|
Senators
|
|
Revels, Hiram Rhoades
|
1870-1871
|
MS
|
|
Republican
|
First black elected to Senate.
|
|
Bruce, Blanche Kelso
|
1875-1881
|
MS
|
|
Republican
|
|
|
Brooke, Edward W.
|
1967-1979
|
MA
|
|
Republican
|
|
|
Moseley-Braun, Carol
|
1993-1999
|
IL
|
|
Democratic
|
First black woman elected to Senate.
|
|
Obama, Barack
|
2005-
|
IL
|
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Representatives
|
|
Rainey, Joseph H.
|
1870-1879
|
SC
|
1st
|
Republican
|
First black member of the House; elected in a special election after the House declared the seat of Benjamin Whittemore vacant.
|
|
Long, Jefferson Franklin
|
1870-1871
|
GA
|
4th
|
Republican
|
In 1871 delivered the first speech on the floor of Congress by a black member; elected in a special election after the House declared the seat of Samuel Grove vacant.
|
|
Elliott, Robert B.
|
1871-1874
|
SC
|
3rd
|
Republican
|
Resigned from office, November 1, 1874.
|
|
DeLarge, Robert C.
|
1871-1873
|
SC
|
2nd
|
Republican
|
Seat declared vacant after his election was successfully contested, January 24, 1873.
|
|
Turner, Benjamin S.
|
1871-1873
|
AL
|
1st
|
Republican
|
Wanted to grant amnesty to former Confederates.
|
|
Walls, Josiah T.
|
1871-1873, 1873-1876
|
FL
|
At-large
|
Republican
|
Lost seat in 1873 when Silas L. Niblack successfully challenged his election; lost seat in 1876 when Jesse J. Finley successfully challenged his election.
|
|
Cain, Richard Harvey
|
1873-1875, 1877-1879
|
SC
|
At-large
|
Republican
|
|
|
Lynch, John R.
|
1873-1877, 1882-1883
|
MS
|
6th
|
Republican
|
Successfully contested the election of James R. Chalmers.
|
|
Ransier, Alonzo J.
|
1873-1875
|
SC
|
2nd
|
Republican
|
|
|
Rapier, James T.
|
1873-1875
|
AL
|
2nd
|
Republican
|
|
|
Haralson, Jeremiah
|
1875-1877
|
AL
|
1st
|
Republican
|
Noted as a conservative African American during Reconstruction, he was a friend of former Confederate president Jefferson Davis.
|
|
Hyman, John A.
|
1875-1877
|
NC
|
2nd
|
Republican
|
|
|
Nash, Charles E.
|
1875-1877
|
LA
|
6th
|
Republican
|
|
|
Smalls, Robert
|
1875-1879, 1882-1883, 1884-1887
|
SC
|
5th
|
Republican
|
Successfully contested the election of George Tillman to win first term; elected in 1884 in a special election after the death of Edmund Mackey.
|
|
O'Hara, James E.
|
1883-1887
|
NC
|
2nd
|
Republican
|
|
|
Cheatham, Henry P.
|
1889-1893
|
NC
|
2nd
|
Republican
|
|
|
Langston, John Mercer
|
1890-1891
|
VA
|
4th
|
Republican
|
Successfully contested the election of Edward C. Venable.
|
|
Miller, Thomas E.
|
1890-1891
|
SC
|
7th
|
Republican
|
Successfully contested the election of William Elliott.
|
|
Murray, George Washington
|
1893-1895, 1896-1897
|
SC
|
7th
|
Republican
|
Successfully contested election of William Stokes to serve his second term.
|
|
White, George Henry
|
1897-1901
|
NC
|
2nd
|
Republican
|
Only black member of Congress during his tenure; 28 years would pass before another black member was seated.
|
|
DePriest, Oscar
|
1929-1935
|
IL
|
1st
|
Republican
|
Sponsored legislation to make Abraham Lincoln's birthday a holiday.
|
|
Mitchell, Arthur W.
|
1935-1943
|
IL
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
Switched during his political career from Republican to Democrat and became the first black Democrat elected to Congress.
|
|
Dawson, William L.
|
1943-1970
|
IL
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
Died in office, November 9, 1970.
|
|
Powell, Adam Clayton, Jr.
|
1945-1967, 1969-1971
|
NY
|
18th
|
Democratic
|
Reelected in 1966 but excluded by Congress and not seated; reelected to the seat vacated by his exclusion but never took the oath of office; reelected in 1968 and seated.
|
|
Diggs, Charles C., Jr.
|
1955-1980
|
MI
|
13th
|
Democratic
|
Resigned from office, June 3, 1980.
|
|
Nix, Robert N. C., Sr.
|
1958-1979
|
PA
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Earl Chudoff.
|
|
Hawkins, Augustus F.
|
1963-1991
|
CA
|
29th
|
Democratic
|
Restored the honorable discharges of the 167 black soldiers dismissed from the 25th Infantry after being unjustly accused of a public disturbance in Brownsville, Texas, in 1906.
|
|
Conyers, John, Jr.
|
1965-
|
MI
|
14th
|
Democratic
|
Principal sponsor of the Martin Luther King Holiday bill.
|
|
Chisholm, Shirley Anita
|
1969-1983
|
NY
|
12th
|
Democratic
|
First black woman elected to Congress; first black woman to run for president (1972).
|
|
Clay, William L.
|
1969-2001
|
MO
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Stokes, Louis
|
1969-1999
|
OH
|
21st
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Collins, George W.
|
1970-1972
|
IL
|
6th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election after the death of Daniel J. Ronan; killed in airplane crash December 8, 1972.
|
|
Dellums, Ronald V.
|
1971-1998
|
CA
|
8th
|
Democratic
|
Primary sponsor of the legislation that ended U.S. support of the apartheid government in South Africa.
|
|
Fauntroy, Walter E.
|
1971-1991
|
DC
|
At-large
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election as first D.C. nonvoting delegate.
|
|
Metcalfe, Ralph H.
|
1971-1978
|
IL
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
Died in office, October 10, 1978.
|
|
Mitchell, Parren J.
|
1971-1987
|
MD
|
7th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Rangel, Charles B.
|
1971-
|
NY
|
15th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Burke, Yvonne B.
|
1973-1979
|
CA
|
28th
|
Democratic
|
First woman to give birth while serving in Congress.
|
|
Collins, Cardiss
|
1973-1997
|
IL
|
7th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election after the death of husband George Collins.
|
|
Jordan, Barbara C.
|
1973-1979
|
TX
|
18th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Young, Andrew J., Jr.
|
1973-1977
|
GA
|
5th
|
Democratic
|
Resigned January 29, 1977, to become U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.
|
|
Ford, Harold E., Sr.
|
1975-1997
|
TN
|
9th
|
Democratic
|
Named Child Advocate of the Year in 1987 by the Child Welfare League of America for his work on welfare reform.
|
|
Dixon, Julian C.
|
1979-2000
|
CA
|
32nd
|
Democratic
|
Died of heart attack December 8, 2000.
|
|
Evans, Melvin H.
|
1979-1981
|
VI
|
At-large
|
Republican
|
Nonvoting delegate.
|
|
Gray, William H., III
|
1979-1991
|
PA
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
Resigned September 11, 1991, to head the United Negro College Fund.
|
|
Leland, George T. 'Mickey'
|
1979-1989
|
TX
|
18th
|
Democratic
|
Died in a plane crash August 7, 1989, while investigating hunger among refugees in Ethiopia.
|
|
Stewart, Bennett McVey
|
1979-1981
|
IL
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Crockett, George W., Jr.
|
1980-1991
|
MI
|
13th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Charles S. Diggs Jr.
|
|
Dymally, Mervyn M.
|
1981-1993
|
CA
|
31st
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Savage, Gus
|
1981-1993
|
IL
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Washington, Harold D.
|
1981-1983
|
IL
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
Resigned April 29, 1983, to become mayor of Chicago, Illinois.
|
|
Hall, Katie Beatrice
|
1982-1985
|
IN
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election after the death of Adam Benjamin.
|
|
Hayes, Charles A.
|
1983-1993
|
IL
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Harold Washington.
|
|
Owens, Major R.
|
1983-2007
|
NY
|
11th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Towns, Edolphus
|
1983-
|
NY
|
10th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Wheat, Alan D.
|
1983-1995
|
MO
|
5th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Waldon, Alton R., Jr.
|
1986-1987
|
NY
|
6th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election after the death of Joseph Addabbo.
|
|
Espy, Albert M. 'Mike'
|
1987-1993
|
MS
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
Resigned January 25, 1993, to become secretary of agriculture.
|
|
Flake, Floyd H.
|
1987-1997
|
NY
|
6th
|
Democratic
|
Resigned November 15, 1997, to return to his ministry.
|
|
Lewis, John R.
|
1987-
|
GA
|
5th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Mfume, Kweisi
|
1987-1996
|
MD
|
7th
|
Democratic
|
Resigned February 16, 1996, to become president of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP).
|
|
Payne, Donald M.
|
1989-
|
NJ
|
10th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Washington, Craig A.
|
1989-1995
|
TX
|
18th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election after the death of Mickey Leland.
|
|
Blackwell, Lucien E.
|
1991-1995
|
PA
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing William Gray.
|
|
Collins, Barbara-Rose
|
1991-1997
|
MI
|
15th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Franks, Gary
|
1991-1997
|
CT
|
5th
|
Republican
|
|
|
Jefferson, William J.
|
1991-
|
LA
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Norton, Eleanor Holmes
|
1991-
|
DC
|
At-large
|
Democratic
|
Nonvoting delegate.
|
|
Waters, Maxine
|
1991-
|
CA
|
35th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Clayton, Eva M.
|
1992-2003
|
NC
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election after the death of Walter Jones.
|
|
Bishop, Sanford D., Jr.
|
1993-
|
GA
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Brown, Corrine
|
1993-
|
FL
|
3rd
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Clyburn, James E.
|
1993-
|
SC
|
6th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Fields, Cleo
|
1993-1997
|
LA
|
4th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Hastings, Alcee L.
|
1993-
|
FL
|
23rd
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Hilliard, Earl F.
|
1993-2003
|
AL
|
7th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Johnson, Eddie Bernice
|
1993-
|
TX
|
30th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
McKinney, Cynthia A.
|
1993-2003, 2005-2007
|
GA
|
4th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Meek, Carrie P.
|
1993-2003
|
FL
|
17th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Reynolds, Melvin J.
|
1993-1995
|
IL
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
Resigned from office, October 1, 1995.
|
|
Rush, Bobby L.
|
1993-
|
IL
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Scott, Robert C.
|
1993-
|
VA
|
3rd
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Thompson, Bennie G.
|
1993-
|
MS
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Mike Espy.
|
|
Tucker, Walter R.
|
1993-1995
|
CA
|
37th
|
Democratic
|
Resigned from office, December 15, 1995.
|
|
Watt, Melvin L.
|
1993-
|
NC
|
12th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Wynn, Albert R.
|
1993-
|
MD
|
4th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Fattah, Chaka
|
1995-
|
PA
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Frazer, Victor O.
|
1995-1997
|
VI
|
At-large
|
Democratic
|
Nonvoting delegate.
|
|
Jackson, Jesse L., Jr.
|
1995-
|
IL
|
2nd
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Mel Reynolds.
|
|
Jackson-Lee, Sheila
|
1995-
|
TX
|
18th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Watts, J. C., Jr.
|
1995-2003
|
OK
|
4th
|
Republican
|
Elected to House Republican leadership in 1999.
|
|
Cummings, Elijah
|
1996-
|
MD
|
7th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Kweisi Mfume.
|
|
Millender-McDonald, Juanita
|
1996-2007
|
CA
|
37th
|
Democratic
|
Died April 22, 2007.
|
|
Ford, Harold E., Jr.
|
1997-2007
|
TN
|
9th
|
Democratic
|
Succeeded his father, Harold E. Ford Sr., in district.
|
|
Kilpatrick, Carolyn Cheeks
|
1997-
|
MI
|
15th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Carson, Julia
|
1997-2007
|
IN
|
10th
|
Democratic
|
Died December 15, 2007.
|
|
Christian-Christensen, Donna
|
1997-
|
VI
|
At-large
|
Democratic
|
Nonvoting delegate.
|
|
Davis, Danny K.
|
1997-
|
IL
|
7th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Lee, Barbara
|
1998-
|
CA
|
9th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Ron Dellums.
|
|
Meeks, Gregory
|
1998-
|
NY
|
6th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Floyd Flake.
|
|
Jones, Stephanie Tubbs
|
1999-
|
OH
|
11th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Clay, William Lacy
|
2001-
|
MO
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Watson, Diane E.
|
2001-
|
CA
|
32nd
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Julian C. Dixon.
|
|
Ballance, Frank W., Jr.
|
2003-2004
|
NC
|
1st
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Davis, Artur
|
2003-
|
AL
|
7th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Majette, Denise L.
|
2003-2005
|
GA
|
4th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Meek, Kendrick
|
2003-
|
FL
|
17th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Scott, David
|
2003-
|
GA
|
13th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Ellison, Keith
|
2007-
|
MN
|
5th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Clarke, Yvette
|
2007-
|
NY
|
11th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Johnson, Hank
|
2007-
|
GA
|
4th
|
Democratic
|
|
|
Richardson, Laura
|
2007-
|
CA
|
37th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Juanita Millender-McDonald.
|
|
Carson, André
|
2008-
|
IN
|
10th
|
Democratic
|
Elected in a special election, replacing Julia Carson.
|
 |
|
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