Black Members of the United States Congress with Biographies, 1789-2004

Thirty-nine black members serve in the 107th Congress, all in the House of Representatives. In 210 years of congressional history, there have been 107 black members of Congress: 103 elected to the House and four to the Senate. The first black member of Congress was Hiram Rhodes Revels (R-MS) who first served in the Senate in the 41st Congress (1870). The first black member of the House was Joseph H. Rainey (R-SC), also serving in the 41st Congress. Shirley Chisholm (D-NY), elected to the 91st through 97th Congresses (1969-1983), was the first black woman in Congress. Since that time, 20 other black women have been elected, including Senator Carol Moseley-Braun (D-IL, 1993-1999), who was the first black woman, as well as first black Democrat, elected to the Senate. The majority of the black members have been Democrats (80), while there have been 27 black Republicans. The black members of Congress have served on all major committees. Sixteen have served as committee chairmen, 15 in the House and one in the Senate. This book enumerates and gathers information about all black members in congressional history.