24 Facts About Joseph Rainey

Joseph Rainey was the first black person to serve in the United States House of Representatives and the second black person to serve in the United States Congress.

Joseph Rainey's service included time as presiding officer of the House of Representatives.

Joseph Hayne Rainey was born in 1832 in Georgetown, South Carolina.

Joseph Rainey paid a portion of his income to his master as required by law.

In 1859, Joseph Rainey traveled to Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he met and married Susan, a free woman of color from the West Indies, who was of African-French descent.

In 1861, with the outbreak of the American Civil War, Joseph Rainey was among the free black people who were conscripted by the Confederates to work on fortifications in Charleston, South Carolina.

Joseph Rainey worked as a cook and laborer on blockade runner ships.

Joseph Rainey worked at the Hamilton Hotel as a barber and a bartender, where his customers were mostly white.

Joseph Rainey became a respected member of the community and he and his wife earned a prosperous living in Bermuda.

In 1870,43 percent of the city's population was African American, including many people of color who, like Joseph Rainey, had been free and held skilled jobs before the war.

In 1870, Joseph Rainey was elected to the South Carolina Senate and became chair of the Finance Committee.

Joseph Rainey served only a short time as that year he won a special election as a Republican to fill a vacancy in the 41st United States Congress.

Joseph Rainey had been censured by the House for corruption but re-elected.

Joseph Rainey was seated December 12,1870 and was re-elected to Congress, serving a total of four terms.

Joseph Rainey supported legislation that became known as the Enforcement Acts, to suppress the violent activities of the Ku Klux Klan.

Joseph Rainey made three speeches on the floor of Congress in support of what was finally passed as the Civil Rights Act of 1875.

In May 1874, Joseph Rainey became the first African American to preside over the House of Representatives as Speaker pro tempore.

Joseph Rainey acted to ensure the passage of an $18 million civil service appropriation bill that would not have been passed without his firm presence.

In 1876, Joseph Rainey won re-election from the Charleston district against Democratic candidate John Smythe Richardson.

Richardson challenged the result as invalid on the grounds of intimidation of Democrats by federal soldiers and black militias guarding the polls, but Joseph Rainey retained his seat.

In mid-1878, Joseph Rainey warned President Hayes of increasing violence and rhetoric meant to limit the African-American vote in South Carolina.

In 1878, Joseph Rainey was defeated in a second contest with Richardson, although black men continued to be elected for numerous local offices through much of the 19th century.

Joseph Rainey held this position for two years, after which he began a career in private commerce.

Joseph Rainey worked in brokerage and banking in Washington, DC for five years.