| The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. 2001-07. |
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| Rainey, Joseph Hayne |
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| 1832–87, first African American elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, b. Georgetown, S.C. The son of a free man, he fled to the West Indies during the Civil War. Returning to South Carolina, he served (1867–70) as a Republican in the state senate. In the U.S. House of Representatives (1870–79) he was a leader in the fight to secure civil rights for the newly freed slaves. |
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| | | The Columbia Encyclopedia, Sixth Edition. Copyright © 2007 Columbia University Press. |
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