|
|
1836
|
|
Alexander Twilight becomes the first African American elected to
public office when he wins a seat on the Vermont legislature; in 1845,
William Leidesdorff becomes the second when he is named sub-consul to Yerba
Buena, part of the Mexican territory that would later become San
Francisco
|
|
|
1866
|
|
Edward G. Walker and Charles L. Mitchell become the first blacks
elected to a U.S. state legislature (Massachusetts House of
Representatives)
|
|
|
1868
|
|
John Willis Menard of Louisiana is the first African American to be
elected to Congress, but Congressman James A. Garfield contests the election
by claiming it is “too early to admit a Negro to the U.S. Congress”; the
following year, Menard pleads his own case but is denied his elected
position
|
|
|
1869
|
|
Ebenezer Don Carlos Bassett becomes the first official
African American diplomat when President Grant names him minister of
Haiti
|
|
|
1870
|
|
Mississippi legislature elects Hiram Rhoades Revels to be the first
African American U.S. Senator, filling Jefferson Davis’s unexpired
term
|
|
|
1872
|
|
Black delegates Robert B. Elliott, Joseph H. Rainey, and John R.
Lynch deliver addresses at the Republican National Convention in
Philadelphia
|
|
| |
John R. Lynch wins election to the U.S. House of Representatives
(R-Mississippi)
|
|
|
1874
|
|
Blanche K. Bruce becomes the first African American to serve in the
U.S. Senate (R-Mississippi) and serves as a chairman of the Select Committee
to Investigate the Freeman’s Savings and Trust Company
|
|
|
1877
|
|
Under President Hayes, Frederick Douglass serves as the first
African American U.S. Marshal of Washington, D.C.
|
|
|
1938
|
|
Crystal Bird Fauset becomes the first African American woman to be
elected to a state legislature (Pennsylvania House of
Representatives)
|
|
|
1953
|
|
Hulan Jack is sworn in as Manhattan borough president, becoming the
first African American to hold a major elected position in a major U.S.
city
|
|
|
1954
|
|
Charles Mahoney becomes the first African American delegate to serve
on the U.S. delegation to the United Nations
|
|
|
1955
|
|
E. Frederic Morrow becomes the first African American to hold an
executive position in the White House when President Eisenhower names him
administrative officer for special projects
|
|
|
1958
|
|
Clifton R. Wharton Sr. becomes the first African American to head a
U.S. embassy in Europe when he is confirmed as ambassador to Romania; three
years later, he is named ambassador to Norway
|
|
|
1961
|
|
Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American to head a major
U.S. government agency when he is chosen as administrator of the Housing and
Home Finance Agency
|
|
|
1964
|
|
Constance Baker Motley is the first African American woman elected to
the New York State Senate; she becomes Manhattan borough president in 1965
and, later, a federal district court judge
|
|
|
1966
|
|
Robert C. Weaver becomes the first African American cabinet member
(secretary of housing and urban development under President
Johnson)
|
|
| |
Andrew Brimmer becomes the first African American governor of the
Federal Reserve Board (nominated by President Johnson)
|
|
|
1968
|
|
Shirley Chisholm is the first African American woman to be elected to
the U.S. House of Representatives (D-New York)
|
|
|
1973
|
|
Maynard Jackson is elected mayor of Atlanta, becoming the first
African American to be elected as mayor of a major Southern city
|
|
|
1977
|
|
Patricia R. Harris becomes the first African American woman to hold a
position on the U.S. cabinet (secretary of housing and urban development
under President Carter)
|
|
| |
Andrew Young becomes the first African American U.S. ambassador to
the U.N. (nominated by President Carter)
|
|
|
1983
|
|
Harold Washington becomes the first black mayor of
Chicago
|
|
|
1984
|
|
Rev. Jesse Jackson mounts a high-profile campaign to become the
Democratic candidate for president; the nomination eventually goes to Walter
Mondale of Minnesota
|
|
|
1988
|
|
Colin Powell is the first African American to serve as chairman of
the Joint Chiefs of Staff
|
|
|
1989
|
|
David Dinkins becomes the first black mayor of New York
City
|
|
|
1990
|
|
Washington, D.C., voters elect lawyer Eleanor Holmes Norton as their
nonvoting representative in the U.S. House of Representatives
|
|
|
1991
|
|
After controversial confirmation hearings, Clarence Thomas becomes
the second African American ever to serve as a justice on the U.S. Supreme
Court
|
|
|
1992
|
|
Carol Moseley-Braun (D-Illinois) becomes the first African American
woman elected to the U.S. Senate
|
|
|
2001
|
|
Newly elected President Bush appoints Gen. Colin Powell secretary of
state and Dr. Condoleezza Rice national security advisor
|
African Americans in Politics
