From 1900 to 1959 setbacks for African Americans occurred following the Democrat Party's restoration of white supremacy and political control across the South.
These Redeemers, who undid Reconstruction era policies, retook control of local, state, and federal offices, restoring white supremacy across the South in government and civil life.
African-Americans were largely barred from voting and almost entirely obstructed from public office in former Confederate states under the Jim Crow regime.
Minnie Buckingham Harper became the first African-American woman to serve in a state legislature when she was appointed in 1928 to serve out the remainder of her husband's term in the West Virginia House of Delegates.
The number of African American officeholders finally saw dramatic increases following the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1964.