Robert Nelson Cornelius Nix, Sr.

Congressman Robert Nix became the first African American to represent Pennsylvania in Congress after winning a 1958 special election to fill the vacancy left by Representative Earl Chudoff. Nix served Pennsylvania’s 2nd Congressional District from 1958 to 1979 (85th-95th Congresses). In Congress, Nix sponsored legislation to create a “senior service corps” for people over sixty and worked on the landmark civil rights legislation of the 1960s. He also introduced an amendment to the Foreign Military Sales Act requiring the Defense Department to inform Congress of the identities of agents who negotiate arms sales for American firms and the fees they receive for their work. Nix served on several committees, including the Crime, Select Standards and Conduct, Merchant Marines and Fisheries, Foreign Affairs, International Relations, and Veterans Affairs committees. Nix also served as chair of the Post Office and Civil Service Committee during the 95th Congress. Before Congress, Nix practiced law and became active in the Democratic Party, holding office as a committeeman at the city level (1932-1934). From 1934 to 1938, he worked as a special deputy attorney for the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s revenue department and then as a special assistant deputy attorney general. Nix graduated from Lincoln University in Pennsylvania and earned a law degree from the University of Pennsylvania.