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America turns 250 on Saturday. We don't feel a day over 249. NPR has been celebrating the anniversary with a series called America In Pursuit, stories of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness. And today's story starts after the Civil War, during the period known as Reconstruction. Georgia voters, during that brief period when Black voting was allowed, elected two recently freed men to be their representatives in the state House. WUGA's Emma Auer reports on their legacy.
EMMA AUER, BYLINE: Election Day in Athens, Georgia, 1868, the weather was bad.
MICHAEL THURMOND: But the rain itself could not dampen the anticipation and maybe even the fear that gripped the city.
AUER: Michael Thurmond is a historian and politician born and raised in Athens. He's describing the first election in which Black men had the right to vote.
THURMOND: White Athenians were shocked and dismayed. Black Athenians were overwhelmed with joy because two formerly enslaved Black men, Alfred Richardson and Madison Davis, had received the majority of the votes.
AUER: The two men were very different politically, says local historian Matt Pulver.
MATT PULVER: Madison Davis was seen as a more conservative guy, more willing to play ball with the whites. Alfred Richardson, from what we can tell, was having none of that. He was incredibly outspoken. White folks didn't much like that.
AUER: While Madison Davis went on to have a long career in public service, Richardson did not. Along with around 30 other Black state lawmakers, he was briefly expelled from the legislature in 1868. But that wasn't the extent of the backlash he faced for winning the election. Two years later, he became a target of the Ku Klux Klan.
CRAIG CROSBY: He was attacked multiple times, and he got into shootouts, defended themselves and people in his community.
AUER: That's Craig Crosby (ph). He's a descendant of Alfred Richardson. Crosby says he was shocked to find out that his ancestor had testified to the U.S. Senate about an attack on his home in 1871. Here, Crosby summarizes that testimony.
CROSBY: Between 12 and 1 o'clock, he heard a commotion at his front door.
AUER: Richardson told the Senate committee that 15 to 25 men were standing out there. He'd already reinforced the entrance, fearing an attack just like this one.
CROSBY: But they pulled out an ax and started chopping through the door.
AUER: Richardson hid as the men broke into the house. He was shot three times and returned fire, hitting one of his attackers.
CROSBY: Later, Alfred found out that the man he shot died from his wounds, and then, actually, he knew the guy because they were childhood neighbors.
AUER: Afterwards, Richardson knew he was still in danger, but that didn't stop him from testifying before Congress. His descendant, Craig Crosby, says his bravery is what he hopes to carry forward from Richardson's story.
CROSBY: I've always had that kind of perspective on life that you do the right thing. No matter what the situation is, you stand up for what's right.
AUER: The story of Athens' first Black legislators had mostly been lost to history. Local historian Michael Thurmond says he had never heard of either man until he read about them in a master's thesis.
THURMOND: When I finally came upon the chapter, noting that in April of 1868, they were actually elected, tears were actually running down my cheeks.
AUER: The backlash to Reconstruction ushered in the era of Jim Crow. The Athens area was not represented by another Black lawmaker until 1986, when Thurmond himself was elected as a state representative. He took inspiration from Madison and Richardson.
THURMOND: They supported for the - in a major way, public schools for all children in Georgia, Black or white. They advocated for the enfranchisement of white men who did not possess property. They also advocated for and played a key role in the adoption of legislation that sought to enfranchise women.
AUER: Michael Thurmond isn't the only one trying to revive their legacy. A group of local activists is trying to get the town's newest park named after them, exposing history that's been hidden for so long.
For NPR News, I'm Emma Auer in Athens, Georgia. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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