The following is a list of African-American holders of public office from 1900 to 1959. This period saw setbacks for African Americans following the

Reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

after "Redeemer" Democrats retook control of the South and restored

white supremacy White supremacy or white supremacism is the belief that white people are superior to those of other races and thus should dominate them. The belief favors the maintenance and defense of any power and privilege held by white people. White su ...

in government. African-Americans were largely barred from voting and almost entirely obstructed from public office in former Confederate states under the Jim Crow regime. The number of African American officeholders would dramatically increase following the passage of the

Civil Rights Act of 1964 The Civil Rights Act of 1964 () is a landmark civil rights and United States labor law, labor law in the United States that outlaws discrimination based on Race (human categorization), race, Person of color, color, religion, sex, and nationa ...

. Notably, Minnie Buckingham Harper became the first African-American woman to serve in a state legislature when she was appointed in 1928 to serve out the remainder of her husband's term in the

West Virginia House of Delegates The West Virginia House of Delegates is the lower house of the West Virginia Legislature. Only three states—Maryland, Virginia and West Virginia—refer to their lower house as the House of Delegates. Organization Regular sessions begin with ...

. Crystal Bird Fauset was the first Black woman elected to a legislature when was elected to the

Pennsylvania House The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

in 1938.

Federal office

House of Representatives

Oscar Stanton De Priest Oscar Stanton De Priest (March 9, 1871 – May 12, 1951) was an American politician and civil rights advocate from Chicago. A member of the Illinois Republican Party, he was the first African American to be elected to Congress in the 20th centu ...

(1929-1953) *

Arthur Wergs Mitchell Arthur Wergs Mitchell, Sr. (December 22, 1883 – May 9, 1968), was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. For his entire congressional career from 1935 to 1943, he was the only African American in Congress. Mitchell was the first African American ...

(1935-1943) * William L. Dawson (1943-1970) *

Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (November 29, 1908 – April 4, 1972) was an American Baptist pastor and politician who represented the Harlem neighborhood of New York City in the United States House of Representatives from 1945 until 1971. He was t ...

(1945-1971) *

Charles Diggs Charles Coles Diggs Jr. (December 2, 1922 – August 24, 1998) was an American politician from the U.S. state of Michigan who served in the state senate and U.S. House of Representatives. He was the first African American elected to Congress ...

(1955-1980) *

Robert N. C. Nix Sr. Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix Sr. (August 9, 1898 – June 22, 1987) was an American politician who served in the United States House of Representatives from 1958 until 1979. He was the first African American to represent Pennsylvania in the House ...

(1958-1979)

State office

Alaska

House

Blanche McSmith Blanche Louise Preston McSmith (May 5, 1920 – July 28, 2006) was an African-American civil rights activist, businesswoman and politician. McSmith was born in Marshall, Texas and graduated from Wiley College in 1941. She received her master ...

(1959)

California

Assembly

* Frederick Madison Roberts (1918) *

Augustus Hawkins Augustus Freeman Hawkins (August 31, 1907 – November 10, 2007) was an American politician of the Democratic Party who served in the California State Assembly from 1935 to 1963 and the U.S. House Of Representatives from 1963 to 1991. Over the co ...

(1934-1960)

Colorado

Senate

* George L. Brown (1957)

House

* George L. Brown (1955)

Connecticut

House

* Wilfred X. Johnson (1958), the Wilfred X. Johnson House where he lived is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

Delaware

House

* William J. Winchester (1948)

Georgia

House

* H. F. McKay, state representative from Liberty County (1900-1901) * Lectured Crawford, state representative from McIntosh County (1886-1887, 1890–1891, 1900–1901) *

W. H. Rogers W. H. Rogers was an American politician. He was a state legislator in Georgia and was the only African-American to serve in the Georgia State Assembly, 99th Georgia State Assembly. He represented McIntosh County, Georgia from 1902 until 1907. Pol ...

, state representative from McIntosh County (1902-1908) * Amos Rogers * Hercules Wilson * Anthony Wilson, state representative from

Camden County, Georgia Camden County is a county located in the southeastern corner of the U.S. state of Georgia. According to the 2010 Census, the population was 50,513. Its county seat is Woodbine, and the largest city is St. Marys. It is one of the original cou ...

(1884-1888?) *Frasier, first name unknown, state representative from

Liberty County, Georgia Liberty County is a county in the U.S. state of Georgia. As of the 2020 census, the population is 65,256. The county seat is Hinesville. Liberty County is part of the Hinesville, Georgia Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is also included i ...

* Samuel A. McIvor, state representative for

Illinois

Senate

* Adelbert H. Roberts (1924) * William E. King (1934) * William A. Wallace (1938) * Christopher C. Wimbish (1942) * Fred J. Smith (1954)

House

* John G. Jones (1900) * Edward D. Green (1904) * Alexander Lane (1907) * Robert R. Jackson (1912) * Sheadrick B. Turner (1914) * Benjamin H. Lucas (1916) * Warren B. Douglass (1918) * George T. Kersey (1922) * Charles A. Griffin (1924) * William J. Warfield (1928) *

Charles J. Jenkins Charles Jones Jenkins (January 6, 1805June 14, 1883) was an American politician from Georgia. A Democrat, Jenkins served as Attorney General of Georgia from 1831–1834. He then went on to serve as Governor of Georgia from December 14, 1865 to ...

(1930) * Harris B. Gaines (1930) * Aubrey H. Smith (1934) * Ernest A. Greene (1936) * Richard A. Harewood (1936) * Andrew A. Torrence (1938) * Dudley S. Martin (1940) * Corneal A. Davis (1943) * Christopher C. Wimbish (1943) * Charles T. Sykes (1944) * Edward A. Welters (1944) * Kenneth E. Wilson (1954) * William H. Robinson (1954) * J. Horace Gardner (1956) *

Elwood Graham Elwood Graham (1902–1978) was a state legislator in Illinois. He served in the Illinois House of Representatives from 1957 to 1965 and again from 1967 to 1973. He was a Republican. In 1964, due to a failure of the General Assembly to agree ...

(1956) *

Floy Clements Floy Mae Clements (née Stephens November 20, 1891 – September 29, 1973) was an American politician in Illinois notable for being the first African American woman to serve in the Illinois General Assembly upon her election to the Illinois Ho ...

(1958) * Cecil A. Partee (1957) * Charles F. Armstrong (1957)

Indiana

Senate

Robert Brokenburr Robert Lee Brokenburr (November 16, 1886 – March 24, 1974) was an attorney, civil rights leader, and state legislator in Indiana. After several election campaigns, Brokenburr ran as a Republican for an Indiana Senate seat in 1940 and became the ...

(1940)

House

* Harry H. Richardson (1932) *

Robert L. Stanton Robert Lodowick Stanton D.D. (March 28, 1810 – May 23, 1885) was an American Presbyterian minister, educator and college administrator. He served as president of Miami University of Ohio from 1868 to 1871. He also served as president of Oa ...

(1932) * Marshall A. Talley (1932) * James S. Hunter (1940) * Jesse L. Dickinson (1942, 1944) * Wilbur H. Grant (1942)

Kansas

House

* W. M. Blount (1929-1930, 1933–1936) * William H. Towers (1937-1939)

Kentucky

House

* Charles W. Anderson (1936)

Maryland

Senate

* Harry A. Cole (1955-1966)

House

* Emory Cole (1955) * Truly Hatchett (1955) * Verda Welcome (1958 ) * Irma George Dixon (1958 )

Massachusetts

House

William H. Lewis William Henry Lewis (November 28, 1868 – January 1, 1949) was an African-American pioneer in athletics, law and politics. Born in Virginia to freedmen, he graduated from Amherst College in Massachusetts, where he had been one of the first Africa ...

(1902)

Michigan

Senate

Charles A. Roxborough Charles Anthony Roxborough III (November 25, 1888October 8, 1963) was the List of first African-American U.S. state legislators, first African-American man elected to the Michigan Senate. Early life Roxborough was born in Plaquemine, Louisiana o ...

(1930) * Charles Diggs Sr. (1937-1944) * Cora Brown (1952)

House

* James W. Ames (1901) * Horace A. White (1941) * Charline White (1950)

Missouri

House

* Walthall M. Moore (1921) * Edwin F. Kenswil (1943) * William A. Massingale (1947-1948) * Walter V. Lay (1949-1954) * James Troupe Sr. (1954)

Nebraska

Senate, then Unicameral Legislature

* John Adams Jr. (Nebraska politician), John Adams Jr. (1937)

House (prior to 1937)

* T. L. Barnett (1924) * A. A. McMillan (1924) * John Andrew Singleton (1927) * Johnny Owen (Nebraska politician), Johnny Owen (1933) * John Adams Jr. (Nebraska politician), John Adams Jr. (1935)

New Jersey

General Assembly

* Walter G. Alexander (1920) * Oliver Randolph (1922) * James L. Baxter (1927) * Frank S. Hargrave (1930-1931, 1933–1935, 1937-?, 1938–1942) * J. Mercer Burrell (1933-1937) * Guy R. Moorehead (1937-) * James Otto Hill (1943-1947) * Madaline A. Williams (1957)

New York

Senate

* Julius A. Archibald (1953)

State Assembly

* Edward A. Johnson (1917) * John C. Hawkins (1919) * Henri W. Shields (1922) * Pope B. Billups (1925) * Lamar Perkins (1930) * Francis E. Rivers (1930) * James E. Stevens (1930) * William T. Andrews (1934) * Robert W. Justice (1935) * Daniel Burrows (1938) * Hulan E. Jack (1940) * William E. Prince (1944) * Bessie A. Buchanan (1955)

Ohio

Senate

House

* George W. Hayes (1901) * H.T. Eubanks (1904) * A. Lee Beaty (1919) * Henry Higgins (politician), Henry Higgins (1919) * Harry E. Davis (1921) * E.W.B. Curry (1924) * Perry B. Jackson (1928) * Chester K. Gillespie (1933-1935, 1943–1945) * Richard P. McClain (1934) * David D. Turpeau (1940) * Sandy F. Ray (1942) * Jacob Ashburn Sr. (1944)

Oklahoma

House

* A. C. Hamlin (1908)

Pennsylvania

House

* Harry W. Bass (Pennsylvania politician), Harry W. Bass (1911) * John C. Asbury (1920) * Andrew F. Stephens (1920) * William H. Fuller (1924) * Samuel B. Hart (1924) * Walter E. Tucker (1930) * John William Harris (1932) * Homer S. Brown (1934) * Richard A. Cooper (1934) * Walter K. Jackson (!934) * Hobson R. Reynolds (1935-1936, 1939–1940) * Marshall L. Shephard (1935-1938, 1941–1942) * William A. Allmond (1936) * John H. Brigerman (1937-1938, 1943–1944) * Samuel D. Holmes (1936) * Edwin F. Thompson (1936) * E. Washington Rhodes (1938) * Crystal Bird Fauset (1938) * Ralph T. Jefferson (1940) * Edward C. Young (1940) * Dennie W. Hoggard (1943-1946, 1949–1954) * Lewis W. Mintess (1943-1944, 1947–1952) * Thomas P. Trent (1943-1946, 1950–1951) * Lee P. Myhan (1945-1946) * J. Thompson Pettigrew (1945-1946, 1949–1956)

Vermont

House

* William J. Anderson (politician, William J. Anderson (1944)

Washington

House

* John H. Ryan (1933) * Charles Stokes (politician), Charles Stokes

West Virginia

House

* James M. Ellis (1902) * Howard Railey (1904) * Ebenezer Howard Harper (1917) * Harry J. Capehart (1919–1925) * Minnie Buckingham Harper (1928, appointed)

Wisconsin

Assembly

* Lucian H. Palmer (1906) * Cleveland Colbert, Cleveland Moland Colbert (1942), elected but decertified after recount * Leroy J. Simmons (1944)

Local office

Illinois

, Cook County Board of Commissioners (1904–1908), Chicago City Council (1915–1917, 1943–1947) * Louis B. Anderson, Chicago City Council (1923-1933) * William L. Dawson, Chicago City Council (1933-1939) * Earl B. Dickerson, Chicago City Council (1939-1943) * Claude Holman, Chicago City Council (1955-1973)

Michigan

* William T. Patrick, Detroit City Council (1957-1963)

New York

, New York City Council (1942-1945) * Benjamin J. Davis Jr., New York City Council (1945-1949)

Ohio

* Thomas W. Fleming, Member, Cleveland, Ohio, Cleveland Cleveland City Council, City Council

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:List of African-American officeholders (1900-1959) African-American politicians