1965
1966
1967
COURTESY EDWARD W. BROOKE
January 3, 1967
EDWARDW. BROOKE, FIRST AFRICAN AMERICAN SENATOR SINCE RECONSTRUCTION
In 1966 EdwardWilliamBrooke III won elecon to the United States Senate as a Republican fromMassachuses, defeang his Democrac opponent in a landslide. Brooke was the first popularly elected African American senator (previous African American senators HiramRevels and Blanche K. Bruce were elected by state legislatures). He was the only African American to serve in the Senate in the tweneth century unl CarolMoseley Braun of Illinois in 1993.
EdwardW. Brooke served two terms in the U.S. Senate, 1967-1979. He remains the only African American to be reelected to the Senate.
SUMMER 2012 THE CAPITOL DOME 9
