John Conyers Jr., who served in the U.S. Congress for 52, years from 1965 to 2017, was born on May 16, 1929 in Detroit, Michigan. He attended public schools and graduated in 1947 from Northwestern High School. After high school, he followed in his father’s footsteps and joined … Read MoreCongressman John Conyers (1929- )
Democratic representative of New York City, New York, Charles Bernard Rangel, first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1970 and retiring in 2017, served 46 years in Congress. Rangel was born in Brooklyn, New York City in 1930 to Blanche Mary Wharton and Ralph … Read MoreCharles Bernard Rangel (1930- )
Congresswoman Alma Shealey Adams currently represents North Carolina’s 12th Congressional District in the United States House of Representatives. She is the 100th woman elected to that legislative body and the second African American woman, after Eva Clayton, to represent North Carolina in the U.S. Congress. … Read MoreAlma Shealey Adams (1946-)
In 2010, retired lieutenant colonel Allen West became the first black Republican to represent Florida in Congress since Rep. Josiah T. Walls, who served during Reconstruction. Congressman West was born on February 7, 1961 in Atlanta, Georgia to Herman and Elizabeth West. His father was … Read MoreAllen West (1961- )
Donna Marie Christian-Christensen, the non-voting delegate from the U.S. Virgin Islands to the United States House of Representatives, was born in Teaneck, Monmouth Country, New Jersey on September 19, 1945 to the late Judge Almeric Christian and Virginia Sterling Christian. Christensen attended St. Mary’s College … Read MoreDonna Marie Christensen (1945–)
Georgia Congressman Sanford Dixon Bishop Jr. was born on February 4, 1947, in Mobile, Alabama to Minnie B. Slade, who was a librarian and Sanford Dixon Bishop, who was the first president of the Bishop State Community College. Bishop attended public schools until his entrance … Read MoreCongressman Sanford Dixon Bishop Jr. (1947–)
Kweisi Mfume was born as Frizzel Gray in Baltimore, Maryland on October 24, 1948, the eldest of four children. Gray experienced a troubled childhood with the abandonment of his father and death of his mother as well as economic instability, but made a successful return … Read MoreKweisi Mfume (Frizzel Gray) (1948 – )
Corrine Brown is a former politician and now convicted felon who served as a member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida from 1993 to 2017. Brown was born on November 11, 1946 in Jacksonville, Florida. She attended the local schools and then enrolled … Read MoreCorrine Brown (1946- )
Melvin Watt is a politician (Democrat) who has been the Director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency since 2014. Watt, a former member of the United States House of Representatives, was born on August 26, 1945 in the small community of Steele Creek in Mecklenburg County, North Carolina. … Read MoreMelvin Luther Watt (1945- )
Gwendolynne Moore is the first African American member of Congress from Wisconsin where she represents the state’s Fourth Congressional District. Moore, a community leader and lifelong civil rights and human rights advocate, is the first woman to represent the Fourth Congressional District. She is only … Read MoreGwendolynne S. “Gwen” Moore (1951- )