First African American Senators in the North Carolina General Assembly

In 1868, the first African Americans began serving in the North Carolina General Assembly. Elections to the General Assembly were held annually until the Constitution of 1835, after which they were held every other year except for a brief period of annual elections during Reconstruction. Until the 1835 reforms, the members of the General Assembly were the only state officials elected by popular vote. African Americans were first elected to the Assembly during Reconstruction (1865–77).

Senators Henry Eppes of Halifax County, Abraham H. Galloway of New Hanover County, and John Adams Hyman of Warren County were among the first.

In a 2013 Senate Joint Resolution by the North Carolina General Assembly, Senator Henry Eppes and many others were acknowledged as being African American pioneers in the state’s political and racial history. The resolution stated that “from 1868 to 1900, no fewer than 111 African Americans were elected to the North Carolina General Assembly, but between 1900 through 1968, no African Americans were elected as a result of racial segregation enforced by “Jim Crow” laws and impediments to voting for African Americans such as the use of literacy tests and poll taxes.” These “impediments” were the direct result of a state constitutional amendment drafted by the General Assembly in 1899 and approved in the election of 1900 that deliberately sought to exclude blacks from voting, by ensuring that only literate white males could vote.

Henry Eppes

One of a few African Americans who were politically active in both the Reconstruction (1865–1877) and post Reconstruction years (1877–1900), Henry Eppes secured a unique position in North Carolina’s legislative history. Chosen as a delegate to the state’s Freedmen’s Convention in 1866, he was first elected representative of Halifax County at the state’s 1868 constitutional convention. Reverend Henry Eppes served for seven terms as a State Senator of North Carolina. He served as a member of North Carolina’s State Senate from 1868 until 1887, with the exception of one session.

Abraham H. Galloway

Abraham H. Galloway was an abolitionist, mason, spy for the union army, women’s suffragist, and state Senator in North Carolina. Born in Smithville (now Southport, North Carolina) in 1837. A former slave who played an important role in supporting the Union Army’s success in North Carolina, he served in the North Carolina senate during the Reconstruction period following the Civil War. His death in Wilmington, North Carolina in 1870 was honored by attendance from over 6,000 people.

John Adams Hyman

Following the 1868 Constitutional Convention John Adams Hyman was elected to the North Carolina State Senate from Warren County. He served in the State Senate until 1874. In 1872, Hyman was unsuccessful in a bid to become North Carolina’s first black congressman when he campaigned in the state’s heavily African American Second Congressional District. He ran again in 1874, winning against a white Democrat. Hyman was the only Republican elected to Congress from North Carolina that year. The election was contested, however, and Hyman’s term ended before he was officially seated. Hyman ran again in 1876 and 1878.