List of African American officeholders during Reconstruction

List of African American officeholders during Reconstruction

Eric Foner identifies over 1500 African American officeholders during the Reconstruction period (1865-1876). All were Republicans. However, Canter Brown, Jr. makes the salient point that, in some states (such as Florida), the highest number of African Americans were elected or appointed to offices after 1876, after Reconstruction. The following is a partial list some of the most notable of the officeholders pre-1900.
*Blanche K. Bruce, U.S. Senator from Mississippi.
*Tunis Campbell, State Senator from Georgia.
*Robert B. Elliott, State House lawmaker, and U.S. Representative from South Carolina.
*Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs, Secretary of State and Secretary of Public Instruction of Florida.
*Mifflin Wistar Gibbs, Arkansas, judge, younger brother of Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs.
*Thomas Van Renssalaer Gibbs, Florida House of Representatives, son of Jonathan Clarkson Gibbs.
*John R. Lynch, Mississippi House of Representatives, elected to U.S. House of Representatives.
*John Mercer Langston, first African-American elected to the U.S. Congress from Virginia. First African-American to hold elected office in U.S. History (Township Clerk in Ohio).
*James D. Lynch, Secretary of State of Mississippi
*Samuel A. McElwee, member of the Tennessee General Assembly from 1883 to 1888.
*Robert Meacham, Florida Senator
*John Willis Menard, first African American elected to the U.S. Congress (denied his seat)
*Charles H. Pearce, Florida Senate
*P.B.S. Pinchback, governor of Louisiana
*Joseph Hayne Rainey, U.S. Representative from South Carolina, member of the South Carolina Senate. First African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives.
*James T. Rapier, United States House of Representatives.
*Hiram Revels, U.S. Senator from Mississippi. First African American elected to the either house of Congress.
*Robert Smalls, South Carolina Representative, South Carolina Senator, U.S. Representative
*Josiah T. Walls, U.S. Representative

References and External Links

* [http://www.lib.subr.edu/BLACK_HISTORY/Menard,%20John%2011.26.02.pdf A Brief Biography of John Willis Menard from Southern University's John B. Cade Library]

* Bailey, Richard. "Black Officeholders During the Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867-1878" (Pyramid Publishing) [http://web.archive.org/web/20010302105027/http://www.alabamablackhistory.com/ Available from author.]

* Bailey, Richard. "Neither Carpetbaggers Nor Scalawags: Black Officeholders During the Reconstruction of Alabama, 1867-1878." Montgomery: Richard Bailey Publishers, 1995.

* Canter Brown, Jr. "Florida's Black Public Officials, 1867-1924." Tuscaloosa and London: The University of Alabama Press, 1998.

* Eric Foner ed., "Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction" Revised Edition. (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1996). ISBN 0-8071-2082-0. Between 1865 and 1877, about two thousand blacks held elective and appointive offices in the South. A few are relatively well-known, but most have been obscure and omitted from official state histories. Foner profiles more than 1,500 black legislators, state officials, sheriffs, justices of the peace, and constables in this volume.

* John Hope Franklin "John Roy Lynch: Republican Stalwart from Mississippi" in Howard Rabinowitz (ed.), "Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era", (Urbana: 1982) and reprinted in John Hope Franklin, "Race and History: Selected Essays, 1938-1988", Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1989

* Mifflin Wistar Gibbs "Shadow and Light: An Autobiography Autobiography with Reminiscences of the Last and Present Century", Lincoln and London: University of Nebraska Press, 1995.

* Rabinowitz, Howard N. "Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era" (University of Illinois Press: 1982) [http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/book-citations/025200972X] Section on "Congressmen" includes profiles of "John R. Lynch: Republican Stalwart from Mississippi" by John Hope Franklin, "James T. Rapier of Alabama and the Noble Cause of Reconstruction" by Loren Schweninger, and "James O'Hara of North Carolina: Black Leadership and Local Government" by Eric Anderson.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Нужно решить контрольную?

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Reconstruction era of the United States — In the history of the United States, Reconstruction refers to the time between 1863 and 1877 when the U.S. focused on abolishing slavery, destroying the Confederacy, and reconstructing the nation and the Constitution. Reconstruction is also the… …   Wikipedia

  • African American history — is the portion of American history that specifically discusses the African American or Black American ethnic group in the United States. Most African Americans are the descendants of captive Africans held in the United States from 1619 to 1865.… …   Wikipedia

  • Timeline of African-American Civil Rights Movement — African American topics History  Atlantic slave trade · Maafa Slavery in the United States Military history of African Americans …   Wikipedia

  • Lists of African Americans — Notable African Americans or Black Americans. For people from current African countries, see lists for individual countries.Art, music, literature* List of African American nonfiction writers * List of composers of African descentGovernment and… …   Wikipedia

  • African Americans in the United States Congress — Since 1868, 123 African Americans have served in the United States Congress. This figure includes five non voting members of the House of Representatives who represented the District of Columbia and the U.S. Virgin Islands. In addition, in 1868,… …   Wikipedia

  • P. B. S. Pinchback — 24th Governor of Louisiana In office December 9, 1872 – January 13, 1873 Lieutenant none …   Wikipedia

  • Hiram Rhodes Revels — Infobox Senator name=Hiram Rhodes Revels jr/sr=United States Senator state=Mississippi party=Republican term start=February 23, 1870 term end=March 3, 1871 preceded=Albert G. Brown succeeded=James L. Alcorn date of birth=birth date|1822|9|27|mf=y …   Wikipedia

  • John R. Lynch — Infobox Congressman name=John Roy Lynch |thumbnail|250px|right date of birth=September 10, 1847 place of birth=near Vidalia, Concordia Parish, Louisiana dead=dead date of death=November 2, 1939 place of death=Chicago, Illinois state=Mississippi… …   Wikipedia

  • Eric Foner — (born February 7, 1943 in New York City) is an American historian. He has been a faculty member in the department of history at Columbia University since 1982 and writes extensively on political history, the history of freedom, the early history… …   Wikipedia

  • United States — a republic in the N Western Hemisphere comprising 48 conterminous states, the District of Columbia, and Alaska in North America, and Hawaii in the N Pacific. 267,954,767; conterminous United States, 3,022,387 sq. mi. (7,827,982 sq. km); with… …   Universalium

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”