Subjects – African Americans in Congress
Representative Benjamin Turner of Alabama
March 17, 1825
On this date, the first African-American Representative from Alabama, Benjamin Turner, was born a slave in Weldon, North Carolina.
Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina, the first African American to serve in the House
June 21, 1832
The first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives, Joseph Rainey, was born into slavery on this date in Georgetown, South Carolina.
Representative James Rapier of Alabama
November 13, 1837
On this date, African-American Representative James Rapier of Alabama was born free in Florence, Alabama.
Representative Robert Elliott of South Carolina
August 11, 1842
On this date, African-American Representative Robert Elliott of South Carolina was likely born to West Indian parents in Liverpool, England.
Representative James O’Hara of North Carolina
February 26, 1844
On this date, Representative James O’Hara of North Carolina was born in New York City.
Representative John Roy Lynch of Mississippi
September 10, 1847
Born into slavery on September 10, 1847, and emancipated at the end of the Civil War, John Roy Lynch cut his political teeth by giving speeches supporting the new Mississippi constitution.
The Committee on Education and Labor
March 21, 1867
On this day the House established the Committee on Education and Labor, with Representative John Baker of Illinois serving as its first chairman.
The veto of the Omnibus Southern States Admission Bill
June 25, 1868
On this date, President Andrew Johnson submitted to Congress his veto of the Omnibus Southern States Admission Bill (H.R. 1058).
John Willis Menard of Louisiana became the first African American to address the U.S. House
February 27, 1869
With the passage of the 15th Amendment, African Americans first exercised the vote, catapulting hundreds of southern blacks into public office. John Willis Menard of Louisiana became the first African American to address the U.S. House.
The birth and career of Representative Oscar S. De Priest of Illinois
March 09, 1871
On this date, Oscar Stanton De Priest, the first African American elected to Congress during the 20th century, was born.
Representative Robert De Large of South Carolina
February 14, 1874
Representative Robert De Large of South Carolina—one of nearly two dozen African Americans to serve in Congress during the Reconstruction Era—died on this date.
The Civil Rights Act of 1875
February 04, 1875
On this date, the House passed the Civil Rights Act of 1875 by a vote of 162 to 99.
Representative Robert Smalls of South Carolina won his contested election case
July 19, 1882
On this date, African-American Representative Robert Smalls of South Carolina won his contested election case against Representative George Tillman, a political rival Smalls once described as the “arch enemy of my race.”
Representative Alonzo Ransier of South Carolina
August 17, 1882
On this date, South Carolina Representative Alonzo Ransier, a Reconstruction Era African American, died at the age of 48.
Representative John Hyman of North Carolina
September 14, 1891
John Hyman died in his home in Washington, D.C., from a stroke on this date.
Representative John Langston of Virginia
November 15, 1897
On this date, African-American Representative John Langston of Virginia died in his Washington, D.C., home.
Representative George White of North Carolina
January 29, 1901
On this date, George White of North Carolina, the lone African-American Member of the 56th Congress (1899–1901), gave his final address on the House Floor.
Representative Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins of California
August 31, 1907
On this date, Representative Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins of California was born in Shreveport, Louisiana.
Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York
November 29, 1908
On this date, Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., the first African American to represent New York in Congress, was born.
Representative Robert Smalls of South Carolina
February 22, 1915
On this date, Representative Robert Smalls of South Carolina died of natural causes in his hometown of Beaufort.
A historic change in the Oath of Office
April 15, 1929
On this date, Speaker Nicholas Longworth of Ohio changed the tradition of swearing in new Members by state delegations to swearing in all Members simultaneously.
Representative Oscar De Priest of Illinois and the Member’s Dining Room
January 23, 1934
On this date, Representative Oscar De Priest of Illinois introduced a resolution to end Jim Crow discrimination in the House Restaurant.
Representative Arthur Mitchell of Illinois wins the general election defeating incumbent Oscar De Priest
November 07, 1934
On this date, Arthur Mitchell defeated Oscar De Priest in the general election for the First District of Illinois to become the first African-American Democrat elected to Congress.
Representative Barbara Jordan of Texas
February 21, 1936
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan of Texas was born on this date. After service as the first black woman in the Texas state senate, Jordan set her sights on a Houston-based U.S. House seat in 1972.
Representative Thomas Miller of South Carolina
April 08, 1938
On this date, African-American Representative Thomas Miller of South Carolina died in Charleston.
Representative Arthur Mitchell of Illinois successfully argued a segregation case before the Supreme Court
April 28, 1941
The Supreme Court unanimously ruled that African Americans were entitled to interstate railroad accommodations equal to white passengers. Representative Arthur Mitchell, the only African-American Congressman of the era and the first black Democrat elected to Congress, successfully argued the case before the Supreme Court along with another Chicago lawyer
Representative Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York re-election support of President Eisenhower
October 11, 1956
On this date, Democrat Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York announced his campaign support of Republican presidential incumbent President Dwight D. Eisenhower.
The Civil Rights Act of 1957
June 18, 1957
On this date, the House of Representatives passed the initial version of what eventually became the Civil Rights Act of 1957.
The Civil Rights Act of 1964
July 02, 1964
On this date, the House of Representatives passed the final version of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.
Frank Mitchell, the first African-American Page
April 14, 1965
On this date, Frank Mitchell became the first African-American Page in the U.S. House of Representatives.
The first African-American woman elected to Congress
January 03, 1969
On this date at the opening of the 91st Congress (1969–1971), Shirley Anita Chisholm of New York became the first African-American Congresswoman.
Delegate Walter Fauntroy of the District of Columbia
April 19, 1971
On this date, Walter Fauntroy was sworn in as the first African-American to serve as the District of Columbia’s Delegate.
The resignation of Representative Harold Washington of Illinois
April 30, 1983
On this date, Congressman Harold Washington of Illinois resigned from the House of Representatives to become mayor of Chicago.
The Comprehensive Apartheid Act
September 29, 1986
On this date, a strong bipartisan coalition in the House overrode President Ronald Reagan’s veto of the Comprehensive Apartheid Act by a vote of 313 to 83.
Representative Charles Diggs of Michigan
August 24, 1998
On this date, Charles Diggs, the first African American to represent Michigan in Congress, died in Washington, D.C.