Good News in History, December 12
145 years ago today, Joseph Rainey of South Carolina became the first black congressman in the U.S. House of Representatives. Born into slavery in South Carolina, he was freed in the 1840s by his father who had been allowed to work as a barber and split the profits with his master. With his savings, he purchasing the freedom of his entire family. As a respectable leader in Charleston, Rainey joined the Republican Party and eventually won four elections to Congress, where he worked hard to gain passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1875. (1870)
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