Blanche Kelso Bruce (March 1, 1841 – March 17, 1898) was an American politician who represented Mississippi as a Republican in the United States Senate from 1875 to 1881.

Blanche K. Bruce (born March 1, 1841, Prince Edward county, Virginia, U.S.—died March 17, 1898, Washington, D.C.) was an African American senator from Mississippi during the Reconstruction era. The son of a slave mother and white …

Born into slavery in 1841, Blanche K. Bruce spent his childhood years in Virginia and Missouri where he received his earliest education from the tutor hired to teach his master's son. At the dawn of the Civil War, Bruce fled to freedom in Kansas.

Aug 19, 2007 · Blanche Kelso Bruce was born a slave in 1841 in Prince Edward County, Virginia but was raised in Missouri. Shortly after the beginning of the Civil War, Bruce fled to Kansas, becoming a free man before Lincoln’s Emancipation Proclamation .

Blanche K. Bruce was the second African American to serve in the U.S. Senate and the first to serve a full six-year term. Born enslaved, Bruce rose quickly in Mississippi politics during Reconstruction.

1 day ago · A portrait of former U.S. Sen. Blanche Kelso Bruce hangs in the Senate Gallery. The portrait by Simmie Lee Knox is based on a Matthew Brady photograph. Credit: Courtesy of U.S. Senate. Blanche Kelso Bruce became the first Black American to preside over the U.S. Senate. He was also the first Black American to serve a full term in the Senate and ...

Blanche Kelso Bruce, a Reconstruction-era senator from Mississippi, was born a slave in Virginia in 1841. He went to Missouri as the servant of his owner’s son, gained training as a printer, escaped to Kansas during the Civil War, and subsequently attended Oberlin College.

Nov 20, 2023 · Blanche K. Bruce is remembered for making major political contributions to Black history. He was the second African American to preside over the Senate and the first to serve a full term, breaking major political barriers in the halls of the Senate.

Jun 8, 2018 · Blanche Kelso Bruce (1841-1898), African American political leader in Mississippi, was the first member of his race to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. On March 1, 1841, Blanche Kelso Bruce was born a slave near Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va.

Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841-1898) Bruce was the first Black person to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. He was born into slavery but escaped as the Civil War began. He taught school and founded Missouri’s first school for Blacks. Later he moved to Mississippi where he held a number of local county positions including sheriff.