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Hiram Rhodes Revels
Terre Haute is one of only a few communities that can boast of being the
residence of both the first black governor in the United States and the
first black U.S. Senator.
Hiram Rhodes Revels, an eloquent Methodist Episcopal minister, arrived
in Terre Haute during the 1840s after attending a Quaker seminary in
Wayne County, Ind., and graduating from Knox College in Bloomington,
Ill. Born free in Fayetteville, N.C., he concluded as a youth that race
relations could best be improved through education and religion. The
Allen Chapel African Methodist Episcopal (AME) Church in Terre Haute
provided an ideal forum. Revels played an essential part in establishing
a private school at First and Sheets (now Crawford) streets, more than a
decade before the first Indiana public school existed.
The subscription school at Allen Chapel gained renown, particularly in
North Carolina. Several African-American families, including skylight
maker John Hinton, located here to secure tutoring for their children.
Hinton's son James enrolled in 1848, eventually becoming Indiana's first
black state representative. The school's existence may have persuaded
P.B.S. Pinchback, the first black governor in the U.S., to make Terre
Haute his home during the 1850s.
Revels' residency likely was brief. He also founded churches in
Illinois, Ohio, Kentucky, Missouri and Kansas. After the Civil War,
Hiram settled in Natchez, Miss., reluctantly allowing himself to be
elected city alderman and then state senator. His oratory gained
wide-spread notice. A stirring invocation on Jan. 20, 1870, before the
Mississippi General Assembly prompted his selection as interim U.S.
senator, ironically filling the seat formerly occupied by Jefferson
Davis, president of the Confederacy.
Polite and unassuming, Revels was a national sensation and honored guest
at lavish Washington receptions. When he presented his credentials on
Feb. 23, Senate galleries were packed. To Republicans, he was living
proof the war had advanced civil rights. The portly Revels was seated
by a convincing 48-8 vote. On Feb. 25 at 4:40 p.m., he officially became
the first black man to serve in either the Senate or the House of
Representatives. Sen. Revels' dignified congressional service ended in
March 1871. Returning to Mississippi, he co-founded "Revels
University"
for African-American students, became its first president and then
crusaded to change the school name to "Alcorn University" to honor the
white governor who supported his efforts. He also taught at Shaw
University and was elected Mississippi secretary of state.
Before his death on Jan. 16, 1901, Revels held ministerial posts in
Holly Springs, Miss., and Richmond, Ind. Most biographers report his
birthdate as Sept. 27, 1827; some historians believe he was several
years older.