Who is hiram rhodes revels

He held that position from to , and again from to In , he briefly served as Mississippi Secretary of State. During the last several years of his life, Revels taught theology at Shaw College now Rust College , where he also served on the Board of Trustees.

He also remained active as a minister in Holly Springs, Mississippi. Revels died at a church meeting in Aberdeen, Mississippi on January 16, He was 73 at the time of his death. Do you find this information helpful? A small donation would help us keep this accessible to all. Some white supremacist senators claimed that Revels had not been a citizen for the nine years required to join that body, as African Americans had only received citizenship with the passage of the Civil Rights Act.

Nothing more need be said. For a long time, it has been clear that colored persons must be Senators. Revels arrived in the US Senate by a circuitous route. Born on 27 September in North Carolina, a slave state, of free parents of African and American Indian descent, he had been apprenticed to his brother, Elias, as a barber.

Nieman, ed. Revels was so adamant about clarifying his position on amnesty, he reprinted this speech in his unpublished autobiography. View Record in the Biographical Directory of the U. Borome, Joseph, ed. Christopher, Maurine. Black Americans in Congress. New York: T.

Crowell, Originally published as America's Black Congressmen. Gibbs, Warmoth T. Revels and His Times. Gravely, William B. Lawson, Elizabeth.

New York: n. Libby, Billy W. Meyer, Howard N. Washington, D. Government Printing Office, Sewell, George A. Singer, Donald L. Smith, Samuel Denny. The Negro in Congress, Westport, CT: Greenwood Press, Thompson, Julius Eric. Hiram R. Revels, A Biography. New York: Arno Press, Wheeler, Gerald E. Revels urged a moderate view on the restoration of Confederate citizenship. While the Radical Republicans in Congress called for harsh punishments to be meted out to Civil War rebels, Senator Revels took a milder view.

He argued for the immediate restoration of citizenship to former Confederates, along with the secure enfranchisement, education and employment eligibility of African Americans.

Revels resigned from the Senate after a year to accept the presidency of Alcorn Agricultural and Mechanical College, located in Claiborne County, Mississippi.

He also served as an instructor in philosophy. This position at the historically Black Alcorn allowed Revels to directly participate in the intellectual enrichment of African Americans—a cause for which he had fought while serving in the Senate. In addition to his administrative and teaching roles, Revels remained involved with the Methodist Church, continuing to preach publicly until the end of his life.

Revels died on January 16, , while attending a meeting of Methodist ministers in Aberdeen, Mississippi. We strive for accuracy and fairness. If you see something that doesn't look right, contact us! Subscribe to the Biography newsletter to receive stories about the people who shaped our world and the stories that shaped their lives. Gerald Ford became the 38th president of the United States following Richard Nixon's resignation, in the aftermath of the Watergate scandal.