Joseph Rainey
Joseph Hayne Rainey | |
---|---|
Benjamin F. Whittemore | |
Succeeded by | John S. Richardson |
Member of the South Carolina Senate from Georgetown County | |
In office November 24, 1868 – November 28, 1870 | |
Preceded by | Richard Dozier |
Succeeded by | John Francis Beckman |
Personal details | |
Born | banker | June 21, 1832
Joseph Hayne Rainey (June 21, 1832 – August 1, 1887) was an American politician. He was the first
Born into a family of farmers and planters, Rainey was a member of the Republican Party.
Early life and education
Joseph Hayne Rainey was born in 1832 in Georgetown, South Carolina.[1] His mother Grace was of Indigenous and French descent.[2] His father, Edward Rainey had been allowed by his master to work independently to earn money and develop a successful business as a barber. He paid a portion of his income to his master as required by law. Edward saved a substantial sum, and by the 1840s, he purchased his freedom and that of his wife and two sons.[2] With opportunities for education severely limited for black people, Rainey followed his father into the barber's profession as an adult. It was an independent and well-respected trade that enabled him to build a wide social network in his community.
Personal life
In 1859, Rainey traveled to
Career
American Civil War
In 1861, with the outbreak of the
In 1862, Rainey and his family escaped to the British
Return to the U.S. and politics
In 1866, following the end of the U.S. Civil War, Rainey and his family returned to South Carolina, where they settled in Charleston. In 1870, 43 percent of the city's population was African American, including many people of color who, like Rainey, had been free and held skilled jobs before the war. His experience and wealth helped establish him as a leader and he quickly became involved in politics, joining the executive committee of the state Republican Party. In 1868, he was a delegate to the state constitutional convention.
In 1870, Rainey was elected to the
Rainey was seated December 12, 1870 and was re-elected to Congress, serving a total of four terms. Serving until March 3, 1879, he established a record of length of service for a black Congressman that was not surpassed until that of
Rainey made three speeches on the floor of Congress in support of what was finally passed as the Civil Rights Act of 1875. In 1873, he said he was not seeking 'social equality' and was content to choose his own circle.
He went on to say,
But we do want a law enacted that we may be recognized like other men in the country. Why is it that colored members of Congress cannot enjoy the same immunities that are accorded to white members? Why cannot we stop at hotels here without meeting objection? Why cannot we go into restaurants without being insulted? We are here enacting laws for the country and casting votes upon important questions; we have been sent here by the suffrages of the people, and why cannot we enjoy the same benefits that are accorded to our white colleagues on this floor?[9]
With violence against black people increasing in the South, in 1874 Rainey purchased a "summer home" in
He also worked to promote the Southern economy. In May 1874, Rainey became the first African American to preside over the House of Representatives as Speaker pro tempore.[10]
In the closing hours of Congress in 1878, Rainey was one of the few sober members present. He acted to ensure the passage of an $18 million civil service appropriation bill that would not have been passed without his firm presence.[11]
Beginning in 1874,
In 1876, Rainey won re-election from the Charleston district against
In mid-1878, Rainey warned President Hayes of increasing violence and rhetoric meant to limit the African-American vote in South Carolina.[14]
In 1878, Rainey was defeated in a second contest with Richardson, although black men continued to be elected for numerous local offices through much of the 19th century. White Democrats used their dominance of the state legislature to pass laws for
Later life and death
After leaving the U.S. Congress, Rainey was appointed as a federal agent of the US Treasury Department for internal revenue in South Carolina. He held this position for two years, after which he began a career in private commerce. He worked in brokerage and banking in Washington, DC for five years.
Rainey retired in 1886 and returned to South Carolina. At the age of 55, he contracted malaria and died less than a year later, in August 1887[15] in Georgetown, the city of his birth.
Legacy
In 2018, the Joseph Rainey Center for Public Policy, a post-partisan, 501(c)3 think-tank was founded by Sarah E. Hunt and Bishop Garrison with the goal of empowering the voices of women, minorities and mavericks in public policy.[16]
See also
- List of African American firsts
- List of African-American United States representatives
References
- ^ "How He Became 1st Black US Congressman in 1870 | Voice of America – English". www.voanews.com. 2021-02-25. Retrieved 2021-03-04.
- ^ a b c "Joseph Hayne Rainey" Archived 2012-06-25 at the Wayback Machine, Black Americans in Congress, Office of the Clerk, US Congress, accessed 30 March 2011
- ^ Historic Tucker House . Bermuda National Trust
- ^ "The Disturbed State of St. Georges: Attempt at Assassination". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 1863-08-11. p. 2.
...and the result has been an unmistakable ill-feeling between the employers and the employed-a feeling which has received some accession of acrimony as far as the clannism of white and coloured is concerned-by some fierce contests between seamen from the ships in port and coloured people. As an instance we may record the case of a young man belonging to one of the steamers, who very foolishly brought a revolver on shore with him one evening, and who was set upon by coloured people and severely beaten-took to the water and swam, as he thought for his life, towards his ship, was pursued, dragged out of the water, taken on shore and again brutally beaten. – In this state of feeling the fires on Wednesday occurred...
- ^ "Alarming fires at St. Georges". The Royal Gazette. City of Hamilton, Pembroke, Bermuda. 1863-08-11. p. 2.
...On Wednesday last two fires of a most alarming character broke out successively in the Town of St. Georges, and, partly from their intrinsically formidable character and partly from concurrent circumstances in a separate article as most convenient for our readers, we propose to give a simple narrative of the facts. The first broke out about midday among the cotton bales on Mr. Penno's wharf. It should be premised that the whole of the extensive wharf that lies between the stores and the harbour was covered with some hundreds of cotton bales piled tier above tier and divided into three large sections corresponding to the divisions of the buildingand-most fortunately as it turned out-with a clear gangway five feet wide between the piles and the wall of the building. The fire broke out in the easternmost of the three piles and was first observed by Mr. Tudor Tucker who, in the discharge of his official duties, was sitting on a platform leading to the upper story of the building overlooking the whole wharf....
- ^ "Fighting to save America's soul". The Royal Gazette. August 9, 2008.
- ^ "Fighting to save America's soul". The Royal Gazette. August 9, 2008. Archived from the original on July 19, 2009. Retrieved 2008-08-10.
- ^ The Royal Gazette: Unknown soldier is identified May 31, 2002 (Outerbridge.com)
- ^ Rainey, Joseph (December 19, 1873). "Speech about the Civil Rights Act under consideration, passed 1875" (PDF). Neglected Voices. New York University School of Law. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 9, 2014. Retrieved October 9, 2014.
- ^ "Joseph Rainey" Archived 2012-03-07 at the Wayback Machine, Black History Month, National Treasury Employees Union
- ^ Ari Hoogenboom, Rutherford B. Hayes: Warrior and President p. 368 [ISBN missing]
- JSTOR 27570004– via JSTOR.
- ^ Melinda Meeks Hennessy, “Racial Violence During Reconstruction: The 1876 Riots in Charleston and Cainhoy”, South Carolina Historical Magazine, Vol. 86, No. 2, (April 1985), 104–106 at JSTOR (subscription required)
- ^ Hoogenboom, Hayes p. 374
- ^ Knörzer, Bobby J. Donaldson,Christopher Frear, Uli. "Meet Joseph Rainey, the First Black Congressman". Smithsonian Magazine. Retrieved 2021-02-22.
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: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) - ^ "About Us". www.raineycenter.org.
Further reading
- Packwood, Cyril Outerbridge (1977). Detour – Bermuda, Destination – U.S. House of Representatives: The Life of Joseph Hayne Rainey. Hamilton, Bermuda: Baxter's.[ISBN missing]
- "Joseph Hayne Rainey", in Black Americans in Congress, 1870–2007, Office of History & Preservation, U. S. House of Representatives. Washington: Government Printing Office, 2008. Holt, Thomas. [ISBN missing]
- "Rainey, Joseph Hayne", in Dictionary of American Negro Biography, edited by Rayford W. Logan and Michael R. Winston. New York: Norton and Co., 1982.[ISBN missing]
External links
- Congressional biography at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress
- "Connecticut Freedom Trail", Official Website
- Joseph Rainey, Dec. 19, 1873 speech about the Civil Rights Act under consideration, passed 1875, Neglected Voices, NYU School of Law
- Joseph Rainey, Picture History photos