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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC09400.181 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of letters of the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate |
| Title | Geo N. Harvey to Blanche Kelso Bruce regarding securing a position in the Post Office of Iuka Mississippi |
| Date | 8 December 1875 |
| Author | Harvey, Geo. N., (fl. 1875) |
| Recipient | Kelso Bruce, Blanche |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Harvey is asking Senator Bruce for help in securing a position in the Post Office of Iuka Mississippi. He says the position is held by a woman who is thinking of giving it up and recommending someone who has never worked in a post office, and has no loyalty to the Republican Party. He asks the Senator for help in getting this position claiming that he has always been a great defender of the Republicans, and that this letter was "written under the pains of wounds received from a gang of Democratic bandits who attempted to murder me on account of the action I took in the last campaign in this state". |
| Subjects | African American History African Americans in Government Congress Reconstruction Government and Civics Women's History Office Seeker Politics Republican Party Post Office Injury or Wound Crime Democratic Party Mobs and Riots |
| People | Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841-1898) Harvey, Geo. N. (fl. 1875) |
| Place written | Burnsville, 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 |