United States House of Representatives: History, Art, & Archives
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Black Americans in Congress

Black Americans in Congress

First African-American Representative to serve in Congress/tiles/non-collection/e/ed_lesson_baic_rainey_hc.xml Joseph Hayne Rainey, Collection of the U.S. House of Representatives
About this object First African-American Representative to serve in Congress
This page features materials designed to help teachers and students use the information presented in the Black Americans in Congress publication in their classrooms. It includes lesson plans on the African-American pioneers who served on Capitol Hill from 1870 to 2007 based on the contextual essays from the Black Americans in Congress book, as well as activities on photographs, objects, and quotations.

Lesson Plans

Lesson Plan One:  “The Fifteenth Amendment in Flesh and Blood," The Symbolic Generation of Black Americans in Congress, 1870–1887 - Lesson Plan (PDF) / Essay 

Lesson Plan Two:  “The Negroes’ Temporary Farewell," Jim Crow and the Exclusion of African Americans from Congress, 1887–1929 - Lesson Plan (PDF) / Essay

Lesson Plan Three:  Keeping the Faith: African Americans Return to Congress, 1929–1970 - Lesson Plan (PDF)/Essay

Lesson Plan Four:  Permanent Interests: The Expansion, Organization, and Rising Influence of African Americans in Congress, 1971–2007 - Lesson Plan (PDF) / Essay  

Lesson Plan Five:  Objects in Time - Lesson Plan (PDF) / Artifacts (PDF)

Lesson Plan Six:  A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words - Lesson Plan (PDF) / Photographs (PDF)

Lesson Plan Seven:  Black Americans in Congress Speak Their Mind - Lesson Plan (PDF) / Quotations (PDF)

Office of the Historian: history@mail.house.gov
Office of Art & Archives, Office of the Clerk: art@mail.house.gov, archives@mail.house.gov