Every saturday, at 8 00 p. M. Eastern. Lectures in history is also available as a podcast. Find it where you listen to podcasts. Each week, American History tvs american artifacts explores the history of the United States through objects. Up next, we visit capitol hill to talk to house historian and curator about the history of africanamericans in congress and see a selection of artifacts from the collection. The story of how africanamericans come to congress is not one that a lot of people are familiar with. We had 22 africanamericans serve between 1870 and 1901. 20 in the house, two in the senate. Its 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 Stevens who was chairman of the ways and Means Committee and a very powerful leader, also people like henry winter davis. In the senate, people like Charles Sumner and Benjamin Wade and they drove the agenda and pushed the Lincoln Administration to not only prosecute the war more vigorously, 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. How do you get from 1865 to the first africanamerican members of congress. It doesnt happen right that day. It doesnt happen right away. 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 are going to be readmitted and hes pushed by the radical republicans. And 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. That starts in 1865 with the packa passage of the 13th amendment, banning slavery, outlawing slavery once and for all in the u. S. , but followed up by major legislation like the Civil Rights Act of 1866 which extended Citizenship Rights to the freed men. And then subsequently, constitutional amendments like the 14th amendment which guaranteed Citizenship Rights. The 15th amendment, which 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, to set up elections and ensure that africanamericans could come to the polls underthe new laws and amendments that have been passed. In the house collection, we have a number of images, prints mostly, from news weeklies. This is one right here, from 1866, the scene outside the galleries at the passage of that Civil Rights Act of 1866 that youre talking about. Theres great jubilation and we have some from the passage of those amendments that youre talking about and other Civil Rights Acts. In all of them, people seem really excited and delighted at this level of progress. So its certainly being portrayed as something that is wonderful and great and terrific. So then is it a lag of a few years from those things being passed to then states being able to elect africanamerican members . What goes into place in the Southern States is our republican reconstruction governments. And its 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 through the ranks very quickly and move up into positions where they can then be elected to congress. So who is 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 was elected in 1868. His election was contested. And thats a story that 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. Rainy wasnt the first africanamerican in congress. That distinction went to rebels of mississippi who was elected by the state legislature 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 rainy had been born into slavery. During the civil war he had been c conscripted into the Confederate Army to dig trenches around charles ston where he was from. He comes back after the war, gains a political experience and a political role locally and within a decade, he is holding the seat of a former confederate slave holder and revels story is the same. He was born as a freed man, never was a slave. But he comes into the senate and occupies a seat that had been held by a slave holder less than a decade before. When you think about the great paradoxes in American History, thats one of them that they come to the capital and represent africanamerican constituencies and theyre doing it after those seats have been given up by slave holders. Thats amazing. You know, ive read a little bit about reconstruction and its interesting, the sort of very small brotherhood of men who are serving right in those early 1870s. We have a print that has quite a few that has five of them right here. And they include revels who were talking about, joseph rainy, 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 the congress. Very much in the same vein as every other member of congress and statesmen of the day was, most of these were taken by Matthew Bradys studio. If you were to see the whole thing, they look like theyre sitting in the same chair in front of the same curtain background that Matthew Brady uses for every congressman. So its very interesting to me to see that during this reconstruction period there really is that sense that these people are members of congress. Theres this sort of the civil war is the bc and ad of American History and it seems like its a huge pivot that has happened as shown by this kind of representation of them. Well, for africanamericans and historians 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 rainy and revels, their two careers in the house and senate respectively, really embody the experiences of the africanamericans who served in this time period. Their service was to a great degree largely symbolic service. Revel only serves a short time in the senate and he later goes on a speaking circuit around the country and introduced as the 15th amendment in flesh and blood, the embodiment of africanamerican voting rights. And rainy was a symbol for africanamericans. These were men who not only represented their small districts or their states and the constituents theyre in, but they represented africanamericans nationally and they were a source of pride and thats reflected in the material culture. Rainy serves for almost eight years in the house. Hes the longestserving africanamerican during the reconstruction period, during the 19th century and he 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 high point in terms of the number of africanamericans is the 43rd congress, mid 1870s. Theres only six or seven africanamericans in congress at that point. So theyre really too small of a group to drive any kind of legislative agenda. 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 especially 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 and supported by benjamin butler, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the house. But a lot of these men gave very moving testimonials on the house floor about that legislation. Well, you know, i have a question about another object we have in the collection because revels and rainy, as the firsts, often are the ones that i think about most. But there are these other 19 folks. And one of them is robert brown elliot. Right here. This is from Frank Leslies illustrated newspaper where a lot of it have 19th century stuff that we have in the house collection that tells us about whats going on in the house and what the public is reading about it, what theyre seeing, this is one one of the rare ones in which theres an africanamerican member who is 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 news of the day. Tell me a little bit about robert elliot. Elliot is one of the interesting members. Hes from South Carolina and the majority of africanamerican members during the 19th century come from South Carolina largely because its a majority africanamerican population and their districts are majority africanamerican and so theres support for a black candidate. Elliot is a wonderful order and hes one of these people who invented himself as he went along. You get the sense that he was a true character. But he had a great classical education. He came up after reconstruction, worked on a newspaper, he had a journalism background. And he moves up to the state assembly in South Carolina. He comes to the house for two terms in the early 1870s and hes one of the men who comes onto the floor and talks about the importance of passing the 1875 civil rights bill and gives some speeches that are picked up in the Northern Press and they swoon over him. In one of the speeches its a point, Counter Point debate with alexander stevens, the former confederate Vice President who has come back to the house and elliot blows him out of the water. Hes so respected and an ally of senator Charles Sumner, that when sumner passes shortly before his bill moves through the house and senate, elliot goes and delivers a eulogy in boston which also is widely picked up in the Northern Press. He leaves the house, actually, mid congress in his second term and 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 a black political participation in voting rights. And he becomes the speaker of the South Carolina state assembly for a brief period. And later goes onto serve as 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, here youve got a guy whos a great speaker, got a law background, sets up a law practice, but he gets almost no business. And hes forced to move out of state and eventually in the mid 1880s, he dies in poverty. And thats sadly the story of so many of these 19th century individuals who leave congress and then with the onset of jim crow, their careers 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 that the way the way that works, the way that jim crow ends up being promulgated in the press so you get no business because of racism and jim crow and its reinforced in the popular press. 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 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 interesting women and africanamerican children and adults celebrating outside as citizens who are excited about a new venture and about a the passage of the civil rights bill, here were seeing lots of Different 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 theyre showing africanamericans in the visitors gallery. Its used dripping with sarcasm because its showing almost entirely africanamericans in there and in the accompanying essay about it, 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. Thats what the accompanying essay says as well. This is a really enormous shift and a National News coverage of africanamericans civic life. And it goes pretty quickly. This is 20 years difference from seeing this, which is all over the papers at the time, to the 1880s in which it moves entirely towards a caricature of africanamerican participation in the world of public affairs. But the turning point happens at the end of reconstruction, right . The turning point for this story really happens with the end of reconstruction formal reconstruction where the Union Military forces occupy the south and had kept the reconstruction governments in place. Thats rolled back in 1877 as part of the disputed election of 1876 between Samuel Tilden and rutherford hays. And that election gets thrown to congress to decide and what happens is the house and 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 more tilden, one for hayes. As part of the political negotiation that is struck to make him president , the Southern States manage to democrats manage to push republicans to end reconstruction formally. And that happens in 1877. Once that happens, what you see over really a decade, decade and a half, is 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 post 1877 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 predominant individuals. John Mercer Langston from virginia who was a very predominant africanamerican even before the civil war. He had actually been one of the first blacks in the country elected to Political Office in a town council in ohio. And so 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 into the house. But hes another africanamerican who faces a contested election and by the time hes seated, he only gets about a seven or eightmonth term. Thats really the story of a lot of these men who had roadblocks thrown up, everything from poll taxes that affected constituents to violence at polls now that the union army presence, the federal presence in the south have 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 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 is debated. But hes talking about it on the floor. And the other thing 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 kind of percolate for the next couple of decades in the house. But theres no africanamericans who were there to champion it. In 1901 white leaves congress. He had faced some very tough reelections, a lot of violence, a lot of fraud. And he leaves the house. When he does, he gives a speech. 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 speech, he says, but, you know, phoenixlike, someday 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 the artifacts we have. In fact, this is one of the saddest artifacts in the house collection, i think. And its a pretty recent acquisition of ours. We hadnt really ever seen one of these. This is a 1907 print that was made of all its called colored men who have served in the congress of the United States. And it is really a testament to the persistence of hope in the Africanamerican Community 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 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 scrapbook or a photo album. Some of the images are sort of tilted a little bit as if they had been artfully placed in a scrapbook. And it really is, a scrapbook is a book of memories of tiny disembodied pieces of memory. And in some ways, thats what this is. Its a memory to the past and a promise to the future. The man who printed this had run several africanamerican newspapers. He had had an appointment to a position at the Government Printing office. And by 1907, all of that had vanished. All of the positioned opened to africanamericans in the government he had been part of had gone away, the newspapers had collapsed. He had a lot of connections with john Mercer Langston, in fact, and other folks. Those things had sort of evaporated. This is one of the last things we knew he did. He was attempting to put a marker down that this wont be forgotten, and well come back, as george white said. In the center weve got branch k. Bruce and hirem. Heres joseph rainey, the first africanamerican in the house. And 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 was going to be a very long time . Did they think that was going to be just a moment . But what did happen to this print eventually, as you can see, it looks like its terribly damaged and like its had a terrible life. Indeed it has. At some point, someone took this and pasted it on probably a wall because its pasted on board. Underneath that is wall paper herb underneath the print is wallpaper. So, it was perhaps pasted on someones wall in sort of recognition of those things had happened. It was printed in d. C. We acquired it in d. C. It may never have left the Nations Capital unlike black representation at the time it was printed. Weeknights this month, were featuring American History tv programs as a preview of whats available every weekend on cspan3. Tonight we feature several events hosted by the National World war i museum and memorial in kansas city, missouri, beginning with gary armstrong, discussing the u. S. Senates rejection of the 1919 treaty of versailles to end world war i, which president Woodrow Wilson had spent several Months Overseas negotiating. Watch tonight beginning at 8 00 eastern. Enjoy American History tv this week and every weekend on cspan3. Youre watching American History tv. Every weekend on cspan3, explore our nations past. Cspan3, created by americas Cable Television companies as a public service, and brought to you today by your television provider