Today's Black Fact

On this day in 1881, Blanche Kelso Bruce is sworn in as U.S. Senator from Mississippi; the first black man to serve a full term in the senate, and the first person born into slavery to preside over the senate. While serving in the senate, he was an advocate for civil rights for blacks, native Americans, Chinese immigrants and former Confederates (as we remember, the radical republicans weren't too nice to that group).