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HIRAM REVELS: The First African American U.S. Senator

© Maisah B. Robinson, Ph.D.

Hiram Revels was born free on September 27, 1822 in Fayetteville, North Carolina. During Revels childhood, African Americans in the South, free or slaves, were forbidden to learn to read and write. In order for him to obtain an education, Revel's family sent him to Ohio where he studied at a Quaker Seminary and later attended Knox College in Illinois. After leaving college, Revels became a minister in the Methodist Episcopal Church. He served as pastor of congregations in Indiana, Kentucky, Maryland, and Kansas.

At the beginning of the Civil War, Revels helped organize Union regiments and recruit soldiers of the first colored regiment organized in the state of Maryland. He also taught school in St. Louis, Missouri from 1863-1864. He later worked with the U.S. Provost Marshall to handle the affairs of ex-slaves.

After the Civil War, former Confederate states faced the task of gaining readmission to the Union. The Reconstruction Act of 1867 required the Southern states to write new constitutions permitting African Americans to vote and hold public office. It required the states to ratify the Fourteenth and on July 28, 1868, African Americans were officially recognized as citizens of the United States.

In January 1870, Mississippi impressed Congress by electing Hiram Revels as an U.S. senator. Mississippi was readmitted to the Union, but the New York Herald predicted that Revels would never be allowed to take his Senate seat--especially since Mississippi's most recent senator had been Jefferson Davis, who had walked out to become president of the Confederacy. In fact, political bickering did delay approval of the new senator's credentials. But finally he was seated on February 25, 1870 and held the office until March 3, 1871, becoming the first African American U.S. senator. After his tenure as U.S. senator, Revels became president of Alcorn College. He died on January 16, 1901 in Holly Springs, Mississippi. He is remembered as a fair politician, respected minister and dedicated educator.