The most comprehensive history available on the 121 African Americans who have served in Congress.
The Full House Document (803 pages) is available
in five ZIP files:
H. Doc. 108-224, Black Americans in Congress
1870 - 2007
Document
Section |
File Size
and File Format |
Print Copy
Pages |
Cover |
PDF 413 KB |
Cover |
Front Matter |
PDF 225 KB |
I-VI |
Contents |
PDF 58 KB |
VII |
Introduction |
PDF 974 KB |
1-15 |
PART I: FORMER BLACK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS |
Chapter I: “The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood”: The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 |
PDF 1.15 MB |
17-53 |
Former Members 1870 - 1887 |
Hiram Rhodes Revels |
PDF 545 KB |
54-61 |
Joseph Hayne Rainey |
PDF 415 KB |
62-67 |
Jefferson Franklin Long |
PDF 307 KB |
68-71 |
Robert Carlos De Large |
PDF 430 KB |
72-77 |
Robert Brown Elliott |
PDF 463 KB |
78-83 |
Benjamin Sterling Turner |
PDF 343 KB |
84-87 |
Josiah Thomas Walls |
PDF 426 KB |
88-93 |
Richard Harvey Cain |
PDF 538 KB |
94-99 |
John Roy Lynch |
PDF 496 KB |
100-105 |
Alonzo Jacob Ransier |
PDF 312 KB |
106-109 |
James Thomas Rapier |
PDF 467 KB |
110-115 |
Blanche Kelso Bruce |
PDF 429 KB |
116-121 |
Jeremiah Haralson |
PDF 424 KB |
122-127 |
John Adams Hyman |
PDF 469 KB |
128-133 |
Charles Edmund Nash |
PDF 339 KB |
134-137 |
Robert Smalls |
PDF 534 KB |
138-145 |
James Edward O’Hara |
PDF 478 KB |
146-151 |
Chapter II: “The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell”: Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 |
PDF 1.10 MB |
152-199 |
Former Members 1887 - 1929 |
Henry Plummer Cheatham |
PDF 690 KB |
200-205 |
John Mercer Langston |
PDF 576 KB |
206-213 |
Thomas Ezekiel Miller |
PDF 667 KB |
214-219 |
George Washington Murray |
PDF 758 KB |
220-227 |
George Henry White |
PDF 652 KB |
228-233 |
Chapter III: Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 |
PDF 1.08 MB |
234-277 |
Former Members 1929 - 1970 |
Oscar Stanton De Priest |
PDF 622 KB |
278-285 |
Arthur Wergs Mitchell |
PDF 525 KB |
286-291 |
William Levi Dawson |
PDF 658 KB |
292-299 |
Adam Clayton Powell, Jr. |
PDF 710 KB |
300-309 |
Charles Coles Diggs, Jr. |
PDF 607 KB |
310-317 |
Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr. |
PDF 507 KB |
318-323 |
Augustus Freeman (Gus) Hawkins |
PDF 608 KB |
324-331 |
Edward William Brooke III |
PDF 599 KB |
332-339 |
Shirley A. Chisholm |
PDF 508 KB |
340-345 |
William Lacy (Bill) Clay, Sr. |
PDF 670 KB |
346-353 |
Louis Stokes |
PDF 637 KB |
354-361 |
George Washington Collins |
PDF 522 KB |
362-367 |
Chapter IV: Permanent Interests: The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 |
PDF 1.14 MB |
368-415 |
Former Members 1971- 2007 |
Ronald V. Dellums |
PDF 601 KB |
416-423 |
Ralph Harold Metcalfe |
PDF 540 KB |
424-429 |
Parren James Mitchell |
PDF 589 KB |
430-437 |
Walter Edward Fauntroy |
PDF 595 KB |
438-445 |
Yvonne Brathwaite Burke |
PDF 486 KB |
446-451 |
Barbara Jordan |
PDF 480 KB |
452-457 |
Andrew Jackson Young, Jr. |
PDF 584 KB |
458-465 |
Cardiss Collins |
PDF 505 KB |
466-471 |
Harold Eugene Ford, Sr. |
PDF 501 KB |
472-477 |
Julian Carey Dixon |
PDF 529 KB |
478-483 |
Melvin Herbert Evans |
PDF 393 KB |
484-487 |
William Herbert Gray III |
PDF 569 KB |
488-495 |
George Thomas (Mickey) Leland |
PDF 483 KB |
496-501 |
Bennett McVey Stewart |
PDF 410 KB |
502-505 |
George William Crockett, Jr. |
PDF 496 KB |
506-511 |
Mervyn Malcolm Dymally |
PDF 495 KB |
512-517 |
Gus Savage |
PDF 526 KB |
518-523 |
Harold Washington |
PDF 503 KB |
524-529 |
Katie Beatrice Hall |
PDF 383 KB |
530-533 |
Major Robert Odell Owens |
PDF 513 KB |
534-539 |
Alan Dupree Wheat |
PDF 511 KB |
540-545 |
Charles Arthur Hayes |
PDF 492 KB |
546-551 |
Alton R. Waldon, Jr. |
PDF 401 KB |
552-555 |
Alphonso Michael (Mike) Espy |
PDF 506 KB |
556-561 |
Floyd Harold Flake |
PDF 494 KB |
562-567 |
Kweisi Mfume |
PDF 507 KB |
568-573 |
Craig Anthony Washington |
PDF 490 KB |
574-579 |
Barbara-Rose Collins |
PDF 404 KB |
580-583 |
Gary A. Franks |
PDF 487 KB |
584-589 |
Lucien Edward Blackwell |
PDF 485 KB |
590-595 |
Eva M. Clayton |
PDF 374 KB |
596-599 |
Cleo Fields |
PDF 478 KB |
600-605 |
Earl Frederick Hilliard |
PDF 491 KB |
606-611 |
Cynthia Ann McKinney |
PDF 525 KB |
612-617 |
Carrie P. Meek |
PDF 400 KB |
618-621 |
Carol Moseley-Braun |
PDF 389 KB |
622-625 |
Mel Reynolds |
PDF 404 KB |
626-629 |
Walter R. Tucker III |
PDF 402 KB |
630-633 |
Victor O. Frazer |
PDF 395 KB |
634-637 |
Julius Caesar (J. C.) Watts, Jr. |
PDF 580 KB |
638-645 |
Juanita Millender-McDonald |
PDF 379 KB |
646-649 |
Julia May Carson |
PDF 400 KB |
650-653 |
Harold Ford, Jr. |
PDF 499 KB |
654-659 |
Frank W. Ballance, Jr. |
PDF 403 KB |
660-663 |
Denise L. Majette |
PDF 402 KB |
664-667 |
PART II: CURRENT BLACK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS |
Introduction |
PDF 370 KB |
670-671 |
Sanford D. Bishop, Jr. |
PDF 742 KB |
672-673 |
Corrine Brown |
PDF 743 KB |
674-675 |
G. K. Butterfield |
PDF 742 KB |
676-677 |
Donna M. Christensen |
PDF 697 KB |
678-679 |
William L. Clay, Jr. |
PDF 646 KB |
680-681 |
Emanuel Cleaver II |
PDF 742 KB |
682-683 |
James E. Clyburn |
PDF 742 KB |
684-685 |
John Conyers, Jr. |
PDF 744 KB |
686-687 |
Elijah E. Cummings |
PDF 744 KB |
688-689 |
Artur Davis |
PDF 741 KB |
690-691 |
Danny K. Davis |
PDF 739 KB |
692-693 |
Chaka Fattah |
PDF 741 KB |
694-695 |
Al Green |
PDF 741 KB |
696-697 |
Alcee Hastings |
PDF 741 KB |
698-699 |
Jesse Jackson, Jr. |
PDF 739 KB |
700-701 |
Sheila Jackson Lee |
PDF 741 KB |
702-703 |
William J. Jefferson |
PDF 741 KB |
704-705 |
Eddie Bernice Johnson |
PDF 751 KB |
706-707 |
Stephanie Tubbs Jones |
PDF 746 KB |
708-709 |
Carolyn Cheeks Kilpatrick |
PDF 739 KB |
710-711 |
Barbara Lee |
PDF 739 KB |
712-713 |
John Lewis |
PDF 742 KB |
714-715 |
Kendrick B. Meek |
PDF 743 KB |
716-717 |
Gregory W. Meeks |
PDF 742 KB |
718-719 |
Gwendolynne S. (Gwen) Moore |
PDF 742 KB |
720-721 |
Eleanor Holmes Norton |
PDF 699 KB |
722-723 |
Barack Obama |
PDF 721 KB |
724-725 |
Donald M. Payne |
PDF 744 KB |
726-727 |
Charles B. Rangel |
PDF 741 KB |
728-729 |
Bobby L. Rush |
PDF 741 KB |
730-731 |
David Scott |
PDF 742 KB |
732-733 |
Robert C. Scott |
PDF 743 KB |
734-735 |
Bennie Thompson |
PDF 740 KB |
736-737 |
Edolphus Towns |
PDF 744 KB |
738-739 |
Maxine Waters |
PDF 741 KB |
740-741 |
Diane Edith Watson |
PDF 743 KB |
742-743 |
Melvin L. Watt |
PDF 740 KB |
744-745 |
Albert R. Wynn |
PDF 742 KB |
746-747 |
APPENDICES |
Appendix A: First-Term Black-American Members of the 110th Congress |
PDF 427 KB |
748-750 |
Appendix B: Black-American Representatives and Senators by Congress,
1870–2007 |
PDF 109 KB |
751-765 |
Appendix C: Black-American Representatives and Senators by State and Territory |
PDF 77 KB |
766-768 |
Appendix D: Black-American Members’ Committee Assignments (Standing, Joint, Select)
in the U.S. House and Senate, 1870–2007 |
PDF 169 KB |
769-779 |
Appendix E: Black Americans Who Have Chaired Congressional Committees,
1877–2007 |
PDF 72 KB |
780-781 |
Appendix F: Black-American Chairs of Subcommittees of Standing Committees in the U.S. House and Senate, 1885–2007 |
PDF 108 KB |
782-786 |
Appendix G: Black Americans in Party Leadership Positions, 1977–2007 |
PDF 76 KB |
787-788 |
Appendix H: Black-American Familial Connections in Congress |
PDF 53 KB |
788 |
Appendix I: Congressional Black Caucus Chairmen and Chairwomen, 1971–2007 |
PDF 69 KB |
789 |
Appendix J: Constitutional Amendments and Major Civil Rights Acts of Congress
Referenced in the Text |
PDF 79 KB |
790-793 |
Index |
PDF 174 KB |
795-803 |