Arthur Wergs Mitchell

Congressman Arthur W. Mitchell was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1934 after defeating Oscar De Priest for his seat and served from 1935 to 1943 (74th-77th Congresses). Representing Illinois’ 1st Congressional District, Mitchell was the first African American Democrat elected to the House. Initially a Republican, Mitchell changed parties during the early days of Roosevelt’s New Deal. A fierce Roosevelt loyalist, Mitchell was the subject of scrutiny from many Black leaders and organizations for not being progressive enough on civil rights. During his four terms, Mitchell was the lone African American member of Congress. A lawyer and businessman, Mitchell began teaching in rural schools in Georgia and Alabama. Later he founded the Armstrong Agricultural School in West Butler, Alabama, and served as president for ten years. Mitchell introduced legislation banning lynching and discrimination. He also filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Central and Rock Island Railroads after being forced from his first-class seat into a segregated train car just before it passed into Arkansas. This case was advanced to the U.S. Supreme Court as Mitchell v. the United States and the Court ruled in Mitchell’s favor by declaring the railroad had violated the Interstate Commerce Act. In his last congressional act, Mitchell condemned politicians as preferring the Axis powers over giving Negros any rights, comparing the atrocities of the Nazis and Japanese with the lynching of African Americans. Mitchell attended Tuskegee Institute, Columbia, and Harvard before being admitted to Washington D.C. Bar.