African American Hero of the Day

Blanche Kelso Bruce (1841-1898)

Slave, U.S. Senator

Blanche Kelso Bruce was born a slave in Farmville, Prince Edward County, Virginia, on March 1, 1841. He received his early formal education in Missouri, where his parents had moved while he was still quite young, and later studied at Oberlin College in Ohio. In 1868, Bruce settled in Floreyville, Mississippi. He worked as a planter and eventually built up a considerable fortune in property.

In 1870, Bruce entered politics and was elected sergeantatarms of the Mississippi Senate. A year later he was named assessor of taxes in Bolivar County. In 1872 he served as sheriff of that county and as a member of the Board of Levee Commissioners of Mississippi.

Bruce was nominated to the U.S. Senate from Mississippi in February 1874. Upon his election he became the first black person to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. Bruce became an outspoken defender of the rights of minority groups, including the Chinese and Indians. He also investigated alleged bank and election frauds and worked for the improvement of navigation on the Mississippi River in the hope of increasing interstate and foreign commerce. Bruce also supported legislation aimed at eliminating reprisals against those who had opposed Negro emancipation.

After Bruce completed his term in the Senate, he was named Register of the U.S. Treasury Department by President James A. Garfield. Bruce held this position until 1885. In 1889, President Benjamin Harrison appointed him recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia. Bruce served as recorder of deeds until 1893, when he became a trustee for the District of Columbia public schools. In 1897, President William McKinley reappointed him to his former post as register of the treasurer. Bruce died on March 17, 1898.

From African American Almanac: 400 Years of Triumph, Courage and Excellence by Lean'tin Bracks, (c) 2012 Visible Ink Press(R). A wealth of milestones, inspiration, and challenges met . . .