top of page

Black History Honored

 Trailblazers & Inventors

TrailBlazers2_edited.png

Mae Jamison
1st black female astronaut, doctor, & entrepreneur 

1st Black Congressmen
during the Reformation

Elijah McCoy
inventor

First Black Congressmen

LabeledCongress_edited.jpg

The first African Americans to serve in the United States Congress were Republicans elected during the Reconstruction Era.

 

After slaves were emancipated and granted citizenship rights, freedmen gained political representation in the Southern United States for the first time.

 

White Democrats regained political power in state legislatures across the South and worked to restore white supremacy. By the presidential election of 1876, only three state legislatures were not controlled by white Democrats.

 

The Compromise of 1877 completed the period of Redemption by white Democratic Southerners, with the withdrawal of federal troops from the South. State legislatures began to pass Jim Crow laws to establish racial segregation and restrict labor rights, movement and organizing by blacks. They passed some laws to restrict voter registration, aimed at suppressing the black vote.

 

From 1890–1908, Democratic state legislatures in the South disenfranchised most blacks and many poor whites from voting by passing new constitutions or amendments, or other “Jim Crow” laws related to more restrictive electoral and voter registration and electoral rules.

 

The Democratic Party essentially dominated the “Solid South” until the 1960s. As a result of the African-American Civil Rights Movement, the U.S. Congress, despite filibusters by the Democratic Party, passed laws in the mid–1960s to end segregation and enforce constitutional civil rights and voting rights.

41st Congress

JeffersonLong.jpg

Jefferson Franklin Long
(1869-1871 GA Republican)

Rep. Jefferson Franklin Long (R-GA) He was born a slave in Knoxville, Georgia. Self-educated and trained as a tailor, he became a successful businessman in Macon, Georgia, once the Civil War had ended. After Georgia was readmitted into the Union in 1870, Jefferson Long was elected to fill a vacant seat in the House of Representatives. Long served in the House from January 16 to March 3, 1871. He was the first African American to speak on the House floor. Long did not run for reelection and returned to Macon, where he resumed his business career.

Rainey.jpg

Joseph Hayne Rainey
(1869-1873 SC Republican)

Born into slavery in South Carolina, Rep. Joseph Rainey (R-SC), was the first African American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives and was the first black man to preside over the House. While enslaved, Rainey worked as a barber in South Carolina and in Philadelphia where he married in 1859. During the Civil War, he worked for the Confederacy until 1862 when he and his wife escaped and went to Bermuda. After the war he and his family returned to Charleston. In 1870 he was elected to the House of Representatives to complete the term of a congressman the House had refused to seat. He was reelected three times and served until 1879.

Hiram RhodesRevels.png

Hiram Rhodes Revels
(1869-1871 MS Republican)

Sen. Hiram Rhodes Revels (R-MS), was born free in North Carolina. Revels served as an army chaplain for a black regiment during the Civil War and helped establish schools for the freed people. After the War, Revels moved to Mississippi. In 1869 the Mississippi legislature elected him to the United States Senate, in which he was the first African American member. After serving from February 1870 to March 1871, Revels continued his dedication to education.

42nd Congress

RobertDeLarge.jpg

Robert Carlos DeLarge
(1871-1873 SC Republican)

Rep. Robert Carlos DeLarge (R-SC) was born to free parents in Aiken, South Carolina. De Large was elected to the House of Representatives and served from March 1871 until he lost his seat early in 1873 when the man he defeated successfully challenged the result of the election.

Elliott_edited.jpg

Robert Brown Elliott
(1871-1873 SC Republican)

Rep. Robert Brown Elliott (R-SC) was born in England. In 1867, Elliot moved to South Carolina, where he practiced law and entered State politics. Elliot was elected to Congress in 1870 and reelected two years later, serving from 1871 until he resigned in November 1874. While serving in Congress, Elliot advocated a bill that later became the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

JosiahWalls.jpg

Josiah Thomas Walls
(1871-1873 FL Republican)

Rep. Josiah Thomas Walls (R-FL), was born a slave in Winchester, Virginia, in 1842. In July 1863, in Philadelphia, he enlisted in the Third Infantry Regiment, United States Colored Troops. Discharged in October 1865 in Florida, he remained in that state. Walls was elected to represent Florida in Congress in 1870 but lost his seat early in 1873 when the candidate he had defeated successfully challenged his election. Walls had won an at-large seat in 1872, so he returned to Congress and won again in 1874, but early in 1876 he lost his seat once more as a result of another successful challenge to his election.

Turner.jpg

Benjamin Sterling Turner
(1871-1873 AL Republican)

Rep. Benjamin Sterling Turner (R-AL), was born a slave in 1825 in North Carolina. Turner moved to Alabama with his owner and was sold when he was twenty years old. During the Civil War, Turner raised enough money to purchase some property, and after emancipation he worked as a merchant and a farmer. In 1870, he successfully campaigned for an Alabama seat in the House of Representatives. He served one term in the Forty-second Congress, from 1871 to 1873.

Elija McCoy

ElijahMcCoy_edited_edited.png

Mae Jamison

Copy%20of%20Untitled_edited.png

Black Inventors
&
Trailblazers

Black Inventors

Black Inventors

Black Inventors
Search video...
ElijahMcCoyVid
02:09
Play Video

ElijahMcCoyVid

Inventor Marie Van Brittan Brown
06:05
Play Video

Inventor Marie Van Brittan Brown

These 5 African-American inventors improved the world
01:58
Play Video

These 5 African-American inventors improved the world

Black History Month_ Black Inventors
03:32
Play Video

Black History Month_ Black Inventors

Black Trailblazers

Black Trailblazers

Black Trailblazers
Search video...
Mae Jemison_ First African American Woman in Space _ Biography
02:58
Play Video

Mae Jemison_ First African American Woman in Space _ Biography

Katherine Johnson
03:48
Play Video

Katherine Johnson

Darryl Davis Blk Klansmen to leave the KKK through friendship
02:50
Play Video

Darryl Davis Blk Klansmen to leave the KKK through friendship

Advice from Robert Smith Forbes' second-wealthiest African-American
03:47
Play Video

Advice from Robert Smith Forbes' second-wealthiest African-American

lives that changed lives

Holy Spirit-filled 

Samuel Morris

William Seymour

Samuel Morris

Samuel Morris (1872-1893), was born in Liberia as Prince Kaboo, the son of a Kru tribal chieftain. There was much fighting between his tribe and neighboring tribes. When Kaboo was fifteen years old, a neighboring tribe defeated Kaboo’s tribe and took him captive, demanding his father pay a ransom. While he was held captive, Kaboo was often tortured and beaten with poisonous vines. He was hopeless and near the point of death.

 

One day, as he was about to be whipped again, Kaboo said a great light appeared before him. A voice thundered from the light and told Kaboo to run. Immediately, his wounds were healed and he had strength to run. He followed the light into the jungle as his captors searched for him. Over the next few weeks, the light guided Kaboo at night and showed him where to hide during the day.1

Once Kaboo left the jungle, he found a small plantation owned by white foreigners. Much to his surprise, the first person Kaboo met was a Kru boy, about his age, who helped Kaboo to get a job on the plantation and start a new life. At night, Kaboo would see this boy on his knees praying. One night Kaboo asked him what he was doing. The boy replied, “I am talking to God. He is my Father.”2 The next Sunday, they attended a church together where a missionary woman was telling the story about Saul’s conversion and the light from heaven. Upon hearing the story, Kaboo shouted, “I have seen that light!”3 and gave his life to Jesus. Ms. Knolls, the church’s Sunday school teacher, began to disciple Kaboo and help him learn English. Kaboo was soon baptized and received a new name, Samuel Morris, after the main supporter and benefactor of Ms. Knolls’ missionary work.

As Samuel continued to grow in his faith, he became hungry to learn more about Jesus and the Holy Spirit. One missionary told him how they had learned about the Holy Spirit from a man named Stephen Merritt in New York. Samuel declared, “Then I am going to New York!”

After waiting at the docks for several days, Samuel eventually found passage on a ship to New York in exchange for work. The crew soon discovered Samuel didn’t know how to sail, and they abused and beat him, but Samuel endured it all with patience and responded by going out of his way to be kind and forgiving. They saw Samuel pray frequently, even during dangerous storms. Attracted to the profound peace Samuel had, the crew, one by one, started giving their lives to the Lord Jesus.

 

One time, a fight broke out between two crew members and one of them threatened to kill the other with a machete. Samuel quietly intervened, confidently looking the man in the eye, and the crisis was averted. Later, that same man fell ill and was near death. Samuel prayed for him and he was healed. He repented of his ways and became a new man. By the end of the five-month journey across the Atlantic, the crew was radically different.

Once he arrived in New York, Samuel inquired where to find Stephen Merritt. A stranger told him that Mr. Merritt lived on the other side of town, and offered to take Samuel there for a dollar. When they arrived, the man asked for his dollar and Samuel replied, “Stephen Merritt pays all my bills now.” Stephen Merritt graciously handed over the dollar bill.4 Mr. Merritt had to leave for another appointment, so Samuel waited at Mr. Merritt’s mission. That evening, Mr. Merritt returned to find Samuel surrounded by seventeen men, all laying prostrate before the Lord, repenting of their sins.5 Mr. Merritt was amazed. He welcomed Samuel into his house, and provided food and clothing for him.

Mr. Merritt had to conduct a funeral the next day and he invited Samuel to come along. Along the way, they stopped to pick up two other clergymen who were to accompany them in their coach. These men were reluctant and shocked to be asked to ride in the same coach with an African boy. On the way to the funeral, Samuel suggested that they pray. He knelt right there in the coach and began to “talk with his Father.” The purity and simplicity of his prayer produced such a burning of the Holy Spirit in each of the men there that they were convicted of their own spiritual shabbiness.

A Sunday school class was so impacted by Samuel’s relationship with the Lord they decided to fund his way to Bible school. Mr. Merritt arranged for him to go to Taylor University in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Five days after their offering, Samuel was on his way.

Immediately, this young man made an impact on Taylor University. When the president asked him which room he wanted to stay in, Samuel replied, “If there is a room nobody wants, give that to me.”6 On Sunday, he found his way to a black church in town. As he spoke to the people, many were touched. The minister of the church said, “No such visitation of the Holy Spirit had ever been witnessed by that congregation.”7

That winter, the cold weather caused Samuel to become ill. He passed away in January 1893 and on his face was a look of extreme joy and peace. The best summary of his short twenty-year life can be found on his gravestone. It reads, “Samuel Morris . . . Famous Christian Mystic. Apostle of Simple Faith. Exponent of the Spirit-filled Life.”8

1. Lindley Baldwin, Samuel Morris (Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 1942), 7–15.
2. Wilbur Konkel, Jungle Gold: The Amazing Story of Sammy Morris and True Stories of African Life (Salem, OH: Schmul Publishing Co., Inc., 1993), 17.
3. Baldwin, Samuel Morris, 16.
4. Stephin Merritt and Thaddeus Constantine Reade, Samuel Morris: A Spirit Filled Life (Albion, MI: The Golden Rule Publishing Co., 1908), 7.
5. Baldwin, Samuel Morris, 43.
6. Ibid., 54.
7. Ibid., 59.
8. Ibid., 74.

William Seymour

William Joseph Seymour (1870-1922), was an influential African-American religious leader during the first half of the 20th century. He is considered one of the founders and leaders of modern Pentecostalism.

Seymour was actually credited for being a key catalyst in the founding of the modern Pentecostal movement. As an impactful prominent religious leader of his day, his influence can still be felt today.  Many aspects of his message are in line with today's concerns for religious and social leaders as well. He advocated racial integration as it would bring unity with Christ. He also supported women being in leadership positions within the church.


Seymour was born May 2, 1870 in Centerville, Louisiana to Simon and Phyllis Seymour. His family was affiliated with both the Catholic and Baptist churches. He was baptized in the Catholic Church of the Assumption, in Franklin, Louisiana.


Little of his childhood is known except that he was born in poverty, received very little formal education, and said to have had visions of God. He traveled extensively as a young man. In 1895, being 25 years old, he moved to Indianapolis, Indiana.  There he waited tables at upscale restaurants and hotels. While there, he joined Simpson Chapel Methodist Episcopal Church. This was an African-American congregation within the predominantly white Methodist Episcopal Church.


Seymour was struck with smallpox and lost his left eye due to the attack. After recovering from this potentially fatal illness, he decided to become a preacher and was ordained as minister in the Church of God in 1902.


He traveled the country as an evangelist for three more years, stopping in Chicago, Georgia, Mississippi, Louisiana, and Texas. He settled in Houston, Texas, where his family had relocated in 1905. He was the temporary pastor of Lucy Farrow's Holiness ministry (niece of Frederick Douglass, a black abolitionist).  Farrow had a profound impact on his spiritual direction as well as his career.

 

Farrow encouraged Seymour to contact Charles Fox Parham (a white evangelist who managed a Texas Bible School), as Seymour was intrigued in the idea of "speaking in tongues". Farrow was once a servant to Parham in Topeka (Kansas), who founded the first Pentecostal Bible School in the city. He taught that speaking in tongues is a sign that the Holy Spirit was at work. 


Seymour asked Parham if he could join the Bible school. Parham was open to Seymour's request, but he wouldn't give him a seat in class due to his segregationist tendencies. Parham only allowed Seymour access to the class through an open door. Seymour was not able to attend the class for very long. According to different sources, it lasted only a few days or a few weeks. He was offended at Parham's racism as he believed that racial inclusion in worship was a sign Christ's return. 


Seymour later met Neeley Terry, a woman who had moved to Houston from Los Angeles, and was part of the Holiness movement. Seymour was either accompanied by Terry or he traveled alone to Los Angeles, fascinated by Terry's description of the religious community. 


Seymour gave a sermon in Los Angeles on February 22, 1906 at a church founded by Julia M. Hutchins. Julia M. Hutchins had been expelled in the city's Second Baptist Church for her Holiness views. Seymour preached in praise of interracial religious communities and the use of tongues as a sign from the Holy Spirit. Hutchins was unhappy that Seymour included glossolalia within the Holiness doctrine and she literally locked Seymour from her church.


Seymour was invited by Mr. & Mrs. Richard Asberry, a more spiritually tolerant couple, to host services at their North Bonnie Brae Avenue home, thusly what is known today as the Bonnie Brae House.  At the Bonnie Brae House Seymour was able to speak in tongues at last when he visited the Asberry house. The events that led to his glossolalia began April 9, 1906 when Seymour's enthusiastic preaching inspired many members of his congregation who started speaking in tongues. As three nights of religious fervor continued, and Seymour started speaking in tongues on April 12.


As the excitement grew about North Bonnie Brae's events, more people began to attended. It was reported that local residents saw the house engulfed in flames.  The local fire department was called.  When they arrived and went inside there was no fire to put out. It is reported currently that in 2002, it happened again. A team from Argentina made the trek to Los Angeles and obtained permission to hold a prayer vigil through the night. Once again, flames were visible on the home, and fire trucks pulled up in haste to put out the fire. However, the only flames on the home were the same as those that appeared on the disciples in Acts 2! When the firemen made their way into the home, they found no fire. Instead, they found an entire group of believers on their faces fervent in prayer in the glory of God.

 

The Asberry home soon became too small for the services. Seymour moved the congregation to an unoccupied church on Azusa Street.  It was located in the business district at 312 Azusa Street. It measured 40 by 60 feet. The building was once home to the African Methodist Episcopal Church.  Seymour moved to the second floor of the church, where he began holding services three days a week. Seymour was assisted by a diverse staff of volunteers, which included men and women of all races and genders.

Miracles were happening as the norm.  Miss Jeanne Evans Moore, who Seymour later married, began playing the piano, having never been taught.  Services at the mission were conducted three times each day at 10 AM, noon and 7 PM. They often ran together until the entire day became one worship service. This schedule was continued seven days a week for more than three years.

It was common for the lost to be saved, sick healed, demonized delivered, and seekers to be baptized in the Spirit in almost every meeting. Many of the early leaders of the Pentecostal movement received their Holy Ghost baptism or worshipped at the Azusa altar; namely, F. F. Bosworth well known healing evangelist who wrote the book, "Christ the Healer", John G. Lake another astounding healing evangelist, and Frank Bartleman to just name a few.

In 1906 when lynchings of black men was at a peak in America's history, Seymour led an interracial worship service.  At Azusa Street there were no preferences for age, gender, or race. One worshipper said, "The blood of Jesus washed the color line away."


The church was overwhelmed by the multitudes of people soon after its opening. This was due to word of mouth, a newspaper article about it, and a force in nature: the San Francisco earthquake.  The story ran in the Los Angeles Times on April 18, 1906. It provided extensive coverage about the church's activities. The article was published on the same day as the San Francisco earthquake. Many people began to see connections between the two events. There was even a rumor that the Azusa mission had predicted the earthquake. This is why the San Francisco earthquake can sometimes be regarded as a major factor in the rise of Pentecostalism at a national level.


By May the Azusa Street Revival attracted over a thousand people every day. This was the start of the Pentecostal Church. This place of divine visitation attracted thousands of leaders and pastors from all over the globe, particularly during the vibrant years between 1906-1908, when it was still young. They took the fire of God with them to rekindle the Pentecostal flames within their countries. It spread quickly and continues to grow like wildfire. Today, there are over 600 million Charismatics and Pentecostals who can trace their spiritual ancestry back directly to this amazing event. 

 

The famed John G. Lake also visited the Azusa street meetings and wrote of Seymour: “He had the funniest vocabulary. But I want to tell you, there were doctors, lawyers, and professors, listening to the marvelous things coming from his lips. It was not what he said in words, it was what he said from his spirit to my heart that showed me he had more of God in his life than any man I had ever met up to that time. It was God in him that attracted the people.”

In 1906 Seymour began publishing the church newspaper The Apostolic Faith. The publication was launched in September of that year and quickly gained a national circulation of over 20,000. Seymour incorporated the Azusa mission into the Pacific Apostolic Faith Mission Los Angeles in 1907.

Frederick Douglass

Fred Douglass.png