Hiram Rhodes Revels (1827-1901) of Mississippi was the first African American to serve in the United States Senate when he filled the unexpired term of Jefferson Davis. Revels served just over a year from February 25, 1870, to March 13, 1871. During an 1871 Senate … Read More(1871) Senator Hiram Revels Calls For The End Of Segregated Schools
Joseph H. Rainey, “Speech Made in Reply to An Attack Upon the Colored State Legislators of South Carolina by Representative Cox of New York,” 1871 Joseph Hayne Rainey, born in Georgetown, South Carolina to enslaved parents in 1832, became on December 12, 1870, the first … Read More(1871) Congressman Joseph H. Rainey, “Speech Made in Reply to An Attack Upon the Colored State Legislators of South Carolina…”
Jefferson Franklin Long (1836-1901) was the first African American from Georgia to serve in the United States House of Representatives. Born into slavery near Knoxville in Crawford County, Georgia, he was self-educated and became a merchant tailor in Macon, Georgia. Long was elected in December … Read More(1871) Congressman Jefferson F. Long, “Speech On Disorders In The South”
Robert Carlos DeLarge served as a Republican member of the U.S. Congress less than a full term. He was elected in 1870 and began his term on March 4, 1871. However he left Congress on January 24, 1873 within two months of the completion of … Read More(1871) Congressman Robert C. DeLarge, “Speech on the Enforcement of the Fourteenth Amendment”
John Willis Menard, (1838-1893) was the first African American elected to Congress when on November 3, 1868 he received the majority of votes to fill the unexpired term of Louisiana Second District Congressman James Mann. On the strength of the vote Menard went to Washington … Read More(1869) John Willis Menard, “Speech Before the United States House of Representatives”
On February 12, 1865, Rev. Henry Highland Garnet, a former slave who was pastor of the Fifteenth Street Presbyterian Church in Washington, D.C., became the first African American to speak in the Capitol Building in Washington, D.C. His sermon was delivered on Sunday, February 12, … Read More(1865) Henry Highland Garnet, “Let The Monster Perish”
Before the Civil War, when he was 18, William Grose left his home in Washington, D.C. and enlisted in the U.S. Navy. Assigned to the USS Vincennes in 1853, he went to South Africa, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Russia and the Arctic during his tour … Read MoreWilliam Grose (1835-1898)
Dr. W.H.C. Stephenson, the first black doctor in Nevada, practiced medicine in Virginia City, Nevada, during the heyday of the Comstock Lode. Born in Washington, D.C., he lived in Pennsylvania and California prior to Nevada. He was trained at one of the Eclectic Medical Institutes … Read MoreW.H.C. Stephenson (1825-circa 1873)
OPINION IN GUINN v. UNITED STATES JUDGES: White, McKenna, Holmes, Day, Hughes, Van Devanter, Lamar, Pitney; McReynolds took no part in the consideration or decision of this case. OPINION BY: WHITE OPINION: MR. CHIEF JUSTICE WHITE delivered the opinion of the court. This case is … Read More(1915) Guinn v. United States: The Grandfather Clause
Prohibition of Discrimination in the Defense Industry (1941). Reaffirming Policy Of Full Participation In The Defense Program By All Persons, Regardless Of Race, Creed, Color, Or National Origin, And Directing Certain Action In Furtherance Of Said Policy. June 25, 1941 WHEREAS it is the policy … Read More(1941) Executive Order 8802
