Search results
Hiram Rhodes Revels, American clergyman, educator, and politician who became the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate (1870–71), representing Mississippi during Reconstruction. He was a member of the Republican Party.
- The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Mar 26, 2008 · Hiram Rhodes Revels was a Republican U.S. Senator, minister in the African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church, and the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate. Revels was born in Fayetteville, North Carolina on September 27, 1827, to a family that had been free for several generations.
- Early Years and Family Life
- Political Career
- Tenure in Office
- Life After The Senate
- Death and Legacy
Unlike many Black people in the South at the time, Revels was not enslavedfrom birth but was born to free parents of Black, White, and possibly Native American heritage on Sept. 27, 1827, in Fayetteville, N.C. His older brother Elias Revels owned a barbershop, which Hiram inherited upon his sibling’s death. He ran the shop for a few years and then ...
In 1865, Revels joined the staffs of churches in Kansas, Louisiana and Mississippi—where he established schools and started his political career. In 1868, he served as an alderman in Natchez, Miss. The next year, he became a representative in the Mississippi State Senate. “I am working very hard in politics as well as in other matters,” he wrote to...
Once he was sworn in, Revels tried to advocate for equality for Black people. He fought to have African Americans readmitted to the Georgia General Assembly after Democrats forced them out. He spoke out against legislation to maintain segregation in Washington, D.C., schools and served on labor and education committees. He fought for Black workers ...
Revels’ transition into higher education didn’t spell the end of his career in politics. In 1873, he became Mississippi's interim secretary of state. He lost his job at Alcorn when he opposed the reelection bid of Mississippi Gov. Adelbert Ames, who Revels accused of exploiting the Black vote for personal gain. An 1875 letter Revels wrote to Presid...
On Jan. 16, 1901, Revels died of a stroke in Aberdeen, Miss. He was in town for a church conference. He was 73. In death, Revels continues to be remembered as a trailblazer. Just nine African Americans, including Barack Obama, have won election as U.S. senators since Revels' time in office. This indicates that diversity in national politics continu...
- Nadra Kareem Nittle
One hundred and fifty years ago, on February 25, 1870, visitors in the packed Senate galleries burst into applause as Senator-elect Hiram Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, entered the Chamber to take his oath of office.
Hiram Revels of Mississippi 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.
Feb 25, 2015 · H iram Rhodes Revels was a rising star of the Republican Party in 1869. A gifted orator — a skill he’d honed in his pre-political career as a minister — he’d just won a seat in the...
People also ask
Who was the first African American in the US Senate?
Are there any black senators from Mississippi?
Who was the first African American to serve a full term?
Are Revels and Bruce the only black senators from Mississippi?
How many African Americans have been elected to the Senate?
How many African Americans served in Congress during the Reconstruction era?
Jan 6, 2021 · Hiram Revels subverted slave states and recruited soldiers in the Civil War. In the 150 years since he took office, he remains one of only 11 Black senators ever elected or appointed.
