How many African Americans have served in the U.S. Congress? How did Reconstruction, the Great Migration, and the post–World War II civil rights movement affect black Members of Congress? Who was the first African American to chair a congressional committee?

These questions and many more are answered in Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007, the most comprehensive history available on the 121 African Americans who have served in Congress.

Read about:

• Pioneers who overcame racial barriers, such as Oscar De Priest of Illinois, the first African American elected to Congress in the 20th century, and Shirley Chisholm of New York, the first black Congresswoman
• Masters of institutional politics, such as Augustus “Gus” Hawkins of California, Louis Stokes of Ohio, and Julian Dixon of California
• Notables such as Civil War hero Robert Smalls of South Carolina, civil rights champion Adam Clayton Powell, Jr., of New York, and constitutional scholar Barbara Jordan of Texas
• And many more.

Written for a general audience, this book contains a profile of each African-American Member. Former Member profiles are introduced by contextual essays that explain major events in congressional and U.S. history.

Black Americans in Congress also includes:

• Pictures—including rarely seen historical images—of each African American who has served in Congress
• Bibliographies and references to manuscript collections for each Member
• Statistical graphs and charts
• A comprehensive index