Elliott about the history of africanamericans in dmong the 19th century and a sea of artifacts from the house collection. The story of how africanamericans come to congress in the 19th century is not one a lot of people are familiar with. We actually have 22 africanamericans serve between 1870 and 1901. 20 in the house. 2 in the senate. Largely a house story. And it has to do with the role of congress during the civil war, and in the decade after. During the civil war there were a group of radicals in congress, radicals, because they believed in the equality of africanamericans, and wanted to create a society in the south after the war that was a multiracial society. These were radicals in the house, like thaddeus stephens, who was chairman of the ways and Means Committee and a very powerful leader. Also people like henry winter davis. Washburn. In the Senate People like Charles Sumner and Benjamin Wade and they really drove the agenda and pushed the Lincoln Administration to not only prosecute more vigorously the war but also to have a reconstruction after the war that was one that was not so lenient towards Southern States and was going to ensure that Political Rights were extended to africanamericans. So the war ends in 1865. But how do you get from 1865 to the first africanamerican members of congress . Because its not, doesnt happen right that day. Doesnt happen right away, but the the role of the radicals, if anything, becomes even more assertive after the end of the war. After lincolns assassinated, president johnson takes over and has a even more lenient view than lincoln of how the Southern States will be readmitted and hes pushed constantly by the radical republicans. Ands in a very short period of time, roughly four or five years, they pass a series of constitutional amendments and also laws that bring about the equality of africanamericans in the south. And that starts in early 1865 with passage of the 13th amendment. And thats ratified later that year. Banning slavery, outlawing slavery once and for all in the u. S. But then followed up by some major legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1866. Which extended Citizenship Rights to the freed men and subsequently, constitutional amendments like the 14th amendment guaranteed Citizenship Rights. The bill, the 15th amendment, guaranteed voting rights. And then also a series of reconstruction acts that divided the south into military districts and gave power to Union Generals to run those districts politically essentially. To set up elections and to ensure that africanamericans could come to the polls under the new laws and amendments that had been passed. You know, in the house collection, we have a number of images, prints mostly, from news weeklies. For example one from 1866. Scene outside the galleries as the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1866 youre talking about and theres it great jubilation and passages from amendments and other Civil Rights Act. In all of them people seem really excited and delighted at this level of progress. So there is, its certainly portrayed in the public eye as something thats wonderful and great and terrific. So then is it sort of a lag of a few years from those things being passed to then states being able to elect africanamerican members . So what goes into place in the Southern States is our republican reconstruction governments, and at that point by the late 1860s that you begin to see a number of africanamerican Office Holders move up into positions of local authority. Either on Town Councils or in the state legislatures. And they gain a political role and a political voice, and a number of the africanamericans who serve in this time period, thats how they kind of come up throughs ranks quickly and move up into positions where they can then be elected to congress. So whos the first africanamerican in the house . Well, the first africanamerican to speak on the floor in the house of representatives while the house is in session is actually a man who was elected but never seated. John willis menard from louisiana was elected in 1868, and his election was contested. Thats a story that kind of runs throughout the 19th century for so many of these africanamerican members who were elected to congress. Their election was challenged. And a number of them had that experience. Menard was in february of 1869 allowed to speak on the house floor to defend himself in his contested election case. The house chose not to seat him or his opponent, and he never was seated, but he won the election, the house just exercised its right not to seat him. The first africanamerican who was elected to the house and seated in the house is joseph rainy of South Carolina in december of 1870. And following him are another 19 africanamerican members throughout the course of the 19th century. Raney wasnt actually the first africanamerican in congress. That distinction went to hiram rememberables of mississippi elected by the state legislature as senators were back in the 19th century and he came into congress in early 1870. But when you think about that revolution that occurs within a matter of less than a decade so raney had been born into slavery. During the civil war he had been conscripted into the Confederate Army to dig trenches around charleston, where he was from. He escapes to bermuda. During the war. Comes back after the war. Gains a political experience and a political role locally, and within a decade hes holding the seat of a former confederate slave holder, and revels story is the same. Born a free man, never a slave and he, too, comes into the senate in a seat held by a slave holder less than a deac kacade before. Think about the great paradoxes in American History, thats one of them. That they come to the capitol and represent africanamerican constituencies and their doing it after those seats had been given up during secession by slave holders. Thats amazing. You know, ive read a little about reconstruction and interesting the very small brotherhood of men who are serving right after, right in the early 1870s. We actually have a print that has five of them right here, and they include hiram revels you just talked about, joseph raney, right here. This is three other members of congress, two in the house and one in the senate. That is the complete africanamerican representation in the senate up until well into the 20th century, and you can see. Theyre being presented in this print, which is taken from a book from former speaker of the house about his time in congress. Very much in the same vein as every other member of congress and statesmen of the day was. Most taken from degare types and math true bradys studio. If you saw the whole thing youd see they look like theyre sitting in the same chair in front of the same curtain background Matthew Grady uses for every congressman. You cant swing a cat without finding a 19th century photograph of a member of congress from bradys studios sitting in these chairss very interesting to see during this reconstruction period that really is a sense that these people are members of congress. Theres this sort of, you know, civil war is the b. C. And a. D. Of American History, seems like its very much a huge pivot thats happened as shown by this kind of representation of them. Well, for africanamericans and historian talk about this. The reconstruction period really is the second American Revolution in which Political Rights were extended to this group that had been excluded for so long. And raney and revels, their two careers in the house and senate respectively embody the experiences of the africanamericans who served in this time period. Their schs was to a great degree largely symbolic service. Revels serves a very short time in the senate and later goes on a speaking circuit around the country and introduced everywhere as the 15th amendment in flesh and blood. And the embodiment of africanamerican voting rights. And raney, too, was a symbol for africanamericans. These were, these were men who not only represented their small districts or their states and the constituents there, but they represented africanamericans nationally, and they were a sort of pride and thats reflected in the material culture. Raney serves for almost eight years in the house. Hes the longest serving africanamerican during the reconstruction period during the 19th century and establishes a couple of firsts. Hes the first africanamerican to preside over the house while its in session. That happens in 1874. And his experience, though, is typical of a lot of these other individuals who come to the house in relatively small numbers. The the high point in terms of the number of africanamericans is the 43rd congress, mid1870s. Theres only six or seven africanamericans in congress at that point. So theyre really too small of a group to drive any sort of legislative agenda, and where they do contribute to legislation is to come out and speak on behalf of their constituents and their Political Rights and the abuses against those Political Rights in the reconstruction era south. So they tend to give very eloquent speeches about some of the major bills, like the 1875 Civil Rights Act, which, again, is a piece of legislation not many people think about today. When you think Civil Rights Act, its the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And what what that bill in 1875 would have done is essentially the same thing that the 1964 bill did. It would have granted equality in accommodations, in public travel, and also in schools. And a lot of these africanamericans from the south, from South Carolina, mississippi, alabama, got up and spoke on behalf of this bill, and particularly the education provision, which would have provided an equal playing field, and that provision sadly is stripped out of the bill at the very end of the congress. This was a bill that had been championed by Charles Sumner, the senator from massachusetts and supported by benjamin butler, judiciary chairman in the house but a lot of these men gave moving testimonials on the house about that legislation. A question about another object in the collection, because revels and raney as the firsts often are the ones that i think about most, but there are the other 19 folks. Absolutely. One of them is robert brown elliott. Right here. This is from Frank Leslies illustrated newspaper. Where a lot of the 19th century stuff we have in the house collection that tells us whats going on in the house and what the public is reading and seeing about it, this is one of the rare ones in which theres an africanamerican member whos given sort of a little portrait right there on the pages, right next to any number of other Different Things that are going on. This is sort of news of the day. So tell me a little about Robert Elliott . Elliotts one of the interesting members. Hes spr South Carolina and majority of africanamerican members during the 19th century come from South Carolina. Theres Seven Members all from that state. Largely because its majority africanamerican population, in their districts, majority africanamerican, and so theres support for a black candidate. Elliott is a wonderful one of these people who invented himself as he went along. You get the sense he was a true character, but he had a great classical education. He came up after reconstruction, worked on a newspaper. He had some journalism background and then moves up into the state assembly in South Carolina. And he comes to the house for two terms in the early 1870s. And he is one of the men who comes on to the floor and talks about the importance of passing the 1875 civil rights bill, and gives some speeches that are perked up in the northern press, and they just swoon over him. One of the speeches he actually, kind of a point, counterpoint debate with alexander stephens, the former confederate Vice President who has by that point come back to the house, and elliott just blows him out of the water. Hes hes a hes so respected and such a, an ally of senator Charles Sumner that when sumner passes, shortly before his bill moves through the house and senate, elliott goes and delivers a eulogy at the hall in boston, which also is widely picked up in the northern press. He leaves the house, actually midcongress, in his second term, and he goes back to South Carolina, because he cares so much about state politics and hes watching the way things are trending towards the end of reconstruction, and seeing a lot of abuses against black political participation and voting rights, and he becomes the speaker of the South Carolina state assembly. For a brief period. And later goes on to serve at the very tail end of reconstruction as the attorney general for South Carolina. Afterwards, though, his story typifies so many of these members. Once reconstruction ends, and here youve got a guy whos a great speaker. Got a law background, sets up a law practice, bumt t he get alm no business and is forced to move out of state and eventually in the mid1880s he dies in poverty. Thats sadly the story of so many of these 19th century individuals who leave congress and then with the yawn set of jim crow, their careers just dry up, and that speaks to the larger kind of political ramifications of the end of reconstruction and what that meant for black political participation. I wanted to point out to you something that i find really interesting as a curator and art historian is the way that that works, the way jim crow ends up being promulgated in ways in the press so that you get no business, because of racism and because of jim crow and also sort of the, its reinforced in the popular press. So as we move into the jim crow period, the press and the public, the way the public sees africanamericans, the way its presented to them, really changes and moves much more towards the caricatures that we are familiar with from the very beginning of the 20th century. So this is the 1880s. By 1889 in this, also showing sort of little vignettes of whats going on in the capitol during an interesting time period. Instead of a picture with civil war veterans and interested women and africanamerican children and adults, celebrating outside as citizens, who are excited about a new venture and about the passage of the civil rights bill. Here were seeing lots of different sort of things going on, and the very style of it has become more, like a cartoon. In particular i want to draw your attention to this circular area here in which they are showing africanamericans in the visitors gallery. Called the gentlemans gallery and thats, thats the name of a gallery in the house at the time, but its used almost dripping with sarcasm. Because it is showing almost entirely africanamericans in there and in the accompanies essay about it it points out, it points out what it wants to point out about this image that its showing africanamericans who are in the galleries but not engaged in the process. Not interested in whats going on on the floor. Its showing them as reading or sleeping. Or using it simply to, as a place to hang out. And thats what the accompanying essay says as well. This is a really, a, an enormous shift and National News coverage of africanamericans civil life and it goes pretty quickly. This is 20 years difference from seeing this, which is all over the papers at the time. 1880s, in which it moves entirely towards a caricature of africanamerican participation in the in the world of public affairs. But, so, the turning point happens end of reconstruction. Right . Yeah. The turning point for this story really happens with the end of reconstruction and formal reconstruction where the union and military forces occupy the south and head, kept the reconstruction governments in place. Thats rolled back in 1877 as part of the disputed election of 1876. Between Samuel Tilden and rutherford hayes, and that election gets thrown to congress to decide, and what happens is the house and the senate are controlled by different Political Parties and cant come to an agreement as to the house deciding it. So they create a special Electoral Commission composed of five senators, five representatives and five Supreme Court justices. And in the results that had come back, there were three Southern States that had disputed returns. So what shows up is two different groups. One for tilden, one for hayes. The commission comes back and finds in favor of hayes, awarding him toes votes. But as part of the political negotiation that struck, to make him president , the Southern States manage to, democrats manage to push republicans to end reconstruction formally. That happens in 1877, and once that happens what you see over, ah, really a decade, a decade and a half and a process where africanamericans are gradually excluded from the political process in the south. Its a combination of state laws that go on the books and local laws that go on the books. Such as poll taxes. But by the 1890s, both through law and through custom in the south, africanamericans largely are no longer part of the political process. And that plays out in congress in that post1877 period because you see the numbers really drop off by the 1880s. In the 1880s and 1890s we only have five africanamericans who are serving in congress at various points, and usually its only just one or two during any given congress. Still some prominent individuals. John mercer langston from virginia. Who was a very prominent africanamerican, even before the civil war. Hed actually been one of the first blacks in the country elected to political office, in a town council in ohio, and so he was, he had a national reputation, and after the war he serves as a minister to haiti, and then in the late 1880s, hes elected to a virginia seat, and comes in to the house, but hes another africanamerican who faces a contested election, and by the time he is seated he only gets about a seven or eightmonth term. So his ability to legislate is curtailed and thats really the story of a lot of these men who had road blocks thrown up. Everything from poll taxes that affected constituents to violence at the polls. Now that the union army presence, the federal presence in the south has been rolled back. The very last individual who serves during that period is George Henry White of north carolina, represented a coastal district in north carolina, that had elected an africanamerican, africanamericans before, and he serves for two terms in the late 1890s. Hes the last africanamerican to serve really for three decades, and he very forcefully pushed for two things while he was a member. One was antilynching legislation. Which no one had really championed before, and he pushes for that. It goes nowhere. It languishes in the Judiciary Committee and never really is debated, but hes out there talking about it on the floor, and the other thing that he wanted was to, because so many blacks were being denied their Political Rights in the south, he wanted to reduce the representation of Southern States in Congress Based on how many people were being disenfranchised in southern districts. And so these are two issues that kinds of percolate for the next couple of deck case ades in the but no africanamericans there to champion it. In 1901, white leaves congress. Hed face some very tough reelections. A lot of violence, a lot of fraud. And he leaves the house. When he does, he gives a speech in february of 1901 which is tremendously moving, because he knows hes the last africanamerican whos going to be in congress for a while, and at the end of the speech he says, but, you know, phoenixlike, some day the africanamerican will rise again in congress and come back. That takes three decades. Well, i want to show you what i think is really sort of like that long, dry period that happens after white leaves, one of the saddest parts of what, the artartifacts. One. Saddest in the Art Collection i think. A recent acquisition. Hadnt really seen one of these. A 1907 print that was made of all its called colored men who served in the congress of the United States and it is really a testament to the persistence of hope in the Africanamerican Community for public, for participation in public life. Its done in 1907. So george white has been gone for six years and its going to be another two decades before an africanamerican returns to congress and this print was done sort of as a as a memento. In fact, the way its done is this very popular method of showing a lot of things on a page. Its almost done as if its a scrap boos scrapbook or photo album. Images tilted as if artfully placed in a scrapbook. And it really is, a scrapbook is memories of disembodied pieces of memory and in ways thats what this is. Its a memory of the past and a promise to the future. The man who printed this had run several africanamerican newspapers. He had been, he had an appointment to position at the Government Printing office and by 1907 all of that had vanished. All the positions open to africanamericans in the government that he had been a part of had gone away. The newspapers collapsed. Hed had a lot of connections with john edward and in fact other folks and those things all sort of evaporated. This is one of the last things we know he did. He was attempting to put a marker down. This wont be forgotten and will come back as george white said. In the center, weve got blanch k. Bruce and hiram revels, two that served in the senate. Giving them due as we do and larger number who served in the house. Raney, first africanamerican in the house is here. It takes it all the way around to all of them who were there. I find this so poignant in that when this was printed, no one knew how long would it be . Did they think 20 years would be a very long time . Did they think that was going to be just a moment . What did happen to this print eventually, you can see. It looking terribly damaged, like its had a hard life and indeed it was. At some point someone took this and pasted it on probably a wall. Because its pasted on board, underneath that is wallpaper. Underneath the print, on top of the board wallpaper. Perhaps pasted on someones wall in sort of recognition of those things that had happened. It was printed in d. C. We were able to, acquired it in d. C. It may never have left the nations capital, unlike black representation at the time that it was printed. Next on American History trv, american artifacts. We visit the Cannon Office House Building to see artifacts that tell the story of africanamericans in congress in the 20th century. Im sarah elliott, curator at the u. S. House of representatives. Im matt wa nesniewski. We wanted to talk