Blanche Kelso Bruce (March 1, 1841March 17, 1898) was an American politician who represented

Mississippi Mississippi ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Alabama to the east, the Gulf of Mexico to the south, Louisiana to the s ...

as a Republican in the

United States Senate The United States Senate is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the upper house, with the United States House of Representatives, U.S. House of Representatives being the lower house. Together, the Senate and ...

from 1875 to 1881. Born into slavery in

Prince Edward County, Virginia Prince Edward County is located in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Virginia. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 21,849. Its county seat is Farmville, Virginia, Farmville. History Formation an ...

, he went on to become the first elected

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

senator to serve a full term ( Hiram R. Revels, also of

, was the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate but did not complete a full term). He was appointed as Recorder of Deeds in Washington D.C. during

Benjamin Harrison Benjamin Harrison (August 20, 1833March 13, 1901) was the 23rd president of the United States, serving from 1889 to 1893. He was a member of the Harrison family of Virginia—a grandson of the ninth president, William Henry Harrison, and a ...

's presidency. His home, the Blanche K. Bruce House, is a National Historic Landmark.

Early life and education

Bruce was born into

slavery Slavery is the ownership of a person as property, especially in regards to their labour. Slavery typically involves compulsory work, with the slave's location of work and residence dictated by the party that holds them in bondage. Enslavemen ...

in 1841 in Prince Edward County,

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

, near

Farmville ''FarmVille'' is a series of agriculture-simulation social network games developed and published by Zynga in 2009. It is similar to '' Happy Farm'' and ''Farm Town''. Its gameplay involves various aspects of farmland management, such as plo ...

to Polly Bruce, an African-American woman who served as a domestic slave. His father was his master, Pettis Perkinson, a

white White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

Virginia planter. Bruce was treated comparatively well by his father, who educated him together with a legitimate half-brother. When Bruce was young, he played with his half-brother. One source claims that his father legally freed Blanche and arranged for an

apprentice Apprenticeship is a system for training a potential new practitioners of a Tradesman, trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study. Apprenticeships may also enable practitioners to gain a license to practice in ...

ship so he could learn a trade. In an 1886 newspaper interview, however, Bruce says that he gained his freedom by moving to

Kansas Kansas ( ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern region of the United States. It borders Nebraska to the north; Missouri to the east; Oklahoma to the south; and Colorado to the west. Kansas is named a ...

as soon as hostilities broke out in the Civil War.

Career

Bruce attended

Oberlin College Oberlin College is a Private university, private Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college and conservatory of music in Oberlin, Ohio, United States. Founded in 1833, it is the oldest Mixed-sex education, coeducational lib ...

for two years in

Oberlin, Ohio Oberlin () is a city in Lorain County, Ohio, United States. It is located about southwest of Cleveland within the Cleveland metropolitan area. The population was 8,555 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Oberlin is the home of Oberlin ...

. He next worked as a steamboat porter on the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

. In 1864, he moved to

Hannibal, Missouri Hannibal is a city along the Mississippi River in Marion County, Missouri, Marion and Ralls County, Missouri, Ralls counties in the U.S. state of Missouri. According to the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. Census, the population was 17,108, ...

, where he established a school for black children. In 1868, during

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

, Bruce relocated to Bolivar near

Cleveland Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the Canada–U.S. maritime border and approximately west of the Ohio-Pennsylvania st ...

in northwestern Mississippi, at which he purchased a

Mississippi Delta The Mississippi Delta, also known as the Yazoo–Mississippi Delta, or simply the Delta, is the distinctive northwest section of the U.S. state of Mississippi (and portions of Arkansas and Louisiana) that lies between the Mississippi and Yazo ...

plantation. He became a wealthy landowner of several thousand acres in the

. He was appointed to the positions of Tallahatchie County registrar of voters and tax assessor before he won an election for

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland, the , which is common ...

in Bolivar County.Rev. William J. Simmons, ''Men of Mark: Eminent, Progressive, and Rising,'' 1887. pp. 699–703. Geo. M. Rewell& Co., 1887 He later was elected to other county positions, including tax collector and supervisor of education, while he also edited a local

newspaper A newspaper is a Periodical literature, periodical publication containing written News, information about current events and is often typed in black ink with a white or gray background. Newspapers can cover a wide variety of fields such as poli ...

. He became sergeant-at-arms for the

Mississippi State Senate The Mississippi State Senate is the upper house of the Mississippi Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The Senate, along with the Lower house, lower Mississippi House of Represen ...

in 1870. In February 1874, Bruce was elected to the U.S. Senate, the second African American to serve in the upper house of Congress. On February 14, 1879, Bruce presided over the U.S. Senate, becoming the first African American (and the only former slave) to have done so. In 1880, James Z. George, a Confederate Army veteran and member of the Democratic Party, was elected to succeed Bruce. After his Senate term expired, Bruce remained in Washington, D.C., secured a succession of Republican patronage jobs and stumped for Republican candidates across the country. He acquired a large

townhouse A townhouse, townhome, town house, or town home, is a type of Terraced house, terraced housing. A modern townhouse is often one with a small footprint on multiple floors. In a different British usage, the term originally referred to any type o ...

and summer home, and presided over black high society. At the

1880 Republican National Convention The 1880 Republican National Convention was held from June 2 to June 8, 1880, at the Interstate Exposition Building in Chicago, Illinois, United States. Delegates nominated James A. Garfield of Ohio and Chester A. Arthur of New York (state), N ...

Chicago Chicago is the List of municipalities in Illinois, most populous city in the U.S. state of Illinois and in the Midwestern United States. With a population of 2,746,388, as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of Unite ...

, Bruce became the first African American to win any votes for national office at a major party's nominating convention, with eight votes for vice president. The presidential nominee that year was Ohio's

James A. Garfield James Abram Garfield (November 19, 1831 – September 19, 1881) was the 20th president of the United States, serving from March 1881 until his death in September that year after being shot two months earlier. A preacher, lawyer, and Civi ...

, who narrowly won election over the

Democrat Democrat, Democrats, or Democratic may refer to: Politics *A proponent of democracy, or democratic government; a form of government involving rule by the people. *A member of a Democratic Party: **Democratic Party (Cyprus) (DCY) **Democratic Part ...

Winfield Scott Hancock Winfield Scott Hancock (February 14, 1824 – February 9, 1886) was a United States Army officer and the Democratic nominee for President of the United States in 1880. He served with distinction in the Army for four decades, including service ...

. In early 1889, politically connected blacks lobbied for Bruce to receive a Cabinet appointment in the Harrison Administration. Said one newspaper: "Bruce is a man of respectable ability, and has, perhaps, more than any other man of his race who has sat in Congress, the respect of those with whom he served. Bruce served by appointment as the

District of Columbia Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and Federal district of the United States, federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from ...

recorder of deeds Recorder of deeds or deeds registry is a government office tasked with maintaining public records and documents, especially records relating to real estate ownership that provide persons other than the owner of a property with real rights ove ...

from 1890 to 1893. A Philadelphia newspaper reported his appointment in 1890, but persistent claims that his salary was $30,000 a year are not substantiated by any primary records. He also served on the District of Columbia Board of Trustees of Public Schools from 1892 to 1895. He was a participant in the March 5, 1897 meeting to celebrate the memory of

Frederick Douglass Frederick Douglass (born Frederick Augustus Washington Bailey, February 14, 1818 – February 20, 1895) was an American social reformer, Abolitionism in the United States, abolitionist, orator, writer, and statesman. He was the most impor ...

and the

American Negro Academy The American Negro Academy (ANA), founded in Washington, D.C., in 1897, was the first organization in the United States to support African-American academic scholarship. It operated until 1928,Smith and encouraged African Americans to undertake cla ...

led by

Alexander Crummell Alexander Crummell (March 3, 1819 – September 10, 1898) was an American minister and academic. Ordained as an Episcopal priest in the United States, Crummell went to England in the late 1840s to raise money for his church by lecturing about A ...

. He was appointed as

Register of the Treasury The Register of the Treasury was an officer of the United States Treasury Department. The Register's duties included filing the accounting records of the government, transferring and cancelling federal debt securities, and filing the certificates o ...

a second time in 1897 by President

William McKinley William McKinley (January 29, 1843September 14, 1901) was the 25th president of the United States, serving from 1897 until Assassination of William McKinley, his assassination in 1901. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Repub ...

and served until his death from diabetes complications in 1898.

Personal life

On June 24, 1878, Bruce married Josephine Beall Willson (1853–1923), a fair-skinned socialite of

, Ohio, amid great publicity; the couple traveled to

Europe Europe is a continent located entirely in the Northern Hemisphere and mostly in the Eastern Hemisphere. It is bordered by the Arctic Ocean to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, the Mediterranean Sea to the south, and Asia to the east ...

for a four-month honeymoon. Their only child, Roscoe Conkling Bruce, was born in 1879. He was named for U.S. Senator

Roscoe Conkling Roscoe Conkling (October 30, 1829April 18, 1888) was an American lawyer and Republican Party (United States), Republican politician who represented New York (state), New York in the United States House of Representatives and the United States Se ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, Bruce's mentor in the Senate. One newspaper wrote that Bruce did not approve of the designation "colored men." He often said, "I am a Negro and proud of it."

Honors and legacy

In July 1898, the

public school trustees ordered that a then-new public school building on Marshall Street in Park View be named the Bruce School in his honor. In 1975, the Washington, D.C. residence of Bruce, was declared a

National Historic Landmark A National Historic Landmark (NHL) is a National Register of Historic Places property types, building, district, object, site, or structure that is officially recognized by the Federal government of the United States, United States government f ...

and formally named The Blanche K. Bruce House. In October 1999, the U.S. Senate commissioned a portrait of Bruce. African-American Washington D.C. artist Simmie Knox was selected in 2000 to paint the portrait, which was unveiled in the Capitol in 2001. In 2002, scholar

Molefi Kete Asante Molefi Kete Asante ( ; born Arthur Lee Smith Jr.; August 14, 1942) is an American philosopher who is a leading figure in the fields of African-American studies, African studies, and communication studies. He is currently a professor in the Dep ...

listed Blanche Bruce on his list of 100 Greatest African Americans. On March 1, 2006, the African American Heritage Preservation Foundation unveiled a historical highway marker noting Bruce's birthplace at the intersection of highway 360 and 623 near

Green Bay, Prince Edward County, Virginia Green Bay is an unincorporated community in Prince Edward County, Virginia, United States, located on US Highway 360 between Burkeville and Keysville. Peach growing in the area was very successful during the 1930s and 1940s, but finally succu ...

Lawrence Otis Graham Lawrence Otis Graham (December 25, 1961 – February 19, 2021) was an American attorney, political analyst, cultural influencer and celebrated ''New York Times'' best-selling author.

authored a historical book about Bruce titled ''The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty: The Senator and the Socialite'' in June 2006.

References

Bibliography

* * * * Rabinowitz, Howard N., ed. ''Southern Black Leaders of the Reconstruction Era'' (1982), pp. 1–38.

External links

Retrieved on 2009-03-26 *
Biography and Joe Kelso.Tripod

Review of ''The Senator and the Socialite''
* The story of his life is retold in the 1949 radio drama
The Saga of Senator Blanche K Bruce
, a presentation from ''

Destination Freedom ''Destination Freedom'' was a series of weekly radio programs that was produced by WMAQ in Chicago. The first set ran from 1948 to 1950 and it presented the biographical histories of prominent African Americans such as George Washington Carver ...

'', written by

Richard Durham Richard Isadore Durham (September 6, 1917 – April 27, 1984) was an African-American writer and radio producer.

, - , - , - , - {{DEFAULTSORT:Bruce, Blanche 1841 births 1898 deaths African-American farmers 19th-century American farmers 19th-century American slaves African-American politicians during the Reconstruction Era African-American sheriffs African-American United States senators African-American candidates for Vice President of the United States Burials at Woodlawn Cemetery (Washington, D.C.) District of Columbia Recorders of Deeds Farmers from Mississippi Law enforcement officials from Mississippi Mississippi Republicans Mississippi sheriffs Oberlin College alumni People from Hannibal, Missouri People from Farmville, Virginia People of the Reconstruction Era People of Missouri in the American Civil War Republican Party United States senators from Mississippi Washington, D.C., Republicans People from Prince Edward County, Virginia African-American candidates for the United States Senate People enslaved in Virginia 19th-century United States senators