Roll Call: Black Members of Congress
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 (91st-105th Congresses). Before his election to Congress, Stokes practiced law and participated in three cases in the United...
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 became the first African American representative from Missouri and one of only two African American representatives from...
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 the death of Representative Daniel J. Ronan. Collins was reelected to the 93rd Congress, but died in an airplane crash on...
Ralph Harold Metcalfe
Congressman Ralph Metcalfe represented Illinois' 1st Congressional District from 1971 until his death on October 10, 1978 (92nd-95th Congresses). Metcalfe served on the Interstate and Foreign Commerce, Merchant Marines and Fisheries, and Post Office and Civil Service...
Parren James Mitchell
Congressman Parren Mitchell served Maryland's 7th Congressional District in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1971 to 1987 (92nd-99th Congresses). He was the first African American to represent Maryland in Congress. He chaired the Congressional Black Caucus for...
Walter Edward Fauntroy
Congressman Walter Fauntroy was the first African American delegate from the District of Columbia to the U.S. House of Representatives and the first African American delegate in Congress. In 1970, Congress passed the District of Columbia Delegate Act, which provided...
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 1871 to 1873 (42nd Congress) where he served on the Manufactures Committee. After taking office, the district's former...
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 resigned to become Speaker of the South Carolina House of Representatives. Born in Liverpool, England, Elliott was a popular...
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 1875 to 1876 (42nd, portions of the 43rd and 44th Congresses). Walls was twice unseated by opponents who claimed he had...
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 Manufactures Committee. Although an outspoken advocate for the passage of the 1875 Civil Rights Act, he abstained from voting...
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 1875 (43rd Congress), and was assigned to the Education and Labor Committee. Rapier proposed the establishment of an...
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 Congresses). Cain spoke out on behalf of the 1875 Civil Rights Act, which outlawed segregation but was later overturned....
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 Congress. He served from 1873 to 1877 and 1882 to 1883 (43rd-44th and 47th Congresses) and was assigned to the Mines...
Blanche Kelso Bruce
Senator Blanche Bruce escaped slavery at the outset of the Civil War and served as a Mississippi Senator from 1875 to 1881 (44th-46th Congresses). He was the first Black American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. During a debate on the Chinese Exclusion Bill in...
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 (42nd Congress). While enslaved, Turner managed a hotel and stable and, by 1870, had accumulated enough wealth to...
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 U.S. House of Representatives during Reconstruction. He served for one session of the 41st Congress (January 1871-March...
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 U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to fill a vacant seat in the 41st Congress and served from 1870 to 1879...
John Willis Menard*
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 1868, Menard won a special election to fill the vacant seat representing the 2nd Congressional District of Louisiana....
Hiram Rhodes Revels
In February 1870, Senator Hiram Revels became the first Black American to serve in Congress when he filled the seat of former Mississippi senator and Confederate president Jefferson Davis. Revels served in the U.S. Senate for the remainder of the 41st Congress...