The following is a list of African-American holders of public office from 1900 to 1959. This period saw setbacks for African Americans following the Reconstruction era after "Redeemer" Democrats retook control of the South and restored white supremacy in government. African-Americans were largely barred from voting and almost entirely obstructed from public office in former Confederate states under the Jim Crow regime. The number of African American officeholders would dramatically increase following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.

Notably, Minnie Buckingham Harper became the first African-American woman to serve in a state legislature when she was appointed in 1928 to serve out the remainder of her husband's term in the West Virginia House of Delegates. Crystal Bird Fauset was the first Black woman elected to a legislature when was elected to the Pennsylvania House in 1938.

Federal office

House of Representatives

State office

Alaska

House

California

Assembly

Colorado

Senate

House

Connecticut

House

Delaware

House

Georgia

House

Illinois

Senate

House

Indiana

Senate

House

  • Harry H. Richardson (1932)
  • Robert L. Stanton (1932)
  • Marshall A. Talley (1932)
  • James S. Hunter (1940)
  • Jesse L. Dickinson (1942, 1944)
  • Wilbur H. Grant (1942)

Kansas

House

  • W. M. Blount (1929-1930, 1933–1936)
  • William H. Towers (1937-1939)

Kentucky

House

  • Charles W. Anderson (1936)

Maryland

Senate

House

Massachusetts

House

Michigan

Senate

House

Missouri

House

Nebraska

Senate, then Unicameral Legislature

House (prior to 1937)

New Jersey

General Assembly

New York

Senate

State Assembly

Ohio

Senate

House

Oklahoma

House

Pennsylvania

House

Vermont

House

Washington

House

West Virginia

House

Wisconsin

Assembly

Local office

Illinois

Michigan

  • William T. Patrick, Detroit City Council (1957-1963)

New York

Ohio

References

  1. https://gahistoricnewspapers.galileo.usg.edu/lccn/sn89053488/1900-10-25/ed-1/seq-4/#date1=01%2F01%2F1885&nottext=&date2=12%2F31%2F1902&words=Crawford+Lectured&searchType=advanced&sequence=0&index=5&proxdistance=2&sort=date_asc&rows=12&ortext=&proxtext=%22lectured+crawford%22&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&amp=&andtext=&page=4
  2. Legare, John Girardeau (July 1, 2012). The Darien Journal of John Girardeau Legare, Ricegrower. University of Georgia Press. ISBN 9780820343105 via Google Books.
  3. 1 2 3 "Georgia's Negro Legislators". Savannah Morning News. 3 October 1885. p. 5. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  4. 1 2 Cook Bell, Karen (24 September 2018). "Black Politics in Lowcountry Georgia after the Civil War | Starting Points". Starting Points. Arizona State University. Retrieved 19 July 2022.
  5. Meyer, Mary (1993-02-19). "Researcher tracking down story of Delaware's first black teacher". The Delaware Gazette. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-09-21.
  6. Middleton, Evan P. (1917). History of Champaign County, Ohio: Its People, Industries and Institutions. B.F. Bowen. pp. 579–581.
  7. "Fight Over Assembly Seat". Newspapers.com. The Capital Times. January 14, 1943. p. 10. ISSN 0749-4068. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
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