COMMITTEE ON HOUSE ADMINISTRATION INTRODUCES BLACK AMERICANS IN CONGRESS PUBLICATION

Washington, DC (September 9, 2008)  Committee on House Administration Chairman Robert A. Brady today announced the roll-out of the Black Americans in Congress Publication. The book, published under the auspices and at the direction of the Committee on House Administration, contains a profile of each African-American Member, researched using primary and secondary sources. Former Member profiles are introduced by contextual essays that explain major events in congressional and U.S. history.

“This publication applauds the diversity of our nation and the role that African-American Members of Congress have played in our nation’s history,” said Brady. “As the Chairman of the Committee on House Administration, I am honored to have played a role in the development of this fitting tribute.”

The publication highlights important facts, including how many African Americans have served in the U.S. Congress, the role of Reconstruction, the Great Migration, and the post–World War II civil rights movement on the U.S. House of Representatives and U.S. Senate. The publication also outlines the origination and of the Congressional Black Caucus and its growth into an important legislative entity.

The formal publication debut will take place during a reception on Wednesday, September 24th . Descendants and distant relatives of early Members will be honored guests, as well as Members of Congress and community/organizational leaders.

Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007 is the most comprehensive history available on the 121 African Americans who have served in Congress—from Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi and Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina in 1870, to the freshman Members of the 110th Congress (2007–2009).

Additional Topics include:
• Pioneers who overcame racial barriers, such as Oscar De Priest of Illinois, the first African American elected to Congress in the 20th century, and Shirley Chisholm of New York, the first black Congresswoman
• Masters of institutional politics, such as Augustus “Gus” Hawkins of California, Louis Stokes of Ohio, and Julian Dixon of California
• Notables such as Civil War hero Robert Smalls of South Carolina, civil rights champion Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, and constitutional scholar Barbara Jordan of Texas
• Harold E. Ford, Sr., and Harold E. Ford, Jr., the first African- American father–son succession in congressional history
• Leaders such as Robert Elliott of South Carolina, who employed his formidable oratorical skills to defend the rights of freed slaves during Reconstruction; Edward Brooke of Massachusetts, the longest-serving African-American Senator; Yvonne Burke of California, the first woman to chair the Congressional Black Caucus; and Carol Moseley-Braun of Illinois, the first African-American woman Senator

Black Americans in Congress also includes:
• Pictures—including rarely seen historical images—of each African American who has served in Congress
• Bibliographies and references to manuscript collections for each Member
• Statistical graphs and charts
• Appendices with black Members’ committee assignments; African Americans who have chaired committees and subcommittees; listings of African Americans in Congress by state; the names of Congressional Black Caucus chairs; and a synopsis of significant civil rights legislation since the Civil War
• A comprehensive index

Researched and written by the Office of History and Preservation in the Office of the Clerk, U.S. House of Representatives, Black Americans in Congress is the second volume in a four-part series which highlights the diversity of Members who have served in Congress. The first volume in the series is Women in Congress, 1917–2006 (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 2006). Future volumes will profile Hispanic Americans and Asian-Pacific Islander Americans.

For more information, Contact: Kyle Anderson – Press Director
(202)225-7476 office / (202)384-3305 mobile