December 12th: Today in 1870 Joseph Rainey was seated in the United States House of Representatives becoming the first black man to serve there. He served for four terms and worked as a champion of civil rights before finally losing as the south began to undo the reconstruction. He was born a slave but his father purchased his families freedom shortly after he was born. He spent most of his life as a barber, as his father had been, but he became active politically after the civil war. After leaving the House he worked in Banking and Brokerages until he died in 1887.

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