Rutherford B. Hayes Presidential Library & Museums

Blanche Kelso Bruce

Introduction
Biographical Sketch
Scope and Content
Inventory

Introduction
This collection was acquired by the Rutherford. B. Hayes Presidential Center in 1970.

Biographical Sketch
Born into slavery in 1841, Blanche Kelso Bruce became the first African American to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate, as well as the first African American to preside over the Senate. One of 11 children, Bruce was born near Farmville, Virginia, and was taken to Mississippi and Missouri by his owner. Just 20 years old when the Civil War began, Bruce tried to enlist in the Union army. At that time, the army did not accept black recruits, so instead Bruce turned to teaching; he later organized the first school in Missouri for African Americans. He briefly attended college in Ohio but left to work as a porter on a riverboat. In 1869 Bruce moved to Mississippi to become a cotton planter. Active in Mississippi Republican politics, he served as supervisor of elections, tax assessor, sheriff, superintendent of education, and sergeant at arms of the state senate. In 1874 the Mississippi legislature elected him to the U.S. Senate where he served until 1881.

In the Senate, Bruce was a member of the committees on Pensions, Manufactures, and Education and Labor. He chaired the Committee on River Improvements and the Select Committee to Investigate the Freedman's Savings and Trust Company. He supported desegregation of the army, protection of African American voting rights, and more humane treatment of Native Americans. Bruce encouraged increasing the disposition of western land grants to African Americans. On February 14, 1879, Bruce became the first African American to preside over the Senate.

Bruce worked devotedly to gain rights for African Americans. After leaving the Senate, he was appointed registrar of the U.S. Treasury by President James Garfield. At the Republican convention of 1888, Bruce received 11 votes for vice president. He was appointed recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia and later was a member of the board of trustees of Howard University. Bruce died in Washington, D.C., in 1898

Scope and Content
This collection consists of a small amount of incoming correspondence received by Bruce while serving in the United States Senate. The letters date from 1875 to 1885, however, the bulk of the correspondence is from the years 1876 and 1877.  Most are letters from Bruce’s Republican constituents, seeking appointments, money, and pensions; providing recommendations and references; and accusing Democrats of political corruption. A single letter is related to family matters – a January 1877 letter by J. J. Bruce of Missouri, writing to ask his brother for money so that his son might attend school.

The item-level inventory contains the name of each correspondent and the date of the letter. Also included in the inventory is a list of the dates of letters written by Senator Bruce to President Rutherford B. Hayes.  Most of Bruce’s correspondence concerns references and recommendations for appointments.  The letters are part of the Rutherford B. Hayes Papers.  Typed transcriptions of these ten letters are available.

Inventory
Ac. 1963
47 items

BALDWIN, M. S.
Dtd Nov. 5, 1877

BARRETT, John F., Jr.
Dtd Dec. 8, 1875

BASSETT, J. R.
Dtd Feb. 21, 1876

BELDEN, O. S.
Dtd Dec. 5, 1877

BLISS, E.R.
Dtd Apr. 4, 1876
Dtd Apr. 5, 1876

BOWLES, C. M.
Dtd Sept. 18, 1877
Dtd Oct. 28, 1877

BRENT, Willis N.
Dtd Feb. 27, 1877

BREWSTER & CO.
Dtd Mch. 15, 1877

BROOKS, Edward
Dtd May 9, 1885

BROWN, B. W.
Dtd Sept. 3, 1877

BROWN, Emma V.
Dtd Thursday, A.M.

BRUCE, J. J.
Dtd Jan. 12, 1877

BUCHANAN, George M.
Dtd Jne. 29, 1876
Dtd Jly. 1, 1876
Dtd Jly. 3, 1876
Dtd Jan. 26, 1877
Dtd Nov. 24, 1877

BURCH, J. Henri
Dtd Oct. 23. 1877
Dtd Nov. 14, 1877

BURWELL, A.
Dtd Dec. 14, 1877

BYNUM, J. M.
Dtd Nov. 21, 1877

CRUMP, E. H.
Dtd Jan. 26, 1877

DAVIS, A. K.
Dtd Nov. 29, 1875
Dtd Apr. 22, 1876
Dtd May 17, 1876
Dtd Jne. 12, 1876

DAVIS, O.
Dtd Aug. 23, 1876

DEDRICK, W. W.
Dtd Mch. 26, 1876
Dtd Apr. 2, 1876
Dtd Jan. 21, 1877

DEHAVEN, D.
Dtd Jne. 20, 1876

DOUGLASS, Frederick
Undated

DOUGLASS, Frederick, Jr.
Dtd Apr 6, 1875

GLEED, R.
Dtd Apr. 22, 1876
Dtd May 17, 1876

HANCOCK, Wm. M.
To Hon. James Hill dtd Oct. 5, 1879
Dtd Oct. 8, 1879
Dtd Nov. 23, 1879
To Gov. Adelbert Ames dtd Dec. 31, 1879

HURST, H. P.
Dtd Jan. 26, 1877

KENNON, W. H.
Dtd Jan. 26, 1877

LAWSON, Gaines
Dtd May 25, 1879

LEE, J. W.
Dtd Jan. 26, 1877

WARE, H. R.
Dtd Jan. 26, 1877
And a memorial
Letters by Senator B. K. Bruce to President Rutherford B. Hayes in the Rutherford B.
    Hayes Papers
Dtd Jne. 25, 1876
Dtd Jan. 26, 1877
Dtd Mch. 3, 1877
Dtd Jne. 11, 1877
Dtd Mch. 1, 1879
Dtd Mar. 10, 1880
Dtd Mar. 23, 1880
Dtd Apr. 12, 1880
Dtd Apr. 12, 1880
Dtd Apr. 13, 1880