Rainey

Against a backdrop of what many would consider insurmountable odds, Joseph Hayne Rainey, born enslaved, entered the Capitol building as the first African American member of the U.S House of Representatives in December 1870.

“I often think about what it must have felt like for him that very first day he walked into the Capitol into the assembly. And he was the only one, the only Black man,” Rainey told VOA. “My great-grandfather was prepared to be in Congress. He had a steel core but became a very moving figure through the years he was there,” she said.

Even as America celebrates Black History Month, which ends next week, the individual accomplishments of African Americans like Joseph Rainey are often overlooked. Now, his service to the country is beginning to receive greater recognition.

“Joseph Rainey is someone who can be described as the founding father of our nation,” said Bobby Donaldson, a history professor at the University of South Carolina. “He literally helped to rebuild this country in the aftermath of the Civil War and helped to envision a nation following emancipation during this extraordinary era called Reconstruction,” Donaldson told VOA.

A Republican, Rainey was elected to the South Carolina legislature and helped craft a new state constitution that defended the equality of citizens.

As a U.S. representative, Joseph Rainey championed civil rights, education and economic opportunity for all.

Rainey Qualley, b. 1989