Roll Call: Black Members of Congress
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 election of William Elliott, from 1896 to 1897 (53rd-54th Congresses). He served on the Expenditures in the Treasury and...
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) in the U.S. House of Representatives. For the period between the start of this term until Robert Smalls return to...
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 (44th-45th, 47th, and 48th-49th Congresses). Smalls was enslaved until May 1862, when he piloted a Confederate army ship...
John Adams Hyman
Congressman John Hyman, enslaved until 1865, was the first Black American to represent North Carolina in the U.S. House of Representatives, serving from 1875 to 1877 (44th Congress). He served on the Manufactures Committee. In his early twenties, Hyman worked for a...
Jeremiah Haralson
Congressman Jeremiah Haralson, enslaved until 1865, was one of three Black Americans from Alabama who served in the U.S. House of Representatives during Reconstruction. He was known for being a powerful orator. While serving in Congress, Haralson supported amnesty for...
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 Representatives. He served from 1875 to 1877 (44th Congress). Nash spoke on the House floor in support of enforcing laws to protect...
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...
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 state. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1963 to 1991 (88th-101st Congresses). Before serving in Congress,...
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 more than fifty years, becoming the longest-serving African American member of Congress. He was the dean of the House from...
Edward William Brooke III
Senator Edward Brooke represented Massachusetts in the U.S. Senate from 1967 to 1979 (90th-95th Congresses). Before coming to the Senate, Brooke served as the attorney general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. In 1966, he became the first African American...
Melvin Herbert Evans
Congressman Melvin Evans, the first Black delegate to represent the U.S. Virgin Islands, was elected to Congress in 1978 and served through the 96th Congress (1979-1981). Before Congress, Evans held various medical and public health posts at hospitals and institutions...
Bennett McVey Stewart
Congressman Bennett Stewart represented Illinois' 1st Congressional District during the 96th Congress (1979-1981). Stewart was an educator, alderman, and Chicago City Council member throughout his career. He was very active in the state and national Democratic party,...
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). Following two terms as a state legislator, Ford was elected the first African American in Congress from Tennessee. Ford's...
Cardiss Collins
Congresswoman Cardiss Collins was the representative of Illinois' 7th Congressional District from 1973 to 1997 (93rd-104th Congresses) after winning a special election to succeed her late husband, George W. Collins, in the U.S. House of Representatives. Collins 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. House of Representatives. Before Congress, she was the first African American woman elected to California's House of...
Barbara Charline Jordan
Congresswoman Barbara Jordan represented the 18th Congressional District of Texas from 1973 to 1979 (93rd-95th Congresses). She was the first African American to represent Texas and the first African American woman to represent a southern state in the U.S. House of...
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 representative from Georgia since Jefferson Long's election a century earlier. A pastor and civil rights activist, Young was...
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, Rangel worked to revitalize urban neighborhoods, make housing affordable housing, reduce unemployment, and diminish drug...
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 Congresses). Before entering Congress, Dellums had a career as a psychiatric social worker and served on the Berkeley City...
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 1982 (91st-97th Congresses). She served on the Education and Labor, Rules, and Veterans’ Affairs committees. During her...