- John Mercer Langston
Infobox_Congressman
name=John Mercer Langston
|thumb|John Mercer Langston
date of birth=birth date|1829|12|14|mf=y
place of birth=Louisa County ,Virginia
dead=dead
date of death=death date and age|1897|11|15|1829|12|14|mf=y
place of death=Washington, D.C.
state=Virginia
district= 4th
term=September 23 ,1890 -March 3 ,1891
preceded=Edward Carrington Venable
succeeded=James F. Epes
party=Republican
profession=John Mercer Langston (
December 14 1829 –November 15 1897 ) was an Americanabolitionist andU.S. Congressman fromVirginia . He was one of the first black people in theUnited States elected to public office when in 1855 he was elected as a town clerk inOhio .Langston was born in
Louisa County, Virginia , the son of Ralph Quarles, a whiteplantation owner, and Lucy Langston, emancipated by her husband, of mixedAfrica n and Native American background. After his parents died when Langston was five, he and his brothers, one of whom was named Charles Henry Langston, moved toOberlin, Ohio , to live with family friends. He enrolled inOberlin College at the age of fourteen and earned bachelor's and master's degrees from the institution. Denied admission into law school, most likely because of his race, Langston then studied law underattorney and Republican congressmanPhilemon Bliss and was admitted to the Ohio bar in 1854.He became actively involved in the
Abolitionism movement, organizing antislavery societies locally and at the state level. He helped runaway slaves to escape to the North along the Ohio part of theUnderground Railroad . He was a founding member and president of theNational Equal Rights League , which fought for blackvoting rights .During the Civil War, Langston recruited
African American s to fight for theUnion Army , enlisting hundreds of men for duty in the Massachusetts Fifty-fourth and Fifty-fifth regiments and for Ohio’s 1st black regiment. After the war, he was appointed inspector general for theFreedmen's Bureau , a Federal organization that assisted freed slaves.Langston moved to
Washington, D.C. , in 1868 to establish and serve as dean ofHoward University 's law school;the first black law school in the country. He was appointed acting president of the school in 1872, and he was the vice president of the school as well. He was rejected as president of Howard Law School by a committee who refused to disclose the reason, but it was probably because of his race and integration ideas. He was appointed by PresidentUlysses S. Grant a member of the board of health of theDistrict of Columbia , and was elected its secretary in 1875. In 1877 Langston left to become U.S. Minister toHaiti ; he also served aschargé d'affaires to theDominican Republic starting in 1884. He returned to Virginia in 1885 and was named the first president of Virginia Normal and Collegiate Institute (nowVirginia State University ).In 1888, urged by fellow Republicans, black and white, he ran for a seat in the
U.S. House of Representatives as a Republican. He lost to his Democratic opponent, but contested the results of the election. After an 18-month fight, he was declared the winner and given the seat in Congress. He served for the remaining six months of the term, and then lost his bid for reelection. Langston was the first black person elected to Congress from Virginia, and he was the only one for another century.Oklahoma's
Langston University is named in his honor, as is the John Mercer Langston Bar Association inColumbus, Ohio , Langston Middle School in Oberlin, Ohio, the former John Mercer Langston High School inDanville, Virginia , and John M. Langston High School Continuation Program in Arlington, Virginia. He was a member of the board of trustees ofSaint Paul's College inLawrenceville, Virginia , founded in 1888 as the St Paul Normal and Industrial School, and incorporated by the General Assembly on March 4, 1890. His house in Oberlin is aNational Historic Landmark .Langston was the great-uncle of poet
Langston Hughes . [http://langstonbar.com/history.html Langston Bar & Grill: History] ]ee also
*
List of African American firsts
*PS 185 John M.Langston , a school named after himReferences
*Langston, John Mercer. "From the Virginia plantation to the National Capitol : or, The first and only Negro representative in Congress from the Old Dominion". 1894; New York: Kraus Reprint, 1969.
*Langston, John Mercer. "Freedom and Citizenship: Selected Lectures of Hon. John Mercer Langston". Washington D.C.: William H.Darby Publishers 1883; Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing Company, 2007.
*Cheek, William Francis and Aimee Lee. "John Mercer Langston and the Fight for Black Freedom, 1829-65". Urbana and Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 1989.References
External links
* [http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=L000074 Congressional Biography]
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* [http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/OYTT-images/JMLangston.html Oberlin College biography]
* [http://www.oberlin.edu/external/EOG/LangstonSpeeches/langston_menu.htm Oberlin College speech collection]
* [http://www.designshare.com/index.php/projects/langston-high Langston High School Continuation Program in Arlington, Virginia]
* [http://www.africanamericans.com/JohnMercerLangston.htm Biography of John Mercer Langston] including youthful photograph at AfricanAmericans.com
* [http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/06/06/AR2008060604509.html?nav=rss_email/components Washington Post: The 'Obama Before Obama,' By Kevin Merida, June 7, 2008]
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