Biographical Sidebar:
Hiram Revels and
Blanche K. Bruce

The first African Americans to serve in the United States Senate, Hiram R. Revels (1822-1901) and Blanche K. Bruce (1841-1898) illustrate the diverse backgrounds and community activities of Reconstruction's black political leaders.

Revels was born free in North Carolina, attended Knox College in Illinois, and before the Civil War preached throughout the Midwest for the African Methodist Episcopal Church.

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During the Civil War, he served as chaplain for a black regiment. Revels came to Mississippi in 1865 and became involved in the movement to establish schools for the former slaves.