|
|
|
|
| |
 |
John Mercer Langston
(1829-1897) was born into slavery, but by virtue of his
intelligence and the education he received in Ohio he became
president of Virginia's first college for African Americans,
now Virginia State University. In 1888 he ran for the U.S. House
of Representatives as one of two Republican candidates from his
district. Many white Republicans voted for a white Republican
and that allowed the Democratic candidate to claim victory.
Corruption at some polling places was so bad that many
Democratic ballots were disallowed, and as a result Langston
became the first African American from Virginia elected to
Congress. He served only part of one term. Before the next
election so many white Republicans had become convinced that
cooperation with African Americans was unacceptable that he was
not renominated, and during the next decade Virginia's
Republicans, like Virginia's Democrats, squeezed blacks out of
responsible roles in party affairs and eventually acquiesced in
eliminating African American men from political life. |
|
Langston's First Appearance
at the House of Representatives.
Illustration from From the Virginia Plantation to the
National Capitol. (1894)
|
|
|
