Blanche Kelso Bruce

Senator Blanche Bruce escaped slavery at the outset of the Civil War and served as a Mississippi Senator from 1875 to 1881 (44th-46th Congresses). He was the first Black American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. During a debate on the Chinese exclusion bill in 1879, which he opposed, Bruce also became the first Black American to preside over a session of the Senate. Bruce called for desegregation of the Army and better treatment of Native Americans. As chair of the Senate Select Committee on the Levees of the Mississippi River in the 45th Congress, Bruce was the first African American to chair any congressional committee. He also chaired the Senate Select Committee to Investigate the Freedman’s Savings and Trust Company (Freedman’s Bank), served on a select committee for improving navigation on the Mississippi River, and was a member of the Manufactures, Education and Labor, and Pensions committees. Bruce became an academic administrator at Tuskegee Institute and Washington, D.C. colored schools.