Joseph Hayne Rainey

Congressman Joseph Rainey, born into slavery, was the first Black representative from South Carolina and the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. He was elected to fill a vacant seat in the 41st Congress and served from 1870 to 1879 (41nd-45st Congresses). Rainey advocated for the Ku Klux Klan Act of 1871 and the Civil Rights Act of 1875. He was assigned to the Freedmen’s Affairs, Indian Affairs, and Invalid Pensions committees and two select committees. Rainey became the first Black American to preside over a session in the House when he took over as Speaker during a debate on an Indian appropriation bill in 1874.