In 1870 Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American senator. Five years later, Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi took the oath of office. It would be nearly another century, 1967, before Edward Brooke of Massachusetts followed in their historic footsteps.
Hiram Rhodes Revels, the first African American to serve, was elected by the Mississippi State Legislature to succeed Albert G. Brown, who resigned during the Civil War.
Five years later Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi took the oath of office and became the first African American to preside over the Senate and to serve a full term.
Since 1917, when Representative Jeannette Rankin of Montana became the first woman to serve in Congress, a total of 397 women have served as U.S. Representatives, Delegates, or Senators.
Carol Moseley Braun broke new ground in 1993, becoming the first African American woman to serve as U.S. senator.
HPS Magazine 