Hiram Rhodes was the first African-American to serve in Congress

Born 1827– Died 1901

Republican Senator from Mississippi in the 41st Congress (1869–1871)

From your US Congressional archives:

REVELS, Hiram Rhodes, a Senator from Mississippi; born in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N.C., on September 27, 1827; attended Beech Grove Quaker Seminary in Liberty, Ind., Darke County Seminary in Ohio, and Knox College, Galesburg, Ill.; barber; ordained a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church at Baltimore, Md., in 1845; carried on religious work in Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri; accepted a pastorate in Baltimore, Md., in 1860; at the outbreak of the Civil War assisted in recruiting two regiments of African American troops in Maryland; served in Vicksburg, Miss., as chaplain of a Negro regiment, and organized African American churches in that State; established a school for freedmen in St. Louis, Mo., in 1863; after the war, served in churches in Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana before settling in Natchez, Miss., in 1866; elected alderman in 1868; member, Mississippi state senate 1870; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate; presented his credentials upon the readmission of Mississippi to representation on February 23, 1870; took the oath of office on February 25, 1870, after the Senate resolved a challenge to his credentials, and served from February 23, 1870, until March 3, 1871; first African American Senator; secretary of state ad interim of Mississippi in 1873; president of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College (formerly Oakland College, now Alcorn State University), Rodney, Miss., 1871-1874, 1876-1882; moved to Holly Springs, Marshall County, Miss., and continued his religious work; editor, Southwestern Christian Advocate, official newspaper of A.M.E. Church 1876-1882; in retirement after 1882, taught theology at Shaw University, Holly Springs, Miss.; died from a paralytic stroke in Aberdeen, Miss., January 16, 1901; interment in Hill Crest Cemetery, Holly Springs, Miss.

Bibliography American National Biography; Dictionary of American Biography; Office of History and Preservation, Office of the Clerk, Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, 2008; Libby, Billy W. “Senator Hiram Revels of Mississippi Takes His Seat, January-February, 1870.” Journal of Mississippi History 37 (November 1975): 381-94; Thompson, Julius. Hiram R. Revels, 1827-1901: A Biography. New York: Arno Press, 1982.

These impressive achievements also were also covered recently at the Constitution Center in “Rhodes was a post-Civil War era congressman who is considered the first African-American to serve in Congress Modern civil rights hero helps salute 19th century political trailblazer”. According to the article by Peter Crimmins (@petercrimmins), “to mark Constitution Day, the 226th anniversary of the Sept. 17 signing of the United States Constitution, the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia honored the first African-American to serve”.

Also See: https://history.house.gov/People/Listing/R/REVELS,-Hiram-Rhodes-(R000166)/