Black Congressmen (Erin & Jordan)

This is a photograph of the Capitol building around our time period and the congress resides completely in this building

This is Hiram Rhodes Revels the first black in congress. He represented Mississippi in Senate.(1870-1871)He did not serve a full term.

This is a painting of Blanche Kelso Bruce the second black in congress and the last in the time period we are looking at in class (1849-1900). Blanche Bruce represented Mississippi and was the first to serve a full term in the Senate. from 1875-1881 Bruce held his seat.

this picture is of John Willis Menard the first black man to be elected to congress in 1868 to represent Louisiana. He later lost his set in an election challenged by the loser.

This is a photograph of Joseph Hayne Rainey who was the first person to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives (but not the first to be elected. That was John W. Menard). He served in the Senate for South Carolina in 1870 before taking the seat of Benjamin F. Whittlemore, who was censored because of corruption. The first day Rainey was part of the house was December12,1870 and was reelected four times his last day in the house was March3,1879.

ONLY 5 African American people Have been in the Senate

There were 21 black Representatives between 1868 and 1900