Charles sumner and benjamin wade. And they really 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 toward Southern States and was going to ensure that Political Rights were extended to africanamericans. Well, so the war ends in 1 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 radicals, if anything, becomes even more assertive after the end of the war. After lincolns assassinated president johnson takes over and has an even more lenient view than lincoln of how the Southern States are going to be readmitted and hes pushed constantly 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. The passage of the 13th minute. Thats ratified later that year. Banning slavery once and for all in the u. S. Followed up by major legislation like the civil rights ax of 186 6 which extended Citizenship Rights to the freed man and the 14th amendment which guaranteed Citizenship Rights. The 15th amendment which guaranteed Voting Rights 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 poles 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, this is one right here from 1866, the scene outside the gallery at the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 186 6 that youre talking about and theres great jubilation and we have some from the passage of those amendments youre talking about and other Civil Rights Acts. In all of them, people seem really excited and delighted at this level of progress. So, there its certainly being portrayed in the public eye as Something Wonderful and great and terrific, and so then is it sort of a lag of a few years from those thing 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 its at that point by the late 1860s that you begin to see a number of africanamerican officeholders 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, 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 manard from louisiana was elected in 1868. And his election was contested and 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 Rainey of South Carolina in december of 1870 and following him are another 19 africanamerican members throughout the course of the 19th century. Rainey wasnt actually the first africanamerican in congress. That distinction went to hyrem rebels of mississippi who was elected by the state legislature as senators were back in the 19th century. And he came into congress in early 1870s. But when you think about that revolution that occurs within a matter of less than a decade. So rainey had been born into slavery. During the civil war, hed been conscripted into the federal army to dig trenches around charleston where he was from. He escaped 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 slaveholder. And revels story is the same. He was born as a freed man, never was a slave. But he, too, comes into the senate and occupies a seat that had been held by a slaveholder less than a decade before. And when you think about the great paradoxes in American History, thats one of them. That they come to the capitol and represent africanamerican constituencies and theyre doing it after those seats have been given up during secession 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 the early 1870s and we actually have a print that has five of them right here. They include hirem revels who you were just talking about and Joseph Rainey 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 an see theyre being presented in this print which is taken from a book from a former speaker of the house, in the congress, very much in the same vain as every other member of congress and statesman of the day was. Most of these are taken by early photographs. If you were to see the whole thing, youd see they look like theyre sitting in the same chair, in front of the same curtain background that Matthew Brady uses for every congressman. You cant swing a cat without finding a 19th century photograph of a member of congress from bradys studio sitting in these chairs. Its interesting to me to see that during this reconstruction period, there really is this sense that these people are members of congress. Theres this sort of, you know, the civil war is the b. C. And a. D. Of American History and really sort of seems like its very much a huge pivot thats 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 writes were extended to this group that had been excluded for so long. And rainey and revel, their two careers in the house and senate respectively really embody the experiences of the africanamerican to serve in this time period. Their service was to a great degree largely symbolic service. Revel only serves a very short time in the senate, and he later goes on a speaking circuit around the country and hes introduced everywhere as the 15th amendment in flesh and blood and the embodiment of africanamerican Voting Rights. And rainey, too, was a symbol for africanamericans. These were men who not only represented their small districts or their states and the constituents therein, but they represented africanamericans nationally. And they were a source of pride. And thats reflected in the material culture. Rainey serves for almost eight years in the house. Hes the longest serving 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. 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 is, again, a piece of legislation not many people think about today. The Civil Rights Act is the Civil Rights Act of 1964. And what that bill in 1875 would have done is essentially the same thing the 1964 bill did. It would have granted equality in accommodation, 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, 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, the chairman of the Judiciary Committee in the house. And 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 revel and rainey as the firsts often are the ones that i think about most, but there are the other 19 folks and one of them is robert brown elliott. Right here. This is from Frank Leslies illustrated newspaper. Where a lot of the 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 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 bit about robert elliott. Elliotts one of the interesting members. Hes from South Carolina and the majority of africanamerican members during the 19th century come from South Carolina, Seven Members all from that state largely because its a majority africanamerican population and their districts are majority africanamerican. And so theres support for a black candidate. Elliott is a wonderful orator 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 some journalism background. Then he 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 picked up in the Northern Press and they just swoon over him. And one of the speeches, he actually, kind of a Point Counterpoint debate with alexander stevens, 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 so respected and hes such 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 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 toward 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 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 the members. Here you have 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 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 reconstruction. I wanted to point out something to you i find really interesting as a curator, historian, the way he ends up being promulgated in some ways in the press, so that you get no business because of racism and because of jim crow and also its sort of the its reinforced in a popular press. So, and 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 toward 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 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 and in particular, i want to draw your attention to this circular area here in which theyre showing africanamericans in the visitors gallery, called the gentlemans gallery. That is 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 accompanying 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 on 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 in the National News coverage of africanamerican civic life and it goes pretty quickly. This 20 years difference. From seeing this, which is all over the papers at the time, to the 1880s in which it moves entirely toward a caricature of africanamerican participation in the world of public affairs. So the turning point happens at the end of reconstruction, right. The turning point for this story really happens with the end of formal reconstruction where Union Military forces occupied the south and had kept the reconstruction governments in place. That is rolled back in 1877 as part of the disputed election of 1876, between Samuel Tildon 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 and five representatives and five Supreme Court justices. And in the results, they come back, there were three Southern States that had disputed returns. So what shows up is two different groups, one for tildon and one for hayes. The commission comes back and finds in favor of hayes, awarding him those votes. But as part of the political negotiation that struck to make him president , the Southern States manage the democrats manage to push republicans to end reconstruction formally. And that happens in 1877. And 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. It is 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 it is 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, 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 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