The First Colored Senator And Representatives

First Colored Senator and Representatives

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Artist: Currier & Ives Lithography Company, active 1857 - 1907
Sitter: Hiram Rhoades Revels, Sep 1822 - 16 Jan 1901; Benjamin Sterling Turner, 1825 - 1894; Josiah T. Walls, 1842 - 1905; Joseph Harvey Rainy, 1832 - 1887; R. Brown Elliot, 1842 - 1884; Robert Carlos De Large, 1842 - 14 Feb 1874; Jefferson Franklin Long, 3 Mar 1836 - 5 Feb 1900

Date: 1872

Type: Print

Medium: Lithograph on paper
Dimensions: Image: 22 x 32cm (8 11/16 x 12 5/8"); Sheet: 30.2 × 37.8cm (11 7/8 × 14 7/8"); Mat: 40.6 x 55.9cm (16 x 22")

Credit Line: National Portrait Gallery, Smithsonian Institution

Restrictions & Rights: CC0

Object number: NPG.80.195

Exhibition Label: The fact that African Americans were beginning to represent southern states in Congress by the early 1870s was an event worthy of commemoration, and this print, The First Colored Senator and Representatives, was one of the efforts to mark it. From left to right, the men are Hiram R. Revels (1822–1901), Benjamin S. Turner (1825–1894), Robert C. De Large (1842–1874), Josiah T. Walls (1842–1905), Jefferson F. Long (1836–1900), Joseph H. Rainey (1832–1887), and R. Brown Elliot (1842–1884). Like the great majority of legislators, none of these men particularly distinguished themselves during their congressional tenures. Nevertheless, they and the many other African Americans who gained lesser public offices in the 1860s and 1870s acquitted themselves honorably. In so doing, they gave lie to critics who charged that black officeholding during the Reconstruction era led to irresponsible government.; El hecho de que los afroamericanos comenzaron a representar a los estados sureños en el Congreso a principios de la década de 1870 fue digno de conmemorarse, y entre los actos de celebración estuvo este grabado, Primer senador y primeros representantes de color. Desde la izquierda, aparecen: Hiram R. Revels (1822–1901), Benjamin S. Turner (1825–1894), Robert C. De Large (1842–1874), Josiah T. Walls (1842–1905), Jefferson F. Long (1836–1900), Joseph H. Rainey (1832–1887) y R. Brown Elliot (1842–1884). Al igual que la gran mayoría de los legisladores, ninguno de estos hombres se distinguió en el ejercicio de sus cargos. Pero tanto ellos como muchos otros afroamericanos que ocuparon cargos públicos menores en las décadas de 1860 y 1870 se comportaron honorablemente. Así desmintieron a los que alegaban que los funcionarios negros habían fomentado un gobierno irresponsable durante la época de la Reconstrucción.