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Hon.
H. R. Revels |
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United States
Senator from Mississippi |
| HON. H. R.
REVELS |
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On this page will be
found the portrait of Hon. H. R. Revels
Senator elect from Mississippi. Mr. Revels
was born in North Carolina, in 1822, of free
colored parents. He
was educated at a
Quaker Seminary in Indiana, and became a Methodist minister. At the breaking out of the war he was settled in
Baltimore, and from that time took an active part in the
management of freedmen's affairs. In 1864 he went to
Vicksburg, in pursuance of this mission, and assisted in
the organization of schools and churches among the liberated slaves. He passed the next two years in Kansas and
Missouri, preaching and lecturing on moral and religious subjects; returned to Mississippi the following year, and
has since resided in Natchez. He is presiding elder of his
Church for the southern portion of the State. Since July
last he has been a member of the City Council, and has
served in that capacity with credit. A short time since
he was elected to the State Senate by a handsome majority,
and has now been selected by the Legislature as a proper
man to represent the State in the Senate of the United States.
Mr. Revels is a tall, portly man, of light complexion;
has benevolent features, a pleasant voice, and cultivated
manners. He is thoroughly respected by his own people,
and by the whites. |
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During Reconstruction, black men were
elected to political office for the first
time. They served at the local, state, and
national level, although at a ratio below
that of the black percentage of the
population.
In 1870 the Reverend Hiram Revels of
Mississippi, a Republican, became the first
black person elected to the U.S. Senate. He
served for only one year. He then became the
first president of Alcorn University, the
first land-grant college for black students.
In addition to Revels, fifteen black men
served in the House of Representatives
during the Reconstruction era.
It would be nearly 100 years until the
next black, Republican Edward Brooke of
Massachusetts, was elected to the U.S.
Senate (serving 1967-1979). The first black
Democrat and woman elected to the U.S.
Senate was Carol Moseley-Braun (serving
1993-1999).
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