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Collection Reference Number GLC09400.185
From Archive Folder Collection of letters of the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate 
Title A.K. Davis to James Hill in hopes of a position in the consulship of Trinidad
Date 28 July 1876
Author Davis, A.K., (fl. 1876)  
Additional authors Hill, James (fl. 1876-1880)
Document Type Correspondence
Content Description This is a letter forwarded to Senator Bruce by James hill with a note from James Hill on the bottom of the page. Davis is writing in hopes of a position in the consulship of Trinidad. He is writing to James Hill for a recommendation to Senator Bruce. The letter has been forwarded to the Senator with a note on the bottom from James Hill asking the Senator for anything he can do to help Davis.
Subjects African American History  African Americans in Government  Congress  Reconstruction  Government and Civics  Caribbean  Office Seeker  Diplomacy  Letter of Introduction or Recommendation  
People Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841-1898)  Davis, A.K. (fl. 1876)  Hill, James (fl. 1876-1880)  
Place written Columbus, Mississippi
Theme Government & Politics; African Americans
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945
Additional Information Blanche Kelso Bruce was born into slavery near Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va. on March 1 1841. He was tutored by his master's son, but left his master at the beginning of the civil war and taught school in Hannibal Mo. After the civil war Bruce became a planter in Mississippi, and a member of the Mississippi Levee Board, and Sheriff and Tax Collector for Bolivar County from 1872-1875. Bruce was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate, where he served from March 4 1875 - March 3 1881. Bruce was the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. In 1881 Bruce was appointed by President James Garfield as the Register of the Treasury. Bruce then went on to serve as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Colombia from 1891-1893, returning to the office of Register of the Treasury from 1897 until his death on March 17, 1898.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945