Edward W. Brooke First African-American Popularly Elected to U. S. Senate
Edward W. Brooke, a Republican, was elected Senator from Massachusetts, making him the first African-American popularly elected to the U.S. Senate, winning by a margin of 61 percent to 39 percent.
Brooke served two terms as senator, from 1967 to 1979.
Two African-Americans, both from Mississippi, had served in the Senate during Reconstruction, but at that time senators were appointed and not elected.
In 2004 Brooke was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
Learn about Senator Brooke: http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=B000871
Read Brooke’s memoirs: Edward W. Brooke, Bridging the Divide: My Life (2007)
Learn more about Edward Brooke: http://www.blackpast.org/aah/brooke-edward-1919
Watch Edward Brooke receive a Lifetime Achievement Award in 2011: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yzOqa8u7WaU
Visit the National Museum of African American History and Culture here