First Colored Senator and Representatives

About this artwork

As Reconstruction transformed the political landscape of the postwar South, African American legislators began representing many former Confederate states in Congress by the early 1870s. This popular commemorative print celebrates the seven Black men—all Republicans—who served in the 41st and 42nd Congress of the United States (1869–71 and 1871–73).

Art Historical Context

In the turbulent era of Reconstruction following the Civil War, Currier & Ives Lithography Company produced *First Colored Senator and Representatives* in 1872. This hand-colored lithographic print commemorates a historic milestone: the seven Black Republican men who served in the 41st and 42nd U.S. Congresses (1869–1873). Featuring portraits of figures like Senator Hiram Rhoades Revels of Mississippi (a pastor), Jefferson Franklin Long of Georgia (a civil rights activist), Joseph Harvey Rainey, Josiah T. Walls, R. Brown Elliot (a magistrate), Robert Carlos De Large and Benjamin Sterling Turner of South Carolina, the artwork captures their dignified likenesses amid symbols of authority, such as papers and facial hair styles like beards, mustaches, and muttonchops. As one of America's most prolific printmakers, Currier & Ives specialized in affordable, vividly colored lithographs that brought current events into homes. This piece, now in the Smithsonian American Art Museum's collection, reflects the era's optimism for racial progress while highlighting the political empowerment of formerly enslaved African Americans representing former Confederate states. Culturally, it stands as a powerful emblem of Black political achievement during a fragile window of opportunity, before the rollback of Reconstruction gains. For visitors, it offers a vivid window into a transformative moment in American democracy.