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Black Americans in Congress

From Reconstruction to today — the members, the gap, and the milestones.

Between 1870 and 1901, twenty Black Representatives and two Black Senators served in the United States Congress. All were Republicans, and all represented states of the former Confederacy. Their election followed the Reconstruction Acts of 1867 and the ratification of the Fifteenth Amendment in 1870, which together opened Southern politics to newly enfranchised Black voters. Hiram R. Revels of Mississippi took his Senate seat on 25 February 1870, and Joseph H. Rainey of South Carolina became the first Black member of the House when he was sworn in on 12 December 1870.

Most of these lawmakers served one or two terms. Several won their seats only after long contested-election cases, and several lost them the same way. The high point came in the 44th Congress (1875–1877), when seven Black Representatives and one Black Senator served together. As Reconstruction ended and Southern states rewrote election laws and constitutions to disfranchise Black voters, the number fell. George Henry White of North Carolina, the only Black member of Congress from 1897 to 1901, left office on 3 March 1901. No Black American served in Congress again until 1929.

The table below lists every Black member of Congress who served between 1870 and 1901, with dates of service as recorded by the Office of the Historian of the House of Representatives. The milestones that follow trace Black representation in Congress from White’s departure to the present.

The Reconstruction Generation, 1870–1901

The 22 Black Americans who served in Congress from 1870 to 1901
MemberChamberStatePartyServedNotes
Hiram R. RevelsSenateMississippiRepublican1870–1871The first Black member of Congress, seated on 25 February 1870 after the Senate resolved a challenge to his credentials. He later became the first president of Alcorn University, now Alcorn State University. House record
Joseph H. RaineyHouseSouth CarolinaRepublican1870–1879Sworn in on 12 December 1870 as the first Black member of the House. On 29 April 1874 he became the first Black lawmaker to preside over the House from the Speaker’s chair, and he was the longest-serving Black member of the Reconstruction era. House record
Jefferson F. LongHouseGeorgiaRepublican1870–1871Born enslaved and self-educated, the Macon tailor served the final weeks of the 41st Congress. On 1 February 1871 he became the first Black Representative to deliver a speech on the House floor. House record
Robert C. De LargeHouseSouth CarolinaRepublican1871–1873A former state legislator and state land commissioner, he served until 24 January 1873, when the House declared his seat vacant after his opponent contested the election. House record
Robert B. ElliottHouseSouth CarolinaRepublican1871–1874A lawyer and former state legislator, he took a leading role in the debate over the bill that became the Civil Rights Act of 1875. He resigned his seat effective 1 November 1874. House record
Benjamin S. TurnerHouseAlabamaRepublican1871–1873Raised in slavery, he was a Selma merchant and city councilman before becoming the first Black member of Congress from Alabama. He spent much of his term seeking federal aid for his war-damaged state. House record
Josiah T. WallsHouseFloridaRepublican1871–1876Florida’s first Black member of Congress. Twice he lost his seat to an opponent who contested the election, in January 1873 and again in April 1876. House record
Richard H. CainHouseSouth CarolinaRepublican1873–1875, 1877–1879A minister who settled in Charleston in 1865 and managed a newspaper there, he was the first Black Representative assigned to the Committee on Agriculture and supported the Civil Rights Act of 1875. House record
John R. LynchHouseMississippiRepublican1873–1877, 1882–1883A former Speaker of the Mississippi House, he was 26 when he took his seat and spoke forcefully for the Civil Rights Act of 1875. He returned to the House in 1882 after successfully contesting an election. House record
Alonzo J. RansierHouseSouth CarolinaRepublican1873–1875Elected South Carolina’s first Black lieutenant governor in 1870, he served one term in the House and argued for civil and political equality. House record
James T. RapierHouseAlabamaRepublican1873–1875Born free in Florence, Alabama, and educated in part in Canada, he was a cotton planter and the first Black candidate for statewide office in Alabama. In the House he fought for passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1875. House record
Blanche K. BruceSenateMississippiRepublican1875–1881Born enslaved in Virginia, he was the first Black Senator to serve a full six-year term. He was also the first Black member of Congress to preside over the Senate and the first appointed to chair a congressional committee. House record
Jeremiah HaralsonHouseAlabamaRepublican1875–1877Born enslaved and self-educated, he served in both houses of the Alabama legislature before his single term in Congress. The circumstances and date of his death are unknown. House record
John A. HymanHouseNorth CarolinaRepublican1875–1877Born enslaved near Warrenton and sold to Alabama, he returned to North Carolina after the war, served six years in the state senate, and became the first Black member of Congress from North Carolina. House record
Charles E. NashHouseLouisianaRepublican1875–1877A bricklayer who enlisted in the Union army in 1863 and lost part of his leg at Fort Blakely in 1865, he was the first Black member of Congress from Louisiana. House record
Robert SmallsHouseSouth CarolinaRepublican1875–1879, 1882–1883, 1884–1887Famous for piloting the Confederate steamer Planter to Union forces in 1862, he served five terms in the House across three separate periods, twice after contested or special elections. House record
James E. O’HaraHouseNorth CarolinaRepublican1883–1887A lawyer who studied at Howard University, he won North Carolina’s “Black Second” district on his fourth attempt and was the only Black member on the first day of the 48th Congress. House record
Henry P. CheathamHouseNorth CarolinaRepublican1889–1893A graduate of Shaw University and a former county register of deeds, he was the only Black member of the 52nd Congress (1891–1893). House record
John M. LangstonHouseVirginiaRepublican1890–1891The first Black Representative from Virginia, seated in September 1890 after contesting the election. He had earlier founded the law department at Howard University and served as president of the Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute, now Virginia State University. House record
Thomas E. MillerHouseSouth CarolinaRepublican1890–1891A graduate of Lincoln University in Pennsylvania, he was seated in September 1890 after contesting the election. In 1896 he became the first president of the college that is now South Carolina State University. House record
George W. MurrayHouseSouth CarolinaRepublican1893–1895, 1896–1897A farmer, teacher, and inventor who held eight patents for agricultural tools, he was the only Black member of the 53rd and 54th Congresses and fought the disfranchisement laws of the 1890s. House record
George H. WhiteHouseNorth CarolinaRepublican1897–1901A Howard University graduate and lawyer, he was the only Black member of Congress from 1897 to 1901. His farewell address of 29 January 1901 predicted that Black Americans would one day return to Congress. House record

Milestones Since 1901

  1. 1901 On 29 January 1901, George H. White of North Carolina, the last Black member of the Reconstruction generation, delivered his valedictory address to the House, calling it a “temporary farewell” and predicting a “Phoenix-like” return. He left office on 3 March 1901; no Black American served in Congress for the next 28 years.
  2. 1929 Oscar De Priest, a Chicago Republican, took his seat in the 71st Congress, becoming the first Black member of Congress in the twentieth century and the first elected from outside the South. He was the only Black member during his three terms (1929–1935).
  3. 1935 Arthur W. Mitchell of Illinois, who defeated De Priest in November 1934, took his seat as the first Black Democrat elected to Congress. He was the only Black member of Congress from 1935 to 1943.
  4. 1945 Adam Clayton Powell Jr., pastor of Harlem’s Abyssinian Baptist Church, took his seat as the first Black member of Congress from New York. He served, apart from his exclusion from the 90th Congress (1967–1969), until 1971.
  5. 1949 William L. Dawson of Illinois became chair of the House Committee on Expenditures in the Executive Departments (later Government Operations), the first Black member to chair a standing committee of Congress.
  6. 1955 Charles C. Diggs Jr. took his seat as the first Black member of Congress from Michigan. He later led the effort to organize Black House members into a formal caucus.
  7. 1961 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. became chair of the House Committee on Education and Labor, which he led until January 1967 and which handled much of the era’s education, labor, and antipoverty legislation.
  8. 1967 Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts, a Republican, took his seat on 3 January 1967 as the first popularly elected Black Senator and the first Black Senator in 86 years. He served until 1979.
  9. 1969 Shirley Chisholm of New York took her seat on 3 January 1969 as the first Black woman elected to Congress. She served seven terms.
  10. 1971 In February 1971, Charles Diggs and the other Black members of the House reorganized an informal group Diggs had convened in 1969 into the Congressional Black Caucus, with Diggs as its first chair.
  11. 1973 Barbara Jordan of Texas and Andrew Young of Georgia took their seats on 3 January 1973, the first Black members elected from the South since the 1890s. Jordan was the first Black woman elected to Congress from the South, and Young the first Black Representative from Georgia since Jefferson F. Long.
  12. 1985 William H. Gray III of Pennsylvania became the first Black chair of the House Budget Committee, a post he held until 1989.
  13. 1989 William H. Gray III was elected House Majority Whip, the first Black member to hold that leadership post.
  14. 1993 Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois took her seat on 3 January 1993 as the first Black woman in the Senate and only the second Black Senator since Reconstruction. She served until 1999.
  15. 2013 Tim Scott of South Carolina, a Republican, was appointed to the Senate on 2 January 2013, becoming the first Black Senator from a former Confederate state since Blanche K. Bruce left office in 1881. With the appointment of William Cowan of Massachusetts later in 2013, two Black Senators served at the same time for the first time.
  16. 2020 John Lewis of Georgia, a veteran of the 1961 Freedom Rides who served in the House from 1987 until his death, lay in state in the Capitol Rotunda on 27–28 July 2020.
  17. 2023 Hakeem Jeffries of New York became Democratic Leader of the House at the start of the 118th Congress, the first Black member of either chamber to lead a party caucus in Congress.
  18. 2025 Angela Alsobrooks of Maryland and Lisa Blunt Rochester of Delaware took their Senate seats in January 2025, the first time two Black women served in the Senate at the same time.

Sources

  1. Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, Black Americans in Congress, “The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood: 1870–1901.” Link
  2. Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, “Black American Representatives and Senators by Congress, 1870–Present.” Link
  3. Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, Black Americans in Congress (member profiles and introduction). Link
  4. U.S. Senate Historical Office, “African American Senators.” Link
  5. Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, “Individuals Who Have Lain in State or in Honor.” Link
  6. Office of the Historian, U.S. House of Representatives, “JEFFRIES, Hakeem,” biographical entry. Link
  7. CNN, “Hakeem Jeffries makes history as the first Black lawmaker to lead a party in Congress,” 4 January 2023. Link
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Editorial Note

By the Black-History.com editors. Last reviewed 30 September 2026. To suggest a primary source or a correction, write to editors@black-history.com or use our corrections form.