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...
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...
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...
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)....
George Henry White
Congressman George White, enslaved until the age of 10, was the last Black American to serve in Congress until 1928. He represented North Carolina...
William Lacy Clay Sr.
Congressman William Lacy Clay Sr., represented Missouri's 1st Congressional District from 1969 to 2001 (91st-106th Congresses). When elected, Clay...
Bennett McVey Stewart
Congressman Bennett Stewart represented Illinois' 1st Congressional District during the 96th Congress (1979-1981). Stewart was an educator,...
Oscar Stanton De Priest
Congressman Oscar De Priest was elected to the U.S. House of Representatives in 1929 to represent Illinois' 1st Congressional District. De Priest, a...
George Washington Collins
Congressman George Collins was elected simultaneously in 1970 to the 91st and 92nd Congresses by special election to fill the seat left vacant by...
Charles Edmund Nash
A former sergeant for the Union Army, Congressman Charles Nash was the first Black American to represent Louisiana in the U.S. House of...