1934 March 21

Rep. Oscar De Priest Challenges Segregation at Capitol Building Restaurant

 

Representative Oscar De Priest (R–Illinois) on this day challenged racial segregation in the Capitol Building restaurant. Segregationist House Democrats were able to stop De Priest by arguing that the House restaurant should not be open to the public.

During three terms in Congress, 1929–1935, De Priest was the only African-American in Congress. (African-Americans had served in both the House and the Senate during the Reconstruction period in the nineteenth century.) When he joined Congress in 1929, we was the first African American to serve either as a Senator or Representative since 1901. (see the link to a timeline below).

Racists had loudly protested when his wife, Jessie De Priest, went to tea at the White House on June 12, 1929, at the invitation of First Lady Lou Henry Hoover.

Learn More at Black Americans in Congress: http://history.house.gov/People/Search?filter=1

Watch a documentary featuring Oscar and Jessie De Priest’ great-grandson: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L_vBazXlmyQ

View a complete timeline on African-Americans as members of Congress here

Learn more: U.S. Congress, Black Americans in Congress, 1870-2007 (2008)

Learn more about African American history: Henry Louis Gates, Life Upon These Shores: Looking at African American History, 1513-2008 (2011)

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