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African American Senators
To date, 10 African Americans have served in the United States Senate. In 1870 Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American senator. Five years later, Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi took the oath of office. It would be nearly another century, 1967, before Edward Brooke of Massachusetts followed in their historic footsteps. Carol Moseley Braun broke new ground in 1993, becoming the first African American woman to serve as U.S. senator. In 2005 Barack Obama of Illinois became the fifth African American to serve and third to be popularly elected. Upon Obama's resignation to become the nation's first African American president, Roland Burris was appointed to fill the vacancy, becoming the sixth African American senator and the third to occupy the same Illinois Senate seat. Tim Scott of South Carolina was appointed to fill a vacancy in 2013, becoming the first African American since Reconstruction to represent a southern state in the Senate. He won a special election in 2014 to complete the term and was elected to a full term in 2016. The appointment of Massachusetts senator William "Mo" Cowan on February 1, 2013, marked the first time that two African Americans have served simultaneously in the United States Senate. Cory Booker of New Jersey became the ninth African American senator when he won a special election to replace Senator Frank Lautenberg on October 31, 2013. Booker won election to a full term in 2014. Kamala Harris became California's first African American senator on January 3, 2017, bringing the number of African Americans serving simultaneously to three and the total number of African American senators to 10.
Hiram Revels
Hiram Revels (R-MS) became the first African American senator in 1870. Born in North Carolina in 1827, Revels attended Knox College in Illinois and later served as minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church in Baltimore, Maryland. He raised two black regiments during the Civil War and fought at the battle of Vicksburg in Mississippi. The Mississippi state legislature sent him to the U.S. Senate during Reconstruction, where he became an outspoken opponent of racial segregation. Although Revels served in the Senate for just a year, he broke new ground for African Americans in Congress. (Photo: Library of Congress)
Blanche K. Bruce
Born into slavery in 1841, Blanche K. Bruce (R-MS) spent his childhood years in Virginia where he received his earliest education from the tutor hired to teach his master's son. At the dawn of the Civil War, Bruce escaped slavery and traveled north to begin a distinguished career in education and politics. Elected to the Senate in 1874 by the Mississippi state legislature, he served from 1875 to 1881. In 2002 the Senate commissioned a new portrait of Bruce, now on display in the U.S. Capitol. (Photo: Library of Congress)
Edward Brooke
The first African American elected to the Senate by popular vote, Edward Brooke (R-MA) served two full terms, from 1967 to 1979. Born in Washington, D.C., in 1919, Brooke graduated from Howard University before serving in the United States Army during World War II. After the war, he received his juris doctor degree from Boston University. During his Senate career he championed the causes of low-income housing and an increased minimum wage and promoted commuter rail and mass transit systems. He also worked tirelessly to promote racial equality in the South. (Photo: Senate Historical Office)
Carol Moseley Braun
Some called 1992 the "Year of the Woman." More women than ever before were elected to political office in November of that year, and five of them came to the U.S. Senate. Carol Moseley Braun (D-IL) not only joined that class on January 3, 1993, but also became the first African American woman ever to serve as U.S. senator. During her Senate career, Moseley Braun sponsored progressive education bills and campaigned for gun control. Moseley Braun left the Senate in January of 1999 and soon after became the U.S. ambassador to New Zealand, a position she held until 2001. Moseley Braun ran for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004. (Photo: Senate Historical Office)
Barack Obama
Barack Obama (D-IL) was born in Hawaii on August 4, 1961. He received his elementary and high school education in Indonesia and Hawaii and graduated from Columbia University in 1983. He moved to Chicago in 1985 to work for a church-based group seeking to improve living conditions in poor neighborhoods. In 1991 Obama graduated from Harvard Law School where he was the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review. He served in the Illinois state senate from 1997 to 2004. Elected to the United States Senate in November of 2004, he took the oath of office and became the fifth African American to serve in the Senate on January 3, 2005. On November 4, 2008, Barack Obama was elected as the 44th president of the United States. He was reelected in 2012. (Photo: Senate Historical Office)
Roland W. Burris
Born in Centralia, Illinois, on August 3, 1937, Roland Burris (D-IL) earned a bachelor of arts degree in political science from Southern Illinois University Carbondale and a juris doctor degree from Howard University. After finishing law school in 1963, Burris became the first African American to work as a national bank examiner for the Treasury Department. When Burris was elected comptroller of Illinois in 1978, he was the first African American to win a statewide election in Illinois. After serving more than 10 years as comptroller, he became attorney general of Illinois. Appointed to the Senate on December 31, 2008, Burris filled the vacancy caused by the resignation of Barack Obama. He served in the Senate until November 29, 2010, a successor having been chosen in a special election. He was not a candidate for election to the unexpired portion of the term. (Photo: Senate Historical Office)
Tim Scott
Appointed to the Senate on January 2, 2013, Tim Scott (R-SC) became the first African American since Reconstruction to represent a southern state in the Senate. Born in North Charleston, South Carolina, on September 19, 1965, Scott attended Presbyterian College in Clinton before graduating with a bachelor of science degree from Charleston Southern University in 1988. An entrepreneur, Scott pursued a career in insurance and real estate. He served on the Charleston County council from 1995 until 2008 and was a member of the South Carolina house of representatives from 2009 until 2010. Elected as a Republican to the 112th Congress, Scott served one term in the House of Representatives before being appointed to the United States Senate. He was elected in a 2014 special election for the term ending January 3, 2017, and to a full term in 2016. (Photo: Senate Historical Office)
William "Mo" Cowan
The appointment of Massachusetts senator William "Mo" Cowan (D-MA) on February 1, 2013, marked the first time that two African Americans have served simultaneously in the United States Senate. Born in Yadkinville, North Carolina, in 1969, Cowan earned a bachelor of arts degree in sociology from Duke University and a juris doctor degree from Northeastern University School of Law. After finishing law school in 1994, Cowan practiced civil litigation and became a partner in a law firm. Prior to entering the Senate, he served as chief legal counsel and chief of staff to Massachusetts governor Deval Patrick. Cowan served in the Senate until July 15, 2013, a successor having been chosen in a special election. He was not a candidate for election to the unexpired portion of the term. (Photo: Senate Historical Office)
Cory A. Booker
Cory Booker (D-NJ) became the first African American to represent New Jersey in the United States Senate on October 31, 2013. Born in Washington, D.C., he earned his bachelor’s and master’s degrees from Stanford before attending The Queen’s College, University of Oxford, Oxford, England, as a Rhodes Scholar, where he received a graduate degree in 1994. Booker then attended Yale Law School, earning his juris doctor degree in 1997. He served on the Newark City Council from 1998 to 2002 and then as mayor of Newark from 2006 to 2013. Booker was elected to the United States Senate in a special election on October 16, 2013, to fill the vacancy caused by the death of Frank Lautenberg, a seat subsequently held by appointed senator Jeffrey Chiesa, and took the oath of office on October 31, 2013, for the term ending January 3, 2015. He was elected to a full term in November 2014. (Photo: Senate Historical Office)
Kamala D. Harris
Kamala D. Harris (D-CA) became the first African American to represent California in the United States Senate on January 3, 2017. Born in Oakland, California, Harris graduated from Howard University in Washington, D.C., before returning to California to attend the University of California, Hastings College of the Law. After earning her juris doctor degree, Harris served as the deputy district attorney in Alameda County, California, before becoming the managing attorney in the San Francisco District Attorney's Office and then chief of the Division on Children and Families, where she established California’s first Bureau of Children’s Justice. Harris was the first African American and first woman elected district attorney of San Francisco (2004–2011) and attorney general of California (2011–2016). (Photo: Senate Historical Office)
Data from the past 50 years reveal the upward yet uneven trajectory of black political leadership in America.
The Fifteenth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution gave the vote to all male citizens regardless of color or previous condition of servitude. African Americans became involved in the political process not only as voters but also as governmental representatives at the local, state and national level. Although their elections were often contested by whites, and members of the legislative bodies were usually reluctant to receive them, many African American men ably served their country during Reconstruction. Pictured here are Senator Hiram R. Revels and Representatives Benjamin S. Turner, Josiah T. Walls, Joseph H. Rainey, Robert Brown Elliot, Robert D. De Large, and Jefferson H. Long.
The Congressional Black Caucus has existed since 1971. It included 12 House members in its early days and has gradually grown to a record-high 51 House members …
Data from the past 50 years reveal the upward yet uneven trajectory of black political leadership in America. In 1965, there were no blacks in the U.S. Senate, nor were there any black governors. And only six members of the House of Representatives were black.
As of 2019, there is greater representation in some areas – 52 House members are black, putting the share of black House members (12%) on par with the share of blacks in the U.S. population overall for the first time in history. But in other areas, there has been little change (there are three black senators and no black governors).
The share of blacks serving in a presidential Cabinet was at or above parity with the population during the Clinton and George W. Bush administrations. But there was only one black Cabinet secretary during Obama’s first term, and the same is true so far in Donald Trump’s administration.
The first black U.S. senator, Hiram R. Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, was chosen by his state’s Legislature to fill an empty seat. He served for a year, from 1870 to 1871. Since then, nine black Americans have served in the Senate, including Edward W. Brooke of Massachusetts (1967-79), Carol Moseley Braun of Illinois (1993-99), and Obama. But until 2013, no two black senators had been in office at the same time. That year, Tim Scott, R-S.C., and Cory Booker, D-N.J., took office, making it the first time more than one black senator has served. Kamala Harris, D-Calif., joined their ranks in 2017.
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With the fourth of November rapidly approaching, politics are in the forefront of the American consciousness and the gender and race of our politicians have become a common topic of conversation. The majority of United States politicians have been white but African Americans have been involved in the political world for centuries as advisors, legislators, commentators, and voters. Early politicians such as Hiram Rhodes Revels, Joseph Hayne Rainey, and Blanche K. Bruce laid the foundation for Barack Obama's historic run for president. But Obama is not the first African American to run for president. Black women in particular have a strong showing in running for the office. In 1972 Shirley Anita Chisholm was the first African American, man or woman, to run for the presidency. In 1988 Lenora Fulani became the first African American and the first woman to be listed on the ballot in every state, and in 2004 Carol Moseley Braun tried to make history again by launching her own presidential campaign. This month's photo essay traces these influential politicians and others—the first African American members of Congress, the handful of black senators, and other African American presidential candidates—who have paved the way for Obama's run for president.
Since 1870, when Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi and Representative Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first African Americans to serve in Congress, a total of
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# African Americans have served as U.S. Representatives, Delegates, or Senators. This Web site, based on the publication Black Americans in Congress, contains biographical profiles of former African-American Members of Congress, links to information about current Black Members, essays on institutional and national events that shaped successive generations of African Americans in Congress, and images of each individual Member, supplemented by other historical photos.
Rashawn Ray writes that candidates have to formulate concrete policies that will speak to the deficits Black men experience in job opportunities and social services, as well as the need for criminal justice reform.
From the first United States Congress in 1789 through the 116th Congress in 2020, 162 African Americans have served in Congress. Meanwhile, the total number of all individuals who have served in Congress over history is 12,348. Of African Americans, 152 have served in the House of Representatives , 9 have served in the Senate , and 1 has served in both chambers. Voting members have totaled 156, with 6 serving as delegates . Party membership has been, 131 Democrats , and 31 Republicans . While 13 members founded the Congressional Black Caucus in 1971 during the 92nd Congress , in the 116th Congress (2019-2020), 56 have served, with 54 Democrats and 2 Republicans (total seats are 535, plus 6 delegates).