[Congressional Record Volume 151, Number 22 (Wednesday, March 2, 2005)]
[Senate]
[Page S1928]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                        SENATOR HIRAM R. REVELS

  Mr. OBAMA. Mr. President, I rise to recognize an important 
anniversary in the history of this Nation.
  One hundred and thirty-five years ago on this day, Hiram R. Revels 
was sworn in as a U.S. Senator from Mississippi. On that day, February 
25, 1870, Senator Revels became the first African American to ever 
serve in the U.S. Congress.
  But Hiram Revel's story started in a place very far from Washington, 
DC. He was born to free parents in 1822 and grew up as an apprentice to 
a barber in North Carolina. But Hiram wanted to learn more and see 
more, and so he left for Indiana and then Ohio, where he furthered his 
education. He was soon ordained a minister by the African Methodist 
Church, and traveled to congregations all over the Midwest and the 
South until he finally ended up in Baltimore.
  At the beginning of the Civil War, he helped recruit African-American 
troops for the Union, and he ended up serving as a chaplain for a 
Mississippi regiment of free Blacks. He stayed in Mississippi after the 
war, and continued serving as a pastor at various local churches. In 
1868, and he ran and was elected alderman. Respected by both Whites and 
African Americans, he was soon elected as a Mississippi State senator. 
Then, in 1870, just 5 years after the end of the very war fought for 
his freedom, Hiram Revels was elected the first African-American U.S. 
Senator in history.
  Like so many of our own, Hiram's story is America's story. The story 
of the seemingly impossible occurring in a land where good people will 
give everything to make it possible. The story of hope winning out 
against all odds. The story of one man's improbable achievement paving 
the way for so many others.
  Did Hiram ever know what he was destined for in that barber shop? 
When he was sweeping that floor in North Carolina and so many of his 
brothers and sisters were enslaved, did he ever dream that he would end 
up a U.S. Senator?
  We don't know. But we do know that he did dream of bigger things.
  He dreamed of an education, and so even though many kids like him 
didn't do it, he went to college. He dreamed of helping others, and so 
even though it involved sacrifice, he became a minister. He dreamed of 
a free America, and so even though it could have cost him his life, he 
joined the Union. And he dreamed of lifting up his community, and so 
even though it wasn't done by people of his color, he ran for office.
  He dreamed of making this world a better place, and in doing so, he 
found a place in history. And so we remember this day--his day--as a 
symbol of what is possible for those of us who are willing to make it 
so in this magical place we call America.

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