1836
Alexander Twilight Alexander Twilight of Vermont became the first Black state legislator when he was elected to the Vermont House of Representatives in 1836. Twilight was the first Black man to receive a college degree in the United States and was the only Black person to be elected to a state legislature prior to the Civil War.
In honor of Black History Month, CSG celebrates a few truly monumental firsts in state government.
ISSUE 1 2021 | CSG CAPITOL IDEAS
1870
6
Jonathan Jasper Wright In 1870, the South Carolina legislature appointed Jonathan Jasper Wright to the state supreme court, making him the first Black person to serve as a state supreme court justice. Wright came to the bench after becoming the first Black man to be admitted to the South Carolina Bar.
