22 Facts About Charles Diggs

Charles Diggs was the first African American elected to Congress from Michigan.

Charles Diggs was elected the first chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus and was a staunch critic of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

Charles Diggs resigned from the United States House of Representatives and served 14 months of a three-year sentence for mail fraud, although he maintained his innocence.

Charles Diggs attended the University of Michigan, Detroit College of Law, and Fisk University.

Charles Diggs served in the United States Army from 1943 to 1945.

Charles Diggs was rooted in his family's business, the House of Diggs, which at one time was said to be Michigan's largest funeral home.

In 1954, Diggs defeated incumbent US Representative George D O'Brien in the Democratic Party primary elections for Michigan's 13th congressional district.

Charles Diggs went on to win the general election to the 84th Congress and was re-elected to the next twelve Congresses, serving from January 3,1955, until his resignation June 3,1980.

The first African American to be elected to Congress in Michigan, Charles Diggs made significant contributions to the struggle for civil rights.

Later that same year, Charles Diggs returned to Mississippi, where he received national attention as the only congressman to attend and monitor the trial of the accused killers of Emmett Till, a black teenager from Chicago who was murdered during a trip to the state.

Charles Diggs had to sit at a small table along with black reporters.

Charles Diggs personally escorted Reed to Detroit, after a nighttime escape from Reed's home in Drew, Mississippi to Memphis, Tennessee.

In 1969, Charles Diggs was appointed to the post of chairman of the Subcommittee on Africa of the Committee on Foreign Affairs, where he strongly advocated ending apartheid in South Africa.

Charles Diggs was a committed publicist for the liberation cause in South Africa, and his 'Action Manifesto' displayed his support for the armed struggle against apartheid.

Charles Diggs argued that American corporations were propping up the apartheid government through their investments, and he was banned from South Africa by its government for these positions.

Charles Diggs was a founding member and the first chairman of the Congressional Black Caucus, a group of African-American representatives and senators working to address the needs and rights of black constituents.

In March 1978, Charles Diggs was charged with taking kickbacks from staff whose salaries he raised.

Charles Diggs was convicted on October 7,1978, on 11 counts of mail fraud and filing false payroll forms.

Charles Diggs insisted he had done nothing wrong, and was re-elected while awaiting sentencing.

Charles Diggs was censured by the House on July 31,1979, and resigned from Congress June 3,1980.

Charles Diggs was sentenced to three years in prison and served 14 months.

Charles Diggs died of a stroke at Greater Southeast Community Hospital in Washington, DC He is interred at Detroit Memorial Park in Warren, Michigan.