George W. Albright | |
|---|---|
 1874 photo by E. Von Seutter | |
| Member of theMississippi State Senate from the 25th district | |
| In office January 20, 1874 – January 1878 | |
| Preceded by | Henry M. Paine |
| Succeeded by | A. M. West |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1846-08-15)August 15, 1846 |
| Died | 1944(1944-00-00) (aged 97–98) |
| Party | Republican |
George Washington Albright (August 15, 1846 - 1944)[1] was an American farmer, educator, and politician who was bornenslaved in the U.S. state ofMississippi. ARepublican, Albright represented the 25th District[2] (consisting ofMarshall County) in theMississippi State Senate from 1874 to 1879 during the end of theReconstruction Era. In 1873, Albright won his Senate seat by defeating theDemocrat E. H. Crump, a leader in theKu Klux Klan.[3] Albright served in the 1874-1875 session and the 1876-1877 session.[4]
After he was emancipated from slavery, Albright worked as a field hand. His father, who was sold to an owner inTexas shortly before theAmerican Civil War, joined theUnion Army and was killed at theBattle of Vicksburg in Mississippi. During the War, Albright was a member of theUnion League, which promoted loyalty to the Republican Party and spread news of theEmancipation Proclamation among still enslaved people. After the war, he attended a school run bySheriffNelson Gill.[5]
Albright married a white teacher and became a teacher himself. When he narrowly escaped with his life in a confrontation with Klansmen, Albright moved to Chicago,Kansas, and laterColorado. In 1937, in an interview with thecommunistDaily Worker newspaper, he hailed theCommunist Party USA for nominating a Black man,James W. Ford, for the vice-presidency in the1936 presidential election.[6][5]
In 2021, DeeDee Baldwin, a research librarian heading the Against All Odds archival history effort on African American legislators in Mississippi during and after the Reconstruction era, was part of a recorded talk and slide presentation with Karen Burch, one of Albright's descendants.[7]
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