

previous opponents, he accused the incumbent of being 

out of touch with his constituents. Television ads became 

a focal point in the campaign. In the weeks leading up 

the election, Maloney unleashed a series of ads attacking 

Franks’s positions. Franks responded with television spots 

focusing on his support for business and welfare reform. 

Franks’s strategy proved effective; he won a narrow victory, 

with 52 percent of the vote.24 Franks took his place in the 

first Congress in 40 years to have a Republican majority. 

Franks played a significant role in crafting the GOP 

welfare reform package, which was launched in the fall of 

1995. The plan set strict penalties for welfare recipients 

who refused to look for work after having collected benefits 

for two years, and made welfare difficult for immigrants 

to access. Also, mothers who could not determine their 

children’s paternity would have more difficulty receiving 

benefits.25 Franks spoke candidly about his own relatives’ 

experience in the system, praising the Republican plan 

as one that encouraged the achievement of economic 

independence. “Our welfare system continues to play the 

role of fish-delivery man for able-bodied people. Instead, 

we should help—and insist—that able-bodied people 

catch their own fish,” Franks said, explaining his party’s 

position.26 In 1995, Franks was appointed to attend the 

conference to resolve the differences between the House 

and Senate versions of the reformed welfare system. Franks 

fought to save his own proposals, which would cap the 

amount of money per child that was given to families on 

welfare and provide a debit card for food stamps.27

Franks opposed affirmative action more zealously than 

many of his GOP colleagues, who had championed the 

issue in their campaign to recapture the congressional 

majority. The 1995 Supreme Court ruling in Adarand 

Constructors, Inc. v. Peña held that affirmative action 

policies had to withstand “strict scrutiny,” meaning 

that they must show clear evidence of righting a past 

discriminatory practice. The contemporary policy in 

the federal government provided special set-asides and 

preferences for minorities and women. Franks argued 

that the extra entitlements were a form of discrimination. 

“I do not want my children to feel that they are inferior 

to white children,” he declared. “I do not want someone 

to put their thumb on the scale in order for them to 

succeed.”28 Congressional Republicans supported Franks’s 

efforts; however, many GOP House Members objected to 

the speediness with which Franks proposed to implement 

the changes.29 “I question the sincerity of a number of 

Republicans on the issue,” Franks said to reporters. “They 

love to get the political mileage out of it, but when it comes 

time to vote, they don’t want to do it.”30 Franks questioned 

the veracity of Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia, claiming 

Gingrich had promised his support for the amendment. 

Franks later apologized to Gingrich, noting that he would 

follow the Speaker’s lead on the issue.31

Maloney returned for a rematch against Franks 

in a 1996 campaign that was largely a referendum 

on the implementation of the GOP’s Contract With 

America. With more support from the national and 

local Democratic Party, Maloney defeated Franks 52 to 

46 percent.32 Though the long coattails from President 

Clinton’s decisive re-election victory factored into Franks’s 

defeat, he also attributed his loss to a lack of support from 

the Republican Party—noting that the GOP estimated 

he was well ahead in the polls just months before the 

election and had refused to pay for what seemed like a 

safe district—and to the united front between labor and 

H Gary A. Franks H

former members | 1971–2007 H 587
liberals. He also observed that several prominent black 

liberals had made appearances in his district “to spread lies, 

and half-truths about my record.”33

Franks refused to step out of the political spotlight. 

As he hinted in his 1996 autobiography, Franks made a bid 

against incumbent Democratic Senator Christopher Dodd 

in 1998. The campaign was considered a long shot against 

the entrenched Dodd, an 18-year veteran of the Senate 

whose father, Thomas, had preceded him in the chamber.34

Franks pulled in support from Republicans, including 

former Vice President Dan Quayle, who stumped for 

him.35 Describing himself as a “real conservative and a real 

Republican,” Franks campaigned on the national issues he 

had championed in Congress.36 He supported the creation 

of a modified flat income tax and the elimination of capital 

gains and inheritance taxes. Franks also endorsed a strong 

national defense, the preservation of Medicare and Social 

Security, and the death penalty. However, Dodd ran away 

with the race, with 65 percent to Franks’s 32 percent.37

After Franks lost the election, he returned to his real estate 

business in Waterbury.

For Further Reading

Franks, Gary. Searching for the Promised Land: An African 

American’s Optimistic Odyssey (New York: Reagan Books, 

1996).

“Franks, Gary A.,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000348.

Notes

1 Republican Senator Edward Brooke of Massachusetts also served 

12 years in the Senate, departing in 1979. Delegate Melvin Evans 

of the Virgin Islands served from 1979 to 1981.

2 Peter Viles, “Connecticut Alderman Tries to Break 55-Year House 

Lockout,” 27 August 1990, Associated Press.

3 Nick Ravo, “A Black Congressional Hope in Connecticut,” 9 

August 1990, New York Times: B1.

4 Gary Franks, Searching for the Promised Land: An African American’s 

Optimistic Odyssey (New York: Regan Books, 1996): 38–39.

5 Franks, Searching for the Promised Land: 38–39.

6 Ibid.

7 Nick Ravo, “Ghost of Reagan in Connecticut Race,” 22 October 

1990, New York Times: B4.

8 Ravo, “A Black Congressional Hope in Connecticut.”

9 Ravo, “Ghost of Reagan in Connecticut Race”; Viles, “Connecticut 

Alderman Tries to Break 55-Year House Lockout”; Jacqueline 

Trescott, “Rep. Gary Franks, Unexpected Republican,” 31 July 

1991, Washington Post: B1.

10 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

11 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1993): 299.

H Gary A. Franks H

588 H Black Americans in Congress 
12 Bill Whalen, “The Reluctant Republican Star,” 8 March 1991, 

Washington Times: E1.

13 Trescott, “Rep. Gary Franks, Unexpected Republican.”

14 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1990 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1991): 473.

15 Bob Dart, “Fight Over Seating Thomas Splits Blacks,” 19 July 

1991, Atlanta Journal and Constitution: A2.

16 Senate Roll Call Vote 220, 102nd Cong., 1st sess.. See “U.S. 

Congress Votes Database,” Washington Post: http://projects.

washingtonpost.com/congress/102/senate/1/votes/220/ (accessed 7 

February 2008).

17 Lindsey Gruson, “Franks Gets a Lift From an Opponent,” 24 

October 1992, New York Times: 28.

18 Miranda Spivack, “A Rising Star in the Nation’s Capital Loses 

Luster For Some Back Home,” 10 February 1992, Hartford 

Courant: A1.

19 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,”available at http://clerk.house.

gov/members/electionInfo/elections.html.

20 “Black Republican Allowed to Vote in CBC Group,” 23 August 

1993, National Report: 5; Mary Jacoby, “GOP’s Franks to Quit 

Black Caucus,” 14 June 1993, Roll Call.

21 Mary Jacoby, “Whoops! Franks Does About-Face, Will Stay in 

CBC,” 17 June 1993, Roll Call.

22 Jacoby, “Whoops! Franks Does About-Face, Will Stay in CBC.”

23 “Black Republican Allowed to Vote in CBC Group”; Franks, 

Searching for the Promised Land: 124.

24 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

25 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1995 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1996): 7-40.

26 Michael Remez, “Franks Speaks for GOP in Welfare Debate,” 5 

May 1994, Hartford Courant: F1.

27 David Daley, “Franks Appointed to Welfare Conference 

Committee,” 29 September 1995, States News Service.

28 Jill Zuckman, “Black Republican Says Party Lags on Ending 

Preferences,” 6 August 1995, Boston Globe: 19.

29 David Lightman, “Franks to Lead Battle in Congress,” 13 July 

1995, Harford Courant: A3.

30 Zuckman, “Black Republican Says Party Lags on Ending 

Preferences.”

31 David Lightman, “Franks Apologizes to Gingrich,” 7 September 

1995, Washington Post: A6.

32 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/members/electionInfo/elections.html.

33 Mike McIntire, “Franks Blames GOP, Liberals, Labor, and Rat Ads 

for His Loss,” 7 November 1996, Hartford Courant: A17; Nancy E. 

Roman, “Black Democrat Rips Franks for Votes ‘Suicidal’ To His 

Race,” 21 November 1996, Washington Times: A4. Representative 

William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr., of Missouri lambasted the outgoing 

Representative in a six-page letter circulated on Capitol Hill, 

branding Franks “a pariah, who gleefully assists in suicidal conduct 

to destroy his own race.”

34 Melissa B. Robinson, “Former Rep. to Run for Senate,” 19 January 

1998, Associated Press.

35 Robinson, “Former Rep. to Run for Senate.”

36 “Gary Alvin Franks,” Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 

1998.

37 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

H Gary A. Franks H

former members | 1971–2007 H 589
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Philadelphia Inquirer

A long-time resident of West Philadelphia, Lucien 

Blackwell appealed to his primarily African-American, 

blue-collar constituents because of his image as a “common 

man.” The popular former city councilman successfully 

navigated Philadelphia’s Democratic Party machinery, 

emerging as one of the city’s most recognized politicians. 

Making his congressional debut in a special election to 

succeed powerful Representative William (Bill) Gray III, 

the former union president focused on helping workingclass Americans who were suffering from the recession of 

the early 1990s. “The American worker is marching down 

the street asking for unemployment compensation because 

he has lost his job,” Blackwell said to his colleagues. “I ask 

every Congressman who does not vote for unemployment 

compensation tonight, give up your wages, give up 

your employment, give up what you’ve earned here, and 

then tell me it is all right to live off nothing.”1

 However, 

Blackwell’s congressional career, marking a transitional 

phase in Philadelphia politics, proved to be short as the 

73-year-old machine politician contended with a new 

generation of black leaders. 

Lucien Edward Blackwell was born on August 1, 1931, 

to Thomas and Mary Blackwell in Whiset, Pennsylvania. 

He had at least one sibling, a sister named Audrey.2

As a young child, Lucien Blackwell moved to a West 

Philadelphia neighborhood known as “the Bottom,” 

where his father opened a grocery store. He lived in that 

neighborhood all his life. Lucien Blackwell dropped out 

of West Philadelphia High School in 1947 to take a job as 

a dockworker on the Philadelphia waterfront. He briefly 

pursued a boxing career, winning a novice Diamond 

Belt Championship in 1949 before being drafted into 

the United States Army in 1953 to fight in the Korean 

War. During his military service, he was awarded a unit 

commendation, two bronze stars, and a good conduct 

medal.3

 After returning to civilian life, he joined the 

International Longshoreman’s Union, serving as president 

of its Philadelphia branch from 1973 to 1991. Blackwell 

married and divorced at a young age. He met his second 

wife, Jannie, while she was teaching at a school attended 

by his sons, Lucien, Jr., and Thomas W. Blackwell IV.4

 The 

couple married in 1972 and had four daughters: Patricia, 

Barbara, Brenda, and Audrey. 

Blackwell’s union work introduced him to politics. 

Living in a predominantly black, liberal neighborhood, he 

was a self-described Democrat “from the tip of my head 

to the bottom of my feet.”5

 Blackwell first served in the 

Pennsylvania house of representatives from 1973 to 1975, 

but he made his mark as a Philadelphia city councilman, 

holding the office from 1975 to 1991. Blackwell earned 

the nickname “Lucien the Solution” for his attention 

to the needs of his constituents in West and South 

Philadelphia. He ran unsuccessfully for Philadelphia 

mayor as the Consumer Party candidate in 1979 against 

controversial incumbent Frank Rizzo, who was under 

investigation for fostering police brutality in Blackwell’s 

Ward. Both Rizzo and Blackwell lost to Democrat William 

J. Green. In 1986, Blackwell lost a bid for the Democratic 

city committee chairmanship to future Representative 

Robert A. Brady. He nevertheless held key chairmanships 

of two Philadelphia political groups: the Black Elected 

Officials and the United Black Ward Leaders. In 1991, 

Blackwell made his second mayoral run, finishing 

second to eventual winner Edward Rendell in a hotly 

contested Democratic primary. Blackwell’s first taste of 

national politics came through his work on Jesse Jackson’s 

presidential campaigns in 1984 and 1988.

In June 1991, Representative Bill Gray, the House 

Majority Whip and third-ranking Democrat, retired 

abruptly from his seat encompassing West Philadelphia, 

Lucien Edward Blackwell

1931–2003

United States Representative H 1991–1995

Democrat from Pennsylvania

������������������������������������������������������������������������

590 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Lucien Edward Blackwell H

which boasted a black majority (82 percent) and a long 

Democratic voting record. Believing that the special 

election would take place on November 5—the same day 

Philadelphia voters would select a new mayor and a United 

States Senator—Blackwell declared his intention to run 

for the vacant seat and quickly became the front-runner. 

However, Gray postponed his resignation until September, 

citing the need to train the new House Majority Whip, 

Representative David Bonior of Michigan. According to 

Pennsylvania state law, special elections could take place 

no sooner than 60 days after a former Member resigned. 

Gray’s late departure pushed the special election back to 

early 1992, leaving Blackwell’s rivals a chance to organize 

their campaigns. Blackwell supporters accused Gray 

of thwarting their candidate’s chances, as the two had 

previously been political rivals.6

 A federal court denied 

Blackwell’s request to return the election date to November 

5; however, he subsequently appealed to the Pennsylvania 

state court, which ruled in his favor on October 1. During 

a whirlwind campaign the following month, Democratic 

ward leaders overwhelmingly supported Blackwell, as 

many district residents voted a straight Democratic ticket. 

Blackwell’s closest rivals included the young, charismatic 

state senator Chaka Fattah, a Democrat who was running 

as a Consumer Party candidate; and the former head of 

the Pennsylvania welfare department, John F. White, 

Jr., who was running as an Independent. Drawing upon 

the strength of the Democratic machine and his rapport 

as councilman with the city’s working class, Blackwell 

prevailed with 39 percent of the vote. Fattah and White 

each won 28 percent.7

 Blackwell took his seat in the 102nd 

Congress (1991–1993) on November 13, 1991.

Just five months later, Blackwell faced C. Delores 

Tucker in the Democratic primary for the 103rd Congress 

(1993–1995). Having been considered by the Democratic 

machine the previous November, Tucker—a black woman 

who was formerly the secretary of the Commonwealth 

of Pennsylvania—proved a formidable opponent. 

Redistricting had cut the black majority in the district to 

62 percent, forcing both candidates to broaden their appeal 

to a bloc of wealthier white voters in the northwestern 

section of the city. Well funded by national women’s groups 

and civil rights leaders, Tucker accused Blackwell of being 

a “puppet” of the Philadelphia party bosses. Blackwell 

emphasized his party and union support. Although Tucker 

won favor in the district’s new neighborhoods, Blackwell 

defeated her with 54 percent of the vote. He went on to 

defeat Republican Larry Hollin with a sound 77 percent 

in the general election.8

In the House, Blackwell received appointments to the 

Public Works Committee and the Merchant Marine and 

Fisheries Committee. Blackwell also served as a member 

of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). In the 103rd 

Congress, overwhelming turnover allowed him to make 

the largest jump in seniority of any returning Member.9

Blackwell traded his assignment on Merchant Marine and 

Fisheries for a coveted position on the Budget Committee, 

formerly chaired by his predecessor, Representative Bill 

Gray, in the 99th and 100th Congresses (1985–1989). Yet 

Blackwell retained his “common man” appeal. He claimed 

he was not seeking powerful committee or leadership 

posts, saying, “I come here not in a braggadocio way.”10

Instead, his focus throughout his congressional career was 

improving the quality of life of his Philadelphia neighbors. 

He was known for bringing federal dollars to the district.11

Blackwell’s constituent-centered agenda—and the 

focus of the 102nd and 103rd Congresses as well as that 

of President William J. (Bill) Clinton—included lifting 

the national economy out of a recession. He agreed with 

Democratic colleagues who opposed an amendment to 

the Constitution requiring a balanced federal budget. 

Blackwell feared most politicians “believe that a balanced 

budget amendment is a magic wand. One quick wave 

over the document that represents the heart and soul of 

this nation, and the budget will be balanced, the economy 

restored, and the recession shattered by this almighty 

amendment.”12 He asserted that reducing the deficit was 

necessary to improve the economy and recommended 

that Congress take steps toward this goal by providing 

new jobs, creating fair trade, changing tax laws, enacting 

592 H Black Americans in Congress 
national health insurance legislation, and improving 

life in American cities. Blackwell also joined fellow 

Democrats in supporting the Clinton administration’s 

economic initiatives, proposed in February 1993, which 

called for reduced federal spending and tax increases for 

the wealthy.13

Drawing on his union experience, Blackwell acted as 

an advocate for unemployed laborers. He introduced a 

bill in the 102nd Congress to protect the credit ratings 

of employees who had lost their jobs because their 

employers relocated overseas. Blackwell backed the Clinton 

reform package guaranteeing all Americans basic health 

coverage, and he supported family medical leave to care 

for family members who were unwell. He also sponsored 

a bill to protect job applicants from discrimination 

based on genetic factors, such as vulnerability to certain 

diseases. Blackwell favored extending the amount of time 

benefits were paid under the Emergency Unemployment 

Compensation Act, citing his concern for the high rate of 

unemployed workers in his district.14

In the May 1994 Democratic primary, Blackwell 

faced his former opponent Chaka Fattah. Blackwell 

appeared strong enough to defend his seat, receiving an 

endorsement from Mayor Rendell as well as the nominal 

endorsement of the local Democratic Party. However, 

individual Democrats were divided between Blackwell 

and Fattah. One ward leader observed, “Lu’s in the fight 

of his life and Chaka’s right on his heels.”15 Though 

immensely popular among his black, working-class 

neighbors, voters from the wealthier northwestern section 

of the district abandoned the incumbent because of his 

inability to connect with the district’s white voters. Among 

a younger generation of black politicians, the youthful 

community activist Fattah proved better able to bridge 

the gaps between the city’s races.16 The challenger defeated 

Blackwell with 58 to 42 percent of the vote. In his 

concession speech Blackwell said, “What I have to do now 

is take a look at Lucien Blackwell and see what God has 

in store for him. And I’ll show you that God isn’t through 

with me yet.”17

In May 1995, Blackwell joined the Washington-based 

lobbying firm Whitten & Diamond, which boasted the 

City of Philadelphia as one of its largest clients. Blackwell 

used his congressional connections, particularly through 

the CBC, to work on defense conversion as well as welfare 

reform.18 He also acted as a consultant for a Philadelphia 

debt collection company. In 1996, Blackwell successfully 

fought the disintegration of the Philadelphia branch of 

the International Longshoreman’s Association, led by his 

son Thomas W. Blackwell. He also served as a delegate to 

the Democratic National Convention that same year. In 

1997, Blackwell considered running in a special election to 

replace Philadelphia Representative Thomas Foglietta, who 

was appointed U.S. Ambassador to Italy. Blackwell was 

inspired by the fact that Foglietta’s district contained some 

areas that he had lost in the 1992 redistricting. However, 

Blackwell later bowed out of the race, claiming he had 

“just decided it was time to go.”19 On January, 24, 2003, 

after returning home from a morning walk, Blackwell 

suddenly died of a heart attack. The City of Philadelphia 

hosted a funeral that drew nearly 3,000 mourners.20

H Lucien Edward Blackwell H

former members | 1971–2007 H 593
For Further Reading

“Blackwell, Lucien Edward,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000517.

Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 102nd Cong., 1st sess. (2 June 1992): 

H4414.

2 Blackwell paid tribute to his sister, Audrey Blackwell Farthing, in 

the Congressional Record. There is no mention of other siblings. See 

Congressional Record, Extension of Remarks, 103rd Cong., 1st sess. 

(15 June 1993): E1508.

3 Congressional Directory, 103rd Cong., 1st sess. (Washington, DC: 

Government Printing Office, 1993): 250–251.

4 The only information available about Blackwell’s first wife is that 

she was the mother of Lucien, Jr., and Thomas W. Blackwell IV.

5 “Former ILA Local 1332 President, U.S. Congressman and 

Philadelphia City Councilman Lucien Blackwell Passes,” ILA 

Newsletter, Spring 2003, at http://ilaunion.org/news/nlp_spr03_

page16.htm (accessed 13 September 2004).

6 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1993): 1293.

7 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

774.

8 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

9 Peter H. Spiegel, “Seniority Lineup in the 103rd,” 18 January 

1993, Roll Call.

10 Politics in America, 1994: 1292.

11 James J. Kilpatrick, “Excise Pork From Federal Budget,” 25 April 

1992, Chicago Sun-Times: 19.

12 Congressional Record, House, 102nd Cong., 1st sess. (10 June 

1992): H4511.

13 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1995 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1996): 7D–12D; Jennifer Babson, 

“Blackwell Summoned to White House for Clinton Talk,” 13 

February 1993, State News Service.

14 Congressional Record, House, 103rd Cong., 1st sess. (24 February 

1993): H832.

15 Nicole Weisensee, “Blackwell, Fattah Too Close to Call?” 29 April 

1994, Philadelphia Daily News: 13.

16 Ronald A. Taylor, “Power of Incumbency Wanes for Blacks Too,” 

14 May 1994, Washington Times: A1; Richard Fenno, Going Home: 

Black Representatives and Their Constituents (Chicago: University of 

Chicago Press): 114–115, 124–125.

17 “Lucien Blackwell,” Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 1994.

18 Dave Davies, “Lucien Blackwell’s Back on Taxpayers’ Payroll,” 5 

May 1995, Philadelphia Daily News: 5.

19 “Blackwell Ends Run, Decides It’s ‘Time to Go’,” 2 February 1998, 

Roll Call.

20 Dave Davies, “Farewell, Mr. Blackwell,” 25 January 2003, 

Philadelphia Daily News: 3.

H Lucien Edward Blackwell H

594 H Black Americans in Congress
In Congress, 

Blackwell retained his 

“common man” appeal. 

He claimed he was not 

seeking powerful committee 

or leadership posts, saying, 

“I come here [to the House] 

not in a braggadocio way.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 595
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives Photography Office

The first African-American woman to represent North 

Carolina in Congress, Eva Clayton became the state’s 

first black Representative since 1901. From her post on 

the House Agriculture Committee, Clayton advanced the 

interests of her rural district in the northeastern part of her 

state and called attention to the economic inequalities that 

affected African Americans nationally.

Eva McPherson was born in Savannah, Georgia, on 

September 16, 1934. She grew up in Savannah and 

received a bachelor of science degree in biology from 

Johnson C. Smith University in Charlotte, North Carolina, 

in 1955. In 1962, she earned an M.S. in biology and 

general science from North Carolina Central University 

in Durham. She originally planned to become a doctor 

and travel to Africa to do missionary work. Shortly after 

receiving her undergraduate degree, Eva McPherson 

married Theaoseus Clayton, who became a prominent 

lawyer. They raised four children: Theaoseus Jr., Martin, 

Reuben, and Joanne.

The civil rights movement mobilized Eva Clayton to 

become active in civic and political affairs. At one point, 

she even picketed her husband’s law office to protest 

Theaoseus’s and his white law partner’s ownership of a 

building that contained a segregated restaurant.1

 As early 

as 1968, Eva Clayton was recruited by civil rights activist 

Vernon Jordan to seek election to Congress in a northcentral North Carolina district. Though Clayton won 31 

percent of the vote in the Democratic primary, incumbent 

Lawrence Fountain prevailed. However, Clayton’s 

campaign had the intended effect of spiking black voter 

registration.2

 “In 1968, the timing wasn’t there,” she later 

admitted.3

 After the birth of her fourth child, Clayton 

reluctantly withdrew from law school. “I wasn’t super 

enough to be a supermom,” Clayton recalled years later. 

“I left to be a mom. My husband was supportive, but I 

felt enormously guilty. I think I would do it differently 

now. I think I would know how to demand more of my 

husband.”4

 In the early 1970s, she worked for several 

public/private ventures, including the North Carolina 

Health Manpower Development Program at the University 

of North Carolina. In 1974 she cofounded and served as 

the executive director of Soul City Foundation, a housing 

organization that renovated dilapidated buildings for use as 

homeless shelters and daycare centers. Two years later, she 

worked on the successful gubernatorial campaign of Jim 

Hunt, who later appointed Clayton the assistant secretary 

of the North Carolina department of natural resources and 

community development. Clayton served in that capacity 

from 1977 until 1981. After leaving state government, 

she founded an economic development consulting firm. 

In 1982 she won election to the Warren County Board of 

Commissioners, which she chaired until 1990. Over the 

next decade, Clayton helped steer more than $550 million 

in investments into the county and also successfully passed 

a bond issue for the construction of new schools. 

When Representative Walter Jones, Sr., announced his 

retirement in 1992, Clayton entered the Democratic 

primary to fill his seat. Recently reapportioned by the state 

legislature, the congressional district was one of two in 

North Carolina that had a black majority. Jones died in 

September 1992, and his son Walter, Jr., who was 

considered the favorite in the primary, captured 38 percent 

to Clayton’s 31 but fell two points shy of winning the 

nomination outright. In the runoff, Clayton secured the 

support of her other primary opponents and won 55 

percent to Jones’s 45 percent. In the general election, 

Clayton ran on a platform of increased public investment 

and job training for rural areas in the district, which 

encompassed a large swath of eastern North Carolina 

including the towns of Goldsboro, Rocky Mount, and 

Eva M. Clayton

1934–

United States Representative H 1992–20 03

Democrat from North Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������

596 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Eva M. Clayton H

Greenville. She advocated slashing the defense budget to 

lower the federal deficit. “We went into the projects and 

knocked on doors and got people out” to vote, Clayton 

recalled.5

 On November 3, 1992, she won the special 

election to fill the last two months of Walter Jones, Sr.’s 

unexpired term in the 102nd Congress (1991–1993) and 

defeated Republican Ted Tyler for a full term in the 103rd 

Congress (1993–1995). Mel Watt, an African American, 

also won election from a North Carolina district to the 

House on November 3, but because Clayton was elected to 

the 102nd Congress, she became the first African-American 

Representative from North Carolina since George White, 

who left Congress in 1901. In her subsequent four bids for 

re-election, she won comfortably, with 60 percent or more 

of the vote. She defeated Tyler three times, even in 1998, 

after court rulings reshaped the district once again by 

adding 165,000 new constituents and shrinking the 

African-American majority by 7 percent, effectively 

dividing the district between black and white constituents. 

In 2000, the GOP ran Duane E. Kratzer, Jr., who managed 

just 33 percent of the vote to Clayton’s 66 percent.

Clayton claimed her seat in the 102nd Congress on 

November 5, 1992, but did not receive committee 

assignments until the 103rd Congress convened in January 

1993. She won spots on the Agriculture and Small Business 

committees. Clayton eventually became the Ranking 

Democratic Member on the Agriculture Committee’s 

Operations, Oversight, Nutrition, and Forestry 

Subcommittee. Her Democratic colleagues also elected her 

the first woman president of the freshman class. In 1995, 

she was appointed to the Democratic Advisory Committee 

to formulate party strategy. In the 105th Congress 

(1997–1999) she dropped her Small Business assignment 

for a seat on the prestigious Budget Committee. Clayton 

was also assigned to the Social Security Task Force.

Clayton became a staunch defender of the rural and 

agricultural interests of her district, which comprised 20 

counties with numerous peanut and tobacco growers. 

Along with Missouri Republican Jo Ann Emerson, she 

revived the Rural Caucus and rallied more than 100 

Members to pledge continued federal aid to farmers, new 

rural jobs, and technology initiatives. In 1993 and 2000, 

respectively, Clayton voted against the North American 

Free Trade Agreement and Permanent Normal Trade 

Relations with China, insisting that both would adversely 

affect the agricultural industry and eliminate low-wage jobs 

from her district. “Must eastern North Carolina lose in 

order for the Research Triangle to win?” she asked, alluding 

to the state’s booming high-tech corridor to the west of 

her district.6

 Although Clayton advocated smaller defense 

budgets, she remained supportive of naval contracts for 

projects at the nearby Newport News shipyards, which 

provided jobs for her constituents. From her seat on the 

Agriculture Committee—in contrast with many of her 

Democratic colleagues—Clayton supported extending 

tobacco subsidies to farmers at a time when critics attacked 

the program. “This is not about smoking,” Clayton said. 

“This is about discriminating against the poorest of the 

poor of that industry. . . . They really are attacking the 

small farmer.”7

 She also fought successfully to preserve 

Section 515 of the Agriculture Department’s affordable 

housing program, which provided federal loans for multiunit housing projects in rural areas.8

Clayton’s district suffered a major natural disaster in 

1999 when Hurricane Floyd dumped rains on the state, 

submerging parts of eastern North Carolina under 14 feet 

of water from swollen rivers. Clayton and other Members 

of the state delegation secured billions in relief aid. 

Clayton also obtained $1.5 million in federal money 

to reconstruct a dike along the Tar River in Princeville, 

one of the nation’s first towns chartered by African 

Americans. She also assembled a volunteer force of more 

than 500 people, to help flood victims throughout eastern 

North Carolina.

As she gained seniority and prestige in the House, 

Clayton created a high profile for herself as an advocate 

for programs to help economically disadvantaged African 

Americans. Throughout her career, she stressed the 

importance of job training. “The issue of equity in jobs 

and fairness of opportunities is paramount,” Clayton said. 

598 H Black Americans in Congress 
“Job opportunities combined with a fair wage are key to 

strengthening families and communities and increasing 

our quality of life.”9

 With fellow North Carolinian Mel 

Watt, Clayton, as chair of the Congressional Black Caucus 

Foundation, organized a campaign to help 1 million 

African Americans buy homes by 2005. In 1996 she also 

played a key part in fighting GOP efforts to cut summer 

job programs for young people. Declaring that she 

intended “to wake up” the House, Clayton said that the 

programs helped more than 615,000 youths in 650 cities 

and towns: “This is the first opportunity many of these 

young people have to get a job.”10

In November 2001, Clayton declined to seek 

renomination to a sixth term in the House. She had been 

involved in intense bargaining with state legislators to 

ensure that her predominantly African-American district 

was “protected” during reapportionment after the 2000 

Census. “My heart is leading me somewhere else,” Clayton 

said. “I don’t know exactly where that is, but I do want 

to have another opportunity for public service before I 

really hang it up.”11 Clayton was succeeded by an AfricanAmerican, Frank Ballance, Jr., in the fall 2002 elections. 

After retiring in January 2003, Clayton returned to her 

home in Littleton, North Carolina.

For Further Reading

“Clayton, Eva M.,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000494.

Manuscript Collection

Johnson C. Smith University, James B. Duke Memorial 

Library (Charlotte, NC). Papers: Eva Clayton’s papers have 

not yet been processed.

Notes

1 Rob Christensen, “Clayton to Retire in 2002,” 21 November 

2001, Charlotte News and Observer: A1.

2 Christensen, “Clayton to Retire in 2002.”

3 Scott Mooneyham, “Clayton Announces She Will Retire From 

Congress,” 20 November 2001, Associated Press.

4 Marian Burros, “Rep. Mom: Even in Washington’s Watershed 

Year, Laundry Still Needs Doing,” 20 June 1993, Chicago Tribune: 

woman news section, 12.

5 “Eva M. Clayton,” Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 1998.

6 Almanac of American Politics, 2002 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 2001): 1139–1140.

7 Politics in America, 2002 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2001): 738–739.

8 Current Biography, 2000 (New York: H. W. Wilson and Company, 

2000): 121–124.

9 “Eva M. Clayton,” Contemporary Black Biography, 1998, Volume 

20 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1998).

10 “Congresswomen Lead Campaign for Summer Jobs for Black 

Youth,” 15 April 1996, Jet: 39.

11 John Mercurio, “Going Home: Clayton Will Retire; But North 

Carolina Map Expected to Alter 1st District Only Slightly,” 26 

November 2001, Roll Call.

H Eva M. Clayton H

former members | 1971–2007 H 599
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos

From an impoverished childhood, Cleo Fields rose to 

win a seat in the U.S. House of Representatives at age 

29, serving as the youngest Member of the 103rd Congress 

(1993–1995). “Chills just went down my spine,” Fields 

remarked about his swearing-in.1

 Yet the controversy over 

racial gerrymandering and the peculiarity of Louisiana’s 

election law extinguished Fields’s meteoric political career 

in the U.S. House after just two terms. 

Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on November 22, 

1962, Cleo was one of 10 children of Isidore Fields, a 

dockworker, and Alice Fields, a maid. Isidore died after 

falling asleep behind the wheel of his car on his way home 

from working a double shift.2

 Poverty became a way of life 

for four-year-old Cleo, as the Fields household struggled 

to make ends meet. “I didn’t know what poor was,” Cleo 

Fields later recalled, “I thought mommas were supposed to 

put three patches in a pair of pants. In junior high school, 

it really hit me in the face. That’s when I realized what my 

mother was going through.”3

 At one point, the family was 

evicted from a Baton Rouge apartment. Throughout his 

youth, Fields worked several jobs to aid his family, taking 

a shift at a fast food restaurant and working at the Baton 

Rouge mayor’s office of youth opportunity to save money 

for college. After graduating from McKinley High School 

in Baton Rouge, Fields attended cross-town Southern 

University, earning his bachelors and law degrees. Politics 

became his passion. In his early law school years, he began 

circulating bumper stickers to classmates that read, “I’m 

waiting for Cleo Fields.” Fields noted, “I didn’t know what 

office I would run for, so I didn’t want to be too specific.”4

During his final year of law school in 1986, Fields 

ran a grass-roots campaign for the Louisiana state senate. 

Without money to launch a campaign, he depended on 

student volunteers and the aid of his siblings to oust a 

well-entrenched incumbent. His eventual victory made 

the 24-year-old the youngest state legislator ever elected 

in Louisiana. Fields’s slight, youthful build and five-foot, 

seven-inch frame were dwarfed by the round, tortoiseshell 

glasses that became his trademark. He once quipped to 

a crowd of voters, “I know I don’t look like a man, but 

I am one.”5

 While in the state legislature, Fields focused 

on environmental issues and economic opportunities for 

minorities. He also emerged as a leader in the war against 

illegal drugs. Fields married his high school sweetheart, 

Debra Horton. The couple had two sons, Cleo Brandon, 

born in 1995, and Christopher, born in 1998.

In 1990, Fields ran unsuccessfully against incumbent 

Republican Clyde Holloway for a U.S. House seat 

encompassing central Louisiana that included portions of 

the state capital, Baton Rouge. The district’s population, 

which was 38 percent black, had voted for Democratic 

candidates in three of the past four presidential elections.6

Fields was runner-up in the former open-party primary, 

unique to Louisiana, in which all the candidates from all 

the parties competed. If no candidate received more than 

50 percent of the vote, the state held a runoff election 

between the top-two vote getters. The well-entrenched 

Holloway won decisively with 56 percent of the vote to 

Fields’s 30 percent; there was no need for a runoff. 

After the 1990 Census eliminated one U.S. House seat 

from Louisiana, Fields participated in the redistricting 

efforts from his state senate seat, helping to create an 

oddly shaped congressional district that he would seek to 

represent in 1992. The district hugged Louisiana’s eastern 

border, jutting occasionally toward the central part of the 

state and forming a loose “Z” shape. It encompassed a large 

area, stretching east and west of Baton Rouge, north up the 

Mississippi River to the Arkansas border and west through 

Shreveport, taking in a wide mix of rural and urban 

communities, including parts of the state’s five largest 

Cleo Fields

1962–

United States Representative H 1993–1997

Democrat from Louisiana

������������������������������������������������������������������������

600 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Cleo Fields H

cities and Louisiana State University. The state senate 

designed the district so that it would have a black majority 

(66 percent of the population), and registered Democrats 

outnumbered Republicans 8 to 1.7

 It was one of two 

black-majority districts in the state; Representative William 

Jefferson represented the other, which covered greater New 

Orleans. Fields received 48 percent of the vote, making him 

the top vote-getter, but he fell just short of the 50 percent 

needed to win outright. His nearest competitor, fellow 

African-American State Senator Charles (C. D.) Jones, 

took 14 percent. The two faced one another in a December 

runoff. Fields ran an energetic door-to-door campaign. 

He defeated Jones handily with 74 percent of the vote, 

emphasizing three goals he would advocate throughout his 

political career: creating jobs, lowering the cost of health 

care, and reducing the federal deficit.8

Fields’s congressional colleagues recognized his service 

in the state senate by electing him parliamentarian of his 

freshman class. He was assigned to the Small Business 

Committee as well as the Banking, Finance, and Urban 

Affairs Committee. In 1995, Fields earned the highest 

marks in the Louisiana delegation for his liberal voting 

record, citing his support for gun control, abortion, and 

social spending.9

 He preferred to support the proposals 

put forth by the Democratic Congress and the President 

William J. (Bill) Clinton administration rather than take 

the lead on many legislative initiatives. 

Fields was soon preoccupied with defending the 

borders of his district against several lawsuits. In April 

1994, the federal court in Louisiana re-examined Hays 

v. Louisiana—a lawsuit that was previously filed by four 

of Fields’s constituents who claimed Louisianans’ voting 

rights were hindered by a racial “supermajority” in all 

the state’s congressional districts. The court ruled that 

Fields’s Z-shaped district was invalid and forced another 

reapportionment.10 The new district resembled a wedge 

running between the northwest border of the state toward 

the center and Baton Rouge. The Representative’s home 

remained within the district and the new borders still 

contained a majority-black population (58 percent). Not 

satisfied, the same plaintiffs filed suit again. Only after 

the United States Supreme Court issued a stay in August 

did the 1994 election proceed with Fields running in the 

wedge-shaped district.11 Fields won the open primary with 

48 percent of the vote; he took the November 3 runoff 

with 74 percent over his 1992 opponent, Charles Jones.12

However, his district lines changed four times between 

December 1993 and August 1994, distracting Fields from 

his legislative work. “For four years, I had one foot in 

the House and one foot across the street in the Supreme 

Court,” Fields later recalled. “I was under a dark cloud 

the whole time I was up there. I never knew if I would be 

there the next day.”13 Fields blamed the political enemies he 

made during his years in the state senate for the relentless 

attacks on the boundaries of his district.14

In the midst of the battle to alter his district, Fields 

announced his candidacy for governor in 1995. Though 

Fields maintained the election was not about race, he 

quickly shored up as many black votes as possible.15 In 

an open-primary field that was crowded with Democrats, 

Fields hoped his youth as well as his race would appeal 

to voters. Fields won 19 percent of the vote in the open 

primary, finishing as the runner-up to Republican Mike 

Foster—whose family had a history of service in the state 

and who switched party affiliation just weeks before the 

primary election. Fields lost the runoff vote—which was 

mostly divided on racial lines—taking only 36 percent of 

the vote.16

The final blow to Fields’s congressional career came on 

January 5, 1996, when a U.S. District Court ruled that his 

wedge-shaped district was unconstitutional. Representing 

himself, Fields appealed the ruling to the U.S. Supreme 

Court; however, the state legislature—following the lead 

of the newly elected Governor Foster—adopted the plan 

in April 1996, despite Fields’s plea to the statehouse.17

The new lines, including a larger wedge running south 

from the northwest border through Shreveport, retained 

a substantial black voting bloc in the new district, but 

African Americans were no longer the majority. Also, Fields 

no longer lived in the district he was supposed to represent; 

602 H Black Americans in Congress 
his Baton Rouge home ended up being within the same 

boundaries as House veteran Republican Richard Baker’s 

residence.18 Fields chose not to run against the very popular 

and well-entrenched Baker in 1996, further admitting that 

running in his former district would be “self-serving,” as his 

home was no longer located there. “I don’t want to leave 

the impression that I am bitter [about the apportionment 

battle]. I want people to know how honored I am,” he told 

reporters, “Well, I got 17 percent of the white vote [in the 

governor’s race]. For a then-33-year-old candidate like me 

to get 17 percent of the cross-over vote, I think that says 

there’s a bright future ahead, a bright future.”19 Fields also 

was optimistic that the 2000 Census would gain Louisiana 

an extra House seat, noting that the loss of a seat following 

the 1990 Census did not account for large numbers of 

minority and low-income residents. However, Louisiana 

did not pick up a seat after the next census.

Though Fields debated running for an open U.S. Senate 

seat when Senator Bennett Johnston retired, he ultimately 

decided not to run, citing his decisive loss for governor.20

Upon his departure, Fields pressed to eliminate the 

open-primary system that had been in place in Louisiana 

since 1978. He also was active in the 1996 presidential 

campaign, serving as a senior advisor on the Clinton–Gore 

re-election campaign. In 1997, he took an appointment 

in Vice President Al Gore’s office directing a federal 

program that awarded grants and economic incentives to 

impoverished communities, classified as “empowerment 

zones” and “enterprise communities,” each receiving a 

different level of federal aid.21 Several of these zones were 

located in Fields’s former Louisiana district. 

Fields returned to the state senate in a special election in 

December 1997, serving simultaneously with his younger 

brother, Wilson.22 Fields also began hosting a weekly radio 

program in Baton Rouge, called “Cleo Live,” which drew 

prominent black politicians as guests, and he opened a law 

practice. Fields later admitted, “The more I get into my law 

practice, the less appealing returning to Congress becomes. 

It’s been one of the most productive things I’ve done with 

my life.” But, he also conceded, “When I was in Congress, 

I thought it was the greatest job in the world.”23

H Cleo Fields H

former members | 1971–2007 H 603
For Further Reading

“Fields, Cleo” Biographical Directory of the United States 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000110. 

Notes

1 Joan McKinney, “‘There’s A Bright Future Ahead’: Rep. Cleo Fields 

Plans to Rest, Get a Job—And Return to Office,” 1 December 

1996, The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA): 1A.

2 Gwendolyn Thompkins, “Cleo Fields Reaching for the 

Mountaintop After a Tough Climb,” 13 September 1995, TimesPicayune (New Orleans, LA): A1.

3 “Cleo Fields,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 13 (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 1996).

4 Thompkins, “Cleo Fields Reaching for the Mountaintop After a 

Tough Climb.”

5 Ibid.

6 Politics in America, 1990 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1989): 629.

7 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1993): 650.

8 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

9 Bruce Alpert, “Fields’ Focus Earns Praise From Liberals,” 29 

October 1995, Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA): A1.

10 Richard L. Engstrom and Jason F. Kirksey, “Race and 

Representational Districting in Louisiana,” in Bernard Grofman 

ed., Race And Redistricting In The 1990s (New York: Agathon 

Press, 1998): 229–265; Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 

1993 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1994): 

22-A–23-A; Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1994 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1995): 591–592.

11 Engstrom and Kirksey, “Race and Representational Districting in 

Louisiana:” 256, 259.

12 Michael J. Dubin et al., U.S. Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, Inc., Publishers, 1998): 

779.

13 John Mercurio, “Return Engagement? Ex-Rep. Fields Plotting 

Political Comeback,” 8 June 2000, Roll Call.

14 Mercurio, “Return Engagement? Ex-Rep. Fields Plotting Political 

Comeback.”

15 Tyler Bridges, “Jefferson Joins Race, Is Pitted With Fields,” 9 

February 1995, Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA).

16 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1995 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1996): 12-5.

17 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1995: 12-5; Jack Wardlaw and Ed 

Anderson, “Black District Realignment OK’d,” 29 March 1996, 

Times-Picayune (New Orleans, LA).

18 Congressional Quarterly Almanac, 1996 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1997): 11–37. 

19 McKinney, “‘There’s A Bright Future Ahead’: Rep. Cleo Fields 

Plans to Rest, Get a Job—And Return to Office.”

20 “Black Congressman In Louisiana Decides To Skip Senate Bid,” 13 

July 1996, New York Times: 7.

21 Joan McKinney, “Fields Set To Begin Fed Work,” 28 March 1997,

The Advocate (Baton Rouge, LA).

22 “Senator Cleo Fields—District 14,” Louisiana State Senate, at 

http://senate.legis.state.la.use/FieldsC/biography.asp (accessed 7 

March 2007).

23 Mercurio, “Return Engagement? Ex-Rep. Fields Plotting Political 

Comeback.”

H Cleo Fields H

604 H Black Americans in Congress
“For four years, I had one 

foot in the House and one 

foot across the street in the 

Supreme Court,” 

Fields later recalled. 

“I was under a dark cloud 

the whole time I was up there. 

I never knew if I would be 

there the next day.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 605
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives Photography Office

Earl Hilliard’s long career in the state legislature 

catapulted him into Congress—making him the first 

black Representative from Alabama since Jeremiah Haralson 

left office during Reconstruction. “We have not had a voice 

in 117 years,” Hilliard declared upon his first election. “I 

will be able to articulate the views and opinions of a group 

that hasn’t had representation in a very long time.”1

Earl Frederick Hilliard was born in Birmingham, 

Alabama, on April 9, 1942, to Iola Frazier and William 

Hilliard. Hilliard grew up in a segregated society and chose 

to attend traditionally black colleges. While a student at 

Morehouse College in Atlanta, Georgia, Hilliard met Dr. 

Martin Luther King, Jr. The meeting had a powerful effect 

on him, as Hilliard vowed to become “one of King’s foot 

soldiers in the war for racial equality.”2

 After receiving a 

B.A. from Morehouse in 1964, Hilliard received a J.D. at 

Howard University Law School in Washington, DC, in 

1967. In 1970, he received a M.B.A. at Atlanta University 

in Georgia. He married Mary Franklin in 1967, and the 

couple had two children: Alesia and Earl, Jr.

Hilliard began his career in elective politics when he 

won a campaign for a seat in the Alabama state house of 

representatives in 1975. In 1980, he was elected to the 

state senate. Hilliard’s senate career focused on helping the 

urban poor, who constituted the bulk of his Birminghamarea constituents. He also earned a reputation as a hardfighting, tactical legislator.3

 In 1991, Hilliard declared 

bankruptcy after a deal to sell a radio station he owned 

fell through.4

 However, he thought his experience would 

benefit him as a legislator. “The bankruptcy gave me a 

chance to pay people back in an orderly manner,” he 

noted. “I’m able to understand what it is not to be able 

to pay obligations.”5

In 1992, redistricting gave the Alabama legislature a 

chance to create a single black-majority U.S. congressional 

district in a state that had not sent an African American 

to Congress since Reconstruction. The west-central district 

stretched primarily from the Mississippi–Alabama border 

through Selma to Montgomery. The district went as far 

north as Tuscaloosa, with a small offshoot through Jefferson 

County to Birmingham. Montgomery and Birmingham 

made up the bulk of the urban population; however, the 

rest of the district’s boundaries included the poor, rural 

areas of the black belt and the old cotton-growing regions. 

The district’s three major cities—Selma, Montgomery, 

and Birmingham—were battlegrounds at the heart of the 

1960s civil rights movement. All the candidates in the 

Republican and the Democratic primaries were black, 

but because the district was overwhelmingly Democratic, 

a primary victory would be tantamount to winning the 

general election.6

 Hilliard ran an arduous campaign to win 

the nomination. He faced a crowded field of six candidates 

in his June 2 primary, the favorite being Hank Sanders of 

Selma, a fellow state senator.7

 The two squared off on issues 

of health care and job creation. Hilliard prevailed with 31 

percent of the vote versus Sanders’s 24 percent, sending 

the two into a runoff election.8

 Hilliard narrowly defeated 

Sanders with 51 percent of the vote in the August runoff. 

The following November, Hilliard defeated Republican 

Kervin Jones, a black Tuscaloosa farmer, with 70 percent of 

the vote. In his next four re-election bids, Hilliard won at 

least 71 percent of the vote, running unopposed in 1998.9

He initially took assignments on the Agriculture and 

Small Business committees. In 1997, he traded the Small 

Business post for a seat on the International Relations 

Committee. An active member of the Congressional 

Black Caucus, Hilliard was elected vice chairman of the 

organization for the 105th Congress (1997–1999). 

Hilliard’s initial focus in Congress was creating 

economic opportunity for his constituents. He attempted 

Earl Frederick Hilliard

1942–

United States Representative H 1993–20 03

Democrat from Alabama

������������������������������������������������������������������������

606 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
to protect and expand the Alabama military installations 

used by the U.S. Army and the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration, suggesting that closing American 

military bases in Germany and Japan so that more funding 

would be available for domestic military installations.10

He also worked to protect a Tuscaloosa-area airport that 

was difficult to sustain because of the region’s sparse 

population. Its only airline threatened to leave in 1995 and 

Hilliard feared the loss of the airport would hurt business 

growth in the region. “Tuscaloosa and the surrounding 

communities would suffer terribly without local air service, 

and this travel option will become increasingly important 

as industrial development continues in the area,” he wrote 

to a colleague.11 Due in large part to Hilliard’s lobbying, 

the House and Senate Appropriations committees diverted 

limited funding to Tuscaloosa in the Essential Air Service 

legislation.12 Hilliard also was crucial in convincing a 

Korean-based car manufacturer to open a plant outside 

Montgomery. At the plant’s groundbreaking ceremony 

in April 2002, he was a featured speaker.13

Hilliard attempted to assist the rural regions of his 

district by submitting legislation to establish a Southern 

Rural Development Commission, which he modeled on 

the Appalachian Regional Commission. The purpose of 

the commission was to dispense federal money to projects 

enhancing economic development, improving health care, 

and offering job training. The new commission would 

cover the “black belt” or agricultural region of 10 southern 

states; however, the measure died in committee.14 Hilliard 

also offered creative legislation to help his poor farming 

constituents, asking to add rabbit to the list of meats that 

were federally inspected. Hoping federal safety inspections 

would increase rabbit’s popularity among consumers, 

Hilliard speculated that his constituents could breed the 

animals to produce the meat quickly and cheaply.15

Hilliard’s frequent foreign travel as a member of the 

International Relations (later Foreign Affairs) Committee 

garnered national attention.16 In August 1997, he made 

an unauthorized trip to Libya. The State Department had 

banned American travel to Libya with a U.S. passport 

as well as any business and financial transactions with 

the country since sanctions were imposed in 1986 and 

Libya was declared a terrorist state. The State Department 

warned that traveling to the country was “contrary to U.S. 

policy” and was unaware that Hilliard had made the trip 

until he returned to the United States.17 On September 

26, International Relations Committee Chairman Ben 

Gilman of New York announced that the committee 

would review Hilliard’s actions in Libya and inquire 

whether he had broken any laws.18 The Committee on 

Standards of Official Conduct eventually took up the case 

at the end of September.19

In cooperation with the investigation, Hilliard revealed 

that a Swiss company headed by a wealthy Tunisian 

businessman that dealt in crude oil had paid nearly 

$5,000 for Hilliard’s trip to Tunisia and Libya from 

August 21 to 25.20 Hilliard claimed he went to Libya 

to investigate how American money was being spent 

abroad. “The majority of our foreign aid is spent in the 

Middle Eastern region between Egypt and other north 

African countries,” Hilliard explained. “[Libya] was a 

country I had not been to, and I had the opportunity 

to go this time and I went.” He noted that his trip was 

an attempt to “develop channels for dialogue” with the 

Muslim world.21 In a letter to his constituents, Hilliard 

noted that he did not use his American passport to enter 

the country and that he did not spend any money, which 

was later confirmed by the U.S. Treasury Department.22

The Standards Committee agreed with the Treasury 

Department’s assessment and dropped the case against 

Hilliard in the middle of November.23

On December 3, 1997, a Capitol Hill newspaper 

published a two-part story that Hilliard had broken several 

House rules related to campaign staffing and financing.24

On June 20, 2001, the Committee on Standards of Official 

Conduct issued a written rebuke of Hilliard’s actions.By 

signing an agreement admitting to the violations, he received 

the least severe punishment the committee could administer: 

a three-page letter outlining the violations, signed by the 

committee’s Chairman and Ranking Member.25

H Earl Frederick Hilliard H

608 H Black Americans in Congress 
In the 2002 election, Hilliard faced a previous 

opponent, Artur Davis. The Harvard-educated Davis, a 

former assistant district attorney, returned to challenge 

the incumbent with greater Democratic support. He 

accused Hilliard of doing little for the district in his 

decade in office. Moreover, a slight change in district 

lines added more voters from counties that favored Davis 

and eliminated two counties that primarily favored 

Hilliard.26 Hilliard narrowly edged out Davis in the early 

June primary, 46 to 43 percent, resulting in a runoff 

election.27 But Davis overcame his earlier deficit to win 

the runoff against Hilliard on June 25, 56 percent to 44 

percent. Hilliard returned to his law firm in Birmingham 

after his loss.

For Further Reading

“Hilliard, Earl Frederick,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=H000621. 

Notes

1 “Earl F. Hilliard,” January 1993, Ebony Magazine.

2 Politics in America, 2002 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2001): 19.

3 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1993): 38; “Earl Frederick Hilliard,” Associated 

Press Candidate Biographies, 1996.

4 Joe Nabbefeld, “Hilliard Liable for Debts Totaling $528,098, 

Records Show,” 5 September 1993, Birmingham News (AL).

5 “Earl Frederick Hilliard,” Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 

1996.

6 David Pace, “Birthplace of Voting Rights Movement Getting First 

Black Congressman,” 28 May 1992, Associated Press.

7 Politics in America, 2002: 20; “House Race Briefings: Featured 

Tuesday Primaries: AL 07,” 29 May 1992, The Hotline; Robert 

B. McNeil, “Earl Hilliard Reports Spending $189,097 to Win 

Democratic Nomination,” 20 July 1992, States News Service.

8 Tim Curran, “Alabama Runoffs Tuesday Decide Edreich Foe, 

Demo Nominee to Succeed Dickinson,” 25 June 1992, Roll Call.

9 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

10 Robert Dunnavant, “Hilliard Backs Space Station Development,” 

27 April 1993, Birmingham News.

11 Mike Zapler, “Hilliard Changes Strategy on Airline Service, 

Targeting Callahan,” 12 October 1995, State News Service.

12 Mike Zapler, “Tuscaloosa’s Airline Service Spared,” 26 October 

1995, State News Service.

13 Mary Orndorff, “Hilliard Says, ‘I Vote For The Working People,’” 

23 May 2002, Birmingham News.

14 Michael Brumas, “Hilliard Proposes New Agency to Help South’s 

Rural Poor,” 25 January 1994, Birmingham News; see H.R. 3901, 

103rd Cong., 2nd sess.

H Earl Frederick Hilliard H

former members | 1971–2007 H 609
15 Politics in America, 2002: 19.

16 “Hilliard Says All Trips Were Official Business,” 25 May 1995, 

Birmingham News.

17 Michael Brumas, “Hilliard Visits Off-Limits Libya State 

Department Says He Wasn’t Acting On Its Behalf,” 17 September 

1997, Birmingham News.

18 David Pace, “Rep. Hilliard’s Libya Trip Examined,” 26 September 

1997, Associated Press.

19 Jock Friedly, “Hilliard Trip to Libya Sponsored by Wealthy 

Tunisian Businessman,” 1 October 1997, The Hill.

20 Michael Brumas, “Hilliard Confirms Traveling to Libya,” 27 

September 1997, Birmingham News.

21 Michael Brumas, “Hilliard: Libya Trip Attempt at ‘Dialogue,’” 30 

September 1997, Birmingham News.

22 Michael Brumas, “Treasury: Hilliard Trip to Libya OK ‘No 

Indication of a Violation,’” 1 October 1997, Birmingham News; 

Val Walton, “Hilliard: Libya Trip Broke No Law,” 29 September 

1997, Birmingham News.

23 In April 1999, Hilliard claimed partial credit when Libyan 

officials handed over two suspects from the bombing of a Pan-Am 

commercial flight over Lockerbie, Scotland, in 1988. When the 

suspects went on trial at the International Criminal Court at The 

Hague, the Netherlands, in 2000, Hilliard boasted, “I’m telling you 

that [the trial] never would have happened had I not interceded.” 

See Michael Brumas, “Hilliard Says He Helped Get Libya to Hand 

Over Suspects,” 9 April 1999, Birmingham News; Michael Brumas, 

“Hilliard: Stepping on Toes Makes Him a Target,” 16 May 2000, 

Birmingham News.

24 The newspaper’s initial allegations are documented in Jock Friedly, 

“Hilliard’s Finances Indicate Possible Violations of Federal Law,” 

3 December 1997, The Hill; Jock Friedly, “Hilliard Campaign 

Boosted His Business,” 3 December 1997, The Hill. Hilliard had 

previously come under fire after a federal campaign report revealed 

that he paid more than $17,000 from his campaign funds to 

his family members in his 1992 campaign. Hilliard justified the 

payouts, noting that his family members worked for his campaign. 

See Michael Brumas, “Hilliard Pays Family With Campaign Cash,” 

5 August 1993, Birmingham News. 

25 See Committee on Standards of Official Conduct history of 

disciplinary actions at http://www.house.gov/ethics/Historical_

Chart_Final_Version.htm; Juliet Eilperin, “House Ethics Panel 

Launches Probe of Rep. Hilliard’s Business Dealings,” 29 

January 1998, Roll Call; Michael Brumas, “Capitol Hill Paper 

Hits Hilliard Dealings, He Calls It GOP Attempt ‘To Discredit 

Me,’” 4 December 1997, Birmingham News; Michael Brumas, 

“House Probe Set Off Hilliard’s Finances,” 24 September 1999, 

Birmingham News; Michael Brumas, “GOP Blamed for Probe 

Hilliard’s Attorney Cites Ethics Committee Chairman,” 25 

September, Birmingham News; Philip Shenon, “House Panel 

Reprimands a Democrat on Finances,” 22 June 2001, New York 

Times: A1; Juliet Eilperin, “House Ethics Panel Rebukes Hilliard 

for Funds Misuse,” 22 June 2001, Washington Post: A7; Mary 

Orndorff, “Hilliard Takes Ethics Slap in Stride,” 25 June 2001, 

Birmingham News.

26 John Mercurio, “Sweet Home; Hilliard Could Be Hurt by Remap 

in Alabama,” 31 January 2002, Roll Call.

27 Mary Orndorff, “Hilliard Fights for Political Life Against Davis,” 

6 June 2002, Birmingham News.

H Earl Frederick Hilliard H

610 H Black Americans in Congress
“We have not had a voice in 

117 years,” Hilliard declared 

upon his election as the 

first black Representative 

from Alabama since Jeremiah 

Haralson left office during 

Reconstruction. 

“I will be able to articulate 

the views and opinions of 

a group that hasn’t had 

representation in a 

very long time.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 611
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

The first African-American woman from Georgia to 

serve in Congress, Cynthia McKinney was elected 

to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992. With a 

résumé that included graduate work in international 

relations, Representative McKinney’s background fit her 

service on the Armed Services and International Relations 

committees, where she addressed human rights issues. The 

outspoken Representative, who sometimes held polarizing 

views on key foreign policy issues, lost her re-election bid 

in 2002. Two years later, voters in her DeKalb Countycentered district returned her to the House for a single 

term, making her one of a handful of Congresswomen who 

served nonconsecutive terms.

Cynthia Ann McKinney was born on March 17, 1955, 

in Atlanta, Georgia, to Leola Christion McKinney, a nurse, 

and James Edward (Billy) McKinney, a police officer, civil 

rights activist, and longtime legislator in the Georgia house 

of representatives. Joining the Atlanta police department 

in 1948, Billy McKinney was one of its first AfricanAmerican officers. Cynthia McKinney’s participation 

in demonstrations with her father inspired her to enter 

politics.1

 While protesting the conviction of Tommy Lee 

Hines, a mentally handicapped black man charged with 

raping a white woman in Alabama, McKinney and other 

protestors were threatened by the Ku Klux Klan. “That 

was probably my day of awakening,” McKinney recalled. 

“That day, I experienced hatred for the first time. I learned 

that there really are people who hate me without even 

knowing me. . . . That was when I knew that politics was 

going to be something I would do.”2

 McKinney graduated 

from St. Joseph High School and, in 1978, earned a B.A. 

in international relations from the University of Southern 

California. She later pursued graduate studies at the 

Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University 

in Medford, Massachusetts. In 1984 she served as a 

diplomatic fellow at Spelman College in Atlanta. She then 

taught political science at Agnes Scott College in Decatur 

and at Clark Atlanta University. Cynthia McKinney 

married Coy Grandison, a Jamaican politician. The couple 

had a son, Coy, Jr., before divorcing. 

In 1986, Billy McKinney registered his daughter 

without her knowledge as a candidate for the Georgia 

state house of representatives. She lost that race to the 

incumbent but, without even campaigning, won 20 

percent of the vote based on name recognition. In 1988, 

McKinney won election as an at-large state representative 

in the Georgia legislature, defeating Herb Mabry, who 

would later head the state AFL-CIO.3

 The McKinneys 

became the first father–daughter combination to serve 

concurrently in the same state legislature.4

 McKinney’s 

father expected her to be a close political ally, but he was 

soon confronted with his daughter’s independent style. “He 

thought he was going to have another vote,” she recalled, 

“but once I got there, we disagreed on everything . . . I was 

a chip off the old block, a maverick.”5

During the late 1980s, McKinney and other Georgia 

legislators pressed the U.S. Justice Department to create 

additional majority-black congressional districts so that 

African-American voters would have more equitable 

representation. In 1992, the Georgia legislature created 

two additional majority-black districts (Georgia already 

had one) and McKinney chose to run in the sprawling 

260-mile-long district that included much of DeKalb 

County east of Atlanta to Augusta and extended southward 

to the coastal city of Savannah, encompassing or cutting 

through 22 counties.6

 The district took in a diverse mix 

of constituents, ranging from inhabitants of inner cities 

to the residents of outlying communities in agricultural 

counties. McKinney moved into the new district, and her 

father managed her campaign. In the five-way Democratic 

Cynthia Ann McKinney

1955–

United States Representative H 1993–20 03; 20 05–20 07

Demo crat from Georgia 

������������������������������������������������������������������������

612 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
primary, McKinney used a strong grassroots network 

to place first, with 31 percent of the vote.7

 In a runoff 

against second-place finisher George DeLoach—a funeral 

home director and the former mayor of Waynesboro, 

Georgia—McKinney won with 54 percent of the vote.8

In the heavily Democratic district, she won election to 

the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), with 73 percent of the 

vote, against her Republican opponent, Woodrow Lovett. 

Reflecting on an election that propelled record numbers of 

women and African Americans into congressional office, 

McKinney said shortly afterward, “Now we have people in 

Congress who are like the rest of America. It’s wonderful to 

have ordinary people making decisions about the lives of 

ordinary Americans. It brings a level of sensitivity that has 

not been there.”9

When McKinney was sworn in to the 103rd Congress 

in January 1993, she received assignments on the 

Committee on Agriculture and the Committee on Foreign 

Affairs (later named International Relations). Over the 

next several Congresses she received membership on several 

other panels. In the 104th Congress (1995–1997) she won 

a seat on the Banking and Finance Committee, where she 

served two terms. In the 105th Congress (1997–1999) 

Representative McKinney was assigned to the National 

Security Committee (later renamed Armed Services). 

Representative McKinney quickly became known by 

her unconventional attire, including her trademark pair of 

gold tennis shoes and her Mickey Mouse watch. Shortly 

after she entered the House in 1993, one reporter described 

McKinney as possessing “uncommon poise and a decidedly 

unpinstriped wardrobe.”10 A member of the largest class 

of freshman women in congressional history, McKinney 

also was part of a newly elected vanguard of black 

Congresswomen, many from the South, who emerged 

from state legislatures onto the national political scene.11

Her devotion to work and her courage to stand up against 

the traditions of the mostly male institution impressed 

colleagues. “She’s not a showboat, she’s a workhorse,” 

observed Representative Patricia Schroeder of Colorado, 

employing a term commonly used to describe Members 

who work tirelessly behind the scenes. “She stands up to 

the old bulls, and is very strong in everything she does,” 

Schroeder added.12

McKinney’s confrontational legislative style, cultivated 

since her days as a state legislator, was congruous with her 

distinctive attire. In January 1991, she delivered a blistering 

speech attacking the first Gulf War and President George 

H. W. Bush: two-thirds of the legislators in the Georgia 

statehouse left the chamber after McKinney derided the 

military action as “the most inane use of American will 

that I have witnessed in a very long time.” She added, 

“America must be willing to fight injustice and prejudice 

at home as effectively as America is ready to take up arms 

to fight ‘naked aggression’ in the international arena.”13 In 

1995, she infuriated newly installed House Republican 

leaders when she suggested that an independent counsel 

investigate Speaker Newt Gingrich of Georgia for violating 

the chamber’s gift rules because he accepted free air time 

on cable television to broadcast a college course.14 In 

2000, McKinney accused then-Vice President Al Gore of 

having a “low Negro tolerance level” for not having more 

African Americans on his security detail. She later claimed 

the remark was part of a draft press release not intended 

for public distribution, though she did press the William 

J. (Bill) Clinton administration to investigate charges of 

discrimination in the Secret Service.15

Representative McKinney also displayed a readiness 

to speak out on issues ranging from human rights abuses 

abroad to social inequities at home. As an advocate for 

poor and working-class Americans, McKinney opposed 

federal efforts to restrict abortions—particularly a longstanding measure known as the Hyde Amendment that 

largely eliminated Medicaid coverage for abortions. 

In a debate on the House Floor, McKinney described 

the amendment as “nothing but a discriminatory 

policy against poor women, who happen to be 

disproportionately black.”16

A court challenge shortly after McKinney’s 1994 reelection (with 66 percent of the vote) placed her at the 

epicenter of a national debate over the constitutionality 

614 H Black Americans in Congress 

H Cynthia Ann McKinney H
of minority-conscious redistricting. Five voters from the 

rural parts of her district (including her former opponent 

in the Democratic primary, George DeLoach) filed a suit 

claiming they had been disfranchised because the state 

drew “an illegally gerrymandered district to benefit black 

voters,” as one critic noted. McKinney claimed she had 

made great efforts to reach out to her rural constituents 

but that her entreaties had been met with “resistance” 

or “silence.”17 A U.S. Supreme Court decision in 1995 

invalidated Georgia’s congressional district map as a 

“racial gerrymander” that violated the 14th Amendment’s 

guarantee of equal protection under the law. A panel of 

federal judges from three courts remapped the district 

before the 1996 elections, and the black population of 

McKinney’s district dropped from 64 percent to about 

33 percent. Although McKinney was forced to run in 

a majority-white district, the loyal political network 

that figured heavily in her previous campaigns helped 

her prevail against Republican challenger John M. 

Mitnick, with 58 percent of the vote.18 McKinney won 

her two subsequent re-election bids by comfortable 

margins of about 60 percent. Reapportionment in 

2002 placed McKinney in a district that again was 

predominantly African American (roughly 53 percent of 

the population).19

On the International Relations Committee, where 

she eventually served as the Ranking Member on 

the International Operations and Human Rights 

Subcommittee, McKinney tried to curb weapons sales 

to countries that violated human rights—sponsoring the 

Arms Transfers Code of Conduct, which passed the House 

in 1997, to prevent the sale of weapons to dictators. In 

1999, she partnered with a Republican colleague to insert 

a similar provision into a State Department reauthorization 

bill. A year later, she voted against granting full trade 

relations with China, citing Beijing’s poor human rights 

record. McKinney frequently challenged American foreign 

policy during this period, including the 1999 bombing 

campaign in Kosovo, long-standing U.S. sanctions against 

Iraq, and much of U.S. policy in the Middle East. 

Representative McKinney’s actions after the September 

11, 2001, terrorist attacks caused her political difficulty. 

First, she offered to accept a check from a wealthy 

Saudi prince after then-New York City Mayor Rudolph 

W. Giuliani rejected it because the prince said the 

September 11 attacks were a response to U.S. policies 

in the Middle East.20 Then, in a 2002 radio interview, 

McKinney suggested that officials in the George W. 

Bush administration had prior knowledge about the 

attacks but remained silent because they stood to gain 

financially from military spending in the aftermath of the 

attacks. Alluding to the still-contentious recount of votes 

in Florida in 2000, and the Supreme Court ruling that 

resulted in the Republican presidency, McKinney said, “an 

administration of questionable legitimacy has been given 

unprecedented power.” 21 At a time when much of the 

nation was supportive of the administration in the wake of 

the September 11 attacks, McKinney’s comments were met 

with a torrent of criticism.22

In the 2002 primary McKinney faced a little-known 

newcomer to electoral politics, Denise Majette. An African 

American and a former state judge, Majette ran on a 

platform contrasting her moderation and centrism with 

McKinney’s rhetoric, which Majette’s campaign implied 

had gone too far. Majette achieved a two-to-one advantage 

in campaign funding, raising another issue when it became 

evident that national Jewish and Muslim groups were 

funding Majette and McKinney, respectively.23 In the 

August 20, 1992, primary, Majette prevailed by a 58 to 42 

percent margin and went on to win the general election. 

Two years later, when Majette made an ultimately 

unsuccessful bid for the U.S. Senate, McKinney entered 

the race to reclaim her old congressional seat. Benefitting 

from a divided Democratic field in the party primary, 

she won the nomination with 54 percent of the vote. 

McKinney ran an understated campaign that steered clear 

of extensive media coverage and, as in her earlier runs for 

Congress, relied on a vigorous grass-roots effort. In the 

general election, for the 109th Congress (2005–2007), 

McKinney won easily, with 64 percent of the vote against 

H Cynthia Ann McKinney H

former members | 1971–2007 H 615
Republican candidate Catherine Davis.24 McKinney 

regained her assignment on the Armed Services Committee 

and also received a seat on the Budget Committee. 

In late March 2006, McKinney allegedly hit a Capitol 

Hill police officer who stopped her at the entrance to one 

of the House office buildings and asked for identification. 

McKinney claimed she was a victim of racial profiling and, 

according to news accounts, described the police officer 

who stopped her as “racist.” A grand jury investigated the 

incident but declined to indict McKinney.25 Noting that 

McKinney’s base of support in her predominantly AfricanAmerican district remained strong, pundits predicted 

her renomination. Yet in the July 18, 2006, Democratic 

primary, DeKalb County Commissioner Hank Johnson, 

Jr., an African-American lawyer whose simple campaign 

message was “Replace McKinney,” held the incumbent to 

just 47 percent of the vote (Johnson received 45 percent). 

Short of the majority required by state law, McKinney 

was forced into a runoff. Johnson prevailed by a 59 to 

41 percent margin, garnering 60 percent of the vote in 

McKinney’s former stronghold in DeKalb County.26

After leaving the House in January 2007, McKinney 

remained active in national politics. In December 2007 she 

announced her candidacy as the Green Party nominee for 

the 2008 presidential election.27

For further reading

“McKinney, Cynthia Ann,” Biographical Directory of the 

U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000523. 

Notes

1 Kim Masters, “The Woman in the Hot Seat: Rep. Cynthia 

McKinney Just Lost Her District and She Wants It Back,” 5 July 

1995, Washington Post: C1.

2 Masters, “The Woman in the Hot Seat.”

3 Steve Harvey, “The 11th District: Charm Mixed with Savvy—

McKinney Has Made Meteoric Rise in Politics,” 13 August 1992, 

Atlanta Journal and Constitution: B4.

4 Current Biography, 1996 (New York: H. W. Wilson and Company, 

1996): 353.

5 Current Biography, 1996: 353.

6 Ibid.; Harvey, “The 11th District: Charm Mixed with Savvy—

McKinney Has Made Meteoric Rise in Politics.”

7 Kristine F. Anderson, “Georgia House Race May Be a First,” 14 

September 1992, Christian Science Monitor: 8.

8 Steve Harvey, “Election ’92: 11th District—McKinney Captures 

Victory Over DeLoach,” 12 August 1992, Atlanta Journal and 

Constitution: D4.

9 Anne Janette Johnson, “Cynthia Ann McKinney,” Contemporary 

Black Biography Volume 11 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 

1996) (hereinafter referred to as CBB).

10 Maureen Dowd, “Growing Sorority in Congress Edges Into the Ol’ 

Boys’ Club,” 5 March 1993, New York Times: A1.

11 Marcia Gelbart, “Lifelong Civil Rights Advocate Watches as 

Supreme Court Decides Her Fate,” 8 March 1995, The Hill.

H Cynthia Ann McKinney H

616 H Black Americans in Congress 
12 Gelbart, “Lifelong Civil Rights Advocate Watches as Supreme 

Court Decides Her Fate.”

13 “War Debate Lights Spark in State House; Aiding the Enemy 

or Laying Out the Facts?” 19 January 1991, Atlanta Journal and 

Constitution: A19; Rhonda Cook and Brian O’Shea, “A Day 

of Anguish, Prayers; In House, Legislator Lashes Out at Bush; 

Others Walk Out on Her,” 18 January 1991, Atlanta Journal and 

Constitution: D1; Johnson, “Cynthia Ann McKinney,” CBB.

14 Katharine Q. Seelye, “Ethics Panel Needs Weeks on Gingrich,” 24 

February 1995, New York Times: A14. 

15 “Cynthia McKinney,” 6 November 2004, National Journal: 

3363–3364; Politics in America, 2002 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 2001): 266.

16 Current Biography, 1996: 353; Masters, “The Woman in the Hot 

Seat.”

17 Masters, “The Woman in the Hot Seat”; Rhonda Cook, 

“Redistricting: The Ruling’s Impact,” 1 July 1995, Atlanta Journal 

and Constitution: 12A. For an analysis of the larger phenomenon 

of court challenges to racially gerrymandered congressional 

districts in the 1990s, see David T. Canon, Race, Redistricting, 

and Representation: The Unintended Consequences of Black Majority 

Districts (Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press, 1999).

18 Politics in America, 2002: 267; “Election Statistics, 1920 to 

Present,” available at http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/

electionInfo/index.html. 

19 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Almanac of 

American Politics, 2002 (Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 2001): 444; Politics in America, 2004 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 2003): 277.

20 Betsy Rothstein, “Rep. McKinney: An In-Your-Face Crusader,” 16 

January 1992, The Hill: 1.

21 Juliet Eilperin, “Democrat Implies Sept. 11 Administration Plot,” 

12 April 2002, Washington Post: A16; Politics in America, 2004: 266.

22 Betsy Rothstein, “McKinney Feels Vindicated by Democratic 

Criticism of Bush,” 22 May 2002, The Hill: 22.

23 Darryl Fears, “Rhetoric Haunts McKinney in Ga.: Sept. 11 

Remarks Lift Little-Known Rival’s Campaign,” 19 August 

2002, Washington Post: A2; Lauren W. Whittington and Chris 

Cillizza, “On the Move: McKinney Challenger Levels Financial 

Playing Field,” 12 August 2002, Roll Call: 8. See also Thomas B. 

Edsall, “Questions Raised About Donors to Georgia Lawmaker’s 

Campaign,” 13 August 2002, Washington Post: A2; Thomas B. 

Edsall, “Impact of McKinney Loss Worries Some Democrats: 

Tension Between Blacks, Jews a Concern,” 22 August 2002, 

Washington Post: A4.

24 “Georgia 4th District: Cynthia McKinney,” 6 November 2004, 

National Journal: 3363–3364.

25 Eric M. Weiss and Petula Dvorak, “Indictment Rejected for 

Rep. McKinney; Police Union to Study Legal Options,” 17 June 

2006, Washington Post: B4; Karen Juanita Carrillo, “Grand Jury: 

No Indictment Against McKinney,” 22 June 2006, New York 

Amsterdam News: 4; “Grand Jury Convened to Consider Charges 

Against McKinney,” 6 April 2006, The Frontrunner; Josephine 

Hearn and Jonathan E. Kaplan, “McKinney in Fracas With 

Officer,” 30 March 2006, The Hill: 1.

26 Rachel Kapochunas, “McKinney Likely to Survive Primary Despite 

Police Incident,” 11 July 2006, Congressional Quarterly Today; 

Jonathan Weisman, “House Incumbents McKinney, Schwarz Fall 

in Primaries,” 9 August 2006, Washington Post: A5.

27 Jeffry Scott, “McKinney to Run for President?” 17 October 

2007, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 3B; Jeffry Scott, “McKinney 

Takes Her Longest Shot,” 24 December 2007, Atlanta JournalConstitution: 1A.

H Cynthia Ann McKinney H

former members | 1971–2007 H 617
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Congressional Pictorial Directory, 103rd Congress

Carrie P. Meek won election to the House in 1992 

as one of the first African-American lawmakers 

to represent Florida in Congress since Reconstruction. 

Focusing on the economic and immigration issues of 

her district, Meek secured a coveted seat on the House 

Appropriations Committee as a freshman Representative. 

While able to work with Republicans on health issues, 

she sharply criticized welfare reform efforts during the 

mid-1990s.

Carrie Pittman, the daughter of Willie and Carrie 

Pittman, was born on April 29, 1926, in Tallahassee, 

Florida. Her grandmother was born and raised in Georgia 

as a slave. Carrie Pittman’s parents began their married 

life as sharecroppers, though her father later became a 

caretaker and her mother a laundress and the owner of 

a boarding house. Nicknamed “Tot” by her siblings, 

Carrie was the youngest of 12 children, and a tomboy. 

The Pittman family lived near the old Florida capitol in a 

neighborhood called the “Bottom.” Carrie Pittman starred 

in track and field while earning a bachelor of science 

degree in biology and physical education at Florida A&M 

University in Tallahassee in 1946. She enrolled at the 

University of Michigan graduate school because blacks 

were banned from Florida graduate schools, though the 

state government would pay her out-of-state tuition “if 

we agreed to get out of Dodge,” she later recalled.1

 She 

graduated in 1948 with an M.S. degree in public health 

and physical education. Afterward, Pittman taught at 

Bethune Cookman, a historically black college in Daytona 

Beach, where she coached basketball and taught biological 

sciences and physical education. She later taught at Florida 

A&M. In 1961, as a divorcée with two young children, 

Carrie Pittman Meek moved to Miami-Dade Community 

College, where she spent the next three decades teaching 

and administrating, eventually serving as a special assistant 

to the vice president of the college. In 1978, she won 

election to the Florida state house of representatives, 

defeating 12 candidates. She served from 1979 to 1983, 

chairing the education appropriations subcommittee. From 

1983 to 1993, Meek served in the Florida senate. She was 

the first African-American woman elected to that body and 

the first black to serve there since Reconstruction. Earning 

a reputation as a particularly effective legislator, she passed 

a minority business enterprise law and other legislation to 

promote literacy and reduce the dropout rate.2

In 1992, when incumbent Representative Bill Lehman 

(a 10-term Democrat) decided to retire, Meek captured 

the Democratic nomination for his newly reapportioned 

district, which ran through the northern Miami suburbs in 

Dade County. She ran unopposed in the general election. 

Since Meek essentially clinched the seat by winning the 

September primary in the heavily Democratic district, 

she later claimed to be the first African American elected 

to represent Florida in Congress since Reconstruction. 

Democrats Corrine Brown and Alcee L. Hastings, who 

prevailed over opponents in the November general election 

in two other Florida districts, were sworn in with Meek on 

January 3, 1993.

Meek entered Congress at age 66 and immediately 

launched into an ambitious agenda that contrasted with 

her soft southern accent and grandmotherly demeanor. 

“Don’t let her fool you. She is not a little old lady from 

the ghetto,” noted a Florida political observer at the 

time of her election. “Carrie Meek is a player.”3

 Meek 

lobbied intensively—and successfully—for a seat on 

the Appropriations Committee, an assignment that was 

virtually unheard of for a freshman legislator. When the 

Republicans took control of the House in 1994, Meek 

was bumped off Appropriations and reassigned to the 

Budget Committee and the Government Reform and 

Carrie P. Meek

1926–

United States Representative H 1993–20 03

Democrat from Florida

������������������������������������������������������������������������

618 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Carrie P. Meek H

Oversight Committee. In 1996, she returned to the 

Appropriations Committee and eventually served on two 

of its subcommittees: Treasury, Postal Service, and General 

Government and VA, HUD, and Independent Agencies.

Meek focused on the needs of her district, which 

included issues arising from unemployment, immigration, 

and a natural disaster. Shortly after arriving on Capitol 

Hill, Meek sought federal aid for her district, which 

encompassed Homestead, Florida, and bore the brunt of 

the devastation caused by Hurricane Andrew in August 

1992. However, Meek used her Appropriations seat 

principally to try to expand federal programs to create jobs 

and provide initiatives for African Americans to open their 

own businesses. Meek also authored a measure to modify 

Social Security laws to cover household workers. On behalf 

of her district’s Haitian community, Meek sought to extend 

U.S. residence for immigrants and refugees who were 

excluded from two 1997 bills addressing Central American 

immigration. In 1999, she strove to obtain more-accurate 

census counts in her district by providing a measure 

whereby welfare recipients who were familiar with their 

poor, traditionally undercounted neighborhoods could 

work temporarily for the U.S. Census Bureau without 

losing their benefits.4

On national issues Meek developed a cooperative and 

congenial style that was punctuated by partisan episodes. 

For instance, she worked with Republicans to change the 

warnings on cigarette labels to reflect the fact that more 

African Americans than whites suffer from several smokingrelated diseases. She also worked with Republican Anne 

Northup of Kentucky to increase funding for research on 

lupus and to provide federal grants for college students 

with poor reading skills due to learning disabilities.5

 But 

in early 1995 Meek denounced Speaker Newt Gingrich on 

the House Floor amid the controversy surrounding a $4.5 

million advance for his book. “If anything, now, how much 

the Speaker earns has grown much more dependent upon 

how hard his publishing house hawks his book,” Meek 

said. “Which leads me to the question of exactly who does 

this Speaker really work for. . . . Is it the American people 

or his New York publishing house?” Republicans shouted 

Meek down and struck her remarks from the Congressional 

Record.

6

 She also charged that by gutting the welfare 

system, Republicans were balancing the budget on the 

backs of America’s working poor, elderly, and infirm. “The 

spending cuts that the House approved today fall mainly 

on the weakest members of our society, on the sick and on 

the elderly,” she said in June 1997. “Tomorrow we will be 

voting on tax cuts that mainly favor the wealthy. . . . Today, 

the House voted to rob from the poor so that tomorrow 

the majority can help the rich.”7

In 2002 Meek declined to seek certain re-election to a 

sixth term, citing her age. “I wish I could say I was tired 

of Congress,” Meek told the Miami Herald. “I love it still. 

But at age 76, understandably, some of my abilities have 

diminished. I don’t have the same vigor that I had at age 

65. I have the fire, but I don’t have the physical ability. 

So it’s time.”8

 Her youngest child, 35-year-old Kendrick 

Meek, who served in the Florida senate, announced his 

candidacy for the Democratic nomination in her district. 

When Kendrick Meek won the November 2002 general 

election, he became just the second child to directly 

succeed his mother in Congress.9

 His election also marked 

just the sixth time a Congresswoman’s child was chosen to 

serve in Congress.

620 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Meek, Carrie P.,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000628.

Manuscript Collection

Florida A&M University, Carrie Meek–James N. Eaton 

Southeastern Regional Black Archives Research Center 

and Museum (Tallahassee, FL). Papers: ca. 1993–2003, 

250 cubic feet. The Carrie Meek Collection documents 

Meek’s career in the U.S. House of Representatives and 

includes campaign materials, legislation, constituent 

correspondence, press releases, programs, calendars, 

photographs, videotapes, and a museum collection. The 

collection will not open for research until processing 

is completed; however, part of the museum collection 

is open.

Notes

1 William Booth, “The Strong Will of Carrie Meek; A Florida 

Sharecropper’s Daughter Takes Her Stand on Capitol Hill,” 16 

December 1992, Washington Post: C1.

2 “Carrie P. Meek,” Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 1992; 

Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1993): 310–311.

3 Booth, “The Strong Will of Carrie Meek.”

4 Almanac of American Politics, 2000 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1999): 409.

5 Politics in America, 2002 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2001): 240.

6 Karen Foerstel, Biographical Dictionary of Women in Congress 

(Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, 1999): 184.

7 Politics in America, 2002: 240–241.

8 Andrea Robinson and Tyler Bridges, “Carrie Meek to Retire: She 

Made History From Tallahassee to Capitol Hill,” 7 July 2002, 

Miami Herald: A1.

9 James Kee of West Virginia, who succeeded his mother, Maude 

Kee, in 1965, was the first.

H Carrie P. Meek H

former members | 1971–2007 H 621
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of U.S. Senate Historical Office 

The first African-American woman Senator, Carol 

Moseley-Braun was also only the second black 

Senator since the Reconstruction Era.1

 “I cannot escape 

the fact that I come to the Senate as a symbol of hope and 

change,” Moseley-Braun said shortly after being sworn 

in to office in 1993. “Nor would I want to, because my 

presence in and of itself will change the U.S. Senate.”2

During her single term in office, Senator Moseley-Braun 

advocated for civil rights issues and for legislation on 

crime, education, and families.

Carol Moseley was born in Chicago, Illinois, on August 

16, 1947. Her parents, Joseph Moseley, a policeman, and 

her mother, Edna (Davie) Moseley, a medical technician, 

divorced in 1963. The oldest of the four Moseley children 

in a middle-class family, Carol graduated from Parker 

High School in Chicago and earned a B.A. in political 

science from the University of Illinois in 1969.3

 Possessing 

an early interest in politics, she worked on the campaign 

of Harold Washington—an Illinois state representative, a 

U.S. Representative, and the first African-American mayor 

of Chicago—and the campaign of Illinois State Senator 

Richard Newhouse.4

 In 1972, Carol Moseley graduated 

from the University of Chicago School of Law. In Chicago 

she met and later married Michael Braun. Moseley-Braun 

hyphenated her maiden and married names. The couple 

raised a son, Matthew, but their marriage ended in divorce 

in 1986. Moseley-Braun worked as a prosecutor in the 

office of the U.S. Attorney in Chicago from 1973 until 

1977. In 1978, she won election to the Illinois state house 

of representatives, a position she held for a decade. After 

an unsuccessful bid for Illinois lieutenant governor in 

1986, she was elected the Cook County, Illinois, recorder 

of deeds in 1988, becoming the first African American to 

hold an executive position in Cook County.5

Not satisfied with her position as recorder of deeds, and 

believing politicians were out of touch with the average 

American, Moseley-Braun contemplated running for 

Congress. Her resolve to seek national office strengthened 

after she witnessed Senators’ questioning of Anita Hill 

during the Clarence Thomas’s controversial confirmation 

hearing for the Supreme Court in 1991. “The Senate 

absolutely needed a healthy dose of democracy,” she 

observed. “It wasn’t enough to have millionaire white 

males over the age of 50 representing all the people in 

the country.”6 Officially entering the race for the Senate 

in November 1991, Moseley-Braun focused in her 

Democratic primary campaign on two-term incumbent 

Alan Dixon’s support of Clarence Thomas’s appointment 

and the need for diversity in the Senate. Despite 

organizational problems and paltry fundraising, MoseleyBraun stunned the experts, defeating her two opponents, 

Dixon and Alfred Hofeld, an affluent Chicago lawyer, 

and capturing 38 percent of the primary vote.7

 “This 

democracy is alive and well, and ordinary people can have 

a voice with no money,” Moseley-Braun remarked shortly 

afterward.8

 In the general election, she faced Republican 

candidate Richard Williamson, a lawyer and a former 

official in the Ronald W. Reagan and George H. W. Bush 

administrations.9

 Focusing on a message of change and 

diversity encapsulated by slogans such as, “We don’t need 

another arrogant rich guy in the Senate,” Moseley-Braun 

ultimately defeated Williamson with 53 percent of the 

vote.10 In the “Year of the Woman,” Carol Moseley-Braun 

became a national symbol of change, reform, and equality. 

Soon after her election to the Senate, she commented, 

“my job is emphatically not to be a celebrity or a full 

time symbol. Symbols will not create jobs and economic 

growth. They do not do the hard work of solving the 

health care crisis. They will not save the children of our 

cities from drugs and guns and murder.”11

Carol Moseley-Braun

1947–

United States Senator H 1993–1999

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������

622 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
In the Senate, Moseley-Braun became the first woman 

to serve on the powerful Finance Committee when a 

top-ranking Democrat, Tom Daschle of South Dakota, 

gave up his seat to create a spot for her. Also, MoseleyBraun and Senator Dianne Feinstein of California became 

just the second and third women ever to serve on the 

prestigious Senate Judiciary Committee. In addition, 

Moseley-Braun served on the Senate Banking, Housing, 

and Urban Affairs Committee and on the Small Business 

Committee. In 1993, the Illinois Senator made headlines 

when she convinced the Senate Judiciary Committee not 

to renew a design patent for the United Daughters of the 

Confederacy (UDC) because it contained the Confederate 

flag. The patent had been routinely renewed for nearly a 

century, and despite the Judiciary Committee’s disapproval, 

the Senate was poised to pass a resolution sponsored by 

Senator Jesse Helms of North Carolina that included a 

provision to authorize the extension of the federal patent. 

Moseley-Braun threatened to filibuster the legislation “until 

this room freezes over.” She also made an impassioned and 

eloquent plea to her colleagues about the symbolism of the 

Confederate flag, declaring, “It has no place in our modern 

times, place in this body, place in our society.”12 Swayed by 

Moseley-Braun’s argument, the Senate rejected the UDC’s 

application to renew its patent.13

Moseley-Braun sparred with Senator Helms once again 

while managing her first bill on the Senate Floor. As a 

cosponsor of a measure providing federal funding for 

the Martin Luther King, Jr., Holiday Commission—an 

organization established in 1984 to promote national 

recognition of the holiday—Moseley-Braun helped thwart 

a Helms amendment to the legislation that would have 

replaced government money with private donations. The 

Illinois Senator invoked memories of her participation in 

a civil rights march with King in the 1960s in an attempt 

to win support for the legislation.14 The Senate eventually 

approved the bill. Among Moseley-Braun’s other triumphs 

involving social legislation were her prominent roles in 

the passage of the Child Support Orders Act, the 1994 

William J. (Bill) Clinton administration crime bill, the 

Multiethnic Placement Act, and the Improving America’s 

School Act.15

During her term in the Senate, Moseley-Braun 

addressed an array of issues affecting women and African 

Americans. She helped create legislation to assist divorced 

and widowed women, arguing, “Pension laws were never 

written for women . . . no wonder the vast majority of the 

elderly poor are women.”16 She also sponsored the creation 

of the Sacagawea coin to recognize “women of color” 

and a National Park Service initiative to fund historic 

preservation of the Underground Railroad.17 A consistent 

supporter of equal opportunity and affirmative action, 

Moseley-Braun also spoke out against sexual harassment. 

In 1995 she joined five of her women colleagues in 

the Senate to call for public hearings on alleged sexual 

misconduct by Senator Bob Packwood of Oregon.18

Despite the high expectations following MoseleyBraun’s upset victory in 1992, her term in the Senate was 

marked by controversy. Moseley-Braun drew criticism for 

alleged campaign finance violations, which eventually led 

to an investigation by the Federal Election Commission.19

In 1996, the Congressional Black Caucus and human 

rights organizations chastised Moseley-Braun for taking a 

private trip to Nigeria to attend the funeral of General Sani 

Abacha’s son despite objections by the State Department. 

Previously an outspoken critic of human rights violations 

in the African nation, Moseley-Braun reversed her position 

and defended the Nigerian government.20

Closely scrutinized, Moseley-Braun faced a difficult 

challenge in her 1998 bid for re-election to the Senate 

against Republican Peter Fitzgerald, an Illinois state 

senator.21 Capturing just 47 percent of the vote, MoseleyBraun lost to her opponent, who spent nearly $12 

million of his own money.22 President Clinton appointed 

Moseley-Braun the U.S. Ambassador to New Zealand; she 

served from 1999 until 2001. Attempting to revive her 

political career, Moseley-Braun entered the race for the 

Democratic nomination for President in 2000, but she was 

unsuccessful. It was the second time an African-American 

woman had sought the nomination (Shirley Chisholm 

H Carol Moseley-Braun H

624 H Black Americans in Congress 
became the first in 1972). Since 2001, Moseley-Braun has 

taught political science at Morris Brown College (Atlanta) 

and DePaul University (Chicago) and managed a business 

consulting company in Chicago.23 In 2004, MoseleyBraun made another unsuccessful bid for the Democratic 

presidential nomination.

For Further Reading

D’Orio, Wayne. Carol Moseley-Braun (Philadelphia, PA: 

Chelsea House, 2003).

“Moseley Braun, Carol,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M001025.

Moseley-Braun, Carol. Shared Prosperity Through 

Partnership (Washington, DC: Division of International

Studies, Woodrow Wilson International Center for

Scholars, 1996).

Manuscript Collections

Chicago Historical Society (Chicago, IL). Papers: 

1992–1999. Senatorial papers. 

University of Oklahoma (Norman, OK), The Julian 

P. Kanter Commercial Archive, Department of 

Communication. Video reels: 1992, eight video reels. 

Includes nine commercials used during Carol MoseleyBraun’s campaign for the 1992 U.S. senatorial election 

in Illinois, Democratic Party.

Notes

1 Senator Moseley-Braun hyphenated her name during her U.S. 

Senate term but stopped using the hyphen when she left Congress.

2 Current Biography, 1994 (New York: H. W. Wilson and Company, 

1994): 378.

3 Steve Johnson, “Braun’s Win Turns Around a Once-Stagnant 

Career,” 4 November 1992, Chicago Tribune: 19.

4 Johnson, “Braun’s Win Turns Around a Once-Stagnant Career”; 

Sarah Nordgren, “Carol Moseley-Braun: The Unique Candidate,” 

26 July 1992, Associated Press.

5 Current Biography, 1994: 379.

6 Ibid., 380.

7 Nordgren, “Carol Moseley-Braun: The Unique Candidate”; Frank 

James, “Welcome to the Club: Carol Moseley-Braun’s Campaign 

for the Senate Was Her Own Excellent Adventure,” 6 December 

1992, Chicago Tribune: 14.

8 Lynn Sweet, “A Braun Upset; First Defeat for Dixon in 42 Years,” 

18 March 1992, Chicago Sun-Times: 1.

9 Edward Walsh, “Carol Braun’s Rocky Road to History; After 

the Upset, It’s Still a Long Way to the Senate,” 28 April 1992, 

Washington Post: C1.

10 James, “Welcome to the Club”; Sharon Cohen, “Carol MoseleyBraun: From Face in the Crowd to National Spotlight,” 4 

November 1992, Associated Press; Current Biography, 1994: 381.

11 Current Biography, 1994: 378–379; Thomas Hardy, “Clinton 

Elected President: Carol Moseley-Braun Sweeps to Historic Senate 

Victory,” 4 November 1992, Chicago Tribune: 1.

12 Helen Dewar, “Senate Bows to Braun on Symbol of Confederacy,” 

23 July 1993, Washington Post: A1.

13 Dewar, “Senate Bows to Braun on Symbol of Confederacy”; Steve 

Neal, “Moseley-Braun Record Is Inconsistent,” 28 July 1993, 

Chicago Sun-Times: 31.

14 Mitchell Locin, “Moseley-Braun Tangles Anew With Helms,” 25 

May 1994, Chicago Tribune: 4.

15 Current Biography, 1994: 381.

16 Lynn Sweet, “Bill Seeks Fair Pension Shake for Women,” 12 May 

1996, Chicago Sun-Times: 28.

17 Alaina Sue Potrikus, “Braun Has Something to Prove in Her Bid 

for President,” 14 January 2004, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: 12A.

18 Dori Meinert and Toby Eckert, “Moseley-Braun Assailed for 

Backing Clinton,” 27 February 1998, State Journal-Register 

(Springfield, IL): 11.

19 Darryl Fears, “On a Mission in a Political Second Act; Bush’s 

Record Forced Her to Run, Braun Says,” 13 July 2003, Washington 

Post: A6.

20 Fears, “On a Mission in a Political Second Act”; Politics in America, 

1998 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1997): 

441–442.

21 Nordgren, “Carol Moseley-Braun: The Unique Candidate”; 

Jennifer Loven, “Peter Fitzgerald: He’s Heading for Capitol Hill 

But What Will He Do There?” 7 November 1998, Associated 

Press.

22 “Carol Moseley-Braun Says She Won’t Run for Office Again,” 5 

November 1998, Associated Press.

23 “Ambassador Carol Moseley-Braun to Keynote SLDN National 

Dinner,” 7 March 2005, U.S. Newswire.

H Carol Moseley-Braun H

former members | 1971–2007 H 625
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos

Persistent in the face of defeat, Mel Reynolds earned 

a seat in the 103rd Congress (1993–1995) after two 

unsuccessful bids against Illinois incumbent Gus Savage in 

the Democratic primary. Perceived by national party leaders 

as a standout with political promise, Reynolds received a 

seat on the influential Ways and Means Committee—a rare 

honor for a freshman Representative—during his term 

in Congress.1

Mel Reynolds was born on January 8, 1952, in 

Mound Bayou, Mississippi, to Essie Mae and Reverend 

J. J. Reynolds. When he was a child, his family moved 

to Chicago, where he attended public schools, including 

Mather High School.2

 Reynolds received an A.A. from 

Chicago City College in 1972, and two years later 

graduated with a B.A. from the University of Illinois at 

Champaign-Urbana. One of the first African Americans 

from Illinois to be selected as a Rhodes Scholar, Reynolds 

earned an LL.B. from Oxford University in 1979. He 

also completed a master’s degree in public administration 

at Harvard’s Kennedy School of Government in 1986. 

While at Harvard, Reynolds met his future wife, Marisol 

Concepcion. The couple married in 1990 and had three 

children: Corean, Marisol Elizabeth, and Mel, Jr.3

Reynolds initially worked as an assistant professor 

of political science at Roosevelt University in Chicago 

and hosted a local radio talk show. He also launched the 

organization American Scholars Against World Hunger to 

fight famine in Africa. Reynolds earned a reputation as a 

community activist, participating in an antidrug campaign 

on Chicago’s South Side and directing the Community 

Economic Development and Education Foundation, 

which provided scholarships to local students.4

 He gained 

valuable political experience working on the campaigns of 

several unsuccessful Democratic presidential candidates, 

including Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy, Jesse Jackson, and 

Michael Dukakis.5

 In 1987, Reynolds participated 

in Chicago Mayor Harold Washington’s victorious 

re-election campaign.

Without experience in elective office, Reynolds 

challenged the four-term Democratic incumbent Gus 

Savage for the congressional district encompassing portions 

of Chicago’s predominantly African-American South Side. 

As a young (36-year-old), untested candidate, Reynolds 

impressed experts with an efficient campaign that focused 

on his status as an outsider to Chicago’s powerful ward 

system and on his roots in the community. “It’s more of a 

commitment to me than just a job,” he remarked during 

the contest. “Obviously as a black Rhodes Scholar, I can 

work in any corporation in America. I’ve chosen to be in 

my community.”6

 Reynolds placed a distant third in the 

1988 primary, garnering only 14 percent of the vote.7

Despite the loss, he made another run for the district 

seat two years later, citing unhappiness with Savage’s 

representation of the urban district. In a race featuring 

three candidates, Reynolds made a strong showing, with 

43 percent of the vote, partly reflecting voters’ growing 

discontent with the incumbent Savage, who had a history 

of making controversial remarks as well as a volatile 

relationship with the press. 

In 1992, Reynolds orchestrated a third campaign to 

unseat Savage. This time, no other opponents challenged 

the incumbent, ensuring that votes would not be split 

among several candidates. Reynolds also received a boost 

with the 1992 redistricting that shrank Savage’s stronghold 

in urban black neighborhoods, replacing them with white 

suburbs south of Chicago. In the March primary, Reynolds 

easily defeated Savage, 63 to 37 percent.8

 He went on to 

earn 78 percent of the vote in the general election against 

Republican candidate Ron Blackstone and third-party 

opponent Louanner Peters. In his subsequent election, he 

Mel Reynolds

1952–

United States Representative H 1993–1995

Democrat from Illinois

������������������������������������������������������������������������

626 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
bested two challengers in the Democratic primary with 56 

percent of the vote and easily defeated a write-in candidate 

in the general election to earn a second term in the House.9

During his first term in Congress, Reynolds successfully 

lobbied for a seat on the powerful Ways and Means 

Committee. With the backing of longtime committee 

chairman Representative Daniel Rostenkowski of Illinois, 

Reynolds became the first freshman in 14 years to be 

awarded the coveted assignment.10 In 1993, Reynolds 

joined Rostenkowski in voting for the North American 

Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), a measure aimed at 

promoting economic growth between United States, 

Canada, and Mexico. As the only two Democrats 

representing Chicago to back the controversial legislation, 

both Members faced widespread criticism from organized 

labor leaders who believed the free trade program would 

undermine wages and job security for American workers. 

However, the two Representatives reaped the gratitude of 

President William J. (Bill) Clinton—who had pushed for 

NAFTA’s passage in the House and Senate—aiding their 

re-election bids in 1994.11

During his short stint in the House, Reynolds sought to 

improve conditions for his many impoverished constituents 

by backing an earned income tax credit and hosting a series 

of job fairs in Chicago.12 He also worked to curb crime in 

his district, primarily by supporting gun control. In 1993 

the Chicago Representative authored a bill to facilitate 

lawsuits against gun manufacturers for deaths or injuries 

caused by their firearms. He also proposed doubling the 

excise tax on guns, with a portion of the additional revenue 

to be allocated for urban hospitals that cared for uninsured 

patients with gunshot injuries.13 “If we are truly serious 

about addressing the senseless slaughter taking place on our 

streets, we must hold people and corporations responsible 

for their actions, as well as provide relief to those impacted 

so heavily by the destructive cost of gun violence,” 

Reynolds remarked.14

Although Reynolds had an auspicious beginning in the 

House, a series of legal problems jeopardized his career.15

Early in his first term, published reports emerged alleging 

that Reynolds owed thousands of dollars in campaign 

debts and educational loans.16 The Illinois Representative 

explained that he had delayed paying his student loans 

so that he could fund his three election campaigns. “It 

was a question of priorities, a question of me spending 

my life trying to do what I believe was right,” Reynolds 

commented.17 In August 1994 a Cook County grand jury 

indicted Reynolds on counts of criminal sexual assault, 

child pornography, and obstruction of justice. Reynolds 

denied having an affair in 1992 with his accuser—a 

16-year-old campaign worker.18

Initially, Reynolds managed to weather the controversy 

and retain his position in Congress, winning re-election 

to a second term with no significant opposition in the 

general election.19 With the opening of the 104th Congress 

(1995–1997), Republicans gained control of the House for 

the first time in 40 years. As the lowest-ranking Democrat 

on the Ways and Means Committee, Reynolds lost his 

position when Republicans reduced the number of seats 

for the panel; he received a spot on the Economic and 

Educational Opportunities Committee.20 When a Chicago 

jury found Reynolds guilty of multiple criminal counts, 

including having sex with a minor and obstruction of 

justice, calls for his resignation among Democrats reached 

a crescendo.21 Reluctantly, Reynolds resigned from the 

House, effective October 1, 1995.22

Reynolds spent two and a half years in jail for the 

sexual misconduct conviction. Later indicted and 

convicted on federal charges of bank and campaign fraud, 

he remained in prison until President Clinton commuted 

his sentence shortly before leaving office in 2001.23 The 

former Representative attempted to resurrect his political 

career by running against Representative Jesse Jackson, Jr., 

who had succeeded him in office, but his comeback stalled 

when he received only 6 percent of the vote in the 2004 

Democratic primary.24

H Mel Reynolds H

628 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Reynolds, Mel,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=R000178.

Notes

1 Ben Johnson, “Reynolds’ 1st Year Was Big Success,” 22 December 

1993, Chicago Sun-Times: 39.

2 Tom McNamee, “Controversies Shadow His Success,” 23 August 

1995, Chicago Sun-Times: 8; Ellen Warren, “Amid Hopes, Always 

Doubt; Early Supporters Saw Mel Reynolds as Bright, Impressive, 

Determined. Now They Remember Other, More Troubling Traits,” 

7 May 1995, Chicago Tribune: 1C.

3 Lee Bey, “A Life of Ups and Downs and a Career on the Rise,” 

16 July 1995, Chicago Sun-Times: 21; Richard A. Chapman, “A 

Quiet Mystery Surrounds Marisol,” 27 August 1995, Chicago SunTimes: 20; “Ex-Chicago Congressman Mel Reynolds Returns After 

Clinton Commutes Prison Sentence,” February 2001, Jet.

4 Janita Poe and Helaine Olen, “Reynolds Is Injured in the 

Shooting,” 13 March 1992, Chicago Tribune: 1C; Chuck Neubauer 

and Michael Sneed, “Reynolds’ Finances Subject of Inquiry,” 14 

August 1994, Chicago Sun-Times: 12.

5 Luix Overbea, “Jesse Jackson’s Boston ‘Rainbow Coalition,’” 16 

January 1984, Christian Science Monitor: 5; “Melvin J. Reynolds,” 

Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 1996; R. Bruce Dold, 

“Election ’88 Illinois Primary,” 11 March 1988, Chicago Tribune.

6 Dold, “Election ’88 Illinois Primary.”

7 Almanac of American Politics, 1990 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1989): 353–354.

8 “Savage May Face Toughest Primary Yet,” 16 March 1992, United 

Press International; Craig Winneker, “Reynolds Whips Savage on 

Third Try, 63-37%; Shooting May Have Helped,”19 March 1992, 

Roll Call. 

9 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Almanac of 

American Politics, 1996 (Washington, DC: National Journal Inc., 

1995): 424.

10 Johnson, “Reynolds’ 1st Year Was Big Success”; Politics in America, 

1996 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1995): 

399.

11 Basil Talbott, “Reynolds Goes His Own Way,” 18 November 1993, 

Chicago Sun-Times: 13; Politics in America, 1996: 399.

12 Robert A. Davis, “Reynolds Shoots for Term 2; Challengers Say 

He’s an ‘Outsider,’” 9 February 1994, Chicago Sun-Times: 5.

13 Mark N. Hornung, “Gun Bill Is Thoughtful, But Flawed,” 5 

February 1993, Chicago Sun-Times: 39; “Reynolds Set To Go After 

His Second Term,” 6 December 1993, Chicago Tribune: 2N; 

Politics in America, 1996: 399. 

14 Congressional Record, House, 99th Cong., 1st sess. (2 February 

1993): H320.

15 Johnson, “Reynolds’ 1st Year Was Big Success.”

16 Glenn R. Simpson, “Reynolds Sued Eight Times in Seven Years 

Says Report Is a ‘Total Hatchet Job,’” 29 July 1993, Roll Call; Tom 

Strong, “Reynolds Lets Debts Slide in Quest for Office,” 26 July 

1993, Associated Press.

17 Strong, “Reynolds Lets Debts Slide in Quest for Office.”

18 “Congressman Faces Sex Charges; Rep. Mel Reynolds, A Freshman 

Democrat from Chicago’s South Side, Was Indicted by a Grand 

Jury Friday,” 20 August 1994, Orlando Sentinel (Florida): A3; 

Brian Jackson, “Porn Charge Shocks Reynolds,” 22 August 1994, 

Chicago Sun-Times: 1.

19 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; “Lipinski 

Survives a Scare in the 3rd; 11th District Takes Weller over 

Giglio,” 9 November 1994, Chicago Tribune: 1.

20 Almanac of American Politics, 1990: 422.

21 “Accuser Says Congressman Was ‘Godlike’; More Colleagues 

Ask Reynolds to Quit the House,” 25 August 1995, Washington 

Post: A8; Michelle Groenke, “Gephardt Calls for Reynolds’ 

Resignation,” 24 August 1995, United Press International. 

22 Thomas Hardy and Robert Becker, “Reynolds on Live TV: I Quit; 

Congressman Vents Anger at Heard, Media,” 2 September 1995, 

Chicago Tribune: 1N; Dirk Johnson, “Congressman to Resign,” 2 

September 1995, New York Times: 1.

23 John Chase, “Reynolds Runs Again Despite Sex Conviction; He 

Wants Old Congress Seat Back,” 8 October 2003, Chicago Tribune: 

1C. 

24 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2005): 399; “Reynolds Suffers Loss and Lawsuit,” 

17 March 2004, Chicago Tribune: C18.

H Mel Reynolds H

former members | 1971–2007 H 629
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives Photography Office

Hailing from a Southern California political dynasty, 

the well-educated and ambitious Walter R. Tucker 

III began his career in elected office by taking his father’s 

seat as the youngest mayor of Compton, California. He 

subsequently defeated an incumbent’s daughter for a seat 

in the U.S. House of Representatives. Tucker arrived in 

Washington in 1993 with the goal of “bring[ing] positive 

attention to Compton,” a city that had recently been 

wracked by destructive race riots.1

Born May 28, 1957, Tucker was one of four children 

in a prominent political family in Compton, California. 

His father, Walter R. Tucker II, worked as a dentist who 

entered politics in 1967, when he won election to the 

Compton school board. He was eventually elected mayor 

of Compton. Tucker’s mother, Martha, was a real estate 

agent and writer. The Tucker family was often referred to as 

the “Kennedys of Compton” because of its political power.

Tucker graduated from Compton High School in 1974. He 

attended Princeton University from 1974 to 1976 before 

returning home to finish his studies at the University of 

Southern California in Los Angeles in 1978. Tucker went 

on to earn his J.D. at Georgetown University Law School 

in Washington, DC, in 1981, after which he returned to 

Compton to practice law. Tucker served as deputy district 

attorney for Los Angeles County from 1984 to 1986. 2

He also earned a certificate of ordination from the School 

of the Word and practiced as an associate minister of the 

Bread of Life Christian Center in Carson. Tucker’s wife, 

Robin, and their two children—Walter IV and Autumn—

lived with the extended Tucker family in a sprawling home 

near Compton city hall. 

Tucker entered elective politics when his father 

died of cancer in his third term as Compton’s mayor 

in 1991. Tucker ran to succeed him and, on April 16, 

1991, became Compton’s youngest mayor. Tucker’s 

mayoral tenure focused on economic improvement 

in the impoverished city. Once a bustling economic 

center—former President George H. W. Bush had a home 

in the city in the late 1940s—Compton experienced an 

economic downturn starting when race riots broke out in 

1965. High poverty, crime, and gang violence had since 

plagued much of the city.3

In 1992, six-term U.S. Representative Mervyn Dymally 

announced his retirement. Dymally represented a swath 

of the low-income neighborhoods in southwest Los 

Angeles, including Compton. African Americans made 

up 34 percent of the district, and Hispanics made up 

another 40 percent of the electorate.4

 Dymally endorsed 

his daughter, Lynn—a member of the Compton school 

board—to succeed him. However, Tucker emerged as the 

strongest of three challengers who vigorously opposed Lynn 

Dymally in the Democratic primary.5

 The campaign took a 

unique twist nearly one month before the primary, in May 

1992, when a Los Angeles jury’s verdict in favor of four 

police officers accused of beating black motorist Rodney 

King sparked a series of race riots in the city. Compton 

suffered an estimated $100 million in damage; nearly 200 

buildings were vandalized, and more than 130 separate 

arson fires were reported.6

 As mayor, Tucker quickly took 

charge in the wake of the riots. Images of Tucker touring 

the city with black activist Reverend Jesse Jackson were 

shown on national television. Tucker won the nomination 

with 39 percent over Dymally’s 37 percent. Carson City 

councilwoman Vera Roble DeWitt took 11 percent, with 

two other candidates splitting 12 percent.7

 Tucker easily 

won the general election in the overwhelmingly liberal 

district, with 86 percent of the vote.8

Assigned to the Public Works and Transportation and 

Small Business committees, Tucker emerged as a laborfriendly Representative with a liberal voting record. He 

Walter R. Tucker III

1957–

United States Representative H 1993–1995

Democrat from California

������������������������������������������������������������������������

630 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
backed tax-exempt funding to construct the Alameda 

Corridor, a truck and rail line that would expedite the 

shipment of cargo from the port of Los Angeles inland 

through the congested city.9

 Despite heavy lobbying, 

Tucker made a rare break from President William J. 

(Bill) Clinton’s administration by voting against the 

North American Free Trade Agreement, fearing the loss 

of low-wage jobs in the Los Angeles area. Tucker focused 

primarily on the task of alleviating unemployment 

and poverty in a district with chronic unemployment 

problems. He was credited with securing $5.9 million 

in extra police funds for southern California.10 He also 

submitted legislation designating the week of February 

14 as a period for people to perform kind deeds without 

expecting anything in return.11

In March 1994, federal prosecutors revealed that Tucker 

and a member of the Compton city council were the 

subjects of a federal bribery investigation. “I unequivocally 

and categorically deny all charges that have been brought 

against me,” Tucker stated upon his indictment. “I have 

complete faith in God, who is my shield and my defense. 

I will not allow this matter to impede on the important 

work that I am doing in the U.S. Congress.”12 On August 

22, he officially pled “not guilty” to 10 counts in a federal 

district court in Los Angeles. Tucker accused the Federal 

Bureau of Investigation and federal prosecutors of targeting 

him because he was a black official. Upon his arraignment, 

supporters rallied on the courthouse steps, holding signs 

reading “Tucker Is Innocent—Witch Hunt” and “Stop 

Racism 1994. Leave Tucker Alone.”13

In the June 1994 Democratic primary Tucker trounced 

his challenger, local businessman Lew Prulitsky with 84 

percent of the vote. Libertarian Guy Wilson, a merchant 

seaman, was Tucker’s only general election challenger 

for his 1994 re-election campaign. Though Wilson had 

not planned on running a serious campaign, Tucker’s 

indictment after the primary boosted his prospects. Yet 

Wilson’s fringe beliefs—he claimed his first official act, 

if elected, would be to introduce legislation repealing the 

16th Amendment, which established a federal income 

tax—limited his ability to run as a serious candidate.14

Tucker was re-elected with 77 percent of the vote.15

However, at Tucker’s ongoing trial, the prosecution 

presented overwhelming evidence including video and 

audio tapes of Tucker demanding cash in exchange for 

public projects.16 Jurors deliberated for two weeks before 

convicting Tucker on seven counts of extortion and two 

counts of tax evasion on December 8, 1995. Holding 

his Bible outside the Los Angeles courtroom, Tucker 

maintained his innocence: “I believe the jury made 

the wrong decision. I know what happened in these 

circumstances. The government knows what happened. 

It was entrapment.”17 Tucker resigned from Congress on 

December 15, 1995.18 On April 17, 1996, a district court 

judge sentenced him to 27 months in prison—less than 

the recommended 30 to 57 months, partially because 

the citizens of Compton wrote more than 200 letters in 

Tucker’s support.19 Tucker was also responsible for paying 

$30,000 in restitution upon his release.20

Shortly after his resignation, Tucker endorsed his wife, 

Robin, to fill his vacancy in a special election to be held 

on March 26, the same day as the Democratic primary for 

the 105th Congress (1997–1999). A long-shot candidate, 

Robin Tucker was among eight candidates who lost the 

nomination to California State Assemblywoman Juanita 

Millender-McDonald, who prevailed with a 27 percent 

plurality. Robin Tucker was sixth in the crowded field with 

7 percent of the vote.21

Before entering prison, Walter Tucker announced his 

desire to start a prison ministry.22 Upon his release in 

September 1998, Tucker served as the Southern California 

director of the prison fellowship, headed by Charles 

(Chuck) Colson, a former aide to President Richard M. 

Nixon aide and a central figure in the Watergate scandal.

H Walter R. Tucker III H

632 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Tucker, Walter R., III,” Biographical Directory of the 

United States Congress, 1774– Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=T000405.

Notes

1 “New Faces of 1992,” 9 November 1992, Roll Call.

2 Politics in America, 1996 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1995): 174; Tina Griego, “Tucker Rolls With 

Punches,” 28 June 1992, Los Angeles Times: B1.

3 Emily Adams and Shawn Hubler, “A Wealth of Woes,” 26 March 

1994, Los Angeles Times: B1.

4 Almanac of American Politics, 1994 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1993): 178. 

5 Tina Griego, “Elections/U.S. House of Representatives; Stormy 

Race for 37th District Seat Steals the Thunder,” 31 May 1992, Los 

Angeles Times: J1.

6 Tina Griego, “Aftermath of the Riots,” 7 May 1992, Los Angeles 

Times: B1.

7 “California House: CA 37,” 3 June 1992, Hotline.

8 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

9 Joan Pryde, “Case Made on Hill for Use of Munis to Finance 

Project for California Ports,” 9 September 1993, The Bond Buyer. 

Tucker’s Bill (H.R. 3231) died in the Ways and Means Committee.

10 Almanac of American Politics, 1996 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1995): 189.

11 Dina El Boghdady, “Rep. Tucker to Introduce Random Acts of 

Kindness Measure,” 8 February 1994, States News Service.

12 Jim Newton and Emily Adams, “Rep. Tucker Is Indicted; Denies 

Bribery Charges,” 12 August 1994, Los Angeles Times: A1.

13 Committee on Standards of Official Conduct, “Historical 

Summary of Conduct Cases in the House of Representatives,” 

available at http://www.house.gov/ethics/Historical_Chart_

Final_Version.htm (accessed 26 March 2007); Michael Janofsky, 

“California Congressman Indicted by U.S.,” 12 August 1994, 

New York Times: A12; Ron Russell et al., “Rep. Tucker Indicted on 

New Charges,” 2 June 1995, Los Angeles Times: B1; “2 in Congress 

Attend Court on Charges,” 23 August 1994, New York Times: A13.

14 Ted Johnson, “Local Elections/37th Congressional District; Foe’s 

Indictment Spurs Libertarian,” 18 October 1994, Los Angeles 

Times: B3; Almanac of American Politics, 1996: 189–190. 

15 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

16 David Rosenzweig of the Los Angeles Times provided extensive 

coverage of the trial from September 11, 1995, to December 9, 

1995. See, for example, “Trial Opens in Tucker Bribery Case,” 4 

October 1995: B3; “Witness Ends Testimony in Tucker Trial,” 

18 October 1995: B1; “Tucker Demanded Funds, Witness Says,” 

21 October 1995: B3; “Tucker, Agent Talk of Money on Tape,” 

27 October 1995: B1; “Tucker Says Pay Was for Consulting,” 

4 November 1995: B1; “Tucker Denies He Accepted $7,500 in 

Return for Votes,” 9 November 1995: B3. Other coverage includes 

Gabriel Kahn, “Prosecution Rests in Tucker Trial,” 2 November 

1995, Roll Call.

17 Kathryn Wexler et al., “Rep. Tucker Convicted of Extortion; 

Congressman Took Bribes While Mayor of Compton, Calif.,” 9 

December 1995, Washington Post: A1.

18 Jeff Leeds et al., “Tucker to Resign From Congress to Avoid 

Expulsion,” 13 December 1995, Los Angeles Times: B1.

19 David Rosenzweig, “Tucker Gets Prison Term for Extortion,” 18 

April 1996, Los Angeles Times: B1.

20 David Rosenzweig, “Tucker Loses Bid to Cut Restitution,” 10 May 

2000, Los Angeles Times: B1.

21 Jeff Leeds, “Tucker Backs Wife as House Successor,” 14 December 

1995, Los Angeles Times: B1; Eric Moses, “Tucker’s Wife Vies 

for Husband’s Calif. Seat,” 10 January 1996, The Hill; “Final 

California Election Returns/Congress,” 28 March 1996, Los 

Angeles Times: A16.

22 Jeff Leeds, “Former Rep. Tucker Reports to Prison for 27-Month 

Sentence,” 4 June 1996, Los Angeles Times: B1.

H Walter R. Tucker III H

former members | 1971–2007 H 633
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives Photography Office

Victor Frazer became the second black Delegate to 

represent the U.S. Virgin Islands in the U.S. House 

of Representatives after a surprise victory in 1995. During 

his brief stint in Congress, Frazer promoted the interests 

of his constituents in the American territory, focusing on 

procuring federal money for hurricane relief and attracting 

tourism to the eastern Caribbean.

Born on May 24, 1943, in Charlotte Amalie, St. 

Thomas, Virgin Islands, to Albert Frazer and Amanda 

Blyden, Victor O. Frazer was one of 10 children.1

 After 

graduating from Charlotte Amalie High School in 1960, 

Frazer earned a B.A. from Fisk University, in Nashville, 

Tennessee, in 1964, and a J.D. from Howard University 

Law School in 1971. He worked as a lawyer for the 

District of Columbia Office of the Corporation Counsel 

(later called the Office of the Attorney General of the 

District of Columbia) from 1974 to 1978.2

 Employed as a 

banker for Manufacturers Hanover Trust Company, Frazer 

also worked as a lawyer for the Interstate Commerce 

Commission and the U.S. Patent Office.3

 He later served 

as general counsel for the Virgin Islands Water and 

Power Authority from 1987 to 1989. Frazer acquired 

congressional experience as an administrative assistant 

for California Representative Mervyn Dymally, a special 

assistant for Michigan Representative John Conyers, and 

as counsel for the House Committee on the District of 

Columbia. Before winning a seat in the House, he also 

worked in a private legal practice. A divorcé, Frazer has 

two daughters, Kaaren and Aileene.4

In 1992, Frazer made an unsuccessful run for Congress 

against longtime Virgin Islands Delegate Ron de Lugo; 

Frazer, a Democrat who ran as an Independent, lost by 

more than 5,000 votes.5

 When de Lugo announced his 

retirement in 1994, Frazer orchestrated another attempt 

at elective office, again running as an Independent. In a 

four-way race to represent the Virgin Islands in the U.S. 

House, he placed second to Eileen Petersen, a former 

judge, but qualified for the runoff election on November 

22 since none of the candidates earned the necessary 50 

percent of the vote to secure the nomination.6

 Frazer’s 

campaign benefited from the endorsement of retired 

U.S. Ambassador Terrance Todman, overcoming meager 

campaign funds and the support of the Congressional 

Black Caucus (CBC) for his Democratic opponent, 

Petersen.7

 He upset Petersen in the runoff, winning 

55 percent of the vote and astounding the experts; 

congressional publishers had to scramble to locate a 

photograph of Frazer for inclusion with those of the other 

new Members of the 104th Congress (1995–1997).8

Elated by his success, Frazer proclaimed, “This is the 

people’s victory.”9

During the 104th Congress, Frazer served on the 

Committee on International Relations. As one of the five 

nonvoting Delegates in the House he was allowed to vote 

in committee but not on the House Floor. In the 103rd 

Congress (1993–1995), the rights of the Delegates and 

the Puerto Rican Resident Commissioner were expanded, 

allowing them to vote in the Committee of the Whole. 

However, when the Republicans took control of the House 

in 1995, they rescinded the privilege. “We are not less 

American because we live in the Virgin Islands,” Frazer 

remarked.10 After several weeks of deliberation, Frazer 

opted to caucus with the Democratic Party and became 

one of a handful of non-Democratic Members to join the 

CBC.11

Delegate Frazer used his one term in Congress to 

highlight issues of concern to the residents of the Virgin 

Islands. When Hurricane Marilyn struck the chain of 

islands in 1995—St. Thomas sustained the most damage—

Frazer worked with President William J. (Bill) Clinton to 

Victor O. Frazer

1943–

Delegate H 1995–1997

Independent from the Virgin Islands

������������������������������������������������������������������������

634 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
ensure that the Virgin Islands received federal funds for 

disaster relief.12 In the aftermath of the hurricane, Frazer 

emphasized the need for additional protection against 

natural disasters for his constituents. He urged the federal 

government to require private insurance companies to 

provide coverage for wind damage in their standard 

policies for homeowners in areas affected by hurricanes, 

such as the Caribbean islands.13 In 1996 he sponsored 

legislation directing the Federal Emergency Management 

Agency to study the feasibility of insurance to provide 

protection from windstorms for residents of the 

Virgin Islands.14

Frazer also sought to revive the lagging tourism 

industry of the Virgin Islands—an essential segment of its 

economy. He backed the Travel and Tourism Partnership 

Act of 1995, aimed at promoting international travel and 

tourism to the United States because it “would enhance 

the limited resources of the Virgin Islands.”15 Frazer also 

successfully lobbied for an increase in funds to fight 

the growing problem of international drug trafficking 

in the U.S. territory.16 Shortly after he took office in 

1995, Frazer joined the Representatives from Hawaii, 

the Delegates from Guam and American Samoa, and the 

Resident Commissioner from Puerto Rico, to protest a 

nuclear waste shipment originating in France and traveling 

through the Caribbean to Japan. The radioactive materials, 

which originated from Japanese nuclear plants, were 

shipped to France to extract plutonium and back to Japan 

as part of an energy program sponsored by the Japanese 

government.17 Also concerned with the high poverty rate 

among his constituents, Frazer supported an increase in 

the federal minimum wage, warning that even though “the 

Virgin Islands is considered an American paradise,” many 

of its residents lived below the poverty line.18

In his bid for re-election to the 105th Congress 

(1997–1999), Frazer portrayed himself as a zealous 

spokesperson for the Virgin Islands in the House and 

argued that his status as an Independent allowed him 

the flexibility to cross party lines so as to better represent 

the American territory.19 His opponents criticized his 

legislative style, especially his frequent trips abroad. During 

his one term in office, Frazer took more than 10 trips 

overseas. He defended his travel as a necessary prerequisite 

for his membership on the International Relations 

Committee, assuring voters, “I have never traveled without 

promoting the Virgin Islands.”20 In the campaign, Frazer’s 

two challengers contended that the incumbent should 

have lobbied for exemptions from the 1996 welfare reform 

legislation to protect the many impoverished citizens of 

the Virgin Islands. “No one member of Congress is going 

to hold back the tide of legislation,” Frazer responded. 

“We ought not to embrace welfare as something we 

welcome.”21 None of the candidates in the general election 

earned 50 percent of the vote. Frazer finished ahead of 

Virgin Islands Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Mapp, but 

his other challenger, Donna Christian-Green, a physician, 

bested him 39 to 34 percent.22 In the November 19, 

1996, runoff, Frazer lost to Christian-Green by fewer than 

one thousand votes.23 Shortly after the election, Frazer 

demanded a recount, but he failed to prove his claim of 

vote tampering.24

After his term in Congress, Frazer worked as an 

attorney in Washington, DC.25

H Victor O. Frazer H

636 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Frazer, Victor O.,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000351.

Notes

1 Congressional Record, House, 104th Cong., 2nd sess. (26 March 

1996): E453.

2 Timothy S. Robinson and Laura A. Kiernan, “Widespread Fixing 

of Tickets Found; Study Finds Widespread Ticket Fixing; Law 

Enforcement Insiders Beneficiaries,” 30 July 1978, Washington 

Post: A1; Laura A. Kiernan, “Ticket Canceling Said Common in 

Counsel’s Office; DC Ticket Canceling Called Standard,” 20 April 

1978, Washington Post: A1.

3 Congressional Directory, 104th Congress (Washington, DC: 

Government Printing Office, 1995): 308.

4 “Victor O. Frazer,” Who’s Who Among African Americans; Politics in 

America, 1996 (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

1995): 1476.

5 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

6 “Retired Judge Wins Democratic Race to Succeed 10-Term 

Congressman,” 13 September 1994, Associated Press.

7 “Virgin Islands Elects First Black Delegate in 20 Years,” 19 

December 1994, Jet: 8.

8 Anthony Faiola, “They’re in One Hill of a Hurry; Publishers of 

Congressional Guides Find Power Turnover Is No Grand Old 

Party,” 6 January 1995, Washington Post: B1. 

9 Lynda Lohr, “Independents Break Democrats’ Grip on Delegate’s 

Seat, Government House,” 22 November 1994, Associated Press.

10 “Bill Giving Delegate to Guam and Virgin Islands Goes to Nixon,” 

29 March 1972, Washington Post: A3; Doug Richards, “Reducing 

Voting Privileges Diminishes Meaning of Citizenship: Delegate,” 

5 January 1995, Associated Press; Kay Johnson, “Incumbent 

Delegate Takes the Heat in Televised Debate,” 30 September 1996, 

Associated Press; Betsy Palmer, “Territorial Delegates to the U.S. 

Congress: Current Issues and Historical Background,” 6 July 2006, 

Report RL 32340, Congressional Research Service, Library of 

Congress, Washington, DC.

11 Almanac of American Politics, 1996 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1995): 1483.

12 Rajiv Chandrasekaran, “Hurricane Leaves 3 Dead in U.S. Virgin 

Islands,” 17 September 1995, Washington Post: A8; Mireya 

Navarro, “Damage Heavy as Hurricane Ravages Island of St. 

Thomas,” 17 September 1995, New York Times: 1. 

13 Delegate Frazer made a prepared statement before the House 

Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee 

on Water Resources and Environment on the Natural Disaster 

Protection Partnership Act of 1995. See Federal News Service, 18 

October 1995.

14 Congressional Record, House, 104th Cong., 2nd sess. (19 

September 1996): 23924.

15 Congressional Record, House, 104th Cong., 2nd sess. (5 June 

1996): E1001.

16 “Charlotte Amalie, U.S. Virgin Islands,” 19 January 1996, 

Associated Press.

17 “6 U.S. Lawmakers Protest Japan’s Nuclear Waste Shipment,” 

23 February 1995, Japan Economic Newswire; “Virgin Islands 

Broadcast News Summary,” 19 January 1995, Associated Press; 

Andrew Pollack, “A-Waste Ship, Briefly Barred, Reaches Japan,” 26 

April 1995, New York Times: A13. 

18 Congressional Record, House, 104th Cong., 2nd sess. (23 April 

1996): 8609.

19 “Voters to Choose Territory’s Only Elected Federal Official,” 19 

November 1996, Associated Press.

20 Kay Johnson, “Delegates’ Globetrotting Raises Eyebrows in 

Election Year,” 21 October 1996, Associated Press.

21 Johnson, “Incumbent Delegate Takes the Heat in Televised 

Debate.”

22 “Runoff Necessary in Virgin Islands Race,” 7 November 1996, 

Sun-Sentinel (Fort Lauderdale, FL): 22A; “Voters to Choose 

Territory’s Only Elected Federal Official.”

23 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

24 “Briefs From the Virgin Islands,” 29 November 1996, Associated 

Press; “Incumbent Delegate to Congress Demands Vote Recount, 

Charges Fraud,” 3 December 1996, Associated Press.

25 “Victor O. Frazer,” Who’s Who Among African Americans.

H Victor O. Frazer H

former members | 1971–2007 H 637
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of AP/Wide World Photos

A college football hero, charismatic conservative, and 

gifted public speaker, J. C. Watts had star power 

when he took the oath of office as a Member of the 

first Republican majority in 40 years. One of two black 

Republicans in Congress in his freshman term, Watts cited 

his humble roots in a segregated Oklahoma farm town as 

the source of his belief in self-reliance and disdain of social 

welfare. “I wasn’t raised to be a Republican or Democrat,” 

Watts recalled. “My parents just taught by example. They 

taught me and my brothers and sisters that if you lived 

under their roof, you were going to work.”1

 Watts quickly 

became one of the GOP’s most visible spokesmen, quickly 

rising to the position of Republican Conference Chair—

the fourth-highest-ranking Republican in the House. His 

uneasy relationship with party leaders and a desire to spend 

more time with his family cut short Watts’s Capitol Hill 

career in its prime.

Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr., was born in the farming 

community of Eufaula, Oklahoma, on November 18, 

1957. His mother, Helen Watts, a homemaker, raised six 

children: Melvin, Lawrence, Mildred, Gwen, J. C., and 

Darlene. Watts’s father, Julius Caesar (Buddy) Watts, was 

a police officer, a businessman, and a minister. The elder 

Watts also served on the Eufaula city council, and along 

with his brother, Wade, was active in the Democratic 

Party and the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People (NAACP). Wade Watts headed the 

Oklahoma branch of the NAACP for 16 years.2

 J. C. Watts 

was one of the first black children to attend a previously 

all-white elementary school in Eufaula. At Eufaula High 

School, Watts was the first African-American quarterback 

for the school’s football team; some of Watts’s teammates 

from the mostly segregated local community protested at 

first.3

 While in high school, Watts fathered two daughters 

with two different women. One child, Tia, was adopted 

by Watt’s Uncle Wade.4

 Watts married his other daughter’s 

mother, Frankie Jones, whom he first met at his seventh 

birthday party. The couple raised five children: LaKesha, 

Jerrell, Jennifer, Julia, and Trey.5

After graduating in 1976, Watts played football and 

studied journalism at the University of Oklahoma in 

Norman. At first, he was a seventh-string quarterback. 

Discouraged with his minimal playing time, he left 

school multiple times. In each instance, his father 

persuaded him to return.6

 In 1979, Watts became the 

starting quarterback and led the Sooners to Orange Bowl 

victories in 1980 and 1981. He was named the bowl’s 

most valuable player both years, and he was inducted 

into the Orange Bowl Hall of Fame in 1992. Watts’s 

athletic prowess provided him with motivational speaking 

opportunities while he was in college.7

Following Watts’s graduation in 1981, the New York 

Jets, a National Football League (NFL) team, offered 

him a place on their roster, but it was not in his favorite 

position as quarterback. Watts turned down the NFL offer 

and played from 1981 to 1986 in the Canadian Football 

League (CFL).8

 Watts then returned to Oklahoma to 

become a youth minister at Sunnyvale Baptist Church, in 

Del City, Oklahoma. Ordained in 1993, he supplemented 

his ministerial income by opening his own highway 

construction company. His discontent with government 

regulation of his business led him to contemplate running 

for office.

Despite the Watts family’s long-standing public support 

for the Democratic Party—Buddy Watts once quipped that 

“a black man voting for the Republicans makes about as 

much sense as a chicken voting for Colonel Sanders”— 

J. C. Watts subscribed to the Republican message of social 

and fiscal conservatism.9

 He first considered changing his 

party allegiance when he covered a 1980 Oklahoma senate 

Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr.

1957–

United States Representative H 1995–20 03

Republican from Oklahoma

������������������������������������������������������������������������

638 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
H Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. H

campaign as a journalism student and found that his views 

were more in line with those of the Republican candidate, 

Don Nickles.10 He officially changed his party affiliation in 

1989. “I switched my registration not out of convenience 

but out of conviction,” Watts later recalled. “I knew what 

I was doing would not be popular. It created some strain, 

even in relationships I had built over the years. But I knew 

in my heart that this was the right road, the honest road 

for me to take and remain true to my own principles.”11 In 

1990, Watts ran for a seat on the Oklahoma corporation 

commission, an organization that regulated the state’s 

telephone, oil, and gas industries. With Oklahoma party 

loyalty tending to split along racial lines, officials in the 

state Republican Party eagerly embraced Watts.12 He won 

a seat on the commission, serving as chairman from 1993 

until his departure in 1995.13

In 1994, seven-term Representative Dave McCurdy 

of Oklahoma announced that he was running for the 

U.S. Senate and local Republican businessmen urged 

Watts to run for McCurdy’s seat. McCurdy represented a 

conservative southwest Oklahoma district, with several oil 

reserves and three major military installations. Agriculture 

was also a major industry and the district included the 

University of Oklahoma in Norman.14 Watts entered the 

primary as a “textbook conservative”: He favored the death 

penalty, school prayer, a balanced budget amendment 

and welfare reform. He also opposed abortion and cuts 

in defense spending.15

Watts faced a tough August primary challenge against 

state representative Ed Apple, winning 49 percent to 

Apple’s 48 percent; however, state law required a runoff 

primary if no candidate won more than 50 percent of the 

vote.16 In preparation for the September contest, Watts 

brought in high-powered Republicans to campaign for 

him, including New York Representative Jack Kemp, a 

football star, and National Rifle Association spokesman 

and actor Charlton Heston. Watts also secured the 

endorsement of the House Republican leadership. Apple 

lambasted Watts’s courting of out-of-state luminaries. 

Comparing his local campaign to Watts’s star-power 

support, he declared, “It’s grassroots vs. glitz.”17 The runoff 

remained close, but Watts prevailed with 52 percent of 

the vote.

Watts continued to host high-profile Republicans 

for his general election campaign, including former 

President George H. W. Bush, Kansas Senator Bob Dole, 

and future Republican Speaker (then Republican Whip) 

Newt Gingrich of Georgia.18 He and his Democratic 

opponent, local attorney David Perryman, a self-described 

conservative, soon found themselves in a close, heated 

campaign. In an attempt to appeal to the district’s 

conservative farming voters, Perryman launched an 

advertisement depicting Watts with his Afro hairstyle 

in high school juxtaposed against images of himself as 

a teenager posing with his prize-winning pigs.19 The 

advertisement’s racial overtones attracted national attention 

and Perryman offered to change the photograph of 

Watts in the advertisement.20 Watts’s firm conservative 

platform and his popularity among Oklahoma Sooners 

fans prevailed. He defeated Perryman and Independent 

candidate Bill Tiffee, with 52 percent of the vote.21

Watts’s victory established several milestones. He was 

the first black Representative elected from Oklahoma 

and the first Republican to win the district in 72 years.22

He was sworn in to the 104th Congress (1995–1997) 

as part of the GOP national tide, putting the party 

in power in the House for the first time in 40 years. 

Watts increased his victories in his next three re-election 

campaigns, winning by as much as 65 percent in 2000.23

He received assignments on the Banking and Financial 

Services Committee and National Security Committee 

(later renamed Armed Services). The latter panel was 

crucial to the oversight of the three military installations 

in his district. Watts left the Banking and Financial 

Services Committee for a spot on the Transportation 

and Infrastructure Committee in the 105th Congress 

(1997–1999). In the 106th Congress (1999–2001), he 

turned down a position on the prestigious Appropriations 

Committee when a seat opened midterm; he did not want 

to leave the Transportation Committee. 

640 H Black Americans in Congress 
The GOP hoped that Watts, as one of two black 

Republicans in the House (Representative Gary Franks 

was also re-elected to a Connecticut district), would 

court African-American voters, who overwhelmingly 

voted Democratic in national elections. Watts focused 

on promoting the GOP through black organizations. 

He often attended NAACP meetings and met with 

representatives from historically black colleges.24 “Most 

black people don’t think alike. Most black people just vote 

alike,” he argued. “Why is it that so many people in the 

black community [who] would agree with Republican 

issues, why don’t they vote Republican? I think that’s the 

question we have to ask.”25 However, Watts stressed that 

he represented his district, rather than strictly his race. 

“My father raised me to be a man, not a black man,” Watts 

declared.26 “I am black, but that’s not all of who I am,” he 

later added.27 Accordingly, Watts declined an invitation to 

join the traditionally liberal Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC). “I think the CBC and I want the same things for 

the black community,” he mused. “The difference is how 

we get there.”28

Representative Watts supported a fiscally conservative 

agenda, voting 95 percent of the time for legislative 

initiatives from the Contract With America, a 1994 

Republican campaign promise to limit government 

spending and corruption.29 Watts’s legislative emphasis 

was based on his belief that public assistance programs 

encouraged dependency in poor minorities.30 In 1995, 

Watts teamed with Representative Jim Talent of Missouri 

to create the Renewal Community Project, legislation 

that provided tax breaks and the deregulation of small 

businesses, school vouchers allowing parents to choose 

their children’s schools, and funding for faith-based 

organizations assisting low-income communities. In 

2000 Watts reintroduced the legislation as the American 

Community Renewal Act, adding tax cuts for low-income 

communities as well as opportunities for home ownership. 

The new legislation also eliminated the capital gains tax 

and provided a “wage credit” for businesses that hired 

qualified low-income employees. Watts’s goal was to help 

low-income families save money. “Under the current 

tax system, we penalize savings and investment and 

productivity,” he argued. “Those are three things we should 

be rewarding.”31 The legislation gained bipartisan support. 

President William J. (Bill) Clinton’s administration 

supported the measure and Speaker Dennis Hastert 

dubbed the bill among the GOP’s top three priorities for 

the second session of the 106th Congress (1999–2001).32

The legislation was signed into law in December 2000.

Though Watts embraced his role as a conservative, he 

attempted to remain outside the debate on affirmative 

action.33 “Affirmative action isn’t the problem,” Watts 

argued. “Lousy education for black kids is the problem. 

Until you fix these schools don’t talk to me about equal 

opportunity.”34 Watts’s personal experience with continued 

racism led him to believe the United States was not ready 

to abolish preferences for minorities, and Watts opposed 

a bill submitted by fellow black Republican Gary Franks 

of Connecticut and Florida Republican Charles Canady 

in the 104th Congress to eliminate affirmative action 

practices in the federal government. As the bill gained 

momentum in the Republican House, Watts appealed 

directly to Speaker Newt Gingrich to block it. “Look, 

in principle I don’t agree with affirmative action,” he 

told Gingrich, “but in practice, we still don’t have a level 

playing field.” An emotional Watts admitted to the Speaker 

that he was “thinking with my heart here, not my head.” 

Sympathetic to Watts’s position, the Speaker arranged for 

the bill to die in the Judiciary Committee.35

Representative Watts’s ability to draw national attention 

earned him a reputation as the GOP’s “Great Black 

Hope.”36 In 1996, the Republican Party tapped him to 

deliver the GOP response to President Clinton’s State of 

the Union Address.37 He was the youngest Representative 

and the first African American to be accorded this 

honor.38 Watts’s response was generally well received. 

He spoke about reducing the role of government in 

American lives. “Government can’t ease all pain. In fact, 

Government sometimes rubs the wound raw and makes 

healing harder,” he argued. “I’m afraid that when the 

H Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 641
[Clinton] Administration and others talk about race it 

sounds to me like the same old, same old—a bunch of 

sermons and sloganizing that defends the old assumption 

that Government can heal the racial divide.” Watts 

concluded that the GOP’s “mission is to return power 

to your home, to where mothers and fathers can exercise 

it according to their beliefs.”39 Watts was rumored as a 

possible vice presidential candidate in 1996, serving as 

co-chairman for GOP presidential candidate Bob Dole.40

Former Representative Kemp eventually received the vice 

presidential nomination.

In 1998, Watts capitalized on a GOP Conference roiled 

by a poor showing in the midterm elections to challenge 

incumbent Conference Chairman John Boehner of Ohio. 

Though Republicans had maintained their majority, exit 

polls showed high African-American voter turnout in the 

South, the GOP’s stronghold, and only 11 percent of 

these Black Americans voted Republican—down from 18 

percent in 1996.41 Though he claimed he was not running 

as a black candidate, Watts emphasized the GOP’s need 

for broader appeal to minorities. In a letter to House 

Republicans, he wrote, “It is time to let the American 

people know that the Republican Party is the party of all 

Americans. We are the party of inclusiveness. Our ideas are 

good for everyone.”42 Supporters emphasized Watts’s strong 

oratorical skills, noting that the GOP lacked a charismatic 

spokesperson. On Watts’s 41st birthday, November 18, 

1998, he prevailed against Boehner, 121 to 93, in the 

race for chairman of the House Republican Conference, 

the GOP’s fourth highest position in the House.43 Watts 

was the first African American to join the Republican 

leadership and was subsequently re-elected to the position 

for the 107th Congress (2001–2003).

However, Watts’s tenure in the leadership proved 

difficult. Despite his elevated post, Watts often felt 

alienated by GOP decision makers. 44 He also found 

himself at odds with powerful Republican Whip Tom 

DeLay of Texas. Watts disagreed with DeLay’s often 

forceful leadership. As a result, the GOP Whip’s handson approach to gathering votes and maintaining party 

unity often overstepped Watts’s role as the hub for 

communication within the GOP Conference. In July 1999, 

Watts threatened to resign from his leadership position to 

protest DeLay’s alleged encroachment on his duties, but 

he stopped short of doing so. When Majority Leader Dick 

Armey of Texas announced his retirement in 2002, Watts 

considered running to replace him and he quietly solicited 

the aid of congressional allies; however, DeLay openly 

nailed down enough votes to secure the position before 

Watts made an open bid for Majority Leader.45

Watts also felt ignored by Republican President 

George W. Bush’s administration. In 2002, the Pentagon 

considered eliminating funding for an $11 billion weapons 

system that would be partially assembled in Watts’s district 

in Elgin, Oklahoma. Watts later claimed that President 

Bush refused to return his phone calls after targeting the 

project for spending cuts. When Secretary of Defense 

Donald Rumsfeld announced the program’s demise on 

May 8, Watts was only given two hours’ notice from 

the Pentagon. An early and avid supporter of the Bush 

administration, Watts was furious. When the President 

addressed the Republican Conference on Capitol Hill the 

next week, Watts was conspicuously absent.46

In 2002, Watts declined to run for re-election to 

the 108th Congress (2003–2005), citing a desire to 

spend more time with his family, who had remained in 

Oklahoma during his tenure in Washington. “This business 

is hard on families,” he admitted. “I don’t want to do this 

for the rest of my life. There are other things I want to do 

and can do. You have to be careful about getting on this 

treadmill.”47 Prominent Representatives of both parties 

implored him to stay, recognizing that his unique position 

brought diversity to the House. “I hate to see him go,” 

noted CBC Member James Clyburn of South Carolina, 

a prominent Democrat. “J. C. is someone who really has 

been quietly and forcefully doing a lot of good.”48 Civil 

rights leader Rosa Parks, who, in 1955, famously refused 

to give up her seat on a Montgomery, Alabama, bus, wrote 

to Watts. “If you can,” Parks implored him, “please remain 

as a pioneer on the Republicans’ side until others come to 

H Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. H

642 H Black Americans in Congress 
assist you. I am glad that I stayed in my seat.”49 Though 

appreciative of the support, Watts noted that “the strength 

in this business is not hanging on. The real strength is to 

let go.”50 Watts’s political ally, Republican Tom Cole, won 

his congressional seat in the 2002 election. Though Watts 

left Congress, he did not abandon the political spotlight. 

He formed a consulting business and currently serves as a 

nationally recognized political analyst.

For Further Reading

Watts, J. C., with Chriss Winston, What Color 

Is Conservative?: My Life in Politics (New York: 

HarperCollins, 2002).

“Watts, Julius Caesar, Jr. (J. C.),” Biographical Directory of 

the United States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.

congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=W000210.

Notes

1 Marc Sandalow, “The Republicans’ Great Black Hope,” 9 February 

1997, San Francisco Chronicle: 9.

2 “J.C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999, Issue 2 (Detroit, MI: Gale 

Research Inc., 1999).

3 “J.C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999.

4 “Watts, J.C., Jr.,” Current Biography, 1999 (New York: H. W. 

Wilson Company, 1999): 591.

5 J. C. Watts, Jr., What Color Is Conservative? (New York: 

HarperCollins, 2002): 39.

6 “J. C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999.

7 Ibid.

8 Watts started with the Ottawa Rough Riders before joining the 

Toronto Argonauts in 1985. In his rookie season, he led the Rough 

Riders to victory in the Grey Cup (the Canadian Football League 

championship). See “Watts, J. C., Jr.,” Current Biography, 1999: 

591; “J.C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999.

9 Quoted in Jake Tapper, “Fade to White,” 5 January 2003, 

Washington Post Magazine: W6.

10 “Watts, J. C., Jr.,” Current Biography, 1999: 591.

11 Watts, What Color is Conservative?: 152.

12 “J. C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999. Though convinced of Watts’s 

party loyalty, Republican officials worried that African-American 

voters who came to the polls to vote for Watts would split their 

tickets and cast their ballots for other Democratic candidates. 

Watts called this a “sick, pathetic theory.” See Tapper, “Fade to 

White.”

13 Watts’s service on the commission was clouded by accusations 

that he accepted large campaign contributions from the oil and 

gas businesses he was responsible for regulating. See Jo Thomas, 

“Rising Congressional Leader Experienced in Self-Defense,” 16 

November 1998, New York Times: A1.

14 Politics in America, 2002 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2001): 825.

15 “J.C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999.

16 Mick Hinton, “Watts Defeats Apple in 4th,” 21 September 1994, 

Daily Oklahoman (Oklahoma City, OK).

17 Mick Hinton, “Watts Gains National Help in House Race,” 11 

September 1994, Daily Oklahoman.

H Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 643
36 “J.C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999.

37 Watts had previously rebutted President Clinton’s post-election 

radio address in 1994. See “Watts, J.C., Jr.,” Current Biography, 

1999: 591.

38 Watts’s response, delivered before a live audience in the Library of 

Congress, was quickly overshadowed by the announcement of a 

verdict in the civil trial of former NFL player O.J. Simpson. Some 

major networks divided their screen between Simpson and Watts, 

quickly returning full coverage to Simpson’s trial in California at 

the end of the Representative’s statement. Katharine Q. Seelye, 

“G.O.P., After Fumbling in ’96, Turns to Orator for Response,” 5 

February 1997, New York Times: A1.

39 Seelye, “G.O.P., After Fumbling in ’96, Turns to Orator for 

Response”; “J.C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999.

40 Tapper, “Fade to White.”

41 Edward Walsh, “For Watts, A Bid to Broaden His Party’s Appeal; 

House GOP’s Only Black Member Knows Spotlight, Aspires to 

Join Leadership,” 17 November 1998, Washington Post: A11.

42 Walsh, “For Watts, A Bid to Broaden His Party’s Appeal.”

43 See Katharine Q. Seelye, “Mix of Old and New Is to Lead House 

G.O.P.,” 19 November 1998, New York Times: A1.

44 See, for example, Robert Novak, “House GOP Leaders Unhappy 

With J.C.,” 19 December 1999, Daily Oklahoman; Art Pine, “Rep. 

Watts Says He Will Seek Reelection,” 1 February 2000, Los Angeles 

Times: A10; “J.C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999.

45 Tapper, “Fade to White.”

46 Ibid.

47 Pine, “Rep. Watts Says He Will Seek Reelection.”

48 Tapper, “Fade to White.”

49 Ibid.

50 Chris Casteel, “Watts Says ‘It’s Time to Let Go,’” 2 July 2002, 

Daily Oklahoman.

18 “J.C. Watts,” Newsmakers 1999.

19 Dan Balz et al., “‘Race Card’ in Oklahoma,” 20 October 1994, 

Washington Post: A24.

20 “Perryman Says He’ll Swap Watts’ Afro Photo in Ad,” 21 October 

1994, Daily Oklahoman; Thomas, “Rising Congressional Leader 

Experienced in Self-Defense”: A1; Patrick Rogers et al., “Calling 

His Play; Former Gridiron Star J.C. Watts Is Now Scoring Points 

for the GOP,” 24 March 1997, People Magazine: 141; Mick 

Hinton, “On the Campaign Trail Watts, Perryman Stump in 4th 

District,” 31 October 1994, Daily Oklahoman.

21 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

22 “Julius Caesar Watts,” Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 

1996.

23 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

24 Chris Casteel, “Watts Striving to Reach Out to Black Voters,” 15 

July 2000, Daily Oklahoman.

25 Janelle Carter, “Watts to Bush: Get Back On Offense,” 13 

September 2000, Associated Press.

26 “Watts, J.C., Jr.,” Current Biography, 1999: 591.

27 Susan Crabtree, “A Different Kind of Speakership for Watts,” 24 

October 2002, Roll Call.

28 Quoted in “J.C. Watts, Jr.,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 

14 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 1997).

29 Sandalow, “The Republicans’ Great Black Hope”: 9.

30 “Watts, J.C., Jr.,” Current Biography, 1999: 591.

31 Baldauf, “Oklahoman Brings Conservative Gospel to Broader 

Audience.”

32 Jim Myers, “Watts’ Plan Gets Push; Re-election Question Yet 

Unanswered,” 7 January 2000, Tulsa World (Tulsa, OK).

33 Steven A. Holmes, “2 Black G.O.P. Lawmakers in House Differ 

Slightly on Affirmative Action,” 6 August 1995, New York Times: 

22.

34 Quoted in Tapper, “Fade to White.”

35 Ibid.

H Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. H

644 H Black Americans in Congress
Watts declined an invitation 

to join the traditionally 

liberal Congressional 

Black Caucus (CBC). 

“I think the CBC and I want 

the same things for the 

black community,” he mused. 

“The difference is how 

we get there.”

former members | 1971–2007 H 645
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

A fast-rising star in California politics, Juanita 

Millender-McDonald won her seat in the U.S. 

House of Representatives just six years after capturing 

her first elective office. From her position on the 

House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, 

Representative Millender-McDonald shaped federal 

transportation legislation that directly affected her 

district and numerous federal programs. In 2007, she 

made history by becoming the first African-American 

woman to chair a standing congressional panel, the House 

Administration Committee.1

Juanita Millender was born on September 7, 1938, in 

Birmingham, Alabama, one of five children raised by Shelly 

Millender and Everlina (Dortch) Millender. After Everlina 

Millender’s untimely death, Shelly Millender, a minister, 

moved his family to California. On July 26, 1955, Juanita 

Millender married James McDonald, Jr. By the time she 

was 26, the couple had five children. A homemaker for 

15 years, Juanita Millender-McDonald returned to 

college, earning a B.S. in business administration from 

the University of Redlands in Redlands, California, in 

1981. Millender-McDonald earned a master’s degree 

in educational administration from California State 

University in Los Angeles in 1988. After teaching math 

and English in a public high school, she worked as an 

administrator in the Los Angeles Unified School District—

eventually directing its gender equality programs.2

Millender-McDonald first entered elective politics at 

the local level in Los Angeles and served as a delegate to 

the Democratic National Conventions in 1984, 1988, and 

1992. In 1982, she worked on behalf of the unsuccessful 

gubernatorial campaign of longtime Los Angeles Mayor 

Tom Bradley. Thereafter she worked on several local 

campaigns before entering a 1990 election for a seat on 

the Carson City Council. She displayed adroitness at 

building networks for political support during that race. 

The first time she asked for the support of then-U.S. 

Representative Mervyn Dymally, the Representative 

declined, telling Millender-McDonald, “Local politics is 

too divisive; I don’t want to get involved.” But she was 

persistent. Dymally said, “She came back, this time with 

a delegation of friends and supporters. I said, ‘What do 

you want?’ She said, ‘I need your endorsement.’ I said, 

‘You have it.’”3

 Millender-McDonald became the first 

African-American woman elected to the council and in 

1991 served as Carson City mayor pro tempore. In 1992, 

following the reapportionment of California state assembly 

districts, Millender-McDonald defeated two incumbent 

assemblymen whose Los Angeles-area districts had been 

merged. The contest broke down along racial lines, and 

Millender-McDonald prevailed when the incumbents split 

the white vote; she went on to serve in the California state 

assembly until 1996.4

 Within her first year in the assembly, 

she chaired two panels: the committee on insurance and 

the committee on revenue and taxation. From those 

posts, she sponsored a major transportation bill to create 

the Alameda Corridor, a national transportation artery 

designed to improve railroad and highway access to the 

San Pedro Bay Ports, which constitute one of the nation’s 

largest shipping complexes.5

In December 1995, Millender-McDonald announced 

her candidacy to fill a U.S. House seat left vacant by the 

resignation of convicted Representative Walter R. Tucker 

III. Tucker’s congressional district—which encompassed 

suburbs south of Los Angeles, including Carson and 

Compton—was heavily Democratic and working-class. 

African Americans and Hispanic Americans composed 

roughly 75 percent of the population. No GOP challenger 

entered the March 26, 1996, special election contest. 

Millender-McDonald and nine others, including fellow 

Juanita Millender-McDonald

1938–2007

United States Representative H 1996–20 07

Democrat from California

������������������������������������������������������������������������

646 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
state assemblyman Willard H. Murray and Robin 

Tucker, the wife of Walter Tucker, vied for election 

to the remainder of the term in the 104th Congress 

(1995–1997). With support from former longtime speaker 

of the state assembly and San Francisco Mayor Willie 

Brown, Millender-McDonald won with 27 percent of the 

vote; her nearest competitor, Murray, received 20 percent. 

In the simultaneous Democratic primary for the full term 

in the 105th Congress (1997–1999), Millender-McDonald 

prevailed over Murray by an even narrower margin: 24 

to 21 percent.6

 In the fall 1996 campaign for the 105th 

Congress, she defeated Republican Michael E. Voetee 

with 85 percent of the vote. Representative MillenderMcDonald won her subsequent five re-election campaigns 

with majorities of at least 75 percent. In 2006, she defeated 

Republican Herb Peters with 82 percent of the vote.7

After her swearing-in on April 16, 1996, MillenderMcDonald served on the Transportation and Infrastructure 

Committee and the Small Business Committee. She kept 

both assignments throughout her congressional tenure. As a 

freshman, she was appointed Ranking Member of the Small 

Business Subcommittee on Workforce, Empowerment, 

and Government Programs. In the 106th Congress 

(1999–2001), Democratic leaders named her a regional 

party whip, and in the 107th Congress (2001–2003), she 

co-chaired the Democratic Caucus for Women’s Issues. 

Then, in the 108th Congress (2003–2005), she drew 

assignments on the Committee on House Administration 

and the Joint Committee on Printing, and she was 

appointed Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on Tax, 

Finance, and Exports. In the 109th Congress (2005–2007), 

Democratic Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi named 

Millender-McDonald Ranking Member of the Committee 

on House Administration.8

 After the Democrats regained 

control of the House in the 2006 elections, she was named 

chairwoman of the House Administration Committee, 

Millender-McDonald also held the Vice-Chair post on the 

Joint Committee on the Library, whose membership roster 

was drawn from the House Administration Committee and 

the Senate Rules and Administration Committee. 

Many of Representative Millender-McDonald’s 

legislative initiatives came from her seat on the 

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. In 2001, 

Millender-McDonald authored the Terrorism Threat 

to Public Transportation Assessment Act—a measure 

to evaluate vulnerabilities in the nation’s mass transit 

systems. She also was a lead sponsor of the Nuclear Waste 

Responsible Component and Protection Act, which 

sought to ensure environmentally sound and safe means of 

transporting and storing chemical waste outside of inner 

cities. Her place on the Transportation and Infrastructure 

Committee also allowed her to attend to transportation 

projects directly affecting her district. During her first 

months in the House, Millender-McDonald secured $400 

million in federal loan guarantees necessary to complete 

her state legislative work on the Alameda Corridor, a 20- 

mile railroad artery that connects the national rail system 

to the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach. In the 108th 

Congress, Millender-McDonald helped draft the six-year 

Transportation Equity Act—which brought in more than 

$87 million in federal money for highway projects in 

and around her district. Her addition to that bill, the 

“Projects of National and Regional Significance,” allocated 

more than $6.6 billion toward major transportation 

projects nationally.9

Much of Representative Millender-McDonald’s House 

career was dedicated to the interests she held since her 

days in the California assembly: the Los Angeles public 

school system, job training, childcare, education, women’s 

issues, and combating drug abuse. Millender-McDonald 

also worked on promoting awareness of health issues 

like cervical cancer, AIDS, asthma, and bone marrow 

registration. Although she worked away from the limelight, 

Millender-McDonald occasionally orchestrated dramatic 

political moments. In 1996, she brought then-Central 

Intelligence Agency (CIA) director John Deutsch to a 

Watts town hall meeting, where Deutsch fielded questions 

about allegations that the CIA funneled proceeds from the 

sale of crack cocaine to purchase arms for the Contras in 

Nicaragua. Three years later, seeking to boost the stalled 

H Juanita Millender-McDonald H

648 H Black Americans in Congress 
ambassadorial appointment to New Zealand of former 

U.S. Senator Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, MillenderMcDonald staged a sit-in at the office of Senator Jesse 

Helms of North Carolina, who was blocking 

the appointment.10

In mid-April 2007, Millender-McDonald was granted 

a six-week leave of absence from her House duties to 

receive treatment for cancer. She passed away at her home 

in Compton on April 22. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi 

of California remembered Millender-McDonald as “a 

trailblazer, always advocating for the full participation of all 

Americans in the success and prosperity of our country.”11

For further reading

“Millender-McDonald, Juanita,” Biographical Directory of 

the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M000714. 

Manuscript Collection

California State University, (Dominguez Hills, CA). 

Archives and Special Collections. Papers: The Juanita 

Millender-McDonald Collection has not yet been 

processed.

Notes

1 Stephanie Tubbs Jones of Ohio was simultaneously appointed 

chairwoman of the House Committee on Standards of Official 

Conduct.

2 Politics in America, 2004 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2003): 138.

3 Quoted in Nicole Gaouette, “Juanita Millender-McDonald, 68; 

Southland Congresswoman,” 23 April 2007, Los Angeles Times: B9.

4 Politics in America, 1998 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1997): 194.

5 Politics in America, 2004: 139.

6 Politics in America, 1998: 193–194.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

8 Almanac of American Politics, 2006 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 2005): 270.

9 Politics in America, 2004: 138; “Official Biography of Juanita 

Millender-McDonald,” http://www.house.gov/millendermcdonald/bio.htm (accessed 22 November 2004); James 

Bornemeier, “Broader Horizons; Seat in Congress Opens New 

Doors for Juanita Millender-McDonald,” 21 April 1996, Los 

Angeles Times: A3.

10 Gaouette, “Juanita Millender-McDonald, 68; Southland 

Congresswoman.”

11 Ibid; Kelly McCormack and Sam Youngman, “MillenderMcDonald Remembered for ‘Dignity,’ ‘Determination,’” 24 April 

2007, The Hill: 13.

H Juanita Millender-McDonald H

former members | 1971–2007 H 649
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives

Overcoming poverty and racism, Julia Carson served 

nearly two decades in the Indiana legislature and 

in an Indianapolis administrative office before winning 

election to the U.S. House in 1996. Representative Carson, 

the first African American and woman to represent the 

Indiana state capital, focused on issues that affected 

working-class Americans, many with which she was 

personally familiar. “The only thing some people learn 

from oppression and hatred is revenge. Others learn 

compassion and empathy,” said former Representative 

Andy Jacobs, Carson’s political mentor. “From the 

physical pain of material poverty and the mindlessly cruel 

persecution of nitwit racism, Julia Carson made her choice 

of hard work, compassion, and a pleasing sense of humor.”1

Julia May Porter was born in Louisville, Kentucky, on 

July 8, 1938. Her single mother, Velma Porter, moved 

to Indianapolis, Indiana, to find work as a domestic. 

Julia Porter grew up poor, attended the local public 

schools, and worked part-time, waiting tables, delivering 

newspapers, and harvesting crops, among other jobs. In 

1955, she graduated from Crispus Attucks High School 

in Indianapolis. Shortly thereafter she was married, and 

had two children, Sam and Tonya. She divorced while they 

were still young. She later studied at Martin University 

in Indianapolis and Indiana University in Bloomington. 

In 1965 she was working as a secretary at a local chapter 

of United Auto Workers when she met newly elected 

Representative Andy Jacobs. Jacobs was looking for a 

caseworker and district aide, and he hired Carson. She 

worked for Jacobs for seven years until 1972, when he 

encouraged her to run for office in the Indiana legislature. 

He recalled sitting in Carson’s living room for an hour, 

trying to convince her to run. “Come on, kid,” Jacobs 

encouraged. “This is the time to step up.”2

 From 1973 to 

1977, Carson served in the state house of representatives, 

serving as the assistant minority caucus chair, before 

winning election to the Indiana senate. She served in the 

upper chamber until 1990, sitting on its finance committee 

and eventually holding the minority whip position. 

Throughout her service in the state legislature, Carson was 

employed as the human resources director at an electric 

company—a job she held from 1973 to 1996. In 1991, 

Carson won election as a Center Township trustee. In 

that post, she administered welfare payments in central 

Indianapolis, earning a reputation for defending the poor 

that would last throughout her career.3

 Carson successfully 

erased the agency’s crippling debt—a $20-million deficit—

leaving $7 million in the bank prior to winning a seat in 

Congress. “Julia Carson,” observed the county’s auditor, 

a Republican, “wrestled that monster to the ground.”4

Representative Jacobs retired in 1996 after 15 terms 

representing a district encompassing greater Indianapolis. 

Traditionally moderate, the district was 68 percent white 

and 30 percent black. With Jacobs’s endorsement, Carson 

topped the former district party chair, Ann DeLaney, 

in the Democratic primary with a margin of 49 to 31 

percent. Political observers maintained that Carson was at 

a disadvantage in the general election against Republican 

Virginia Blankenbaker, insisting she could not win in 

the conservative-leaning, majority-white district. Both 

candidates were more liberal than their respective party’s 

general positions, supporting abortion rights and opposing 

the death penalty. Carson sought to deflect attention from 

racial issues, insisting, “I am not your African American 

candidate. I am the Democratic candidate for Congress. 

I don’t allow my opponents to stereotype me and confine 

me to a certain segment of the population.”5

 She prevailed, 

with 53 percent of the vote to Blankenbaker’s 45 percent. 

Carson underwent heart surgery shortly after her 

election and was sworn in to office from her hospital 

Julia May Carson

1938–2007

United States Representative H 1997–20 07

Democrat from Indiana

������������������������������������������������������������������������

650 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
bed on January 9, 1997. She was unable to travel to 

Washington, DC, until early March. Her health problems 

led to speculation she would not return for re-election in 

1998, but Carson quickly quelled the rumors.6

 Carson 

won her four re-election campaigns by slightly larger 

margins in her competitive district. Reapportionment in 

2001 added more than 100,000 constituents, many of 

them Republican. Nevertheless, Carson was re-elected in 

2004 and 2006, both times with 54 percent of the vote.7

When Representative Carson claimed her seat in the 

105th Congress (1997–1999), she received posts on the 

Banking and Financial Services Committee (later renamed 

Financial Services) and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. 

In the 108th Congress (2003–2005) she left Veterans’ 

Affairs to accept an assignment on the Transportation and 

Infrastructure Committee. 

Representative Carson had varied legislative interests, 

ranging from national issues affecting children and 

working Americans to local programs of particular interest 

to her Indianapolis constituency. From her seat on the 

Financial Services Committee, Carson authored legislation 

to reform the debt consolidation industry. Boosting the 

“financial literacy” of average Americans was one of her 

chief goals. To that end, she helped create the Indiana 

Mortgage and Foreclosure Hotline to counsel homeowners 

and potential buyers about the mortgage process. Carson 

noted that Indiana residents had one of the country’s 

highest rates of homeownership in 2001, only to see a 

record number of foreclosures in 2004. “Homeownership,” 

Carson declared, “is the cornerstone of a healthy thriving 

city.”8

 Carson was a regular sponsor of children’s safety, 

health, and nutrition legislation. In 1999, she submitted 

comprehensive gun safety legislation, including a provision 

requiring safety locks on handguns. “Kids and guns are 

a deadly combination,” she noted in 1999. “It makes no 

sense that it is easier for kids to operate a handgun than it 

is for kids to open an aspirin lid.”9

Representative Carson’s work on the Transportation 

and Infrastructure Committee also allowed her to support 

local Indiana businesses. In 2003, Carson helped win $11 

million in federal funding for transportation initiatives 

in Indianapolis, including highway expansion, street 

improvements, and augmented public transportation.10 In 

2005, she sponsored the largest Amtrak re-authorization 

bill in history—the National Defense Rail Act. The $40 

billion bill provided for the development of new rail 

lines including high-speed rail corridors, and Carson 

supported the bill partially because Amtrak’s largest 

repair facility was located near Indianapolis. In 2000, 

Carson was one of the last House Members to support the 

extension of permanent normal trade relations with China. 

Intensely lobbied by President William J. (Bill) Clinton’s 

administration to support the bill, Carson hesitated 

because of China’s questionable human rights record and 

organized labor’s opposition to the measure. “I feel like 

I have been put in a Maytag washer and put on the spin 

cycle,” she noted before the vote. She reluctantly voted in 

favor of the legislation, believing that increased foreign 

trade would benefit Indianapolis businesses.

One of Carson’s crowning legislative achievements was 

the bill she authored and introduced during the 106th 

Congress (1999–2001) to award the Congressional Gold 

Medal to civil rights activist Rosa Parks. It was while 

reading Parks’s autobiography, Quiet Strength, in early 

1998, that Carson decided the civil rights activist—whose 

refusal to move to the back of a segregated bus in 1955 

galvanized the modern civil rights movement—should be 

awarded the highest civilian honor bestowed by Congress.11

“I had a lingering kind of adoration in my own soul for 

Rosa,” Carson noted. “I always believed in my heart that 

it was Rosa who paved the way for me to go to Congress 

and to other places. I felt like it then became my purpose 

to give her some honor, to repay her.”12 The Representative 

introduced a resolution to honor Parks with the medal 

on February 4, 1999—Parks’s 86th birthday. Knowing 

the civil rights icon was watching House proceedings on 

her television, Carson ignored a House rule requiring 

Members to address only the Speaker pro tempore. “Mrs. 

Parks, I am grateful for your steadfastness,” she declared. 

Initially, the bill attracted only 40 cosponsors—primarily 

H Julia May Carson H

652 H Black Americans in Congress 
Members of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). 

Carson began a media campaign on nationally syndicated 

radio and television programs, eventually netting 329 

cosponsors. On April 20, the House passed the bill, 424 

to 1. The Senate unanimously followed suit.13 “This is 

one of the best days of my life,” declared a tearful Carson. 

“Not for anything I have done to honor her, but the honor 

Rosa Parks brought to this whole nation.”14 On June 15, 

1999, visitors packed the Capitol Rotunda to attend the 

Congressional Gold Medal ceremony. Carson was among 

the dignitaries who spoke at the ceremony, along with 

President Clinton, who presented the medal to Parks. 

Carson later helped her colleagues pass legislation allowing 

Parks to lie in honor in the Capitol Rotunda when she 

died in October 2005. Parks was the first woman to be 

given this honor.15

In late 2007, Carson’s health once again became a 

concern. The Representative expressed frustration with 

her regular battle with asthma and diabetes. After missing 

an important vote due to health problems, Carson noted, 

“I understand how an athlete feels when they sit one out 

to recover from an injury. The minutes move slowly, and 

you want nothing more than to be in for the big game.”16

In October, Carson took a two-week leave of absence to 

recover from a leg infection that had forced her to traverse 

the Capitol in a wheelchair.17 One month later, Carson 

announced that she had been diagnosed with terminal 

lung cancer during a follow-up examination of her leg. 

Carson succumbed to the disease on December 15 in 

her Indianapolis home. She lay in state in the statehouse 

in Indianapolis on December 21. “Let’s remember 

Congresswoman Carson by doing the people’s work 

and fighting for those who don’t have a voice,” said her 

grandson, André Carson. “When you talk about Julia 

Carson, you’re talking about an American icon. The 

people’s champ,” he concluded.18

For Further Reading

“Carson, Julia May,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000191.

Notes

1 “Official Biography of Julia Carson,” http://www.juliacarson.

house.gov/display2.cfm?id=778&type=news (accessed 14 June 

2002).

2 Rob Schneider, “Carson Remembered: Congresswoman Gave 

Voice to Disadvantaged,” 16 December 2007, Indianapolis Star.

3 “The Quotable Julia Carson,” 15 December 2007, Indianapolis 

Star.

4 “Julia Carson,” Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 23 (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 1999).

5 Almanac of American Politics, 1998 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 1997): 552. 

6 See “The Quotable Julia Carson.”

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/election.html.

8 “Hotline May Help Homeowners,” 2 March 2004, Noblesville 

Ledger (Noblesville, IN).

9 “Rep. Carson to Introduce Gun Safety Bill,” 29 January 1999, 

Associated Press.

10 Anthony Shoettle, “Carson Steps to Plate for Local Transportation 

Projects,” 24 March 2003, Indianapolis Star.

11 George Stuteville, “Carson’s 1st Bill Pays Tribute to Civil Rights 

Pioneer,” 19 April 1999, Indianapolis Star. See also Office of the 

Clerk, “Congressional Gold Medal Recipients,” available at http://

clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_history/goldMedal.html.

12 Rob Schneider, “She Never Forgot,” 16 December 2007, 

Indianapolis Star (quotation from April 1999).

13 Carson’s House bill (H.R. 573) was eventually supplanted by a 

Senate version (S. 531), sponsored by Senator Spencer Abraham 

of Michigan. The Senate bill became law.

14 “The Quotable Julia Carson.” 

15 “Individuals Who Have Lain in State or in Honor,” Office of 

the Clerk, available at http://clerk.house.gov/art_history/house_

history/lieinstate.html.

16 “The Quotable Julia Carson.” 

17 Maureen Groppe, “Carson to Miss Two More Weeks,” 3 October 

2007, Indianapolis Star.

18 Bill Ruthhart, “Farewell, Friend,” 22 December 2007, Indianapolis 

Star; Ken Kusner, “Mourners Bid Adieu to ‘People’s Champ,’” 22 

December 2007, Fort Wayne Journal Gazette.

H Julia May Carson H

former members | 1971–2007 H 653
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Congressional Pictorial Directory, 109th Congress

Elected in 1996, Harold Ford, Jr., established a 

reputation as a moderate who took an interest in the 

social and economic issues that affected his constituents. 

Ford’s mother recalled that, as a four-year-old attending his 

father’s swearing-in as a freshman House Member, Harold, 

Jr., raised his hand and declared, “This is what I want to 

be when I grow up.”1

 In contrast to an earlier generation 

of African Americans in Congress (including Harold 

Ford, Sr.) who maintained the legislative legacies of the 

civil rights movement, Ford, Jr., developed economic and 

technological solutions for a broader constituency.

The eldest son of Harold Eugene and Dorothy Bowles 

Ford, Harold Eugene Ford, Jr., was born on May 11, 1970, 

in Memphis, Tennessee. His father was a member of the 

Tennessee state house of representatives and was elected 

in 1974 to the U.S. House, where he served 22 years. His 

mother was a longtime employee of the U.S. Department 

of Agriculture.2

 The Ford family moved to Washington, 

DC, in the late 1970s, and Harold attended the elite St. 

Albans School for Boys. Ford acknowledged that his studies 

at the school shaped his political philosophy: “For me, 

and for the other kids who were not white, it was a very 

heterogeneous place . . . I had to get along with everybody. 

That helped me later on when I was in situations where you 

had to say, ‘Hey, let’s all get together and try to figure this 

out.’”3

 In 1992, he graduated with a B.A. in history from 

the University of Pennsylvania and worked on William 

J. (Bill) Clinton’s presidential campaign. Four years later, 

Ford earned a J.D. from the University of Michigan School 

of Law. He served briefly as a staff aide for the U.S. Senate 

Committee on the Budget and as a special assistant at the 

U.S. Department of Commerce. In addition, Ford worked 

on his father’s congressional campaigns in 1992 and 1994. 

After his father announced his retirement from the 

House in 1996, Ford ran to succeed him in the district 

encompassing the bulk of Memphis, Tennessee. The 

predominantly African-American district (60 percent) 

was one of the most liberal in the state and included more 

blacks than any southern city outside Texas.4

 Ford’s father 

served as his chief campaign strategist. Using the Ford 

name to full effect among Memphis-area constituents, 

Harold Ford, Jr., distributed campaign buttons and T-shirts 

that read “Jr.” Asked what being a Representative required, 

Ford said a “willingness to work hard, a willingness to listen 

and having the courage to stand up for what you believe 

in and having the courage to stand up for those that you 

represent.” Ford ran on three platforms: increased federal 

funding for education and job training, opposition to 

Medicare price hikes, and crime prevention.5

 Contending 

against Steve Cohen, a state senator, and Rufus Jones, a 

state representative, Ford won the primary with 61 percent 

of the vote. His opponent in the general election was Rod 

DeBerry, a local politician who ran against Harold Ford, 

Sr., for the seat in 1992 and 1994.6

 The candidates both 

advocated economic empowerment, but proposed different 

strategies for achieving it. Ford stressed educational 

opportunities in a city with a high dropout rate, whereas 

DeBerry promoted a broader package that emphasized 

education, job opportunities, and economic development 

for the Memphis area.7

 Both candidates staked their 

positions on familiar party policies: Ford advocated 

government solutions to local problems, whereas DeBerry 

promoted local solutions and less government involvement. 

In the general election, Ford prevailed with 61 percent of 

the vote, making him the first African American to succeed 

a parent in Congress. In his subsequent four re-election 

campaigns, Ford won with 79 percent or more. He ran 

unopposed in 2000.8

Ford clarified from the beginning that his legislative 

style would be distinct from his father’s, which was liberal 

Harold Ford, Jr. 

1970–

United States Representative H 1997–20 07

Democrat from Tennessee

������������������������������������������������������������������������

654 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
and minority-focused. “I represent this entire district . . . 

I respect my dad and . . . admire him a great deal,” Ford 

noted. “But I don’t think he would respect me if I didn’t 

have the fortitude to disagree with him if I felt he was 

wrong.” Ford remained dedicated to directing government 

resources toward the poor, but he emphasized expanding 

educational opportunities. Ford also reached out to some 

of his father’s political rivals, such as Willie Herenton, 

the mayor of Memphis, with whom he had a good 

relationship. Ford stressed pragmatism. Memphis City 

Hall, he observed, is “the principal contracting agency with 

the federal government. I have a responsibility to secure 

what funds and resources I can for my state and city.”9

Ford’s determination and leadership skills laid the 

groundwork for his quick rise in the Democratic Party. 

Shortly after he entered Congress in January 1997, Ford 

was chosen by his Democratic colleagues as freshman class 

president, providing him added influence as a spokesperson 

for the newly elected Members and as an intermediary 

with House leaders. The progression of Ford’s committee 

assignments also reflected his resolve to play a significant 

role in the House. He initially received assignments on 

Education and the Workforce and Government Reform 

and Oversight. He left the latter committee in the 107th 

Congress (2001–2003) to accept a seat on the Financial 

Services Committee (his father had served on the 

predecessor to that committee). In the following Congress, 

Ford won a seat on the influential Budget Committee. 

Pegged as one of the Democratic Party’s bright young 

stars, Ford received widespread media attention when he 

delivered the keynote address at the 2000 Democratic 

National Convention.

Unlike the previous generation of black lawmakers, 

who advocated federal solutions to counteract racial 

and economic discrimination, Ford proposed legislation 

aimed at enhancing the assets of working-class Americans 

through savings programs and tax incentives.10 Although 

Ford supported Democratic causes such as environmental 

protection and affirmative action, he also backed measures 

that were opposed by many in his party, like private school 

vouchers and federal funding for faith-based charities. 

Additionally, Ford supported Republican initiatives such 

as a federal amendment banning gay marriage; the USA 

PATRIOT Act, which was designed to deter terrorism by 

strengthening law enforcement; and the authorization to 

use military force in Iraq.11 Among the bills sponsored by 

Ford were measures that would reform campaign finance, 

make college affordable, and hold the gun industry 

accountable to local authorities for gun violence.12

Though his approach was moderate overall, Ford 

maintained a comparatively liberal voting record relative 

to those of the other Representatives from his state.13

He stressed his pragmatism and his ability to work with 

Republican colleagues across the aisle.14 As a member of 

the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), he maintained 

his independence by choosing his battles. On issues 

such as affirmative action and tax cuts, the Tennessee 

Representative voted with his colleagues. However, Ford’s 

support for a balanced budget, prayer in schools, and 

the establishment of private accounts to bolster Social 

Security contrasted with the position of many of his CBC 

colleagues. Ford contended that the “old labels have lost a 

lot of their meaning . . . ideology makes it easier to resist 

good ideas.” 15

Ford established himself as a centrist in the House. He 

joined several organizations, such as the New Democrat 

and Blue Dog coalitions, that included a range of 

social moderates and fiscal conservatives. In 2002 Ford 

orchestrated what he described as an “underdog campaign” 

against Nancy Pelosi of California for the position of 

Democratic Leader that was vacated by Richard Gephardt 

of Missouri.16 As a late entrant, Ford publicized his 

candidacy through media outlets rather than using the 

traditional and more successful method of intense behindthe-scenes campaigning. The main issue separating the 

two contenders was the Iraq War Resolution that Ford 

had backed (the war began in March 2003).17 The Iraq 

issue divided Ford from many rank-and-file Democrats 

who believed the party’s base demanded a more aggressive 

opposition to the administration’s stance on Iraq.18 UltiH Harold Ford, Jr. H

656 H Black Americans in Congress 
mately, Pelosi prevailed, 177 to 29, in her historic run to 

become the first woman to lead a party in Congress.19

In May 2005, Ford, who had twice considered running 

for the U.S. Senate, announced his candidacy for the seat 

that was being vacated by Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist 

in 2007. “[W]ith five good terms in the House behind me 

. . . I believe I’m ready to meet the challenges ahead of us 

in a way that will make Tennesseans as proud of me as I 

am of Tennessee,” Ford said. He also believed that serving 

in the Senate would enhance his ability to direct federal 

and fiscal resources to his state; he argued, “The U.S. 

Senate is where all the decisions are going to be made over 

the next 10 to 20 years—from Social Security to Medicare 

to how we create better jobs in this country, and national 

security issues.”20

During his senatorial campaign, Ford ran as a centrist 

“who appealed to moderate Republican and independent 

voters . . . by focusing on . . . health care, education, and 

economic development.”21 Throughout the campaign, 

Ford emphasized that his political stance derived from 

his personal beliefs rather than from liberal Democratic 

orthodoxy. “If I was doing the textbook thing that 

Democrats do . . . I’d say ‘Republicans want to short Social 

Security, they want to rob poor children of their college 

education, they want to deny families the education 

system.’ Don’t get me wrong, there’s some truth to that. 

But that’s not me. Just let me be myself.”22 Ford’s election 

strategy was to maintain his name recognition and base 

in western Tennessee while building support in central 

and eastern Tennessee.23 Analysts predicted that Ford had 

a good chance of winning the seat in light of widespread 

voter dissatisfaction with the Bush administration and 

minimal opposition from Democrats in the primary.24

However, when Bob Corker, a former mayor of 

Chattanooga, won the Republican nomination in August 

2006, the Senate race became hotly contested due to a 

controversial ad campaign and national media attention.25

Ford’s election strategy yielded mixed results: Although he 

performed well in urban areas such as Memphis, Nashville, 

and Chattanooga, Corker received support in suburban 

counties around Nashville and the eastern part of the 

state.26 Corker prevailed in a narrow election with 51 

percent to Ford’s 48 percent.27

After leaving the U.S. House in January 2007, Ford 

served as a visiting professor at Vanderbilt University 

and the Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs at 

the University of Texas–Austin. He also succeeded Iowa 

Governor Tom Vilsack as chairman of the Democratic 

Leadership Council (DLC), an organization that fosters 

a moderate approach to economic development, welfare 

reform, and international business.28 Ford served as a vice 

chairman and senior policy advisor to a major investment 

company and appeared as a political commentator on 

network television.29 In 2007 he became engaged to Emily 

Threlkeld, a business manager for a fashion designer in 

New York City.30

H Harold Ford, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 657
For further reading

“Ford, Harold E., Jr.,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=F000262.

Manuscript Collection

University of Tennessee, Modern Political Archives, 

Howard H. Baker, Jr., Center for Public Policy (Knoxville, 

TN). Papers: The Harold Ford, Jr., Collection is not yet 

available for research.

Notes

1 Current Biography, 1999 (New York: H. W. Wilson & Company, 

1999): 204.

2 Almanac of American Politics, 1996 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Press, 1995): 1252. 

3 Jonathan Darman, “The Path to Power,” 30 October 2006, 

Newsweek: 4.

4 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2005): 963.

5 Nate Hobbs, “Eager Ford Embraces His Father’s Legacy,” 9 June 

1996, The Commercial Appeal: 1B.

6 Terry Keeter, “Ford Jr. Wins in Landslide Despite Record 

Crossover,” 2 August 1996, The Commercial Appeal: 1A; “DeBerry, 

Ford Jr. Pull No Punches at Forum, Schools, Experience Emerge as 

Main Issues,” 9 October 1996, The Commercial Appeal: 1B.

7 Nate Hobbs, “DeBerry’s Solution Is Business; Ford’s Is 

Education,”19 September 1996, The Commercial Appeal: 1B.

8 Nate Hobbs, “Ford, DeBerry Want Balanced Budget Law,” 20 

September 1996, The Commercial Appeal: 2B; “DeBerry and Ford 

Draw Clear Differences Down Party Lines,” 29 October 1996, The 

Commercial Appeal: 1A; Politics in America, 2002 (Washington, 

DC, Congressional Quarterly Press, 2001): 948; Almanac of 

American Politics, 2006: 1566; “Ford Sworn-In as Youngest 

Member of 105th Congress,” 27 January 1997, Jet: 4.

9 James W. Brosnan, “He Won’t Be ‘Puppet,’ Ford Jr. Vows, Backs 

Dad’s Urban Agenda But Plans Education Push,” 7 November 

1996, The Commercial Appeal: 7B.

10 Politics in America, 2006: 962; “Official Biography of Harold 

Ford,” at http://www.house.gov/ford/about/index.shtml (accessed 

16 May 2006).

11 “Harold Ford, Jr.,” Contemporary Black Biography 16 (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 1997); “Ford, Harold E. Jr.,” Current 

Biography, 1999: 205–206; Politics in America, 2006: 962.

12 Ford sponsored H.R. 2051 (Public Voice Campaign Finance 

Reform Act of 1997) in the 105th Congress (1997–1999), H.R. 

1086 (Gun Industry Responsibility Act) in the 106th Congress 

(1999–2001), and H.R. 1631 (Make College Affordable Act of 

1999) in the 106th Congress (1999–2001). 

13 Darman, “The Path to Power”: 5. Darman noted that Ford was 

“one of only three African-American members” of the Blue Dog 

Coalition.

14 “Official Biography of Harold Ford.”

15 Almanac of American Politics, 2006: 1568; Lynette Clemetson, 

“Losing the Old Labels,” 28 January 2002, Newsweek: 50.

16 Carl Hulse, “The Challenger,” 10 November 2002, New York 

Times: 30.

17 Rob Johnson, “Ford Impresses With Ambition, Moxie Despite 

Loss,” 18 November 2002, The Tennessean: 1A. For a detailed 

critique, see Harold Ford, Jr., “Why I Should Be Minority 

Leader,”13 November 2002, Washington Post: A27.

18 Michael Crowley, “Ford’s Theater,” July/August 2006, Atlantic 

Monthly: 44; Darman, “The Path to Power”: 6; Politics in America, 

2006: 963.

19 Marc Sandalow, “Savvy, Cash Clinched Job for Pelosi; Tightly 

Orchestrated Campaign Followed Lucrative Fund Raising,” 17 

November 2002, San Francisco Chronicle: A3.

20 Lauren Whittington, “Ford Officially Enters Tenn. Senate 

Contest,” 26 May 2005, Roll Call; “Ford Drives Home His 

Strategy,” at http://haroldfordjr2006.blogspot.com/2005/07/forddrives-home-his-strategy.html (accessed 1 January 2007).

H Harold Ford, Jr. H

658 H Black Americans in Congress 
21 Ashley Rowland, “Impact of Race on Ford’s Defeat Debated,” 12 

November 2006, Chattanooga Times: 3.

22 Darman, “The Path to Power”: 2.

23 V. O. Key, Jr., Southern Politics in State and Nation (Knoxville: 

University of Tennessee Press, 1984): 75–81. East Tennessee 

has been a reliable base of GOP support since the Civil War, 

whereas central Tennessee contains a mixture of Democrats and 

Republicans.

24 Crowley, “Ford’s Theater”: 44. For a more comprehensive analysis, 

see Corey Dade and Nikhil Deogun, “Republicans’ Hold on the 

South Gets Test in Tennessee,” 26 October 2006, The Wall Street 

Journal: A1.

25 Crowley, “Ford’s Theater”: 45–46; Karen Tumulty and Perry 

Bacon, Jr., “Why Harold Ford Has a Shot,” 14 August 2006, Time: 

44.

26 Beth Rucker, “After Senate Defeat, What’s Harold Ford Jr.’s Next 

Move?” 10 November 2006, Associated Press.

27 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

28 “Harold Ford Jr. to Be Visiting Professor at Vanderbilt,” at http://

www.memphisflyer.com/memphis/Content?old=23532 (accessed 

29 January 2007); “New DLC Chair: Harold Ford, Jr.”: http://

www.ndol.org/print.cfm?contentid=254178 (accessed 12 February 

2007); “Vanderbilt Class Maps Strategies for 2008 Presidential 

Campaign; Former Congressman Harold Ford Jr. and John Geer 

to Co-Teach,” 20 July 2007, Ascribe Newswire; “Harold Ford Jr. to 

Teach at University of Texas,” 15 October 2007, Associated Press. 

29 “Former Congressman Harold Ford Joins Merrill Lynch as Vice 

Chairman,” 14 February 2007, Associated Press; “Harold Ford 

Jr. Joins Fox News as Political Contributor to Network’s News 

Programming,” 14 March 2007, Business Wire.

30 Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne Roberts, “Harold Ford Jr.’s Next 

Election: To Tie the Knot,” 10 October 2007, Washington Post: 

C03.

H Harold Ford, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 659
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Image courtesy of U.S. House of Representatives Photography Office

The first African American elected to the state 

legislature from eastern North Carolina since the 

Reconstruction Era, Frank Ballance won election to the 

U.S. House in 2002, succeeding Representative Eva 

Clayton in a district that included much of coastal North 

Carolina. During an 18-month tenure in the House that 

was abbreviated by health problems and a probe into his 

management of a nonprofit foundation, Ballance served on 

the Agriculture Committee—an important assignment for 

his predominantly rural, farm-based constituency.

Frank Winston Ballance, Jr., was born in Windsor, 

North Carolina, on February 15, 1942, to Frank Winston 

and Alice Eason Ballance. His mother, noted one political 

activist in eastern North Carolina, was the “political wheel” 

of Bertie County, organizing drives for voter registration 

and advocating greater representation for the area’s black 

voters.1

 Ballance graduated in 1959 from W. S. Etheridge 

High School in Windsor and four years later earned a 

bachelor of science degree from North Carolina Central 

University in Durham. In 1965, Ballance graduated with 

a law degree from the same institution. He was employed 

as a professor at South Carolina State College (now South 

Carolina State University) from 1965 to 1966. Ballance 

served in the North Carolina National Guard in 1968 and 

continued on as a reservist until 1971. He practiced law, 

establishing a firm along with Theaoseus T. Clayton (the 

husband of future U.S. Representative Eva Clayton) in 

Warrenton, North Carolina. Ballance married Bernadine 

Smallwood, a lawyer, and they raised three children: Garey, 

Angela, and Valerie.

Ballance became active in local politics in the late 1960s 

as a youth director of the local chapter of the National 

Association for the Advancement of Colored People. He 

eventually ran two unsuccessful campaigns: for a seat as a 

judge on a district court in eastern North Carolina in 1968 

and, after switching to the Republican Party, for a seat on 

the Warren County Commission in 1974. Ballance soon 

returned to the Democratic Party “to my people, where 

my votes are.”2

 In 1982, Ballance became the first black 

in roughly a century to be elected to the statehouse from 

the eastern section of the state, defeating a white lawyer 

to represent a newly redrawn district. A local newspaper 

published the story under the headline “Free at Last.” 

Ballance recalled, “Among the black community, there 

was great excitement that a new day had dawned and 

things would be different.”3

 He served from 1983 to 1987 

in the North Carolina state house of representatives. He 

was unsuccessful in his bid for a nomination to the North 

Carolina senate in 1986 but was elected two years later 

and served in the upper chamber from 1989 to 2002. 

As a state senator, Ballance was a leading critic of the 

death penalty, especially for mentally retarded convicts. 

He also was responsible for a four-year education plan 

that raised teachers’ salaries statewide, a measure to fund 

state community colleges with local bonds, and the 

establishment of a mental health fund.4

In November 2001, when six-term Representative 

Eva Clayton announced her retirement from the House, 

Ballance entered the race to succeed her. Ballance had 

managed Clayton’s first successful run for the U.S. House 

in a special election in 1992 to fill the vacancy resulting 

from the death of U.S. Representative Walter B. Jones. A 

decade later, Clayton encouraged Ballance to run in the 

district, which encompassed much of northeastern North 

Carolina, arching southward from the Virginia border 

along the Albemarle and Pamlico Sounds and including 

areas encompassed by Ballance’s state legislative district. 

Some of its major commercial towns included Goldsboro, 

Kinston, and Greenville. The district was heavily 

Democratic (Democrats outnumbered Republicans four 

Frank W. Ballance, Jr.

1942–

United States Representative H 20 03–20 04

Democrat from North Carolina

������������������������������������������������������������������������

660 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
to one) and was majority African American (50.5 percent).5

Among those vying for the nomination were Sam 

Davis, a Pasquotank County commissioner; former U.S. 

Attorney Janice Cole; and Christine Fitch, chairwoman 

of the Wilson County school board. A lawsuit over state 

redistricting pushed the May primary back to September. 

Ballance campaigned on his 18 years’ experience in the 

state legislature. In the September 10, 2002, Democratic 

primary, Ballance prevailed convincingly over his three 

competitors, with 47 percent of the vote, capturing 17 of 

23 counties in the district; the nearest runner up, Davis, 

tallied 26 percent.6

 In the general election, Ballance 

defeated Republican nominee Greg Dority, a security 

consultant, by a margin of 64 to 35 percent.7

When Representative Ballance was sworn in to 

the House in January 2003, he received seats on 

the Agriculture Committee and the Small Business 

Committee. Weeks after winning election to the 

House, the Democratic freshmen chose Ballance as class 

president—an honor that was conferred on Ballance’s 

predecessor, Representative Clayton.8

 The position 

provided some influence because the class president 

traditionally served as the spokesperson for their first-term 

colleagues and as an intermediary with House leaders.

Representative Ballance’s assignment to the Agriculture 

Committee was key for his rural district, which relied 

on its large tobacco crop as well as its sizable harvest 

of cotton and peanuts. Two of the district’s primary 

industrial products were textiles and lumber. Ballance 

called attention to the plight of thousands of textile 

workers in his district who had recently lost jobs, arguing 

that without more aid, the state would “face a crisis of 

chronic unemployment with shrinking safety nets to 

combat this crisis.”9

 He also placed a priority—as had 

Representative Clayton—on securing federal money for 

education and better access to health care for his district. 

In 2003, he opposed a Medicare prescription drug plan 

backed by the George W. Bush administration, arguing 

that it favored health maintenance organizations (HMOs) 

and drug companies over the interests of many of the 

elderly and poor constituents of his district.10 Additionally, 

Representative Ballance joined other members of the 

North Carolina delegation in October 2003, to secure 

federal relief funding for portions of North Carolina that 

were devastated by Hurricane Isabel.11

By the fall of 2003, Representative Ballance’s 

congressional career became mired in controversy 

surrounding a nonprofit substance abuse facility that he 

cofounded in 1985. The John A. Hyman Memorial Youth 

Foundation, located in Ballance’s hometown of Warrenton, 

North Carolina, was named after the state’s first AfricanAmerican Representative, who represented what was 

known as the “Old Black 2nd District,” which wound its 

way through eastern North Carolina. As a state senator, 

Ballance had secured state funding for the nonprofit 

while continuing to serve as chairman of the foundation’s 

board of directors.12 Investigations by the Federal Bureau 

of Investigation and North Carolina state regulators 

uncovered “conflicts of interests”—including payments to 

Ballance’s family members, political allies, and campaign 

staff. Additionally, the foundation had failed to file state 

and federal nonprofit taxes for years.13

A number of candidates were prepared to challenge 

the incumbent in the 2004 Democratic primary. Late 

in the filing period, Ballance formally entered the race, 

only to withdraw several days later. On May 7, 2004, 

Representative Ballance announced his retirement from 

the House, citing myasthenia gravis, a debilitating 

neuromuscular disease that weakens the muscles. In 

explaining his decision to leave office before the end of 

the 108th Congress (2003–2005), Ballance commented, 

“We expect that with time and medication that I’d be fine. 

It’s just that it did not appear that I was going to have the 

energy and strength to run this vigorous campaign that I 

had to run.”14 The North Carolina Representative resigned 

from the House effective June 11, 2004, and retired to 

his hometown of Warrenton. Ballance was eventually 

succeeded by former North Carolina Supreme Court 

Justice G. K. Butterfield in a special election held on July 

20 to fill the vacant seat.

H Frank W. Ballance, Jr. H

662 H Black Americans in Congress 
In early September 2004, Ballance was indicted on 

federal corruption charges related to his management of 

the Hyman Foundation.15 In November 2004, he pled 

guilty to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud 

and launder money.16 In October 2005, he received a fouryear jail sentence.17

For further reading

“Ballance, Frank W.,” Biographical Directory of the U.S. 

Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B001238.

Notes

1 Jena Heath, “Ballance Evens Scales by Breaking Barriers,” 2 

February 1997, The News & Observer: B1.

2 Heath, “Ballance Evens Scales by Breaking Barriers.”

3 Ibid.

4 Almanac of American Politics, 2004 (Washington, DC: National 

Journal Inc., 2003): 1197.

5 Almanac of American Politics, 2004: 1197.

6 “Sept. 10 Primary Election Results,” 18 November 2002, News 

and Observer: B5; Almanac of American Politics, 2004: 1198.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

8 “Ballance Elected to Lead Freshmen of 108th Congress,” 22 

November 2002, Greensboro News and Record: B2.

9 Congressional Record, House, 108th Cong., 1st sess. (14 May 

2003): H4099–4100.

10 Congressional Record, House, 108th Cong., 1st sess. (4 March 

2003): H1504–1505.

11 Congressional Record, House, 108th Cong., 1st sess. (1 October 

2003): H9106–9107.

12 Dane Kane, “Ballance To Keep House Post,” 9 September 2003, 

The News & Observer: B4; 

13 Damon Chappie and Erin P. Billings, “Ballance Vows To Stay on 

After Harsh Audit,” 23 October 2003, Roll Call.

14 Dan Kane, “Ballance Drops Out of Race; Scandal, Health Figure 

in Decision,” 8 May 2004, The News & Observer: A1; Jim Morrill, 

Mark Johnson, and Staff Writers, “Ballance Ends Campaign; U.S. 

Congressman’s Withdrawal Brings Rush of Hopefuls on Last Day 

of Election Filing,” 8 May 2004, Charlotte Observer: 1B; Lauren W. 

Whittington and Erin P. Billings, “Embattled Ballance Retiring,” 

10 May 2004, Roll Call.

15 Matthew Eisley, “Ballance Charged With Corruption; Indictment 

Alleges Abuse of State Post,” 3 September 2004, The News & 

Observer: A1.

16 Matthew Eisley, “Ballance Legacy in Tatters; Guilty Plea Ahead 

in Corruption Case,” 9 November 2004, The News & Observer: 

A1; “A Trust Betrayed,” editorial, 11 November 2004, The News 

& Observer: A16; “Ambition and Crime: Rep. Frank Ballance’s 

Actions Stole the Public’s Trust,” editorial, 15 November 2004, 

Charlotte Observer: 16A.

17 Dan Kane, “Ballance Gets 4 Years for Misuse of Money,” 13 

October 2005, The News & Observer: A1.

H Frank W. Ballance, Jr. H

former members | 1971–2007 H 663
former members H 19 71 – 2 0 0 7

Congressional Pictorial Directory, 108th Congress

Upsetting a veteran incumbent in the Democratic 

primary for a congressional seat from Georgia, 

Denise Majette coasted to victory in the general election, 

earning a spot in the U.S. House of Representatives for the 

108th Congress (2003–2005). One of five new AfricanAmerican Members elected in 2002, Majette described 

herself as “pro-choice, anti-death penalty, for protecting 

rights of workers and making sure that everyone has access 

on a level playing field.”1

Denise L. Majette was born on May 18, 1955, in 

Brooklyn, New York, the daughter of Voyd Lee and Olivia 

Carolyn (Foster) Majette. Until 1972 she resided in New 

York, where one of her role models was Shirley Chisholm, 

the first black Congresswoman. Majette attended Yale 

University, graduating with a B.A. in 1976. After college, 

she decided to attend law school because of her anguish 

over President John F. Kennedy’s assassination in 1963. “I 

wanted to be able to use the law to effect social change and 

make things better for people who otherwise didn’t have 

those opportunities,” she later recalled.2

 After earning a 

J.D. in 1979 from Duke University Law School, Majette 

began her professional career as a staff attorney at the 

Legal Aid Society in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, 

and later served as a clinical adjunct law professor at 

Wake Forest University. In 1983, Majette moved to Stone 

Mountain, Georgia, with her husband Rogers J. Mitchell, 

Jr., and their two sons from former marriages, to accept 

a position as law clerk for Judge R. Keegan Federal at 

the superior court of DeKalb County. Over the next two 

decades, Majette served as a law assistant to Judge Robert 

Benham of the Georgia court of appeals, a special assistant 

attorney general for the state of Georgia, and a partner in 

an Atlanta law firm. In 1992, Majette became a judge of 

administrative law for the Atlanta office of the Georgia 

state board of workers’ compensation. On June 8, 1993, 

Georgia Governor Zell Miller appointed Majette as a judge 

on the state court of DeKalb County. During her nearly 

10 years as a judge, Majette presided over a variety of 

court proceedings, including criminal trials, civil cases, 

and hearings.3

On February 5, 2002, Majette resigned from the 

bench, announcing her candidacy as a Democrat for a 

seat in the Georgia congressional district encompassing 

the suburban area east of Atlanta—although she lacked 

the high profile of the Democratic incumbent, five-term 

Representative Cynthia McKinney. Majette said she 

decided to run for public office because she felt McKinney 

had become disconnected from the issues affecting 

DeKalb County. The race garnered national attention 

after McKinney implied that President George W. Bush 

deliberately ignored pre–September 11 intelligence reports 

suggesting an imminent terrorist attack and that his bigbusiness supporters profited in the wake of the attacks. 

Majette capitalized on the controversy that surrounded 

her opponent’s remarks. Also, she received a strong 

endorsement from Zell Miller, who had been elected a 

U.S. Senator. Middle-class voters flocked to Majette in 

the August 20, 2002, primary, joined by Republicans 

who took advantage of Georgia state law, which allowed 

voters to switch parties during primaries. Majette captured 

58 percent of the vote. In the general election she easily 

defeated her Republican opponent, Cynthia Van Auken, 

gaining 77 percent of the vote.4

Upon being sworn in to the U.S. House of 

Representatives in January 2003, Majette observed, “I 

was just looking around the room and appreciating the 

kind of work the Congress will have to do and how that 

will impact the nation and the world.”5 Majette received 

assignments on the Budget, Education and Workforce, 

and Small Business committees and chaired the 

Denise L. Majette

1955–

United States Representative H 20 03–20 05

Democrat from Georgia

������������������������������������������������������������������������

664 H Black Americans in Congress
PORTRAIT

H Edward w. Burke H
Democrats’ Task Force on Jobs and the Economy. She also 

assumed a leadership role in her brief tenure in Congress, 

as an Assistant Democratic Whip and as president of the 

Democrats’ freshman class.

During her first year in Congress, Majette sponsored 

legislation to designate Arabia Mountain in southeast 

DeKalb County as a national heritage area, a classification 

that would increase tourism and make the metropolitan 

Atlanta region eligible for millions of dollars in federal 

funding. Testifying before the House Resources 

Committee’s Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation, 

and Public Lands, Majette called the locale “a living 

history lesson” and urged the preservation of the “area’s 

unique heritage for future generations.”6 As a member of 

the Small Business Committee, she criticized President 

Bush’s proposed budget for fiscal year 2005, citing 

concerns for the many female- and minority-owned small 

businesses in her district.

Majette fought to protect a variety of federally funded 

programs during her term in the House. She believed 

the Bush administration had failed to adequately fund 

education initiatives, and was an outspoken critic of the 

President’s record on domestic violence against women. 

“It saddens me to think that millions of women continue 

to be abused each year, while this administration sits idly 

by, taking no initiative and, in some cases, decreasing 

resources available to battered women,” Majette said.7

She also voted against overhauling Medicare, labeling the 

Republican-sponsored Medicare Prescription Drug and 

Modernization Act of 2003 a “sham” that failed to include 

“adequate prescription drug coverage that our mothers and 

grandmothers absolutely deserve.”8

 In 2003, she joined 

two of her Democratic colleagues, Chris Van Hollen of 

Maryland and John Tierney of Massachusetts, in proposing 

an amendment to increase spending for Head Start. “The 

program doesn’t just teach children to read,” Majette 

argued. “It provides nutritional support, it makes sure that 

children are properly vaccinated at the appropriate time, 

that parents are also being supported and supportive of 

the efforts, that children are given the overall support they 

need. It’s not just about teaching them their colors.”9

On March 29, 2004, Majette surprised her House 

colleagues, and even some of her staff, when she 

announced her candidacy for the Georgia Senate seat that 

was being vacated by the retiring Zell Miller. Not wanting 

to miss the opportunity to run for an open Senate seat, 

Majette entered the race despite the absence of a statewide 

fundraising network and her lack of name recognition 

outside the Atlanta area.10 Forced into a runoff because 

she did not gain a majority in the Democratic primary, 

Majette defeated millionaire businessman Cliff Oxford by 

using an effective grassroots campaign. The first African 

American to earn a nomination for the U.S. Senate from 

the state of Georgia, Majette lost in the general election, 

receiving only 40 percent of the vote against three-term 

Republican Representative Johnny Isakson.11

“It was a leap of faith for me, another step in my 

spiritual journey,” Majette remarked after her loss.12 She 

expressed no regrets. In 2005, Majette began work as a 

judge in DeKalb County. A year later she won the 

Democratic nomination for Georgia superintendent of 

schools, a position with oversight of the daily operations 

of the state’s department of education. 13 But she lost 

by a wide margin in the general election. 

H Denise L. Majette H

666 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Majette, Denise L.,” Biographical Directory of the United 

States Congress, 1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M001145. 

Notes

1 Politics in America, 2004 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2003): 277.

2 Jeffrey McMurray, “Majette Says Spiritual Calling Prompted 

Belated Senate Run,” 16 June 2004, Associated Press.

3 “Who Is Denise Majette?” at http://www.majetteforcongress.org 

(accessed 6 November 2002).

4 “New Member Profile: Denise Majette,” 9 November 2002, 

National Journal; “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at 

http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

5 Melanie Eversley, “Enormity of Duty Awes Capitol Hill: Georgia’s 

Freshmen Sworn in,” 8 January 2003, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 

6A.

6 Donna Williams Lewis, “Majette Makes Appeal for Heritage 

Area; Designation Would Make as Much as $1 Million per Year 

Available,” 25 September 2003, Atlanta Journal Constitution: 1JA; 

Ben Smith, “Majette Coming Into Her Own in Congress,” 1 

May 2003, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 2JA; Mae Gentry, “2004 

The Year in Review; It Only Looked Like Politics Stood Alone 

in Reshaping the Country,” 30 December 2004, Atlanta JournalConstitution: 1JB.

7 Congressional Record, House, 108th Cong., 2nd sess. (22 June 

2004): 4746; Brian Basinger, “Majette Defies Conventional 

Election Theories,” 24 October 2004, Florida Times-Union 

(Jacksonville, FL): A1.

8 Congressional Record, House, 108th Cong., 1st sess. (26 June 

2003): 5956.

9 Melanie Eversley, “Majette Joins Head Start Fight; Bill Urges 

Federal Funding,” 22 July 2003, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 5A.

10 Lauren W. Whittington, “Majette Shaking Up Ga. Politics,” 30 

March 2004, Roll Call; Peter Savodnik and Michael Rochmes, 

“Majette Seeks Senate—Colleagues Stunned,” 30 March 2004, The 

Hill: 1.

11 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.html; Savodnik and 

Rochmes, “Majette Seeks Senate—Colleagues Stunned”; Dick 

Pettys, “Majette Looks for Funds, Foot Soldiers in U.S. Senate 

Battle,” 20 October 2004, Associated Press.

12 Anna Varela, “Election 2004: Isakson’s Romp Beats Expectations; 

18-Point Margin Laid to Turnout, High Profile,” 4 November 

2004, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 5C.

13 Corey Dade, “Majette Accepts Job as Part-Time Judge,” 22 

December 2004, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 2D; “Across 

Metro Atlanta & the State; Georgia Votes 2006: State School 

Superintendent,” 8 November 2006, Atlanta Journal-Constitution:

7D.

H Denise L. Majette H

former members | 1971–2007 H 667
H PART TWO H

Current Black-American Members
Profiles of Current Members

H Introduction to H

Nearly 140 years ago, Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi and Representative 

Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first of 121 African Americans to serve 

in the U.S. Congress.*

 The history of African Americans in Congress contains many 

of the same themes that resonate in the larger chronicle of American democracy: a 

pioneering spirit, struggle, perseverance, gradual attainment of power, advancement 

through unity, and outstanding achievement.

The 42 African Americans (39 Representatives, two Delegates, and one Senator) 

who are serving in the 110th Congress (2007–2009) are the inheritors of that long 

historical legacy extending back to Revels and Rainey. One of the largest groups of 

black legislators to serve in the history of the institution (8 percent of the lawmakers 

in both chambers), these African Americans account for more than one-third of all 

the blacks who have ever served in Congress. All of them were sworn in to Congress 

after 1964, and the majority first took office in the 1990s.

The biographical profiles of these current Members, like those of their 

predecessors, contain information on pre-congressional careers, first House or 

Senate campaigns, committee and leadership positions, and legislative achievements. 

But because these Members are incumbents, comprehensive accounts of their 

congressional careers must await a later date. Current Members were given the 

opportunity to review their profiles before the book was published. At approximately 

750 words each, these profiles are about half as long as those of most former 

Members. Also, these profiles are arranged alphabetically rather than chronologically. 

The profiles in this section are of the 38 African Americans who have served for two 

or more Congresses. The four freshman Members of the 110th Congress are profiled 

in a résumé format in Appendix A.

Among the current Members who are profiled in this section is Representative 

John Conyers, Jr., of Michigan, who had 43 years of congressional service as 

of January 2008. First sworn in to Congress in 1965, Conyers is the longestserving African American in congressional history and one of the 15 longestserving Members in House history. Also included in this section are profiles of 

Representative James Clyburn of South Carolina, one of only two African Americans 

ever to hold one of the top-three leadership positions in the House, and Senator 

Barack Obama of Illinois, currently the only African-American Senator.

As incumbent Members retire, we will expand their profiles to include a more 

complete account of their congressional careers. As these members leave Congress, 

their profiles in the online version of Black Americans in Congress— 

http://baic.house.gov—will be updated to reflect these individuals’ contributions 

to the rich history of African Americans in Congress.

*The total reflects the number who had served in Congress up to the closing date for this volume 

on December 31, 2007.

current members H 671

Key to Member Titles

H senator H

H representative H

H delegate H
672 H Black Americans in Congress

Sanford Bishop served 16 years in the Georgia state legislature before winning 

election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992. As an eight-term veteran 

of Congress, Representative Bishop now serves on the prestigious Appropriations 

Committee. While focusing on military and veterans issues, as well as on agricultural 

legislation important to his southwest Georgia district, Bishop has championed 

federal fiscal responsibility.

Sanford D. Bishop, Jr., was born on February 4, 1947, in Mobile, Alabama, to 

Sanford D. Bishop, Sr., and Minnie S. Bishop. His father served as the first president 

of the Bishop State Community College; his mother was the college librarian.1

 He 

served as student body president at Morehouse College in Atlanta, graduating in 

1968 with a bachelor of arts degree in political science. Bishop served in the U.S. 

Army, joining the ROTC and completing basic training at Fort Benning, Georgia. 

He was honorably discharged in 1971, the same year he earned his J.D. at Emory 

University in Atlanta. Bishop initially worked as a private practice lawyer who 

specialized in civil rights cases. In 1976, he won election to the Georgia state house 

of representatives, representing a district that covered Columbus. He served there 

for 14 years before winning election to the Georgia senate in 1990. In the state 

legislature, Bishop helped establish the Georgia Commission on Equal Opportunity 

and the state’s office of child support receiver.2

 He is married to Vivian Creighton 

Bishop, and they have a daughter, Aayesha J. Reese. 

Backed by the Columbus business community in 1992, Bishop was one of five 

challengers to run against six-term incumbent Representative Charles F. Hatcher in 

the Democratic primary. The district encompassed much of southwestern Georgia, 

including portions of Columbus, Macon, Albany, Valdosta, and Fort Benning, 

the state’s largest military installation. Reapportionment, at the urging of the U.S. 

Justice Department, made the district the state’s third majority-black district in 

1992.3

 In the primary, asserting that he represented “a new generation of leadership,” 

Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.

1947–

united states representative

Demo crat from Georgia

1993–

672 H Black Americans in Congress 

H current members H

Image courtesy of the Member
For further reading

“Bishop, Sanford Dixon, Jr.,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=B000490.

Notes

1 “Sanford D. Bishop, Jr.,” Contemporary 

Black Biography, Volume 24 (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Group, 2000); Politics in 

America, 2006 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 2005): 

285.

2 Almanac of American Politics, 2000 

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 1999): 463.

3 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

1993): 396–397.

4 “Democratic Congressman Loses in 

Georgia,” 12 August 1992, New York 

Times: A16; Bill Montgomery, “Bishop 

Touts ‘Progressive’ Image in Push to 

Topple Hatcher,” 4 August 1992, 

Atlanta Journal and Constitution: E1.

5 Bill Montgomery, “Contrasts Mark 

Campaign; Political Novice Faces 

Veteran Lawmaker in 2nd District,” 

20 October 1992, Atlanta Journal and 

Constitution: E3.

6 Politics in America, 2006: 285.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html; 

Politics in America, 2006: 285.

8 “Official Biography of Sanford Bishop, 

Jr.,” http://bishop.house.gov/display.

cfm?content_id=4 (accessed 8 February 

2006); Politics in America, 2006: 284.

9 “Official Biography of Sanford Bishop, 

Jr.,” http://bishop.house.gov/display.

cfm?content_id=4 (accessed 11 

October 2007); Politics in America, 

2008 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2007): 277.

Bishop forced Hatcher into a runoff before defeating the incumbent with 53 

percent of the vote in a head-to-head contest.4

 Bishop ran in the general election as 

a consensus builder. “For too long we have focused on things that divide us, black 

versus white, rural versus urban,” he said. “But throughout the district, people have 

the same concerns—affordable health care, safe streets, and good jobs.”5

 In the 

general election, he defeated Republican Jim Dudley with 64 percent of the vote. 

Bishop has won election to seven additional terms, despite court-ordered 

redrawing of his district in the mid-1990s. In 1995, a federal court ruled that the 

borders of his district were the result of an unconstitutional “racial gerrymander.” 

Subsequent redistricting placed Columbus in a neighboring congressional district, 

reducing the African-American portion of Bishop’s constituency from 52 to 39 

percent.6

 In the newly configured and competitive district, Bishop won re-election 

in 1996 with 54 percent of the vote. In 2000, in his narrowest re-election margin, 

Representative Bishop defeated GOP candidate Dylan Glenn, an African American 

and former Senate aide, with 53 percent of the vote. Reapportionment following 

the 2000 Census put a large section of Muscogee County back into his district and 

increased the black portion of the population to 44 percent. Since then, Bishop has 

won with large majorities, including in 2006, when he defeated Republican Bradley 

Hughes with 68 percent of the vote.7

When Bishop was sworn in to the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), he received 

assignments to three committees: Agriculture, Post Office and Civil Service, and 

Veterans’ Affairs. In the 104th Congress (1995–1997), the Post Office and Civil 

Service panel was subsumed under the new Government Reform Committee, 

and Bishop left that assignment. In the 105th Congress (1997–1999), after 

he left his Veterans’ Affairs post, Representative Bishop received an assignment 

to the Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence. In the 108th Congress 

(2003–2005), he relinquished all of his committee assignments to serve on the 

exclusive Appropriations Committee. He currently serves on three Appropriations 

subcommittees: Defense, Agriculture, and Military Construction and 

Veterans Affairs.

In the House, Representative Bishop has developed a reputation as a moderate 

Democrat who cosponsored constitutional amendments to balance the budget, to 

ban flag desecration, and to allow voluntary prayer in public schools.8

 From his seat 

on the Appropriations Subcommittee on Agriculture, Bishop worked with House 

leaders to steer through the House a major farm bill that increased funding for 

farm support programs, including those for peanut production, a major agriculture 

industry in his district. Bishop also has strongly supported the defense budget, 

looking out particularly for veterans’ issues from his seat on the Appropriations 

Committee’s Subcommittee for Military Construction, Veterans Affairs, and Related 

Agencies and its Subcommittee on Defense.9

current members H 673
In 1992, Corrine Brown became one of the first African Americans elected to the 

U.S. House from Florida since the Reconstruction Era. During her House career, 

from her seats on the Transportation and Infrastructure and the Veterans’ Affairs 

committees, Representative Brown regularly brought federal programs into her 

Jacksonville district and earned a reputation as a tireless advocate of civil rights.1

Corrine Brown was born in Jacksonville, Florida, on November 11, 1946, and 

grew up in the city’s Northside neighborhood, graduating from Stanton High 

School. As a single mother, she raised a daughter, Shantrel. She earned a bachelor 

of science degree at Florida Agriculture and Mechanical University in 1969 and 

an M.A. from the same institution in 1971. In 1972, Brown graduated with an 

Ed.S. degree from the University of Florida. She taught at the University of Florida 

and Edward Waters College before settling at Florida Community College in 

Jacksonville, where she taught and served as a guidance counselor from 1977 to 

1992. Her close friend and political mentor, Gwen Cherry, was the first AfricanAmerican woman elected to the Florida house of representatives. Cherry’s death 

in a 1979 car crash prompted Brown to enter elective politics. In 1980, she was 

a delegate for presidential candidate Senator Edward M. (Ted) Kennedy at the 

Democratic National Convention. Two years later, Brown won a seat in the Florida 

legislature, where she served for a decade.

In 1992, reapportionment created a new district in northeastern Florida spanning 

the area from Jacksonville to Orlando. Brown won the Democratic nomination and 

ran a general election campaign that focused on improving the district’s educational 

system, bringing more jobs to the area, and protecting Social Security and Medicare 

for the elderly. She won by 18 percentage points, making her one of three Florida 

candidates elected that year (including Alcee Hastings and Carrie Meek) who 

were the first African Americans to represent the state since Reconstruction. In her 

subsequent seven re-election campaigns, Brown won by comfortable margins. In 

2006, she was elected to her eighth term without opposition.2

H current members H Corrine Brown 

1946–

United States Representative

Demo crat from Florida

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

674 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Brown, Corrine,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=B000911. 

Notes

1 Bruce I. Friedland, “Jacksonville’s 

Pragmatic Liberal U.S. Rep. Corrine 

Brown Passionately Pushes Her Causes 

and Delivers Bacon Back to City,” 19 

July 2000, Florida Times-Union: A1.

2 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

3 “Official Biography of Corrine Brown,” 

http://www.house.gov/corrinebrown/

biography.shtml (accessed 3 December 

2007); Politics in America, 2008

(Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2007): 227–228.

4 “Candidates’ Forum,” 6 November 

1994, Orlando Sentinel: G7.

5 Conference Report on H.R. 3295, Help 

America Vote Act of 2002, Congressional 

Record, House, 107th Cong., 2nd sess. 

(10 October 2002): 7836.

6 “Testimony of Congresswoman Corrine 

Brown,” 13 June 1994, Judiciary 

Subcommittee on International 

Law, Immigration, and Refugees, 

Federal Document Clearing House 

Congressional Testimony.

When Representative Brown took her seat in the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), 

she received assignments on the Government Operations Committee, the Veterans’ 

Affairs Committee, and the Public Works and Transportation Committee (later 

named Transportation and Infrastructure). In the 104th Congress (1995–1997), 

she resigned from Government Operations. In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), 

Brown serves as chairwoman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Subcommittee 

on Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials. She also serves as the secondranking Democrat for the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Health.3

 Brown also 

has served as vice chair of the Congressional Black Caucus and is a member of the 

Women’s Caucus. 

Brown’s primary focus is on improving the economy within her district, 

steering federal funds and projects into the north Florida region. She led the effort 

to construct an $86 million federal courthouse in Jacksonville, while using her 

influence on the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee to initiate Florida 

rail projects to meet the state’s booming transportation needs. While supporting 

reduction of the federal deficit by cutting welfare programs, Brown believed the 

system must be made “more advantageous for welfare recipients to get off welfare” 

by providing jobs and job training. “We must make sure that changes in the welfare 

system do not inadvertently hurt children,” she added.4

Brown also supported military defense spending, in part reflecting the large 

military presence in her district, most notably the Jacksonville Naval Air Station. 

But Brown wanted more of the money to flow into personnel training, describing 

the military as a place where working-class Americans could find opportunities 

unavailable elsewhere. From her seat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Brown was 

particularly attentive to the needs of women veterans and health issues. After the 

2000 elections, Brown was one of the most vocal advocates for voting reforms. To 

improve the voting process, especially in minority precincts, Representative Brown 

supported the Help America Vote Act of 2002 to streamline balloting procedures 

and provide money to modernize voting systems as a first step toward reform.5

Brown’s interests extend beyond her congressional district. In 1993, she began 

working behind the scenes to push the William J. (Bill) Clinton administration 

to restore a democratic government in Haiti by installing deposed President JeanBertrand Aristide. She also urged officials to process the thousands of Haitians who 

arrived in the United States seeking political asylum.6

 Brown also has taken up the 

cause of Liberians, pushing to extend temporary visa status for thousands who came 

to America after a civil war in the African country during the early 1990s.

current members H 675
After serving for more than 15 years as a North Carolina judge, including a term 

on the state supreme court, G. K. Butterfield won a 2004 special election to serve in 

the U.S. House of Representatives. Re-elected to the 109th Congress (2005–2007) 

less than four months later, Representative Butterfield secured prominent committee 

assignments from which he tended to the agricultural and small business interests of 

his district.

George Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield was born on April 27, 1947, in Wilson, 

North Carolina. His father, George Kenneth Butterfield, won a seat on the Wilson 

city council in the 1950s—making him one of a handful of African Americans to 

hold political office in the state since Reconstruction. Town officials later changed 

the election format to deprive the senior Butterfield and all black candidates of a 

chance to win further elections. “I saw how the political system was manipulated to 

obtain an unfair result,” the younger Butterfield recalled. “Having seen that injustice 

has made me want to be involved politically.”1

 Butterfield served two years in the 

U.S. Army as a personnel specialist, from 1968 to 1970, before graduating from 

North Carolina Central University in 1971 with a bachelor’s degree in sociology and 

political science. Three years later he earned a J.D. from North Carolina Central 

University and commenced private law practice. Butterfield later went on to serve 

as president of the North Carolina Association of Black Lawyers, filing several 

successful voting rights lawsuits. In November 1988, he won election to the North 

Carolina superior court, where he served for 12 years. In 2001, North Carolina 

Governor Mike Easley appointed Judge Butterfield to the North Carolina supreme 

court, where he served for two years. In 2002, Butterfield lost his re-election bid and 

was subsequently appointed special superior court judge. Butterfield is divorced, 

with two daughters, Valeisha and Lenai.

H current members H G. K. Butterfield

1947– 

United States Representative

Demo crat from North Carolina

2004–

Image courtesy of the Member

676 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Butterfield, George Kenneth, Jr., (G. K.)” 

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, 

1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B001251. 

Notes

1 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 744.

2 Lauren W. Whittington and Erin P. 

Billings, “Embattled Ballance Retiring,” 

10 May 2004, Roll Call; Politics in 

America, 2006 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 2005): 

759–760.

3 William L. Holmes, “Butterfield Wins 

Special Election; Will Face Dority in 

November,” 21 July 2004, Associated 

Press; Jay Cohen, “Ballance Casts 

Shadow Over 1st District N.C. Race,”14 

July 2004, Associated Press.

4 Cindy George, “Former Justice Wins 

1st District; Butterfield Fills Ballance’s 

Seat,” 21 July 2004, News and Observer: 

A16; Holmes, “Butterfield Wins 

Special Election; Will Face Dority in 

November”; “Election Statistics, 1920 

to Present,” available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/

index.html. 

5 Congressional Record, House, 108th 

Cong., 2nd sess. (21 July 2004): 

H6497.

6 Politics in America, 2006: 759; Politics 

in America, 2008: 743–744; “About G. 

K. Butterfield,” http://butterfield.house.

gov/aboutgk.asp (accessed 17 October 

2007).

7 Politics in America, 2006: 759.

In 2004, when incumbent Representative Frank Ballance announced his 

retirement from the U.S. House, Butterfield was nominated by local Democrats 

to run in the special election.2

 The district, which covered large swaths of eastern 

North Carolina, is solidly Democratic and largely rural and poor and is one of two 

majority-black congressional districts in the state. Butterfield ran on a platform that 

promised more federal dollars to help small business development revitalize the local 

economy. He noted, “[W]e need to understand the role that small business plays 

in economic development and I think that’s where the congressperson can be really 

valuable.”3

 On July 20, 2004, Butterfield won the special election with 71 percent 

of the vote against Republican challenger Greg Dority, to serve out the remainder 

of the term in the 108th Congress (2003–2005). Both men also won simultaneous 

primary elections for the full term in the 109th Congress. In November 2004, three 

times as many voters went to the polls, and Butterfield again prevailed against Dority 

with a 64 percent majority.4

 Representative Butterfield faced no opposition in his 

2006 re-election.

Representative Butterfield was sworn in to office on July 21, 2004. “The people 

of the First District are no different from your constituents,” Butterfield told his 

colleagues afterward in a floor speech. “They want our government to work to 

enable all people to experience the American dream.”5

 He received assignments 

on the Agriculture and Small Business committees. He retained the Agriculture 

Committee assignment in the 109th Congress, but resigned from the Small Business 

panel to accept a seat on the Armed Services Committee. In the 110th Congress 

(2007–2009), Butterfield gave up these assignments for a seat on the Energy and 

Commerce Committee, where he serves as vice chair of the Subcommittee on 

Energy and Air Quality. He also serves on the Democratic Steering and Policy 

Committee. Butterfield is one of eight Chief Deputy Whips, making him the first 

Democrat from North Carolina to serve in this position.6

One of Representative Butterfield’s chief legislative aims has been to improve the 

economy of his district by reducing unemployment and bringing federal money to 

help small businesses in northeastern North Carolina. Representative Butterfield’s 

assignment to the Agriculture Committee was important to the region’s farm-based 

economy, particularly tobacco farmers. In late 2004, he backed a federal buyout 

program for tobacco producers that eventually passed the House. From his seat on 

the Armed Services panel, Butterfield has opposed a navy plan to build a test airstrip 

where naval aviators could conduct more than 30,000 practice flights per year. He 

objected to the navy’s site selection process and was successful in eliminating the 

appropriation for the project.7

current members H 677
Delegate Donna M. Christensen won election to the U.S. House of 

Representatives in 1997, the first woman to represent the U.S. Virgin Islands, a 

multi-island territory in the eastern Caribbean. The islands became part of the 

United States when they were purchased from Denmark in 1917. Since 1973, the 

territory has had nonvoting representation in the House of Representatives.1

 During 

her tenure, Christensen has focused on improving the social, political, and economic 

dynamics of the islands, especially as they relate to federal issues.

Donna Christensen was born on September 19, 1945, to the late chief judge of 

the Virgin Islands District Court, Almeric Christian, and Virginia Sterling Christian. 

She earned a bachelor of science degree from St. Mary’s College at Notre Dame 

in 1966 and an M.D. from George Washington University School of Medicine in 

1970. In addition to running an active family practice, Christensen worked as a 

health administrator, rising to the position of assistant commissioner of health for 

the Virgin Islands.

Concurrently, she began her political career in 1980 as part of the Coalition 

to Appoint a Native Judge, which emphasized judicial appointments from within 

the community, and later on as part of the Save Fountain Valley Coalition, which 

called for the protection of St. Croix’s north side from overdevelopment. She served 

as Democratic National Committeewoman from 1984 to 1994, as vice chair of 

the Territorial Committee of the Democratic Party of the Virgin Islands, and as a 

member of the Platform Committee of the Democratic National Committee. From 

1984 to 1986, she served as a member of the Virgin Islands Board of Education and 

was appointed to the Virgin Islands Status Commission from 1988 to 1992.

H current members H Donna M. Christensen

1945–

Delegate

Demo crat from the Virgin Islands

1997–

Image courtesy of the Member

678 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Christensen, Donna Marie Christian,” 

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, 

1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C000380. 

Notes

1 “America’s Caribbean Paradise: History 

and Geography,” http://www.house.

gov/christianchristensen/vi_history.htm 

(accessed 29 December 2004).

2 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html; 

Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 1131; “Official Biography 

of Donna M. Christensen,” http://

www.house.gov/christian-christensen/

biography.htm (accessed 3 December 

2007). 

3 “Official Biography of Donna M. 

Christensen”; Politics in America, 2006

(Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2005): 1142.

Christensen lost her first bid for Delegate to Congress in 1994, failing 

to secure the Democratic nomination. Two years later, she not only won the 

party’s nomination, but also went on to defeat freshman Independent incumbent 

Victor Frazer after a three-way general election and a runoff election. In 1997, 

as a Member of the 105th Congress (1997–1999), she became the first female 

physician to serve in the House. Christensen has since won re-election to the 

House with at least 62 percent of the vote.2

As a Member of the House, she has served on the Natural Resources Committee, 

which oversees the affairs of the offshore territories, where she is chairwoman 

of the Subcommittee on Insular Affairs and the third-ranking Democrat on the 

Subcommittee on National Parks, Forests, and Public Lands. She has also served 

on the Small Business Committee and, during the 108th Congress (2003–2005), 

gained a seat on the Committee on Homeland Security, primarily because of her 

expertise in public health.

Christensen has focused on strengthening the Virgin Islands’ economy and 

stabilizing its fiscal condition. Expanding traditional tax incentives that are central 

to the economy of the Virgin Islands and introducing legislation to encourage fiscal 

discipline have been the hallmarks of her tenure. She also has worked to expand 

business, housing, health, and educational opportunities in the territory.

Delegate Christensen, a member of the Congressional Black Caucus, chairs the 

Health Braintrust and has been at the forefront of efforts to end health disparities, 

fight the HIV/AIDS threat both nationally and internationally, and extend health 

insurance coverage to as many Americans as possible.

Delegate Christensen is married to Christian O. Christensen of St. Croix and 

has two daughters from a previous marriage, Rabiah and Karida Green, and three 

grandchildren, Nia Hamilton, Kobe George, and Nealia Williams.3

 She has four 

stepchildren from her 1998 marriage to Christian O. Christensen: Lisa, Esther, 

Bryan and David.

current members H 679
Hailing from one of Missouri’s most influential political families, Lacy Clay 

won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 2000, succeeding his father, 

William (Bill) Clay, Sr., a three-decade House veteran. In Congress, Clay has focused 

on liberal issues ranging from protection of voting rights to creating economic 

development opportunities for minorities. “Although I am not my father, I am my 

father’s son, in that we share the same values . . . and commitment to principles, 

such as fairness and justice,” Clay once said.1

William Lacy Clay, Jr., was born in St. Louis, Missouri, on July 27, 1956, one of 

three children raised by William and Carol Ann Clay. His father, William, Sr.—a 

union representative and St. Louis alderman—won election to the U.S. House in 

1968, where he served 32 years and was a founding member of the Congressional 

Black Caucus. His uncle, Irving, held several executive positions in St. Louis city 

government before being elected an alderman. Lacy Clay spent his teenage years 

in suburban Maryland, graduating with the class of 1974 from Springbrook High 

School in Silver Spring. He served as an assistant doorkeeper in the U.S. House of 

Representatives, working his way toward a bachelor of science degree in government 

and politics, which he earned in 1983 at the University of Maryland, College Park. 

“I didn’t originally want to go into politics. I wanted to do something like own a 

business,” Clay once recalled. “But I realized after working in Washington and the 

U.S. Congress that that was an option for me.”2

 After graduating from college, Clay 

returned to St. Louis to run in a special election for a vacant seat in the Missouri 

house of representatives. He served as a state representative until 1991, when he 

was elected to the Missouri senate.3

 He also has served as a Missouri Democratic 

National Committeeman since 1992. Clay and his wife, Ivie Lewellen Clay, have 

two children: Carol and William III.

H current members H William L. Clay, Jr. 

1956–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Missouri

20 01–

Image courtesy of the Member

680 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Clay, William Lacy, Jr.,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 

1774–Present,” http://bioguide.congress.

gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=C001049.

Notes

1 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 578.

2 Gregory B. Freeman, “The Clays: A 

Missouri Dynasty,” 19 January 1992, 

St. Louis Post-Dispatch Magazine: 8.

3 Politics in America, 2008: 578; 

“Congressman William ‘Lacy’ Clay 

Biography,” http://www.house.gov/clay/

biography.htm (accessed 6 September 

2005).

4 D. J. Wilson, “Hand-Me-Down 

District,” 19 July 2000, Riverfront 

Times.

5 Politics in America, 2004 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2003): 576.

6 Mark Schlinkmann, “Lacy Clay Wins 

75 Percent of the Vote in Bid to Succeed 

His Father in Congress,” 8 November 

2000, St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 6.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

8 “Subcommittee Assignments 

for the 110th Congress,” http://

financialservices.house.gov/

subassignments.html; “Committees,” 

http://lacyclay.house.gov/committees.

htm (both sites accessed 28 November 

2007).

9 Politics in America, 2004: 576–577; 

“The Federal Home Loan Bank System,” 

Extension of Remarks, Congressional 

Record, House, 108th Cong., 1st 

sess. (29 January 2003): E100; “A 

New Direction at St. Louis Housing 

Authority,” Extension of Remarks, 

Congressional Record, House, 107th 

Cong., 1st sess. (14 June 2001): E1109; 

“Congressman William ‘Lacy’ Clay, 

Biography.”

10 David Scott, “Observers Say Missouri’s 

1st District Likely to Stay in Clay’s 

Hands,” 18 June 2002, Associated Press.

In 1999, when William Clay, Sr., announced his retirement from the U.S. 

House, Lacy Clay was an immediate favorite to succeed his father in a district that 

encompassed northern St. Louis and a large area of the city’s suburbs in St. Louis 

County. During the election, Clay invoked his paternal connection to Congress: 

“For 32 years, your congressman has been Congressman Clay,” he told voters. “I 

certainly hold him up as my hero. He is the one I look to; he is the one who has 

taught me what I need to know in this business.”4

 In the August 2000 Democratic 

primary, he won convincingly against a field of contenders that included a popular 

St. Louis County councilman. In the general election, Lacy Clay easily carried 

the heavily Democratic district, with 75 percent of the vote. His colleagues in the 

Democratic freshman class elected him president of their group.5

 “It’s an honor 

for me to succeed my father,” Clay said on election night. “I certainly am looking 

forward to hitting the ground running, working on behalf of working families.”6

 

In his subsequent three re-election campaigns in 2002, 2004, and 2006, Clay won 

with 70, 75, and 72 percent of the vote, respectively.7

When Representative Clay was sworn in to the House in January 2001, he 

was assigned to the Financial Services and Government Reform committees. 

He has served on both panels since then and currently serves as chairman of 

the Subcommittee on Information Policy, Census, and National Archives for 

the Oversight and Government Reform Committee. On the Financial Services 

Committee, Clay serves on two subcommittees: Financial Institutions and 

Consumer Credit and Domestic and International Monetary Policy, Trade, 

and Technology.8

During his congressional career, Representative Clay has focused primarily on 

two issues: voting rights and economic development. He has been an outspoken 

advocate of electoral process reform, weighing in on issues ranging from electronic 

voting, to expansion of voter registration, to campaign finance reform. On economic 

issues, Representative Clay has pushed for expanded access to credit to stimulate 

home ownership among low-income families. He has cosponsored measures to 

eliminate predatory lending practices by financial institutions.9

 Clay also has stressed 

constituent services. “That’s what I really get pleasure out of—serving people,” he 

said. “I make sure my employees understand that we are here because of the people 

and we have to serve them and we have to do a good job serving them.”10

current members H 681
As a former Kansas City mayor and city councilman, Emanuel Cleaver II entered 

Congress with a reserve of political experience not customary for the typical U.S. 

House freshman Member. During his first term, Representative Cleaver earned a 

seat on the exclusive Financial Services Committee and focused on the needs of his 

Kansas City-based district.

Emanuel Cleaver II was born in Waxahachie, Texas, on October 26, 1944. 

He and his family lived in a small wooden house that had been a slave cabin. His 

family’s religious roots—his great-grandfather, grandfather, and an uncle were 

preachers—inspired him to a life of ministry.1

 He graduated from high school 

in Wichita Falls, Texas, before earning a bachelor of science degree in sociology 

from Prairie View A&M University in Prairie View, Texas, in 1972. Two years 

later, Cleaver graduated with a master’s degree in divinity from the St. Paul School 

of Theology in Kansas City, Missouri. Cleaver served as an ordained Methodist 

minister for a central Kansas City congregation (he still serves as senior pastor at 

St. James United Methodist Church). Cleaver and his wife, Dianne, a psychologist, 

have four children and three grandchildren.

Cleaver, who had been active in the 1960s civil rights movement, entered elective 

politics in 1979, successfully campaigning for a seat on the Kansas City city council. 

He served there until 1991, acting as mayor pro tempore and chairing the council’s 

planning and zoning committee.2

 He won election as Kansas City mayor, becoming 

the first African American to hold that post. Cleaver served as mayor for eight years, 

focusing on job growth and economic development. His success earned him the 

distinction of being chosen the two-term president of the National Conference of 

Black Mayors. After he left office in 1999, Cleaver worked as a radio talk show host.

H current members H Emanuel Cleaver II 

1944–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Missouri

20 05–

Image courtesy of the Member

682 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Cleaver, Emanuel, II,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=C001061. 

Notes

1 Darrell McWhorter, “A Long March to 

Kansas City Mayor’s Office,” 12 May 

1991, St. Louis Post-Dispatch Magazine: 

1C.

2 “Official Biography of Emanuel Cleaver 

II,” http://www.house.gov/cleaver/

about.html (accessed 31 October 2007).

3 Steve Kraske, “Cleaver Sees ‘Great 

Cause’; Former KC Mayor Joins Race in 

5th Congressional District,” 9 February 

2004, Kansas City Star: B2.

4 Steve Kraske, “Cleaver Survives a Fierce 

Challenge,” 4 August 2004, Kansas 

City Star: A1; Steve Kraske, “Cleaver 

Denounces Campaign ‘Vitriol’; Metzl 

Says Questions ‘Need to Be Asked,’” 23 

July 2004, Kansas City Star: B1; “Rep. 

Emanuel Cleaver,” Almanac of American 

Politics, 2006 (Washington, DC: 

National Journal Inc., 2005): 979–980.

5 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 596.

6 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 586.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at available at http://clerk.

house.gov/member_info/electionInfo/

index.html.

8 Politics in America, 2008: 585.

9 David Goldstein, “Mr. Cleaver Goes 

to Washington—and Finds It Highly 

Perplexing,” 29 November 2004, Kansas 

City Star: A1; Almanac of American 

Politics, 2006: 980; Politics in America, 

2006: 596.

10 Congressional Record, House, 109th 

Cong., 1st sess. (19 May 2005): 

H3589; Congressional Record, House, 

109th Cong., 1st sess. (11 July 2005): 

H5630–5633. 

In December 2003, when five-term Democratic Representative Karen McCarthy 

announced she would not run for re-election in 2004, Cleaver sought the 

nomination for the vacant seat. “The surest path to happiness has always come when 

I became consumed in a cause greater than myself,” Cleaver said when announcing 

his candidacy. “Serving in Congress at such a time as this is that great cause.”3

 The 

district covered portions of Kansas City and some of its eastern suburbs. A majority 

of constituents were middle-class and Democratic, and the party had controlled 

the seat since before the New Deal. Cleaver turned back a spirited challenge by 

Jamie Metzel, a former White House Fellow and National Security Council aide. 

He won the August 3, 2004, primary with 60 percent of the vote.4

 In the general 

election, he faced Republican candidate Jeanne Patterson, a businesswoman and 

political newcomer. Patterson spent nearly $3 million of her own money during 

the campaign, arguing that she would bring more jobs to the city. Cleaver stressed 

his accomplishments as mayor, including his successful efforts to bring major 

corporations to the city.5

 In the general election, he prevailed over Patterson by 55 to 

42 percent of the vote, with the remainder going to a Libertarian candidate. African 

Americans accounted for just 24 percent of the district population—the smallest 

black population of any district represented by a black Member of Congress.6

 In 

2006, Cleaver was re-elected with 64 percent of the vote.7

When Representative Cleaver was sworn in to the House in January 2005, he 

received an assignment on the Financial Services Committee. He currently serves 

on two of that panel’s subcommittees: Investigation and Oversight and Housing 

and Community Opportunity. In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Cleaver joined 

the new Select Committee on Energy Independence and Global Warming. He also 

serves as a regional whip for the Democratic Caucus and as second vice chairman for 

the Congressional Black Caucus.8

Representative Cleaver has focused on many of the issues that were highlighted 

in his initial campaign. He has advocated federal dollars for improved education 

programs and affordable health care coverage. Arguing that he is in accord with 

voters’ sentiments in northern Missouri, Cleaver opposes the continued presence 

of U.S. military forces in Iraq.9

 Among the measures that Representative Cleaver 

introduced during his freshman term was a bill to condemn the use of “racially 

restrictive covenants” in housing documents that sought to prohibit the sale or 

lease of property to racial or ethnic minorities, in violation of the Fair Housing 

Act of 1968. Another bill he authored condemned the Government of Mexico for 

producing postage stamps with Memin Pinguin, a comic book character from the 

1940s that evoked racist Jim Crow-Era cartoons of blacks.10

current members H 683
James E. (Jim) Clyburn’s 1992 election made him the first African American 

from South Carolina to serve in Congress since the late 19th century. Representative 

Clyburn has won re-election to seven additional terms, serving as chairman of the 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) and winning a seat on the influential House 

Appropriations Committee. On November 16, 2006, the House Democratic 

Caucus unanimously elected Clyburn Majority Whip, making him the first South 

Carolinian and the second African American to ascend to the third-ranking position 

in the House.1

James E. Clyburn was born in Sumter, South Carolina, on July 21, 1940, the 

eldest of three sons of Enos L. Clyburn, a minister, and Almeta Clyburn, a beauty 

shop operator. At age 12, he was elected president of the Sumter youth chapter of 

the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. A client of his 

mother’s once warned him against giving voice to his early political aspirations in the 

segregated South. “We knew what the rules were. I mean, a 12-year-old black kid 

talking about being in politics and government?” Clyburn recalled of that formative 

moment. “She was just telling me, ‘Son, be careful, you can’t have those kinds of 

dreams—you’re not the right color.’”2

 He attended Mather Academy, a private allblack high school. Clyburn graduated from South Carolina State College in 1961 

with a bachelor of arts degree. During the 1950s and 1960s, he organized sit-ins 

at an Orangeburg, South Carolina, five and dime store and was arrested and jailed 

for his participation in nonviolent civil rights protests.3

 During one such protest he 

met his future wife, the former Emily England; they have three grown daughters: 

Mignon, Angela, and Jennifer. Clyburn taught history in high school before 

working on several federal employment programs. From 1968 to 1971, he was the 

executive director of the South Carolina state commission for farm workers. In 

1970, Clyburn ran an unsuccessful campaign for the state house of representatives, 

but his candidacy caught South Carolina Governor John West’s attention. He joined 

Governor West’s staff in 1971 and, three years later, was appointed head of the state 

commission for human affairs (the first black gubernatorial appointee in the state in 

more than seven decades). Clyburn lost campaigns for South Carolina secretary of 

state in 1978 and 1986.4

H current members H James E. Clyburn 

1940–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from South Carolina

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

684 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

Clyburn, James with Jennifer Revels. 

Uncommon Courage: The Story of Briggs 

v. Elliott, South Carolina’s Unsung Civil 

Rights Battle (Spartanburg, SC: Palmetto 

Conservation Foundation Press, 2004).

“Clyburn, James Enos,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present,

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=C000537.

Notes

1 “James E. Clyburn Biography,” http://

clyburn.house.gov/clyburn-biography.

cfm (accessed 27 November 2007).

2 Betsy Rothstein, “Rep. James Clyburn 

(D-S.C.); Head of Congressional 

Black Caucus Grew Up in a Segregated 

World,” 17 February 1999, The Hill: 15.

3 Matthew C. Quinn, “Gephardt’s Man 

in S. Carolina; Can Clyburn Turn Out 

the Vote in Primary?” 10 December 

2003, Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 6A.

4 Rothstein, “Rep. James Clyburn 

(D-S.C.)”; Politics in America, 2006

(Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2005): 931.

5 “James Clyburn,” Gale Newsmakers

(Detroit, MI: Gale Group, 1999); 

Politics in America, 2006: 931.

6 Steve Piacente, “Jim Clyburn: The 

6th District Congressman Built His 

Career on Lessons Learned Early in 

Life,” 27 February 1999, Post and 

Courier (Charleston, SC): D1; Politics in 

America, 2006: 931.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

8 Stephen Delaney Hale, “Freshman 

Congressman Upbeat,” 28 January 

1993, Augusta Chronicle (Georgia): SC1.

9 Steve Piacente, “Rep. Clyburn Wins 

Seat on Appropriations Panel,” 11 

December 1998, Post and Courier 

(Charleston, SC): A1.

10 Mickey Leland of Texas was the 

first, serving from 1985 to 1987. 

See Appendix I, Congressional Black 

Caucus Chairmen and Chairwomen, 

1971–2007.

11 Piacente, “Jim Clyburn.”

In 1992, at the recommendation of the U.S. Justice Department, statewide 

redistricting created a majority-black district in eastern South Carolina. It was a 

sprawling district encompassing all or part of 16 counties as well as parts of the cities 

of Charleston, Columbia, and Florence. The five-term incumbent Democrat, Robert 

(Robin) Tallon, retired, and Clyburn captured the Democratic nomination with 56 

percent of the primary vote against four opponents. In the general election, he easily 

defeated Republican candidate John Chase with 65 percent of the vote.5

 Clyburn is a 

distant relative of George Washington Murray, the last African American to represent 

South Carolina in the U.S. House (1893–1895, 1896–1897).6

 In his subsequent 

seven re-election campaigns, Clyburn won with between 64 and 73 percent of the 

vote. In 2006, he defeated Republican Gary McLeod with a 64 percent majority.7

As a new Representative, Clyburn proved to be a pragmatic, enthusiastic, and 

effective behind-the-scenes player, moving rapidly into the leadership ranks.8

Elected co-president of the Democratic freshman class, he won assignments on 

the Public Works and Transportation Committee (later named Transportation and 

Infrastructure) and the Veterans’ Affairs Committee. He later served as Ranking 

Member of the Veterans’ Affairs Subcommittee on Oversight and Investigation. 

He accepted an additional assignment with the Small Business Committee for a 

term in the 104th Congress (1995–1997). In the 106th Congress (1999–2001), 

Representative Clyburn won a seat on the exclusive Appropriations Committee.9

He has served on that panel since. The CBC also unanimously chose Clyburn as 

its chairman in that Congress, making him just the second southerner to lead the 

group.10 At the start of the 108th Congress (2003–2005), Clyburn’s Democratic 

colleagues elected him Vice Chairman of the Democratic Caucus. He served in that 

post until he was elected Chairman of the Democratic Caucus during the 109th 

Congress (2005–2007).

As a Member of the House, Representative Clyburn has focused on issues 

important to his agricultural and low income district and the African-American 

community generally. He has been a strong supporter of education, seeking 

increased federal funding for historically black colleges in his district. He opposed 

efforts to overhaul the Social Security system and to dismantle affirmative action 

programs and has advocated a higher minimum wage and universal health care 

coverage. “There is no separation between the defense of our nation and the 

nutrition for our children,” Clyburn once said. “There is no difference between 

the defense of our nation and a strong, educated work force.”11

current members H 685
Representative John Conyers is the longest-serving African American in 

congressional history. As chairman of the Judiciary Committee, Representative 

Conyers heads a panel that has oversight over the Department of Justice and the 

federal courts as well as jurisdiction over copyright, constitutional issues, consumer 

protection, and civil rights.

John Conyers, Jr., was born in Detroit, Michigan, on May 16, 1929, the eldest 

of four sons of John and Lucille (Simpson) Conyers. His father was a United Auto 

Workers representative. John, Jr., attended Detroit public schools, graduating from 

Northwestern High School in 1947. He served in the National Guard from 1948 to 

1950 before enlisting as a U.S. Army private for four years. Conyers attended officer 

candidate school and was commissioned as a second lieutenant. He was assigned 

to the Army Corps of Engineers in Korea, where he served in combat for a year. In 

1954, Conyers left active duty with an honorable discharge, serving three more years 

in the Army Reserves. In 1957, using the GI Bill’s educational benefits, Conyers 

earned a bachelor of arts degree from Wayne State University and, a year later, an 

L.L.B. from Wayne State Law School. After graduating, Conyers joined the staff of 

Michigan Representative John Dingell, Jr. From 1958 to 1961, he served as Dingell’s 

legislative assistant. After passing the Michigan bar in 1959, he cofounded the law 

firm of Conyers, Bell & Townsend. In 1961, Michigan Governor John B. Swainson 

appointed him as a referee for the Michigan workmen’s compensation department, 

and he also worked as general counsel for several labor union locals. In 1963, 

President John F. Kennedy appointed Conyers to the National Lawyers Committee 

for Civil Rights Under the Law, which promoted racial tolerance in the legal 

profession. In 1967, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference chose him as the 

recipient of the Rosa Parks Award, presented by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Conyers 

married Monica Ann Esters in June 1990. They have two sons: John III and Carl.1

H current members H John Conyers, Jr.

1929–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Michigan

1965–

Image courtesy of the Member

686 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Conyers, John, Jr.,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=C000714.

Notes

1 For more biographical information, see 

Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 534–535; Current Biography, 

1970 (New York: H. W. Wilson and 

Company, 1970): 94–95; and the 

official biography of John Conyers, Jr., 

at http://www.house.gov/conyers/news_

biography.htm (accessed 30 November 

2007).

2 Michael Powell, “The Democrats’ 

Seasoned Frontman; John Conyers, 

Sounding a Persistent Note on the 

Impeachment Inquiry,” 13 October 

1998, Washington Post: D1; Current 

Biography, 1970: 94–95.

3 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

4 Mildred Amer, “Members Who Have 

Served in the U.S. Congress 30 Years or 

More,” 7 July 2007, Report RL30370, 

Congressional Research Service, Library 

of Congress, Washington, DC. 

Conyers’s first political interests developed during the mid-1950s while he was 

a college student, when he joined the Young Democrats and served as a precinct 

official for the local Democratic Party. In late 1963, he ran for a newly reapportioned 

U.S. House seat that had been drawn from two districts that had covered Detroit. 

The new district encompassed middle- and upper-middle-class sections of the 

city, with a predominantly African-American population, and included Conyers’s 

childhood neighborhood. Local Democratic Party officials refused to support him 

in the primary, arguing that the 35-year-old was too young and lacked experience 

in elective office. Conyers ran anyway, supported by a large volunteer force at the 

precinct level. With the campaign slogan “Jobs, Justice, and Peace,” he defeated the 

party-backed candidate, Richard H. Austin, by a slim margin of 45 votes.2

 In the 

heavily Democratic district, Conyers easily won the general election with 84 percent 

of the vote. In his subsequent 20 successful re-election campaigns for his House 

seat, Conyers has never been seriously challenged, winning his general elections by 

a minimum of 82 percent of the vote. In 2006, Conyers won re-election with 85 

percent of the vote against Republican Chad Miles.3

Upon taking his seat in the House in January 1965, Conyers won a coveted 

assignment on the Judiciary Committee—becoming the first African American 

ever to serve on that panel. He has served there ever since. In 1995, Representative 

Conyers became Ranking Member and, when the Democrats regained control of 

the House in 2007, Conyers was named chairman. He has served on two other 

panels: Government Operations, from the 92nd through the 103rd Congresses 

(1971–1993), and Small Business (1987–1993). Conyers chaired the Government 

Operations Committee from 1989 until early 1995, when the Republicans won 

control of the House. He is one of only a handful of black Members of Congress 

to chair multiple standing committees.

Representative Conyers played a leading role in the passage of major legislation 

during his four-decade career. Among the measures he helped pass are the Help 

America Vote Act (2002), the Violence Against Women Act (1994), the Motor 

Voter Bill (1993), the Jazz Preservation Act (1987), and the Martin Luther King, Jr., 

Holiday Act (1983). He was one of the 13 founding Members of the Congressional 

Black Caucus. At the start of the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Representative 

Conyers began his 42nd year of House service, making him the second-longestserving House Member (behind fellow Michigan Representative John Dingell, Jr.) 

and one of the 25 longest-serving Members in congressional history.4

current members H 687
Elijah E. Cummings, a Baltimore native, has represented his hometown in public 

office for three decades. A seven-term veteran of the U.S. House of Representatives, 

Representative Cummings has been an advocate for issues affecting his predominantly 

African-American district. He gained national prominence as chairman of the 

Congressional Black Caucus in the 108th Congress (2003–2005), and in the 110th 

Congress (2007–2009) he is chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure 

Committee’s Subcommittee on Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation.

Elijah Eugene Cummings was born on January 18, 1951, in Baltimore, 

Maryland. He was one of seven children of Robert and Ruth Cummings.1

 He 

graduated from Baltimore City College High School in 1969 and went on to 

Howard University, where, as a member of Phi Beta Kappa, he earned a bachelor’s 

degree in political science in 1973. At Howard, Cummings served as the sophomore 

class president and as the student government president. In 1976, he graduated 

with a J.D. degree from the University of Maryland School of Law. He founded his 

own law firm in Baltimore shortly after graduation—a practice he would continue 

until being elected to Congress two decades later. Cummings first entered public 

office when he won election to the Maryland house of delegates in 1982, where he 

served for 14 years. He represented a predominantly African-American district in 

southern West Baltimore. He served as vice chairman of both the constitutional and 

administrative law committee and the economic matters committee. In the state 

legislature, Cummings chaired the legislative black caucus and eventually became 

the first African American in Maryland history to be named speaker pro tempore—

the house of delegates’ second-highest position. 

When five-term Representative Kweisi Mfume resigned from his Baltimore, 

Maryland-based seat in February 1996, Cummings entered the race to succeed the 

incumbent. The district was a crescent shaped area extending from poor and affluent 

H current members H Elijah E. Cummings

1951–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Maryland

1996–

Image courtesy of the Member

688 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Cummings, Elijah Eugene,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=C000984.

Notes

1 “Elijah E. Cummings,” Contemporary 

Black Biography, Volume 24 (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Group, 2000).

2 Rachel Van Dongen, “The Next Special: 

To Succeed Mfume, Cummings 

Looks Like Frontrunner,” 22 February 

1996, Roll Call; Paul W. Valentine, 

“32 Hopefuls Seek Mfume Post,” 25 

February 1996, Washington Post: B5;

Todd Spangler, “Maryland Lawmaker, 

Dental Technician Nominated for 

Mfume Seat,” 6 March 1996, Associated 

Press.

3 Paul W. Valentine, “Welcome to Capitol 

Hill; Freshman Congressman Laments 

Effort Spent on Partisan Bickering,” 24 

April 1997, Washington Post: M1.

4 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

5 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 473.

areas in the center of Baltimore through a number of poor black communities on the 

western side of the city. It also encompassed the middle-class towns of Catonsville 

and Randallstown. Since 1971, the district had been represented by an African 

American, beginning with Representative Parren Mitchell, Maryland’s first black 

Member of Congress. Despite the fact that 26 other candidates entered the crowded 

Democratic primary, Cummings’s status in the state house of delegates, his ties to 

the community, and key endorsements by local politicians and the Baltimore Sun

and the Baltimore Afro-American newspapers quickly made him a favorite. He won 

the primary with 37 percent of the vote, defeating his nearest rival by 13 percentage 

points.2

 He easily won election against Republican Kenneth Kondner in the April 

16 special election, garnering 81 percent of the vote. Cummings later said that 

he hoped “to be the voice of those people who put their faith and trust in me. 

Hopefully, I will build a record . . . that reflects that goal.”3

 In his subsequent six reelection campaigns, Cummings was never seriously challenged, winning 73 percent 

or more of the vote in the general elections. In his 2006 re-election campaign, 

Cummings faced no party-endorsed competition in the general election.4

When Representative Cummings was sworn in to office in April 1996, he was 

assigned to the Government Reform and Oversight Committee (later renamed 

Oversight and Government Reform) and the Transportation and Infrastructure 

Committee. He has served on both panels during his entire congressional 

tenure. He also serves on the Committee on Armed Services and the Joint 

Economic Committee.5

During the 110th Congress, Representative Cummings has sponsored initiatives 

to improve homeland security, increase access to college, promote access to quality, 

affordable health care, provide seniors with affordable prescription drugs, and ensure 

a high quality of life for veterans. He is also committed to ensuring that every child 

has access to a quality education, specifically through the reauthorization and full 

funding of the No Child Left Behind Act.

Representative Cummings serves on numerous boards and commissions. He 

is spearheading an effort to strengthen the maritime curriculum at the Maritime 

Academy in Baltimore. He also serves on the U.S. Naval Academy Board of Visitors, 

the Morgan State University Board of Regents, the Maryland Zoo Board of Trustees, 

the Baltimore Aquarium Board of Trustees, the Baltimore Area Council of the Boy 

Scouts of America Board of Directors, and the Yale-Howard Nursing Partnership 

Center to Reduce Health Disparities by Self and Family Management Advisory 

Committee. He is an active member of New Psalmist Baptist Church.

current members H 689
Hailing from a poor Montgomery, Alabama, neighborhood, Artur Davis used his 

academic prowess to earn two Harvard degrees and to launch a political career that 

brought him to the U.S. House of Representatives. Elected in 2002, Davis has built 

a reputation as an advocate for economic opportunities for low-income Americans 

and as a House Member who is attuned to the needs of his constituents.1

Artur Davis was born on October 9, 1967, in Montgomery, Alabama. He was 

raised in the poor west end of Montgomery by his mother, a schoolteacher, and his 

grandmother after his parents divorced when he was young. He attended the city 

public schools, graduating from Jefferson Davis High School. In 1990, Davis earned 

a B.A. magna cum laude from Harvard University, and three years later he graduated 

with a J.D. from Harvard Law School. Davis immediately began positioning himself 

for a career in politics. He clerked for Judge Myron Thompson—one of the first 

African-American judges appointed in the Middle District of Alabama. Appointed 

an Assistant U.S. Attorney in the same district in 1994, Davis served in that capacity 

until 1998, when he left to make his first run for Congress. Davis is not married.

In the 2000 election campaign, Davis challenged five-term incumbent Earl 

F. Hilliard in the Democratic primary for a district that represented portions of 

Birmingham and Tuscaloosa as well as low-income agricultural counties in westcentral Alabama that were part of the “Black Belt,” so called for its dark, productive 

soils. Hilliard prevailed with a 58 percent majority.2 Two years later, however, 

Hilliard ran into political trouble over perceptions of his lack of influence in the 

House and criticisms by pro-Israel groups that he favored the Palestinian cause.3

Davis again challenged Hilliard in the Democratic primary, this time with support 

from the mayors of Birmingham and Selma. In a three-way contest, Hilliard failed 

to win an outright majority. In the runoff, Davis claimed 56 percent of the vote. In 

H current members H Artur Davis

1967–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Alabama

20 03–

Image courtesy of the Member

690 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Davis, Artur,” Biographical Directory of 

the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=D000602.

Notes

1 Jeffrey McMurray, “Davis Vows to 

Be ‘Executive’ Advocate for Poor 

Constituents,” 1 December 2002, 

Associated Press.

2 Almanac of American Politics, 2002 

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 2001): 77.

3 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 20.

4 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

5 “Biography, Congressman Artur Davis,” 

http://www.house.gov/arturdavis/

biography.shtml (accessed 31 October 

2007).

6 “Can You Spot the Future Majority 

Leader? The Hill Queries Nine 

Freshmen on Their Priorities and 

Expectations,” 13 November 2002, The 

Hill: 18.

7 “Can You Spot the Future Majority 

Leader?”; Politics in America, 2008: 20; 

“Official Biography of Artur Davis,” 

http://www.house.gov/arturdavis 

(accessed 16 February 2006).

8 Politics in America, 2008: 19.

9 McMurray, “Davis Vows to be 

‘Executive’ Advocate for Poor 

Constituents.”

10 “Official Biography of Artur Davis”; 

Politics in America, 2006: 19.

the general election, running against a Libertarian candidate, Davis commanded a 

92 percent majority. In his subsequent re-election campaigns, Davis won handily, 

garnering 75 percent in 2004 and facing no major party opposition in 2006.4

When Davis claimed his seat in the 108th Congress (2003–2005), he received 

assignments on the prestigious Budget and Financial Services committees. In the 

109th Congress (2005–2007), Representative Davis was appointed a member 

of the Senior Whip Team for the Democratic Caucus. In the 110th Congress 

(2007–2009), Davis left the Budget and Financial Services committees to serve 

on two plum committees: Judiciary and Ways and Means. He also is a member 

of the Committee on House Administration and the Democratic Steering and 

Policy Committee.5

As a Representative-elect, Davis described his legislative agenda as focused on the 

“fundamentals”: schools, medical care, and transportation infrastructure.6 Like many 

freshman Members, Davis committed himself to constituent services, assembling a 

professional staff that ran five district offices and was eight times larger than the staff 

of his predecessor.7

As a House Member, Davis earned a reputation as being liberal on economic 

legislation and moderately conservative on controversial social issues.8

 Davis has 

voted with a minority of Democrats to ban partial birth abortion and human 

cloning; he also supports a constitutional amendment to ban gay marriage. On 

issues of economic equality for Black Americans, Davis votes with his colleagues 

in the Congressional Black Caucus. “I think I’ve always been able to overcome 

obstacles, overcome odds,” Davis said, shortly after winning his first election to the 

U.S. House. “That’s why I refuse to accept [that] the Black Belt has to lag behind the 

rest of our state.”9

The U.S. Census Bureau listed five of the 12 counties in Davis’s district as being 

among the 100 poorest in the country. Much of his agenda focuses on improving 

and expanding economic and educational opportunities for his constituents. During 

his freshman term, Davis successfully led an effort to restore funding for minority 

land grant colleges—including Tuskegee University—which had been cut in the 

annual budget. In the 109th Congress, he restored funding for HOPE VI, a program 

for renovating public housing, by convincing a large number of Republicans to cross 

the aisle and vote for his measure. Representative Davis worked with Representative 

Charles Rangel of New York to expand the child tax credit for poor families. Davis 

also was the lead Democratic sponsor of a bill to establish a national cord blood 

bank that will help provide blood transfusions to patients suffering from diseases 

such as sickle cell anemia and diabetes.10

current members H 691
Danny K. Davis was chosen by the people of the 7th Congressional District 

of Illinois as their Representative in Congress on November 5, 1996. He has been 

re-elected by large majorities to succeeding Congresses, most recently to the 110th 

Congress on November 7, 2006.

In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Representative Davis serves on the 

Committee on Oversight and Government Reform and the Committee on 

Education and Labor. Representative Davis is also a member of the Congressional 

Black Caucus, the Progressive Caucus, the India Caucus, the Steel Caucus, the 

Arts Caucus, the Hellenic Caucus, and the Community Health Centers Caucus.

Representative Davis has distinguished himself as an articulate voice for his 

constituents and as an effective legislator able to move major bills to passage despite 

his relative lack of seniority. In the 109th Congress (2005–2007), Davis introduced 

the Second Chance Act, legislation to facilitate the return of ex-offenders to the 

community at large.

Davis has developed a unique and energetic style of communication and 

interaction with his constituents, setting up dozens of advisory task forces to 

consider significant questions of public policy. He hosts several weekly television 

and radio shows that feature audience call-in and distributes regular written reports 

to every household in his district. In addition, he maintains weekly office hours 

in the district, is widely sought after as a speaker at district events, and sponsors 

more than 40 town hall meetings each year.

Prior to his election to the Congress, he served on the Cook County board of 

commissioners, having been elected in November 1990 and re-elected in November 

1994. Previously, he served for 11 years as a member of the Chicago city council 

as alderman of the 29th Ward.

H current members H Danny K. Davis

1941–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Illinois

1997–

Image courtesy of the Member

692 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Davis, Danny K.,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=D000096. 

Before seeking public office, Representative Davis had productive careers as an 

educator, a community organizer, a health planner/administrator and a civil rights 

advocate. He has received hundreds of awards and citations for outstanding work 

in the areas of health, education, human relations, politics, and advocacy. He has 

traveled extensively throughout the United States and has spent time in Africa, 

Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and in South and Central America.

Representative Davis is noted for his volunteer and political work. He has served 

as founder/president of the Westside Association for Community Action, and 

president of the National Association of Community Health Centers, and was 

a member of the Harold Washington Campaign Committee and Transition 

Team in 1983, and a co-chair of the Clinton/Gore/Braun campaigns in 1992. 

He has also been an officer and a member of many other civic, professional, and 

social organizations.

Born in Parkdale, Arkansas, on September 6, 1941, Representative Davis moved 

to the west side of Chicago in 1961, after having earned a bachelor of arts degree 

from Arkansas A.M. & N. College. He subsequently earned master’s and doctoral 

degrees, respectively, from Chicago State University and the Union Institute in 

Cincinnati, Ohio.

He is married to Vera G. Davis and has two sons, Jonathan and Stacey. He is a 

member and deacon of the New Galilee M.B. Church. Davis is a public servant, an 

elected official and politician whose primary concern is truly the public interest.

current members H 693
A Philadelphia native, Chaka Fattah has represented a U.S. House district 

covering large sections of the northern and western parts of the city for seven terms. 

Fattah served 12 years in the Pennsylvania state legislature before winning his 

first House election in 1994. “I hope my accomplishment, my achievement, will 

be in legislation, not in how high a position I reached,” Fattah, a member of the 

influential Appropriations Committee, once explained. “It wouldn’t matter to me 

what position I had if I got two or three bills passed. Very few people actually drive 

the policy machine. I want to be one of those people.”1

Chaka Fattah was born Arthur Davenport on November 21, 1956, in 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the fourth of six sons of Russell and Frances Davenport. 

His father was a U.S. Army sergeant, and his mother was an editor at the 

Philadelphia Tribune, the oldest black newspaper in America, and served as vice 

president of the Philadelphia Council of Neighborhood Organizations. His parents 

divorced when he was young, and Fattah’s mother remarried. She renamed her son 

Chaka, after an African Zulu warrior. Her social activism shaped Fattah’s political 

development. “I grew up in a home where being involved in community life was a 

norm,” Fattah recalled.2

 Fattah attended the Community College of Philadelphia 

and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. In 1986, he graduated with 

an M.A. in government administration from the University of Pennsylvania’s 

Fels School of State and Local Government. Fattah held several community 

development positions before making his first bid for elective office in 1982. He 

unseated a Democratic incumbent by 58 votes to win a seat in the Pennsylvania 

house of representatives. At age 25, he was one of the youngest people ever to serve 

in the state legislature. In 1988, Fattah won a seat in the Pennsylvania senate.3

 As 

a freshman senator, Fattah chaired the education committee. Fattah is married to 

Renee Chenault-Fattah, and they have four children.

H current members H Chaka Fattah

1956–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Pennsylvania

1995–

Image courtesy of the Member

694 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Fattah, Chaka,” Biographical Directory of 

the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=F000043.

Fenno, Richard F. Going Home: Black 

Representatives and Their Constituents

(Chicago: University Press of Chicago, 

2002): 114–177.

Notes

1 Richard Fenno, Going Home: Black 

Representatives and Their Constituents 

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

2002): 120.

2 Fenno, Going Home: 117, 119.

3 “Chaka Fattah,” Contemporary Black 

Biography, Volume 11 (Detroit, MI: 

Gale Publishing Inc., 1996).

4 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

5 “About Congressman Chaka Fattah,” 

http://www.house.gov/fattah/about/

about.htm (accessed 28 November 

2007).

6 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 872–873; “About Congressman 

Chaka Fattah.”

7 Politics in America, 2006: 872; “About 

Congressman Chaka Fattah.”

Fattah made his first bid for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1991, when 

Representative William H. Gray III retired from a seat that covered large areas of 

Center City Philadelphia, West Philadelphia, Chestnut Hill, and the University 

of Pennsylvania. In the special election to succeed Gray, City Councilman Lucien 

Blackwell received the Democratic nomination, and Fattah ran under the Consumer 

Party banner. Blackwell won with 39 percent of the vote to Fattah’s 28 percent. In 

1994, Fattah again challenged Blackwell in the Democratic primary and prevailed 

with 58 percent of the vote. In the heavily Democratic and majority-black district, 

he won the general election with 86 percent of the vote. In his subsequent six reelection campaigns, Fattah has won easily—most recently with 89 percent of the 

vote in the 2006 election.4

Since entering Congress in 1995, Fattah has held seats on several committees, 

including Economic and Educational Opportunities (later renamed Government 

Reform), Government Reform and Oversight (later renamed Education and Labor), 

Small Business, the Standards of Official Conduct, House Administration, the 

Joint Committee on Printing, and Appropriations. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has 

appointed Representative Chaka Fattah Chairman of the Urban Caucus. The caucus 

brings together House Members who represent the nation’s largest metropolitan 

areas to formulate ideas on how to best address the challenges faced in America’s 

urban communities. 

In Congress, Representative Fattah has focused on issues of access to a quality 

education. His biggest legislative success came in 1998 when he won congressional 

backing for GEAR UP (Gaining Early Awareness and Readiness for Undergraduate 

Programs), a federally funded measure to prepare low-income students to enter 

college and excel. To date, more than $2 billion has been appropriated for the 

program, which is available to millions of students.5

 Representative Fattah developed 

the College Retention Program, which gives low-income students access to lowinterest loans and work study programs. In the 109th Congress (2005–2007), Fattah 

introduced his Student Bill of Rights Act, requiring each state to certify with the 

U.S. Secretary of Education that its public school system provides students with 

equal access to resources and qualified teachers.6

Fattah also has proposed legislation drawing from his background in housing 

reform and urban renewal projects. He has championed a plan to allow homeowners 

a two-year grace period from defaulting on mortgages because of unforeseen 

circumstances. His Transform America Transaction Fee proposal calls for the 

elimination of all federal taxes on individuals and businesses—and their replacement 

with a revenue system based on transaction fees.7

current members H 695
In 2005, Judge Al Green took the congressional oath of office to serve the people 

of Texas’s new 9th Congressional District and began his first term in the United 

States House of Representatives. As a Houston judge and lawyer, and the Houston 

National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) branch 

president, he has dedicated most of his life to fighting for those in society whose 

voices are too often unheard, taken for granted, or simply ignored.

Born in New Orleans, Louisiana, Representative Green learned the importance 

of education from his parents and extended family, who instilled within him the 

drive and determination to succeed in spite of obstacles. After graduating from 

Chactawhatchee High School, he attended Florida A&M University and Tuskegee 

Institute of Technology. Although he did not acquire an undergraduate degree, he 

entered law school. In 1974, Representative Green earned his law degree from the 

Thurgood Marshall School of Law at Texas Southern University, where he later 

served as an instructor.

Upon graduating from law school, Green cofounded and co-managed the law 

firm of Green, Wilson, Dewberry and Fitch. In 1977, he was appointed judge of a 

Harris County justice court, where he served for 26 years before retiring in 2004.

Throughout his career, Green has earned the respect of his colleagues and a wide 

cross section of community leaders. He has been recognized for his superior legal 

skills, impeccable character, and innate ability to communicate skillfully with people 

from diverse backgrounds.

For nearly 10 years, Green served as president of the Houston branch of the 

NAACP. Under his leadership, the organization grew to unprecedented heights, 

acquiring property and increasing its membership from a few hundred to thousands. 

H current members H Al Green

1947–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Texas

20 05– 

Image courtesy of the Member

696 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Green, Al,” Biographical Directory of 

the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=G000553. 

Representative Green would become known as an unwavering defender of equality 

and a champion of justice for all. During his tenure, he oversaw the purchase 

and renovation of two buildings that would serve as the Houston NAACP’s 

headquarters. In an effort to ensure that all Houstonians could participate in 

their economy, Green created the Houston Fair Share Program, which encourages 

corporations to join with minority firms in joint ventures and to hire minority 

vendors. He also cofounded the Black and Brown Coalition with Judge Armando 

Rodriguez to bring together Houston’s African-American and Latino communities 

to work on issues of common interest. 

During his first term as a Member of the 109th Congress (2005–2007), 

Representative Green acquired a seat on the Financial Services Committee. He has 

remained an active member of that committee in the 110th Congress (2007–2009), 

serving on the Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit 

as well as the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity. In the 

109th Congress, he also acquired a seat on the Science Committee (later renamed 

Science and Technology), serving on the Space and Aeronautics Subcommittee— 

a key appointment considering the proximity of the 9th District to the National 

Aeronautics and Space Administration Johnson Space Flight Center. In the 110th 

Congress, Representative Green left the Science and Technology Committee to 

take a spot on the Homeland Security Committee. He sits on the Subcommittee 

on Border, Maritime, and Global Counterterrorism and the Subcommittee on 

Emerging Threats, Cybersecurity, and Science and Technology.

Green’s chief legislative priorities for his second term in office are creating 

a federal living wage; reducing chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear 

threats; eliminating policies and practices that have historically victimized low- and 

moderate-income communities; and increasing the availability of affordable housing 

to ensure that every American can realize the dream of having a place to call home.

While working on current priorities, Representative Green maintains his focus 

on his compelling goals of eliminating poverty, expanding economic opportunities, 

protecting Social Security, providing affordable health care, perfecting national 

security, improving education, and promoting world peace.

Representative Green was elected Whip of Region VI and serves as the Housing 

Task Force Chair for CAPAC, the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus. 

current members H 697
The son of domestic workers, Alcee L. Hastings became Florida’s first AfricanAmerican federal judge and, in 1992, one of the first handful of blacks to represent 

the state in the U.S. Congress in the 20th century. An eight-term veteran of the 

House, Representative Hastings holds high-ranking positions on both the Permanent 

Select Committee on Intelligence and the Rules Committee.

Alcee Lamar Hastings, son of Julius C. and Mildred L. Hastings, was born in 

Altamonte Springs, Florida, on September 5, 1936. His parents were domestic 

servants who eventually left the state to take jobs to pay for his education. Hastings, 

who lived with his maternal grandmother, graduated from Crooms Academy in 

Sanford, Florida, in 1953. He earned a bachelor of arts degree in zoology and botany 

from Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1958 and later attended Howard 

University School of Law in Washington, DC. In 1963, Hastings graduated with 

a J.D. from Florida Agricultural & Mechanical University in Tallahassee. In 1964, 

he was admitted to the Florida bar, and he practiced as a civil rights attorney for 

the next 13 years. Hastings is twice-divorced, with three children: Alcee Lamar III, 

Chelsea, and Leigh. From 1977 to 1979, Hastings served as a circuit court judge in 

Broward County, Florida. In 1979, President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter appointed 

Hastings to a U.S. District Court seat in Miami, making him the first black federal 

judge in Florida history.1

In 1992, when court-ordered reapportionment created a U.S. congressional 

district that was 44-percent black, covering large portions of Broward County, 

including West Palm Beach and western Fort Lauderdale, Hastings entered the 

Democratic primary for the seat. In a close race in September 1992, Hastings placed 

second in a five-candidate primary behind Florida State Representative Lois Frankel, 

although he managed to force a runoff.2

 Hastings defeated Frankel with 58 percent 

H current members H Alcee Hastings

1936–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Florida

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

698 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Hastings, Alcee Lamar,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=H000324.

Notes

1 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 269–270. 

2 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

1993): 384–385. 

3 Politics in America, 1994: 384. 

4 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

5 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present.”

6 “United States Representative Alcee L. 

Hastings,” http://www.alceehastings.

house.gov/index.php?option=com_c

ontent&task=view&id=60&Itemid

=68 (accessed 28 Novemer 2007); 

“Committee Assignments,” http://

www.alceehastings.house.gov/index.

php?option=com_content&task=vie

w&id=101&Itemid=50 (accessed 28 

November 2007).

7 Politics in America, 2006: 269–270; 

“Official Biography of Alcee L. 

Hastings,” http://alceehastings.house.

gov/biography (accessed 28 August 

2006).

of the vote in the October 1 runoff.3 The primary victory in the heavily Democratic 

district virtually assured Hastings a seat in the U.S. House. In the November general 

election, he defeated Republican candidate Ed Fielding, a real estate salesman, with 

58 percent of the vote.4

 Along with newly elected Representatives Carrie Meek and 

Corrine Brown, Hastings became one of the first African Americans elected to the 

U.S. Congress from Florida since the Reconstruction Era. In his subsequent seven reelection campaigns, Hastings has won with majorities of 73 percent or more. On four 

occasions—1994, 1998, 2004, and 2006—he was unopposed in the general election.5

When Hastings entered the House in January 1993, he received assignments 

on three committees: Foreign Affairs, Merchant Marine and Fisheries, and Post 

Office and Civil Service. He served on Foreign Affairs (later renamed International 

Relations) through the 107th Congress (2001–2003). When Merchant Marine and 

Fisheries and Post Office and Civil Service were disbanded in the 104th Congress 

(1995–1997), he was reassigned to the Science Committee, where he served 

through the 105th Congress (1997–1999). In the 106th Congress (1999–2001), 

Hastings earned a seat on the House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence, 

where he eventually served as vice chairman of the full committee and two of its 

subcommittees before leaving the panel at the end of 2007. During the 107th 

Congress, Hastings served as vice chairman of the Democratic Caucus’s Special 

Committee on Election Reform, a panel assigned to investigate voting discrepancies 

in the 2000 election. In the following Congress, he won a seat on the powerful Rules 

Committee, which directs legislation onto the House Floor. He currently serves 

as chairman of the Rules Committee’s Subcommittee on Legislative and Budget 

Process. Hastings also serves as a Senior Democratic Whip.6

Widely regarded as a charismatic orator, Representative Hastings is a leading 

voice for liberal causes in the House. But his seats on the Rules and Permanent 

Select Intelligence committees also provide him a platform from which he can 

cultivate legislation important to his district and to minorities nationally. Hastings’s 

legislative interests center on fostering educational and economic opportunities 

for his constituency, including federal funding for Head Start programs, Medicare, 

and job training and re-education for displaced workers. He has advocated tax 

incentives to spur small business development. On the Intelligence Committee, 

Representative Hastings has prodded U.S. intelligence agencies to recruit more 

minorities and women, and he successfully included a provision in the 2004 

intelligence authorization bill to create a pilot program to achieve that end. Hastings 

also is one of the institution’s experts on overseas elections and serves as chairman 

of the U.S. Helsinki Commission and is a member of the Organization for Security 

Cooperation in Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly.7

current members H 699
The son of one of the foremost civil rights activists of the 20th century, Jesse 

Jackson, Jr., won his first campaign for elective office when he prevailed in a special 

election to represent a U.S. House district that stretched across South Chicago 

and outlying communities. From his seat on the powerful House Appropriations 

Committee, Jackson has focused on improving the economy of his largely 

suburban district and attending to key national issues such as voting reform 

and health disparities. 

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., was born in Greenville, South Carolina, on March 11, 

1965, the second of five children of Jesse, a civil rights activist, and Jacqueline Davis 

Jackson. He attended Le Mans Academy, a private military preparatory school, 

and graduated high school from St. Albans School in Washington, DC. Jackson 

graduated in 1987 with a bachelor of science degree in business management 

from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University. Two years later, 

he earned an M.A. in theology from the Chicago Theological Seminary. In 1993, 

he completed his J.D. at the University of Illinois–Chicago College of Law. After 

earning his law degree, Jackson served two years as national field director of the 

Rainbow Coalition, a political organization founded by his father. Jackson’s wife, 

Sandi, whom he married in 1991, currently serves as an alderman for Chicago’s 7th 

Ward. The couple have two children: Jessica Donatella and Jesse L. Jackson III.1

In 1995, Jackson announced his intention to run for the U. S. House seat 

vacated by incumbent Representative Mel Reynolds of Illinois. The district, which 

included much of Chicago’s South Side and a swath of suburbs toward the south, 

was 69 percent black according to the 1990 Census. It was economically diverse, 

with rich and poor neighborhoods, abandoned steel mills, and tract suburban 

housing.2

 Jackson won the Democratic special primary on November 29, 1995, 

H current members H Jesse Jackson, Jr.

1965–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Illinois 

1995– 

Image courtesy of the Member

700 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Jackson, Jesse L., Jr.,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=J000283. 

Notes

1 “Official Biography of Representative 

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr.” http://www.house.

gov/jackson/Bio.shtml (accessed 27 June 

2007).

2 Don Terry, “In House Election, 

A Familiar Name,” 24 November 

1995, New York Times: A20; Politics 

in America, 1994 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc., 1993): 

457–458.

3 Benjamin Sheffner, “His Last Name 

Proves Golden for Jesse Jackson Jr., 

Who Wins Big in Special Primary for 

Reynolds Seat,” 30 November 1995, 

Roll Call.

4 Dirk Johnson, “Victory His, Jesse 

Jackson Jr. Heads to Congress,” 14 

December 1995, New York Times: 

B17; “Jesse Jackson, Jr. Sworn in as 

House Member,” 15 December 1995, 

New York Times: A38; Mitchell Locin, 

“GOP Won’t Challenge Jackson in 2nd 

District,” 6 September 1996, Chicago 

Tribune: 1.

5 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

with 48 percent of the vote, against Emil Jones and Alice Palmer, Illinois state 

senators.3

 In the special election on December 13, 1995, Jackson defeated his 

Republican opponent, former Chicago Heights police officer Thomas Somer, 

by a nearly three-to-one margin. Jackson was sworn in the following day, 

as Representative Sidney Yates from a nearby North Side Chicago district— 

then the longest-serving Member of the House—introduced him on the 

floor.4

 In his six re-election bids, Jackson has never been seriously challenged, 

winning majorities of between 89 and 94 percent of the vote.5

Jackson received an assignment on the Banking and Financial Services 

Committee when he joined the 104th Congress (1995–1997). In the 105th 

Congress (1997–1999), Jackson received an additional post on the Small Business 

Committee. In the 106th Congress (1999–2001), he left both panels after securing 

an exclusive post on the Appropriations Committee, which originates all federal 

spending bills. During the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Representative Jackson 

serves as the second-ranking Democrat on the Subcommittee on State, Foreign 

Operations, and Related Programs and the fourth-ranking Democrat on the 

Subcommittee on Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related 

Agencies. He also serves on the Subcommittee on Agriculture, Rural Development, 

Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies.

Every Congress, Representative Jackson introduces several constitutional 

amendments for the right to vote, the right to a high quality education, and the 

right to high quality health care. He also wrote the legislation that will place a statue 

of civil rights pioneer Rosa Parks in National Statuary Hall in the Capitol. From his 

seat on the Appropriations Committee, Representative Jackson was the driving force 

in increasing the funding for the Minority HIV/AIDS initiative from $166 million 

in 1998 to more than $400 million currently, and he has consistently led the fight to 

increase funding for historically black schools for medical and health professions. He 

also directed the effort to create the National Center on Minority Health and Health 

Disparities at the National Institutes of Health in 2001. 

Representative Jackson has also been successful in obtaining humanitarian aid for 

sub-Saharan African countries, securing $500 million in emergency humanitarian 

and peacekeeping assistance for the Darfur region of Sudan in 2005 and $50 million 

in emergency humanitarian assistance for Liberia in 2006. For his district, Jackson 

has secured hundreds of millions of dollars for job training, health care, education, 

transportation and infrastructure projects, and has championed the construction of a 

third Chicago-area airport south of his district to foster economic development.

current members H 701
Sheila Jackson Lee won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994 in 

a Houston district once served by Barbara Jordan. From her seats on the Judiciary, 

Homeland Security, and Foreign Affairs committees, Representative Jackson Lee has 

focused on the needs of her district. She also has called attention to such national 

issues as bolstering the protection of our homeland while preserving civil liberties, 

health care, and job training for working-class Americans. 

Sheila Jackson was born in Queens, New York, on January 12, 1950. Her mother 

was a nurse, and her father was a comic book illustrator. Jackson graduated from 

Jamaica High School and attended New York University. In 1969, she transferred 

with the first group of female undergraduates admitted to Yale College and 

graduated in 1972 with a B.A. in political science. Before receiving her J.D. from 

the University of Virginia School of Law in 1975, Sheila Jackson married fellow Yale 

graduate Elwyn Cornelius Lee in 1973; they raised two children, Erica and Jason. In 

1977 and 1978, she worked as a staff counsel for the U.S. House Select Committee 

on Assassinations, which investigated the murders of Martin Luther King, Jr., and 

President John F. Kennedy. She left private law practice in 1987 to serve as an 

associate judge in the Houston municipal courts. Three years later, she won election 

to the first of two terms as an at-large member of the Houston city council.

In 1994, Jackson Lee challenged incumbent Craig Washington for the 

Democratic nomination to the Houston-area U.S. House seat. Her platform 

reflected broad agreement with the William J. (Bill) Clinton administration 

agenda. Promoting measures that would benefit the Houston economy, Jackson 

Lee defeated her opponent, with 63 percent of the vote, in the primary. She won 

handily with a 73 percent majority in the general election. In her subsequent six 

re-elections, Jackson Lee won easily, capturing a high of 90 percent in 1998. Jackson 

Lee followed a succession of prestigious Representatives from her district, including 

Jordan and noted humanitarian George (Mickey) Leland. Created after the 1970 

Census, Jackson Lee’s district was the first in Texas in which African Americans and 

Hispanics constituted the majority of voters. 

H current members H Sheila Jackson Lee

1950–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Texas

1995–

Image courtesy of the Member

702 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Jackson Lee, Sheila,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=J000032. 

When Jackson Lee took her seat in the 104th Congress (1995–1997), she 

received assignments on the Judiciary and Science (later renamed Science and 

Technology) committees. Her colleagues elected her Democratic freshman class 

president. Jackson Lee was also appointed to the Democratic Steering and Policy 

Committee. In 1997, she was selected as a Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) whip 

and thereafter as first vice chair of the CBC. By the 107th Congress (2001–2003), 

Jackson Lee was the top-ranking Democrat on the Immigration and Claims 

Subcommittee of the Judiciary Committee. In the 108th Congress (2003–2005), 

Jackson Lee was assigned to the Homeland Security Committee, where in the 110th 

Congress (2007–2009) she chairs the Subcommittee on Transportation Security and 

Infrastructure Protection. In 2007, Jackson Lee coauthored and ensured the passage 

of the Rail and Public Transportation Security Act, which authorized more than 

$5 billion to overhaul security for U.S. railroads, mass transit, and buses. In the 

110th Congress, she also left the Science and Technology Committee for a seat 

on the Foreign Affairs Committee.

In Congress, Jackson Lee battled GOP initiatives to reduce welfare. In the 105th 

Congress (1997–1999), she pushed for legislation to protect child support and 

alimony payments from creditors. As a cofounder of the Congressional Children’s 

Caucus, she also sponsored bills to create affordable childcare for working parents 

and to strengthen adoption laws. Jackson Lee spearheaded efforts to reduce teenage 

smoking addiction and authored the “Date Rape Drug Prevention Act” to curb 

the availability of substances used by rapists. She also strongly defended affirmative 

action programs. From her seat on the Science Committee, Jackson Lee sought to 

restore appropriations for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration 

in 1999, and also supported extending provisions in a 1998 bill to grow the 

commercial space launch industry. She persuaded the Clinton administration to 

make low-income Houston neighborhoods eligible for federal grants for economic 

development, job training, childcare facilities, and improved transportation. Jackson 

Lee also coauthored and helped pass the historic Notification of Federal Employees 

Anti-Discrimination and Retaliation (“No Fear”) Act. Described as the first civil 

rights act of the 21st century, the measure protects federal workers, and especially 

whistleblowers, from acts of discrimination and retaliation. 

Jackson Lee maintained that such advocacy was part of her job representing 

constituents. “You have an obligation to make sure that their concerns are heard, are 

answered,” she explained. “I need to make a difference. I don’t have wealth to write 

a check. But maybe I can be a voice arguing consistently for change.”

current members H 703
When William Jefferson won election to the U.S. House in 1990 from a New 

Orleans-centered district, he became the first African American to represent the 

state of Louisiana since Reconstruction. Jefferson, who had more than a decade 

of experience in the Louisiana state senate, specialized in economic matters and 

eventually earned a seat on the influential Ways and Means Committee.

William Jennings Jefferson was born on March 14, 1947, in Lake Providence, 

Louisiana. Jefferson grew up in poverty in a family of 10 children in the far 

northeastern part of the state. In 1969, he graduated from Southern University 

Agricultural and Mechanical College with a B.A. degree. Three years later, on 

scholarship, he earned a J.D. from Harvard Law School. In 1996, Jefferson earned a 

Master of Laws in taxation from Georgetown University. After law school, he served 

for a year as a law clerk for veteran U.S. District Court Judge Alvin B. Rubin in 

New Orleans. From 1973 to 1975, Jefferson then served as a legislative assistant to 

Senator J. Bennett Johnston of Louisiana. Jefferson is married to Dr. Andrea GreenJefferson, and they have raised five daughters: Jamila, Jalila, Jelani, Nailah, and 

Akilah.1

Jefferson entered elective politics in the late 1970s, when he defeated a white 

incumbent for a Louisiana senate seat that covered the affluent Uptown section 

of New Orleans. He served in Baton Rouge for 12 years, working on the finance 

committee and chairing the special budget stabilization committee, which was 

created to rein in state spending and develop more accurate revenue projections. 

He also chaired the influential governmental affairs committee, which had oversight 

of reapportionment.2

 In 1982 and 1986, Jefferson was an unsuccessful candidate 

for mayor of New Orleans.

In 1990, when 17-year House veteran Corinne C. (Lindy) Boggs announced her 

retirement, Jefferson entered a crowded field to succeed her. The district covered 

much of New Orleans proper, the wealthy Uptown section, Algiers on the west bank 

H current members H William J. Jefferson

1947–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Louisiana

1991–

Image courtesy of the Member

704 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Jefferson, William Jennings,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=J000070.

Notes

1 “Official Biography of William J. 

Jefferson,” http://www.house.gov/

jefferson/biography.shtml (accessed 

2 November 2007).

2 Politics in America, 1994 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

1993): 644. 

3 Almanac of American Politics, 1992

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 1991): 513.

4 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

5 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 435; “Official Biography of 

William J. Jefferson.”

6 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

of the Mississippi River, and the sprawling Kenner suburbs on the city’s west side. In 

1983, court-ordered redistricting made it the state’s first majority-black district and, 

by 1990, Representative Boggs was the last white Representative in the country to 

represent a majority black-district. Jefferson was one of four principal contenders in 

the October open primary, which included Marc H. Morial, son of former mayor 

Dutch Morial (who served from 1978 to 1986 and the city’s first African-American 

mayor), a state senator who had been endorsed by the governor, and a prominent 

city school board member. Jefferson finished first with 25 percent of the vote, with 

Morial trailing at 22 percent.3

 In the spirited two-man November runoff, Jefferson 

prevailed with 53 percent of the vote. In his subsequent seven re-election campaigns, 

Jefferson won handily with 73 percent of the vote or more.4

When Jefferson took his seat in the House in the 102nd Congress (1991–1993), 

he earned seats on the Education and Labor and the Merchant Marine and Fisheries 

committees. In the following Congress, he relinquished those assignments for a 

coveted spot on the Ways and Means Committee. When the Republicans took 

control of the chamber for the 104th Congress (1995–1997) Jefferson lost his Ways 

and Means post and was transferred to the National Security Committee (later 

renamed Armed Services), the House Oversight Committee (later renamed House 

Administration), and the Joint Committee on Printing. In the next Congress, 

Jefferson again won an assignment to the exclusive Ways and Means Committee, 

relinquishing his prior assignments. He remained on Ways and Means until June 

2006, adding an assignment to the Budget Committee in the 109th Congress. In the 

110th Congress, Jefferson was assigned to the Small Business Committee. 

In Congress, Jefferson specializes in trade and tax issues. New Orleans is a major 

U.S. port, and trade is a primary economic engine. Jefferson has advocated trade 

opportunities in neglected markets such as Brazil and Africa. He served as co-chair 

of the Africa Trade and Investment Caucus and also chaired the Congressional 

Black Caucus Foundation board of directors. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, 

which flooded much of New Orleans and its surrounding environs in August 2005, 

Jefferson pushed for reforms to the Small Business Administration (SBA) disaster 

loan program, which was criticized in the aftermath of the storm. The House also 

passed Jefferson’s amendment to extend the deadline for minority-owned businesses 

in his district to rebuild under the SBA’s redevelopment program.5

In 2006, Jefferson was re-elected to a ninth term against Democratic challenger 

Karen Carter, with 57 percent of the vote.6

current members H 705
A nurse by training, Eddie Bernice Johnson was also a political veteran decades 

before coming to Congress in the early 1990s. In 1972, Johnson became the first 

African American to hold a Dallas-area political office since the Reconstruction 

Era, after winning election to the state legislature. Elected to the U.S. House 

of Representatives in 1992, Johnson has attained a high-ranking seat on the 

Science and Technology Committee, and a subcommittee chairmanship on the 

Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, and has chaired the Congressional 

Black Caucus (CBC) while stressing the need for minority inroads in the fields of 

science and technology.

Eddie Bernice Johnson was born in Waco, Texas, on December 3, 1935, the 

daughter of Lee Edward Johnson and Lillie Mae (White) Johnson. She graduated 

from A.J. Moore High School in Waco in 1952. In 1955, she received a nursing 

diploma from Holy Cross Central School of Nursing in South Bend, Indiana. Eddie 

Bernice Johnson married Lacey Kirk Johnson a year later. Before they divorced in 

1970, the couple had one son, Kirk. Johnson graduated in 1967 with a B.S. from 

Texas Christian University in Fort Worth. She later became the chief psychiatric 

nurse of the Veterans Administration hospital in Dallas. In 1976, Johnson earned 

an M.S. in public administration from Southern Methodist University in Dallas. 

Johnson has three grandchildren: Kirk, Jr., David, and James.

Eddie Bernice Johnson first became involved in elective politics at the state level. 

She was elected as a Democrat to the Texas state legislature in 1972, becoming the 

first African-American woman from the Dallas area ever to hold public office. As 

a member of the Texas legislature, she chaired the labor committee, becoming the 

first woman in Texas history to lead a major committee in the statehouse. In 1977, 

President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter appointed her as a regional director for the 

Department of Health, Education, and Welfare, a post she held until 1981. After 

a six-year hiatus from politics, Johnson won election to the state senate, eventually 

serving as chair of the redistricting committee.

H current members H Eddie Bernice Johnson

1935–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Texas

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

706 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Johnson, Eddie Bernice,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=J000126. 

Notes

1 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

2 “About Eddie Bernice Johnson,” http://

www.house.gov/ebjohnson/about_ebj/

index.shtml (accessed 4 December 

2007).

3 Politics in America, 2004 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2003): 1008.

Following the Texas reapportionment of 1992, Johnson ran for the newly 

created U.S. House seat, which encompassed much of the Dallas and Irving area. 

She was elected as a Democrat with 72 percent of the vote. In 1996, court-ordered 

redistricting changed the boundaries of the Texas district, reducing the percentage of 

minority voters. Nevertheless, Johnson was re-elected with 55 percent of the vote. In 

her subsequent five re-election campaigns, Johnson won comfortably. In 2006, she 

won re-election to the 110th Congress (2007–2009) with 80 percent of the vote.1

Johnson has served on two committees since her House career began in January 

1993: Transportation and Infrastructure and Science and Technology. In the 110th 

Congress, Johnson was appointed to serve as chairwoman of the Transportation 

and Infrastructure Committee’s Subcommittee on Water Resources and the 

Environment. She also serves as a senior deputy whip.2

Representative Johnson’s legislative interests have had both a local and a national 

focus. As a former nurse, Johnson has called attention to the problems facing the 

country’s health care system and Medicare program. In 2002, she voted against 

a Republican-backed prescription drug plan. She also has been a proponent of 

a bill that called for increased federal funding for research into osteoporosis, or 

bone density deficiency. From her seat on the Science and Technology Committee, 

Representative Johnson also has pushed for a program to encourage schoolchildren 

to study science and math. 

Johnson used her Transportation and Infrastructure Committee and Science 

and Technology Committee positions to look out for the economic interests of 

her district. Early in her career, Johnson supported the North American Free 

Trade Agreement, recognizing the fact that much of Dallas’s business revolves 

around exports to Mexico. She later voted for normalizing trade relations with 

China, arguing that it would bring business to the Dallas–Fort Worth area. In 

1998, she received a post on the Aviation Subcommittee of the Transportation and 

Infrastructure Committee, an important position since her district covers part of the 

Dallas–Fort Worth International Airport. Johnson has helped bring federal money 

for transportation improvements and also has supported the production of B-2 

stealth bombers, which are manufactured in her district.

During her House career, Johnson has been an active member of the CBC. As 

chair of the organization in the 107th Congress (2001–2003), she attempted to steer 

the CBC toward building coalitions with business groups in addition to its traditional 

reliance on labor and civil rights organizations. Representative Johnson also pushed 

the group to hold its first summit conferences on technology and energy. 3

current members H 707
Stephanie Tubbs Jones won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 

1998, becoming the first African-American woman to represent Ohio in the U.S. 

Congress. In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Jones became the first AfricanAmerican woman to chair a standing House committee.1

 Representative Jones, 

who chairs the Standards of Official Conduct Committee and holds a seat on 

the influential Ways and Means Committee, has focused on the economic issues 

affecting her Cleveland-centered district: financial literacy, access to health care, 

retirement security, and education.

Stephanie Tubbs was born in Cleveland, Ohio, on September 10, 1949, the 

youngest of three daughters raised by Mary Tubbs, a factory worker, and Andrew 

Tubbs, an airline skycap. Raised in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood, Stephanie 

Tubbs graduated from Collinwood High School, earning 10 academic and 

athletic awards. At Case Western Reserve University, Tubbs founded the AfricanAmerican Students Association and, in 1971, earned a B.A. in sociology with a 

minor in psychology. “All my life I had wanted to help others, and I had been 

active in helping others,” she recalled. “I was always interested in service. In my 

day, the college watchword was relevant. . . . With a law degree, I thought I could 

bring about relevant change in the world.”2

 She enrolled in the Case Western 

University Law School and graduated in 1974 with a J.D. Tubbs then served as the 

assistant general counsel for the equal opportunity administrator of the northeast 

Ohio regional sewer district. In 1976, Tubbs married Mervyn Jones. They raised 

a son, Mervyn. Stephanie Tubbs Jones later worked as an assistant Cuyahoga 

County prosecutor and trial attorney for the Cleveland district equal employment 

opportunity commission. When Jones and several friends worked on a successful 

political campaign in 1979, the group pledged to select one among them to promote 

for public office. Noting a lack of minority members on the bench, they chose 

Jones, who eventually won election as a judge on the Cleveland municipal court. 

Ohio Governor Richard Celeste appointed Jones to the Cuyahoga County court of 

common pleas, where she served from 1983 to 1991. In 1992, she was appointed 

the Cuyahoga County prosecutor, making her the state’s first African-American 

prosecutor and the only black woman prosecutor in a major U.S. city. Jones was 

re-elected twice.3

H current members H Stephanie Tubbs Jones

1949–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Ohio

1999–

Image courtesy of the Member

708 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

Fenno, Richard F. Going Home: Black 

Representatives and Their Constituents 

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

2003).

“Jones, Stephanie Tubbs,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present,

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=J000284. 

Notes

1 Representative Juanita MillenderMcDonald of California became 

Chairwoman of the House 

Administration Committee at the 

same time. 

2 Richard Fenno, Going Home: Black 

Representatives and Their Constituents 

(Chicago: University of Chicago Press, 

2003): 193.

3 “Stephanie Tubbs Jones,” Contemporary 

Black Biography, Volume 24 (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 2000).

4 Fenno, Going Home: 196–198; 201.

5 Ibid., 203.

6 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

7 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 800.

8 Politics in America, 2002 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc.,

2001): 796–797.

In 1998, when 30-year veteran U.S. Representative Louis Stokes retired from his 

Ohio district seat, Jones entered the Democratic primary to succeed him. She ran 

on the basis of her 17-year career in public office in the district and on her wellestablished political connection to constituents.4

 Capturing 51 percent of the vote 

among five primary candidates, she later won 80 percent in the general election. 

Jones faced no serious challenges in her four re-election bids, winning by 75 percent 

or more of the vote.5

 In 2006, Jones won with 83 percent.6

When she took her seat in the 106th Congress (1999–2001), Jones received 

assignments on the Banking and Financial Services (later renamed Financial 

Services) and Small Business committees. In the 107th Congress (2001–2003), in 

addition to serving on those two panels, she served on the Standards of Official 

Conduct Committee, which oversees House ethics guidelines for Members and staff. 

In the 108th Congress (2003–2005), Jones won a seat on the prestigious Ways and 

Means Committee, which has jurisdiction over tax law.7

Representative Jones’s district encompasses some of Cleveland’s most affluent 

suburbs and parts of poor, inner-city neighborhoods. Her seat on Financial Services 

helped her secure funding for business and housing development. In the 108th 

Congress, Jones chaired the Congressional Black Caucus Housing Task Force, 

investigating allegations against subprime lenders and introducing legislation against 

predatory lenders.8

 Her seat on Ways and Means has enabled her to focus legislative 

efforts on shoring up Social Security and Medicare, pension law, and long-term care.

Jones also has taken a legislative interest in children’s issues, health, and 

education. She authored and passed the Child Abuse Prevention and Enforcement 

Act of 1999 to increase training funds for child-protection workers through money 

generated from bail bonds, fines, and forfeited assets. In the 107th through the 

109th Congresses (2001–2007), Representative Jones introduced the Uterine 

Fibroids Research and Education Act and also authored the Campus Fire Prevention 

Act to provide federal funds to equip college housing with fire suppression 

equipment. In 2005, Jones introduced the Count Every Vote Act to improve 

electronic voting systems. Additionally, she authored legislation to clarify the legal 

status of cash balance pension plans. In the 109th Congress, she chaired the 

Congressional Black Caucus Retirement Security Task Force.

current members H 709
A 30-year veteran of Michigan politics, Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick won election 

to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1996. Kilpatrick was the first AfricanAmerican woman to serve on the Michigan legislature’s appropriations committee. 

In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Representative Kilpatrick was unanimously 

elected chairwoman of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

Carolyn Jean Cheeks was born on June 25, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan, to 

Marvell Cheeks, Jr., and Willa Mae (Henry) Cheeks. Raised in the AME Church, 

she later joined the Shrine of the Black Madonna of the Pan African Orthodox 

Christian Church, a politically active and powerful congregation in Detroit. She 

served as coordinator of political action.1

 She graduated from the High School of 

Commerce in Detroit as president of her class and attended Ferris State University. 

She earned a bachelor of science degree in education from Western Michigan 

University in 1972 and a master of science degree in education from the University 

of Michigan. In 1968, the Representative married Bernard Kilpatrick. They raised 

two children, Ayanna and Kwame. Early in her career, Kilpatrick worked as a 

Detroit public school teacher. A protégé of longtime Detroit Mayor Coleman A. 

Young, she left teaching in 1978 to pursue a political career and won election to 

nine consecutive terms in the Michigan house of representatives. Serving 18 years 

in the state house, Kilpatrick became the first African-American woman member 

of the house appropriations committee. She chaired the corrections budget and the 

transportation budget during 14 years on the appropriations committee. She also 

was a house Democratic whip—earning a reputation as a consensus-builder.2

Kilpatrick sought election in 1996 to represent Michigan in the U.S. House 

of Representatives. Among a large field of competitors in the Democratic primary, 

including three-term incumbent Barbara-Rose Collins, Kilpatrick prevailed with 

a 19 percent margin. In the general election, Kilpatrick captured an 88 percent 

majority. In her subsequent five re-election bids, she has won by similarly large 

margins, despite reapportionment in 2001.3

H current members H Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick

1945–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Michigan

1997–

Image courtesy of the Member

710 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Kilpatrick, Carolyn Cheeks,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=K000180. 

Notes

1 “Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick,” 

Associated Press Candidate Biographies, 

2000; “Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick,” 

Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 

16 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 

1997) (hereinafter referred to as CBB).

2 “Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick,” CBB; 

Hans Johnson and Peggie Rayhawk, 

The New Members of Congress Almanac: 

105th U.S. Congress (Washington, DC: 

Almanac Publishing Inc., 1996): 58.

3 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

4 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 532; “Official Biography of 

Congresswoman Carolyn Cheeks 

Kilpatrick,” http://www.house.gov/

kilpatrick/biography.shtml (accessed 5 

December 2007).

5 Almanac of American Politics, 2002 

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 2001): 815.

6 Almanac of American Politics, 2002: 814.

When Representative Kilpatrick took her seat in the 105th Congress (1997– 

1999), she received assignments on three committees: Banking and Financial 

Services, House Oversight (later renamed House Administration), and the Joint 

Committee on the Library of Congress. In the 106th Congress (1999–2001), 

Kilpatrick won a seat on the prestigious House Appropriations Committee, which 

required her to leave her other committee assignments. She is the sole Michigan 

Democrat to serve on the committee. She is the fifth woman to head the full CBC. 

Kilpatrick also is the first African-American Member of Congress to serve on the Air 

Force Academy Board, which oversees programs of the U.S. Air Force Academy.4

Much of Kilpatrick’s legislative work has centered on bringing federally funded 

projects into the State of Michigan. She has helped garner funding for pre-college 

engineering, children’s television programming, and enhanced rehabilitation 

services at the Detroit Medical Center.5

 She also initiated a transportation bill that 

included $24 million for an intermodal freight terminal that links rail, marine, and 

road delivery lines.6

 She has initiated $100 million in the current five-year U.S. 

transportation bill for a commuter rail system that covers more than 50 miles in 

southeastern Michigan. Kilpatrick’s efforts brought the National Aeronautics and 

Space Administration engineering and aeronautics program to Michigan for students 

ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade. The program is housed at Wayne 

State University.

Representative Kilpatrick has been an outspoken advocate for affordable health 

care for low- and middle-income families and for raising the minimum wage. 

Kilpatrick also proposed legislation to provide a $1,000 per month tax credit for 

medical doctors who practice in underserved areas. Representative Kilpatrick has 

sought to encourage corporate America and the federal government to invest more 

money in minority- and women-owned media outlets and advertising agencies. 

From her seat on the Foreign Operations Subcommittee of the Appropriations 

Committee, Kilpatrick brought attention to health and economic woes in subSaharan Africa, securing more than $25 million for flood relief in Mozambique, 

Madagascar, Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Representative Kilpatrick has 

initiated funding for HIV/AIDS programs, education, and military assistance 

in America and in several African countries.

The Honorable Kwame Kilpatrick succeeded Representative Kilpatrick in 

the Michigan house of representatives. Kwame Kilpatrick went on to become 

the Democratic leader of the state house of representatives. In 2001, at 30 years 

of age, Kwame Kilpatrick was elected mayor of the city of Detroit.

current members H 711
Representative Barbara Lee was first elected to represent California’s 9th 

Congressional District in 1998, in a special election to fill the seat of retiring 

Representative Ronald Dellums. After serving on the International Relations and 

Financial Services committees, in 2007 she joined the House Appropriations 

Committee, which controls the federal purse strings and is widely viewed 

as one of the most powerful committees in Congress. On that committee, she 

serves on the Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related 

Agencies Subcommittee and the State, Foreign Operations, and Related Programs 

Subcommittee, and is Vice Chair of the Legislative Branch Subcommittee. 

She also serves as the Co-Chair of the Congressional Progressive Caucus and is 

a cofounder of the Out of Iraq and Out of Poverty caucuses, a Senior Democratic 

Whip, and First Vice Chair of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), where she 

serves as Co-Chair of the CBC Outreach Task Force and Chair of the CBC Task 

Force on HIV/AIDS.

Among her many legislative victories, Representative Lee’s Darfur divestment 

bill passed Congress in late 2007 and was subsequently signed into law. She has 

been a leader in the bipartisan effort in Congress to end the ongoing genocide in 

Darfur, Sudan. She was arrested for protesting the genocide in front of the Sudanese 

Embassy in Washington in June 2006 and has traveled to the Darfur region 

several times. 

Representative Lee’s accomplishments in promoting effective bipartisan 

legislation to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS and make treatment available for those 

who are infected have earned her international recognition as a leader in the global 

H current members H Barbara Lee

1946–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from California

1998–

Image courtesy of the Member

712 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Lee, Barbara,” Biographical Directory of 

the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=L000551. 

fight against HIV/AIDS. Her bills to create the Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, 

to protect AIDS orphans, and to create a $15 billion fund to fight HIV/AIDS, 

tuberculosis, and malaria were all signed into law. She has also been a leader in 

the fight to stop the spread of HIV/AIDS in the United States, particularly in the 

African-American community. In 1998, she helped declare a state of emergency in 

Alameda County in order to secure more funds to fight the disease, and the House 

has passed her resolution recognizing the goals of National Black AIDS Awareness 

Day every year since 2005. 

Representative Lee’s willingness to stand on principle earned her international 

acclaim when she was the only Member of Congress to vote against giving President 

George W. Bush a blank check to wage war after the horrific September 11 attacks. 

In addition to being one of Congress’s most vocal opponents of the war in Iraq, 

Representative Lee has been a leader in promoting policies that foster international 

peace, security, and human rights. She successfully blocked funds from being used to 

establish permanent military bases in Iraq during the 109th Congress (2005–2007). 

She sponsored legislation disavowing the doctrine of preemptive war. 

Representative Lee is committed to eradicating poverty, fostering opportunity, 

and protecting the most vulnerable in our society. In the wake of Hurricane Katrina, 

she authored the poverty section of the CBC’s Gulf Coast reconstruction legislation 

and introduced a package of bills designed to make the eradication of poverty 

a priority for Congress.

California’s 9th Congressional District encompasses most of Alameda County, 

including the cities of Albany, Ashland, Berkeley, Castro Valley, Cherryville, 

Emeryville, Fairview, Oakland, and Piedmont. 

Born in El Paso, Texas, Representative Lee graduated from Mills College 

in Oakland and received her M.S.W. from the University of California in Berkeley. 

She began her political career as an intern in the office of her predecessor, thenRepresentative Ronald Dellums, currently the mayor of Oakland, where she 

eventually became his chief of staff. Before being elected to Congress, she served 

in the California state assembly from 1990 to 1996 and in the California state 

senate from 1996 to 1998.

current members H 713
Dubbed “the Conscience of the U.S. Congress,” John Lewis spent his early 

life as one of the principal leaders of the nonviolent civil rights movement 

initiated by Martin Luther King, Jr.1

 Now in his 11th term in the U.S. House, 

Representative Lewis holds a seat on the powerful Ways and Means Committee, 

from which he speaks with passion and authority about issues related to the 

legacy of that movement. 

John Robert Lewis was born on February 21, 1940, in Troy, Alabama, to Eddie 

and Willie Mae Lewis. His parents originally were sharecroppers before they bought 

a 110-acre farm, where they raised cotton and peanuts. To help support the family of 

10 children, Eddie Lewis drove a school bus and Willie Mae worked as a laundress.2

John Lewis grew up attending segregated public schools. Shy and soft-spoken, Lewis 

was drawn to preaching. He eventually earned a bachelor of arts degree in 1961 

from the American Baptist Theological Seminary in Nashville, Tennessee. Lewis 

then enrolled at Fisk University, also in Nashville, graduating with a B.A. degree 

in religion and philosophy in 1967. 

Lewis played a central role in the American civil rights movement. He was 

a founder and chairman of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee 

(SNCC), eventually becoming one of the “Big Six” civil rights leaders—the others 

being King, Whitney Young, A. Phillip Randolph, James Farmer, and Roy Wilkins. 

He participated in the Freedom Rides to desegregate commercial busing in the 

South. He helped to organize the March on Washington, delivering a keynote 

address at the August 1963 gathering.3 Lewis also led the Bloody Sunday protest in 

Selma, Alabama, when baton-wielding state troopers beat and tear-gassed peaceful 

marchers at the Edmund Pettus Bridge on March 7, 1965. That event provided the 

catalyst for the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Lewis later served as associate director 

of the Field Foundation and directed the Voter Education Project of the South 

Regional Council. In 1968, Lewis married Lillian Miles; the couple has one 

son, John. 

H current members H John Lewis

1940–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Georgia

1987–

Image courtesy of the Member

714 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Lewis, John R.,” Biographical Directory of 

the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=L000287. 

Lewis, John. Walking with the Wind: A 

Memoir of the Movement (New York: Simon 

& Schuster, 1998).

Manuscript Collection

Howard University, Moorland–Spingarn 

Research Center (Washington, DC). Oral 

History: 1967, 175 pages. Interview with 

John Lewis includes recollections of student 

sit-ins in Nashville, Tennessee, in the early 

1960s. Lewis also discusses the founding 

of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating 

Committee and its activities, including 

Freedom Rides and demonstrations in 

Selma, Alabama. Lewis recalls his role in the 

March on Washington and his association 

with Martin Luther King, Jr. Restrictions; 

no quotation or citation without Lewis’s 

written permission. 

Notes

1 Peter Carlson, “Nonviolent Fighter; 

John Lewis Retraces the Route That Led 

to the Future,” 9 June 1998, Washington 

Post: D1.

2 “John (Robert) Lewis,” Current 

Biography, 1980 (New York: H. W. 

Wilson and Company, 1980): 222.

3 John Lewis, Walking with the Wind: 

A Memoir of the Movement (New 

York: Simon & Schuster, 1998); 

see also Lewis’s official biography at 

http://johnlewis.house.gov/index.

php?option=com_content&task=view&

id=17&Itemid=31 (accessed 29 October 

2007).

4 Current Biography, 1980: 224.

5 Joe Davidson, “Lacking Issues, Veteran 

Civil-Rights Allies Take to the Low 

Road in Georgia Race for Congress,” 8 

August 1986, Wall Street Journal: 36; 

Art Harris, “Georgia Rivals in Bitter 

Runoff,” 31 August 1986, Washington 

Post: A4; Politics in America, 1988

(Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc. 1987): 366–367; 

Almanac of American Politics, 1988

(Washington, DC: National Journal Inc. 

1987): 298–299. 

6 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

Lewis first ran for congressional office when Atlanta Representative Andrew 

Young resigned his U.S. House seat in 1977 to serve as U.S. Ambassador to the 

United Nations. In a crowded special primary on March 15, 1977, Lewis won 29 

percent of the vote—second in a field of 12, behind Atlanta City Council Chairman 

Wyche Fowler. In a run-off several weeks later, Fowler prevailed with 62 percent of 

the vote.4

 In 1977, President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter appointed Lewis to head 

the federal volunteer agency ACTION. He remained there four years before winning 

election to the Atlanta city council.

In 1986, when Fowler retired to run for the U.S. Senate, Lewis entered the 

Democratic primary for the seat that covered most of Atlanta and rural areas in 

southwest Fulton County. Reapportionment in 1982 had turned a district that 

formerly was half-white into one that was nearly two-thirds black. In a runoff 

primary against his former SNCC colleague and then-Georgia State Senator Julian 

Bond, Lewis went door to door in the district in a relentless grass-roots effort that 

won over a coalition of poor inner-city blacks and voters in majority-white precincts.

He prevailed with a 52 percent majority.5 In the general election, Lewis defeated 

Republican candidate Portia A. Scott with 75 percent of the vote. In his subsequent 

10 re-election campaigns, Lewis has won by similar margins, running unopposed 

since 2002.6

When Lewis entered the House in January 1987, he was assigned to two 

committees: Public Works and Transportation and Interior and Insular Affairs. 

In the 101st Congress (1989–1991), he received an additional post on the House 

Select Committee on Aging. He relinquished all three assignments in the 103rd 

Congress (1993–1995) after winning a coveted seat on the powerful Ways and 

Means Committee, which sets tax policy. He has remained on that panel since 

and currently serves as Chairman of the Subcommittee on Oversight. Lewis also 

served in the 108th Congress (2003–2005) on the Budget Committee. In addition, 

Representative Lewis has served as a Chief Deputy Whip for the Democratic Caucus 

since 1989. In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Lewis serves as Senior Chief 

Deputy Whip.

Representative Lewis’s legislative interests draw chiefly from his background 

as a civil rights activist; he supports legislation to protect and expand voting 

rights measures and to provide better access to health care for minorities. Lewis’s 

legislation creating the National Museum of African American History and Culture 

in Washington, DC, a unit of the Smithsonian Institution, was signed into law by 

President George W. Bush in 2003. 

current members H 715
In 2003, Kendrick Meek’s election in a Florida district formerly represented by 

his mother, Carrie Meek, made him one of a handful of African-American Members 

of Congress to succeed a parent directly. A veteran of state politics, Meek won key 

assignments on the Armed Services Committee and the House Select Committee 

on Homeland Security and served as Florida’s lone Representative on the powerful 

Ways and Means Committee.1

Kendrick Brett Meek was born in Miami, Florida, on September 6, 1966, 

the youngest of three children raised by Carrie Pittman Meek. Carrie Meek was 

divorced as a young mother but went on to build a political career in the Florida 

state legislature and, eventually, as a Member in the U.S. House of Representatives. 

Kendrick Meek graduated with a bachelor of science degree in criminology from 

Florida A&M University in 1989. After college, Meek worked for the Florida 

highway patrol, eventually earning the rank of captain, and for a time guarding 

Democratic Lieutenant Governor Kenneth Hood (Buddy) McKay. In 1994, Meek 

won election to the Florida state house of representatives, where he served four years 

before winning election to the state senate. During that time, he also worked for 

one of the country’s largest private security firms. Meek married the former Leslie 

Dixon, and they raised two children, Lauren and Kendrick, Jr.

When Carrie Meek, a five-term, 76-year-old veteran of the House, announced 

her retirement in July 2002, Kendrick was the immediate favorite to succeed her.2

The district, which weaved through southeast Broward County and northeast 

Miami-Dade County, was majority African-American and heavily Democratic. 

Kendrick Meek entered the Democratic primary as the sole candidate. For 

much of the campaign season, Meek led a citizen initiative to reduce the size of 

classes in Florida’s public schools, which voters eventually passed during a fall 

H current members H Kendrick B. Meek

1966–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Florida

20 03–

Image courtesy of the Member

716 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Meek, Kendrick B.,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=M001148.

Notes

1 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 251.

2 Andrea Robinson and Tyler Bridges, 

“Carrie Meek to Retire,” 7 July 2002, 

Miami Herald: A1; Lauren Whittington, 

“Family Planning: Late Retirement 

Doesn’t Always Mean Victory for 

Offspring,” 11 July 2002, Roll Call.

3 “Official Biography of U.S. 

Rep. Kendrick B. Meek,” http://

kendrickmeek.house.gov/biography.

shtml (accessed 3 December 2007); see 

also Jason T. Smith, “Meek One Step 

Closer to Congress,” 24 July 2002, 

Miami Times: 1A.

4 Andrea Robinson, “Kendrick Meek Set 

to Fulfill a Legacy,” 2 January 2003, 

Miami Herald: A1.

5 Shortly after being sworn in to 

Congress, Meek said, “People say, ‘How 

do you feel being in the shadow of 

Carrie Meek?’ I say the shade is mighty 

comfortable.” See Betsy Rothstein, 

“Some New Members Arrive in Unique 

Manner,” 8 January 2003, The Hill: 11.

6 “U.S. Rep. Kendrick Meek Takes Office 

in Historic Capitol Ceremony,” Broward 

Times, 10 January 2003.

7 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

8 “Biography of U.S. Rep. Kendrick B. 

Meek”; Politics in America, 2008: 251.

9 Politics in America, 2004 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2003): 250; see also Starla Vaughns 

Cherin, “State Senator Kendrick Meek 

Runs for United States Congress,” 17 

July 2002, Westside Gazette: 1.

10 “Spotlight on Meek at CBC 

Conference,” 17 September 2003, 

Miami Times: 1A.

11 See, for example, Congressional Record, 

House, 108th Cong., 2nd sess. (3 

March 2004): H809–810; Congressional 

Record, House, 108th Cong., 2nd sess. 

(24 February 2004): H531; Kendrick 

B. Meek, “Strength in Diversity,” 19 

November 2007, Army Times.

2002 referendum.3 He also pushed a legislative agenda that included economic 

development, improved social services, and criminal justice initiatives. “I’m here to 

represent, ‘We the People,’” Meek said. “Someone has to know what’s going on and 

stand up for the rights of regular folks.”4

 In the fall general election, Meek received 

no major party opposition and ran in large part on the basis of his mother’s nearly 

iconic reputation in the district.5

 His election also made him just the second son to 

succeed his mother directly in Congress. He was sworn in to the 108th Congress 

(2005–2007) in January 2003 with his mother looking on. “I am very respectful 

of the fact that the reason I am able to assume this high office today is because 

of the sacrifices and struggles and the battles for equal rights that were fought by 

the generations that preceded me,” Meek said.6

 In his 2004 and 2006 re-election 

campaigns, he ran unopposed in the general election.7

Since his freshman term, Representative Meek has served on the Armed Services 

Committee. Meek also served on the Homeland Security Committee for two 

terms, rising to the position of Ranking Member of the Subcommittee on 

Management, Integration, and Oversight—which has jurisdiction over airport 

and seaport security; customs operations; aid to local and state governments; 

and immigration inspections, detention, and enforcement policies. In the 110th 

Congress (2007–2009), Meek was appointed to the Ways and Means Committee 

and retained his Armed Services Committee seat. He also earned a spot on the 

Democratic Steering and Policy Committee. In January 2007, Meek was appointed 

to the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, an interparliamentary organization of 

legislators representing NATO Members and associate countries. He is one of 

only 12 members of Congress to represent the United States on the NATO 

Parliamentary Assembly. Meek also serves as chairman of the board of directors 

of the Congressional Black Caucus Foundation.8

Meek noted that his mother’s work on the Appropriations Committee informed 

his sense that policy and money were intertwined. “I believe the way we appropriate 

sets the priorities for America,” Meek said. “That’s where all our principles and all 

our values start, where we put our money.”9 To that end, Meek has worked to ensure 

that minority firms have had access to contracting opportunities for the billions 

of federal dollars now spent on terrorism and homeland security operations.10

Representative Meek also has used his seat on the Armed Forces Committee to push 

to better equip troops fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan. His top domestic priorities 

include health care, particularly the fight against HIV/AIDS; strengthening diversity 

within the senior corps of the military; and Haitian immigration.11

current members H 717
Gregory W. Meeks, a former Queens prosecutor and New York state legislator, 

has represented his Queens-centered House district for six terms. An advocate for 

business development in the African-American community, Meeks once noted that 

his role “as part of a new generation of African American leadership, is to take us 

to the new phase of the civil rights movement, that is, the economic development 

of our community.”1

Gregory Weldon Meeks was born on September 25, 1953, in East Harlem, 

New York. His father, James, was a taxi driver and handyman, while his mother, 

Mary, raised Gregory and his three younger siblings. He recalled growing up in 

a household that was active in community affairs. His political role model was 

Thurgood Marshall, a civil rights advocate and the first black U.S. Supreme Court 

Justice. “He was someone I really admired because he was trying to make conditions 

better for people like me,” Meeks recalled.2

 In 1975, he earned a bachelor of arts 

degree from Adelphi University on Long Island. In 1978, Meeks graduated with 

a J.D. from Howard University School of Law in Washington, DC. Meeks settled 

in Far Rockaway in Queens, where he was active in community organizations that 

aimed to improve city services and repair streets. He served two-year stints as an 

assistant district attorney in Queens, an assistant special narcotics prosecutor in New 

York, and a member of the New York State Investigation Commission. He later went 

into private law practice and, from 1985 to 1992, served as a judge on the New York 

state workers compensation board. His career in elective politics began in 1991 when 

he made an unsuccessful bid for the New York city council. Subsequently, Meeks was 

appointed supervising judge of the New York state workers compensation system. 

The following year Meeks won election to the New York state assembly, representing 

a Queens district from 1992 to 1997. Meeks and his wife, Simone-Marie, whom he 

married in 1997, have three daughters: Ebony, Aja, and Nia-Aiyana. 

In 1997, when Representative Floyd Flake announced his retirement from a U.S. 

House seat representing Queens, Meeks emerged as a leading candidate to succeed 

the six-term veteran. Meeks received endorsements from Flake, the New York Times, 

and other figures in the Democratic establishment.3

 As the Democratic nominee, 

Meeks portrayed himself as “a bridge-builder” between the party’s liberal and 

H current members H Gregory W. Meeks

1953–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from New York

1998–

Image courtesy of the Member

718 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Meeks, Gregory W.,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=M001137.

Notes

1 “Gregory W. Meeks,” Contemporary 

Black Biography Volume 25 (Detroit, 

MI: Gale Research Inc., 2000).

2 Clemente Lisi, “Rep. Gregory Meeks,” 

15 February 2001, New York Post: 62.

3 “An Endorsement for Congress in 

Queens,” 31 January 1998, New York 

Times: A14; Sarah Kershaw, “Flake 

Backs Meeks for Congress,” 6 January 

1998, Newsday: A31.

4 Jonathan P. Hicks, “Master of the 

Political Balancing Act,” 5 February 

1998, New York Time: B5; Jonathan 

P. Hicks, “Queens Democrats Select 

Legislator for House Race,” 10 January 

1998, New York Times: B3; Jonathan 

P. Hicks, “Race for Congressional Seat 

Nears a Heated Conclusion,” 1 February 

1998, New York Times: A26.

5 Hicks, “Master of the Political 

Balancing Act,” 5.

6 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

7 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 693–694; “Gregory W. Meeks, 

Biography,” http://www.house.gov/

meeks/en.us.about.shtml (accessed 17 

October 2007).

moderate wings.4 In the five-way February 3 special election that included a New 

York state senator and an assemblywoman, Meeks prevailed with 57 percent of the 

vote. He told the New York Times: “I’m one who understands that, particularly in the 

African-American community, the key is now economic. We have to move toward 

the economic redistribution of our community more than we have in the past.”5

 

In his subsequent five re-elections, Meeks has prevailed by comfortable majorities of 

97 percent or more.6

When Meeks was sworn in to the 105th Congress (1997–1999) on February 5, 

1998, he received a seat on the Banking and Financial Services Committee (later 

renamed Financial Services). In the 106th Congress (1999–2001), Meeks also was 

appointed to the International Relations Committee (later renamed Foreign Affairs). 

Representative Meeks continues to serve on both panels. He is a member of the New 

Democratic Coalition and the Democratic Leadership Council. 

In the House, Representative Meeks’s legislative priorities encompass improving 

educational opportunities, ensuring minority business participation, expanding 

trade, and defending civil rights. Meeks has promoted economic redevelopment 

in Queens, including acquiring federal money for commercial areas and office 

buildings, health clinics, libraries, and infrastructure improvements. He also has 

been attentive to economic policies affecting JFK International Airport, which 

is located in his district.7

 On major trade issues, Meeks has been a “swing” vote—

approving the normalization of trade relations with China in 2000 (citing the 

potential for new business in his district) while opposing a 2002 law that expanded 

the George W. Bush administration’s trade authority on the grounds that Congress 

should not yield power to a President who did not have its strongest confidence. 

As a member of the Financial Services Subcommittee on Capital Markets, Insurance, 

and Government Sponsored Enterprises, Meeks has sought to promote home 

ownership and curb predatory lending practices.

From his seat on the Foreign Affairs Committee, Meeks has called for a greater 

role for U.S. trade and development policies in the formulation of foreign policy. 

He has been a leading advocate for the advancement of Afro-Latinos, increased U.S. 

attention to Western Hemisphere priorities, humanitarian aid to Africa, and trade 

adjustment assistance to spread the benefits of trade to marginalized communities. 

Meeks serves on three subcommittees: Western Hemisphere, Oversight and 

Investigations, and Asia and the Pacific, where he is vice chairman. 

current members H 719
In 2004, Gwen Moore won election as the first African American to represent 

Wisconsin in Congress. A state legislator and community activist with more 

than two decades of experience, Moore emerged as an advocate for urban issues: 

affordable housing, education, and access to health care. “I am really in sync with 

people who struggle on a day to day basis,” said Moore, a single mother who once 

relied on welfare to help pay bills. “You don’t have to have a ‘D’ after your name 

to understand that people have to eat.”1

Gwendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore was born in Racine, Wisconsin, on April 18, 

1951, the eighth of nine siblings. Her father was a factory worker, and her mother 

was a public school teacher. As an expectant single mother on welfare, she went 

to college with the help of TRIO, a program that provided educational aid to 

low-income Americans. Moore earned a B.A. in political science from Marquette 

University in 1978. In 2000, she earned a certificate for senior executives in state and 

local government from Harvard University. After college, Moore worked for VISTA, 

helping to spearhead community projects such as the start-up of a local credit union, 

and eventually being awarded the prestigious VISTA Volunteer of the Decade award 

as a result of her accomplishments. She worked for years as a housing and urban 

development specialist. In 1988, she entered elective politics, winning a seat in the 

Wisconsin house of representatives. Four years later, Moore became the first AfricanAmerican woman elected to the Wisconsin senate.2

 Moore is the mother of three 

children: Jessalynne, Sowande, and Ade.3

When 11-term incumbent Democrat Gerald D. Kleczka announced his plan 

to retire at the end of the 108th Congress (2003–2005), Moore entered the 2004 

primary as the front-runner. The district encompassed the entire city of Milwaukee 

and several of its surrounding suburbs. Although heavily Democratic, it was 

relatively new, the result of reapportionment after the 2000 Census that merged two 

distinct parts of the city for the first time. Moore fended off a stiff challenge from 

two prominent Democrats—a state senator and a former state Democratic Party 

chairman. The candidates agreed largely on the central issues, but the campaign 

reflected geographical and racial divisions highlighted during the city’s mayoral 

contest: The African-American population lives on the north side in largely black 

H current members H Gwendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore

1951–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Wisconsin

20 05–

Image courtesy of the Member

720 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Moore, Gwendolynne S. (Gwen),” 

Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress, 

1774–Present, http://bioguide.congress.gov/

scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=M001160.

Notes

1 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 1110–1111, quotation on 1110.

2 “Official Biography of Congresswoman 

Gwen Moore,” http://www.house.gov/

gwenmoore/bio.shtml (accessed 11 

September 2007).

3 Katherine M. Skiba, “Washington 

Notebook: Moore Counts on 

Experience of Many Former Kleczka 

Aides,” 9 January 2005, Milwaukee 

Journal Sentinel: A13.

4 Almanac of American Politics, 2006

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 2005): 1823.

5 Larry Sandler, “Moore Rewrites 

History; Mainstream Appeal Makes Her 

State’s First Black Congresswoman,” 3 

November 2004, Milwaukee Journal 

Sentinel: A1; see also Larry Sandler and 

Leonard Sykes, Jr., “A Race in Which 

Race Didn’t Matter,” 4 November 2004, 

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: B1.

6 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

7 “Official Biography of Congresswoman 

Gwen Moore.”

8 Ibid.

9 Politics in America, 2008: 1110.

neighborhoods, while a significant community of Polish and Eastern European 

descent lives on the south side in largely white neighborhoods. Moore’s base of 

support among African Americans, mobilized by the mayoral race, proved decisive. 

She won the three-way primary with 64 percent of the vote.4

 In the general election, 

backed by African Americans, women, and progressives, Moore easily defeated 

Republican challenger Gerald Boyle, an Iraq War veteran, 70 to 28 percent. On 

election night she told reporters, “I really want people to remain engaged around 

the issues that brought this coalition together. We’ve got to come to a conclusion 

with this war. We’ve got to preserve life, preserve resources and start focusing on 

a domestic agenda that’s going to relieve us of a dearth of jobs, a lack of health 

care and a divestment in educational opportunities.”5

 In her 2006 re-election bid, 

Representative Moore defeated Republican Perfecto Rivera with 71 percent 

of the vote.6

When Moore took her seat in the 109th Congress (2005–2007), she received 

assignments on the Financial Services and Small Business committees. In the 

110th Congress (2007–2009), Moore won a coveted seat on the influential 

Budget Committee.

During Representative Moore’s freshman term, provisions from the SHIELD Act, 

which she authored, were included in the reauthorization of the landmark Violence 

Against Women Act. Moore’s legislation provided for measures to ensure that 

domestic violence abusers cannot track their victims through a federal database that 

centralizes information on homeless persons who receive public assistance.7

Moore’s committee assignments largely reflect her interest in economic issues, 

which she believes constitute “one of the next frontiers in the fight for civil rights.”8

Representative Moore has focused on many of the same issues she emphasized as a 

community activist and a state legislator. Among her legislative interests have been 

bills preventing predatory lending in minority communities, providing affordable 

housing, and ensuring that federal contracts are awarded equitably to minorityowned businesses. In her first term, she also secured an amendment to help publichousing recipients build up the credit record necessary for homeownership if they 

made timely rent payments.9

 Her interest in the effects of economic globalization 

led to her being asked to serve on the worldwide Parliamentary Network of the 

World Bank. 

current members H 721
A civil rights and constitutional lawyer, a former chair of the Equal Employment 

Opportunity Commission, and a tenured professor of law, Eleanor Holmes Norton 

has carried her lifelong commitments to Congress as the Delegate for the District 

of Columbia. Since 1991, Norton has tirelessly advocated DC congressional voting 

rights and DC statehood while using innovative approaches to obtain federal funds 

and legislation to improve the city’s economy and tax base. “I have been elected to 

Congress not to further my own interests, but to bring resources and respect to the 

District of Columbia,” she said. “The ethics of the bar require zealous representation. 

That’s how I understand my relationship to my folks.”1

Eleanor Holmes was born in Washington, DC, on June 13, 1937, the oldest 

of three daughters of Coleman Holmes, a civil servant, and Vela Lynch Holmes, a 

teacher. She attended Dunbar High School in Washington, DC, and earned a B.A. 

at Antioch College in Ohio in 1960. Norton earned an M.A. in American studies 

in 1963 and a law degree in 1964, both from Yale University. While a student, she 

worked in the civil rights movement with the Student Nonviolent Coordinating 

Committee and the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party. After graduating, she 

clerked for federal Judge A. Leon Higginbotham in Philadelphia. She then became 

assistant legal director of the American Civil Liberties Union. In 1965, Eleanor 

Holmes married Edward Norton. The couple raised two children, Katherine and 

John, before divorcing in 1993. In 1970, New York Mayor John Lindsay appointed 

Eleanor Holmes Norton to chair the New York City Commission on Human 

Rights.2

 In 1977, President James Earl (Jimmy) Carter appointed her chair of the 

U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, where she served until 1981; 

she was the first woman to chair the commission. During the 1980s, she was a fulltime tenured professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where she still teaches 

one course annually.

In 1990, Norton defeated five challengers in the Democratic primary for an 

open seat as the District of Columbia’s Delegate in the U.S. House. In the general 

election, she won 62 percent of the vote in the heavily Democratic city. She has 

faced little or no opposition in nine re-election bids.3

H current members H Eleanor Holmes Norton

1937–

Delegate

Democrat from the District of Columbia

1991–

Image courtesy of the Member

722 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

Lester, Joan Steinau. Eleanor Holmes 

Norton: Fire in My Soul (New York: Atria 

Books, 2003).

Marcovitz, Hal. Eleanor Holmes Norton 

(Philadelphia, PA: Chelsea House 

Publishers, 2003). 

“Norton, Eleanor Holmes,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present,

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=N000147 

Notes

1 Joan Steinau Lester, Eleanor Holmes 

Norton: Fire in My Soul (New York:

Atria Books, 2003): 274–276.

2 “Eleanor Holmes Norton,” 

Contemporary Black Biography, Volume 

7 (Detroit, MI: Gale Research Inc., 

1994) (hereinafter referred to as CBB).

3 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html. 

4 “Eleanor Holmes Norton,” CBB; Lester, 

Fire in My Soul: 286.

5 Almanac of American Politics, 2002 

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 2001): 358–359.

When Norton entered the 102nd Congress (1991–1993), she won assignments 

on three committees: District of Columbia, Post Office and Civil Service, and 

Transportation and Infrastructure. In the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), she was 

appointed to the Joint Committee on the Organization of Congress. In 1995, 

the District of Columbia Committee was absorbed by the Government Reform 

Committee (later renamed Oversight and Government Reform), where Norton 

now serves. In the 108th Congress (2003–2005), Norton won a seat on the 

Homeland Security Committee. In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), she chairs 

the Transportation Committee’s Subcommittee on Economic Development, Public 

Buildings, and Emergency Management. 

For the first time in the city’s history, Norton won a vote as Delegate on the 

House Floor in the Committee of the Whole through a new rule she requested. In 

subsequent decisions, the federal courts ruled that the House could grant Delegates 

the right to vote in the House Floor committee by rule, as it had traditionally in 

other committees. This vote was withdrawn in the 104th Congress (1995–1997) 

when the Republicans assumed control of the House, but was returned in the 

110th Congress when the Democrats resumed control. Current House rules allow 

Delegates full participation in the legislative process, excepting full voting rights on 

the House Floor. Delegates may introduce legislation, speak on the House Floor, 

and even chair committees. Yet Norton is the only Member of Congress whose 

constituents have no final congressional vote, although they pay federal income taxes 

and serve in the military.

Norton has been a vocal and articulate leader in the fight to secure DC statehood 

and voting rights and to improve the city’s services and infrastructure.4

 In an effort 

to win statehood for the District, she authored the New Columbia Admission Act, 

which went to an unsuccessful vote on the House Floor. She then sponsored the No 

Taxation Without Representation Act for congressional votes, a bill that was also 

introduced in the Senate. In 2007, the House passed a bipartisan bill sponsored by 

Norton and Representative Tom Davis of Virginia to create House seats for largely 

Republican Utah and the mostly Democratic District of Columbia. (The bill is 

pending in the Senate.) She successfully fought congressional initiatives to nullify 

local laws, including repeals of the city’s ban on handguns, the use of local funds 

to lobby or seek court relief for congressional voting rights, and needle exchange 

programs to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS. 5

current members H 723
In July 2004, after delivering a stirring keynote address at the Democratic 

National Convention, Barack Obama burst onto the national political scene, later 

winning a landslide victory to become a U.S. Senator from Illinois. He is only the 

fifth African American in congressional history to serve in the U.S. Senate.

Barack Obama was born in Honolulu, Hawaii, on August 4, 1961, the son 

of Barack Obama, Sr., and Ann Dunham Obama. Barack, Sr., an economist, was 

born and raised in Kenya and grew up raising goats with his father, who was a 

domestic servant for the British.1

 He met and married Ann Dunham, who grew up 

in a small town in Kansas, while both were students at the University of Hawaii. 

When Obama, Jr., was two years old, his father left to attend Harvard. Soon 

thereafter his parents divorced. He lived for a while in Jakarta, Indonesia, when his 

mother remarried to an Indonesian oil manager. The family resettled in Hawaii, 

where Obama attended the Punahou Academy. From 1979 to 1981, he attended 

Occidental College in Los Angeles, California, before completing a bachelor of 

arts in political science at Columbia University in 1983. He moved to Chicago 

in 1985 to work for a church-based group that sought to improve living conditions 

in impoverished neighborhoods. He then attended Harvard Law School, serving 

as the first African-American president of the Harvard Law Review. In 1991, he 

graduated with his J.D. and married the former Michelle Robinson. The couple 

have two daughters, Malia and Sasha.2

Obama entered local politics through his work as a community activist in a 

blighted South Side Chicago neighborhood. He practiced civil rights law and 

lectured at the University of Chicago Law School. In 1996, he was elected to the 

Illinois state senate. He served in that capacity from 1997 through 2004, pushing 

through a state earned income tax credit and an expansion of early childhood 

education. In 2000, he unsuccessfully challenged four-term incumbent U.S. 

Representative Bobby Rush in the Democratic primary for a seat representing 

most of Chicago’s South Side. 

H current members H Barack Obama

1961–

United States Senator 

Demo crat from Illinois

20 05–

Image courtesy of the Member

724 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Obama, Barack,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=O000167.

Obama, Barack. The Audacity of Hope: 

Thoughts on Reclaiming the American Dream

(New York: Crown Publishers, 2006).

_____. Dreams From My Father: A Story 

of Race and Inheritance (New York: Three 

Rivers Press, 1995; reprint 2004).

Notes

1 Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race 

and Inheritance (New York: Three Rivers 

Press, 1995, reprint 2004): 9–27. 

2 William Finnegan, “The Candidate: 

How the Son of a Kenyan Economist 

Became an Illinois Everyman,” 31 

May 2004, The New Yorker; “Official 

Biography of Barack Obama,” http://

obama.senate.gov/about/ (accessed 26 

October 2007); Politics in America, 

2008 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2007): 322–323. 

3 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

In 2004, after incumbent U.S. Senator Peter Fitzgerald, a Republican, announced 

his retirement, Obama joined a crowded field of candidates in the Democratic 

primary for the open seat. He garnered 53 percent of the vote, topping two favored 

candidates—State Comptroller Daniel Hynes and a wealthy securities trader, Blair 

Hull (who spent $29 million on his campaign). Obama emerged as a national figure 

during that campaign, delivering a rousing keynote address on the second night 

of the Democratic National Convention in the summer of 2004, when he dared 

Americans to have “the audacity of hope.” He explained, “It’s the hope of slaves 

sitting around a fire singing freedom songs. The hope of immigrants setting out for 

distant shores. . . . The hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that 

America has a place for him, too.” Obama won a landslide 70 percent of the vote 

against Republican candidate Alan Keyes.3

When Obama took his seat at the start of the 109th Congress (2005–2007), he 

received assignments on three committees: Foreign Relations, Environment and 

Public Works, and Veterans’ Affairs. In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Obama 

left the Environment and Public Works panel and earned two additional committee 

posts: Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs and Health, Education, Labor, 

and Pensions. During the 110th Congress he also served as chairman of the Foreign 

Relations Committee’s Subcommittee on European Affairs. 

During his first three years in the Senate, Obama focused on issues such as 

lobbying and ethics reform, veterans’ benefits, energy, nuclear nonproliferation, and 

government transparency. From his seat on the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, Obama 

secured disability pay for veterans and advocated greater services and assistance for 

returning service members who served in Iraq. As a member of the Environment and 

Public Works Committee, Senator Obama sought to reinvigorate a national dialogue 

about developing more-energy-efficient vehicles and alternative energy sources. On 

the Foreign Relations Committee, he worked with then-Chairman Richard Lugar 

of Indiana to initiate a new round of nonproliferation efforts designed to find and 

secure nuclear and conventional weapons around the world.

In February 2007, Senator Obama announced his intention to run as a candidate 

for the 2008 Democratic presidential nomination. 

current members H 725
Donald M. Payne, the first African American to represent New Jersey in the 

U.S. Congress, has emerged as a stalwart advocate for federal funding for education 

as well as greater U.S. engagement in Africa. An experienced community activist 

and Newark elected official, Payne succeeded one of the House’s most recognizable 

figures, longtime House Judiciary Committee Chairman Peter W. Rodino, Jr., after 

his 1988 retirement. 

Donald Milford Payne was born on July 16, 1934, in Newark, New Jersey, the 

son of William Evander Payne, a dockworker, and Norma Garrett Payne. He grew 

up in Doodletown, an Italian-American section of Newark. Payne later recalled, 

“Everyone, whites and blacks, worked for low wages, although we didn’t think of it 

as living in poverty, and there was a real sense of neighborhood, of depending on one 

another.”1

 As a teenager, Payne joined a group called “The Leaguers,” which sought 

to assist inner-city youth by providing social, educational, and work activities.2

The founders, Reynold and Mary Burch, were prominent African Americans in 

Newark and helped Payne secure a four-year scholarship at Seton Hall University. 

Payne graduated in 1957 with a degree in social studies, and later pursued graduate 

studies at Springfield College in Massachusetts. On June 15, 1958, he married Hazel 

Johnson, who died in 1963. Donald Payne never remarried and has three adult 

children. He taught English and social studies and coached football and track in 

the Newark public school system before working for a major insurance company. 

He later served as a vice president of a computer forms manufacturing company 

founded by his brother. 

Payne became involved in politics at age 19 as manager of his brother William’s 

successful campaign to serve as Newark’s first African-American district leader.3

 He 

pursued community work through the local Young Men’s Christian Association 

(YMCA). From 1970 to 1973, Payne served as president of the YMCA of the 

United States; he was the first black to hold that position. In 1972, he was elected 

to the Essex County board of chosen freeholders. During his six years as a freeholder, 

he eventually chaired the board. In 1982, Payne won election to the city council 

of Newark.

H current members H Donald M. Payne

1934–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from New Jersey

1989–

Image courtesy of the Member

726 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Payne, Donald Milford,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=P000149.

Notes

1 Joseph F. Sullivan, “A Victor in Jersey’s 

Primary: From Coach to Congress 

Race,” 9 June 1988, New York Times: 

B1.

2 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 658.

3 “Donald Payne,” Contemporary Black 

Biography Volume 2 (Ann Arbor, MI: 

Gale Research Inc., 1992); Sullivan, “A 

Victor in Jersey’s Primary.”

4 Bill Lowry, “Rodino Facing Black 

Rival,” 10 March 1986, Bergen Record: 

B1; Joseph F. Sullivan, “Challenge to 

Rodino Closely Watched,” 2 June 1986, 

New York Times: B2; David Blomquist, 

“It’s Time to Step Down, Rodino’s Old 

Allies Say Democrats in Essex Want to 

Elect a Black,” 14 March 1988, Bergen 

Record: A1; Joseph F. Sullivan, “Black 

Politicians Pressure Rodino to Retire,” 

9 March 1988, New York Times: B1; 

Joseph F. Sullivan, “Rodino Says He 

Will Retire in January,” 15 March 1988, 

New York Times: B1.

5 Kathleen O’Brien, “Payne Gets Rodino 

Seat; First Black Congressman Elected 

from N.J.,” 9 November 1988, Bergen 

Record: A19.

6 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

7 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 670; “Official Biography of 

Congressman Donald M. Payne,” 

http://www.house.gov/payne/biography/

index.html (accessed 29 October 2007).

8 “Official Biography of Congressman 

Donald M. Payne.” 

Payne twice challenged Representative Rodino in the Democratic primary for 

a U.S. House seat encompassing Newark and portions of Essex County. Arguing 

that the New Jersey congressional delegation was not representative of the racial 

composition of the state, Payne failed to unseat Rodino in 1980 and 1986.4

 In 

1988, however, when Rodino announced his retirement, Payne became a leading 

contender for the nomination to fill the vacant seat. In the June 1988 Democratic 

primary, he defeated Ralph T. Grant by a two to one ratio. In a district that voted 

overwhelmingly Democratic, Payne defeated Republican opponent Michael Webb 

with 77 percent of the vote in the general election.5

 In his subsequent nine reelection campaigns, he has won by similar margins.6

After Payne was sworn in to the House on January 3, 1989, he received 

assignments on the Education and Labor Committee and the Foreign Affairs 

Committee. He has served on the Education and Labor Committee and the 

Foreign Affairs Committee throughout his House career. In the 110th Congress 

(2007–2009), he assumed the chairman’s gavel of the Foreign Affairs Committee’s 

Subcommittee on Africa and Global Health. Payne has served on the Democratic 

Steering Committee, which determines individual committee assignments for 

Democratic House Members and shapes the party’s legislative agenda. As a past 

chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, he developed a reputation as being 

thoughtful, determined, and low-key. “I think there is a lot of dignity in being 

able to achieve things without having to create rapture,” he once noted. Payne 

also is a member of the Democratic Whip organization.7

Representative Payne’s legislative interests include both domestic and foreign 

initiatives. Among the successful measures he has helped shape from his seat on 

the Education and Labor Committee are the Goals 2000 initiative to improve the 

quality of education, the Student Loan Bill, the School-to-Work Opportunities Act, 

and the National Service Act.8

 An advocate for inner-city redevelopment, Payne is a 

leading critic of civil rights crimes, racial profiling, and police brutality. As a senior 

member of the Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Payne emerged as a 

forceful advocate for U.S. sanctions against the Sudanese government—particularly 

during a period of genocide in the Darfur region in 2004. He also has prodded both 

the William J. (Bill) Clinton and George W. Bush administrations for increased 

foreign aid for economic development and health care improvements in Africa.

current members H 727
As dean of the New York State delegation, Representative Charles Rangel is one 

of the five most senior Members in the House of Representatives and the secondlongest-serving African American in congressional history. In the 110th Congress 

(2007–2009), Representative Rangel became the first African American to chair the 

powerful Ways and Means Committee and is one of a small group of blacks who 

have chaired multiple congressional committees.

Charles Rangel was born on June 11, 1930, in Harlem, New York City. The 

second of three children, he was raised by his mother, who was born Blanche 

Wharton, and his maternal grandfather, Charles Wharton. From 1948 to 1952, 

Rangel served in the U.S. Army and was awarded the Bronze Star and the Purple 

Heart in the Korean War after being wounded and leading 40 U.S. soldiers from 

behind enemy lines.1

 After graduating from DeWitt Clinton High School, Rangel, 

in 1957, earned a bachelor of science degree from New York University under the 

GI bill. Three years later, he completed a J.D. at St. John’s University Law School. 

In 1960 Rangel passed the New York Bar and began practicing law. In 1963, he was 

appointed Assistant U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York. He later 

served as counsel to the speaker of the New York assembly and on the President’s 

Commission to Revise the Draft Laws. On July 26, 1964, Rangel married the 

former Alma Carter. They raised two children, Steven and Alicia. They have 

three grandsons.

Rangel’s interest in politics was piqued by his work for the state assembly and 

the New York City housing and redevelopment board, and by his service as a 

legal adviser to many individuals in the civil rights movement. In 1966, he ran 

successfully for a seat in the New York assembly, representing central Harlem. 

During his two terms in Albany, Rangel emerged as a leading advocate for innercity constituents while forging a bipartisan friendship with Republican Governor 

Nelson A. Rockefeller.2

H current members H Charles B. Rangel

1930–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from New York

1971–

Image courtesy of the Member

728 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Rangel, Charles B.,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=R000053. 

Rangel, Charles B., and Leon Wynter. And 

I Haven’t Had a Bad Day Since: From the 

Streets of Harlem to the Halls of Congress 

(New York: Thomas Dunne Books, 2007).

Notes

1 “Charles B. Rangel,” Current Biography, 

1984 (New York: H. W. Wilson and 

Company, 1984): 338.

2 See, for example, Paul Good, “A 

Political Tour of Harlem,” 29 October 

1967, New York Times Magazine: SM34; 

Current Biography, 1984: 338.

3 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

4 “Official Biography of Congressman 

Charles B. Rangel,” http://www.house.

gov/rangel/bio.shtml (accessed 27 

November 2007).

5 Almanac of American Politics, 2000

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 1999): 1138; Politics in America, 

2006 (Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 2005): 725–726; see also 

“Official Biography of Congressman 

Charles B. Rangel.”

In the 1970 Democratic primary, Rangel narrowly defeated renowned veteran 

U.S. Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., for his Harlem-based seat and 

prevailed in the general election. Powell had represented the district—encompassing 

Harlem, East Harlem, the Upper West Side, Washington Heights, and Inwood—

since its creation in 1944. In his subsequent 18 re-election campaigns, Rangel won 

by lopsided majorities of 87 percent or more.3

Rangel took his seat at the opening of the 92nd Congress (1971–1973). In the 

94th Congress (1975–1977), he became the first African-American member of the 

prestigious Ways and Means Committee, which writes federal tax law, and ascended 

to the chairmanship in 2007. He also was assigned to the Select Committee on 

Narcotics Abuse and Control in 1975 and chaired that panel from the 98th through 

the 102nd Congresses (1981–1993). Rangel cofounded the Congressional Black 

Caucus, serving as the group’s chairman in the 94th Congress.

Representative Rangel emerged as a forceful critic of the drug trade and illicit 

drug use. He also focused on opening up economic opportunities for minority 

groups and the poor. He authored a 1993 provision providing tax breaks to promote 

investments and jobs in inner-city neighborhoods called “empowerment zones.” 

Rangel authored the Low Income Housing Tax Credit—a measure that significantly 

boosted affordable housing built in the United States.4

 For veterans, Rangel founded 

the Office of Minority Affairs in the Veterans Administration. 

In 1987, Rangel contributed to the demise of the apartheid government of South 

Africa as the author of the “Rangel Amendment.” Denying certain tax benefits to 

U.S. corporations, the legislation forced major U.S. companies to withdraw from 

the country, weakening the government and clearing the way for the emergence of 

democracy. In 2000, the Representative’s historic African Growth and Opportunity 

Act became law, providing for the first time incentives for U.S. trade with subSaharan Africa. He also founded the Rangel State Department Fellows Program, 

which has significantly increased the representation of minorities in the U.S. 

Foreign Service. 

As part of an economic stimulus bill to rejuvenate the U.S. economy after the 

terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, Rangel managed to extend unemployment 

benefits for workers; this was particularly important to those in the travel and 

lodging industries in New York.5

 Rangel has brought millions of dollars into his 

district, helping to spur the economic revitalization of Harlem.

current members H 729
As a founder of the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, an ally in Harold 

Washington’s effort to topple the Daley Democratic machine in Chicago, and a 

Member of Congress, Bobby Rush has devoted his political career to bringing a 

measure of power to those disfranchised from the political system. An eight-term 

Member of the House, Representative Rush serves on the powerful Energy and 

Commerce Committee. “My life’s mission, my life’s meaning, my life’s definition,” 

he once said, “is that I am a fighter for the people.”1

Bobby L. Rush was born on November 23, 1946, in Albany, Georgia, the son 

of Cora Lee, a beautician and teacher, and Jimmy Lee Rush, a taxi driver. At age 

seven, he and his four siblings moved to Chicago with his divorced mother.2

 His 

mother was a Republican precinct leader, largely because whites dominated the local 

Democratic machine.3

 In 1963, he joined the U.S. Army, serving five years before 

receiving an honorable discharge. During the 1960s civil rights movement, Rush 

was a member of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). In 

1968, he left SNCC to cofound the Illinois chapter of the Black Panther Party, a 

militant group that fought for political and economic equality. Rush helped initiate 

nonviolent projects in African-American communities, including a medical clinic 

that screened patients for sickle-cell anemia. “We were resistant to police brutality, 

to the historical relationship between African Americans and recalcitrant, racist 

whites,” Rush recalled years later. Rush left the Black Panther Party in 1974 because 

he opposed its growing emphasis on violence and drug use. Rush earned a B.A. 

degree in political science from Roosevelt University in Chicago in 1973. In 1994, 

he earned an M.A. in political science from the University of Illinois at Chicago, 

and four years later he completed an M.A. in theological studies from McCormick 

Theological Seminary in Chicago. Rush, an ordained minister, and his wife of 28 

years, Carolyn, have six children. One of their sons was murdered in 1999.

Rush made unsuccessful bids for the Chicago city council and the Illinois state 

house of representatives, but in 1983, his longtime friend U.S. Representative 

Harold Washington was elected mayor of Chicago, marking a moment of black 

ascendancy in Chicago politics. At the same time, Rush was elected alderman in the 

city’s South Side 2nd Ward. By the time Washington died in office in 1987, Rush 

had built a formidable political base.4

H current members H Bobby L. Rush

1946–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Illinois

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

730 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

“Rush, Bobby L.,” Biographical Directory 

of the U. S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=R000515.

Notes

1 Sarah Pekkanen, “The Many Paradoxes 

of Rep. Bobby Rush,” 29 March 1995, 

The Hill.

2 Don Wycliff, “Soul Survivor: Bobby 

Rush Narrowly Escaped a Deadly Police 

Raid and Later Won a Long-Shot Bid 

for Congress,” 16 November 2003, 

Chicago Tribune Magazine: 12; Dirk 

Johnson, “A Politician’s Life, From 

Militant to Mainstream,” 3 June 1990, 

New York Times: 22.

3 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 331; Pekkanen, “The Many 

Paradoxes of Rep. Bobby Rush.”

4 “Bobby Rush,” Contemporary Black 

Biography, Volume 26 (Detroit, MI: 

Gale Publishing Inc., 2000).

5 Tim Curran, “Former Black Panther 

Leader Gets Ready to Move to Hill 

After Victory Over Hayes,” 19 March 

1992, Roll Call; Tim Curran, “Black 

Panthers’ Bobby Rush Heads for Hill,” 

26 March 1992, Roll Call.

6 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 325; “Election Statistics, 1920 to 

Present,” available at http://clerk.house.

gov/member_info/electionInfo/index.

html; Mike Robinson, “Former Black 

Panther Wins Primary,” 22 March 2000, 

Associated Press. 

7 “Official Biography of Congressman 

Bobby L. Rush,” http://www.house.gov/

rush/bio.shtml (accessed 17 October 

2007).

In 1992, Rush challenged Representative Charles Hayes, a five-term veteran, in 

the Democratic primary. The district encompassed much of the African-American 

South Side in addition to several Irish-American communities. Rush defeated 

Hayes in the primary by three percentage points.5

 In the general election, he won 

handily against his Republican opponent, with 83 percent of the vote. In his seven 

re-election efforts since, he has won 76 percent of the vote or more, including 87 

percent in his 2006 re-election campaign.6

As a freshman Representative, Rush received assignments on three committees: 

Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs; Government Operations; and Science, Space, 

and Technology. He left those assignments in the 104th Congress (1995–1997) 

for a seat on the prestigious Energy and Commerce Committee, where he has 

remained. In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), he was appointed Chairman of its 

Subcommittee on Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection. Rush’s Democratic 

freshman class colleagues elected him class president in the 103rd Congress 

(1993–1995), and he has been part of the Whip organization since he entered 

the House.

By his own estimate, Rush has brought more than $2 billion in federal money 

into his district since 1993.7

 As a freshman Member, Rush introduced legislation 

that passed the House as the Community Development and Regulatory Act. An 

advocate for improved access to health care for underserved populations, Rush has 

passed measures such as the Urban Asthma Reduction Act of 1999. In his first year 

as Subcommittee Chairman, Rush passed H.R. 20, the Melanie Blocker-Stokes 

Postpartum Depression Research and Care Act. Rush supports gun control and 

opposes the death penalty, and has introduced H.R. 2666, the Blair Holt Firearm 

Licensing and Record of Sale Act, a measure aimed at registering every gun sold 

in the United States. 

While backing government programs to expand economic opportunities in 

urban communities, Rush does not view the federal government as a panacea. 

“Government is not going to solve all the problems that afflict the African 

American community,” Rush noted. “We must look within ourselves, first and 

foremost. Capacity building and maintenance must become the top priority, both 

economically and politically, especially through entrepreneurship and education.”

current members H 731
A 28-year veteran of the Georgia legislature, David Scott won election to the 

U.S. House in 2002 as a centrist Democrat representing a newly created district in 

suburban Atlanta. Scott’s appeal in a racially mixed district illustrated the revolution 

in southern politics that occurred after the 1960s civil rights movement, when 

large portions of his district voted for George Wallace. “I want to be viewed as a 

Representative who happens to be African American, but one who represents all the 

people,” Scott said.1

David Albert Scott was born on June 27, 1946, in Aynor, South Carolina. His 

father was a preacher and a chauffeur, and his mother was a maid and a hospital 

worker. He attended grade school in the northeast, settling with his parents as they 

took jobs in Scarsdale, New York. The experience was formative. Scott noted, “I 

learned at a very young age how to have confidence in myself and how to get along 

with people who don’t look like me.”2

 Scott graduated with a bachelor of arts degree 

in English and speech from Florida A&M University in 1967. As an intern at the 

Labor Department in Washington, DC, he met George W. Taylor, an influential 

labor management expert. Taylor suggested Scott apply to the Wharton School 

of Business at the University of Pennsylvania, where Taylor taught. In 1969, Scott 

received an M.B.A. from Wharton. Scott married the former Alfredia Aaron, the 

youngest sister of professional baseball’s longtime homerun king Hank Aaron. 

They raised two daughters, Dayna and Marcye. 

Scott’s political work began in an advisory role when, for several years, he 

consulted for then-Governor James Earl (Jimmy) Carter of Georgia on revenue 

policy. In 1972, he worked on Andrew Young’s successful congressional campaign. 

Two years later, Scott was elected to the Georgia house of representatives, where he 

served through 1982. He then was elected to the Georgia senate, where he served 

from 1983 until 2002—eventually chairing the prestigious rules committee. He 

authored a law that gave breast cancer patients and their doctors ultimate control 

over determining hospitalization and treatment measures to combat the disease as 

well as a law that allowed local communities to fight landfill developments.3

H current members H David Scott

1946–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Georgia

20 03–

Image courtesy of the Member

732 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Scott, David,” Biographical Directory of 

the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=S001157.

Notes

1 Jill Cox, “Crossover Appeal: David 

Scott Represents a New Breed of 

Politicos Who Cross Racial Lines to 

Win Elections,” October 2002, Atlanta 

Tribune: The Magazine 16 (No. 5): 30.

2 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 302.

3 Politics in America, 2006: 303; “Official 

Biography of U.S. Representative 

David Scott,” http://davidscott.house.

gov/biography (accessed 26 September 

2005).

4 “New Member Profile: David Scott 

(D),” 9 November 2002, National 

Journal (Vol. 34, No. 45); Henry 

Farber, “Scott Got Head Start on DC 

Connections,” 14 November 2002, 

Atlanta Journal-Constitution: 4JI; 

“Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

5 “Official Biography of U.S. 

Representative David Scott,” http://

davidscott.house.gov/Biography/ 

(accessed 26 October 2007).

6 Melanie Eversley, “New Faces in 

Congress—David Scott: Bridge Builder 

Keeps Open Door to All Viewpoints,” 

25 February 2003, Atlanta JournalConstitution: 1B.

David Scott entered the race in 2002 for a newly reapportioned U.S. House 

district that surrounded metro Atlanta, including large parts of Fulton, Gwinnett, 

and Clayton counties. The district—the result of the spectacular growth of suburban 

Atlanta in the 1990s—also reached into eight other surrounding counties, drawing 

in communities that had seen a rise in the African-American population during 

the 1990s. The new district was 42 percent white, 41 percent black, and 10 percent 

Hispanic. Largely middle class with affluent pockets, it had a strong Democratic tilt. 

Scott faced two formidable rivals, a former state Democratic Party chairman and 

a popular state senator, whom the Party backed in the primary. Scott also tapped 

his experience as an advertising executive—organizing a billboard campaign that 

reached thousands of drivers who used the major interstates that crossed the spidery 

district. Scott prevailed in the primary and won the general election with 60 percent 

of the vote. He was re-elected in 2004 with no major party opposition, and won 

69 percent of the vote in his successful 2006 campaign.4

After Representative Scott was sworn in to the U.S. House in January 2003, 

he received assignments on the Financial Services Committee and the Agriculture 

Committee. By the start of the 109th Congress (2005–2007), he was the secondranking member on the Agriculture Subcommittee on Livestock and Horticulture. 

In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Scott joined the Foreign Affairs Committee, 

where he serves as Vice Chair of the Terrorism, Nonproliferation, and Trade 

Subcommittee. He is also a member of the NATO Parliamentary Assembly, the 

Congressional Black Caucus, the Blue Dog Coalition, and the New Democrats.5

In the House, Representative Scott has earned a reputation as a problem solver. 

“It’s very important that our party do two things,” Scott told the Atlanta JournalConstitution just weeks after he took his seat. “One, we’ve got to command the 

center. Secondly, we’ve got to energize our base.”6

 He was one of just a handful of 

Democrats to vote for the Medicare overhaul bill, which provided prescription drug 

benefits for millions of American seniors. Among Scott’s legislative undertakings 

have been his lead sponsorship of H.R. 916, the John R. Justice Prosecutors and 

Defenders Incentive Act, which provides student loan assistance to attorneys who 

work in public service, as well as the Financial Literacy for Homeowners Act, 

which seeks to increase homeowners’ knowledge about their mortgages. Further, 

Representative Scott sponsors annual health fairs and jobs fairs to help bring wellness 

and economic assistance to his constituents. 

current members H 733
Robert Cortez Scott was born in Washington, DC, on April 30, 1947, the son 

of Charles Waldo Scott, a doctor, and Mae Hamlin Scott, a teacher. He was raised 

in Newport News, Virginia. When Virginia officials resisted court-ordered public 

school integration in the late 1950s, Scott’s parents sent him to Groton School, a 

college preparatory school in Massachusetts.1

 He graduated with a B.A. in liberal arts 

from Harvard University in the class of 1969 and four years later earned his J.D. at 

Boston College Law School.2

 While in law school, Scott served in the Massachusetts 

National Guard and later in the U.S. Army Reserve. After law school, he resettled in 

Newport News and opened a private law practice. From 1975 to 1980, Scott served 

as president of the local chapter of the National Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People. In 1977, he won election to the Virginia house of delegates. He 

served there for five years until his election to the Virginia senate, where he served 

for another decade. Scott is divorced and has no children. He is a member of St. 

Augustine’s Episcopal Church in Newport News, Virginia.

Scott’s first attempt to win national office took place in 1986, when he challenged 

two-term Republican incumbent Herbert H. Bateman for a seat in the U.S. House. 

The campaign garnered wide name recognition for Scott, although he lost the 

general election by a margin of 56 to 44 percent.3

 Following the 1990 Census, 

Virginia underwent reapportionment that increased its congressional delegation 

from 10 to 11. In order to comply with the Voting Rights Act, the Virginia assembly 

created a majority-black district that ran from southeast Richmond into portions 

of Newport News and Norfolk at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay in southeastern 

H current members H Robert C. Scott

1947–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Virginia

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

734 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Scott, Robert Cortez,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=S000185.

Notes

1 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 1058; “Official Biography of 

Robert C. ‘Bobby’ Scott,” http://www.

house.gov/scott/about/biography.html 

(accessed 30 November 2007).

2 “Robert C. Scott,” Contemporary Black 

Biography, Volume 23 (Detroit, MI: 

Gale Group, 1999) (hereinafter referred 

to as CBB).

3 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html; 

Politics in America, 2006: 1058.

4 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html; 

“Robert C. Scott,” CBB.

5 “Official Biography of Robert 

C. ‘Bobby” Scott.” More than a 

dozen Filipinos served as Resident 

Commissioner for the nearly 50 years 

of Philippine annexation by the United 

States after the Spanish–American 

War in 1898. None of the Resident 

Commissioners were American citizens.

6 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html; 

Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 1044.

7 Politics in America, 2006: 1057.

8 “Official Biography of Robert C. 

‘Bobby’ Scott”; Congressional Record, 

House, 106th Cong., 2nd sess. (24 July 

2000): 6737.

Virginia. Scott, who had represented portions of the new district in the state 

legislature, ran for the seat. In the Democratic primary, he received two-thirds 

of the vote, defeating two African-American women—a house of delegates member 

and the chair of the state retirement system. In the general election, he prevailed 

handily over Republican candidate Daniel Jenkins, with 79 percent of the vote.4

Scott was the first black since John Mercer Langston (1890–1891) to represent 

the state and (because of his Filipino ancestry on his mother’s side of the family) 

the first American of Filipino heritage to serve as a U.S. Representative.5

 Despite 

court-ordered redistricting in 1997, Scott has never been seriously challenged 

in his seven re-election bids. In 1998, in the reapportioned district, Scott won 

with a 78 percent majority. In 2006, Scott won with 96 percent of the vote 

against write-in candidates.6

When Scott was sworn in to the 103rd Congress (1993–1995), he was appointed 

to three committees: Judiciary; Education and Labor; and Science, Space, and 

Technology. He served on the Science, Space, and Technology Committee for 

one term (1993–1995) and continues to serve on the Judiciary Committee and 

the Education and Labor Committee—though he took a leave of absence from 

 the Education and Labor Committee during the 108th Congress (2003–2005) 

to serve on the prestigious Budget Committee. In the 110th Congress (2007–2009), 

he serves on the Education and Labor, Budget, and Judiciary committees and as 

chairman on the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on Crime, Terrorism, and 

Homeland Security. 

Representative Scott earned a reputation as a forthright progressive, opposing 

efforts to amend the Constitution to outlaw flag desecration and promote prayer 

in public schools.7

 He is also a strong advocate of reforming the juvenile justice 

system and of reducing crime by using prevention and intervention strategies. Scott 

has consistently fought against discrimination in employment by organizations 

that use federal funds. In 1997, Scott was a leading proponent of the Individuals 

with Disabilities Education Act, which seeks to protect the right of children with 

disabilities to a free, appropriate public education. He also sponsored the Death in 

Custody Act, signed into law in 2000, which requires states to report the death of 

individuals apprehended or held by police.8

 Scott has been a proponent of business 

interests in his district, which include major military and shipbuilding facilities 

such as the army’s Fort Eustis and the Hampton Roads shipyards. 

current members H 735
A veteran of Mississippi politics for nearly 40 years, Bennie Thompson is an 

eight-term Member of the U.S. House and chairman of the Homeland Security 

Committee. Having grown up in the segregated South, Thompson has watched 

Mississippi government evolve from an era when blacks had no political clout to 

the present, when African Americans hold a number of the state’s elective offices. 

His congressional career has focused on the interests of his largely agricultural 

constituency and on improved access for minorities to economic opportunities 

and health care.

Bennie G. Thompson was born in Bolton, Mississippi, on January 28, 1948, 

to Will and Annie Lauris Thompson. He grew up in an all-black neighborhood 

and was educated in segregated schools. His father, who died when Bennie was 

a teenager, was an auto mechanic, and his mother was a teacher. In 1968, he 

graduated from Tougaloo College in Tougaloo, Mississippi, with a bachelor of arts 

degree in political science. In college, he was a member of the Student Nonviolent 

Coordinating Committee and volunteered on the congressional campaign of 

famed civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer. Though Hamer did not win election 

to Congress, her example and the experience of registering African Americans 

in southern voting drives inspired Thompson to pursue a career in politics.1

 He 

earned a master of science degree in educational administration from Jackson State 

University in Jackson, Mississippi, in 1973. Thompson later pursued doctoral work 

in public administration at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg. 

Thompson married his college sweetheart, London Johnson, a schoolteacher, and 

they raised one daughter, BendaLonne.2

 He briefly worked as a public school teacher 

in Madison, Mississippi, but when he won election to the board of aldermen in 

Bolton, Mississippi, white officials challenged the election in court and forced 

Thompson to resign his teaching position. The courts upheld the election results, 

and Thompson served as a town alderman from 1969 to 1973, when he won 

election as the town’s mayor. He served in that capacity for six years. In 1980, 

Thompson was elected to the Hinds County board of supervisors, where he served 

13 years. 

H current members H Bennie Thompson

1948–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Mississippi

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

736 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Thompson, Bennie,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=T000193.

Notes

1 Jesse Carney Smith, ed., “Bennie 

G. Thompson,” Contemporary Black 

Biography, Volume 26 (Detroit: Gale 

Group, 2000).

2 “Official Biography of Congressman 

Bennie G. Thompson,” http://

benniethompson.house.gov/HoR/

MS02/About+Bennie/ (accessed 31 

October 2007).

3 Michael J. Dubin et al., United States 

Congressional Elections, 1788–1997

(Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Company, 

Inc., Publishers, 1998): 785; Tim 

Curran, “Thompson Wins, Farr Tops 

Calif. Field; Democrat Takes Espy Seat, 

55–45%,” 15 April 1993, Roll Call; 

Thomas B. Edsall, “In Mississippi Delta, 

House Race Is as Complex as Black and 

White,” 14 March 1993, Washington 

Post: A8.

4 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

5 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 566; Almanac of American 

Politics, 2000 (Washington, DC: 

National Journal Inc., 1999): 909–910. 

In 1993, when four-term Democratic Representative Mike Espy of Mississippi 

resigned his seat to become Secretary of Agriculture in the William J. (Bill) 

Clinton administration, Thompson entered the race for the open seat. The district 

encompassed west-central Mississippi, taking in urban areas such as Jackson, the 

state capital, and a nearly 230-mile stretch of agriculturally dependent communities 

along the Mississippi Delta that included some of the poorest counties in the 

country. On the Democratic side, his two principal contenders were Henry Espy, 

the brother of former Representative Mike Espy, and James Meredith, a 1960s civil 

rights activist and the first African American to attend the University of Mississippi. 

In the all-party open primary in March 1993, GOP candidate Hayes Dent won 

with a 34 percent plurality. Thompson was second, with 28 percent. In accordance 

with state election law, the top two finishers squared off in the April 13 special 

election. Henry Espy threw his support behind Thompson, who worked hard to 

turn out the African-American vote. Thompson prevailed against Dent, with a 55 

percent majority.3

 In his subsequent seven re-election bids, Thompson has won by 

comfortable margins. In 2006, he won election to his seventh term, with 64 percent 

of the vote, against Republican candidate Yvonne R. Brown.4

Representative Thompson claimed his seat in the House on April 20, 1993, 

and received assignments on three committees: Agriculture, Merchant Marine and 

Fisheries, and Small Business. Thompson remained on the Agriculture Committee 

through the 108th Congress (2003–2005). In the 105th Congress (1997–1999), 

Thompson was assigned to the influential Budget Committee, where he remained 

until he won a seat on the newly created Select Committee on Homeland Security. 

In 2005, when Homeland Security became a standing House committee, 

Democrats tapped Thompson as the panel’s Ranking Member. In the 110th 

Congress (2007–2009), Thompson became the first-ever Democratic chairman 

of the committee.

Representative Thompson has sought federal dollars for infrastructure 

improvements, access to improved health care, and better schools for his district. 

In 2000, Thompson was a lead author and sponsor of a measure that created the 

National Center for Minority Health and Health Care Disparities. From his seat 

on the Agriculture Committee, Thompson, with support from the Congressional 

Black Caucus, prodded the Agriculture Department to disburse more federal aid 

to minorities, who Thompson argued have been discriminated against for decades. 

He also has been a leading defender of affirmative action programs.5

current members H 737
Edolphus Towns, a former social worker and community activist in Brooklyn, 

New York, serves as a 13-term veteran in the House, where he holds an assignment 

on the powerful Energy and Commerce Committee. In the 110th Congress 

(2007–2009), Towns was appointed chairman of the Oversight and Government 

Reform Committee’s Subcommittee on Government Management, Organization, 

and Procurement. He has focused on issues such as education, health care, and 

better access to technology for minorities.

Edolphus (Ed) Towns was born on July 21, 1934, in Chadbourn, North 

Carolina, the son of Versie and Dolphus Towns. His father was a sharecropper in 

a region where tobacco was an important agricultural product. Edolphus attended 

the local public schools, graduating from West Side High School in 1952. Towns 

earned a bachelor of science degree from North Carolina Agricultural and Technical 

State University in Greensboro in 1956. Towns later earned a master’s degree in 

social work from Adelphi University in Garden City, New York. For two years after 

college, he served in the U.S. Army. After being discharged in 1958, Towns taught 

at Medgar Evers College and Fordham University in New York City, and in the 

city’s public schools. He also worked as a program director and administrator in two 

city hospitals, from 1965 to 1975. Towns married the former Gwendolyn Forbes in 

1960, and they have two children, Darryl and Deidra. 

Edolphus Towns entered politics through his work in various civic associations. 

He held his first political position beginning in 1972 when he won election as 

the Democratic state committeeman for the New York 40th Assembly District in 

Brooklyn. In 1976, he was appointed Brooklyn’s first African-American deputy 

borough president, where he served until 1982.

In 1982, Towns entered the Democratic primary for a newly created seat 

representing portions of the northern and eastern sections of Brooklyn, including 

Williamsburg, Bushwick, and Fort Greene. In the majority-black and Hispanic 

district, Towns defeated two Hispanic candidates, with roughly 50 percent of the 

vote.1

 In the general election, Towns was heavily favored and defeated Republican 

James W. Smith, with 84 percent of the vote. Towns has won by large pluralities in 

H current members H Edolphus Towns

1934–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from New York

1983–

Image courtesy of the Member

738 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Towns, Edolphus,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=T000326.

Notes

1 Jane Perlez, “Towns Wins in Bid for 

Richmond’s Seat,” 24 September 1982, 

Washington Post: B7.

2 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

3 Jonathan P. Hicks, “Congressman 

Squares Off With Brooklyn Challenger,” 

17 August 2000, New York Times: B3; 

Almanac of American Politics, 2000 

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 1999): 1124.

4 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 716.

5 “Official Biography of Edolphus 

Towns,” http://www.house.gov/towns/

bio.shtml (accessed 30 November 

2007).

6 Politics in America, 2006: 715.

7 Ibid. “Official Biography of 

Edolphus Towns.”

subsequent general elections, claiming 85 percent of the vote or more in his 12 reelection bids.2

 He was challenged several times in Democratic primaries (particularly 

after his 1997 endorsement of Republican Rudolph Giuliani for mayor); the 

toughest challenges occurred in the 1998 and 2000 primaries, when he defeated 

lawyer Barry Ford by margins of 16 and 14 percent, respectively.3

 Redistricting 

following the 2000 Census brought in part of Midwood in south-central 

Brooklyn and bolstered Towns’s base. The current district is one of the state’s most 

diverse, comprising black, Hispanic, Caribbean, and Jewish voters, and is solidly 

Democratic: The Democratic Party has a 13 to 1 registration advantage.4

When Representative Towns took his seat in the House on January 3, 1983, 

he was assigned to three committees: Government Operations (later renamed 

Oversight and Government Reform), Public Works and Transportation, and the 

House Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and Control. Towns has remained 

on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee for his entire House career. 

In the 101st Congress (1989–1991), he won a seat on the prestigious Energy and 

Commerce Committee, where he has remained since. At the end of the 104th 

Congress (1995–1997), Towns left his Public Works and Transportation assignment.

Representative Towns’s legislative interests have included education, health care, 

financial services, and the environment. Among his legislative accomplishments, 

Towns counts the Student Right to Know Act, which mandates that colleges report 

student athlete graduation rates.5

 In the 107th Congress (2001–2003), Towns 

introduced a measure to place sports agents under the oversight of the Federal 

Trade Commission in an effort to stop unethical recruitment practices.6

 He has 

secured federal funding for programs for the gifted and talented and for bilingual 

education as well as for enhanced teacher training. Towns helped create the 

Telecommunications Development Fund to provide capital to small and minorityowned businesses that provide high technology. In addition, in recent Congresses 

he has sponsored a measure to implement technology upgrades at historically black 

colleges and those that serve minorities generally.7

Representative Towns and his son, Darryl, a New York state assemblyman, are 

the first African-American father–son team to serve simultaneously in New York 

public office.

current members H 739
On the “My Hero” Web site, a young woman named Michelle calls U.S. 

Representative Maxine Waters a “community hero,” explaining, “[Waters] instills the 

belief that you can achieve whatever you wish as long as you really strive to do so.”1

In fact, over three decades, Representative Waters has become one of the nation’s 

most tenacious, unapologetic advocates for women, children, the poor, economic 

development, communities of color, human rights, and civil rights.

Waters’s passionate commitment to social and economic justice can be traced to 

the struggles her family faced during her youth. Maxine Carr was born in St. Louis, 

Missouri, on August 15, 1938, the fifth of 13 children. “I know all about welfare,” 

she recalled. “I remember the social workers peeking in the refrigerator and under 

the beds.”2

 Although she has compiled a long list of significant accomplishments 

and is considered one of the most powerful women in American politics, she still 

remembers starting work at age 13 in factories and segregated restaurants. It is 

perhaps her first-hand experience that has made her one of the nation’s most effective 

grass-roots organizers.

Waters moved to California in 1961 and, in 1970, earned a B.A. in sociology 

from California State University at Los Angeles. During that time, she launched 

her career in public service with the Head Start program, where she eventually 

coordinated the Parent Involvement Program. In 1976, Waters was elected to the 

California state assembly, where she became the first woman in state history to 

be elected minority whip. She eventually became chair of the Democratic caucus. 

As an assemblywoman, she successfully spearheaded efforts to implement the 

first statewide training program in the country to prevent child abuse, the largest 

divestment of state pension funds from South Africa, landmark affirmative action 

legislation, and the prohibition of strip searches by police of individuals charged 

with nonviolent misdemeanors.

In 1990, Waters was elected to fill the congressional seat vacated by retiring U.S. 

Representative Augustus (Gus) Hawkins, the first African American to represent 

California in the national legislature. She captured 79 percent of the vote and 

has not been seriously challenged since, capturing similar percentages in eight 

subsequent re-election campaigns.3

H current members H Maxine Waters

1938–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from California

1991–

Image courtesy of the Member

740 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

Naden, Corinne J., and Rose Blue. 

Heroes Don’t Just Happen: Biographies of 

Overcoming Bias and Building Character 

in Politics (Maywood, NJ: Peoples 

Publishing Group, 1997).

“Waters, Maxine,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=W000187. 

Manuscript Collection

California State Archives (Sacramento, 

CA). Papers: Maxine Waters’s California 

State Assembly bill files, 1979–1990, 

30 cubic feet. Papers: In miscellaneous 

office files of Maxine Waters, 1978–1982, 

11 cubic feet. Includes schedules and 

itineraries, ways and means committee 

records, budget conference papers, and 

elections and reapportionment committee 

working papers. Also includes judiciary 

committee correspondence on pending 

legislation. Papers: In subject files of 

Assemblywoman Waters, 1977–1986, 

unknown amount of material. Includes 

documentation on the Commission on 

Status of Women. Restricted access.

Notes

1 “Community Hero: Maxine Waters,” 

http://myhero.com/myhero/hero.

asp?hero=WATERS_TAFT_04 

(accessed 21 July 2006).

2 Almanac of American Politics, 2006

(Washington, DC: National Journal 

Inc., 2005): 261.

3 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

http://clerk.house.gov/member_info/

electionInfo/index.html. 

4 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 139–140; “About 

Congresswoman Waters,” http://www.

house.gov/waters/bio/ (accessed 5 

December 2007).

5 John L. Mitchell, “Undeterred Waters 

Crusades for Answers,” 4 March 1997, 

Los Angeles Times: A3.

As a Member of Congress, Waters has provided $10 billion under the Section 108 

loan guarantee program for economic and infrastructure development in U.S. cities, 

tripled funding for debt relief in poor nations, obtained $50 million for the Youth 

Fair Chance Program, created the Center for Women Veterans, and established the 

Minority AIDS Initiative. Additionally, Waters has been a leader on global peace and 

international human rights issues and remains actively involved in efforts to improve 

the plight of oppressed individuals in conflict-torn nations like Sudan, Haiti, 

and Liberia.

Waters’s efforts have been noticed by her congressional colleagues. In 1997, 

she won the chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and later her Democratic 

colleagues elected her to the post of Chief Deputy Minority Whip. She serves on 

the influential House Committee on the Judiciary and she is the Chairwoman of 

the Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity of the Committee 

on Financial Services.4

 Waters has sponsored important measures on housing 

and community development, including legislation to reform the Section 8 

voucher program, legislation to modernize the Federal Housing Administration, 

and legislation to improve the HOPE VI public housing revitalization program. 

Additional legislation includes the Section 8 Voucher Reform Act of 2007 (SEVRA), 

reforms in the Expanding Homeownership Act of 2007, and the HOPE VI 

Improvement and Reauthorization Act of 2007.

By the 110th Congress (2007–2009), Representative Waters was a leading 

member of the Democratic Party. She acquired that status by amplifying her 

record of advocacy at the local and state levels to become “a community activist in 

Congress,” in the words of an observer.5

 In 2005, Waters cofounded and was elected 

chair of the 72-member Out of Iraq Congressional Caucus. One of the largest 

caucuses in the House of Representatives, Out of Iraq was established to consistently 

pressure the George W. Bush administration, to provide a voice in Congress for 

individuals and organizations opposed to the Iraq War, and, ultimately, to end the 

war and reunite U.S. troops with their families as soon as possible. Waters’s family 

is extremely important to her. She is married to Sidney Williams, the former U.S. 

Ambassador to the Commonwealth of the Bahamas. She is the mother of two adult 

children, Karen and Edward, and has two grandchildren.

current members H 741
Formerly an educator, a state legislator, and a U.S. ambassador, Diane Watson 

entered the U.S. House of Representatives as an unusually experienced freshman. 

From her seats on the Oversight and Government Reform Committee and the 

Foreign Affairs Committee, Representative Watson quickly established herself as 

a legislator whose interests ranged from welfare reform to foreign aid for African 

nations facing the HIV/AIDS crisis.

Diane Edith Watson was born on November 12, 1933, in Los Angeles, 

California, the daughter of William Allen Louis Watson and Dorothy Elizabeth 

O’Neal Watson. She graduated with an A.A. from Los Angeles City College and a 

B.A. from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1956. Watson later 

earned an M.S. from California State University in 1967 and a Ph.D. in education 

administration from Claremont College in 1986. After graduating from UCLA, 

Watson worked as a teacher and a school psychologist in the Los Angeles public 

schools. She was an associate professor at California State University from 1969 to 

1971 and then worked in the California department of education and served on the 

Los Angeles unified school board. Watson won election as a state senator in 1978, an 

office she held for 20 years. She was the first African-American woman in the state 

senate and chaired the health and human services committee. In 1998, President 

William J. (Bill) Clinton nominated her as U.S. Ambassador to the Federated States 

of Micronesia, a post she held for two years.

In December 2000, U.S. Representative Julian Dixon, who had just been reelected to a 12th term in Congress from his central Los Angeles–Culver City district, 

died. In April 2001, Watson prevailed with a 33 percent plurality in the special 

Democratic primary to choose Dixon’s successor, while her nearest competitor 

received 26 percent.1

 In the June 5, 2001, special election, Watson carried the 

heavily Democratic Los Angeles district with 75 percent of the vote. In her three 

subsequent re-election bids, Watson has won her district with more than 80 percent 

of the vote.2

When Watson was sworn in to the U.S. House on June 7, 2001, she was 

assigned seats on the Government Reform Committee (now the Oversight and 

Government Reform Committee) and the International Relations Committee 

H current members H Diane Edith Watson

1933–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from California

20 01–

Image courtesy of the Member

742 H Black Americans in Congress 
For Further Reading

Katsimbras, Amofia, ed. Senator Diane 

E. Watson, Ph.D. 1978–1998: Legislative 

History (Sacramento: California State 

Senate, 1999).

Watson, Diane E., “The Effects of the 

Desegregation Controversy on Trustee 

Governance in the Los Angeles Unified 

School District 1975–1980.” (Ph.D. diss., 

Claremont University, 1987).

 “Watson, Diane Edith,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present,

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=W000794.

Watson, Diane E., and Beverly J. Rambo. 

Your Career in Health Care (New York: 

Gregg Division, McGraw-Hill, 1976).

Manuscript Collection

California State Archives (Sacramento, 

CA). Papers: Correspondence and 

chronological files of state senator Diane 

Watson, 1978–1980, two cubic feet. 

Includes Sacramento and district files, 

miscellaneous legislative counsel drafts; 

constituent problems correspondence; bill 

files, 1979–1982, four cubic feet; bill files, 

1981–1986, 1.5 cubic feet.

Notes

1 “Diane Watson: Member of Congress, 

California 32, Democrat,” July 2002, 

Campaigns and Elections: 18.

2 “Election Statistics, 1920 to Present,” 

available at http://clerk.house.gov/

member_info/electionInfo/index.html.

3 Congressional Record, House, 107th 

Cong., 1st sess. (6 September 2001): 

5447.

4 Congressional Record, House, 107th 

Cong., 2nd sess. (7 February 2002): 

219.

5 Congressional Record, House, 107th 

Cong., 1st sess. (29 November 2001): 

572; Congressional Record, House, 107th 

Cong., 1st sess. (11 December 2001): 

9089.

6 “Meet Congresswoman Diane Watson,” 

http://www.house.gov/watson/

meet_congresswoman.html (accessed 

2 January 2005); Congressional Record, 

House, 107th Cong., 2nd sess. (17 

April 2002): 384; Congressional Record, 

House, 107th Cong., 2nd sess. (8 May 

2002): 2170.

7 Politics in America, 2002: (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2001): 130–132.

(now the Foreign Affairs Committee). As a former ambassador, she took a keen 

interest in American foreign policy, particularly as it related to issues of racism and 

health in the developing world. In the summer of 2001, Watson attended the United 

Nations Conference on Racism, Xenophobia, and Other Intolerance in Durban, 

South Africa. She called on the United States to host its own conference on racism 

and reform to the education, justice, and health care systems, to make “reparations” 

for the practice of American slavery.3

 In early 2002, Watson took to the House 

Floor to support the Local Law Enforcement Hate Crimes Prevention Act, noting 

that incidents of violence against Arab Americans, which had risen since the 2001 

terrorist attacks, were “the tip of a proverbial iceberg.”4

Watson also called for the United States to expand aid to sub-Saharan African 

nations fighting an HIV/AIDS pandemic that in some countries had infected more 

than a quarter of the adult population. Aside from humanitarian considerations, 

she argued, the crisis had repercussions for regional stability and American national 

security because of the strain it placed on so many developing economies. The 

disease, she observed, “in the very near term, if more is not done, may challenge the 

very notion of law-based nation states.” She also linked the chaos the disease could 

cause with instability favorable to terrorist actions. “Let us not forget that Al Qaeda 

terrorist leader Osama bin Laden has exploited the misery of another state where 

civil society has collapsed—Afghanistan—to serve as a base for his terror network,” 

Watson said.5

During the 107th and 108th Congresses (2001–2005), Representative Watson 

established herself as an advocate for what she describes as “commonsense” welfare 

reform in California. Watson supported reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance 

for Needy Families Program, which provides education, childcare, job training, and 

employment to welfare recipients by providing states with federal funds to develop 

and manage their own welfare programs. Representative Watson also has been an 

advocate for increasing funding to the Cal-Learn program to help teen mothers 

complete their educations and get jobs.6

 In addition, she introduced several bills, 

including legislation to develop a state plan for responding to medical disasters 

in the event of a biological or chemical weapons attack.7

 She also advocated passage 

of a plan that would fully fund seniors’ medical prescriptions.

current members H 743
Melvin Watt, an eight-term House veteran from North Carolina, is a highranking member of the House Judiciary Committee and the House Financial 

Services Committee. He chaired the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) in the 

109th Congress (2005–2007). A vocal advocate for civil liberties, Watt has sought to 

build ties to business interests from his seat on the Financial Services Committee. 

Melvin L. (Mel) Watt was born in Charlotte, North Carolina, on August 26, 

1945. He attended segregated public schools in Mecklenburg County. When Watt 

started college, southern universities had recently been desegregated, so he was 

among a relatively small number of blacks enrolled in the state university system.1

He attended the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating Phi 

Beta Kappa with a business administration degree in 1967. Three years later, Watt 

earned his J.D. from Yale Law School. He returned to Charlotte, where he entered 

the North Carolina bar. For the next 20 years, Watt worked in private practice, 

specializing in minority business and economic development law.2

 He eventually 

served as president of the Mecklenburg County Bar. He married Eulada Paysour and 

they raised two sons, Brian and Jason. He served a single term in the North Carolina 

state senate, from 1985 to 1987, but left to spend more time with his teenage 

sons. Much of Watt’s early political work was behind the scenes. He managed 

the successful campaigns of a rising African-American politician, Charlotte City 

Councilman and Mayor Harvey Gantt. 

After managing Gantt’s unsuccessful effort to win a U.S. Senate seat against 

incumbent Jesse Helms in 1990, Watt ran for elective office himself. In 1992, 

redistricting created a majority-black (53 percent) congressional district in central 

North Carolina that stretched through parts of 10 counties and included portions 

of Durham, Greensboro, Winston-Salem, and Charlotte.3

 In a crowded primary 

field, Watt carried 47 percent of the vote, defeating his closest rival, North Carolina 

State Representative Mickey Michaux, by 19 percentage points.4

 Against Republican 

Barbara Gore Washington, Watt captured 70 percent of the vote in the general 

election. In his subsequent seven re-election bids, Watt has won by comfortable 

margins, usually by 65 percent of the vote or more. In 1998, during a controversial 

effort to reconfigure Watt’s district, Watt experienced his narrowest margin of 

H current members H Melvin L. Watt

1945–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from North Carolina

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

744 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Watt, Melvin L.,” Biographical Directory 

of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, http://

bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.

pl?index=W000207.

Notes

1 Arati Sontakay, “Giving ‘Em Mel: 

Congressman Doesn’t Shy From Hot 

Seat,” 11 September 1995, Business 

Journal of Charlotte 10 (No. 22): 3.

2 “About Congressman Watt,” http://watt.

house.gov/aboutmel.asp (accessed 28 

November 2007).

3 Ronald Smothers, “2 Strangely Shaped 

Hybrid Creatures Highlight North 

Carolina’s Primary,” 3 May 1992, New 

York Times: 29.

4 Tim Curran, “In NC, Civil Rights 

Lawyer Watt Wins ‘I-85’ Primary; 

Walter Jones Jr. Headed for Runoff,” 7 

May 1992, Roll Call.

5 “Election Statistics, 1920 to 

Present,” available at http://

clerk.house.gov/member_info/

electionInfo/2006election.pdf. 

6 Ellen J. Silberman, “Watt Spent Most 

of First Term Learning,” 4 November 

1994, States News Service; Sontakay, 

“Giving ‘Em Mel.”

7 Almanac of American Politics, 2000

(Washington, DC: Congressional 

Quarterly Inc., 1999): 1029–1031. 

8 Sontakay, “Giving ‘Em Mel.”

9 Politics in America, 2006 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2005): 779.

10 Politics in America, 2006: 779.

victory, when he turned back Republican challenger John (Scott) Keadle with 

56 percent of the vote. In 2006, Watt was elected to his eighth consecutive term, 

with 67 percent of the vote.5

When Watt entered the U.S. House in January 1993 he received an appointment 

to the Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs Committee (later renamed Financial 

Services), where he currently serves as chairman of its Subcommittee on Oversight 

and Investigations. He also was assigned to the Judiciary Committee. Watt has 

served on both panels throughout his House career, and in the 109th Congress 

he served as Ranking Member of the Judiciary Committee’s Subcommittee on 

Commercial and Administrative Law. For a single term in the 103rd Congress 

(1993–1995), he served on the Post Office and Civil Service Committee before 

it was abolished in the following Congress. In addition, Watt has served on the 

Joint Economic Committee in the 107th and 108th Congresses (2001–2005). 

In the 109th Congress, Watt was unanimously elected chairman of the CBC. 

In Congress, Representative Watt established a reputation as an independent 

liberal. As a freshman in the 103rd Congress, Watt voted with the Democratic 

majority nearly 90 percent of the time, although he broke with President William 

J. (Bill) Clinton to vote against the North American Free Trade Agreement and the 

administration’s 1994 Crime Bill.6

 During the 1990s, Watt also criticized efforts to 

dismantle federal welfare programs and some tough crime measures, especially those 

in support of the death penalty. Watt also backed a universal health care system.7

Watt’s extensive preparation for and detailed knowledge of legislation being 

considered are widely recognized by his peers.8

 On the Judiciary panel, he has 

vigorously defended constitutional prerogatives and civil liberties. In 2001, shortly 

after the September 11 terrorist attacks, he was one of a minority of House Members 

to oppose the USA PATRIOT Act, sweeping legislation that granted expanded 

powers to law enforcement agencies.9

 On the Financial Services Committee, 

however, Watt tended to work with Republicans across the aisle and to focus on the 

business interests, particularly banking, that dominated his district.10

current members H 745
Albert Wynn won election to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1992, in an 

affluent, predominantly African-American district in suburban Maryland. With a 

decade of service in the state legislature, Wynn quickly adapted to the U.S. House, 

eventually earning a seat on the prestigious Energy and Commerce Committee and 

moving into the hierarchy of the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC). 

Albert Russell Wynn was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on September 10, 

1951. His family moved to North Carolina, where his father farmed and his mother 

taught school.1

 When his father was hired by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, 

the family moved to a suburb of Washington, DC, where Wynn attended the public 

schools in Prince George’s County, Maryland. In 1973, Wynn graduated with a 

bachelor of science degree in political science from the University of Pittsburgh. 

He briefly studied public administration at Howard University in Washington, 

DC, before entering Georgetown University and earning a law degree in 1977. 

Wynn later served as director of the Prince George’s County consumer protection 

commission. After opening his own law firm in 1982, Wynn won election to the 

Maryland house of delegates, where he served from 1983 to 1987. He was then 

elected to the Maryland state senate, serving there until 1993 and rising to the post 

of deputy majority whip. Wynn is married to Gaines Clore Wynn, an artist and 

art educator. They have two daughters, Meredith and Gabrielle, and a grandson, 

Kaden Nicholas.

Following the 1990 Census, the Maryland state legislature created a new 

congressional district that encompassed sections of Prince George’s and Montgomery 

counties inside the Capital Beltway along the border of the District of Columbia. 

In the 1970s and 1980s, Prince George’s County had become increasingly African 

American as blacks from Washington, DC, moved to the suburbs. Prince George’s 

County was home to a large group of middle- to upper-middle-class African 

Americans, many of whom were federal workers, and blacks accounted for 58 

percent of the heavily Democratic district. In the March 3, 1992, Democratic 

primary, Wynn garnered 28 percent of the vote, defeating his closest opponent, 

Prince George’s County’s State’s Attorney Alex Williams, by several percentage 

points—in large measure because he performed better than Williams in the 

H current members H Albert R. Wynn

1951–

United States Representative 

Demo crat from Maryland

1993–

Image courtesy of the Member

746 H Black Americans in Congress 
For further reading

“Wynn, Albert Russell,” Biographical 

Directory of the U.S. Congress, 1774–Present, 

http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/

biodisplay.pl?index=W000784.

Notes

1 Politics in America, 2008 (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc., 

2007): 468.

2 Michele L. Norris, “Montgomery 

Bolstered Wynn; Lower Turnout in P.G. 

Hurt Williams in Democratic House 

Primary,” 5 March 1992, Washington 

Post: C1; Michele L. Norris, “4th District 

Nod Goes to Wynn; Rep. Byron Loses 

in Upset in Maryland’s 6th District,” 4 

March 1992, Washington Post: A1.

3 “Election Statistics, 1920 to 

Present,” available at http://

clerk.house.gov/member_info/

electionInfo/2006election.pdf. 

4 “Official Biography of Congressman 

Albert Russell Wynn,” http://

www.wynn.house.gov/index.

php?option=com_content&task=view&

id=14&Itemid=26 (accessed 29 October 

2007).

5 “Official Biography of Congressman 

Albert Russell Wynn”; Politics in 

America, 2006 (Washington, DC: 

Congressional Quarterly Inc. 2005): 

476. 

Montgomery County sections of the district.2 Wynn easily prevailed in the general 

election, claiming 75 percent of the vote against Republican candidate Michele 

Dyson, an African-American business consultant. In his subsequent seven re-election 

bids, Wynn has won with pluralities of 75 percent or more (he received 87 percent 

of the vote in 1998). Reapportionment after the 2000 Census pulled several heavily 

Democratic sections out of Wynn’s district and added more conservative locales in 

the suburbs of Montgomery County. Nevertheless, in 2006, Representative Wynn 

won re-election, with 80 percent of the vote, against Republican challenger Michael 

Moshe Starkman.3

When Wynn took his seat in the House on January 5, 1993, he received 

assignments on three committees: Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs (later named 

Financial Services), Foreign Affairs, and Post Office and Civil Service. In the 105th 

Congress (1997–1999) Representative Wynn accepted a post on the prestigious 

Commerce Committee (later named Energy and Commerce), requiring him to yield 

his prior assignments. He has served on Energy and Commerce since then, and in 

the 110th Congress (2007–2009) he was appointed chairman of the Subcommittee 

on Environment and Hazardous Materials. Since 2002, Wynn has chaired the CBC’s 

Political Action Committee and Minority Business Task Force. He heads the CBC 

task forces on campaign finance reform and minority business and serves as a Senior 

and Regional Whip.4

Wynn’s district is home to more federal workers (70,000) than any other district 

in the country. In addition, a number of small businesses in Wynn’s district contract 

with federal agencies. Much of his legislative focus is on issues affecting that 

constituency; for instance, Wynn has been a leading advocate for the protection of 

federal salaries and pensions as well as for the creation of more federal contracts for 

minority businesses and small businesses. Wynn has also focused on bringing federal 

dollars into the district for transportation and infrastructure projects.5

current members H 747
Yvette Clarke

United States Representative

Democrat From New York

Congressional Committees:

Education and Labor 

Homeland Security 

Small Business

Born: November 21, 1964, Brooklyn, New York

Family: Single

Education: Attended Oberlin College, 1982–1986 

Military: N/A

Political Career: New York city council, 2002–2006 

Professional Career: Public policy, public service 

748 H Black Americans in Congress

First-Term BlackAmerican Members

of the 110th Congress 

H appendix a H

SOURCES

Online Biographical Directory of the United States 

Congress,1774–Present: http://bioguide.congress.gov; 

individual Member offices.

*The closing date for this volume was December 31, 2007. 

Image courtesy of the Member

748 H Black Americans in Congress 

*
Keith Ellison

United States Representative

Democrat From Minnesota

Congressional Committees: 

Financial Services 

Judiciary

Born: August 4, 1963, Detroit, Michigan

Family: Wife: Kim; children: Jeremiah, Isaiah, Elijah, and 

Amirah

Education: B.A., Wayne State University, 1986; J.D., 

University of Minnesota, 1990

Military: N/A

Political Career: Minnesota state house of 

representatives, 2003–2006

Professional Career: Lawyer and 

community activist

Hank Johnson

United States Representative

Democrat From Georgia

Congressional Committees: 

Armed Services 

Judiciary 

Small Business

Born: October 2, 1954, Washington, DC

Family: Wife: Mereda Davis Johnson; children: Randi 

and Alex

Education: B.A., Clark Atlanta University, 1979; J.D., 

Texas Southern University, 1979

Military: N/A

Political Career: DeKalb County (GA) board 

 of commissioners, 2001–2006 

Professional Career: Lawyer

Image courtesy of the Member Image courtesy of the Member

APPENDICES H 749
Laura Richardson

United States Representative

Democrat From California

Congressional Committees: 

Transportation and Infrastructure 

Science and Technology

Born: April 14, 1962, Los Angeles, California

Family: Divorced

Education: B.A., political science, University 

of California at Los Angeles, 1984; M.B.A., University 

of Southern California, 1996

Military: N/A

Political Career: Long Beach, California, city 

council, 2000–2006, tidelands and harbor committee 

chair, state legislation and environmental committee 

chair, budget oversight committee chair; California state 

assembly, 2006–2007, assistant speaker pro tempore

Professional Career: Marketing representative, 

Xerox Corporation, 1987–2001; field representative 

(part-time), Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald, 

1996–1998; southern California director, California 

Lieutenant Governor Cruz Bustamante, 2001–2005. 

* Elected on August 21, 2007, to fill the vacancy caused by the death 

of U.S. Representative Juanita Millender-McDonald

Image courtesy of the Member

750 H Black Americans in Congress 

*
41st (1869–1871) Jefferson Franklin Long (R-GA) Hiram Rhodes Revels (R-MS)

 Joseph Hayne Rainey (R-SC)

42nd (1871–1873) Robert Carlos De Large (R-SC) N/A

 Robert Brown Elliott (R-SC)

 Joseph Hayne Rainey (R-SC)

 Benjamin Sterling Turner (R-AL)

 Josiah Thomas Walls (R-FL)

43rd (1873–1875) Richard Harvey Cain (R-SC) N/A

 Robert Brown Elliott (R-SC)

 John Roy Lynch (R-MS)

 Joseph Hayne Rainey (R-SC)

lonzo Jacob Ransier (R-SC)

 James Thomas Rapier (R-AL)

 Josiah Thomas Walls (R-FL)

44th (1875–1877) Jeremiah Haralson (R-AL) Blanche K. Bruce (R-MS)

 John Adams Hyman (R-NC)

 John Roy Lynch (R-MS)

harles Edmund Nash (R-LA)

 Joseph Hayne Rainey (R-SC)

 Robert Smalls (R-SC)

 Josiah Thomas Walls (R-FL)

45th (1877–1879) Richard Harvey Cain (R-SC) Blanche K. Bruce (R-MS)

 Joseph Hayne Rainey (R-SC)

 Robert Smalls (R-SC)

46th (1879–1881) N/A Blanche K. Bruce (R-MS)

47th (1881–1883) John Roy Lynch (R-MS) N/A

 Robert Smalls (R-SC)

48th (1883–1885) James Edward O’Hara (R-NC) N/A

 Robert Smalls (R-SC)

49th (1885–1887) James Edward O’Hara (R-NC) N/A

 Robert Smalls (R-SC)

50th (1887–1889) N/A N/A

51st (1889–1891) Henry Plummer Cheatham (R-NC) N/A

 John M. Langston (R-VA)

 Thomas Ezekiel Miller (R-SC)

52nd (1891–1893) Henry Plummer Cheatham (R-NC) N/A

53rd (1893–1895) George Washington Murray (R-SC) N/A

Black-American Representatives and Senators by Congress, 

1870–2007

H appendix b H

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE

APPENDICES H 751
54th (1895–1897) George Washington Murray (R-SC) N/A

55th (1897–1899) George Henry White (R-NC) N/A

56th (1899–1901) George Henry White (R-NC) N/A

57th–70th (1901–1929) N/A N/A

71st (1929–1931) Oscar Stanton De Priest (R-IL) N/A

72nd (1931–1933) Oscar Stanton De Priest (R-IL) N/A

73rd (1933–1935) Oscar Stanton De Priest (R-IL) N/A

74th (1935–1937) Arthur Wergs Mitchell (D-IL) N/A

75th (1937–1939) Arthur Wergs Mitchell (D-IL) N/A

76th (1939–1941) Arthur Wergs Mitchell (D-IL) N/A

77th (1941–1943) Arthur Wergs Mitchell (D-IL) N/A

78th (1943–1945) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

79th (1945–1947) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

80th (1947–1949) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

81st (1949–1951) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

82nd (1951–1953) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

83rd (1953–1955) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

84th (1955–1957) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

85th (1957–1959) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

86th (1959–1961) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

87th (1961–1963) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

88th (1963–1965) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) N/A

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

89th (1965–1967) John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) N/A

illiam Levi Dawson (D-IL)

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

752 H Black Americans in Congress 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE 
90th (1967–1969) John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Edward William Brooke III (R-MA)

illiam Levi Dawson (D-IL)

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)*

91st (1969–1971) Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY) Edward William Brooke III (R-MA) 

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

eorge Washington Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

illiam Levi Dawson (D-IL)

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

dam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

92nd (1971–1973) Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY) Edward William Brooke III (R-MA)

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

eorge Washington Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

 Ralph Harold Metcalfe (D-IL )

arren James Mitchell (D-MD)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

93rd (1973–1975) Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-CA) Edward William Brooke III (R-MA)

 Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY)

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

 Barbara Charline Jordan (D-TX)

 Ralph Harold Metcalfe (D-IL)

arren James Mitchell (D-MD)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

ndrew Jackson Young, Jr. (D-GA)

* Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., was elected to the 90th Congress, but the House refused to seat him. He was subsequently elected to that Congress in a special election to fill 

his own vacancy, although he chose not to occupy the seat for the duration of the term.

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE

APPENDICES H 753
94th (1975–1977) Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-CA) Edward William Brooke III (R-MA)

 Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY )

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

 Barbara Charline Jordan (D-TX)

 Ralph Harold Metcalfe (D-IL)

arren James Mitchell (D-MD)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY )

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

ndrew Jackson Young, Jr. (D-GA)

95th (1977–1979) Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-CA) Edward William Brooke III (R-MA)

 Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY)

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

 Barbara Charline Jordan (D-TX)

 Ralph Harold Metcalfe (D-IL)

arren James Mitchell (D-MD)

 Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

ndrew Jackson Young, Jr. (D-GA)

96th (1979–1981) Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY) N/A

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

eorge William Crockett, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

harles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI)*

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

elvin Herbert (Mel) Evans (R-VI)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

* Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. resigned on June 3, 1980, and was succeeded by George Crockett on November 4, 1980.

754 H Black Americans in Congress 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE 
96th (1979–1981) Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

Continued William Herbert Gray III (D-PA)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

eorge Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX)

arren James Mitchell (D-MD)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Bennett McVey Stewart (D-IL)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

97th (1981–1983) Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY) N/A

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

eorge William Crockett, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

ervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

illiam Herbert Gray III (D-PA)

atie Beatrice Hall (D-IN)* 

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

eorge Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX)

arren James Mitchell (D-MD)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

us Savage (D-IL)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

 Harold Washington (D-IL)

98th (1983–1985) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) N/A

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

eorge William Crockett, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

ervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

illiam Herbert Gray III (D-PA)

atie Beatrice Hall (D-IN)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

harles Arthur Hayes (D-IL)

eorge Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX)

arren James Mitchell (D-MD)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

* Katie Beatrice Hall was elected to the 97th Congress in a special election to succeed Adam Benjamin on November 2, 1982. 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE

APPENDICES H 755
98th (1983–1985) Gus Savage (D-IL)

Continued Louis Stokes (D-OH)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

 Harold Washington (D-IL)

lan Dupree Wheat (D-MO)

99th (1985–1987) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) N/A

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

eorge William Crockett, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

ervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

illiam Herbert Gray III (D-PA)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

harles Arthur Hayes (D-IL)

eorge Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX)

arren James Mitchell (D-MD)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY )

us Savage (D-IL)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

lton R. Waldon, Jr. (D-NY)

lan Dupree Wheat (D-MO)

100th (1987–1989) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) N/A

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

eorge William Crockett, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

ervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA)

ichael Alphonso (Mike) Espy (D-MS)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

 Floyd Harold Flake (D-NY)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

illiam Herbert Gray III (D-PA)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

harles Arthur Hayes (D-IL)

eorge Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

weisi Mfume (D-MD)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

us Savage (D-IL)

756 H Black Americans in Congress 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE 
100th (1987–1989) Louis Stokes (D-OH)

Continued Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

lan Dupree Wheat (D-MO)

101st (1989–1991) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) N/A

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

eorge William Crockett, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

ervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA)

ichael Alphonso (Mike) Espy (D-MS)

alter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

 Floyd Harold Flake (D-NY)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

illiam Herbert Gray III (D-PA)

ugustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA)

harles Arthur Hayes (D-IL)

eorge Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

weisi Mfume (D-MD)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

us Savage (D-IL)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

raig Anthony Washington (D-TX)

lan Dupree Wheat (D-MO)

102nd (1991–1993) Lucien Edward Blackwell (D-PA) N/A

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

va M. Clayton (D-NC)

 Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI)

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

ervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA)

ichael Alphonso (Mike) Espy (D-MS)

 Floyd Harold Flake (D-NY)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

ary A. Franks (R-CT)

illiam Herbert Gray III (D-PA)*

harles Arthur Hayes (D-IL)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

* William Herbert Gray III resigned on September 11, 1991, and was succeeded by Lucien Edward Blackwell on November 5, 1991. 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE

APPENDICES H 757
102nd (1991–1993) John R. Lewis (D-GA)

Continued Kweisi Mfume (D-MD)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

 Major Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

 Donald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

us Savage (D-IL)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

raig Anthony Washington (D-TX)

axine Waters (D-CA)

lan Dupree Wheat (D-MO)

103rd (1993–1995) Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL)

 Lucien Edward Blackwell (D-PA)

orrine Brown (D-FL)

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

va M. Clayton (D-NC)

 James Enos Clyburn (D-SC)

 Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI)

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

ichael Alphonso (Mike) Espy (D-MS)*

leo Fields (D-LA)

 Floyd Harold Flake (D-NY)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

ary A. Franks (R-CT)

lcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL)

arl Frederick Hilliard (D-AL)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

ddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

ynthia Ann McKinney (D-GA)

arrie P. Meek (D-FL)

weisi Mfume (D-MD)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

el Reynolds (D-IL)

 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)

 Robert Cortez Scott (D-VA)

 Louis Stokes (D-OH)

* Michael Alphonso (Mike) Espy resigned on January 22, 1993, and was succeeded by Bennie Thompson on April 13, 1993. 

758 H Black Americans in Congress 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE 
103rd (1993–1995) Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

Continued Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

alter R. Tucker III (D-CA)

raig Anthony Washington (D-TX)

axine Waters (D-CA)

elvin L. Watt (D-NC)

lan Dupree Wheat (D-MO)

lbert Russell Wynn (D-MD)

104th (1995–1997) Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL)

orrine Brown (D-FL)

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

va M. Clayton (D-NC)

 James Enos Clyburn (D-SC)

 Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI)

ardiss Collins (D-IL)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

lijah Eugene Cummings (D-MD)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

haka Fattah (D-PA)

leo Fields (D-LA)

 Floyd Harold Flake (D-NY)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN)

ary A. Franks (R-CT)

ictor O. Frazer (I-VI)

lcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL)

arl Frederick Hilliard (D-AL )

 Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

ddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

ynthia Ann McKinney (D-GA)

arrie P. Meek (D-FL)

weisi Mfume (D-MD)*

 Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

el Reynolds (D-IL)**

 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)

 Robert Cortez Scott (D-VA)

* Kweisi Mfume resigned on February 15, 1996, and was succeeded by Elijah Eugene Cummings on April 16, 1996.

** Mel Reynolds resigned on October 1, 1995, and was succeeded by Jesse L. Jackson, Jr., on December 12, 1995. 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE

APPENDICES H 759
104th (1995–1997) Louis Stokes (D-OH)

Continued Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

alter R. Tucker III (D-CA)*

 Maxine Waters (D-CA)

elvin L. Watt (D-NC)

 Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. (R-OK)

lbert Russell Wynn (D-MD)

105th (1997–1999) Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL)

orrine Brown (D-FL)

 Julia May Carson (D-IN)

onna Christensen (D-VI)**

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

va M. Clayton (D-NC)

 James Enos Clyburn (D-SC)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

lijah Eugene Cummings (D-MD)

anny K. Davis (D-IL)

 Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA)***

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

haka Fattah (D-PA)

 Floyd Harold Flake (D-NY)****

 Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. (D-TN)

lcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL)

arl Frederick Hilliard (D-AL)

 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

 Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

ddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

arolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI)

 Barbara Lee (D-CA)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

ynthia Ann McKinney (D-GA)

arrie P. Meek (D-FL)

regory W. Meeks (D-NY)

 Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)

* Walter R. Tucker III resigned on December 15, 1995, and was succeeded by Juanita Millender-McDonald on March 26, 1996.

** Donna Christensen served under the name Donna Christian-Green in the 105th Congress.

***Ronald V. Dellums resigned on February 6, 1998, and was succeeded by Barbara Lee on April 7, 1998. 

****Floyd Harold Flake resigned on November 17, 1997, and was succeeded by Gregory Meeks on February 3, 1998.

760 H Black Americans in Congress 

CCONGRESS ONGRESS HHOUSE OUSE SENATE SENATE 
105th (1997–1999) Robert Cortez Scott (D-VA)

Continued Louis Stokes (D-OH)

Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

 Maxine Waters (D-CA)

 Melvin L. Watt (D-NC)

 Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. (R-OK)

lbert Russell Wynn (D-MD)

106th (1999–2001) Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) N/A

orrine Brown (D-FL)

 Julia May Carson (D-IN)

onna Christensen (D-VI)

illiam Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO)

va M. Clayton (D-NC)

 James Enos Clyburn (D-SC)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

lijah Eugene Cummings (D-MD)

anny K. Davis (D-IL)

 Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA)

haka Fattah (D-PA)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. (D-TN)

lcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL)

arl Frederick Hilliard (D-AL)

 Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

ddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

 Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)

arolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI)

 Barbara Lee (D-CA)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

ynthia Ann McKinney (D-GA)

arrie P. Meek (D-FL)

regory W. Meeks (D-NY)

 Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)

 Robert Cortez (Bobby) Scott (D-VA)

 Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

axine Waters (D-CA)

elvin L. Watt (D-NC)

 Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. (R-OK)

lbert Russell Wynn (D-MD)

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE

APPENDICES H 761
107th (2001–2003) Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) N/A

orrine Brown (D-FL)

 Julia May Carson (D-IN)

onna Christensen (D-VI)

 William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D-MO)

 Eva M. Clayton (D-NC)

 James Enos Clyburn (D-SC)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

lijah Eugene Cummings (D-MD)

anny K. Davis (D-IL)

haka Fattah (D-PA)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. (D-TN)

lcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL)

arl Frederick Hilliard (D-AL)

 Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

ddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

 Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)

arolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI)

 Barbara Lee (D-CA)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

ynthia Ann McKinney (D-GA)

arrie P. Meek (D-FL)

regory W. Meeks (D-NY)

 Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)

 Robert Cortez Scott (D-VA)

 Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

axine Waters (D-CA)

iane Edith Watson (D-CA)*

elvin L. Watt (D-NC)

 Julius Caesar (J.C.) Watts, Jr. (R-OK)

lbert Russell Wynn (D-MD)

108th (2003–2005) Frank W. Ballance, Jr. (D-NC)** N/A

 Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. (D-GA)

orrine Brown (D-FL)

eorge Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr. (D-NC)

* Diane Edith Watson was elected by special election on June 5, 2001, to succeed Julian Dixon. 

**Frank W. Ballance, Jr., resigned on June 11, 2004, and was succeeded by George Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr., on July 20, 2004. 

762 H Black Americans in Congress 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE 
108th (2003–2005) Julia May Carson (D-IN)

Continued Donna Christensen (D-VI)

illiam Lacy Clay, Jr. (D-MO)

 James Enos Clyburn (D-SC)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

 Elijah Eugene Cummings (D-MD)

 Artur Davis (D-AL )

anny K. Davis (D-IL)

haka Fattah (D-PA)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. (D-TN)

lcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL)

 Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

ddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

 Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)

arolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI)

 Barbara Lee (D-CA)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

enise L. Majette (D-GA)

endrick B. Meek (D-FL)

regory W. Meeks (D-NY)

 Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)

avid Scott (D-GA)

 Robert Cortez Scott (D-VA)

 Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

axine Waters (D-CA)

iane Edith Watson (D-CA)

elvin L. Watt (D-NC)

lbert Russell Wynn (D-MD)

109th (2005–2007) Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) Barack Obama (D-IL)

orrine Brown (D-FL)

eorge Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr. (D-NC)

 Julia May Carson (D-IN)

onna Christensen (D-VI)

illiam Lacy Clay, Jr. (D-MO)

manuel Cleaver II (D-MO)

 James Enos Clyburn (D-SC)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

lijah Eugene Cummings (D-MD)

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE

APPENDICES H 763
109th (2005–2007) Artur Davis (D-AL)

Continued Danny K. Davis (D-IL)

haka Fattah (D-PA)

 Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. (D-TN)

l Green (D-TX)

 Alcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL)

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

ddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

 Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)

arolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI)

 Barbara Lee (D-CA)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

ynthia Ann McKinney (D-GA)

endrick B. Meek (D-FL)

regory W. Meeks (D-NY)

 Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)

wendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore (D-WI)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

ajor Robert Odell Owens (D-NY)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)

avid Scott (D-GA)

 Robert Cortez Scott (D-VA)

 Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

dolphus Towns (D-NY)

axine Waters (D-CA)

iane Edith Watson (D-CA)

elvin L. Watt (D-NC)

lbert Russell Wynn (D-MD)

110th (2007–2009) Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. (D-GA) Barack Obama (D-IL )

orrine Brown (D-FL)

eorge Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr. (D-NC)

 Julia May Carson (D-IN)*

onna Christensen (D-VI)

 Yvette Diane Clarke (D-NY)

illiam Lacy Clay, Jr. (D-MO)

manuel Cleaver II (D-MO)

 James Enos Clyburn (D-SC)

 John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI)

lijah Eugene Cummings (D-MD)

*Julia May Carson died on December 15, 2007. A special election to fill Representative Carson’s vacant seat had not been held as of the closing date of this volume, 

on December 31, 2007. 

764 H Black Americans in Congress 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE
110th (2007–2009) Artur Davis (D-AL)

Continued Danny K. Davis (D-IL)

eith Ellison (D-MN)

haka Fattah (D-PA)

l Green (D-TX)

 Alcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL)

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-IL)

 Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX)

illiam Jennings Jefferson (D-LA)

 Hank Johnson (D-GA)

ddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX)

 Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH)

arolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick (D-MI)

 Barbara Lee (D-CA)

 John R. Lewis (D-GA)

endrick B. Meek (D-FL)

regory W. Meeks (D-NY)

 Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)*

wendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore (D-WI)

leanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

onald Milford Payne (D-NJ)

harles B. Rangel (D-NY)

 Laura Richardson (D-CA)

 Bobby L. Rush (D-IL)

avid Scott (D-GA)

 Robert Cortez Scott (D-VA)

 Bennie Thompson (D-MS)

 Edolphus Towns (D-NY)

axine Waters (D-CA)

iane Edith Watson (D-CA)

elvin L. Watt (D-NC)

lbert Russell Wynn (D-MD)

*Juanita Millender-McDonald died on April 22, 2007, and was succeeded in a special election by Laura Richardson 

on August 21, 2007. 

CONGRESS HOUSE SENATE

APPENDICES H 765
Illinois (16) Oscar Stanton De Priest 1929

 Arthur Wergs Mitchell 1935

 William Levi Dawson 1943

 George Washington Collins 1970

Ralph Harold Metcalfe 1971

 Cardiss Collins 1973

Bennett McVey Stewart 1979

 Gus Savage 1981

Harold Washington 1981

 Charles Arthur Hayes 1983

 Carol Moseley-Brauna 1993

 Mel Reynolds 1993

Bobby L. Rush 1993

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. 1995

 Danny K. Davis 1997

Barack Obamaa 2005

California (11) Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins 1963

Ronald V. Dellums 1971

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 1973

Julian Carey Dixon 1979

 Mervyn Malcolm Dymally 1981

 Maxine Waters 1991

 Walter R. Tucker III 1993

Juanita Millender-McDonald 1996

Barbara Lee 1998

 Diane Edith Watson 2001

Laura Richardson 2007

New York (9) Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. 1945

Shirley Anita Chisholm 1969

 Charles B. Rangel 1971

 Major Robert Odell Owens 1983

 Edolphus Towns 1983

 Alton R. Waldon, Jr. 1986

Floyd Harold Flake 1987

 Gregory W. Meeks 1998

Yvette Diane Clarke 2007

H appendix c H

Black-American Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory

States are listed in descending order according to the number of African Americans that each has sent to Congress.

766 H Black Americans in Congress 

STATE OR TERRITORY MEMBER’S NAME YEAR MEMBER TOOK OFFICE
South Carolina (9) Joseph Hayne Rainey 1870

Robert Carlos De Large 1871

Robert Brown Elliott 1871

Richard Harvey Cain 1873

 Alonzo Jacob Ransier 1873

Robert Smalls 1875

Thomas Ezekiel Miller 1890

 George Washington Murray 1893

James Enos Clyburn 1993

Georgia (8) Jefferson Franklin Long 1870

 Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. 1973

John R. Lewis 1987

Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. 1993

 Cynthia Ann McKinney 1993

 Denise L. Majette 2003

 David Scott 2003

Hank Johnson 2007

North Carolina (8) John Adams Hyman 1875

James Edward O’Hara 1883

Henry Plummer Cheatham 1889

 George Henry White 1897

 Eva M. Clayton 1992

 Melvin L. Watt 1993

Frank W. Ballance, Jr. 2003

 George Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr. 2004

Texas (6) Barbara Charline Jordan 1973

 George Thomas (Mickey) Leland 1979

 Craig Anthony Washington 1989

 Eddie Bernice Johnson 1993

Sheila Jackson Lee 1995

 Al Green 2005

Alabama (5) Benjamin Sterling Turner 1871

James Thomas Rapier 1873

Jeremiah Haralson 1875

 Earl Frederick Hilliard 1993

 Artur Davis 2003

Florida (5) Josiah Thomas Walls 1871

 Corrine Brown 1993

 Alcee Lamar Hastings 1993

 Carrie P. Meek 1993

 Kendrick B. Meek 2003

Michigan (5) Barbara-Rose Collins 1991

John Conyers, Jr. 1965

 George William Crockett, Jr. 1980

 Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. 1955

 Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick 1997

STATE OR TERRITORY MEMBER’S NAME YEAR MEMBER TOOK OFFICE

APPENDICES H 767
Mississippi (5) Hiram Rhodes Revelsa 1870

John Roy Lynch 1873

Blanche K. Brucea 1875

 Michael Alphonso (Mike) Espy 1987

Bennie Thompson 1993

Maryland (4) Parren James Mitchell 1971

 Kweisi Mfume 1987

 Albert Russell Wynn 1993

 Elijah Eugene Cummings 1996

Missouri (4) William Lacy Clay, Sr. 1969

 Alan Dupree Wheat 1983

 William Lacy Clay, Jr. 2001

 Emanuel Cleaver II 2003 

Pennsylvania (4) Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. 1958

 William Herbert Gray III 1979

Lucien Edward Blackwell 1991

 Chaka Fattah 1995

Louisiana (3) Charles Edmund Nash 1875

 William Jennings Jefferson 1991

 Cleo Fields 1993

Virgin Islands (3) Melvin Herbert (Mel) Evansb 1979

 Victor O. Frazerb 1995

 Donna Christensenb 1997

District of Columbia (2) Walter Edward Fauntroyb 1971

 Eleanor Holmes Nortonb 1991

Indiana (2) Katie Beatrice Hall 1982

Julia May Carson 1997

Ohio (2) Louis Stokes 1969

Stephanie Tubbs Jones 1999

Tennessee (2) Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. 1975

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. 1997

Virginia (2) John M. Langston 1890

Robert Cortez Scott 1993

Connecticut (1) Gary A. Franks 1991

Massachusetts (1) Edward William Brookea 1967

Minnesota (1) Keith Ellison 2007

New Jersey (1) Donald Milford Payne 1989

Oklahoma (1) Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. 1995

Wisconsin (1) Gwendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore 2005

a Senator

b Delegate

Note: The following states and territories have never elected an African American to Congress: Alaska, American Samoa, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Guam, 

Hawaii, Idaho, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, North Dakota, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, 

Utah, Vermont, Washington, West Virginia, Wyoming, and Puerto Rico.

768 H Black Americans in Congress

STATE OR TERRITORY MEMBER’S NAME YEAR MEMBER TOOK OFFICE
Appendix B H 769

Agriculture [1820–Present]

16th Congress–Present

Richard Harvey Cain 1873–1875 43rd 

Robert Smalls 1875–1877 44th

1882–1883 47th 

Henry Plummer Cheatham 1891–1893 52nd 

George Henry White 1897–1901 55th–56th

Michael Alphonso (Mike) Espy 1987–1993 100th–102nd 

Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. 1993–2003 103rd–107th

Eva M. Clayton 1993–2003 103rd–107th

Earl Frederick Hilliard 1993–2003 103rd–107th

Cynthia Ann McKinney 1993–1997 103rd–104th

Bennie Thompson 1993–2005 103rd–108th

Frank W. Ballance, Jr. 2003–2005 108th 

George Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr. 2004–2007 108th–109th 

David Scott 2003– 108th–110th

Appropriations [1865–Present] 

39th Congress–Present

Louis Stokes 1971–1999 92nd–105th

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 1975–1979 94th–95th

Julian Carey Dixon 1979–2000 96th–106th 

Bennett McVey Stewart 1979–1981 96th 

William Herbert Gray III 1981–1991 97th–102nd 

Carrie P. Meek 1993–1995 103rd

1999–2003 105th–107th

James Enos Clyburn 1999–2007 106th–109th 

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. 1999– 106th–110th 

Chaka Fattah 2001– 107th–110th 

Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. 2003– 108th–110th 

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick 1999– 106th–110th

Barbara Lee 2007– 110th

Armed Services [1947–1995; 1999–Present]

80th through 103rd Congresses; 106th Congress–Present

(See also the following standing committee: National Security)

Ronald V. Dellums 1973–1995 93rd–103rd

Melvin Herbert Evans 1979–1981 96th 

Gary A. Franks 1991–1993 102nd 

Cynthia Ann McKinney 1999–2003 106th–107th

2005–2007 109th

Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. 1999–2003 106th–107th 

Kendrick B. Meek 2003– 108th–110th 

George Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr. 2005–2007 109th 

Elijah Eugene Cummings 2007– 110th 

Hank Johnson 2007– 110th 

Banking and Currency [1865–1975]

39th through 93rd Congresses

(See also the following standing committees: Banking, Currency, and Housing; 

Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs; Banking and Financial Services; 

Financial Services)

Parren James Mitchell 1971–1975 92nd–93rd 

Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. 1973–1975 93rd 

Walter Edward Fauntroy 1973–1975 93rd 

Banking, Currency, and Housing [1975–1977]

94th Congress

(See also the following standing committees: Banking and Currency; Banking, 

Finance, and Urban Affairs; Banking and Financial Services; Financial 

Services)

Parren James Mitchell 1975–1977 94th 

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. 1975–1977 94th

Walter Edward Fauntroy 1975–1977 94th 

H appendix d H

Black Members’ Committee Assignments (Standing, Joint, Select) 

in the U.S. House and Senate, 1870–2007

APPENDICES H 769

Explanatory note: This appendix lists alphabetically all the congressional committees on which African-American Members served. Several 

features will help readers track black membership on committees over time. 

•	In instances where a committee’s name (rather than its primary jurisdictional duties) has changed, a “See also” note is provided which 

refers researchers to prior or latter committee name iterations. These name iterations are listed in chronological order. 

•	In instances where a committee on which a black Member served was disbanded and its jurisdiction subsumed by another committee, 

a “Jurisdiction reassigned” note is provided. Researchers are referred only to the committees with expanded jurisdictions on which 

black Members later served.

•	In instances where a committee was disbanded and no jurisdictional transfer occurred, only the Congress and date ranges of the 

committee are provided. 

•	Members’ terms of service on committees reflect the years they served on the committees; the Congress range is provided in a separate 

column. Please be aware that because this appendix accounts for Members joining or leaving committees because of deaths, 

resignations, and special elections, in some instances service dates are not coterminous with Congress dates.

HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
770 H Black Americans in Congress

Banking and Financial Services [1995–2001]

104th through 106th Congresses

(See also the following standing committees: Banking and Currency; Banking, 

Currency, and Housing; Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs; Financial 

Services)

Cleo Fields 1995–1997 104th 

Floyd Harold Flake 1995–1997 104th–105th 

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. 1995–1999 104th–105th 

Cynthia Ann McKinney 1995–1997 104th–105th

Kweisi Mfume 1995–1996 104th 

Maxine Waters 1995–2001 104th–106th

Melvin L. Watt 1995–2001 104th–106th 

Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. 1995–1997 104th 

Albert Russell Wynn 1995–1997 104th 

Julia May Carson 1997–2001 105th–106th

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick 1997–1999 105th

Barbara Lee 1998–2001 105th–106th

Gregory W. Meeks 1998–2001 105th–106th 

Stephanie Tubbs Jones 1999–2001 106th

Banking, Finance, and Urban Affairs [1977–1995] 

95th through 103rd Congresses

(See also the following standing committees: Banking and Currency; Banking, 

Currency and Housing; Banking and Financial Services; Financial Services)

Parren James Mitchell 1977–1987 95th–99th 

Walter Edward Fauntroy 1977–1991 95th–101st 

Floyd Harold Flake 1987–1995 100th–103rd 

Kweisi Mfume 1987–1995 100th–103rd 

Maxine Waters 1991–1995 102nd–103rd

Cleo Fields 1993–1995 103rd 

Bobby L. Rush 1993–1995 103rd 

Melvin L. Watt 1993–1995 103rd 

Albert Russell Wynn 1993–1995 103rd 

Budget [1974–Present]

93rd Congress–Present

Parren James Mitchell 1974–1979 93rd–95th 

Louis Stokes 1975–1981 94th–96th 

William Herbert Gray III 1979–1981 96th

1983–1989 98th–100th 

Michael Alphonso (Mike) Espy 1987–1993 100th–102nd 

Lucien Edward Blackwell 1993–1995 103rd 

Carrie P. Meek 1995–1997 104th

Eva M. Clayton 1997–2003 105th–107th

Bennie Thompson 1997–2003 105th–107th 

Artur Davis 2003–2007 108th–109th 

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. 2003–2007 108th–109th 

John R. Lewis 2003–2005 108th 

Denise L. Majette 2003–2005 108th

Robert Cortez Scott 2003–2005 108th

2007– 110th

Cynthia Ann McKinney 2005–2007 109th

William Jennings Jefferson 2005–2007 109th 

Gwendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore 2007– 110th

Coinage, Weights, and Measures [1864–1947]

38th through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committees: Banking and Currency; Interstate and Foreign 

Commerce)

William Levi Dawson 1943–1947 78th–79th 

Commerce [1995–2001]

104th through 106th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Interstate and Foreign Commerce; Energy and Commerce)

Cardiss Collins 1995–1997 104th

Gary A. Franks 1995–1997 104th 

Bobby L. Rush 1995–2001 104th–106th 

Edolphus Towns 1995–2001 104th–106th 

Albert Russell Wynn 1997–2001 105th–106th 

District of Columbia [1808–1995]

10th through 103rd Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Government Reform and Oversight)

George Henry White 1899–1901 56th 

William Levi Dawson 1955–1970 84th–91st 

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. 1963–1980 88th–96th 

Ronald V. Dellums 1971–1995 92nd–103rd 

Walter Edward Fauntroy 1971–1991 92nd–101st 

Charles B. Rangel 1973–1975 93rd 

William Herbert Gray III 1979–1991 96th–102nd 

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland 1979–1987 96th–99th 

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally 1981–1993 97th–102nd 

Alan Dupree Wheat 1985–1995 99th–103rd 

Eleanor Holmes Norton 1991–1995 102nd–103rd

William Jennings Jefferson 1993–1995 103rd 

John R. Lewis 1993–1995 103rd 

Economic and Educational Opportunities

[1995–1997]

104th Congress (See also the following standing committees: Education and 

Labor; Education; Education and the Workforce)

William Lacy Clay, Sr. 1995–1997 104th 

Chaka Fattah 1995–1997 104th 

Major Robert Odell Owens 1995–1997 104th 

Donald Milford Payne 1995–1997 104th 

Mel Reynolds 1995 104th 

Robert Cortez Scott 1995–1997 104th 

Education [1883–1947]

48th through 79th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Education and Labor; Economic and Educational Opportunities; Education 

and the Workforce)

Henry Plummer Cheatham 1889–1893 51st–52nd 

John M. Langston 1890–1891 51st 

George Washington Murray 1893–1897 53rd–54th 

770 H Black Americans in Congress

HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
Appendix B H 771

Education and Labor [1867–1883; 1947–1995; 

2007–Present]

4 0th through 47th Congresses; 80th through 103rd Congresses; 110th 

Congress–Present (See also the following standing committees: Education; 

Economic and Educational Opportunities; Education and the Workforce)

Robert Brown Elliott 1871–1875 42nd–43rd 

James Thomas Rapier 1873–1875 43rd 

Charles Edmund Nash 1875–1877 44th 

John Roy Lynch 1882–1883 47th 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. 1947–1967 80th–89th

1969–1971 91st 

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins 1963–1991 88th–101st 

William Lacy Clay, Sr. 1969–1995 91st–103rd 

George Washington Collins 1969–1971 91st 

Louis Stokes 1969–1971 91st 

Shirley Anita Chisholm 1971–1977 92nd–94th

Major Robert Odell Owens 1983–1995 98th–103rd 

Harold Washington 1981–1983 97th–98th 

Charles Arthur Hayes 1983–1993 98th–102nd 

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally 1985–1987 99th 

Alton R. Waldon, Jr. 1985–1987 99th 

Craig Anthony Washington 1990–1993 101st–102nd 

Kweisi Mfume 1989–1991 101st 

Donald Milford Payne 1989–1995 101st–103rd 

2007– 110th

William Jennings Jefferson 1991–1993 102nd 

Robert Cortez Scott 1993–1995 103rd

2007– 110th

Yvette Diane Clarke 2007– 110th 

Danny K. Davis 2007– 110th 

Education and the Workforce [1997–2007]

105th through 109th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Education and Labor; Education; Economic and Educational Opportunities)

William Lacy Clay, Sr. 1997–2001 105th–106th 

Chaka Fattah 1997–2001 105th–106th 

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. 1997–2003 105th–107th 

Major Robert Odell Owens 1997–2007 105th–109th 

Donald Milford Payne 1997–2007 105th–109th 

Robert Cortez Scott 1997–2003 105th–107th

2005–2007 109th

Danny K. Davis 2003–2007 108th–109th 

Denise L. Majette 2003–2005 108th

Energy and Commerce [1981–1995; 2001–Present]

97th through 103rd Congresses; 107th Congress–Present (See also the 

following standing committees: Interstate and Foreign Commerce; Commerce)

Cardiss Collins 1981–1995 97th–103rd

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland 1981–1989 97th–101st

Edolphus Towns 1989–1995 101st–103rd

2001– 107th–110th 

Gary A. Franks 1993–1995 103rd 

Craig Anthony Washington 1993–1995 103rd 

Energy and Commerce Continued

Albert Russell Wynn 2001– 107th–110th 

Bobby L. Rush 2001– 107th–110th 

George Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr. 2007– 110th 

Enrolled Bills [1876–1947]

44th through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: House Administration)

Oscar Stanton De Priest 1929–1935 71st–73rd 

Expenditures in Executive Departments

[1927–1953]

70th through 82nd Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Government Reform and Oversight; Government Operations; Government 

Reform; Oversight and Government Reform)

William Levi Dawson 1943–1953 78th–82nd 

Expenditures in the Interior Department

[1860–1927]

36th through 69th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Expenditures in Executive Departments)

John Roy Lynch 1873–1875 43rd 

Expenditures in the Navy Department

[1816–1927]

14th through 69th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Expenditures in Executive Departments)

Josiah Thomas Walls 1873–1875 43rd

Expenditures on the Public Buildings

[1816–1927]

14th through 69th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Expenditures in Executive Departments)

James Edward O’Hara 1885–1887 49th 

Henry Plummer Cheatham 1889–1893 51st–52nd 

Expenditures in the Treasury Department

[1816–1927]

14th through 69th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Expenditures in Executive Departments)

George Washington Murray 1896–1897 54th 

Financial Services [2001–Present]

107th Congress–Present (See also the following standing committees: Banking 

and Currency; Banking, Currency, and Housing; Banking, Finance, and 

Urban Affairs; Banking and Financial Services)

Julia May Carson 2001–2007 107th–110th 

William Lacy Clay, Jr. 2001– 107th–110th 

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. 2001–2007 107th–109th 

Stephanie Tubbs Jones 2001–2003 107th

Barbara Lee 2001–2007 107th–109th

Gregory W. Meeks 2001– 107th–110th 

Maxine Waters 2001– 107th–110th 

Melvin L. Watt 2001– 107th–110th 

APPENDICES H 771

HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
772 H Black Americans in Congress Appendix d H 772 

Financial Services Continued

Artur Davis 2003–2007 108th–109th 

Emanuel Cleaver II 2005– 109th–110th

Gwendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore 2005– 109th–110th

Al Green 2005– 109th–110th 

David Scott 2003– 108th–110th

Keith Ellison 2007– 110th

Foreign Affairs [1822–1977; 1981–1995; 2007–Present]

17th through 94th Congresses; 97th through 103rd Congresses; 110th 

Congress–Present (See also the following standing committee: International 

Relations)

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. 1959–1975 86th–93rd

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. 1961–1977 87th–94th

Ronald V. Dellums 1971–1973 92nd 

Cardiss Collins 1975–1977 94th

George William Crockett, Jr. 1981–1991 97th–101st 

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally 1981–1993 97th–102nd 

Donald Milford Payne 1989–1995 101st–103rd

2007– 110th

Alcee Lamar Hastings 1993–1995 103rd 

Cynthia Ann McKinney 1993–1995 103rd

Albert Russell Wynn 1993–1995 103rd 

Sheila Jackson Lee 2007– 110th

Gregory W. Meeks 2007– 110th

David Scott 2007– 110th

Diane Edith Watson 2007– 110th

Freedmen’s Affairs [1866–1875]

39th through 43rd Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Judiciary) 

Joseph Hayne Rainey 1870–1873 41st–42nd 

Government Operations [1953–1995]

83rd through 103rd Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Expenditures in the Executive Departments; Government Reform and 

Oversight; Government Reform; Oversight and Government Reform)

William Levi Dawson 1953–1970 83rd–91st 

George Washington Collins 1970–1972 91st–92nd 

John Conyers, Jr. 1971–1995 92nd–103rd 

Cardiss Collins 1973–1995 93rd–103rd

Barbara Charline Jordan 1975–1979 94th–95th

Harold Washington 1981–1983 97th 

Major Robert Odell Owens 1983–1995 98th–103rd 

Edolphus Towns 1983–1995 98th–103rd 

Donald Milford Payne 1989–1995 101st–103rd 

Corrine Brown 1993–1995 103rd

Barbara-Rose Collins 1993–1995 103rd

Floyd Harold Flake 1993–1995 103rd 

Bobby L. Rush 1993–1995 103rd 

Craig Anthony Washington 1993–1995 103rd 

Government Reform [2001–2007]

106th through 109th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Expenditures in the Executive Departments; Government Reform and 

Oversight; Oversight and Government Reform) 

Elijah Eugene Cummings 1999–2007 106th–109th 

Danny K. Davis 1999–2007 106th–109th 

Chaka Fattah 1999–2001 106th 

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. 1999–2001 106th 

Major Robert Odell Owens 1999–2007 106th–109th 

Edolphus Towns 1999–2007 106th–109th 

William Lacy Clay, Jr. 2001–2007 107th–109th 

Eleanor Holmes Norton 1999–2007 106th–109th

Diane Edith Watson 2001–2007 107th–109th

Government Reform and Oversight

[1995–1999]

104th and 105th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Expenditures in the Executive Departments; Government Reform; Oversight 

and Government Reform) 

Barbara-Rose Collins 1995–1997 104th

Cardiss Collins 1995–1997 104th

Chaka Fattah 1995–1999 104th–105th 

Carrie P. Meek 1995–1997 104th

Eleanor Holmes Norton 1995–1999 104th–105th

Major Robert Odell Owens 1995–1999 104th–105th 

Edolphus Towns 1995–1999 104th–105th 

Elijah Eugene Cummings 1996–1999 104th–105th 

Danny K. Davis 1997–1999 105th 

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. 1997–1999 105th 

House Administration [1947–1995; 1999–Present]

80th through 103rd Congresses; 106th Congress–Present (See also the 

following standing committee: House Oversight) 

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins 1969–1985 91st–98th 

William Lacy Clay, Sr. 1985–1995 99th–103rd 

William Herbert Gray III 1991 102nd 

Chaka Fattah 1999–2003 106th–107th

Juanita Millender-McDonald 2003–2007 108th–110th 

Artur Davis 2007– 110th

House Oversight [1995–1999]

104th and 105th Congresses (See also the following standing committee: 

House Administration)

William Jennings Jefferson 1995–1997 104th 

Homeland Security [2005–Present]

109th Congress–Present 

Donna Christensen 2005– 109th–110th

Sheila Jackson Lee 2005– 109th–110th

Eleanor Holmes Norton 2005– 109th–110th

Kendrick B. Meek 2005–2007 109th 

Bennie Thompson 2005– 109th–110th

Yvette Diane Clarke 2007– 110th

Al Green 2007– 110th

772 H Black Americans in Congress

HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
Appendix B H 773

Indian Affairs [1821–1947]

17th through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Public Lands, which later became Interior and 

Insular Affairs)

Joseph Hayne Rainey 1873–1875 43rd 

Oscar Stanton De Priest 1929–1935 71st–73rd 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. 1945–1947 79th 

Insular Affairs [1899–1947]

56th through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Public Lands, which later became Interior and Insular 

Affairs)

William Levi Dawson 1943–1947 78th–79th 

Interior and Insular Affairs [1951–1993]* 82nd through 102nd Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Natural Resources; Resources)

William Levi Dawson 1951–1953 82nd 

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. 1955–1959 84th–85th 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. 1955–1961 84th–86th 

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 1973–1975 93rd

Melvin Herbert Evans 1979–1981 96th 

John R. Lewis 1987–1993 100th–102nd 

Internal Security [1969–1975]

91st through 93rd Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Judiciary)

Louis Stokes 1969–1971 91st 

International Relations [1977–1981; 1995–2007]

95th and 96th Congresses; 104th through 109th Congresses (See also the 

following standing committee: Foreign Affairs)

Cardiss Collins 1977–1981 95th–96th

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. 1977–1980 95th–96th 

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. 1977–1979 95th 

William Herbert Gray III 1979–1981 96th

George William Crockett, Jr. 1980–1981 96th 

Victor O. Frazer 1995–1997 104th 

Alcee Lamar Hastings 1995–2001 104th–106th 

Cynthia Ann McKinney 1995–2003 104th–107th

Donald Milford Payne 1995–2007 104th–109th 

Albert Russell Wynn 1995–1997 104th 

Earl Frederick Hilliard 1997–2003 105th–107th 

Barbara Lee 1999–2007 106th–109th

Gregory W. Meeks 1999–2007 106th–109th 

Diane Edith Watson 2001–2007 107th–109th

Interstate and Foreign Commerce [1893–1981]

53rd through 96th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Energy and Commerce; Commerce)

Ralph Harold Metcalfe 1971–1979 92nd–95th 

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland 1979–1981 96th 

Invalid Pensions [1831–1947]

21st through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committees: Judiciary; Veterans’ Affairs) 

Benjamin Sterling Turner 1871–1873 42nd

Joseph Hayne Rainey 1875–1879 44th–45th 

James Edward O’Hara 1885–1887 49th 

Oscar Stanton De Priest 1929–1935 71st–73rd 

William Levi Dawson 1943–1947 78th–79th 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. 1945–1947 79th 

Irrigation and Reclamation [1925–1947]

69th through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Public Lands, which later became Interior and 

Insular Affairs) 

William Levi Dawson 1943–1947 78th–79th 

Judiciary [1813–Present]

13th Congress–Present

John Conyers, Jr. 1965– 89th–110th 

Charles B. Rangel 1972–1975 92nd–93rd 

Barbara Charline Jordan 1973–1979 93rd–95th

George William Crockett, Jr. 1982–1991 97th–101st 

Harold Washington 1981–1983 97th–98th 

Craig Anthony Washington 1990–1995 101st–103rd 

Robert Cortez Scott 1993– 103rd–110th 

Melvin L. Watt 1993– 103rd–110th

Sheila Jackson Lee 1995– 104th–110th

Maxine Waters 1997– 105th–110th

Artur Davis 2007– 110th

Keith Ellison 2007– 110th

Hank Johnson 2007– 110th 

Labor [1883–1947]

48th through 79th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Education and Labor; Education and the Workforce)

Thomas Ezekiel Miller 1890–1891 51st 

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. 1945–1947 79th 

Manufactures [1819–1911]

16th through 61st Congresses

Robert Carlos De Large 1871–1873 42nd 

Alonzo Jacob Ransier 1873–1875 43rd 

John Adams Hyman 1875–1877 44th 

Robert Smalls 1884–1885 48th 

Merchant Marine and Fisheries [1947–1995]

80th through 103rd Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committees: National Security; Resources; Science; Transportation 

and Infrastructure) 

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. 1958–1961 85th–86th 

Ralph Harold Metcalfe 1972–1978 92nd–95th 

Melvin Herbert Evans 1979–1981 96th 

Lucien Edward Blackwell 1992–1993 102nd 

William Jennings Jefferson 1991–1993 102nd 

APPENDICES H 773

* In the 82nd Congress (1951–1953), the committee changed names from Public 

Lands to Interior and Insular Affairs on February 2, 1951. 

HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
774 H Black Americans in Congress

Merchant Marine and Fisheries Continued

Alcee Lamar Hastings 1993–1995 103rd 

Bennie Thompson 1993–1995 103rd 

Militia [1815–1835]

14th through 23rd Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Military Affairs, which later became Armed Services)

Josiah Thomas Walls 1871–1875 42nd–43rd 

Robert Brown Elliott 1873–1874 43rd 

Robert Smalls 1877–1879 45th

1882–1883 47th

1884–1885 48th 

John Roy Lynch 1882–1883 47th 

Mileage [1837–1927]

25th through 69th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Accounts, which later became House Administration) 

Josiah Thomas Walls 1875–1876 44th 

Mines and Mining [1865–1947]

39th through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Public Lands, which later became Interior and 

Insular Affairs) 

John Roy Lynch 1873–1877 43rd–44th 

James Edward O’Hara 1883–1885 48th 

National Security [1995–1999]

104th through 105th Congresses (See also the following standing committee: 

Armed Services)

Ronald V. Dellums 1995–1998 104th–105th 

William Jennings Jefferson 1995–1997 104th 

Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. 1995–1999 104th–105th 

Cynthia Ann McKinney 1997–1999 105th

Natural Resources [1993–1995; 2007–Present]

103rd and 104th Congresses; 110th Congress–Present (See also the following 

standing committees: Interior and Insular Affairs; Resources)

Donna Christensen 2007– 110th

Oversight and Government Reform

[2007–Present]

110th Congress–Present (See also the following standing committees: 

Expenditures in the Executive Departments; Government Operations; 

Government Reform and Oversight; Government Reform) 

William Lacy Clay, Jr. 2007– 110th

Elijah Eugene Cummings 2007– 110th 

Danny K. Davis 2007– 110th 

Eleanor Holmes Norton 2007– 110th

Edolphus Towns 2007– 110th

Diane Edith Watson 2007– 110th

Post Office and Civil Service [1947–1995]

80th through 103rd Congresses (See also the following standing committee: 

Post Office and Post Roads. Jurisdiction reassigned to the following standing 

committees: Government Reform and Oversight; House Oversight)

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. 1963–1979 88th–95th 

William Lacy Clay, Sr. 1973–1995 93rd–103rd 

Ralph Harold Metcalfe 1977–1978 95th 

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland 1979–1989 96th–101st 

Ronald V. Dellums 1981–1985 97th–98th 

Gus Savage 1981–1983 97th 

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally 1984–1993 98th–102nd 

Katie Beatrice Hall 1983–1985 98th

Charles Arthur Hayes 1989–1993 101st–102nd 

Barbara-Rose Collins 1991–1995 102nd–103rd

Eleanor Holmes Norton 1991–1995 102nd–103rd

Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. 1993–1995 103rd 

Alcee Lamar Hastings 1993–1995 103rd 

Melvin L. Watt 1993–1995 103rd 

Albert Russell Wynn 1993–1995 103rd 

Post Office and Post Roads [1808–1947]

10th through 79th Congresses (See also the following standing committee: Post 

Office and Civil Service)

Oscar Stanton De Priest 1933–1935 73rd 

Arthur Wergs Mitchell 1935–1943 74th–77th

Private Land Claims [1816–1911]

14th through 61st Congresses

Richard Harvey Cain 1877–1879 45th 

Public Works [1947–1975]

80th through 93rd Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Public Works and Transportation; Transportation and Infrastructure)

George Washington Collins 1971–1972 92nd 

Charles B. Rangel 1971–1973 92nd 

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 1973–1975 93rd

Cardiss Collins 1974–1975 93rd

Public Works and Transportation [1975–1995]

94th through 103rd Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Public Works; Transportation and Infrastructure)

Gus Savage 1981–1993 97th–102nd 

Katie Beatrice Hall 1983–1985 98th

Edolphus Towns 1983–1997 98th–104th 

John R. Lewis 1987–1993 100th–102nd 

Lucien Edward Blackwell 1991–1995 102nd–103rd 

Barbara-Rose Collins 1991–1995 102nd–103rd

Eleanor Holmes Norton 1991–1995 102nd–103rd

Corrine Brown 1993–1995 103rd 

James Enos Clyburn 1993–1995 103rd 

Walter R. Tucker III 1993–1995 103rd 

Eddie Bernice Johnson 1993–1995 103rd

774 H Black Americans in Congress

HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
Appendix B H 775

Public Expenditures [1814–1880; 1881–1883]

13th through 4 6th Congresses; 47th Congress

Jeremiah Haralson 1875–1877 44th 

Resources [1995–2007]

105th through 109th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Interior and Insular Affairs; Natural Resources)

Donna Christensen 1997–2007 105th–109th

Rules [1849–Present]

31st Congress–Present

Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. 1975–1977 94th 

Shirley Anita Chisholm 1977–1983 95th–97th

Alan Dupree Wheat 1983–1995 98th–103rd 

Alcee Lamar Hastings 2001– 107th–110th 

Science [1995–2007]

104th through 109th Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Science and Astronautics; Science, Space, and Technology; Science 

and Technology)

Alcee Lamar Hastings 1995–2001 104th–106th 

Sheila Jackson Lee 1995–2007 104th–109th

Eddie Bernice Johnson 1995–2007 104th–109th

Barbara Lee 1998–1999 105th

Al Green 2005–2007 109th 

Science and Astronautics [1959–1975]

86th through 93rd Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Science and Technology; Science, Space, and Technology; Science)

Charles B. Rangel 1971–1973 92nd 

Science and Technology [1975–1987; 2007–Present]

94th through 99th Congresses; 110th Congress–Present (See also the 

following standing committees: Science and Astronautics; Science, Space, and 

Technology; Science)

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally 1981–1985 97th–98th

Eddie Bernice Johnson 2007– 110th

Laura Richardson 2007– 110th

Science, Space, and Technology [1987–1995]

100th through 103rd Congresses (See also the following standing committees: 

Science and Astronautics; Science and Technology; Science)

Eddie Bernice Johnson 1993–1995 103rd

Bobby L. Rush 1993–1995 103rd 

Robert Cortez Scott 1993–1995 103rd 

Small Business [1975–Present]

94th Congress–Present 

Parren James Mitchell 1975 94th 

1979–1987 96th–99th 

George William Crockett, Jr. 1981–1983 97th 

Gus Savage 1981–1993 97th–102nd 

Charles Arthur Hayes 1983–1991 98th–101st 

Alton R. Waldon, Jr. 1985–1987 99th 

Small Business Continued

John Conyers, Jr. 1987–1995 100th–103rd 

Kweisi Mfume 1987–1996 100th–104th 

Floyd Harold Flake 1987–1997 100th–105th 

Gary A. Franks 1991–1993 102nd 

Eva M. Clayton 1993–1997 103rd–104th

Cleo Fields 1993–1997 103rd–104th 

Earl Frederick Hilliard 1993–1997 103rd–104th 

Bennie Thompson 1993–1997 103rd–104th 

Walter R. Tucker III 1993–1995 103rd–104th 

Maxine Waters 1993–1996 103rd–104th

James Enos Clyburn 1995–1997 104th 

Chaka Fattah 1995–1997 104th 

Eleanor Holmes Norton 1995–1997 104th

Juanita Millender-McDonald 1996–2007 104th–109th 

Danny K. Davis 1997–2007 105th–109th 

Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. 1997–1999 105th 

Donna Christensen 1999–2007 106th–109th

Stephanie Tubbs Jones 1999–2003 106th–107th

Frank W. Ballance, Jr. 2003–2004 108th 

George Kenneth (G. K.) Butterfield, Jr. 2004–2005 108th 

Denise L. Majette 2003–2005 108th

Gwendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore 2005– 109th–110th

Yvette Diane Clarke 2007– 110th

William Jennings Jefferson 2007 110th

Hank Johnson 2007– 110th 

Standards of Official Conduct [1967–Present]

9 0th Congress–Present 

Louis Stokes 1979–1985 96th–98th 

1991–1993 102nd 

Julian Carey Dixon 1983–1991 98th–101st 

Kweisi Mfume 1993–1995 103rd 

Chaka Fattah 1997–2001 105th–106th 

Stephanie Tubbs Jones 2001– 107th–110th

Transportation and Infrastructure

[1995–Present]

104th Congress–Present (See also the following standing committees: Public 

Works; Public Works and Transportation)

Corrine Brown 1995– 104th–110th

Barbara-Rose Collins 1995–1997 104th

James Enos Clyburn 1995–1999 104th–105th 

Eddie Bernice Johnson 1995– 104th–110th

Eleanor Holmes Norton 1995– 104th–110th

Walter R. Tucker III 1995 104th 

Juanita Millender-McDonald 1996–2007 104th–110th

Elijah Eugene Cummings 1996– 104th–110th 

Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. 1997–2001 105th–106th 

Julia May Carson 2003–2007 108th–110th 

Laura Richardson 2007– 110th

APPENDICES H 775

HOUSE STANDING COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
776 H Black Americans in Congress

Select Aging [1975–1993]

94th Congress through 102nd Congresses

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. 1975–1993 94th–102nd 

George William Crockett, Jr. 1981–1991 97th–101st 

John R. Lewis 1989–1993 101st–102nd 

Gary A. Franks 1991–1993 102nd 

Select Committee on Assassinations

[1976–1979]

94th and 95th Congresses

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 1976–1979 94th–95th

Walter Edward Fauntroy 1976–1979 94th–95th 

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. 1976–1979 94th–95th 

Louis Stokes 1976–1979 94th–95th 

Select Committee on Centennial 

Celebration and the Proposed National 

Census of 1875 [1875–1877]

44th Congress

Joseph Hayne Rainey 1875–1877 44th 

Select Committee on Children, Youth, and 

Families [1983–1993]

98th through 102nd Congresses

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland 1983–1985 98th 

Alan Dupree Wheat 1983–1993 98th–102nd 

Floyd Harold Flake 1987–1989 100th 

Barbara-Rose Collins 1991–1993 102nd

Select Committee on Energy Independence 

and Global Warming [2007–Present]

110th Congress–Present

Emanuel Cleaver II 2007– 110th

Select Committee on Committees II [1979–1980]

96th Congress

William Lacy Clay, Sr. 1979–1980 96th

Select Committee on Crime [1969–1973]

91st through 93rd Congresses

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. 1969–1971 91st 

Charles B. Rangel 1971–1973 92nd–93rd 

Select Committee on Homeland Security

[2002–2005]

107th and 108th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following standing 

committee: Homeland Security)

Donna Christensen 2003–2005 108th

Kendrick B. Meek 2003–2005 108th 

Eleanor Holmes Norton 2003–2005 108th

Bennie Thompson 2003–2005 108th 

Select Committee on the House Beauty Shop

[1967–1977]

9 0th through 94th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: House Administration) 

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 1975–1977 94th

Select Committee on Hunger [1984–1993] 

98th through 102nd Congresses

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland 1984–1989 98th–101st 

Floyd Harold Flake 1987–1993 100th–102nd 

Kweisi Mfume 1987–1989 100th 

Michael Alphonso (Mike) Espy 1989–1993 101st–102nd 

Alan Dupree Wheat 1990–1993 101st–102nd 

Select Committee on Intelligence [1975–1976]

94th Congress (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following select committee: 

Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence)

Ronald V. Dellums 1975–1976 94th

Veterans’ Affairs [1947–Present]

80th Congress–Present 

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. 1955–1959 84th–85th 

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. 1958–1961 85th–86th 

Shirley Anita Chisholm 1969–1973 91st–92nd

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. 1975 94th 

Maxine Waters 1991–1997 102nd–104th 

Corrine Brown 1993– 103rd–110th 

Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. 1993–1997 103rd–104th 

James Enos Clyburn 1993–1999 103rd–105th 

Julia May Carson 1997–2003 105th–107th

War Claims [1873–1947]

43rd through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Judiciary)

Robert Smalls 1885–1887 49th 

Ways and Means [1795–Present]

4th Congress–Present

Charles B. Rangel 1975– 94th–110th

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. 1975–1997 94th–104th

William Jennings Jefferson 1993–1995 103rd

1997–2006 105th–109th 

John R. Lewis 1993– 103rd–110th 

Mel Reynolds 1993–1995 103rd

Stephanie Tubbs Jones 2003– 108th–110th

Artur Davis 2007– 110th

Kendrick B. Meek 2007– 110th

Representatives Who Served Full or Partial 

Terms Without Committee Assignments

Jefferson Franklin Long 1870–1871 41st Congress 

776 H Black Americans in Congress

HOUSE OUSE STANDING STANDING COMMITTEE TERM OMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM ONGRESS TERM ONGRESS TERM ONGRESS TERM CONGRESS ONGRESS

HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
Appendix B H 777

Joint Committee on Bicentennial 

Arrangements [1975–1976]

94th Congress

Edward William Brooke III, Sen. 1975–1976 94th 

Joint Committee on Defense Production

[1950–1977]

81st through 95th Congresses

Edward William Brooke III, Sen. 1975–1977 94th–95th

Parren James Mitchell, Rep. 1975–1977 94th–95th 

Joint Committee on Deficit Reduction [1987]

100th Congress

Michael Alphonso (Mike) Espy, Rep. 1987 100th 

William Herbert Gray III, Rep. 1987 100th 

Joint Economic Committee [1957–Present]

85th Congress–Present

Parren James Mitchell, Rep. 1977–1987 95th–99th 

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins, Rep. 1981–1991 97th–101st 

Kweisi Mfume, Rep. 1991–1996 102nd–104th 

Melvin L. Watt, Rep. 2001–2005 107th–108th 

Joint Committee on the Library [1947–Present]

80th Congress–Present

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins, Rep. 1981–1985 97th–98th 

William Lacy Clay, Sr., Rep. 1989–1991 101st 

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick, Rep. 1997–1999 105th

Juanita Millender-McDonald, Rep. 2003–2007 108th–110th

Joint Committee on the Organization of

Congress [1992–1993]

102nd and 103rd Congresses

Eleanor Holmes Norton, Del. 1992–1993 102nd–103rd 

Joint Committee on Printing [1947–Present]

80th Congress–Present

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins, Rep. 1977–1985 95th–98th 

William Jennings Jefferson, Rep. 1995–1997 104th 

Chaka Fattah, Rep. 1999–2003 106th–107th 

Juanita Millender-McDonald, Rep. 2005–2007 109th–110th

Joint Committee on Taxation [1977–Present]

94th Congress–Present

Charles B. Rangel, Rep. 1995–1999 104th–105th

2003–2005 108th 

Permanent Select Committee on 

Intelligence [1977–Present]

95th Congress–Present 

Ronald V. Dellums 1991–1993 102nd 

Louis Stokes 1983–1989 98th–100th 

Julian Carey Dixon 1993–2000 103rd–106th 

Alcee Lamar Hastings 1999–2007 106th–110th 

Sanford Dixon Bishop, Jr. 1997–2003 105th–107th 

Select Committee to Investigate Covert 

Arms Transactions with Iran [1987]

100th Congress

Louis Stokes 1987 100th 

Select Committee to Investigate the Voting 

Irregularities of August 2, 2007 [2007–Present]

110th Congress–Present

Artur Davis 2007– 110th–

Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and 

Control [1976–1993]

94th through 102nd Congresses

Charles B. Rangel 1975–1993 94th–102nd 

Cardiss Collins 1979–1993 96th–102nd

Walter Edward Fauntroy 1983–1991 98th–101st 

Select Committee on Narcotics Abuse and 

Control Continued

Edolphus Towns 1983–1993 98th–102nd 

Kweisi Mfume 1989–1993 101st–102nd 

Craig Anthony Washington 1991–1993 102nd 

Donald Milford Payne 1991–1993 102nd

Select Small Business [1947–1975]

80th through 93rd Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

standing committee: Small Business)

Parren James Mitchell 1971–1975 92nd–93rd 

Select Committee on Standards of Official 

Conduct [1966]

89th Congress (Jurisdiction transferred to the following standing committee: 

Standards of Official Conduct)

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. 1966 89th 

Select Committee on U.S. National Security 

and Military/Commercial Concerns With

China [1998–1999]

105th and 106th Congresses

Robert Cortez Scott 1998–1999 105th–106th 

APPENDICES H 777

HOUSE SELECT COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS

JOINT COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
778 H Black Americans in Congress

Aeronautical and Space Sciences [1958–1977]

85th through 94th Congresses

Edward William Brooke III 1967–1969 90th 

Appropriations [1867–Present]

4 0th Congress–Present

Edward William Brooke III 1971–1979 92nd–95th 

Armed Services [1947–Present]

80th Congress–Present

Edward William Brooke III 1969–1971 91st 

Banking and Currency [1913–1971]

63rd through 9 0th Congresses (See also the following standing committee: 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs)

Edward William Brooke III 1967–1971 90th–91st 

Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs

[1971–Present]

92nd Congress–Present (See also the following standing committee: Banking 

and Currency)

Edward William Brooke III 1971–1979 92nd–95th 

Carol Moseley-Braun 1993–1999 103rd–105th

District of Columbia [1816–1977]

14th through 94th Congresses

Hiram Rhodes Revels 1870–1871 41st 

Education and Labor [1869–1947]

41st through 79th Congresses (Jurisdiction reassigned to the following 

committee: Labor and Public Welfare, which later became Health, Education, 

Labor, and Pensions)

Hiram Rhodes Revels 1870–1871 41st 

Blanche K. Bruce 1875–1881 44th–46th 

Environment and Public Works [1977–Present]

95th Congress–Present

Barack Obama 2005– 109th–110th

Finance [1947–Present]

80th Congress–Present

Carol Moseley-Braun 1995–1999 104th–105th

Foreign Relations [1947–Present]

80th Congress–Present

Barack Obama 2005– 109th–110th

Government Operations [1953–1993]

83rd through 102nd Congresses

Edward William Brooke III 1968–1969 90th 

Health, Education, Labor, AND Pensions

[1999–Present]

106th Congress–Present

Barack Obama 2007– 110th

Homeland Security and Governmental 

Affairs [2005–Present]

109th Congress–Present

Barack Obama 2007– 110th

Improvement of the Mississippi River and Its 

Tributaries [1879–1921]

4 6th through 66th Congresses (See also the following select committee: Levees 

of the Mississippi River) 

Blanche K. Bruce 1879–1881 46th 

Veterans’ Affairs [1971–Present]

92nd Congress–Present

Barack Obama 2005– 109th–110th

778 H Black Americans in Congress

Select Equal Education Opportunity

[1970–1972]

91st and 92nd Congresses

Edward William Brooke III 1970–1972 91st–92nd 

Select Committee on Levees of the 

Mississippi River [1877–1879]

45th Congress, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Sessions (See also the following standing 

committee: Improvement of the Mississippi River and Its Tributaries)

Blanche K. Bruce 1877–1879 45th 

Select Standards and Conduct [1965–1977]

88th through 94th Congresses

Edward William Brooke III 1973–1977 93rd–94th 

Special Committee on Aging [1961–Present]

87th Congress–Present

Edward William Brooke III 1971–1979 92nd–95th 

Carol Moseley-Braun 1995–1999 104th–105th

Select Committee to Investigate the 

Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company

[1879–1881]

4 6th Congress, 1st, 2nd, and 3rd Sessions

Blanche K. Bruce 1879–1881 46th

SENATE SELECT COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS

SENATE STANDING COMMITTEE TERM CONGRESS TERM CONGRESS
APPENDICE Appendix B S H H 779 77

Sources: Mildred L. Amer, “Black Members of the United States Congress: 1870–2007,” 27 September 2007, Report RL30378, Congressional Research Service, Library 

of Congress, Washington, DC; David T. Canon et al., Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1789 to 1946, 4 volumes (Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 2002); 

various editions of the Congressional Directory (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office); various editions of the Congressional Quarterly Almanac (Washington, 

DC: Congressional Quarterly Inc.); various editions of the Congressional Record; Robert W. Coren et al., Guide to the Records of the United Senate at the National Archives, 

1789–1989: Bicentennial Edition (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1989); Garrison Nelson, Committees in the U.S. Congress, 1947 to 1992, 2 volumes 

(Washington, DC: Congressional Quarterly Press, 1994); Charles E. Schamel et al., Guide to the Records of the United States House of Representatives at the National Archives, 

1789–1989: Bicentennial Edition (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1989); U.S. House of Representatives, Committee on the Judiciary, A History of the 

Committee on the Judiciary, 1813–2006 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2006).
110th (2007–2009) John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary

Stephanie Tubbs Jones (D-OH) Standards of Official Conduct

Juanita Millender-McDonald (D-CA)* House Administration

 Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means

Bennie Thompson (D-MS) Homeland Security

109th (2005–2007) N/A N/A

108th (2003–2005) N/A N/A

107th (2001–2003) N/A N/A

106th (1999–2001) N/A N/A

105th (1997–1999) N/A N/A

104th (1995–1997) N/A N/A

103rd (1993–1995) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Government Operations 

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) Armed Services

102nd (1991–1993) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Government Operations 

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia 

 Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Select Narcotics Abuse and Control

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Standards of Official Conduct 

101st (1989–1991) John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Government Operations

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia 

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Standards of Official Conduct

 Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor

 George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Select Hunger

 Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Select Narcotics Abuse and Control

100th (1987–1989) Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia 

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Standards of Official Conduct

 William Herbert Gray III (D-PA) Budget

 Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor

 George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Select Hunger

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Intelligence (Permanent Select)

 Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Select Narcotics Abuse and Control

99th (1985–1987) Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia 

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Standards of Official Conduct

 William Herbert Gray III (D-PA) Budget 

Black Americans Who Have Chaired Congressional Committees, 

1877–2007

H appendix e H

* Juanita Millender-McDonald died on April 22, 2007.

780 H Black Americans in Congress

CONGRESS/YEAR MEMBER’S NAME, PARTY, STATE HOUSE COMMITTEE
Appendix B H 781

99th (1985–1987) Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor

Continued George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Select Hunger

 Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Small Business

 Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Select Narcotics Abuse and Control 

98th (1983–1985) Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia 

 Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor

House Administration

Jt. Committee on Printing 

 George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Select Hunger

 Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Small Business

 Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Select Narcotics Abuse and Control 

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Standards of Official Conduct 

97th (1981–1983) Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia 

 Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) House Administration 

Jt. Committee on the Library

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Standards of Official Conduct 

 Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Small Business 

96th (1979–1981) Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia 

 Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Jt. Committee on Printing 

95th (1977–1979) Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-CA) House Beauty Shop (Select)

 Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) District of Columbia 

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA) Post Office and Civil Service 

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Select Assassinations

94th (1975–1977) Yvonne Brathwaite Burke (D-CA) House Beauty Shop (Select)

 Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) District of Columbia 

93rd (1973–1975) Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) District of Columbia 

91st (1969–1971) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations

90th (1967–1969) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations

89th (1965–1967) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations

 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY) Education and Labor 

88th (1963–1965) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations

 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY) Education and Labor 

87th (1961–1963) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations

 Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY) Education and Labor 

86th (1959–1961) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations

85th (1957–1959) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations

84th (1955–1957) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations

82nd (1951–1953) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Expenditures in the Executive Departments

81st (1949–1951) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Expenditures in the Executive Departments

46th (1879–1881) Blanche K. Bruce (R-MS) Investigate the Freedmen’s 

Savings and Trust Company (Select)

45th (1877–1879) Blanche K. Bruce (R-MS) Committee on the Mississippi River (Select)

APPENDICES H 781

CONGRESS/YEAR MEMBER’S NAME, PARTY, STATE HOUSE COMMITTEE

CONGRESS/YEAR MEMBER’S NAME, PARTY, STATE SENATE COMMITTEE
782 H Black Americans in Congress Appendix B H 782

Black-American Chairs of Subcommittees of Standing 

Committees in the U.S. House and Senate, 1885–2007

110th (2007–2009) Corrine Brown (D-FL) Transportation and Infrastructure Railroads, Pipelines, and Hazardous Materials

Donna Christensen (D-VI)

a Natural Resources Insular Affairs

Elijah Eugene Cummings (D-MD) Transportation and Infrastructure Coast Guard and Maritime Transportation

William Lacy Clay, Jr. (D-MO) Oversight and Government Reform Information Policy, Census, and National 

Archives

Danny K. Davis (D-IL) Oversight and Government Reform Federal Workforce, Postal Service, and the 

District of Columbia

Alcee Lamar Hastings (D-FL) Rules Legislative and Budget Process

Sheila Jackson Lee (D-TX) Homeland Security Transportation Security and Infrastructure 

Protection

Eddie Bernice Johnson (D-TX) Transportation and Infrastructure Water Resources and Environment

John R. Lewis (D-GA) Ways and Means Oversight

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

a Transportation and Infrastructure Economic Development, Public Bldgs & 

Emergency Management

Barack Obama (D-IL)b Foreign Relations European Affairs

Donald Milford Payne (D-NJ) Foreign Affairs Africa and Global Health

Bobby L. Rush (D-IL) Energy and Commerce Commerce, Trade, and Consumer Protection

Robert Cortez Scott (D-VA) Judiciary Crime, Terrorism, and Homeland Security

Edolphus Towns (D-NY) Oversight and Government Reform Government Management, Organization, and 

Procurement

Maxine Waters (D-CA) Financial Services Housing and Community Opportunity

Melvin L. Watt (D-NC) Financial Services Oversight and Investigations

Albert Russell Wynn (D-MD) Energy and Commerce Environment and Hazardous Materials

104th–109th

(1995–2007)

No black Members chaired subcommittees N/A N/A

103rd (1993–1995) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) House Administration Libraries and Memorials

William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service Oversight and Investigations

Barbara-Rose Collins (D-MI) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Operations and Services

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Energy and Commerce Commerce, Consumer Protection, and 

Competitiveness

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Government Operations Legislation and National Security

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) Armed Services Military Acquisition 

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Appropriations District of Columbia

Floyd Harold Flake (D-NY) Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs General Oversight, Investigations and the 

Resolution of Failed Financial Institutions

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr. (D-TN) Ways and Means Human Resources

Kweisi Mfume (D-MD) Small Business Minority Enterprise, Finance and Urban 

Development

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

a District of Columbia Judiciary and Education

Eleanor Holmes Norton (D-DC)

a Post Office and Civil Service Compensation and Employee Benefits

Major Robert Odell Owens (D-NY) Education and Labor Select Education and Civil Rights

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means Select Revenue Measures

H appendix F H

782 H Black Americans in Congress

CONGRESS MEMBER COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE
Appendix B H 783

103rd (1993–1995)

Continued

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Appropriations Veterans Affairs, Housing and Urban 

Development, and Independent Agencies

Edolphus Towns (D-NY) Government Operations Human Resources and Intergovernmental 

Relations

Alan Dupree Wheat (D-MO) District of Columbia Government Operations and Metropolitan 

Affairs 

102nd (1991–1993) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) House Administration Libraries and Memorials

William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service Investigations

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Energy and Commerce Commerce, Consumer Protection, and 

Competitiveness

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Government Operations Legislation and National Security

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) Armed Services Research and Development

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Appropriations District of Columbia

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) District of Columbia Judiciary and Education

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) Foreign Affairs Africa

Michael Alphonso (Mike) Espy (D-MS) Budget Community Development and Natural 

Resources

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN) Ways and Means Human Resources

Major Robert Odell Owens (D-NY) Education and Labor Select Education

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means Select Revenue Measures

Gus Savage (D-IL) Public Works and Transportation Public Buildings and Grounds

Alan Dupree Wheat (D-MO) District of Columbia Government Operations and Metropolitan 

Affairs

101st (1989–1991) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Education and Labor Labor-Management Relations

William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) House Administration Libraries and Memorials

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Government Operations Government Activities and Transportation

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Government Operations Legislation and National Security

George William Crockett, Jr. (D-MI) Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Affairs

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) Armed Services Research and Development

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Appropriations District of Columbia

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) District of Columbia Judiciary and Education

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) Foreign Affairs International Operations

Michael Alphonso (Mike) Espy (D-MS) Hunger (Select) Domestic

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a Banking, Finance, Urban Affairs International Development, Finance Trade and 

Monetary Policy

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a District of Columbia Fiscal Affairs and Health

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN) Ways and Means Human Resources

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Elementary, Secondary and Vocational

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Operations and Services

Major Robert Odell Owens (D-NY) Education and Labor Select Education

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means Select Revenue Measures

Gus Savage (D-IL) Public Works and Transportation Economic Development 

Alan Dupree Wheat (D-MO) District of Columbia Government Operations and 

Metropolitan Affairs

100th (1987–1989) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Education and Labor Labor-Management Relations

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Government Operations Government Activities and Transportation

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary Criminal Justice 

George William Crockett, Jr. (D-MI) Foreign Affairs Western Hemisphere Affairs

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) Armed Services Military Installations and Facilities

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Appropriations District of Columbia

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) District of Columbia Judiciary and Education

APPENDICES H 783

CONGRESS MEMBER COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE
784 H Black Americans in Congress

100th (1987–1989) Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) Post Office and Civil Service Census and Population 

Continued Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a Banking, Finance, Urban Affairs International Development Institutions 

and Finance

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a District of Columbia Fiscal Affairs and Health

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational 

Education 

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Operations and Services

Major Robert Odell Owens (D-NY) Education and Labor Select Education

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means Select Revenue Measures

Gus Savage (D-IL) Public Works and Transportation Economic Development 

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Intelligence (Permanent Select) Program and Budget Authorization 

Alan Dupree Wheat (D-MO) District of Columbia Government Operations and Metropolitan 

Affairs

99th (1985–1987) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Education and Labor Labor-Management Relations

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Government Operations Government Activities and Transportation

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary Criminal Justice 

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) Armed Services Military Installations and Facilities

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Appropriations District of Columbia

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) District of Columbia Judiciary and Education 

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Personnel and Modernization 

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a Banking, Finance, Urban Affairs Domestic Monetary Policy

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a District of Columbia Fiscal Affairs and Health

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN) Ways and Means Public Assistance and 

Unemployment Compensation

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Elementary, Secondary, and Vocational 

Education 

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Operations and Services

Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Joint Economic Committee Investment, Jobs, and Press

Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Small Business SBA and SBIC Authority, Minority Enterprise 

and General Small Business Problems

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means Select Revenue Measures

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Intelligence (Permanent Select) Program and Budget Authorization 

98th (1983–1985) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Education and Labor Labor-Management Relations

William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Operations and Services

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Government Operations Government Activities and Transportation

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary Criminal Justice 

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) Armed Services Military Installations and Facilities

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Appropriations District of Columbia

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) District of Columbia Judiciary and Education

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a Banking, Finance, Urban Affairs Domestic Monetary Policy

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a District of Columbia Fiscal Affairs and Health

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN) Ways and Means Public Assistance and 

Unemployment Compensation

William Herbert Gray III (D-PA) District of Columbia Government Operations and 

Metropolitan Affairs 

Katie Beatrice Hall (D-IN) Post Office and Civil Service Census and Population 

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Employment Opportunities

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Personnel and Modernization 

Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Small Business SBA and SBIC Authority, Minority Enterprise 

and General Small Business Problems

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means Oversight

784 H Black Americans in Congress

CONGRESS MEMBER COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE
APPENDICE Appendix B S H H 785 78

97th (1981–1983) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Operations and Services

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Government Operations Manpower and Housing

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary Criminal Justice

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia Fiscal Affairs and Health

Julian Carey Dixon (D-CA) Appropriations District of Columbia

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally (D-CA) District of Columbia Judiciary and Education 

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Domestic Monetary Policy

Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. (D-TN) Ways and Means Public Assistance and Unemployment 

Compensation

William Herbert Gray III (D-PA) District of Columbia Government Operations and 

Metropolitan Affairs 

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Employment Opportunities

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland (D-TX) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Personnel and Modernization 

Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Small Business SBA and SBIC Authority, Minority Enterprise 

and General Small Business Problems

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means Oversight

96th (1979–1981) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Personnel and Modernization 

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Government Operations Manpower and Housing

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary Crime

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia Fiscal Affairs and Health

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC) District of Columbia Government Affairs and Budget

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Employment Opportunities

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) House Administration Printing 

Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Domestic Monetary Policy

Charles B. Rangel (D-NY) Ways and Means Health

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Budget Human and Community Resources 

95th (1977–1979) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service Civil Service

Cardiss Collins (D-IL) Government Operations Manpower and Housing

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary Crime

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia Fiscal and Government Affairs 

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) International Relations Africa

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a Banking, Finance and Urban Affairs Historic Preservation and Coinage

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a Assassinations (Select) Assassination of Martin Luther King Jr.

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Employment Opportunities 

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) House Administration Printing

Ralph Harold Metcalfe (D-IL) Merchant Marine and Fisheries Panama Canal

Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Banking and Urban Affairs Domestic Monetary Policy

Parren James Mitchell (D-MD) Budget Human Resources

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA) Post Office and Civil Service Investigations

Louis Stokes (D-OH) Budget Community and Physical Resources

94th (1975–1977) William Lacy Clay, Sr. (D-MO) Post Office and Civil Service Employee Rights and Intergovermental Programs

John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary Crime

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia Education, Labor, and Social Services 

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) Foreign Affairs International Resources, Food, and Energy

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a District of Columbia Government Operations

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Equal Opportunities

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) House Administration Electrical and Mechanical Office Equipment 

Ralph Harold Metcalfe (D-IL) Merchant Marine and Fisheries Panama Canal 

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA) Foreign Affairs International Economic Policy

APPENDICES H 785

CONGRESS MEMBER COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE
786 H Black Americans in Congress

a Denotes Delegate

b Denotes U.S. Senator

*There were no official subcommittees for the Invalid Pensions Committee; however, Members were often assigned leadership roles in considering specific bills or charged with 

organizing petitions from specific states [Minutes of the Committee on Invalid Pensions, 49th Congress, Records of the United States House of Representatives (RG 233), 

National Archives Building, Washington, DC]

93rd (1973–1975) John Conyers, Jr. (D-MI) Judiciary Crime

Ronald V. Dellums (D-CA) District of Columbia Education 

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) Foreign Affairs Africa

Walter Edward Fauntroy (D-DC)

a District of Columbia Judiciary

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) Education and Labor Equal Opportunity

Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins (D-CA) House Administration Electrical and Mechanical Office Equipment 

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA) Foreign Affairs Asian and Pacific Affairs

92nd (1971–1973) Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) Foreign Affairs Africa

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Service

91st (1969–1971) Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) District of Columbia Subcommittee No. 2

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) Foreign Affairs Africa

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA) Foreign Affairs Foreign Economic Policy

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA) Post Office and Civil Service Postal Operations

90th (1967–1969) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations Special Studies

Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. (D-MI) District of Columbia Subcommittee No. 2

89th (1965–1967) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations Executive and Legislative Reorganization

Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. (D-PA) Post Office and Civil Service Census and Statistics

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY) Education and Labor Ad Hoc Subcommittee on the Poverty War 

Program

88th (1963–1965) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations Executive and Legislative Reorganization

87th (1961–1963) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations Executive and Legislative Reorganization

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY) Education and Labor Labor Management Irregularities 

86th (1959–1961) William Levi Dawson (D-IL) Government Operations Executive and Legislative Reorganization

Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. (D-NY) Interior and Insular Affairs Mines and Mining

49th (1885–1887) James Edward O’Hara (R-NC) Invalid Pensions H.R. 6485 (Relating to increase of pension in 

certain cases)*

786 H Black Americans in Congress

CONGRESS MEMBER COMMITTEE SUBCOMMITTEE
Appendix B H 787

95th (1977–1979) Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY) Democratic Caucus Secretary

96th (1979–1981) Shirley Anita Chisholm (D-NY) Democratic Caucus Secretary

97th (1981–1983) N/A

98th (1983–1985) N/A

99th (1985–1987) N/A

100th (1987–1989) N/A

101st (1989–1991) William Herbert Gray III (D-PA) Democratic Caucus Chair

illiam Herbert Gray III (D-PA) Democratic Caucus Majority Whip

102nd (1991–1993) John R. Lewis (D-GA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

103rd (1993–1995) John R. Lewis (D-GA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

104th (1995–1997) John R. Lewis (D-GA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

105th (1997–1999) John R. Lewis (D-GA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

106th (1999–2001) John R. Lewis (D-GA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

axine Waters (D-CA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

 Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. (R-OK) Republican Conference Chair

107th (2001–2003) John R. Lewis (D-GA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

axine Waters (D-CA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

 Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. (R-OK) Republican Conference Chair

108th (2003–2005) James Enos Clyburn (D-SC) Democratic Caucus Vice Chair

 John R. Lewis (D-GA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

axine Waters (D-CA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

109th (2005–2007) James Enos Clyburn (D-SC) Democratic Caucus Vice Chair

hair

 John R. Lewis (D-GA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

axine Waters (D-CA) Democratic Caucus Chief Deputy Whip

110th (2007–2009) James Enos Clyburn (D-SC) Democratic Caucus Majority Whip

Black Americans in Party Leadership Positions, 1977–2007*

H appendix G H

* No African-American Senator has ever been elected to a party leadership position. 

APPENDICES H 787

CONGRESS MEMBER’S NAME CAUCUS/CONFERENCE POSITION
Black-American Familial Connections in Congress

H appendix H H

William Lacy Clay, Jr., of Missouri (2001–Present), son of William Lacy Clay, Sr., of Missouri (1969–2001)

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr., of Tennessee (1997–2007), son of Harold Eugene Ford, Sr., of Tennessee (1975–1997)

Kendrick B. Meek of Florida, (2003–Present), son of Carrie P. Meek of Florida (1993–2003)

Children who have succeeded their parents

Widows WHO HAVE SUCCEEDED their late HUSBANDS

MISCELLANEOUS familial connections

Cardiss Collins of Illinois (1973–1997), wife of George Washington Collins of Illinois (1970–1972)

Henry Plummer Cheatham of North Carolina (1889–1893), and George Henry White of North Carolina 

(1897–1901) were brothers-in-law.

George Washington Murray of South Carolina (1893–1895), and James Enos Clyburn of South Carolina 

(1993–Present) were distant relatives.

788 H Black Americans in Congress
Black-American Familial Connections in Congress

H appendix H H

William Lacy Clay, Jr., of Missouri (2001–Present), son of William Lacy Clay, Sr., of Missouri (1969–2001)

Harold Eugene Ford, Jr., of Tennessee (1997–2007), son of Harold Eugene Ford, Sr., of Tennessee (1975–1997)

Kendrick B. Meek of Florida, (2003–Present), son of Carrie P. Meek of Florida (1993–2003)

Children who have succeeded their parents

Widows WHO HAVE SUCCEEDED their late HUSBANDS

MISCELLANEOUS familial connections

Cardiss Collins of Illinois (1973–1997), wife of George Washington Collins of Illinois (1970–1972)

Henry Plummer Cheatham of North Carolina (1889–1893), and George Henry White of North Carolina 

(1897–1901) were brothers-in-law.

George Washington Murray of South Carolina (1893–1895), and James Enos Clyburn of South Carolina 

(1993–Present) were distant relatives.

788 H Black Americans in Congress
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. 92nd–1st session 1971–1972

Louis Stokes 92nd–2nd session 1972–1973

Louis Stokes 93rd–1st session 1973–1974

Charles B. Rangel 93rd–2nd session 1974–1975

Charles B. Rangel 94th–1st session 1975–1976

Yvonne Brathwaite Burke 94th–2nd session 1976–1977

Parren James Mitchell 95th 1977–1979

Cardiss Collins 96th 1979–1981

Walter Edward Fauntroy 97th 1981–1983

Julian Carey Dixon 98th 1983–1985

George Thomas (Mickey) Leland 99th 1985–1987

Mervyn Malcolm Dymally 100th 1987–1989

Ronald V. Dellums 101st 1989–1991

Edolphus Towns 102nd 1991–1993

Kweisi Mfume 103rd 1993–1995

Donald Milford Payne 104th 1995–1997

Maxine Waters 105th 1997–1999

James Enos Clyburn 106th 1999–2001

Eddie Bernice Johnson 107th 2001–2003

Elijah Eugene Cummings 108th 2003–2005

Melvin L. Watt 109th 2005–2007

Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick 110th 2007–Present

H appendix I H

Congressional Black Caucus Chairmen and Chairwomen, 

1971–2007*

MEMBER’S NAME CONGRESS/SESSION YEARSOF SERVICE

* In the early years of the CBC, leadership was elected twice per Congress. 

APPENDICES H 789
Amendment/Act Public Law/

U.S. Code Main Provisions

Thirteenth Amendment 13 Stat. 567;

13 Stat. 774–775 

Abolished slavery and involuntary servitude, except as punishment for a crime. 

Approved by the 38th Congress (1863–1865) as S.J. Res. 16; ratified by the states 

on December 6, 1865.

Civil Rights Act of 1866 14 Stat. 27–30 Guaranteed the rights of all citizens to make and enforce contracts and to purchase, 

sell, or lease property. Passed by the 39th Congress (1865–1867) as S.R. 61. 

Fourteenth Amendment 14 Stat. 358–359 Declared that all persons born or naturalized in the U.S. were citizens and that any 

state that denied or abridged the voting rights of males over the age of 21 would 

be subject to proportional reductions in its representation in the U.S. House of 

Representatives. Approved by the 39th Congress (1865–1867) as H.J. Res. 127; 

ratified by the states on July 9, 1868. 

Fifteenth Amendment 16 Stat. 346; 

16 Stat. 40–41

Forbade any state to deprive a citizen of his vote because of race, color, or previous 

condition of servitude. Approved by the 40th Congress (1867–1869) as S.J. Res. 8; 

ratified by the states on February 3, 1870. 

First Ku Klux Klan Act 

(Civil Rights Act of 1870)

16 Stat. 140–146 Prohibited discrimination in voter registration on the basis of race, color, or 

previous condition of servitude. Established penalties for interfering with a person's 

right to vote. Gave federal courts the power to enforce the act and to employ the 

use of federal marshals and the army to uphold it. Passed by the 41st Congress 

(1869–1871) as H.R. 1293.

Second Ku Klux Klan Act 

(Civil Rights Act of 1871)

16 Stat. 433–440 Placed all elections in both the North and South under federal control. Allowed for 

the appointment of election supervisors by federal circuit judges. Authorized U.S. 

Marshals to employ deputies to maintain order at polling places. Passed by the 41st 

Congress (1869–1871) as H.R. 2634. 

Third Ku Klux Klan Act 

(1871)

17 Stat. 13–15 Enforced the 14th Amendment by guaranteeing all citizens of the United States the 

rights afforded by the Constitution and provided legal protection under the law. 

Passed by the 42nd Congress (1871–1873) as H.R. 320. 

Civil Rights Act of 1875 18 Stat 335–337 Barred discrimination in public accommodations and on public conveyances on 

land and water. Prohibited exclusion of African Americans from jury duty. Passed 

by the 43rd Congress (1873–1875) as H.R. 796. 

Civil Rights Act of 1957 P.L. 85–315 Created the six-member Commission on Civil Rights and established the Civil 

Rights Division in the U.S. Department of Justice. Authorized the U.S. Attorney 

General to seek court injunctions against deprivation and obstruction of voting 

rights by state officials. Passed by the 85th Congress (1957–1959) as H.R. 6127. 

Constitutional Amendments and 

Major Civil RightsActs of Congress Referenced in the Text

H appendix J H

790 H Black Americans in Congress
Appendix B H 791

Amendment/Act Public Law/

U.S. Code Main Provisions

Civil Rights Act of 1960 P.L. 86–449 Expanded the enforcement powers of the Civil Rights Act of 1957 and introduced 

criminal penalties for obstructing the implementation of federal court orders. 

Extended the Civil Rights Commission for two years. Required that voting and 

registration records for federal elections be preserved. Passed by the 86th Congress 

(1959–1961) as H.R. 8601. 

Civil Rights Act of 1964 P.L. 88–352 Prohibited discrimination in public accommodations, facilities, and schools. 

Outlawed discrimination in federally funded projects. Created the Equal 

Employment Opportunity Commission to monitor employment discrimination in 

public and private sectors. Provided additional capacities to enforce voting rights. 

Extended the Civil Rights Commission for four years. Passed by the 88th Congress 

(1963–1965) as H.R. 7152. 

Voting Rights Act of 1965 P.L. 89–110 Suspended the use of literacy tests and voter disqualification devices for five years. 

Authorized the use of federal examiners to supervise voter registration in states that 

used tests or in which less than half the voting-eligible residents registered or voted. 

Directed the U.S. Attorney General to institute proceedings against use of poll 

taxes. Provided criminal penalties for individuals who violated the act. Passed by the 

89th Congress (1965–1967) as S. 1564. 

Civil Rights Act of 1968 

 (Fair Housing Act)

P.L. 90–284 Prohibited discrimination in the sale or rental of approximately 80 percent of the 

housing in the U.S. Prohibited state governments and Native-American tribal 

governments from violating the constitutional rights of Native Americans. Passed 

by the 90th Congress (1967–1969) as H.R. 2516. 

Voting Rights Act 

Amendments of 1970

P.L. 91–285 Extended the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for five years. Made 

the act applicable to areas where less than 50 percent of the eligible voting age 

population was registered as of November 1968. Passed by the 91st Congress 

(1969–1971) as H.R. 4249. 

Voting Rights Act 

Amendments of 1975

P.L. 94–73 Extended the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for seven years. 

Established coverage for other minority groups including Native Americans, 

Hispanic Americans, and Asian Americans. Permanently banned literacy tests. 

Passed by the 94th Congress (1975–1977) as H.R. 6219. 

Voting Rights Act 

Amendments of 1982

P.L. 97–205 Extended for 25 years the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965. Allowed 

jurisdictions that could provide evidence of maintaining a clean voting rights 

record for at least 10 years, to avoid preclearance coverage (the requirement of 

federal approval of any change to local or state voting laws). Provided for aid and 

instruction to disabled or illiterate voters. Provided for bilingual election materials 

in jurisdictions with large minority populations. Passed by the 97th Congress 

(1981–1983) as H.R. 3112. 

Civil Rights Restoration 

Act of 1987

P.L. 100–259 Established that antidiscrimination laws are applicable to an entire organization if 

any part of the organization receives federal funds. Passed by the 100th Congress 

(1987–1989) as S. 557.

APPENDICES H 791
792 792 H H BBll

ack ack AAmemerrican icanss in in CCong ongrreessss

Amendment/Act Public Law/

U.S. Code Main Provisions

Fair Housing Act 

Amendments of 1988

P.L. 100–430 Strengthened the powers of enforcement granted to the Housing and Urban 

Development Department in the 1968 Fair Housing Act. Passed by the 100th 

Congress (1987–1989) as H.R. 1158. 

Civil Rights Act of 1991 P.L. 102–166 Reversed nine U.S. Supreme Court decisions (rendered between 1986 and 1991) 

that had raised the bar for workers who alleged job discrimination. Provided for 

plaintiffs to receive monetary damages in cases of harassment or discrimination 

based on sex, religion, or disability. Passed by the 102nd Congress (1991–1993) 

as S. 1745. 

Voting Rights Act of 2006 P.L. 109–478 Extended the provisions of the Voting Rights Act of 1965 for 25 years. Extended 

the bilingual election requirements through August 5, 2032. Directed the U.S. 

Comptroller General to study and report to Congress on the implementation, 

effectiveness, and efficiency of bilingual voting materials requirements. Passed by the 

109th Congress (2005–2007) as H.R. 9. 
APPENDICE Appendix B S H H 793 79
Bold page numbers denote Member profiles

Italicized page numbers denote references to figure legends

Index

A

Abbott, Israel B., 149, 161, 200

Abernathy, Ralph, 458

ABSCAM sting, 358

Abzug, Bella, 343, 392, 421n

Action-Alert Communications Network 

(AACN), 383

Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña. See,

Supreme Court, United States.

Addabbo, Joseph, 552, 562

Affirmative action, 381, 381, 432, 448, 

468–69, 527, 586, 587, 624, 641, 

656, 685, 703, 737, 740. See also,

Discrimination.

Africa, foreign policy, 147, 148, 239, 

313–14, 386–87, 418–19, 461, 462, 

482, 490, 496, 498–99, 501, 512, 

514, 520, 532, 703, 705, 711, 712, 

719, 727, 729, 743. See also, South 

Africa, apartheid policy.

African-American citizenship, 21, 37, 

56, 82n, 88, 100, 128, 133, 146, 

177, 209, 213, 217, 288. See also,

Fourteenth Amendment.

African-American Members of 

Congress, characteristics,

affluence of, 25

committee assignments, 3, 4, 5, 

32–34, 46n, 162, 187n, 239–40n, 

266n, 377–79, 404n. See, Appendix 

D: Black Members’ Committee 

Assignments (Standing, Joint, 

Select) in the U.S. House and 

Senate, 1870–2007; Appendix 

E: Black Americans Who 

Have Chaired Congressional 

Committees, 1877–2007; 

Appendix F: Black-American Chairs 

of Subcommittees of Standing 

Committees in the U.S. House and 

Senate, 1885–2007.

discrimination against, 31–32, 36–37, 

41–42, 190n, 244–47, 260–61, 359 

early backgrounds, 22–23, 154–55, 

237

education, 23–24, 155, 237, 238, 

265n, 370–71, 401n

familial connections. See, Appendix 

H: Black-American Familial 

Connections in Congress.

historical legacy, 169–70

legislative interests, 32–39, 162–69, 

245–59, 379–90

legislative style, 14n, 33–34, 161, 

162–64, 260–63, 270n, 272n, 

273n, 294–95, 390–95, 410–11n

military service. See, Military Service, 

African-American Members of 

Congress.

political power, 32–34, 162, 185n, 

242, 250–51, 272, 273, 377–79, 

402n

pre-congressional careers, 22–25, 

154–55, 237–39, 370–71

pre-congressional political experience, 

154–55, 238, 265n, 371–73, 402n

Washington experience, 30–32, 

36–37, 46n, 259–62, 390–94

women, 7, 8, 239, 373, 373, 397, 

402n, 412n. See also, Women 

Representatives.

see also, Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC); Democratic Party; 

Disfranchisement; Elections; 

Enterprise Railroad Company; 

Incumbency and seniority, 

influence of; Republican Party; 

Senate, United States; Race; 

Surrogate representation.

African Development Foundation, 490

African Methodist Episcopal (AME) 

Church. See, Allen African 

Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church 

(Queens, NY); Ebenezer African 

Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church 

(Lincolnville, SC); Emanuel African 

Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church 

(Charleston, SC).

African Growth and Opportunity Act, 

729

Agnew, Spiro, 364, 418

AIDS. See, HIV/AIDS.

Alabama,

black representation, 84–87, 110–15, 

122–27, 606–11, 690–91. See, 

Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by 

State and Territory.

civil rights protests, 252, 255–56

disfranchisement, 124–35, 169

gerrymander, 124

Ku Klux Klan, 29, 112, 113

sugar tariff differential device, 169

see also, Discrimination; 

Disfranchisement; Ku Klux Klan.

Alameda Corridor, 481, 632, 646, 648

Albert, Carl, 377–78, 419

Alcorn, James, 20, 58, 116, 118

Allen, Leo, 251

Allen African Methodist Episcopal 

(AME) Church (Queens, NY), 552, 

562, 565

Alternative budget, 382–83, 394–95, 

419, 433, 481

Amateur Sports Act, 426

American Community Renewal Act, 

641

Americans with Disabilities Act, 537

Ames, Adelbert, 56, 58, 100, 116, 118

Amnesty, Confederate, 20, 26, 34, 57, 

60, 62, 86, 106, 108

Amnesty Act (1872), 34, 64, 68, 70, 

74, 80, 84, 86 

Anderson, Marian, 303, 385

Anderson, William, 327

Annunzio, Frank, 364

Antebellum Era, 23, 23, 24, 43n, 68. See 

also, Postbellum.

Apartheid. See, South Africa, apartheid 

policy.

Apportionment and redistricting, 

28, 99n, 168, 168, 192–93n, 257, 

372, 372–73, 374, 396–99, 412n, 

602–603, 614–15

“Black Second” district of North 

Carolina, 128–31, 132n, 146–49, 

160–61, 200–203, 228

“packing” and “cracking” electoral 

districts, 159–60, 160

“shoestring district” of Mississippi, 

102, 103

“shoestring district” of South 

Carolina, 160, 161, 216, 220, 222, 

223

see also, Elections; Gerrymander; 

Reduction.

Arkansas, Little Rock integration, 246, 

247, 247, 271n

Armey, Richard (Dick), 642

Arms Transfers Code of Conduct, 615

Ashley, James M., 21

At-Large Representative, 28, 30, 30, 

45n, 88, 90, 96, 121n

B

Bacon, John E., 78, 80

Bailey, Cleveland, 303

Baker, Harry, 280, 286

Baker v. Carr. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Ballance, Frank W., Jr., 599, 660–63, 

677

Bankhead, William, 178, 192n, 281

Barden, Graham, 304

Barry, Marion S., 442, 481

Bartlett, Charles, 230

Beard, Thomas P., 70, 71n

Beatty, Vander L., 536, 539n

Beaufort Southern Standard, 25, 138. See 

also, Newspapers, African-American.

Beebe, George, 136

Benjamin, Adam, Jr., 530

Berman, Howard, 478, 480,514

Berman, Michael, 480

Berry, Mary Frances, 389, 408n, 441, 

444n

Bethune, Mary McLeod, 243, 243

Bisbee, Horatio, 91

Bishop, Sanford D., 398, 672–73

Black-American Members of Congress. 

See, African-American Members of 

Congress, characteristics.

Black-majority congressional districts. 

See, Apportionment and redistricting.

Black and Brown Coalition, 697

Black Codes, 29

Black Declaration of Independence, 

403n

Black Forum on Foreign Policy, 388

Black History Month, 385, 427, 504

Black Panther Party for Self Defense, 

258, 258, 372, 416, 418, 427, 549, 

730

Black Power Movement, 258, 261, 263, 

371–72

“Black Second” district of North 

Carolina. See, Apportionment and 

redistricting.

Blackwell, Lucien Edward, 266n, 378, 

590–95, 695

“Bloody Shirt,” 157, 157

“Bloody Sunday.” See, Alabama.

Blount, George W., 130

Blount, James, 37

Boehner, John, 642

Boggs, Hale, 342

Boggs, Corinne C. (Lindy), 7, 704–705

Bolling, Richard W., 540

“Boll Weevils,” 491

Bolton, Frances, 251

Bond, Julian, 458, 715

Bonior, David, 592

Borah, William, 178

Bowen, Christopher, 72, 74–75

Brady, Robert A., 590

Bright Hope Baptist Church 

(Philadelphia, PA), 488, 490, 491

Broder, David, 391, 480

Brogden, Curtis, 130, 146

Bromberg, Frederick, 86, 124

Brooke, Edward William, III, 5, 7, 236, 

239, 250, 258, 265n, 268n, 332–39, 

348, 352n, 397, 397, 402n, 588n

electoral defeat, 240

legislative style, 250–51, 263

legislative interests, 248, 248, 385

military service, 237 

pre-congressional experience, 238

Brooks, Preston, 20, 78

Brown, Albert, 18, 56

Brown, Corrine, 618, 674–75, 699

Brown, John, 32, 47n, 48n

Brownell, Herbert, 253

Brown Fellowship Society, 72

Brownsville affair, 194n, 326

Brown v. Board of Education. See, Supreme 

Court, United States.

Bruce, Blanche Kelso, 8, 10, 10, 23, 

25, 26, 30, 31, 32, 33, 33, 34, 45n, 

102–103, 105n, 116–21, 134, 236, 

338n, 386, 405n

Bruce, Josephine Beall Wilson, 119 

Buckley, Charles, 112

Budget. See, Alternative budget; Military 

budget.

Burke, Yvonne Brathwaite, 5, 6, 11, 239, 

373, 375, 377, 378, 446–51, 478, 480

Bush, George H. W., 328, 349, 390, 

409n, 508, 537, 544n, 576, 584, 586, 

614, 622, 630, 640

INDEX H 795
Bush, George W., 337, 398, 615, 642, 

657, 662, 664, 666, 713, 715, 719, 

727, 741

Butler, Benjamin, 31, 35, 35, 36, 38, 39, 

47–48n, 70

Butler, Matthew, 106, 140

Butterfield, G. K., 373, 662, 676–77

Buttz, Charles W., 108 

Byrd, Harry, 253, 313–14, 461, 464n

Byrne, Jane, 504, 526

Byrns, Joseph, 178, 181

C

Cain, Richard Harvey, 3, 25, 27–30, 32, 

38–39, 41, 48n, 78, 94–99, 185n

Caldwell, Tod R., 160

California, black representation, 

324–31, 416–23, 446–51, 478–83, 

512–17, 630–33, 646–49, 712–13, 

740–41, 742–43, 750. See, Appendix 

C: Black-American Representatives 

and Senators by State and Territory.

Cal-Learn program, 743

Cambodia, 248, 337, 432

Canon, David T., 11, 400

Carmichael, Stokely, 258, 371–72, 580

Carnegie, Andrew, 156, 203

Carpenter, Milton, 346

Carpetbaggers, 26–27, 27, 80, 84, 88, 

90, 97, 100, 112, 118, 122, 148. See 

also, Scalawag.

Carrollton County courthouse riot, 149

Carson, André, 653

Carson, Julia May, 385–86, 650–53

Carter, James Earl (Jimmy), 320, 327, 

337, 381–82, 384, 388, 388, 393, 

433, 455, 462, 468, 474, 698, 706, 

715, 722, 732

Case, Clifford, 251

Cassidy, Hiram, 100

Castro, Fidel, 498

Caucus, 374. See also, Congressional 

Black Caucus (CBC).

Celler, Emanuel, 239, 251, 255, 256, 

304

Census, 23, 46n, 167–68, 168. See also,

Apportionment and redistricting; 

Reduction.

Cessna, John, 36

Chaflin College (Orangeburg, SC), 217

Chalmers, James R., 102–103

Chamberlain, Daniel, 26–27, 97, 108, 

140

Chandler, William, 164–65

Cheatham, Henry Plummer, 131, 144n, 

149, 152, 159, 160–63, 166, 185n, 

187n, 200–205, 212n, 228, 230, 

233n

Chicago, IL. See, Elections; Emigration; 

Illinois, black representation; Machine 

politics; Till, Emmett.

Child Abuse Prevention and 

Enforcement Act, 709

Child Abuse Prevention Challenge 

Grants Reauthorization Act, 537

Chinese Exclusion Act, 118

Chisholm, Shirley A., 1, 5, 6, 7, 11, 236, 

238, 264, 264, 340–45, 348, 352n, 

360n, 370, 373, 373, 375, 379, 386, 

402n, 403n, 406n, 534, 536, 664

committee assignments, 2

early background, 237

elections, 239, 257

leadership positions, 273n, 405n

legislative style, 313, 360n, 374

pre-congressional political experience, 

238–39

presidential bid, 375–76, 376, 624–25

see also, New York, African-American 

representation.

Christensen, Donna M., 636, 678–79

Chudoff, Earl, 318

Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC), 

282. See also, New Deal.

Civil rights, 

Jim Crow Era decline, 40–42, 

157–59, 170–71

opposition to, 35–39, 157, 158, 

172–73, 178, 180–82, 249, 249, 

271n 

see also, Civil rights legislation; Civil 

Rights Movement; Cold War; 

Democratic Party; Discrimination; 

Disfranchisement; Elections; 

Lynching; Reconstruction; 

Republican Party; Segregation; 

Senate, United States; Supreme 

Court, United States.

Civil rights legislation. See, Civil Rights 

Acts; Fourteenth Amendment, 

Fifteenth Amendment; Great Society 

legislation; Ku Klux Klan Acts; 

Lynching; Powell Amendment; 

Reduction; Thirteenth Amendment; 

Senate, United States; Supreme 

Court, United States; Voting Rights 

Acts; Appendix J: Selected Landmark 

Civil Rights Acts of Congress, 

1863–2007.

Civil Rights Act of 1866, 21, 35, 790

Civil Rights Act of 1875, 3, 35–39, 

40–42, 47n, 790

1874 election, and, 36

African-American Members of 

Congress, influence, 35–36, 64–65, 

81, 83, 96, 100, 102, 106, 108, 

112–13, 128

education, 38–39, 91, 108

public transportation and 

accommodations, 36–37

social equality, 36–39, 102

Supreme Court, United States, and, 

41–42

Civil Rights Act of 1957, 253–54, 271n, 

312, 790

African-American Members of 

Congress, influence, 250–51, 312

Civil Rights Act of 1960, 254, 791

Civil Rights Act of 1964, 5, 254–56, 

256, 270n, 791

African-American Members of 

Congress, influence, 250–51, 255, 

270, 295, 302, 326, 438, 458

Civil Rights Act of 1968, 258–59, 791

African-American Members of 

Congress, influence, 335

Civil Rights Act of 1991, 576, 792

Civil Rights Bill (1990), 328, 542, 586

Civil Rights Cases. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Civil Rights Movement, 249–59, 270n

1963 March on Washington, 255, 

255, 320, 371, 568

African-American Members of 

Congress, influence, 5, 15n, 

312–13, 371–72, 438, 458, 460, 

684, 714, 730

“Bloody Sunday” (Birmingham, AL), 

256, 257, 714

communism, influence of, 247–48, 

269n

Freedom Ride protests, 254–55, 340, 

371, 714, 715

House Judiciary committee, influence 

on, 251

House Rules committee, influence on, 

251, 251

Montgomery (AL) bus boycott, 252, 

252, 386, 548, 642, 652

lunch counter protests, 254, 254–55

racial violence, influence of, 252–53, 

256

racism and segregation, transforming, 

259–62

southern governors’ protest, 249, 249

Vietnam War, influence of, 258

see also, African-American Members 

of Congress, legislative style; Black 

Panther Party for Self Defense; 

Black Power Movement; Civil 

rights; Civil rights legislation; Cold 

War; Communism; Discrimination; 

Disfranchisement; King, Martin 

Luther, Jr.; Lynching; National 

Association for the Advancement 

of Colored People (NAACP); 

Reconstruction; Senate, United 

States; Supreme Court, United 

States; Till, Emmett.

Civil service, employment, 190n. See 

also, Discrimination.

Civil War, 20. See also, Military service,

African-American Members of 

Congress.

Clark, Beauchamp (Champ), 222

Clark Amendment, 314

Clarke, Una, 538

Clarke, William John, 155

Clarke, Yvette, 538, 748

Clay, William (Bill), Sr., 237, 342, 

346–53, 472, 589n, 680

committee assignments, 266n

early background, 238

elections, 257

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), 

and, 370, 374, 374, 375, 375, 377, 

378, 387, 402n, 403n

investigations of African-American 

Members of Congress, 395, 411n

legislative interests, 380, 542

legislative style, 273n, 313, 327, 357, 

360n

political influence, 240, 419

South Africa, apartheid policy, 387, 

389, 407n, 408–409n

Clay, William Lacy, Jr., 350, 680–81

Clayton, Eva M., 6, 596–99, 660, 662

Cleaver, Emanuel, II, 682–83

Cleveland, Grover, 142, 164, 222

Clinton, William J. (Bill), 349, 386, 

393, 393, 410n, 455, 475, 492, 

543, 556, 559, 564, 565, 571, 582, 

586, 587, 588, 592–93, 602, 603, 

614, 624, 628, 632, 634, 635, 636, 

641–42, 644n, 652–53, 654, 675, 

693, 702–703, 727, 737, 742, 745

Cloture, 251, 251, 255. See also, 

Filibuster; Senate, United States.

Clyburn, James E., 7, 225n, 379, 642, 

671, 684–85

Coelho, Tony, 492

Cohelan, Jeffery, 416, 418

Cold War, 239, 269n, 407n

civil rights movement, influence, 

246–48

legislation, influence, 239, 384, 386

College Retention Program, 695

Collins, Barbara Rose, 266n, 508, 509, 

580–83, 710

Collins, Cardiss, 5, 11, 239, 365, 373, 

375, 391, 391, 393, 404n, 405n, 

408–409n, 433, 466–71, 520

Collins, George Washington, 237, 238, 

264, 345n, 352n, 362–67, 370, 374, 

391, 402n, 404–405n, 466

Colored People’s Convention of 1865 

(Charleston, SC), 29, 72, 94

Committee assignments. See, AfricanAmerican Members of Congress, 

characteristics.

Committee on Elections. See, Contested 

Elections.

Communism, 247–48, 254, 282, 546. 

See also, Cold War.

Community Development and 

Regulatory Act, 731

Community Renewal Act, 384, 565

Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 

1986. See, South Africa, apartheid 

policy.

Comprehensive Employment and 

Training Act, 327–28

Confederate states, readmission to the 

Union, 21, 68, 70. See also, Amnesty, 

Confederate; Disfranchisement.

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), 5, 

5, 11, 12, 263, 264, 368, 368, 393, 

400, 403n

Action-Alert Communications 

Network, 383, 406n

alternative budget, 382, 394–95, 433

apartheid policy, 386–90, 418

conflicting interests, 383–84, 391, 

410n, 586–87

Congressional Black Caucus 

Foundation (CBCF), 403–404n

evolution of, 5, 6, 310, 313, 342, 

348, 364, 370, 373–76, 401n, 

402n, 411n. See also, Democratic 

Select Committee (DSC). 

leadership, 376, 393, 393, 468, 

481, 571, 707. See, Appendix 

I: Congressional Black Caucus 

Chairmen and Chairwomen, 

1971–2007. 

legislative interests, 381, 381–82, 383, 

385, 385, 386–90, 403n, 407n, 

408n, 409n, 410n, 418, 432–33, 

527, 571 

legislative strategy, 368, 370, 376, 

377, 380, 381, 382, 387, 388, 

796 H Black Americans in Congress 
390–91, 392, 393, 394, 401n, 

402n, 403n, 409n, 411n

membership, 376, 384, 391, 393, 

402n, 404n, 586–87

organizational structure, 402n, 

403–404n 

political influence, 343, 377–78, 382, 

393, 394, 396, 399, 403n, 405n, 

419

relationship with Presidents, 336, 

347, 368–70, 375, 375, 381, 382, 

384, 388, 393, 393, 398, 403n, 

410n, 520, 624

seniority, impact of, 377–79 

TransAfrica lobbying group, 388, 

389, 441

True State of the Union, 461

see also, African-American Members 

of Congress, characteristics; Black 

Declaration of Independence; 

Black Forum on Foreign Policy; 

Democratic Select Committee 

(DSC); King, Martin Luther, Jr.; 

Nixon, Richard M.; South Africa, 

apartheid policy.

Congressional Children’s Caucus, 703

Congressional districts. See, 

Apportionment and redistricting.

Congressional Gold Medal, 247, 252, 

271n, 385–86, 386, 393, 407n, 

652–53. See also, Anderson, Marian; 

King, Martin Luther, Jr.; King, 

Coretta Scott; Parks, Rosa.

Congressional Record, 11–12, 47n, 162

Congressional Women’s Caucus, 342, 

391, 393, 404n, 449, 582, 675

see also, Equal Rights Amendment 

(ERA).

Congressional Women’s Club, 259

Conkling, Roscoe, 31, 116, 118, 121n

Connecticut, black representation, 

584–89. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Connor, Eugene (Bull), 255

Constitutional conventions, 

former Confederate states. See,

Disfranchisement.

Contested elections, 30, 31, 45n, 52, 

53, 162, 187n

Committee on Elections, 30, 32, 45n, 

162, 187n 

see also, Elections; individual 19thcentury African-American Members 

of Congress.

Contract With America, 564, 587, 641. 

See also, Republican Party.

Conyers, John, Jr., 11, 236, 237–38, 

250, 265n, 266n, 310, 313, 370, 374, 

375, 402n, 408n, 421n, 634, 686–87

Judiciary Committee assignment, 239

legislative interests, 256–57, 271–72n, 

385, 408n

political influence, 240, 377, 671

pre-congressional experience, 239

Speaker, bid for, 378

see also, Michigan, black 

representation.

Cooper–Church Amendment of 1970, 

248, 337

Corker, Stephen, 70, 71n

Cox, Samuel, 31–32, 65–66, 74

Crawford, Curtis, 348

“Cracking” electoral districts, 159–60, 

160. See also, Apportionment and 

redistricting.

Crisis (NAACP periodical), 173

Crockett, George William, Jr., 401n, 

408–409n, 499, 506–11, 580

Crosse, Saint George I. B., III, 570

Crumpacker, Edgar, 168–69, 170, 171, 

189n

Cuba, 103, 163–64, 164, 314, 498, 

508, 582. See also, Imperialism.

Cummings, Elijah E., 401–402n, 430, 

435n, 688–89

D

Daley, Richard J., 241, 262, 294, 295, 

296, 298n, 362, 364, 424, 426, 427, 

466, 468, 502, 518, 526, 527, 529n, 

730. See also, Machine politics.

Danforth, John, 543

Darfur Divestment bill, 712. See also,

Sudan.

Darrow, Clarence, 278, 280

Daschle, Tom, 414n, 624

Date Rape Prevention Drug Act, 703

Daughters of the American Revolution 

(DAR), 303

Davis, Artur, 609, 690–91

Davis, Christine Ray, 259–60

Davis, Danny K., 468, 692–93

Davis, Tom, 723

Dawson, William Levi, 5, 10, 240, 286, 

289, 292–99, 302, 312, 318, 364, 

366n, 424, 426

committee assignments, 236, 239, 

240, 259–60, 260, 266n, 405n

early background, 237, 245, 265n

legislative interests, 245, 246, 252–53, 

268–69n 

legislative style, 2, 240, 242, 262–63, 

373

political influence, 246, 250

pre-congressional political experience, 

237, 238, 242

Till, Emmett, and, 252–53

see also, Illinois, black representation; 

Till, Emmett.

Death In Custody Act, 735

Declaration of Constitutional Principles, 

253

Decolonization, 247. See also,

Imperialism.

Delany, Martin, 41, 74, 97

Delegate, territorial, 383, 383, 406n. 

See, Evans, Melvin Herbert; 

Fauntroy, Walter Edward; Frazer, 

Victor O.; Norton, Eleanor Holmes; 

Christensen, Donna M.

De Large, Robert Carlos, 29, 33, 34, 41, 

72–77, 97, 106

DeLay, Tom, 642

Dellums, Ronald V., 7, 11, 264, 362, 

370, 372, 375, 380, 392, 416–23, 712, 

713

committee assignments, 378, 392, 

405n

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), 

and, 387–88, 393, 396–97, 402n, 

405n, 410n

legislative interests, 378, 382–83, 386, 

387, 389–90, 408n, 409n

legislative style, 392 

pre-congressional political experience, 

372

Shirley Chisholm presidential bid, 

and, 375–76

see also, California, black 

representation.

de Lugo, Ron, 484, 486, 634

Democratic Caucus, 6, 378–79, 492, 

571

Democratic Party

black voter re-alignment, 5, 14n, 58, 

182–83, 236, 241–44, 266–67n, 

267n, 286

Civil Rights Era, 249, 268n, 320

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), 

and, 373, 384–85, 403n, 634 

Jim Crow Era, 4–5, 154, 157–60, 

172–73, 180–82, 190n

New Deal and Depression Era, 

241–43, 282

Reconstruction Era, 29–30, 35–39, 

40 

see also, Apportionment and 

redistricting; Constitutional 

conventions, former Confederate 

states; Elections; Machine politics; 

Reduction; Republican Party.

Democratic Select Committee (DSC), 

263, 264, 313, 373–74. See also,

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

Dennis v. United States. See, Supreme 

Court, United States.

De Priest, Jessie, 259, 259, 260, 278, 

280

De Priest, Oscar Stanton, 4, 5, 10, 184, 

234, 240, 241, 242, 243, 260, 265n, 

278–85, 292, 303, 384

Chicago political machines, and, 241, 

242

discrimination on Capitol Hill, and, 

259, 260–61, 262, 272n

early background, 176, 237, 238

legislative interests, 260–61

legislative style, 1–2, 42, 236, 262, 

272n

Mitchell, Arthur, political rivalry, 242, 

262, 286, 288

pre-congressional political experience, 

238, 241

see also, Illinois, black representation; 

Machine politics; Surrogate 

representation.

Deukmejian, George, 449

Deutsch, John, 648

Dick, Charles, 169

Dickerson, Earl, 294

Dickson, Julian, 742

Dies, Martin, Jr., 269n

Diggs, Charles Coles, Jr., 5, 6, 10, 11, 

234, 250, 263, 310–17, 318, 321, 370, 

374, 375, 387, 401n, 508, 580

committee assignments, 239, 240, 

266n, 383, 387, 405n

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), 

and, 5, 6, 11, 357, 374, 374–75, 

376, 387, 402n, 440

Democratic Select Committee (DSC), 

and, 264, 373–74

early background, 237

legal difficulties, 240–41, 267n

legislative interests, 236, 247, 248, 

252–53, 254, 256–57, 271n, 273n, 

383, 386–87, 407n, 408n

legislative style, 263, 264, 391

military service, 237–38, 265n 

pre-congressional political experience, 

238

political influence, 240

Till, Emmett, and, 252–53, 312

see also, Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC); Democratic Select 

Committee (DSC); Michigan, 

black representation.

Dingell, John, Jr., 265n, 582, 686, 687 

Dingley Tariff, 230

Dirksen, Everett, 250n, 255, 335

Discrimination, 36–37, 158, 172, 

180–81, 183, 241, 243, 245–46, 

246–47, 249, 252, 256, 390, 403n, 

426–27

African-American, Members of 

Congress, experiences, 29–30, 

31–32, 36–37, 41, 169–70, 

237–38, 256, 257, 259–62, 272n, 

395–96. See also, individual AfricanAmerican Members of Congress.

congressional, 31–32, 249, 250, 251, 

253, 254–55, 259–62, 265n, 272n, 

281, 303, 335, 390

federal government, and, 5, 172–73, 

190n, 282

housing, 257, 258–59

military, 118, 145n, 173–74, 237–38, 

244–45, 364

railroads, 37, 41–42, 148–49, 289, 

426

see also, Affirmative action; Brownsville 

affair; Civil rights; Civil rights 

legislation; Civil Rights Acts; 

Disfranchisement; Elections; Equal 

Rights Amendment (ERA); Fair 

Employment Practices Committee 

(FEPC); Gerrymander; Jim Crow; 

Ku Klux Klan; Lynching; Racial 

violence; Reduction; Segregation; 

Race; Slavery; Senate, United 

States; South Africa, apartheid 

policy; Supreme Court, United 

States; Till, Emmett; Voting Rights 

Acts.

Disfranchisement, 4, 29, 40–41, 

157–59, 166, 168, 190n, 256–57, 

271n, 379–81, 383, 412

“eight box ballot” law, 157–58, 216, 

220

constitutional conventions, former 

Confederate states, 21, 62, 78, 

88, 94, 106, 110, 128, 138, 146, 

158–59, 169, 188n, 217, 223, 

226n. See also, South Carolina.

grandfather clause, 157, 157

literacy tests, 157, 159, 256, 268n, 

405n

poll tax, 33, 157, 158, 159, 245, 268n

voter registration laws, 157–59

see also, Alabama; Apportionment and 

redistricting; Contested Elections; 

Discrimination; Elections; 

Gerrymander; Mississippi; North 

INDEX H 797
798 H Black Americans in Congress 

Carolina; Reduction; South 

Carolina; Voting Rights Acts.

Displaced Homemakers Act, 449

District of Columbia, 302, 312–13, 

383, 383, 406n, 419–20, 438, 440, 

443n, 481, 487n, 515

black representation, 438–45, 

722–23. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

District of Columbia SelfGovernment and Governmental 

Reorganization Act, 313, 383, 440

District of Columbia Committee, 

239, 262, 263, 266n, 312–13, 515

see also, Delegate; Diggs, Charles 

Coles, Jr.; Dixon, Julian; Fauntroy, 

Walter Edward; Norton, Eleanor 

Holmes.

Dixon, Allen, 622

Dixon, Julian Carey, 357, 377, 383, 

391, 393, 395, 396, 411n, 478–83, 

515, 521, 742

Dodd, Christopher, 588

Domestic Volunteer Service Act, 537

Douglas, Helen Gahagan, 246, 251

Douglas, Paul H., 254

Douglass, Frederick, 8, 32, 122, 204, 

206, 208

Droney, John J., 337

Dropout Prevention and Re-entry Act, 

548

Du Bois, W.E.B., 170, 172, 173, 183

Dunnigan, Alice, 259

Durham, Milton, 35, 38

Dyer, Leonidas, 170, 170, 176–79, 192n

Dymally, Lynn, 512, 515, 630

Dymally, Mervyn Malcolm, 373, 402n, 

478, 512–17, 527–28, 630, 634, 646

E

East St. Louis (IL) race riot. See, Race 

riots.

Eastland, James, 252, 254

Economic policy, 162–63, 241, 243, 

267n, 268n, 381–83, 406–407n

Economic Opportunity Act of 1964, 

381

see also, Civilian Conservation Corps 

(CCC); Fair Employment Practices 

Committee (FEPC); Freedmen’s 

Savings and Trust Company; Great 

Society legislation; New Deal 

legislation 

Ebenezer African Methodist Episcopal 

(AME) Church (Lincolnville, SC), 96

“Eight box ballot” law. See, 

Disfranchisement.

Eisenhower, Dwight D., 246, 246–47, 

248, 249, 253, 254, 259, 270n, 272n, 

304, 312

Eldredge, Charles, 37

Elections, 1, 28–30, 45n, 157–62, 240, 

376–77, 396–99

1872 election, 26

1874 election, 36

1876 election, 40–41, 154

1890 election, 165–66

1928 election, 183, 242

1932 election, 242

1992 election, 410n

1994 election, 384, 571, 587, 638

violence, 29–30, 186–87n

nominating conventions, 26, 26, 45n

black political rivalries, 160–62, 262

see also, individual states; individual 

African-American Members of 

Congress; Apportionment and 

redistricting; Contested elections; 

Democratic Party; Discrimination; 

Disfranchisement; Federal Elections 

Bill of 1890; Fifteenth Amendment; 

Fusion; Gerrymander; Ku Klux 

Klan; Incumbency and seniority, 

influence of; Machine politics; Race 

riots; Reduction; Republican Party; 

Voting Rights Acts.

Elliott, Robert Brown, 1, 8, 10, 22, 

29, 33, 34–35, 36, 37, 44n, 75, 76n, 

78–83, 94, 265n

Elliott, William, 142–43, 216, 217, 

218n, 220, 223

Ellison, Keith, 749

Emancipation Proclamation, 20

Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal 

(AME) Church (Charleston, SC), 

25, 94

Emergency Unemployment 

Compensation Act, 593

Emerson, Jo Ann, 598

Emigration,

“Exodusters” (American West), 113, 

174–75, 191n

Liberia (Africa), 94, 97, 191n

Great Migration (American North), 

173, 173–76, 182, 183, 191n, 199, 

236, 237, 241, 241, 244

see also, Discrimination; 

Disfranchisement; Reduction; 

World War I.

Enterprise Railroad Company, 25

Epping, J. P. M., 140

Equal Employment Opportunity 

Commission (EEOC), 250, 255, 326

Equality in Athletic Disclosure Act, 469

Equal Rights Amendment (ERA), 449, 

512, 524, 527

Espy, Alphonso Michael (Mike), 384, 

397, 556–61, 737

Essential Air Service Bill, 608

Ethiopia, 491, 496, 498–99, 501, 532, 

574

Evans, Melvin Herbert, 240, 268n, 373, 

384, 484–87, 588n

Executive Order 8802. See, Fair 

Employment Practices Committee 

(FEPC).

Executive Order 9981, 249. See also,

Discrimination; Segregation.

F

Fair Employment Practices Committee 

(FEPC), 245, 245–46, 246, 249, 269n

Familial connections. See, AfricanAmerican Members of Congress, 

characteristics.

Family and Medical Leave Act, 349

Family Support Program, 384, 475

Farmer, James, 239, 264, 266n, 340, 

342, 371

Fattah, Chaka, 592, 593, 694–95

Fauntroy, Walter Edward, 5, 11, 256, 

370, 371, 374, 375, 377, 378, 383, 

383, 389, 392, 402n, 408n, 438–45

Federal Elections Bill of 1890, 164–66, 

169, 178, 203, 214, 216–17. See also,

Disfranchisement; Lodge, Henry 

Cabot.

Fields, Cleo, 398, 600–605

Fifteenth Amendment, 1, 18, 22, 22, 

24, 29, 34, 35, 41, 42, 158, 158, 164, 

165, 168, 170, 172, 179, 180

Filibuster, 165, 179, 222, 246, 251, 

254, 255–56, 271n, 349, 624. See 

also, Cloture; Senate, United States.

Financial Literacy for Homeowners 

Act, 733

Finley, Jesse J., 91

Fitzgerald, Peter, 725

Fitzhugh, Robert, 100

Flake, Floyd Harold, 381, 384, 384, 

552, 554, 562–67

Foner, Eric, 10, 170

Florida, black representation, 88–93, 

618–21, 674–75, 698–99, 716–17. 

See, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory.

Foraker, Joseph B., 194n

Force Acts. See, Ku Klux Klan Acts.

Force Bill. See, Federal Elections Bill of 

1890. 

Ford, Gerald R., 342, 375, 379, 455, 

461

Ford, Harold, Jr., 350, 397, 401n, 472, 

476, 654–59

Ford, Harold E., Sr., 5, 6, 11, 350, 

372, 378, 378, 384, 395, 395, 401n, 

404–405n, 448, 472–77, 578n, 654

Foreign Military Sales Act, 320

Fourteenth Amendment, 21, 34, 35, 

41, 42, 56, 68, 94, 128, 136, 158, 

167, 168, 170, 171, 177, 179, 180, 

183, 189n, 223, 250, 288, 312, 320, 

397, 615

France, Erwin A., 427

Franking privileges, 18, 576

Franks, Gary A., 384–85, 584–89, 641

Frazer, Victor O., 634–37, 679

Freedmen’s Bureau, 21, 21, 24, 27, 28, 

72, 88, 124

Freedmen’s Savings and Trust Company 

(Freedmen’s Bank), 33–34, 65, 

96, 103, 119, 130. See also, Select 

Committee on the Freedmen’s Bank.

Freedom Riders. See, Civil Rights 

movement.

Friedel, Samuel, 430, 432, 435n

Frost, Martin, 491

Fusion, 160, 160, 186–87n, 230, 231

G

Gainesville New Era, 25, 91. See also,

Newspapers, African-American.

Garfield, James A., 26, 36, 66, 81, 

102–103, 119–20

Garner, John Nance, 178, 181, 241

Garvey, Marcus, 175

Gaining Early Access and Readiness 

for Undergraduate Program (GEAR 

UP), 695

Gandhi, Indira, 343

Gandhi, Mahatma, 255

George, Randall D., 216

Georgia,

black representation, 68–71, 458–65, 

612–17, 664–67, 672–73, 714–15, 

732–33. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

disfranchisement, 70, 238, 250, 272n, 

398

lynching, 166, 176

re-admission to the Union, 56–57, 

68, 70

see also, Disfranchisement; Lynching.

Georgia Educational Association, 68

Gephardt, Richard, 386, 492, 565, 656

Gerrymander, 28, 29, 113, 124, 128, 

141–42, 159–60, 187n, 216, 397–99, 

412n, 600, 602, 603, 614–15, 

617n. See also, Apportionment 

and redistricting; Elections; 

Disfranchisement.

Ghana, 248, 304, 313. See also, Africa, 

foreign policy.

Giles v. Harris. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Gillett, Frederick H., 178, 180

Gingrich, Newt, 314, 384, 564–65, 

587, 614, 620, 640, 641

Global Fund to Fight HIV/AIDS, 713

Goals 2000 initiative, 727

Golar, Simeon, 564

Goldwater, Barry, 14n, 267–68n

Gonzalez, Henry, 358

Goode, Wilson, 490

Goodykoontz, Wells, 180, 193n 

Gramm–Rudman–Hollings Act, 492

Grandfather clause, 157, 157, 171. See,

Disfranchisement.

Grant, Ulysses S., 25–26, 34, 39, 58, 

64, 80, 102, 106, 112, 124, 130, 134, 

208, 210

Graves, Curtis, 452

Gray, Frizzell. See, Mfume, Kweisi.

Gray, William III (Bill), 2, 7, 390, 

488–95, 532, 590, 592, 695

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), 

and, 370

first election, 321

legislative interests, 389–90, 418

legislative style, 394

political influence, 379, 389, 394–95

see also, Economic policy; 

Pennsylvania, black representation; 

South Africa, apartheid policy.

Great Depression, 236, 241, 241–44, 

259, 281, 282, 286, 288, 300, 

324, 340, 362. See also, New Deal 

legislation. 

Great Migration, 173. See also,

Emigration.

Great Society legislation, 240, 258, 

327, 448

Greeley, Horace, 26, 112

Green, Al, 696–97

Gulf War. See, Iraq.

Gurney, William, 106

H

Haiti, 393, 441–42, 492, 514, 538, 

571, 582, 620, 675, 717, 741

Hall, Anthony (Tony), 498
INDEX H 799

Hall, Katie Beatrice, 385, 530–33

Hamburg massacre. See, South Carolina.

Hamilton, Charles V., 305

Hammer, Rhea Mojica, 364–65

Hampton, Wade, 65, 142

Hannaford, Mark, 514

Haralson, Jeremiah, 26, 29, 45n, 46n, 

113, 122–27, 161

Harris, James H., 148

Harris, John T., 32, 37, 37, 124

Harrison, Benjamin, 120, 143, 164, 

209, 210, 220

Harrison, Byron (Pat), 178, 182

Hastert, Dennis, 386, 641

Hastings, Alcee, 618, 674, 698–99

Hatch Act, 349

Hatcher, Richard, 530, 532

Hawaii, 163–64, 230, 724

Hawkins, Augustus Freeman (Gus), 2, 

10, 11, 250, 258, 265n, 324–31, 370, 

375, 394, 402n

committee assignments, 262–63, 

266n 

legislative interests, 234, 236, 248, 

255, 256–57, 381, 381 

legislative style, 2, 263

political influence, 262, 262–63, 378

pre-congressional political experience, 

238 

see also, California, black 

representation; Humphrey–

Hawkins Full Employment and 

Balanced Growth Act.

Hawkins–Stafford Act. See, School 

Improvement Act.

Hayes, Charles Arthur, 389, 396, 396, 

546–51, 731

Hayes, Rutherford B., 40, 40–41, 97, 

121n, 130, 136, 208

Hayes v. Louisiana. See, Louisiana; 

Supreme Court, United States.

Head Start Program, 666

Health Security Act, 469

Hébert, F. Edward, 378, 392, 392, 419

Heflin, James, 180, 181

Higher Education Act, 542

Hilliard, Earl Frederick, 266n, 606–11, 

690–91

HIV/AIDS, 574, 648, 679, 701, 711, 

712, 717, 723, 741, 743

Hoar, George Frisbie, 31–32, 35, 

164–65

Hoge, Solomon L., 78

Holden, William, 128

Holloway, Clyde, 600

Hoover, Herbert, 183, 241, 242, 243, 

259, 260, 280

Hoover, Lou Henry, 259, 260, 280

House, John, 134

House “Bank” scandal, 350, 358, 420, 

542, 549, 576

House Gallery. See, Segregation.

House Un-American Activities 

Committee (HUAC). See, UnAmerican Activities Committee 

(HUAC).

Housing and Community Development 

Act, 559

Housing discrimination. See,

Discrimination.

Houston Fair Share program, 697

Howard, Michael, 57–58 See, West 

Point, U.S. Military Academy.

Hubbs, Orlando, 148. 

Humphrey, Hubert, 250, 255, 327, 381. 

See also, Humphrey–Hawkins Full 

Employment and Balanced Growth 

Act.

Humphrey, Lotte W., 148

Humphrey–Hawkins Full Employment 

and Balanced Growth Act, 6, 327, 

381, 381–82, 548

Hunger, Select Committee on, 380, 496, 

499, 542, 558, 560, 570, 574, 776

Hunt, Caleb, 30

Hunter, David, 142

Hunter, Maria, 142

Hurricanes, 598, 705, 713 

Hyman, John Adams, 22–23, 50, 

128–33, 146. See also, John A. Hyman 

Memorial Youth Foundation.

I

Ickes, Harold, 243

Illinois, black representation, 278–83, 

286–91, 292–99, 362–67, 424–29, 

466–71, 502–505, 518–23, 524–29, 

546–51, 622–25, 626–29, 692–93, 

702–703, 724–25, 730–31. See,

Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory.

Immigration, 180

legislation, 537–38, 620, 717

Asian, 118

European, 174

Imperialism,

Decolonization, African/Asian, 247, 

247, 314

United States, 163–64, 188n, 230

Income and Jobs Action Act, 548

Incumbency and seniority, influence 

of, 33, 46n, 50, 162, 181–82, 196, 

240–41, 266n, 274, 376, 377, 

376–77, 404n, 413

Indiana, black representation, 530–33, 

650–53. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Industrialization, influence of, 156–57

Iran-Contra affair, 358

Iraq, 576, 579, 615, 656–57, 683, 712, 

713, 717, 721, 725, 741

Isakson, Johnny, 666

J

Jackson, Jesse, 381, 498, 532, 590, 626, 

630

Jackson, Jesse, Jr., 628, 700–701

Jackson Lee, Sheila, 702–703

Jacobs, Andy, 650

Jacobs, H. P., 100

James, Esther, 305

James, Ollie, 180

Javits, Jacob, 251

Jefferson, William J., 602, 704–705

Jim Crow, 154, 154, 241, 255. See also, 

Discrimination.

John A. Hyman Memorial Youth 

Foundation, 662

John R. Justice Prosecutors and 

Defenders Incentive Act, 733

Johnson, Andrew, 20–21, 43n

Johnson, Eddie Bernice, 706–707

Johnson, James Weldon, 172, 176, 176, 

177. See also, National Association for 

the Advancement of Colored People 

(NAACP).

Johnson, Hank, 616, 749

Johnson, Lewis E., 96

Johnson, Lyndon B., 248, 248, 253–54, 

255–56, 256, 257, 257, 258, 258, 

271n, 295, 297, 304–305, 306, 320, 

327, 335, 336–37, 373, 438, 448, 

449, 454, 455, 464n, 542

Jones, Charles, 602

Jones, Stephanie Tubbs, 359, 411n, 

649n, 708–709

Jones, Thomas R., 340

Jones, Walter, 596, 598, 660

Jordan, Barbara, 6, 10, 11, 239, 373, 

380, 380, 391, 452–57, 460, 496, 

498, 574, 702

committee assignments, 378

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), 

and, 375, 380, 391

legislative interests, 379–80, 405n

legislative style, 391, 391

pre-congressional political experience, 

372

see also, Texas, black representation.

Juvenile Justice and Delinquency 

Prevention Act, 327

K

Karsten, Frank, 346

Keifer, Joseph Warren, 125, 189n

Kelly, Edward J., 241, 242, 286, 292. 

See also, Machine Politics.

Kellogg, Stephen, 39, 39

Kennedy, Anthony M., 398

Kennedy, Edward M. (Ted), 250, 334, 

440, 626

Kennedy, John F., 248, 254, 255, 269n, 

294, 297, 298n, 304, 306, 320, 326, 

334, 358, 378, 434, 452, 512, 542, 

568, 664, 686

Kerr, Daniel, 216

Kerr, Michael, 91, 134, 136

Key, V.O., 181

Keyes, Alan, 397

Kilpatrick, Carolyn Cheeks, 393, 393, 

582, 710–11

Kilpatrick, Kwame, 711

King, Coretta Scott, 271n, 343, 407n, 

440

King, Martin Luther, Jr., 236, 252, 

254–55, 255, 256, 258, 270n, 271n, 

295, 336, 348, 358, 362, 371, 371, 

378, 407n, 438, 458, 481, 524, 532, 

548, 568, 606, 686, 687, 700, 714

holiday, 336, 385, 385, 407n, 468, 

486, 504, 624

King, Rodney, 630, 632

King, William E., 294

Kitchin, Alvin Paul, 233n

Kitchin, Claude, 232, 233n

Kitchin, William W., 233n

Kitchin, William H., 148, 233n

Kleczka, Gerald. D., 720

Knight, Landon, 310

Knowland, William F., 254

Koreagate scandal, 514

Kousser, J. Morgan, 181, 190n

Ku Klux Klan, 29, 30, 64, 68, 70, 74, 

77, 78, 80, 88, 90, 97, 106, 112, 113, 

128, 140, 182

Ku Klux Klan Acts, 3, 34, 34–35, 41, 

47n, 64, 74, 77, 80, 165

see also, Lynching.

Kuchel, Thomas, 255

Kuwait, 576

Kuykendall, Dan, 472, 474

L

LaFollette, Robert M., 143

LaGuardia, Fiorello, 281, 300

Langston, John Mercer, 8, 10, 152, 152, 

153, 154, 159, 161, 162, 166, 191n, 

206–13, 735

early background, 155, 185n

legislative interests, 166, 191n

pre-congressional political experience, 

155

election, 156, 162, 196

see also, Virginia, black representation.

Langston v. United States et al. See, Supreme 

Court, United States.

Lanham, Samuel, 165

Lawton, Winburn J., 71

Leach, Jim, 564

Leath, Marvin, 491

Lee, Barbara, 712–13

Lee, Samuel, 65, 81, 142, 161

Legislative style. See, African-American 

Members of Congress, characteristics; 

Surrogate representation.

Lehman, Bill, 618

Leland, George Thomas (Mickey), 7, 7, 

380, 496–501, 574

committee assignments, 404–405n

legislative interests, 380, 390

legislative style, 391, 392

see also, Texas, black representation.

Lewis, Barbour, 38

Lewis, John R., 395, 397, 399, 714–15

leadership, 379

civil rights leader, 256, 257, 264, 

271n, 371, 371, 372 

see also, Georgia, black representation.

Lewis, Morris W., 281

Liberal Republican Party, 26

Liberia. See, Emigration.

Libya, 608, 610n

Lincoln, Abraham, 20, 21, 142, 183, 

210, 236, 255, 281, 282

Lincolnville (SC), 96

Line-item veto, 571

Lippmann, Walter, 247

Literacy tests. See, Disfranchisement.

Lithicum, J. Charles, 181

Little Rock (AR), school integration, 

246, 247, 246–47, 271n

Livingston, Robert L., 358–59

Lloyd, James B., 231

Lodge, Henry Cabot, 143, 164–66, 

165, 178

Long, Jefferson Franklin, 33, 34–35, 41, 

50, 64, 80, 68–71, 460

Longworth, Nicholas, 193n, 280

Los Angeles (CA) 1992 riots. See, Race 

riots; King, Rodney.

Louisiana,
800 H Black Americans in Congress 

black representation, 134–37, 

600–605, 704–705

congressional districts, 398, 600, 602

see also, Menard, John Willis; 

Pinchback, Pinckney B. S.; 

Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by 

State and Territory.

Lower Mississippi Delta Congressional 

Caucus, 559

Lower Mississippi River Valley Delta 

Development Act, 558–59

Low Income Housing Tax Credit, 729

Lucas, Charles, 356

Lunch counter protests. See, Civil Rights 

Movement.

Lugar, Richard, 390, 725

Lynch, John Roy, 10, 26, 32, 41, 42, 

46n, 50, 56, 100–105, 224, 241

discrimination, and, 29–30, 37, 38

early background, 24

elections, 28

historical interpretation, 169

legislative interests, 37, 38, 39, 40

pre-congressional political experience, 

28

Republican Party, and, 27, 40

see also, Mississippi, black 

representation.

Lynching, 166, 166, 167, 178, 183, 

188n, 192n, 252–53

anti-lynching legislation, 4, 164, 

166–67, 175–79, 178, 182, 183, 

231, 243, 243–44, 249, 268n

see also, Ku Klux Klan; Race riots; Till, 

Emmett.

M

Machine politics, 241–43, 262, 262, 

267n, 278, 280, 282, 284n, 289, 292, 

294, 295, 296, 298n, 302, 312, 318, 

320, 321, 340, 356, 362, 364. See 

also, Daley, Richard J.; Kelly, Edward 

J.; Steingut, Stanley; Tammany Hall; 

Thompson, William Hale (Big Bill).

Mackey, Edmund W., 97, 108, 142

Macon Union League, 68

Madden, Martin, 278, 280, 282, 292

Mahan, Alfred Thayer, 163

Mahone, William, 208–209

Majette, Denise L., 397, 615, 664–67

Majority Whip. See, Whip.

Maloney, James, 587

Mansfield, Mike, 250, 255

Mariam, Mengistu Haile, 499

Martin Luther King, Jr., holiday. See,

King, Martin Luther, Jr.

Maryland, black representation, 

430–37, 568–73, 688–89, 746–47.

See, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory.

Massachusetts, black representation, 

332–39. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

McCary, William, 100

McCormack, John, 342

McCormick, Ruth, 280

McCulloch William, 255

McGrath, J. Howard, 249

McKee, George, 118

McKee, John, 138, 144n, 145n

McKinley, William, 103, 120, 143, 

144n, 161, 167, 203–204, 224, 230, 

231

McKinley Tariff, 166, 202, 209

McKinney, Cynthia Ann, 266n, 394, 

398, 398, 612–17, 664

McLean, William, 47–48n

McMillan, John L., 312, 440

Mebane, George Allen, 200, 202

Meek, Carrie P., 618–21, 674, 699, 716

Meek, Kendrick B., 620, 716–17

Meeks, Gregory W., 718–19

Menard, John Willis, 3, 30, 71n, 134

Metcalfe, Ralph Harold, 5, 10, 11, 296, 

364, 366n, 370, 375, 378, 402n, 

424–29, 502, 504, 524

Metcalfe, Ralph Harold, Jr., 504, 526, 

546

Mewboorne, James M., 203, 205n

Mfume, Kweisi, 568–73, 576, 587 

Michigan, black representation, 310–17, 

506–11, 580–83, 686–87, 710–11. 

See, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory.

Middleton, Steven, 10

Military budget, 419

Military service, African-American 

Members of Congress, 401n

Civil War, 54, 62, 84, 88, 94, 100, 

116, 134, 138, 145n

Spanish–American War, 100, 103

World War I, 265n, 292, 296

World War II, 237–38, 244–45, 247, 

265n, 302, 310, 332, 335, 362, 

424, 430, 466, 518, 524

Millender-McDonald, Juanita, 412n, 

632, 646–49

Miller, Thomas Ezekiel, 143, 152, 155, 

156, 157, 158, 159, 159, 160, 161, 

162, 166, 205n, 212n, 214–19, 220, 

223

Miller, Zell, 414, 462, 664, 666

Miller v. Johnson. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Million Man March, 582

Mills, Billy, 446

Mills, Roger, 38

Mills v. Green. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Mills, Wilbur, 454

Minnesota, black representation, 749. 

See, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory.

Minority Business Legal Defense and 

Education Fund, 434

Minority HIV/AIDS initiative, 701

Missionary Record (South Carolina Leader), 

25, 78, 94. See also, Newspapers, 

African-American.

Mississippi, 18, 29, 43n, 45, 56, 60n, 

116, 159, 282, 384

“Mississippi Plan,” 29–30, 102, 118

black representation, 54–61, 

100–105, 116–21, 556–61, 

736–37

civil rights protests, 254–55

disfranchisement, 159, 168, 169, 

171, 180 

electoral districts, 28, 45n, 100

racial violence, 29–30, 102, 149, 176, 

188n, 252, 312

Voting Rights Act of 1965, impact 

of, 257

white supremacy, 23, 119, 180–82, 

259, 260, 280. See also, Harrison, 

Byron (Pat); Rankin, John Elliott; 

Vardaman, James Kimble; White 

supremacy.

see also, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by 

State and Territory.

Mississippi River Improvement 

Association, 119

Missouri, black representation, 

346–53, 540–45, 680–81, 682–83. 

See, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory.

Mitchell, Arthur Wergs, 1, 2, 10, 265n, 

282, 286–91, 292, 294, 524

early background, 237

legislative interests, 243–45, 262

legislative style, 242, 262

pre-congressional political experience, 

242

see also, Illinois, black representation.

Mitchell, Parren, 5, 11, 264, 362, 370, 

374, 375, 382, 402n, 421n, 430–37, 

490, 491, 568, 570

committee assignments, 404–405n

legislative interests, 382, 386

legislative style, 381–82

Shirley Chisholm presidential bid, 

and, 375–76

see also, Maryland, black 

representation.

Mitchell v. United States et al. See, Supreme 

Court, United States.

Moffett, Toby, 584

Moise, E. M., 220, 222

Mondale, Walter, 335, 498

Mondell, Frank W., 179

Monroe Doctrine, 163

Moore, Gwendolynne S., 402n, 720–21

Moore, Joseph B., 134

Moseley-Braun, Carol, 6, 12, 240, 372, 

397, 397, 410n, 546, 622–25, 649

Moses, Franklin, 26–27, 108, 214

Moss, D. S., 230

Moynihan Report, 266n

Mozambique, 314. See also, Imperialism.

Mulatto, 23. See, Race.

Murphy, Morgan, 518

Murphy, William T., 518

Murray, George Washington, 4, 10, 143, 

152, 155, 155, 157–58, 158–59, 160, 

161, 162, 163, 217, 220–27, 685

N

Nash, Charles Edmund, 32, 91, 134–37

National Association for the 

Advancement of Colored People 

(NAACP), 4, 5, 5, 172, 176, 178, 238, 

243, 252, 638

African-American Members of 

Congress, and, 243–44, 252–53, 

262, 280–81, 288, 295, 304, 354, 

356, 379, 382, 430, 499, 509, 571, 

638, 641, 684, 696

activism, 176–79, 183, 243–44, 

252–53, 262

World War II, and, 245, 247

founded, 172–73

leadership, 243, 430, 571, 660, 

696–97, 734

voter registration drives, 238

National Defense Rail Act, 652

National Negro Labor Union (NNLU), 

110, 112

Native American legislation, 90, 118–19

Nevius, John, 440

New Columbia Admission Act, 723

New Deal legislation, 236, 242, 241–44, 

258, 267n, 269n, 282, 285n, 286, 

288, 304. See also, Fair Employment 

Practices Committee (FEPC); Great 

Society legislation.

New Jersey, black representation, 

726–27. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Newton, Huey, 258, 372

New York, black representation, 

300–309, 340–45, 534–39, 552–55, 

562–67, 718–19, 728–29, 738–39, 

748. See, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory.

Newspapers, African-American, 25, 

44n, 67, 78, 518. See, individual 

newspapers.

Niblack, Silas L., 90

Nichols, Jesse, 259

Nix, Robert Nelson Cornelius, Sr., 5, 

10, 11, 236, 238, 240, 248, 250, 262, 

265n, 266n, 300, 318–23, 370, 375, 

402n, 405n

Nixon, Richard M., 248, 313, 327, 

336, 337, 348, 356, 364, 375, 391, 

403n, 418, 426, 432, 433, 448, 454, 

460–61, 474, 484, 632 

Nkrumah, Kwame, 248

Nominating conventions, 26. See,

Elections.

North, Oliver, 358

North American Free Trade Agreement 

(NAFTA), 349, 571, 576, 582, 598, 

628, 632, 707, 745

North Carolina, 24

black representation, 128–33, 

146–51, 200–205, 228–33, 

596–99, 660–63, 676–77, 744–45

“Black Second” district. See,

Apportionment and redistricting.

disfranchisement, 186–87n, 202

segregation, 174–75

Wilmington race riots, 186–87n

see also, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by 

State and Territory.

North Carolina Farmers’ Alliance, 203, 

205n 

Northup, Anne, 620

Norton, Eleanor Holmes, 373, 383, 

408n, 444n, 722–23
INDEX H 801

Norton, Mary, 246, 246, 269n

No Taxation Without Representation 

Act, 723

Nuclear Waste Responsible Component 

and Protection Act, 648

Nye, James, 56

O

Oates, William C., 112

Obama, Barack, 369, 397, 671, 724–25

O’Brien, George D., 310

O’Connor, Michael, 97

O’Ferrall, Charles, 216

Office of Economic Opportunity, 448

O’Hara, James Edward, 22, 41, 41–42, 

46–47n, 130, 132n, 144n, 146–51, 

160, 161, 185n, 200, 203, 289 

Ohio, black representation, 354–61, 

708–709. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Oklahoma, black representation, 

638–45. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Older Americans Health Services Act, 

474

Omnibus Crime Bill (1994), 576, 582, 

624

Onassis, Jacqueline Kennedy, 343

O’Neill, Thomas P. (Tip), 336, 358, 

378, 481, 491, 532, 584

Ovington, Mary White, 173

Owens, Jesse, 407n, 424

Owens, Major Robert O’Dell, 534–39

P

“Packing” electoral districts, 160. See,

Apportionment and redistricting.

Park, Tongsun, 514

Parker, Peter, 432

Parks, Rosa, 252, 252, 271n, 385–86, 

386, 407n, 642–43, 652–53, 686, 

701

Payne, Donald M., 369, 726–27

Pelosi, Nancy, 648, 649, 656–57, 695

Pennsylvania, black representation, 

318–23, 488–95, 590–95, 694–95. 

See, Appendix C: Black-American 

Representatives and Senators by State 

and Territory.

People’s Savings Bank, 232

Perryman, David, 640

Phelps, William, 47n

Philippines. See, Imperialism.

Phillips, Wendell H., 570

Pickens, Harriet Ida, 244

Pierce, Franklin, 43n

Perce, Legrand, 100

Pinchback, Pinckney B. S., 31, 118, 

121n, 134

Planter ammunition transport ship, 138, 

141, 144n, 145n

Plessy v. Ferguson. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Political machines. See, Machine Politics.

Poll tax, 158. See, Disfranchisement.

Populism, 160, 161, 161, 203, 220, 222, 

228, 230, 231. See also, Fusion.

Postbellum Era, 23, 23, 43n. See also, 

Antebellum Era.

Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr., 2, 10, 180, 

234, 235, 236, 245, 248, 250, 266n, 

267n, 294, 295, 300–309, 312, 318, 

322n, 326, 327, 349, 372, 373, 374, 

392, 448, 530, 729

civil rights activist, 14n, 236, 251, 

253, 254, 255, 257, 261, 270–71n, 

372

committee assignments, 236, 240, 

266n, 405n

congressional exclusion, 266n, 305, 

320–21

early background, 238

Eisenhower, support for, 253, 253, 

304

ethical and legal problems, 240–41, 

261, 304, 305, 395, 411n

legislative interests, 5, 245, 246, 

247–48, 253, 256–57, 303–304, 

386, 387

legislative style, 1, 2, 251, 261–62, 

263, 264, 270–71n

Nix, Robert opposition, 321

political influence, 240, 251

pre-congressional political experience, 

238

see also, New York, black 

representation; Powell Amendment.

Powell Amendment, 253, 255, 295, 

302–303

Pregnancy Disability Act, 328

President’s Committee on Civil Rights, 

249

Progressivism, 171–72, 190n

R

Race,

mulatto, 23, 23, 24, 43n, 80, 155, 

160–61, 184n, 186n, 218n

black racial tension, 23, 44n, 160–61

Race riots, 176–77, 191–92n, 258–59, 

335

East St. Louis (IL) race riot, 175, 

176–77

Carrollton County (MS) courthouse 

riot, 149

Los Angeles (CA) 1992 riot, 481, 

630. See also, King, Rodney.

Tulsa (OK) race riot, 177

Washington (DC) riot, 258

Watts (CA) race riots, 258, 326, 446

Wilmington (NC) race riot, 186–87n, 

231

Racism. See, Discrimination.

Rail and Public Transportation Security 

Act, 703

Railroads. See, Discrimination.

Railroad Revitalization and Regulatory 

Reform Act, 426

Rainey, Joseph Hayne, 1, 8, 10, 19, 25, 

26, 31, 32, 33, 44n, 62–67, 70, 80, 

96, 97, 99n, 160

committee assignments, 33

discrimination, experience with, 

22–23, 30, 31, 32, 36–37, 97

early background, 22–23, 25

elections, 30

legislative interests, 33, 34, 36–37, 

39, 40

pre-congressional political experience, 

29

see also, South Carolina, black 

representation.

Rainey, Susan, 22–23, 62

Randolph, A. Philip, 245

Rangel, Charles, 5, 11, 305, 370, 374, 

374, 375, 376–77, 377, 377, 378, 

379, 380, 402n, 404–405n, 448, 

476n, 554, 691, 728–29

Rangel Amendment, 729

Rankin, Jeannette, 1

Rankin, John Elliott, 180, 180, 246, 

247, 261, 269n, 303

Ransier, Alonzo Jacob, 25, 27, 29, 32, 

39, 41, 75, 94, 97, 106–109

Rapier, James Thomas, Jr., 25, 26, 28, 

29, 37, 38, 39, 45n, 110–15, 124, 

127n, 161

Rayburn, Samuel, 178, 181, 254, 254, 

261, 302, 304 

Rayner, A. A. (Sammy), 426, 502

Reagan, Ronald W., 328, 343, 357, 

358, 382, 382, 384, 385, 386, 389, 

390, 409n, 419, 433, 441, 461, 474, 

486, 491, 508, 515, 520, 526, 527, 

532, 537, 540, 542, 548, 554, 559, 

584, 622 

Realignment, 241, 241–43. See also, 

Democratic Party; Republican Party.

Reconstruction, 20, 20–22, 25–27, 

39–42. See also, Civil Rights Act of 

1875; Ku Klux Klan Acts; individual 

19th-century African-American 

Members of Congress. 

Redemption, 39–42, 41, 41–42. See also, 

White supremacy.

Redistricting. See, Apportionment and 

redistricting.

Redlining, 426. See also, Discrimination.

Red Shirts. See, South Carolina.

Redistricting, 372. See, Apportionment 

and redistricting.

Reduction, 167–69, 179–80, 189n, 

193n, 281, 312, 320. See also,

Apportionment; Fourteenth 

Amendment.

Reed, Thomas Brackett, 212n, 216

Renewal Community Project, 641

Republican Party, 

1994 “Republican Revolution,” 571

black representation, 25–28, 384–85

black voter re-alignment, 4, 14n, 42, 

42, 58, 182–83, 236, 241, 241–44, 

267n, 286

civil rights, 20–22, 26–27

corruption and patronage, 26–27, 

185n

New Deal and Depression Era, 

241–44

Jim Crow Era, 154, 155–57

Reconstruction Era, 20–21, 25–28

factions, 20–21, 25–28, 155–56

see also, Apportionment and 

redistricting; Constitutional 

conventions, former Confederate 

states; Democratic Party; Elections; 

Machine politics; Reduction.

Republican Sentinel, 25, 112, 113. See also,

Newspapers, African-American.

Revels, Hiram Rhodes, 1, 10, 18, 20, 

20, 24, 25, 26, 29, 32, 33, 33, 34, 

43n, 45n, 54–61, 118, 338n

Reynolds, Mel, 521, 626–29

Reynolds v. Sims. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Rice, Thomas, 154

Richardson, John S., 65, 66

Richardson, Laura, 750

Rifle Clubs, 29

Rizzo, Frank, 590

Robertson, Edward, 136

Roberts, Frederick, 324

Robinson, Dolly, 340

Robinson, Randall, 389, 408n

Ronan, Daniel J., 361, 362

Roosevelt, Eleanor, 243, 243, 244, 246, 

268n

Roosevelt, Franklin D., 181, 236, 241, 

242, 243, 245–46, 249, 267–68n, 

282, 286, 288, 294, 303, 324, 329n, 

506, 534, 542 

Roosevelt, Theodore, 194n, 330n

Rostenkowski, Daniel, 628

Rumsfeld, Donald, 642

Rush, Bobby L., 372, 549, 724, 730–31

Russell, Richard, 251–52, 253, 254

Ryan, William Fitts, 265

S

Sacagawea coin, 624

Saulsbury, Willard, 56

Savage, Gus, 518–23, 529n, 626

Scalawag, 26, 28, 36, 72, 88, 108, 148, 

208. See also, Carpetbaggers.

School Improvement Act, 328

School vouchers, 565, 641, 656

Schroeder, Patricia, 392, 393, 419, 614

Scott, Hugh D., 251

Scott, David, 732–33

Scott, Robert C., 734–35

Scott, Robert K., 26–27, 72, 74, 75, 78, 

96, 106. See also, South Carolina.

Seal, Roderick, 102

Seale, Bobby, 258, 372

Second Reconstruction, 249–59

Segregation,

education, 177, 255

Executive Order 9981, 249 

federal government, in, 172–73, 174, 

190n, 245–46, 259–60

health clinics, 174

House visitors’ gallery, 163

lunch counters, 254, 254–55

military, 14, 57–58, 118, 140, 164, 

173, 174, 237, 237–38, 244–45, 

249, 295–96

water fountains, 237

see also, Civil rights; Civil Rights 

Acts; Civil Rights Movement; 

Discrimination; Disfranchisement.

Select Committee on Hunger. See,

Hunger, Select Committee on.

Select Committee on the Freedmen’s 

Bank, 33–34, 64, 65, 119. See 

also, Freedmen’s Savings and Trust 

Company (Freedmen’s Bank).

Selective Service Act, influence of, 173

Senate, United States, 4, 6, 12, 25, 35, 

158, 165, 180, 248, 263, 390

committees, 31, 33, 34, 46n, 182, 

239, 405n

confirmations, 204, 397, 461, 586
elections, 18, 20, 43n, 45n, 397

procedures, 4, 251–52, 409n. See also, 

Cloture; Filibuster.

Senators, African-American, 18, 20, 

20, 29, 31, 31, 32, 33, 369, 397. See 

also, Brooke, Edward William, III; 

Bruce, Blanche Kelso; MoseleyBraun, Carol; Obama, Barack; 

Revels, Hiram Rhodes. 

southern influence, 180–82, 251–52

Sener, James, 36

Seniority, 377. See also, Incumbency and 

seniority, influence of.

Seymour, Horatio, 122

Shaw v. Reno. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Shays, Christopher, 570

Shelley, Charles M., 113, 124–25

Sherman, John, 81, 164

Sherman Silver Purchase Act, 163, 222

SHIELD Act, 721

“Shoestring” district of Mississippi. See,

Apportionment and redistricting.

“Shoestring” district of South Carolina. 

See, Apportionment and redistricting.

Shortridge, Samuel, 178–79

Sickles, Daniel, 29

Silver coinage monetary policy, 162–63, 

165

Simmons, Furnifold, 149, 200, 202

Simpson, William, 141

Singh, Robert, 10, 401n

Slaughterhouse Cases. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Slavery, 14n, 43n, 96, 185n, 202, 210, 

211

African-American Members of 

Congress, experiences, 3, 22–24, 

43n, 86, 88, 100, 116, 128, 200

geographic distinctions, 22–24, 155

legacy of, 385, 743

Smalls, Robert, 10, 25–26, 32, 91, 99n, 

138–45, 151n, 185n, 220

committee assignments, 32

early background, 25, 144n, 145n

elections, 30, 157–59, 161, 216

legislative interests, 41–42

political influence, 216

South Carolina constitutional 

convention, 158–59, 223

see also, South Carolina.

Smith, Al, 182, 183

Smith, Howard, 251, 251, 254

Smith, Robert C., 394, 410–11n

Smith Act, 506

Smith v. Allwright. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Social Darwinism, 172. See also,

Imperialism; White supremacy.

South Africa, apartheid policy, 239, 

263, 313, 314, 348, 386–90, 418–19, 

426–27, 433, 441, 444n, 461, 482, 

486, 491, 508, 514, 515, 542, 548, 

552, 554, 570, 574, 729, 740

Anti-Apartheid Act of 1985, 389–90

Comprehensive Anti-Apartheid Act of 

1986 (CAAA), 390, 418–19, 441

constructive engagement policy, 389

see also, Congressional Black Caucus 

(CBC).

South Carolina, 26–27

black representation, 62–67, 72–77, 

78–83, 94–99, 106–109, 138–45, 

214–19, 220–27, 684–85

disfranchisement, 157–59, 220, 224

Hamburg massacre, 65–66

Red Shirt militias, 29, 64, 97, 140, 

141, 231, 233n

Scottsboro Nine, 281

State constitutional conventions, 62, 

78, 88, 94, 106, 110, 128, 138, 

146, 158–59, 217, 223, 226n. See 

also, Disfranchisement,

see also, Black Codes; White 

supremacy; Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

South Carolina Leader. See, Missionary 

Record; Newspapers, AfricanAmerican.

Southern Christian Leadership 

Conference (SCLC), 252, 371, 383, 

438, 458, 461, 548

Southern conservatives, influence of, 

172–73, 178, 180–82, 249, 250, 

251–52, 253

Southern Manifesto. See, Declaration of 

Constitutional Principles.

Southern Rural Development 

Commission, 608

Southwick, George, 231

Spanish–American War, 103, 163, 

164, 230. See also, Military Service, 

African-American Members.

Speaks, Sara, 302

Speer, Thomas Jefferson, 68

Stark, Fortney (Pete), 376

Stanton, Edwin, 21

State constitutional conventions. See,

Disfranchisement.

Steingut, Stanley, 340. See also, Machine 

politics.

Stenholm, Charles, 491

Stephens, Alexander, 36, 81

Stevens, Thaddeus, 20, 22

Stevenson, Adlai, 253, 304

Stewart, Bennett McVey, 266n, 

502–505, 526

Stewart, William, 165

Stimson, Henry L., 237

Stockdale, Thomas, 103

Stokes, Carl, 265n, 356

Stokes, Louis, 5, 6, 11, 238, 263, 313, 

342, 348, 354–61, 365, 370, 374, 375, 

378, 396, 419, 427, 448, 709

committee assignments, 266n, 377, 

378, 402n, 403n, 404n, 411n

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC), 

and, 6, 376, 378, 402n 

early background, 237

elections, 257, 352n

legislative interests, 407n

legislative style, 374, 378, 403n

political influence, 377

pre-congressional political experience, 

238, 265n

see also, Ohio, black representation.

Stone, Chuck, 248

Storey, Moorefield, 173

Storm, John, 37

Straker, Daniel Augustus, 78

Student Bill of Rights Act, 695

Student Nonviolent Coordinating 

Committee (SNCC), 257, 371–72, 

714, 722, 730, 736. See also, Lewis, 

John R.

Student Right to Know Act, 739

Sub-Saharan Africa humanitarian aid, 

701, 711, 729, 743. See also, Africa, 

foreign policy.

Sudan, 499, 701, 712, 727, 741

Sumner, Charles, 20, 26, 31, 35, 54, 64, 

78, 81, 108, 128, 164, 169, 208

Sumners, Hatton W., 178, 178, 181, 

192n, 244

Supreme Court, United States, 41–42, 

171, 250, 253, 264, 268n

Adarand Constructors, Inc. v. Peña, 587

Baker v. Carr, 250

Brown v. Board of Education, 247, 250, 

252, 312

Civil Rights Cases, 41

Dennis v. United States, 506

Giles v. Harris, 171

Langston v. United States, 208

Miller v. Johnson, 398

Mills v. Green, 223

Mitchell v. United States et al., 289

Plessy v. Ferguson, 171

Powell exclusion, 305

Reynolds v. Sims, 250

Shaw v. Reno, 397–98

Slaughterhouse Cases, 41

Smith v. Allwright, 250

Terry v. Ohio, 356

United States v. Cruikshank, 41

United States v. Harris, 41

United States v. Reese, 41 

Wesberry v. Sanders, 250

Williams v. Mississippi, 171, 223

Surrogate representation, 1–2, 27–28, 

42, 45n, 162, 187n, 391. See 

also, African-American Members 

of Congress, characteristics; 

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

Swain, Carol, 10, 170, 376

T

Talent, Jim, 641

Tammany Hall, 302, 304. See also,

Machine politics.

Tarver, Malcolm C., 246

Tax Reform Act of 1986, 349

Telecommunications Development 

Fund, 739

Temporary Assistance for Needy 

Families program, 743

Tennessee, black representation, 

472–77, 654–59. See, Appendix C: 

Black-American Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Tennessee Negro Suffrage Convention, 

110

Tenure of Office Act, 21

Terrell, Mary Church, 173, 194n

Terrorism Threat to Public 

Transportation Assessment Act, 648

Terry v. Ohio. See, Supreme Court, United 

States.

Texas, black representation, 452–57, 

496–501, 574–79, 696–97, 702–703, 

706–707. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Thirteenth Amendment, 21, 35 

Thomas, Charles R., 128

Thomas, Clarence, 584, 586, 622

Thompson, Bennie, 736–37

Thompson, Charles P., 36

Thompson, Fletcher, 460

Thompson, Henry, 142

Thompson, William C., 340

Thompson, William Hale (Big Bill), 

241, 267n, 278, 280. See also,

Machine Politics.

Thorne, Edward Alston, 203

Thurman, Allen, 57

Thurmond, Strom, 249, 249, 253, 271n, 

335, 356

Till, Emmett, 252–53, 253, 312, 518. 

See also, Lynching. 

Tillman, Benjamin, 158, 158–59, 161, 

181, 220, 222, 223, 231. See also,

White supremacy; South Carolina.

Tillman, George D., 140–41

Tilson, John Q., 193n

Tinkham, George Holden, 170, 179, 

179–80, 193n 

To Secure These Rights, 249

Towne, Laura, 141

Towns, Edolphus, 738–39

TransAfrica lobbying group. See,

Congressional Black Caucus (CBC).

Transform America Transaction Fee, 695

Transportation Equity Act, 648

Truman, Bess, 303

Truman, Harry S., 249, 249, 303

Trumbull, Lyman, 35

Tucker, C. Delores, 592

Tucker, Henry, 222

Tucker, Walter R., III, 515, 630–33, 646

Tulsa race riot. See, Race riots.

Turner, Benjamin Sterling, 31, 33, 34, 

84–87, 112, 122, 124

Turner, Frederick Jackson, 157

U

Un-American Activities Committee 

(HUAC), 247, 269n, 506, 546

Underwood, Oscar, 169, 179

Unemployment, 327, 381

United Negro College Fund, 492

United States v. Cruikshank. See, Supreme 

Court, United States.

United States, v. Harris. See, Supreme 

Court, United States.

United States v. Reese. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

Universal Health Care Act, 469

Universal Military Training Act, 295–96

Universal Negro Improvement 

Association, 176

Urban Asthma Reduction Act, 731

Urban Mass Transportation Assistance 

Act, 460

Urban policy plan initiative, 474

USA PATRIOT Act, 656, 745

V

Van Hollen, Chris, 666

Vardaman, James Kimble, 180, 181. See 

also, White supremacy.

802 H Black Americans in Congress 
Vega, Luz, 343

Venable, Edward, 208

Vietnam War, 248, 258, 295, 320, 327, 

335, 336–37, 340, 342, 378, 392, 

392, 416, 418, 432

Villard, Oswald Garrison, 173

Violence Against Women Act, 687, 721

Violent Crime Control and Law 

Enforcement Act, 542

Virginia, black representation, 206–13, 

734–35. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Virgin Islands, 406n

black representation, 484–87, 

634–37, 678–79. See, Appendix C: 

Black-American Representatives 

and Senators by State and Territory.

Volpe, John, 334

Volunteers in Service to America 

(VISTA), 537

Voter registration drives. See, National 

Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People (NAACP).

Voting rights. See, Civil Rights Acts; 

Civil rights movement; 

Disfranchisement; Elections; National 

Association for the Advancement of 

Colored People (NAACP); Voting 

Rights Acts.

Voting Rights Act of 1965, 256–57, 

257, 320, 335, 368, 379

effect on congressional districts, 257, 

264, 396, 558

Voting Rights Act of 1975, 335, 379, 

455, 461–62

Voting Rights Act of 1982, 379, 

380–81, 396

W

Waddell, Alfred, 186–87n

Waldon, Alton R., Jr., 405n, 552–55, 

562, 564

Walls, Josiah Thomas, 25, 25, 27, 30, 

31, 33, 33, 39, 45n, 88–93

Warren, Lindsay C., 281

Washington, Booker T., 169, 228, 262, 

286, 289

Washington, Craig Anthony, 499, 571, 

574–79

Washington, Harold, 372, 504, 520, 

524–29, 546, 622, 626, 693, 730

Watergate scandal, 336, 433, 452, 454, 

455, 474, 632

Waters, Maxine, 393, 740–41

Watson, Diane Edith, 742–43

Watt, Melvin, L., 598, 744–45

Watts, Julius Caesar, Jr. (J. C.), 379, 

379, 384–85, 638–45

Watts (CA) race riots. See, Race riots.

Welfare policy, 242, 281, 328, 337, 

358, 364, 384, 472, 474, 475, 546, 

559, 565, 571, 584, 587, 620, 636, 

638, 640

Wells, G. Wiley, 118

Wells-Barnett, Ida, 166, 173

Wesberry v. Sanders. See, Supreme Court, 

United States.

West Point, U.S. Military Academy, 

57–58, 60n, 118, 210

Wheat, Alan Dupree, 397, 540–45

Whip, 181, 378–79, 379, 390, 405n, 

468, 492, 582, 590, 592, 640, 642, 

648, 666

White, George Henry, 1, 6, 10, 152, 

154, 160, 169, 172, 174–75, 191n, 

195, 228–33, 234

committee assignments, 187n

early background, 155

legislative interests, 162–64, 166–68 

legislative style, 161

Cheatham, Henry, and, 161–62, 

203, 204

Whitesboro (NJ), 232

see also, North Carolina, black 

representation.

White, Walter, 172, 176, 188n, 245, 

247

Whitehead, Thomas, 37

White League, 29–30, 102. See also, Ku 

Klux Klan.

White supremacy, 29, 44n, 158–59, 

180–81, 246–47, 335. See also,

Discrimination; Mississippi; 

Segregation; Social Darwinism.

Whittaker, Johnson C., 118

Whittemore, Benjamin F., 62

Wilder, L. Douglas, 395

Williams, George H., 113

Williams, Jeremiah, 113

Williams, Juan, 395

Williams v. Mississippi. See, Supreme 

Court, United States.

Willis, Frances, 244

Wilmington (NC) race riot. See, Race 

riots.

Wilson, Henry, 18

Wilson, Woodrow, 172, 173, 182, 190n

Wisconsin, black representation, 

720–21. See, Appendix C: BlackAmerican Representatives and 

Senators by State and Territory.

Women Representatives, 239, 246, 

264, 265n. See also, African-American 

Members of Congress, characteristics.

Wood, Robert, 100

Woodard, Frederick A., 148, 161–62, 

203, 230

Woodward, C. Vann, 10, 154, 185n

World War I, 173, 173–74, 191n. 

See also, Military service, AfricanAmerican Members of Congress.

World War II, 237, 244, 244–46

employment discrimination, 245–46, 

259

Executive Order 8802, 245–46

NAACP “Double V” campaign, 245

women, military participation, 244

see also, Discrimination; Fair 

Employment Practices Committee 

(FEPC); Military service, AfricanAmerican Members of Congress; 

Segregation.

Wright, Jim, 396, 474, 478, 480, 558

Wright, Samuel D., 343, 536

Wynn, Albert R., 746–47

Y

Young, Andrew Jackson, Jr., 5, 6, 6, 10, 

264, 264, 371, 375, 408n, 448, 452, 

458–65, 490, 715, 732

committee assignments, 404–405n, 

448

legislative interests, 380, 388, 402n, 

408n 

pre-congressional political experience, 

371, 438

see also, Georgia, black representation.

Youth Employment Services Act, 570

Z

Zabrosky, Alex, 362

INDEX H 803