H. Res. 1253 
In the House of Representatives, U. S., 
December 10, 2020. 
Whereas Joseph Hayne Rainey was born enslaved on June 
21, 1832, in Georgetown, South Carolina; 
Whereas South Carolina prohibited the education of Black 
Americans, and instead of a formal education, Joseph H. 
Rainey learned the barbering trade from his father, Ed-
ward Rainey; 
Whereas Edward Rainey used profits from his work as a bar-
ber to buy his and his family’s freedom in the early 
1840’s; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey eventually moved with his family 
to Charleston, South Carolina; 
Whereas in 1859, Joseph H. Rainey married his wife, Susan, 
with whom he had three children, Joseph, Herbert, and 
Olive; 
Whereas in 1861, Joseph H. Rainey was conscripted by the 
Confederate Army and worked as a ship’s steward aboard 
a Confederate vessel which secretly carried goods to the 
Union Navy; 
Whereas during the Civil War, in 1862, Joseph H. Rainey 
and his wife and family escaped to Bermuda, a British 
colony that had abolished slavery in 1834, where he un-
•HRES 1253 EH 
dertook successful entrepreneurial endeavors with his 
wife; 
Whereas in 1866 Joseph Rainey and his family moved back 
to Charleston, South Carolina after the Civil War had 
ended; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey co-founded the state Republican 
Party and represented Georgetown, South Carolina on 
the Party’s central committee; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey participated in the South Caro-
lina State constitutional convention in 1868; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey won election to the House of Rep-
resentatives in 1870 and was the first African American 
to serve in the House of Representatives; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey was sworn in as a member of the 
House of Representatives on December 12, 1870, to rep-
resent the 1st District of South Carolina in the Forty- 
First Congress; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey became the first African Amer-
ican to preside over the House of Representatives on 
April 29, 1874; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey served with distinction on several 
committees, including the Committee on Freedmen’s Af-
fairs, the committee handling all legislation concerning 
formerly enslaved people; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey implored Congress to provide 
more resources for education, calling for a federal, pub-
licly funded school system to develop the ‘‘future law-
makers and rulers of our country’’;
•HRES 1253 EH 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey spoke on the House floor in sup-
port of a $1 million appropriation to protect voting rights 
in the South, which was later approved; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey called for decisive federal action 
to end widespread violence in the former Confederacy, 
advocating for passage of the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey spoke extensively on the floor of 
the House of Representatives about discrimination he 
faced as a sitting Member of Congress, advocating for a 
civil rights act to end discrimination on juries, in schools, 
on transportation, and in public accommodations; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey departed the House of Represent-
atives on March 3, 1879, following electoral backlash 
against Reconstruction; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey was the longest-serving African 
American Member of Congress during the Reconstruction 
period; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey was appointed a special agent of 
the United States Department of the Treasury in South 
Carolina in 1879 following his Congressional service; 
Whereas Joseph H. Rainey is now commemorated in the 
United States Capitol in an exhibit unveiled on December 
4, 2020, by the Speaker of the House, highlighting his 
legacy and the foundation he laid for generations of law-
makers; and 
Whereas the Historian and the Clerk of the House of Rep-
resentatives published a historical record in September 
2020 entitled ‘‘ ‘We Are in Earnest for Our Rights’: 
Rainey and the Struggle for Reconstruction’’, chronicling 
the legacy of Representative Joseph Rainey: Now, there-
fore, be it
•HRES 1253 EH 
Resolved, That room H–150 of the United States Capitol 
is designated as ‘‘The Joseph H. Rainey Room’’ to honor the 
historic life, career, and legacy of Representative Joseph 
Rainey of South Carolina on the 150th anniversary of his 
seating as a member of the House of Representatives. 
Attest: 
Clerk.