George Henry White

George Henry White (December 18, 1852- December 28, 1918) was a Republican U.S. Congressman from North Carolina between 1897 and 1901. He is considered the last African American Congressman of the Reconstruction era, although his election came twenty years after the era's "official" end. By the time of his election, Reconstruction had long since been overturned throughout almost all of the South, making it impossible for blacks to be elected to federal office. However, in North Carolina, "fusion politics" between the Populist and Republican parties led to a brief period of Republican and African American political success from 1894 to 1900. After White left office, no other black American would serve in Congress until Oscar De Priest...