The full content of this document is only available to subscribing institutions. More information can be found via www.amdigital.co.uk

Collection Reference Number GLC09400.097
From Archive Folder Collection of letters of the first African American to serve a full term in the Senate 
Title Alfred Bolling to Blanche Kelso Bruce requesting help gaining a position in Mississippi
Date 8 March 1877
Author Holt, Alfred Bolling (fl. 1877)  
Recipient Kelso Bruce, Blanche  
Document Type Correspondence
Content Description A letter from Alfred Bolling Holt, who is writing Senator Bruce to request help in gaining a position in Mississippi, possibly in the treasury department. He makes great mention of all his friends from previous positions in Tennessee, and Georgia. He also mentions that his purpose for a new position is because he must now take care of his widowed sister and her two kids. This item is related to GLC09400.098
Subjects African American History  African Americans in Government  Congress  Reconstruction  Government and Civics  Office Seeker  Women's History  Children and Family  
People Bruce, Blanche Kelso (1841-1898)  Holt, Alfred Bolling (fl. 1877)  
Place written Dalton, Georgia
Theme Government & Politics; African Americans
Sub-collection The Gilder Lehrman Collection, 1860-1945
Additional Information Blanche Kelso Bruce was born into slavery near Farmville, Prince Edward County, Va. on March 1 1841. He was tutored by his master's son, but left his master at the beginning of the civil war and taught school in Hannibal Mo. After the civil war Bruce became a planter in Mississippi, and a member of the Mississippi Levee Board, and Sheriff and Tax Collector for Bolivar County from 1872-1875. Bruce was then elected as a Republican to the United States Senate, where he served from March 4 1875 - March 3 1881. Bruce was the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. In 1881 Bruce was appointed by President James Garfield as the Register of the Treasury. Bruce then went on to serve as the Recorder of Deeds for the District of Colombia from 1891-1893, returning to the office of Register of the Treasury from 1897 until his death on March 17, 1898.
Copyright The Gilder Lehrman Institute of American History
Module Civil War, Reconstruction and the Modern Era: 1860-1945
Related documents Alfred Bolling Holt to Blanche Kelso Bruce regarding a possible position in Mississippi