African American in the U.S. Congress

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In 2017, in the 115th Congress, counting the recent election of South Carolina’s Tim Scott, there are 50 African Americans collectively serving in the House and U.S. Senate. Starting in 1870 during Reconstruction, to date there have been 140 African American members of Congress, including 130 members of the House of Representatives, and 10 U.S. Senators, six of whom were elected. Of that number, there have been 106 Democrats, including 101 in the House and six in the Senate; and 30 Republicans, including 26 in the House and four in the U.S. Senate. Those 140 members have represented 27 states. (See Figure 1-A)During Reconstruction, there were 15 African Americans, all Republicans, elected to Congress, with Hiram Revels being recorded as the first African American elected to Congress. The last African American elected during that time period was out of office by 1901, and there was not another African American elected until 28 years later (Oscar DePriest, Illinois). Since then (1929), there has been a steady Black American presence in Congress (all in the House until 1967). The last Reconstruction Senator Blanche K. Bruce, from Mississippi, was out of office in 1881, and there was not another African American elected to the Senate for nearly 100 years, until Edward Brooke of Massachusetts was elected to two full Senate terms starting in 1967. Since then, there have been seven more African Americans elected to the U.S. Senate, the last tthree being Corey Booker from New Jersey, Tim Scott from South Carolina and Kamala Harris from California. Senator Scott is the first Black American Senator from the South since Reconstruction, and Senator Harris is only the second African American woman elected to the Senate. Arthur Mitchell, representing Illinois, was the first African American Democrat elected to the House of Representatives, and was so elected in 1935 and served until 1943.It’s been a long road, but as of this date in 2017, there are 48 African American members of the House, and two U.S. Senators, all of whom are members of the Congressional Black Caucus (except Senator Scott).STATES WHICH HAVE ELECTED AFRICAN AMERICAN CONGRESSMENAlabama (6) California (13) Connecticut (1)Florida (7) Georgia (8) Illinois (17-3 Senators)Indiana (3) Louisiana (4) Maryland (5)Massachusetts (1) Michigan (6) Minnesota (1)Mississippi (5) Missouri (4) New Jersey (3)New York (9) North Carolina (8) Ohio (3)Oklahoma (1) Pennsylvania (4) South Carolina (10) Tennessee (2) Texas (6) Virginia (2) Wisconsin (1)Figure 1-AAfrican American congressmen during and just after reconstruction________________________________________NAME | STATE REPRESENTED | POSITION | YEARS IN OFFICEBlanche K. Bruce | Mississippi Senator 1875-1881Richard Cain | South Carolina H.R. 1873-1875, 77-79Henry Cheatham North Carolina H.R. 1889-1893Robert Delarge South Carolina H.R. 1871-1873Robert Elliot South Carolina H.R. 1871-1874Jeremiah Haralson Alabama H.R. 1875-1877John Hyman North Carolina H.R. 1875-1877Jefferson Long Georgia H.R. 1871-1873John M. Langston Virginia H.R. 1890-1891John Lynch Mississippi H.R. 1873-77, 1882-83Thomas E. Miller South Carolina H.R. 1889-1891George Murray South Carolina H.R. 1893-1897Charles Nash Louisiana H.R. 1875-1877James O’hara North Carolina H.R. 1883-1887Hiram Revels Mississippi Senator 1870-71Joseph Rainey South Carolina H.R. 1870-1879Alonzo Ransier South Carolina H.R. 1873-1875James Rapier Alabama H.R. 1873-1875Robert Smalls South Carolina H.R. 1875-79, 1882-87Benjamin Turner Alabama H.R. 1871-1873Josiah Walls Florida H.R. 1871-1876George White North Carolina H.R. 1897-1901