American politician and civil rights advocate (1871–1951)
Oscar De Priest
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 1st district
In office March 4, 1929 – January 3, 1935
Preceded by
Martin B. Madden
Succeeded by
Arthur W. Mitchell
Member of the Chicago City Council
In office 1943–1947
Preceded by
Benjaim A. Grant
Succeeded by
Archibald Carey Jr.
Constituency
3rd Ward
In office 1915–1917
Succeeded by
Louis Anderson
Constituency
2nd Ward
Member of the Cook County Board of Commissioners
In office 1904–1908
Preceded by
Archibald Carey Jr.
Personal details
Born
(1871-03-09)March 9, 1871 Florence, Alabama, U.S.
Died
May 12, 1951(1951-05-12) (aged 80) Chicago, Illinois, U.S.
Resting place
Graceland Cemetery
Political party
Republican
Spouse
Jessie Williams
(m. 1898)
Children
2
Oscar Stanton De Priest (March 9, 1871 – May 12, 1951) was an American politician and civil rights advocate from Chicago. A member of the Illinois Republican Party, he served as a U.S. Representative from Illinois's 1st congressional district from 1929 to 1935. He was the first African American to be elected to Congress in the 20th century. During his three terms, he was the only African American serving in Congress. He was also the first African-American U.S. Representative from outside the southern states.
Born in Alabama to freedmen parents, De Priest was raised in Dayton, Ohio. He studied business and made a fortune in Chicago as a contractor, and in real estate and the stock market before the Crash. A successful local politician, he was elected an alderman to the Chicago City Council in 1914, the first African American to hold that office.
In Congress in the early 1930s, he spoke out against racial discrimination, including at speaking events in the South; tried to integrate the House public restaurant; gained passage of an amendment to desegregate the Civilian Conservation Corps, one of the work programs under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal; and introduced anti-lynching legislation to the House (it was not passed because of the Solid South Democratic opposition).[1] In 1934, De Priest was defeated by Arthur W. Mitchell, the first African American to be elected as a Democrat to Congress. De Priest returned to Chicago and his successful business ventures, eventually returning to politics, when he was again elected an alderman in the 1940s.[1]
^ abDe Priest, Oscar Stanton. US House of Representatives: History, Art & Archives. Retrieved January 29, 2022.
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