At a time when the country was recovering from the bloodiest war in its history, Revels (1822-1901), the son of a free Black man and an enslaved Black woman, became the first African American to be a United States senator – from the state of Mississippi, no less. He was elected by an overwhelming majority of the Mississippi state Senate – the way U.S. senators were elected at the time – on Feb. 25, 1870, after arguments that he had not been a U.S. citizen long enough lost out. He was recognized by many for his natural oratorical abilities, and championed integration policies, although was met by fierce resistance from segregationists. After retiring two months before his one-year Senate term ended, Revels became a college president and also served as Mississippi's secretary of state. He was also a minister, newspaper editor and teacher.
