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The Arkansas State Senate is the upper branch of the Arkansas General Assembly. The Senate consists of 35 members, each representing a district with about 83,000 people. Service in the state legislature is part-time, and many state senators have full-time jobs during the rest of the year. During the current term, the Senate contains twenty-nine Republicans and six Democrats.
James M. Hinds was the first U.S. Congressman assassinated in office. He served as member of the United States House of Representatives for Arkansas from June 24, 1868 until his assassination by the Ku Klux Klan. Hinds, who was white, was an advocate of civil rights for black former slaves during the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War.
William Henry Grey was a state legislator, storeowner and church leader in Arkansas. He served in various elected and public offices in the state during the Reconstruction era. The Encyclopedia of Arkansas calls Grey "a tireless fighter for the rights of freedmen." In 1868 he was among the first six African Americans who served in the Arkansas House. His gravesite in Magnolia Cemetery was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2019.
Samuel H. Holland was a state senator in Arkansas in 1873 and, for a special session, in 1874 during the Reconstruction era. He also served as a teacher, sheriff, jailer, and principal. He taught at the Howard School, named for Oliver O. Howard, until it was closed by the school board in 1871. The school building was used by the United Sons of Ham, a secret African American benevolent organization. He was involved in the establishment of millage fees to fund area schools.
Green Hill Jones was a state legislator and Baptist minister in Arkansas. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives for Chicot County in 1885 and 1889, and he was a Republican.
Hugh C. Newsome was a teacher, postal clerk, city marshall, and state legislator in Arkansas. In 1887, he served in the Arkansas House of Representatives.
Reuben C. Weddington was an American state representative in Arkansas. A Republican, he served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1891. He represented Desha County.
Nathan E. Edwards was a state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Chicot County as a Republican for the 1893 session. He was one of at least four African Americans in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1893 along with George W. Bell in the state senate. He and other Arkansas legislators were photographed in 1893.
Isaac George Bailey was an educator, Baptist minister, and member of the Arkansas legislature. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1885, representing Desha County. His photograph was taken as one of the 1885 Arkansas House members. The caption says he was a Republican and Tillar Station was his post office.
Americus Mayo was a state legislator in Arkansas. Scholars have had difficulty confirming details about his life. He voted against the impeachment of Arkansas Supreme Court Justice John McClure. He served in the Arkansas House of Representatives. He was a Republican.
Carl R. Polk was a farmer, state legislator, and judge in Arkansas. He was born a slave in Arkansas. He represented Jefferson County, Arkansas, in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1871 and 1881.
Anderson Ebberson was an American politician.
Monroe E. Hawkins was a state legislator in Arkansas. He attended the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention and served in the Arkansas House of Representatives. A Republican, he represented Lafayette County, Arkansas. He served in the House from 1868 to 1869 and 1873 to 1874.
Toney Grissom or Tony Grissom was a Baptist minister, farmer, and state legislator in Arkansas. His employer owed him money after he left and then had him "silenced" from preaching after Grissom sued him for it. A Republican, he represented Phillips County, Arkansas for two terms in the Arkansas House of Representatives from 1873 until 1875.
African Americans have played an essential role in the history of Arkansas, but their role has often been marginalized as they confronted a society and polity controlled by white supremacists. As slaves in the United States, they were considered property and were subjected to the harsh conditions of forced labor. After the Civil War and the passage of the 13th, 14th, and 15th Reconstruction Amendments to the U.S. Constitution, African Americans gained their freedom and the right to vote. However, the rise of Jim Crow laws in the 1890s and early 1900s led to a period of segregation and discrimination that lasted into the 1960s. Most were farmers, working their own property or poor sharecroppers on white-owned land, or very poor day laborers. By World War I, there was steady emigration from farms to nearby cities such as Little Rock and Memphis, as well as to St. Louis and Chicago.
Hal B. Burton was an American state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Jefferson County, Arkansas in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1887. He was a Republican and served one term.
Sandy Shepard Odum (1852/1858–1930s) was a politician in Arkansas. He represented Crittenden County in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1887. He was African-American.
Anderson Louis Rush was a state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Pulaski County in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1868 and 1869. He was a Republican. He was one of the six African Americans who first served in the Arkansas House. He represented the 10th District.
John C. Rollins was a state legislator in Arkansas. He represented Ashley County in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1873. He was a Republican. He was one of the African Americans who served in Arkansas’ legislature during and after the Reconstruction era until the 1970s when voting restrictions imposed by Democrats during the Jim Crow era were lifted in the Civil Rights era.
Richard R. Samuels was a farmer, blacksmith and state legislator in Arkansas. He was a delegate to the 1868 Arkansas Constitutional Convention from Hempstead County, Arkansas. He was one of 8 African American delegates at the convention. He represented Hempstead County, Arkansas in the Arkansas House of Representatives in 1868 and 1869. He was a Republican. He was one of the first six African Americans to serve in the Arkansas Legislature. At The Brindle Convention in 1872 he was nominated for the position of superintendent of the penitentiary. He also served on the grand jury for a fraud and corruption trial in Hempstead.
References
- ↑ Branam, Christopher Warren (2011). "The Africans Have Taken Arkansas": Political Activities of African-American Members of the Arkansas Legislature, 1868-73 (MA thesis). University of Arkansas, Fayetteville. Retrieved February 20, 2021.
- ↑ "Arkansas African American Legislators, 1868-1893" (PDF). cd1.saumag.edu. Retrieved June 24, 2024.
- ↑ "Encyclopedia of Arkansas". Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
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