Democratic Rep. Jim Clyburn of South Carolina has spent more than three decades in Congress, and he’s adamant about one point: he is not the first Black congressman to serve from his state. Eight others, largely erased from public discourse, served during and after Reconstruction, clearing a path that made his tenure possible.
A framed image of the eight’s portraits hangs in his office. Over the years, Clyburn says that image sparked what ultimately led him to write The First Eight: A Personal History of the Pioneering Black Congressmen Who Shaped a Nation. The book, which was published this month, restores these men to the historical record and draws lessons from their lives.