Iowa state bystander. [volume] (Des Moines, Iowa) 1894-1916, 1901-12-20
pAssING FRoM CONGRESS.

out having single Negro member
and the prospect of any Negro beln!
elected to congress in the near III
ture seems darker than it has beer
at any time in the last third OF
century. With the exception OF
brief period, from 1887 to 1889, thA'
is the first session of congress IL
thirty-two years without one o.
more coIored men as members. The
persistent efforts to disfranchise thu
black voters have been SO successful
that the Negro may be said to have
entirely lost the political vantage
ground given him by the Fifteenth
Amendment to the Constitution. 1,
it is therefore interesting to review
the rise and fall of the Negro in poll
hics as represented by the colored
men who have occupied seats in con
gress.
The first colored man to be sent
to congress was j. Willis Menard OF
New Orleans. He represented the
Second District of Louisiana. His
certificate of election was signed by
Gov. II. G. Warmoth, November 20.
1868, and asserted that Menard had
been duly elected on November 3 OF
that year to fill a vacancy. MT.
Menard was a native of Illinois, was
educated at Iberia college, Ohio, had
served as hospital steward and re-
cruiting officer of the government,
had been sent upon a mission to Brit
ish Honduras. and enjoyed quite a
reputation as public speaker and
writer. He presented himself at the
door of the house of representatives
December Z. 1868, at the beginning of
the short session of the Fiftieth Con-
gress. His seat was refused him be-
cause of alleged irregularities in the
election, although forty-seven votes
were recorded in his favor. He is
said to have been the first man of
African blood allowed to speak in
the house of representatives during
the legislative proceedings.
There was SO much criticism Of
congress for refusing Menard his
seat that his failure probably aided
in paving the way for the admission
of Hiram r. Revells to the senate on
February 25, 1870. He was the first
of the only two Negroes to sit in
this body. Devells was born at Fay
eteeville, n. c., and was early taken
to Indiana, where he secured a very
limited education. He became a
pacity went to Mississippi in 1864.
His ease of speech and conservative
opinions made him a champion Of
the colored people and won for him
many friends among the whites. On
January 20. 1870, he was elected by
the Mississippi legislature by a vote
of 81 to 80 to fiji vacancy in the
senate that had existed since Jeffer-
vic
ceived his commission on January rs
and thus armed went to Washington
Finally on February 20 Senator Will
son of Massachusetts moved that Re-
vell's credentials be read and that he
be sworn in. For three days the SEN
ate debated with great animation
the uestion of admitting the Negro.
On February 25, at the close Of a
strong speech by Charles Sumner,
Mr.. Revells was admitted by a large
vote. 1919 *,. -
Senator Revells was regarded with
great curiosity at the time. In a
lecture tour of the East, which he
made shortly after his admission, he
was received with great deal of
interest. being looked upon as d
proof of the soundness of abolition
ideas. Senator Reveels spoke only
once or twice in the senate and at
the close of his term. March 8, 1871,
he left the senate to become the
president of Alcorn University in
Mississippi, and finally resumed his
work in the ministry which he kept
until Lis death a year ago.
I'VE either Negroes served in the
Fnrtynftrst Congress, both of whom
were members Of the house of repre-
sentatives. Joseph Fl. Rainey, the
first Negro to take his, seat in that
body, was sworn in December IL,
1870. He was born in Georgetown,
S: c., became barber and acquired
n neager. education. In his trade
he learn to know men and how to
please them, SO that in 1868 he was
a member of the Constitutional Con.
vention. and in 1870 member of th e
state senate. He resigned his seat
to enter congress. He was reelected
to the Fortyscond, Forty-third. For.
tyfourth and Forty-ffth congresses
serving nine years in that body. '~1
Jefferson F. Long, the other Ne.
gro in the Forty-first Congress. was
the Srst and only colored member
ever furnished by the state of Georg
la. although that state has the larp.
est Negro population of any state
of the South. He was a. merchant
tailor of Macon, Ga, and was very
highly respected by both races. Long
was of fine appearance, dignified and
an exceptional man in many ways, al.
though without any political train.
ing. He was sworn January 49, 1871
and served to March of that wear
forty-seven days He gave his iarpz
family a. college education and con
tinued his trade until his death. II
A. Rucker, a son-in-law. is the COZ
1ector of internal revenue for the
state of Georgia. .-...-.~. ..-. ...-. 1e4-
The Forty-second Congress met De
cember 4, 1871, with four Negro
representatives. These were Joseph
II. Rainy Robert B. Elliot and Robert
c. Delarge of South Carolina and
Benjaman S. Turner of Alabama
Turner WAS an IGNORANT MON ~ ,or