Hiram Revels

Hiram Revels (1822-1901) of Mississippi entered Congress as the nation's first black senator on February 25, 1870. Jefferson Davis had resigned from the Senate in order to become president of the Confederacy. Revels finished out Davis's term. In 1875, Blanche K. Bruce, also of Mississippi, was the nation's second black senator. Who was the third? Edward Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts. He took office in 1966.