List of African-American United States representatives

[3] No African American served in federal elective office before the ratification in 1870 of the Fifteenth Amendment to the United States Constitution.

He served South Carolina's 1st congressional district beginning in 1870 during the Reconstruction era following the American Civil War.

The first African-American woman to serve as a representative was Shirley Chisholm from New York's 12th congressional district in 1969 during the Civil Rights Movement.

[4] The Voting Rights Act of 1965 includes restrictions on the ability of States to diminish minority representation during redistricting.

Illinois's 1st congressional district has the longest continuous streak of electing African-American representatives, a tendency that has occurred from 1928 to the present.