Blanche Kelso Bruce

Background

Blanche Kelso Bruce was born on March 1, 1841 in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia.

Education

At an early age Blanche moved to Missouri and for two years he attended Oberlin College there, pursuing a special course in the fundamentals.

Career

Blanche Bruce then in 1868 started life as a planter at Floreyville, Mississippi, and accumulated considerable property. For a while he engaged in teaching and at the same time he entered politics. By judgment, tact, and executive ability, he easily made himself a leader of a large constituency which rewarded him with many political honors.

He served the state Senate of Mississippi as sergeant-at-arms in 1870, secured the appointment of assessor of Bolivar County in 1871, became its sheriff in 1872, and the same year obtained a seat in the Board of Levee Commissioners of the Mississippi. To give him the opportunity to crown these efforts with a service for the whole country, his constituents elected him to the United States Senate in 1874.

He served creditably in the Senate for six years from 1875 to 1881. Although he spent much time and energy in the debates on election frauds, Southern disorders, and civil rights, he was equal to the occasion in dealing with other important problems.

At the expiration of his term in the Senate, President Garfield made him Register of the Treasury, a position which he held for four years. In 1889, President Harrison appointed him Recorder of Deeds in the District of Columbia when the position meant much more than it does to-day. President McKinley called him back to the office of Register of the Treasury in 1895.

Bruce served in this capacity until his death. Bruce died of diabetes-related complications in Washington, D. C. , on March 17, 1898.

Achievements

• Blanche K. Bruce was one of the remarkable figures on the political arene of the United States during the Reconstruction era, which was the time that followed the American Civil War, and during which attempts were made to redress the inequities of slavery and its political, social, and economic legacy. His chief achievement came in 1875 when he was elected as a Republican to the United States Senate, serving until 1881 and became the first African American to serve in the U. S. Senate. After his term, he was appointed by President James Garfield, Register of the Treasury in 1881 and recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia, serving (1891-93).

Works

More photos

• book

  • Blanche K. Bruce - Manuscript Document Signed 07/18/1890

    (BLANCHE K. BRUCE Manuscript bill of sale for a Washington...)

Politics

Bruce made his foray into politics in 1870, when the Mississippi Senate elected him its sergeant-at-arms. In 1874, the Mississippi state legislature elected Bruce to be its representative in the United States Senate, making him the second African-American to hold the position. He served from 1875-1881, and thus Bruce became the first African-American citizen to work a full term in the United States Senate. Bruce acted as presiding officer at the Republican National Convention in 1880 and 1888.

Views

He fearlessly opposed the Chinese exclusion policy, he forcefully combated our selfish attitude toward the Indians, and he worked for the removal of the disabilities of men who had opposed the emancipation of the race to which he belonged. He showed statesmanlike foresight, too, in his advocacy of the improvement of the navigation of the Mississippi.

He not only labored to prevent the periodical inundation of that stream, but endeavored so to improve the waterway as to furnish increased facilities for interstate and foreign commence. Deprived of further political preferment as the result of the overthrow of the Reconstruction governments in the South, he settled in Washington.

Quotations: He often said: "I am a Negro and proud of it. "

Connections

On June 24, 1878, he was married to Josephine B. Wilson of Cleveland. The couple had one son, Roscoe Conkling Bruce, who grew up to become a notable educator.

Wife:

Josephine Beall Wilson Bruce

1853–1923

Son:

Roscoe Conkling Bruce

1879–1950

References

• Four took freedom;: The lives of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Robert Smalls, and Blanche K. Bruce (Zenith books, Z10)
• The fighting Congressmen: Thaddeus Stephens, Hiram Revels, James Rapier, Blanche K. Bruce (Firebird books)
• Four Took Freedom: The Lives of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Robert Small and Blanche K. Bruce
• Four Took Freedom; the Lives of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass, Robert Smalls, and Blanche K. Bruce
• The Senator and the Socialite: The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty
• Blanche K. Bruce, politician (Black Americans of achievement)