Sharing the untold history of eight Black men from South Carolina who served in the U.S. House of Representatives in the aftermath of the Civil War has been a long-desired passion for Rep. James Clyburn (D-SC). Now, Clyburn is sharing their stories in “The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation,” released on Nov. 11.
Before Clyburn, there was Rep. George Washington Murray, who represented South Carolina’s 1st Congressional District from June 4, 1896, to March 3, 1897. Nearly 100 years later, Clyburn came to the U.S. Congress in 1992, and is now in his 17th term representing South Carolina’s 6th Congressional District.
Throughout his decades of service, Clyburn has reflected on those eight Black South Carolina legislators who paved the way for his service in Congress.
“What is it about those eight people in their service that could be a foundation for me? Well, a whole lot,” Clyburn told The Washington Informer. “A long time before I sat down to write this book, I had been reading about these guys. I knew about them.”
Who Were ‘The First Eight’?
This book is not Clyburn’s autobiography. His memoir, “Blessed Experiences: Genuinely Southern, Proudly Black,” was published in 2014.
“The First Eight” is Clyburn’s tribute to the men whose various terms from 1870-1897 forged a path for his congressional career: Republican Reps. Joseph Hayne Rainey, Robert Carlos De Large, Robert Brown Elliott, Richard Harvey Cain, Alonzo Jacob Ransier, Robert Smalls, Thomas Ezekiel Miller, and Murray.
For years, Clyburn has worked to honor these barrier-breakers’ legacies.
“When I became the House majority whip in 2007, I requested their portraits be hung on my conference room wall,” said Clyburn, who is featured on the book cover as “the Ninth.”
In “The First Eight,” Clyburn meticulously profiles these legislators from South Carolina, including content about each man’s years of public service, racial makeup, marriages, business life, and what led each to Congress. Some came to South Carolina from northern states, some had served in the state legislature, some had been enslaved, while others were born of free parents.
Readers also learn about how these U.S. Representatives, during the aftermath of the Civil War, navigated through segregation, Ku Klux Klan threats, riots, and Jim Crow.
“His intent in writing a book about them had been initially to call attention to their struggles and determination in fighting to enshrine the rights of African Americans,” said Brad Graham, co-owner of Politics and Prose Books, introducing Clyburn in conversation with political scientist Norm Onstein on Nov. 18 at George Washington University. “But as the book took shape, its purpose took on new significance as what the congressman calls a cautionary tale.”
History Repeats Itself: ‘Wait a Minute. This is 2025‘
During the Tuesday evening event, Clyburn and Ornstein engaged in a spirited conversation where they shared their deep love of history before an attentive audience.
When discussing the South Carolina political environment during the service of each one of the eight, Clyburn considered the Hamburg Massacre on July 4, 1876, which he writes about in his book.
That centennial Independence Day, the Black militia in the African American conclave of Hamburg, South Carolina were threatened by two white farmers from another area of town. The farmers had no appreciation for the show of Black pride and demanded the militia break rank. Their commander refused.
The incident escalated over a period of time and militia members were killed. During this period in South Carolina history, as explained in the notes of Clayburn’s book, a policy of terrorizing Black people was in place. If African Americans made trouble, white people killing them was justifiable.
“It was well-planned. They were provoked,” Clyburn explained. “Hopefully, this book will get people to say ‘Wait a minute. This is 2025.’”
South Carolinian Michael Tongour, has been digging into the history of his state and how it has been recorded over time. He toted a book he’s reading about the Hamburg Massacre with him to the Nov. 18 Clyburn conversation.
“After Reconstruction the history of South Carolina was being written entirely in a Caucasian sort of way for the next 100 years,” Tongour told The Informer. “This history was not provided to South Carolinians in the way this book is written. Rep. Clyburn should be commended for trying to do some of that. The research is amazing.”
A Memorable History Class
The one-hour conversation between Clyburn and Ornstein was so engaging, many people did not want the discussion to end.
“I could have stayed another hour,” one audience member said when the event concluded.
The event offered a history lesson for all in attendance including: D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D), Rep. Joyce Marie Beatty, (D-Ohio) Rep. Troy Anthony Carter, Sr., (D-LA), a past chair of the Congressional Black Caucus, and Lorraine C. Miller, the first African-American clerk of the U.S. House of Representatives.
A District resident who worked on the Hill for more than 30 years, Miller told The Informer she learned a lot during the discussion, having only heard of Rep. Smalls, who served South Carolina’s 7th Congressional District from July 19, 1882 – March 3, 1883.
“[Clyburn] took a slice of not just South Carolina history, but American history,” Miller said. “ He turned it into a great story of service.”
Audience member Sandy Chisholm of Virginia emphasized the importance of Clyburn and others sharing such narratives for readers today and in the future.
“People don’t know these stories,” Chisholm said. “We need to know them so we won’t repeat the past.”
I am looking forward to reading this history.