On this day in 1870

Dec. 12, 1870

2004 portrait of Joseph Rainey by Simmie Knox Credit: Collection of U.S. House of Representatives

Joseph H. Rainey became the first Black lawmaker sworn into the U.S. House, where he served four terms. 

Born on a rice plantation in South Carolina, his father purchased the family’s freedom through money made as a barber. But during the Civil War, Rainey was forced to work for the Confederate cause. 

In 1862, he and his family escaped to Bermuda. When he returned to Charleston after the war, he became politically active and was elected to Congress. On April 1, 1871, he delivered his first major speech, arguing for the use of federal troops to protect southern Blacks from the recently organized Ku Klux Klan. 

“When myself and my colleagues shall leave these Halls and turn our footsteps toward our southern homes,” he said, “we know not that the assassin may await our coming, as marked for his vengeance.” 

Afterward, Rainey received a threatening letter, telling him and other defenders of civil rights to “prepare to meet your God.” President Ulysses S. Grant signed the Ku Klux Klan Act into law on April 20, 1871, but the bill failed to stop the violence. 

On the floor of Congress, he argued in favor of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, questioning why Black members “cannot enjoy the same immunities that are accorded to white members? Why cannot we stop at hotels here without meeting objection? Why cannot we go into restaurants without being insulted?” 

In 2015, his portrait became the first of a Black congressman displayed in the House, and a room inside the Capitol was renamed after him. 

“It’s not really a Black story or a white story, it’s an American story,” his great-granddaughter, Lorna, told Newsday. “It’s the story of someone who rose from nothing to greatness. That’s an American story. It’s what we all think the best of America encompasses.”

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