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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC09400.005 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of letters of the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate |
| Title | Ed Bassett to Blanche Kelso Bruce regarding photographs of Bassett's wife and daughter |
| Date | 21 April 1879 |
| Author | Bassett, Ed (fl. 1879) |
| Recipient | Kelso Bruce, Blanche |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | This letter concerns a series and exchange of pictures between Senator Bruce, and Ed Bassett. The main subject is pictures of Bassett's wife and daughter that Bruce had sent to Basset's daughter. There is also a discussion over older pictures of Bruce and his wife. This letter also mentions past correspondence between the two men in which Bruce had made an opinion that "our country will continue to advance in prosperity" There is also mentions of how African Americans should copy the white citizens and blend in with them. |
| Subjects | African American History African Americans in Government Congress Reconstruction Government and Civics Women's History Children and Family Photography |
| People | Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841-1898) Bassett, Ed (fl. 1879) |
| Place written | New Haven, Connecticut |
| 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 |