(AURN News) — On Feb. 25, 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels became the first Black man to serve in the United States Senate.
After the Civil War, Revels moved to Mississippi and was elected to fill one of the state’s vacant Senate seats as it reentered the Union during the Reconstruction era.
credit: L’Illustration: Journal Universel, April 9, 1870
His arrival in the Senate was met with resistance. Some senators falsely argued that he had not met the Senate’s nine-year citizenship requirement. But Revels was born free and had long been a registered voter in Ohio, making those objections baseless.
While in office, he opposed efforts to block Black lawmakers from holding office in Georgia.
credit: Library of Congress
His term ended in 1871, and he later became president of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College in Mississippi.
Revels died in 1901 at age 73.
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