[Congressional Record Volume 163, Number 27 (Wednesday, February 15, 2017)]
[House]
[Page H1224]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




          IN RECOGNITION OF THE HONORABLE JOHN MERCER LANGSTON

  (Mr. McEACHIN asked and was given permission to address the House for 
1 minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. McEACHIN. Mr. Speaker, I rise today in recognition of the 
Honorable John Mercer Langston, who served in the 51st Congress as the 
first African-American Congressman from Virginia and, incidentally, 
represented the same district that I do, Virginia's Fourth.
  Representative Langston became the fifth African-American man to 
graduate from the Oberlin Collegiate Department, and continued his 
education at Oberlin to receive a master's degree in theology.
  Although he was deprived of admission to law school, Mr. Langston 
studied law under Philemon Bliss and passed the bar in 1844 to become 
Ohio's first African-American lawyer.
  Mr. Langston's passion to uplift the Black community was demonstrated 
through the organization of State and local antislavery societies, his 
efforts to assist runaway slaves, and through calls for social reform.
  Among his many other life accomplishments, Langston also served as 
the president of what is now known as Virginia State University.
  I have great respect and appreciation for Mr. Langston and the life 
he led. Not only will his legacy live on through his descendants, but 
through myself and all of us who occupy this great hall who fight for 
the spirit of equality and justice.

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