Hiram Revels: The First African American U.S. Senator in 1870

In 1870, Hiram Rhodes Revels made history as the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate. Born in 1827 in Fayetteville, North Carolina, he was raised free and worked as a barber to support his theological education. Ordained in 1845, Revels faced imprisonment in Missouri in 1854 for preaching to enslaved individuals. During the Civil War, he acted as a chaplain and helped recruit soldiers. Following the conflict, he founded Freedman Schools in Mississippi and was elected to the Mississippi State Senate in 1869. On February 25, 1870, he took over a vacant U.S. Senate position from Jefferson Davis. His focus was on education and civil rights. In 1871, he became president of Alcorn University and passed away in 1901.