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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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...
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...
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...
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...
Barbara Charline Jordan
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan represented the 18th Congressional District of Texas from 1973 to 1979 (93rd-95th Congresses). She was the first...
Henry Plummer Cheatham
Congressman Henry Cheatham represented North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1889 to 1893 (51st-52nd Congresses) and was a member...
John Conyers Jr.
Congressman John Conyers Jr. represented Michigan in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1965 to 2017 (89th-114th Congresses). Conyers served...
Yvonne Braithwaite Burke
Congresswoman Yvonne Brathwaite Burke represented California's 28th Congressional District from 1973 to 1979 (93rd-95th Congresses) in the U.S....
John Mercer Langston
Congressman John Langston was the first Black American to represent Virginia in the U.S. House of Representatives. He served part of one term...
Shirley Anita Chisholm
Congresswoman Shirley Chisholm was the first African American woman elected to Congress. Chisholm represented New York's 12th District from 1968 to...
Cardiss Collins
Congresswoman Cardiss Collins was the representative of Illinois' 7th Congressional District from 1973 to 1997 (93rd-104th Congresses) after winning...
Thomas Ezekiel Miller
After successfully contesting another candidate's election, Congressman Thomas Miller represented South Carolina in the U.S. House of...
Louis Stokes
Congressman Louis Stokes was the first African American to represent Ohio in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1969 to 1999...
Harold Eugene Ford
Congressman Harold Ford represented Tennessee in the U.S. House of Representatives for eleven terms, from 1975 to 1997 (94th-104th Congresses)....