Hiram Revels was a former barber and minister who served in the US Senate from 1870-1871.
Mississippi lawmakers chose him to fill a vacant seat, although he faced fierce opposition from his future colleagues who questioned his citizenship. Their argument was based on a 1857 Supreme Court case that ruled African Americans could not become citizens of the United States.
Born a free man in 1827 -- the slavery era -- he was an army chaplain during the Civil War, working at churches in Kansas, Kentucky and Louisiana. After the war ended, he settled in Natchez, Mississippi, where he was an elder at the African Methodist Episcopal Church, and built a reputation as a respected community leader.
Mississippi was seeking readmission to representation in the US Congress and needed to fill two Senate seats that had been unoccupied since 1861, when it seceded from the Union. Revels was offered the shorter of two terms -- one set to expire in March 1871.
Revels took the oath of office 22 days after the ratification of the 15th Amendment, which held that Americans could not be denied the right to vote based on their race. Revels was "the 15th Amendment in flesh and blood," civil rights activist Wendell Phillips said.
