Blanche Bruce | |
|---|---|
 Bruce, 1865–80 | |
| 6th and 9thRegister of the Treasury | |
| In office December 3, 1897 – March 17, 1898 | |
| President | William McKinley |
| Preceded by | Fount Tillman |
| Succeeded by | Judson Lyons |
| In office May 21, 1881 – June 5, 1885 | |
| President | James A. Garfield Chester A. Arthur Grover Cleveland |
| Preceded by | Glenni Scofield |
| Succeeded by | William Rosecrans |
| United States Senator fromMississippi | |
| In office March 4, 1875 – March 3, 1881 | |
| Preceded by | Henry R. Pease |
| Succeeded by | James Z. George |
| Personal details | |
| Born | Blanche Kelso Bruce (1841-03-01)March 1, 1841 Farmville, Virginia, U.S. |
| Died | March 17, 1898(1898-03-17) (aged 57) Washington, D.C., U.S. |
| Resting place | Woodlawn Cemetery |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse | Josephine Willson |
| Children | Roscoe |
| Education | Oberlin College |
| Signature | .jpg) |
Blanche Kelso Bruce (March 1, 1841 – March 17, 1898) was an American politician who representedMississippi as aRepublican in theUnited States Senate from 1875 to 1881. Born into slavery inPrince Edward County, Virginia, he went on to become the first electedAfrican-American senator to serve a full term (Hiram R. Revels, also ofMississippi, was the first African American to serve in the U.S. Senate but did not complete a full term).[1]
He was appointed as Recorder of Deeds in Washington D.C. duringBenjamin Harrison's presidency. His home, theBlanche K. Bruce House, is a National Historic Landmark.
Bruce was born intoslavery in 1841 inPrince Edward County,Virginia, nearFarmville to Polly Bruce, an African-American woman who served as a domestic slave. His father was his master, Pettis Perkinson, awhite Virginiaplanter. Bruce was treated comparatively well by his father, who educated him together with a legitimate half-brother. When Bruce was young, he played with his half-brother. One source claims that his father legally freed Blanche and arranged for anapprenticeship so he could learn a trade. In an 1886 newspaper interview, however, Bruce says that he gained his freedom by moving toKansas as soon as hostilities broke out in the Civil War.[2][3]
Bruce attendedOberlin College for two years inOberlin, Ohio. He next worked as a steamboat porter on theMississippi River. In 1864, he moved toHannibal, Missouri, where he established a school for black children.
In 1868, duringReconstruction, Bruce relocated toBolivar nearCleveland in northwestern Mississippi, at which he purchased aMississippi Delta plantation.[4] He became a wealthy landowner of several thousand acres in theMississippi Delta. He was appointed to the positions ofTallahatchie County registrar of voters and tax assessor before he won an election forsheriff in Bolivar County.[5] He later was elected to other county positions, including tax collector and supervisor of education, while he also edited a localnewspaper. He became sergeant-at-arms for theMississippi State Senate in 1870.[4]
In February 1874, Bruce was elected to the U.S. Senate, thesecond African American to serve in the upper house of Congress. On February 14, 1879, Brucepresided over the U.S. Senate, becoming the first African American (and the only former slave) to have done so.[2] In 1880,James Z. George, a Confederate Army veteran and member of the Democratic Party, was elected to succeed Bruce. After his Senate term expired, Bruce remained in Washington, D.C., secured a succession of Republican patronage jobs and stumped for Republican candidates across the country. He acquired a largetownhouse and summer home, and presided over black high society.[6]
At the1880 Republican National Convention inChicago, Bruce became the first African American to win any votes for national office at a major party's nominating convention, with eight votes for vice president. The presidential nominee that year was Ohio'sJames A. Garfield, who narrowly won election over theDemocratWinfield Scott Hancock.[7]
In early 1889, politically connected blacks lobbied for Bruce to receive a Cabinet appointment in the Harrison Administration. Said one newspaper: "Bruce is a man of respectable ability, and has, perhaps, more than any other man of his race who has sat in Congress, the respect of those with whom he served.[8]
Bruce served by appointment as theDistrict of Columbiarecorder of deeds from 1890 to 1893. A Philadelphia newspaper reported his appointment in 1890,[9] but persistent claims that his salary was $30,000 a year are not substantiated by any primary records. He also served on the District of Columbia Board of Trustees of Public Schools from 1892 to 1895.[10] He was a participant in the March 5, 1897 meeting to celebrate the memory ofFrederick Douglass and theAmerican Negro Academy led byAlexander Crummell.[11] He was appointed asRegister of the Treasury a second time in 1897 by PresidentWilliam McKinley and served until his death from diabetes complications in 1898.[12]
On June 24, 1878, Bruce marriedJosephine Beall Willson (1853–1923), a fair-skinned socialite ofCleveland, Ohio, amid great publicity; the couple traveled toEurope for a four-month honeymoon.[13] Their only child,Roscoe Conkling Bruce, was born in 1879. He was named for U.S. SenatorRoscoe Conkling ofNew York, Bruce's mentor in the Senate.
One newspaper wrote that Bruce did not approve of the designation "colored men." He often said, "I am a Negro and proud of it."[4]
In July 1898, theDistrict of Columbia public school trustees ordered that a then-new public school building on Marshall Street inPark View be named the Bruce School in his honor.[14]
In 1975, the Washington, D.C. residence of Bruce, was declared aNational Historic Landmark and formally namedThe Blanche K. Bruce House.[15]
In October 1999, the U.S. Senate commissioned a portrait of Bruce. African-American Washington D.C. artistSimmie Knox was selected in 2000 to paint the portrait, which was unveiled in the Capitol in 2001.
In 2002, scholarMolefi Kete Asante listed Blanche Bruce on his list of100 Greatest African Americans.[16]
On March 1, 2006, theAfrican American Heritage Preservation Foundation unveiled a historical highway marker noting Bruce's birthplace at the intersection of highway 360 and 623 nearGreen Bay, Prince Edward County, Virginia.[17]
Lawrence Otis Graham authored a historical book about Bruce titledThe True Story of America's First Black Dynasty: The Senator and the Socialite in June 2006.[18]
Senator Bruce was also the first African-American to preside over the Senate and the first African-American whose signature appeared on all the nation's paper currency (asRegister of the Treasury starting on May 18, 1881)
| U.S. Senate | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | United States Senator (Class 1) from Mississippi 1875–1881 Served alongside:James L. Alcorn,Lucius Lamar | Succeeded by |
| New office | Chair of theSenate Mississippi River Levees Committee 1877–1879 | Succeeded by ??? |
| Honorary titles | ||
| Preceded by | Baby of the Senate 1879–1881 | Succeeded by |
| Political offices | ||
| Preceded by | Register of the Treasury 1881–1885 | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Register of the Treasury 1897–1898 | Succeeded by |
| Class 1 |  | |
|---|---|---|
| Class 2 | ||
| International | |
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| National | |
| People | |
| Other | |
