Between 1868 and 1893, at least eighty-seven Black men were elected to serve in the Arkansas General Assembly. Most were from Arkansas’s plantation areas in the east and southwest, and from larger urban areas like Little Rock, Pine Bluff and Helena, all of which had large Black populations.
The legislators included former slaves from Arkansas and other southern states while others were free-born Northerners. Thirty-five Black men were elected during Reconstruction, with the twenty-one serving in the legislature in 1873 being the high mark. Most were Republicans. As Democrats regained power after Reconstruction the number of Black legislators dwindled.
An 1891 election law began the process of disenfranchising Black voters and the passage of a law requiring voters to show a poll tax receipt two years later further suppressed their participation. It would not be until 1972 that another Black man would serve in the legislature.
To learn more, visit encyclopediaofarkansas.net.
You can read the entire Encyclopedia entry African American Legislators (Nineteenth Century) - Encyclopedia of Arkansas.
