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| Field name | Value |
|---|---|
| Collection Reference Number | GLC09400.273 |
| From Archive Folder | Collection of letters of the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate |
| Title | Unknown to Blanche Kelso Bruce asking for his help in protecting his rights |
| Date | 10 March 1877 |
| Recipient | Kelso Bruce, Blanche |
| Document Type | Correspondence |
| Content Description | Informs him that Democrats of the town have started a petition to have someone else appointed Post Master after his term ends. Asks that Bruce protect his rights since he still has one more year left. |
| Subjects | African American History African Americans in Government Congress Reconstruction Government and Civics Post Office Office Seeker Politics Republican Party Democratic Party Petition |
| People | Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841-1898) |
| Place written | Water Valley, 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 |