John Willis Menard was the first Black man ever elected to the U.S. House of Representatives though he was never seated in Congress. In November...
John Willis Menard*
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Representative
Benjamin Sterling Turner
Congressman Benjamin Turner, the first Black representative from Alabama, served in the U.S. House of Representatives from March 1871 to March 1873...
Joseph Hayne Rainey
Congressman Joseph Rainey, born into slavery, was the first Black representative from South Carolina and the first African American to serve in the...
Jefferson Franklin Long
Congressman Jefferson Long, born into slavery, was the first Black representative of Georgia and the only Black American to represent Georgia in the...
Robert Carlos De Large
Congressman Robert De Large was born into slavery and later served in the U.S. House of Representatives as a representative of South Carolina from...
Robert Brown Elliott
Congressman Robert Elliott represented South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1871 to 1874 (42nd-43rd Congresses), when he...
Josiah Thomas Walls
Congressman Josiah Walls was the first Black representative to the U.S. House of Representatives from Florida. He served from 1871 to 1873 and from...
Alonzo Jacob Ransier
Congressman Alonzo Ransier represented South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1873 to 1875 (43rd Congress). He served on the...
James Thomas Rapier
Congressman James Rapier was one of three Black representatives to Congress from Alabama during Reconstruction. He served for one term, from 1873 to...
Richard Harvey Cain
Congressman Richard Cain represented South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1873 to 1875 and from 1877 to 1879 (43rd and 45th...
John Roy Lynch
Congressman John Lynch was the first Black American member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Mississippi and the youngest member of the 43rd...
Adam Clayton Powell Jr.
Congressman Adam Clayton Powell Jr. was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented New York City in the U.S. House of Representatives...
Ronald V. Dellums
Congressman Ronald Dellums represented California's 8th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1998 (92nd-105th...
Robert Smalls
Congressman Robert Smalls represented South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1875 to 1879, 1882 to 1883, and from 1884 to 1887...
Charles Coles Diggs Jr.
Congressman Charles Diggs was the first African American to represent Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served the 13th District of...
Charles B. Rangel
Congressman Charles B. Rangel represented New York in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 2017 (92nd –114th Congresses). In Congress,...
James Edward O’Hara
Congressman James O'Hara was the second African American to represent North Carolina in Congress, serving from 1883 to 1887 (48th-49th Congresses)...
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Sr.
Congressman Robert Nix became the first African American to represent Pennsylvania in Congress after winning a 1958 special election to fill the...
Andrew Jackson Young Jr.
Congressman Andrew Young represented Georgia's 5th Congressional District from 1973 to 1977 (93rd-95th Congresses). Young was the first Black...
George Washington Murray
Congressman George Murray represented South Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1893 to 1895 and, after successfully contesting the...
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins
Congressman Gus Hawkins was the first African American to represent California in Congress and the first Black representative from any western...