Blanche Kelso Bruce - HERO!

Now for a bit of Black History outside of the confines of February. March 1 is the birthday of the first Black US Senator to serve out his full term, and the only person to serve out a full term who was ever a slave.





Happy Birthday Senator Bruce!

I find it quite ironic that Other than Senator Edward Brooke of Mass, the Other Black Senators were from Mississippi. Well not really. The two from IL are really not from Mississippi, but there are so many blacks here from Mississippi, I've heard Chicago called North Mississippi.

Anyway Back to our story.
There have been only five Black US Senators.
This is a list of them with their bios.

(stolen from Here)
There was:

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REVELS, Hiram Rhodes, (1827 - 1901)

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Senate Years of Service: 1870-1871
Party: Republican
FIRST BLACK SENATOR

REVELS, Hiram Rhodes, a Senator from Mississippi; born in Fayetteville, Cumberland County, N.C., on September 27, 1827; attended various schools, seminaries, and Knox College, Galesburg, Ill.; barber; ordained a minister in the African Methodist Episcopal Church at Baltimore, Md., in 1845; carried on religious work in Indiana, Illinois, Kansas, Kentucky, Tennessee, and Missouri; accepted a pastorate in Baltimore, Md., in 1860; at the outbreak of the Civil War assisted in recruiting two regiments of African American troops in Maryland; served in Vicksburg, Miss., as chaplain of a Negro regiment and organized African American churches in that State; established a school for freedmen in St. Louis, Mo., in 1863; settled in Natchez, Miss., in 1866; elected alderman in 1868; member, State senate 1870; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate; presented his credentials upon the readmission of Mississippi to representation on February 23, 1870; took the oath of office on February 25, 1870, after the Senate resolved a challenge to his credentials, and served from February 23, 1870 until March 3, 1871; first African American Senator; secretary of State ad interim of Mississippi in 1873; president of the Alcorn Agricultural College, Rodney, Miss., 1876-1882; moved to Holly Springs, Marshall County, Miss., and continued his religious work; died in Aberdeen, Miss., January 16, 1901; interment in Hill Crest Cemetery, Holly Springs, Miss.

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BRUCE, Blanche Kelso, (1841 - 1898)

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Senate Years of Service: 1875-1881
Party: Republican
FIRST BLACK TO SERVE OUT FULL TERM IN THE SENATE

BRUCE, Blanche Kelso, a Senator from Mississippi; born in slavery near Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va., March 1, 1841; was tutored by his master’s son; left his master at the beginning of the Civil War; taught school in Hannibal, Mo.; after the war became a planter in Mississippi; member of the Mississippi Levee Board; sheriff and tax collector of Bolivar County 1872-1875; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate and served from March 4, 1875, to March 3, 1881; was the first African American to serve a full term in the United States Senate; appointed Register of the Treasury by President James Garfield 1881; recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia 1891-1893; again Register of the Treasury from 1897 until his death in Washington, D.C., on March 17, 1898; interment in Woodlawn Cemetery.

BROOKE, Edward William, III, (1919 - )

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Senate Years of Service: 1967-1979
Party: Republican
FIRST BLACK SENATOR ELECTED BY POPULAR VOTE &
ONLY BLACK SENATOR EVER RE-ELECTED

BROOKE, Edward William, III, a Senator from Massachusetts; born in Washington, D.C., October 26, 1919; attended the public schools of Washington, D.C.; graduated from Howard University, Washington, D.C., in 1941; graduated, Boston University Law School 1948; captain, United States Army, infantry, with five years of active service in the European theater of operations; chairman of Finance Commission, city of Boston 1961-1962; elected attorney general of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1962; reelected in 1964; elected as a Republican to the United States Senate in 1966; reelected in 1972 and served from January 3, 1967, to January 3, 1979; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1978; first African American elected to the Senate by popular vote; lawyer; awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom on June 23, 2004; is a resident of Miami, Fla.

MOSELEY BRAUN, Carol, (1947 - )

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Senate Years of Service: 1993-1999
Party: Democrat
FIRST BLACK WOMAN IN THE US SENATE

MOSELEY BRAUN, Carol, a Senator from Illinois; born in Chicago, Ill., August 16, 1947; educated in Chicago public schools; graduated, University of Illinois 1969; graduated, University of Chicago School of Law 1972; admitted to the Illinois bar in Chicago 1973; prosecutor, office of the United States Attorney, Chicago 1973-1977; member and assistant majority leader, Illinois house of representatives 1978-1988; recorder of deeds, Cook County, Ill., 1988-1992; elected as a Democrat to the United States Senate in 1992, and served from January 3, 1993, to January 3, 1999; unsuccessful candidate for reelection in 1998; ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, December 15, 1999-2001; candidate for the Democratic nomination for president in 2004; entrepreneur; is a resident of Chicago, Ill., Atlanta, Ga., and Union Springs, Ala.

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OBAMA, Barack, (1961 - )

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Senate Years of Service: 2005-
Party: Democrat
FIRST BLACK... WELL, NOTHING SENATE RELATED.
FIFTH BLACK IN THE US SENATE

OBAMA, Barack, a Senator from Illinois; born in Honolulu, Hawaii, August 4, 1961; obtained early education in Jakarta, Indonesia, and Hawaii; continued education at Occidental College, Los Angeles, Calif., and Columbia University, New York City; studied law at Harvard University, where he became the first African American president of the Harvard Law Review, and received J.D. in 1992; lecturer on constitutional law, University of Chicago; member, Illinois State senate 1997-2004; elected as a Democrat to the U.S. Senate in 2004 for term beginning January 3, 2005.

Thanks to Booker and Blackelectorate.com (my home page) for the story.