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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC09400.129 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of letters of the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate |
| Title | H.H. Thomas to Blanche Kelso Bruce discussing the plight of African Americans immediately following their release from slavery |
| Date | 26 April 1881 |
| Author | Thomas, H. H. (fl. 1881) |
| Recipient | Kelso Bruce, Blanche |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | A personal letter to Senator Bruce, it starts by mentioning that Thomas used to own a barbershop in Kansas and had shaved the Senator when he was still teaching in Kansas. Thomas continues to talk about moving to New Mexico and the weather there, but then he mentions an event in the press involving a cadet Whitiker at West Point that the Senator defended, as a result of this defense Thomas decides to write the Senator rather than his own Senator. Thomas then outlines his thinking on the plight of African Americans right after they were freed from slavery. At the end of the letter Thomas mentions that he had heard Senator Bruce's name mentioned as a possible vice president. Each page was numbered on the top portion of the page and the Docket is located on the back of the third page |
| Subjects | African American History African Americans in Government Congress Law Reconstruction Government and Civics Personal Hygiene Education Immigration and Migration West Point (US Military Academy) Emancipation Vice President Military History |
| People | Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841-1898) Thomas, H. H. (fl. 1881) |
| Place written | Santa Fe, New Mexico |
| 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 |