serviceyears branch death_date allegiance birth_date term_end alma_mater death_place profession preceded battles term_start spouse image name succeeded birth_place jr/sr party unit state religion article_title
1863-1865 25px union army 16 january 1901 united states united states of america 1865 23px 27 september 1827 march 3 , 1871 knox college aberdeen , mississippi , u.s. politician , barber , minister , college president albert g. brown american civil war february 23 , 1870 phoebe a. bass revels hiram_rhodes_revels . png _ - _ brady-handy - -lrb- restored -rrb- hiram rhodes revels james l. alcorn fayetteville , north carolina , u.s. united states senator republican chaplain corps mississippi african methodist episcopal church hiram rhodes revels

hiram rhodes revels

hiram rhodes revels -lrb- september 27 , 1827 -- january 16 , 1901 -rrb- was a minister in the african methodist episcopal church -lrb- ame -rrb- , a republican politician , and college administrator .
born free in north carolina , he later lived and worked in ohio , where he voted before the civil war .
he was elected as the first african american to serve in the united states senate , and was the first african american to serve in the u.s. congress .
he represented mississippi in the senate in 1870 and 1871 during the reconstruction era .
during the american civil war , revels had helped organize two regiments of the united states colored troops and served as a chaplain .
after serving in the senate , revels was appointed as the first president of alcorn agricultural and mechanical college -lrb- now alcorn state university -rrb- , 1871-1873 and 1876 to 1882 .
later he served again as a minister .
