The U.S. Census Bureau is proud of its history of continually evolving to 

ensure an accurate count of the people of the United States. To 

accomplish this, the Census Bureau has long embraced the hiring of a 

diverse workforce representative of local communities and the people

who were a part of the neighborhoods that they counted. For this 

reason, census work was often one of the few government jobs open 

to minorities. Beginning with the 1870 Census (the first after the 

abolition of slavery), the Census Bureau began hiring African 

Americans as enumerators and data processors. With the creation of a 

permanent Census Bureau in 1902, Black workers and statisticians 

found an environment with an inclusiveness far greater than many 

contemporary institutions. 

John Henry Smythe was born on 

July 14, 1844, in Richmond, 

Virginia. John’s father, Sully, was 

a slave, while his mother, Ann Eliza, was free, meaning that 

under Virginia law, he was free as well. As a young boy, 

John’s family sent him to Philadelphia to receive his 

education, something which would not have been possible 

in Virginia. John attended grammar school and Quaker run 

schools, however in 1857, when his father died, he returned 

home to work as an errand boy at a dry goods store. He 

returned to school in Philadelphia in 1859, where he 

attended the Institute for Colored Youth, from which he 

graduated in 1862. John then became the first African 

American to gain admittance to the Academy of Fine Arts in 

Philadelphia, where he studied painting. John worked as a 

china painter at a Philadelphia firm in 1864, before a brief 

stint as a sutler’s clerk. In 1865, he traveled to London to 

become an actor. However, he soon ran out of money and 

returned to Pennsylvania to teach in Wilkes-Barre.

In 1869, John moved to Washington, D.C., and enrolled at 

Howard University Law School. In 1870, he married Fannie 

Shippen and began working as a clerk at the Freedman’s Bureau. 

On August 15, 1870, John transferred to work as a census clerk 

on the 1870 Census. The 1870 Census, under Superintendent 

Francis Amasa Walker, marked the beginning of a statistical 

revolution in the census office. Assistant marshals filled out five 

improved schedules for "General Population," "Mortality," 

"Agriculture," "Products of Industry," and "Social Statistics,”

which were then sent to the army of census clerks in Washington, D.C., who distilled the data into 

useful statistics.

 

Census Clerk, Lawyer, Teacher and Civil Rights Activist

William J. Simmons and Henry McNeal Turner, 

Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive and Rising

(1887).

John listed as a student on 

his 1870 Census.

Evening Star

(Washington, DC) August 20, 1870.
For the first time, Superintendent Walker hired the 

census clerks through tests rather than patronage. 438 

individuals passed the entrance examination between 

February 18, 1870 and November 21, 1871, many of 

whom were women and minorities. Thanks to the new 

Seaton tabulating machine, clerks were able to finish 

the majority of census tabulations by 1872, and most, including John, then moved on to new 

work.

John quickly maneuvered through a variety of clerical jobs following his census work, as his skills 

were easily transferable and in high demand. Within a 

year he worked in the Treasury Department, as an 

internal revenue storekeeper, and finally as a clerk in 

the Freedman’s Savings Bank. While with the 

Freedman’s Savings Bank he traveled to Wilmington, 

North Carolina, to work as a cashier in the bank there.

When the whole bank failed in 1874, John decided to 

remain in Wilmington, where he had become active in 

local politics. John spoke at meetings and frequently 

participated in the Wilmington Memorial Day 

celebrations. In 1874, John and several other 

prominent men formed a local cavalry regiment, which 

functioned as more of a social club. In 1875, he was 

elected to the State Constitutional Convention, and in 

January 1876, John joined the bar to practice law in 

North Carolina.

John returned to Washington in 1876, to resume a 

clerkship and practice law, but the political 

connections from his time in Philadelphia, Washington, and Wilmington all culminated in a 

recommendedation for John to become United States Ambassador to Liberia. Several prominent 

senators, as well as Frederick Douglass, supported John’s appointment, which he received on May 

23, 1878. Other than a brief recall in 1881, he would remain in this position until 1885. 

In Liberia John excelled and earned enough trust from several other nations, such as Norway and 

Sweden, that he acted as consul for their affairs as well. He earned the trust of Liberians, receiving 

an honorary LLD and knightship. John earned the respect of other West African nations as he 

recommended and assigned locals to act as consuls and agents, resulting in increased trade with 

these countries. John’s experience in Liberia greatly influenced his understanding of race relations 

in the United States, and led him to believe African Americans needed to show more pride in their 

roots.

John returned to Washington following the completion of his mission to Liberia where he 

practiced law and became increasingly active as a social reformer. He started a newspaper, wrote 

and presented articles, and, in 1892, spoke to Congress about representation for African 

Americans at the World’s Fair. John also was prominent in the founding of several organizations, 

such as the Negro American Society, the American Negro Academy, the Negro Reformatory 

Association of Virginia and their Virginia 

Manual Labor School, and the Afro-American 

Council. After a life dedicated to improving his 

people and his country, John passed away on 

September 5, 1908, in Richmond, Virginia. We 

are grateful to John for his extensive service to 

our country and the U.S. Census Bureau.

The Weekly Observer

(Raleigh, NC) May 21, 1878.

Colored American (Washington, DC) August 32, 1902.

Chicago Tribune (Chicago, IL) May 15, 1892.

HB-19-0001