Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Sr. (August 9, 1898 – June 22, 1987) was an American politician who served in the

United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the Lower house, lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the United States Senate, Senate being ...

from 1958 until 1979. He was the first

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

to represent

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania (; ( Pennsylvania Dutch: )), officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a state spanning the Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes regions of the United States. It borders Delaware to its southeast, ...

in the House of Representatives. The Robert N. C. Nix Federal Building in

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

, Pennsylvania is named in his honor.

Early life

Born in

Orangeburg, South Carolina Orangeburg, also known as ''The Garden City'', is the principal city in and the county seat of Orangeburg County, South Carolina, United States. The population of the city was 13,964 according to the 2010 United States Census and declined to 12 ...

, he attended

Townsend Harris High School Townsend Harris High School at Queens College (THHS) is a public magnet high school for the humanities in the borough of Queens in New York City. Students and alumni often refer to themselves as "Harrisites." Townsend Harris consistently ranks a ...

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and graduated from

Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) Lincoln University (LU) is a public state-related historically black university (HBCU) near Oxford, Pennsylvania. Founded as the private Ashmun Institute in 1854, it has been a public institution since 1972 and was the United States' first deg ...

in 1921. He received his law degree from the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and began practicing in

. After entering private practice, Nix became active in the

Democratic Party Democratic Party most often refers to: *Democratic Party (United States) Democratic Party and similar terms may also refer to: Active parties Africa *Botswana Democratic Party *Democratic Party of Equatorial Guinea *Gabonese Democratic Party *Demo ...

as a committeeman from the fourth ward in 1932. He became a special assistant deputy attorney general of Pennsylvania in 1934 and delegate to the

1956 Democratic National Convention The 1956 Democratic National Convention nominated former Governor Adlai Stevenson of Illinois for president and Senator Estes Kefauver of Tennessee for vice president. It was held in the International Amphitheatre on the South Side of Chicag ...

United States House of Representatives

1958 Events January * January 1 – The European Economic Community (EEC) comes into being. * January 3 – The West Indies Federation is formed. * January 4 ** Edmund Hillary's Commonwealth Trans-Antarctic Expedition completes the third ...

, he defeated two opponents in a

special election A by-election, also known as a special election in the United States and the Philippines, a bye-election in Ireland, a bypoll in India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-larges ...

to fill a congressional vacancy left by

Earl Chudoff Earl Chudoff (November 15, 1907 – May 17, 1993) was an American lawyer and jurist who served five terms as a Democratic member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Pennsylvania from 1949 to 1958. Early life and career Earl Chudoff was b ...

in the

House of Representatives House of Representatives is the name of legislative bodies in many countries and sub-national entitles. In many countries, the House of Representatives is the lower house of a bicameral legislature, with the corresponding upper house often c ...

. An elected official who rarely wanted or attracted widespread publicity, he supported mostly

liberal Liberal or liberalism may refer to: Politics * a supporter of liberalism ** Liberalism by country * an adherent of a Liberal Party * Liberalism (international relations) * Sexually liberal feminism * Social liberalism Arts, entertainment and m ...

legislation. He was reelected 10 times. He worked for the passage of the landmark legislation promoting the

American Civil Rights Movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the United ...

and privately sought to prevent the House from denying Rep. Adam Clayton Powell his seat in 1967. In 1962, he became the first member of congress to knowingly meet with gay activists, when he invited

Frank Kameny Franklin Edward Kameny (May 21, 1925 – October 11, 2011) was an American gay rights activist. He has been referred to as "one of the most significant figures" in the American gay rights movement. In 1957, Kameny was dismissed from his po ...

to his office. In 1975, he introduced an amendment to the Foreign Military Sales Act requiring the Defense Department to provide the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is Bicameralism, bicameral, composed of a lower body, the United States House of Representatives, House of Representatives, and an upper body, ...

with information on identities of agents who negotiate arms sales for American firms.

Committee service

Congressman Nix served on the Veterans' Affairs Committee, the Foreign Affairs Committee and the

Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries The United States House Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries is a defunct committee of the U.S. House of Representatives. The Committee on Merchant Marine and Fisheries was created on December 21, 1887, replacing the Select Committee on Ameri ...

. He was the chairman of the Committee on the Post Office and Civil Service and the chairman of the Subcommittee on International Economic Policy. Congressman Nix served 20 years before losing to

William H. Gray III William Herbert Gray III (August 20, 1941 – July 1, 2013) was an American politician and member of the Democratic Party who represented from 1979 to 1991. He also served as chairman of the House Committee on the Budget from 1985 to 1989 and ...

in the primary in 1978.

Family

Congressman Nix's son, Robert N. C. Nix Jr., became the first

to be elected to statewide office in Pennsylvania when he was elected to the

Pennsylvania Supreme Court The Supreme Court of Pennsylvania is the highest court in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania's Unified Judicial System. It also claims to be the oldest appellate court in the United States, a claim that is disputed by the Massachusetts Supreme J ...

Legacy

In 1985, the United States court house and post office building in Philadelphia was renamed the Robert N. C. Nix, Sr. Federal Building and United States Post Office in honor of Nix.

Famous quote

* "Be prepared, be sharp, be careful, and use the King's English well. And you can forget all the ther rulesunless you remember one more: Get paid."

References

External links

* , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Nix, Robert N. C. Sr. 1898 births 1987 deaths 20th-century American politicians African-American lawyers African-American members of the United States House of Representatives African-American people in Pennsylvania politics Democratic Party members of the United States House of Representatives from Pennsylvania Lincoln University (Pennsylvania) alumni People from Orangeburg, South Carolina Politicians from Philadelphia Townsend Harris High School alumni University of Pennsylvania Law School alumni 20th-century African-American politicians African-American men in politics