Black History in State Government

In honor of Black History Month, CSG celebrates a few truly monumental firsts in state government.

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.

Alexander Twilight

1870 | 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.

Jonathan Jasper Wright

1872| John Roy Lynch

John Roy Lynch was the first Black individual to serve as a state house speaker upon his election as Speaker to the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1872. He went on to secure another first in 1884 when he became the first Black person to deliver a keynote address at the Republican National Convention.

John Roy Lynch

1872 | Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback

P.B.S. Pinchback was a Louisiana legislator, a Union Army officer and the first Black person to serve as governor of a U.S. state. In his position as senate president pro tempore, he became the acting lieutenant governor of Louisiana after the death of the serving incumbent. In 1872, he served as acting governor of the state during the impeachment hearing of Henry Clay Warmoth.

Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback

1938 | Crystal Bird Fauset

In 1938, the voters of Pennsylvania voted the first Black woman into a state legislative seat. Crystal Bird Fauset began her career as a public school teacher in Philadelphia, but went on to not only serve as a state legislator, and went on to serve not only as a state legislator, but also as race relations director in President Roosevelt’s Office of Civil Defense. Fauset founded the United National Council of Philadelphia.

Crystal Bird Fauset

1952 | Cora Mae Brown

Elected in 1952, Cora Mae Brown was the first Black woman to be elected to a state senate. Prior to representing Detroit in the Michigan Senate, Brown served as a social worker, Detroit police officer and a private practice attorney. Following her time in the Michigan Senate, Brown would go on to serve as special general counsel for the U.S. Post Office during the Eisenhower Administration.

Cora Mae Brown

1979 | Velvalea “Vel” Phillips

Velvalea “Vel” Phillips was the first Black woman to hold an elected statewide executive office when she was sworn in as Wisconsin’s secretary of state in 1979. Phillips was the first Black woman in Wisconsin to graduate from the University of Wisconsin at Madison Law, be elected to the Milwaukee City Council and become a judge.

Velvalea “Vel” Phillips

1990 | Douglas Wilder

Lawrence Douglas Wilder became the first elected Black governor in the U.S. when he was sworn in as the 66th governor of the Commonwealth of Virginia in 1990. Wilder is a Korean War Veteran and received a Bronze Star for combat. Wilder is also an accomplished chemist, lawyer and legislator.

Douglas Wilder