Hot Document in December

Black Americans in Congress 1870 - 2007

Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007 (House Document No. 108-224) is the most comprehensive history available on the 121 African Americans who have served in Congress since 1870 to present. The book chronicles African Americans’ participation in the federal legislature and their struggle to attain full civil rights.

Contents include:

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
• Chapter II: “The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell”: Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929
• Chapter III: Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970
• Chapter IV: Permanent Interests: The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007
  

PART II: CURRENT BLACK MEMBERS OF CONGRESS

APPENDICES

Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007 is available online via GPO Access. A print copy of this featured document is available in the Government Documents collection at Tarver Library.