List of African-American officeholders (1900–1959)

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 after "Redeemer" Democrats retook control of the South and restored white supremacy 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.

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. Crystal Bird Fauset was the first Black woman elected to a legislature when was elected to the Pennsylvania House in 1938.

Federal office edit

House of Representatives edit

Oscar Stanton De Priest (1929-1953)
Arthur Wergs Mitchell (1935-1943)
William L. Dawson (1943-1970)
Adam Clayton Powell Jr. (1945-1971)
Charles Diggs (1955-1980)
Robert N. C. Nix Sr. (1958-1979)

State office edit

Alaska edit

House edit

Blanche McSmith (1959)

California edit

Assembly edit

Frederick Madison Roberts (1918)
Augustus Hawkins (1934-1960)

Colorado edit

Senate edit

George L. Brown (1957)

House edit

George L. Brown (1955)

Connecticut edit

House edit

Wilfred X. Johnson (1958), the Wilfred X. Johnson House where he lived is listed on the National Register of Historic Places

Delaware edit

House edit

William J. Winchester (1948)

Georgia edit

House edit

H. F. McKay, state representative from Liberty County (1900-1901) ^[1]
Lectured Crawford, state representative from McIntosh County (1886-1887, 1890–1891, 1900–1901)
W. H. Rogers, state representative from McIntosh County (1902-1908)
Amos Rogers
Hercules Wilson^[2]^[3]
Anthony Wilson, state representative from Camden County, Georgia (1884-1888?)^[3]^[4]
Frasier, first name unknown, state representative from Liberty County, Georgia^[3]
Samuel A. McIvor, state representative for Liberty County, Georgia^[4]

Illinois edit

Senate edit

House edit

Indiana edit

Senate edit

Robert Brokenburr (1940)

House edit

Kansas edit

House edit

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

Kentucky edit

House edit

Charles W. Anderson (1936)

Maryland edit

Senate edit

Harry A. Cole (1955-1966)

House edit

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

Massachusetts edit

House edit

William H. Lewis (1902)

Michigan edit

Senate edit

House edit

Missouri edit

House edit

Nebraska edit

Senate, then Unicameral Legislature edit

John Adams Jr. (1937)

House (prior to 1937) edit

New Jersey edit

General Assembly edit

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 edit

Senate edit

Julius A. Archibald (1953)

State Assembly edit

Ohio edit

Senate edit

House edit

George W. Hayes (1901)
H. T. Eubanks (1904)
A. Lee Beaty (1919)
Henry Higgins (1919)
Harry E. Davis (1921)
E. W. B. Curry (1924)^[5]^[6]
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 edit

House edit

A. C. Hamlin (1908)

Pennsylvania edit

House edit

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)
Susie Monroe (1949-1968)

Vermont edit

House edit

William J. Anderson (1944)

Washington edit

House edit

John H. Ryan (1933)
Charles Stokes

West Virginia edit

House edit

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

Wisconsin edit

Assembly edit

Lucian H. Palmer (1906)
Cleveland Moland Colbert (1942), elected but decertified after recount^[7]
Leroy J. Simmons (1944)

Local office edit

Illinois edit

Oscar Stanton De Priest, 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 edit

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

New York edit

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

Ohio edit

Thomas W. Fleming, Member, Cleveland City Council

References edit

^ https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1900-10-25/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=01%2F01%2F1885&nottext=&date2=12%2F31%2F1902&words=Crawford+Lectured&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&index=5&proxdistance=2&sort=date_asc&rows=12&ortext=&proxtext=%22lectured+crawford%22&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&andtext=&page=4
^ Legare, John Girardeau (July 1, 2012). The Darien Journal of John Girardeau Legare, Ricegrower. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820343105 – via Google Books.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Georgia's Negro Legislators". Savannah Morning News. 3 October 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
^ ^a ^b Cook Bell, Karen (24 September 2018). "Black Politics in Lowcountry Georgia after the Civil War | Starting Points". Starting Points. Arizona State University. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
^ Meyer, Mary (1993-02-19). "Researcher tracking down story of Delaware's first black teacher". The Delaware Gazette. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
^ Middleton, Evan P. (1917). History of Champaign County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions. B.F. Bowen. pp. 579–581.
^ "Fight Over Assembly Seat". Newspapers.com. The Capital Times. January 14, 1943. p. 10. ISSN 0749-4068. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

[1] ttps://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1900-10-25/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=01%2F01%2F1885&nottext=&date2=12%2F31%2F1902&words=Crawford+Lectured&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&index=5&proxdistance=2&sort=date_asc&rows=12&ortext=&proxtext=%22lectured+crawford%22&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&andtext=&page=4

[2] Legare, John Girardeau (July 1, 2012). The Darien Journal of John Girardeau Legare, Ricegrower. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820343105 – via Google Books.

[SMN1-3] "Georgia's Negro Legislators". Savannah Morning News. 3 October 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 19 July 2022.

[CookBell-4] Cook Bell, Karen (24 September 2018). "Black Politics in Lowcountry Georgia after the Civil War | Starting Points". Starting Points. Arizona State University. Retrieved 19 July 2022.

[5] Meyer, Mary (1993-02-19). "Researcher tracking down story of Delaware's first black teacher". The Delaware Gazette. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-09-21.

[6] Middleton, Evan P. (1917). History of Champaign County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions. B.F. Bowen. pp. 579–581.

[7] "Fight Over Assembly Seat". Newspapers.com. The Capital Times. January 14, 1943. p. 10. ISSN 0749-4068. Retrieved 2022-11-01.

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