John Willis Menard: The First African American Elected To US Congress

A statesman, editor, publisher, poet, activist and more, John Willis Menard was a true Renaissance man, and he dedicated his life to public service. Listen in to learn more about the life and times of John Willis Menard.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
Ridiculous History is a production of I Heart Radio. Ye.

(00:27):
Welcome to the show Ridiculous Historians, friends and neighbors. Thank
you for tuning in. If you are like some of
us in the studio today, perhaps you did some extra
curriculars in high school or maybe even college. Perhaps you
were one of those uh student council members or something
of the ILK maybe model you in or so on? Um,

(00:49):
but let us know, my name is Ben. Are you
accusing our audience of being nerds? Been? No? No, I
I actually I was in student council and took it
pretty far. What about what about you know? You uh
civic minded? Uh tyke? No, No, I was an artsy
type of nerd. I was in the orchestra and I
got beat up for that instead of being in student council.

(01:09):
Did you physically get beat up? Not really? Oh no.
It was a very pacifist job. And I went to
a fine arts magnet school, so it was cool to
be in the orchestra at those schools. But then I
had a real culture shock situation when I switched from
my fine arts minut school UH to a public high
school in Birmingham, Alabama that was primarily focused on sport,
and it was a real adjustment. Let's say rule tide,

(01:32):
big time, big roll tide. Okay, what does that even mean?
I you know what tides role? I remember somebody about
this on a previous episode. Yeah, it's for it's for
the Crimson tide. I here, it's According to Urban Dictionary,
role tide can be used as a greeting, a departure,
or to smooth rough ties between people and shut others up.

(01:54):
So it's it's a catch all. Uh, Let's introduce our
super producer, Casey Pegram. Casey, were you a student fond
of of civic organizations in your time? No? I was
a band kid. I was in the orchestra. I was
in the marching band, all that good stuff. Did you
get beaten up? No? No, I didn't get beaten up.
It was we We kind of had like an understanding. Yeah. Yeah,

(02:16):
and you were you were one of the percussion kids, right,
You were on the drum line, And that is true.
Played played snare in marching band and uh intended to
play snare and like orchestrad band too. He's one of
the cool ones. Absolutely, But I'm sorry, Casey, I'm gonna
keep you on the case for just a second long.
When you say we had an understanding, what do you
mean by them? I think we just kind of stuck
to our own like territory, you know, sure, just didn't

(02:37):
try to like get up in each other's business. And
by in each other, you're talking about you guys versus
the jocks. Yeah, the jocks are like the preppy kids
all are the skater kids or whatever. It's just like
everybody just kind of like be cool. Yeah, I transversed
a lot of factions because I did the student council
thing for a while. I ran the school's literary mag
in high school. I was a drama person, but my

(03:00):
real key to the owning the means of production was
I ran the announcements, which was quickly became a terrible
comedy sketch show. Keys to the Kingdom. My friend and
Casey on the case, and we are talking about civic
organizations or these sorts of extracurricular activities for a reason.

(03:22):
Today you see many people who later go on to
be politicians or enter a life of public service start
pretty young. Right in our modern days, and for most
generations of people listening to the show today, we all
had something like student council, right, meaning that we all
had these these ways to practice what could later be

(03:48):
a career. Today's episode is about someone who was elected
to US Congress and someone who was an historic first
in the congressional history of our country. Also someone that uh,
I'll just say it, I had not heard of before.
I had not either. And his name is John Willis Minard.

(04:10):
And on February eighteen sixty nine, he became the first
African American to address the U. S House. And he
was from Louisiana. And this all had to do with
the passage of the fifteenth Amendment, when African Americans were
first allowed to vote. John Willis Minard was born in

(04:33):
eighteen thirty eight in Randolph County in southern Illinois, in
a town with a really cool name, Kaskaskia. I think
you got that right, man, you think so? I think, well,
we'll find out, Illinois listeners, let us know. Uh. And
details of his early life, as you may imagine giving
the time frame here, are very scarce. All that we know,

(04:56):
all that his storians know about this is that we're
certain his family, what he and his family were free.
We think that both of his parents were born in Illinois,
but they may have also had ties to New Orleans. Yeah,
there's indications that they were of French Creole descent. Exactly exactly,
you don't. Menard spent his first eighteen years in this

(05:18):
town where he worked on a farm, a very normal thing.
He attended a school in Sparks, Illinois, and abolitionist school,
and then he went on to attend Iberia College. That's right.
And he was just twenty two when he first published
an Address to the Free Colored People of Illinois, which

(05:38):
was a treatise, an abolitionist treatise that really espoused his
position on the notion that slavery was one of the
greatest evils in all mankind. That's right. So he already
had this this knack for public speech, right for civil service.

(05:59):
And during the Civil War he became the first African
American to work as a clerk at the Bureau of
Immigration at the Interior Department in d C. And this
meant that he was going to travel internationally representing the
United States. He traveled to Belize, and his mission in

(06:23):
Belize was something that that could seem very controversial today.
His mission was to investigate beliefs to evaluate whether it
would be a good foreign country for African Americans to
relocate to. Yeah, and it's like it's I mean, it's
it's very problematic. It's like, were they trying to figure

(06:45):
out if they could like send them there, was it
a place they would go of their own free will?
I mean, they were free men. But the notion of
establishing a colony quote up even that word is rife.
Uh and a largely non white country like that was
a little problematic. It would be seen a little problematic today.
And he was sent there by President Lincoln himself, Yes, exactly.

(07:08):
And this is the thing. If we put ourselves back
in the time and place, right back in menhards time
and place, then what we see is that he personally
thought this was the right move. He thought this was
a good and promising idea. And he was by no
means alone. This is almost another branch of the story.

(07:30):
He was on a mission, and he did believe in
this mission. However, as we know, there was not a
He was not spearheading a large new colony in Belize.
He eventually left the Interior Department to become active in
Louisiana during reconstruction, and he created two newspapers, the Free

(07:52):
State and then one called the Radical Standard. Also during
this time, people who create an ed newspapers have this
tremendous influence on public discourse and it's no surprise that
they are more likely than other people to move into politics.

(08:15):
So in eighteen sixty eight there's a special election in
New Orleans to fill a seat formerly occupied by James
Mann who was a Democrat and he had died in office.
And Minard, who was a Republican. Just goes to show
how different um as parties were in those days in
the art today was elected on November three to the

(08:36):
seat in Louisiana's second Congressional District one with the majority
of votes. And this is this is a historical moment
because he became the very first African American to do that.
Enter in a real pill or someone who at the
very least was what's not happy the election, and that
is Caleb S. Hunt, who was Minard's opponent in this situation.

(09:01):
Caleb S. Hunt takes this to the House Committee on
Elections and he says, look, this is this is not right,
and he has more than a ting of racism when
he's saying this, does Caleb s Hunt, uh, and I
challenge this. I think these results are men larky. And
so the House Committee on Elections they huddle together with

(09:23):
themselves and they cannot come up with a neat way
to resolve this. So the case continues. It goes to
the House of Representatives, and the House of Representatives suspends
its usual regiment of rules such that they enable Minard
and Hunt to address the chamber too, for each man

(09:45):
to make his own case in front of Congress. Only
one person decides to speak at the House, and that
is John Willis Minard. And this is pretty cool. We
actually have something of a historical core uh illustration of
this situation. It's an etching from the eighteen sixties that
shows Minard to be a very tall, uh, skinny man

(10:09):
wearing a black suit at tails in fact, really really
great less tech um and he's standing behind something of
a very like baroque looking podium uh and members of
Congress looked on. So just picture the scene here, um
and Minard is holding a copy of his speech in
his left hand and he raises his right hand. This

(10:30):
account comes from a Washington Post article called he was
the first black man elected. And here's what he says,
Mr Speaker, I appear here more to acknowledge this high
privilege than to make an argument before this house. Um.
That is because he had been elected to the U. S.
House of Representatives, but Congress denied him his post refused

(10:55):
to set him right. Right, So this speech that he drafted,
it's not super super long as four words, and he
addresses the Chamber of February eighteen sixty nine. In this speech,
he is doing exactly what he says in the beginning, right,
he says, I'm not really here to argue with Congress.

(11:17):
I'm here because this is such a distinct honor, a
high privilege. Creole Magazine has a great article about this,
wherein they provide some of the context here. So in
his opening statement, he essentially says, look, I want you
guys to determine this case based on its merit only.

(11:38):
Obviously he doesn't say you guys, but he does mention
that his opponent, Caleb S. Hunt, did not comply with
congressional law, and because he did not comply, Hunt was
technically not able to contest the election results. And then
Minard also flexes a little and says, you know, I

(12:00):
out more than sixty of the vote, which is really
good if we're being honest. But as you said, Noel,
despite his speech, the Committee of Elections decided to rule
against Minard and they did not give him the seat
that he won again by the popular vote. But they

(12:21):
also did not give the job to Caleb S. Hunt.
Would you have to wonder, like, how was this guy
just universally disliked? They hey, didn't give anybody. He didn't
give anybody a shot at the throne, they said, according
to the committee, they're they're finding was that both candidates

(12:41):
were quote lacking in qualification. And James A. Garfield, who
went on to of course become the President, was at
the time a member of that Congress, and he made
a very pointed motion saying, quote it was too early
to admit a negro to the U. S. Congress, and
that the seat b dec laired vacant and the salary

(13:02):
of five thousand dollars saved. I wonder whose pocket that
goes back into. Well that's the weird part too, because yes,
absolutely the seat is left vacant for the rest of
the congressional term. But in the next election someone does
occupy the seat. A fellow named Joseph Rainey. Joseph Rainey
is also an African American and Minard, at least according

(13:26):
to the sources I could find, Minards still got paid
as though he won the seat. So whatever Garfield is
saying isn't really true. Well maybe it was true at
the beginning, but somehow Minard ended up with money. Really Yeah, interesting,
And obviously, you know, to Garfield's point or or counter
to his point, wasn't that much longer before it felt

(13:49):
like the right time to admit a black man to
to one of those seats? So what was Do you
think it was really just they thought it was too soon?
Do you think, I mean, it was obviously a debate.
Do you think it was outright racism? Obviously you can
you can pass a law that says you have to
treat black people the same as everybody else, but that
that law doesn't change hearts and minds overnight, right right, Yeah,

(14:11):
the letter of the law doesn't always equate to the
practice of the law. Yeah, I think, I mean, clearly, Okay,
this is just my opinion. It would be naive to
assume that racism was not a huge, or indeed the
primary factor here. You know, when we consider the context
of the time, the fragile socio political environment left in

(14:34):
the wake of the Civil War. Of course stuff like
this is happening even more. I don't know, it's unfair
to say more than normal, but yes it is. Of course,
Racism is a huge factor here. If anything, it's surprising
that the government was able to persist in Southern states

(14:55):
in reconstruction, creating a rift that lasted uh for multiple generations,
and in some parts of the American South, people would
argue that it still exists today absolutely. And um, you know,
before Manard was elected, a man by the name of
John M. Langston had already held the position of being

(15:18):
one of the first black men elected to a public office,
any public office in the US. And that's according to
House history. Langston actually was elected in eighteen fifty five,
ten years before the end of the Civil War, as
a clerk of the township of Brownhelm, Ohio. UM. And
from eighteen sixty eight twenty two black men were elected

(15:40):
to Congress. So you really see with the passage of
that voting law, the change in the voting law, the
floodgates really opening up. But in the Southern states that
probably would have been a really hard pill to swallow,
and I don't imagine it went over particularly well right away. Yeah.
One thing about people is they have an infinite capare
city to be disappointing. I he to see it that way,

(16:03):
but it is true because this thing too. Right. It
was in the Southern States where that had the highest
density of black citizens, who all of a sudden were
given the franchise, and they had been persona on grata,
non humans, you know, treated by their white counterparts, and
now all of a sudden, these folks had to make
peace with the fact that these people they had treated

(16:24):
as property formally, now had the ability to be elected
to political office, and they had to treat with respect.
And that would not have been something that would have
just come easily, right. Yeah, And I also consider that
this population achieved manumission in many cases only on paper. Right.
The the power structure of the American South immediately spent

(16:49):
a lot of blood, sweat, tears, time and energy figuring
out ways to keep people in de facto slavery. In fact,
this reminds me in gentially related, there was an excellent
article on vice a while back. Uh let me see
by Antoinette Harold called Blacks were enslaved well into the

(17:10):
nineteen sixties. J Jim Crow laws, share cropping, debt, slavery.
You know what I mean? Like you you are like
that old song company store, right, that's that stuff is real.
But Minard story doesn't end in New Orleans. Three years later,

(17:33):
in eighteen seventy one, he moves to Jacksonville, Florida, and
two years after that, in eighteen seventy three, he is
appointed to the House of Representatives. He fills a vacant
seat in the Florida House of Representatives, so not the
Federal House, but the Florida House. And then there's another
election in seventy four, which he loses, and that was

(17:55):
largely credited by many newspapers to voter in tim nation
at elections trying to suppress the black vote. Oh yeah,
and and that makes sense because this guy's tremendously literate.
He seems like a good representative. He continued public service, however.

(18:16):
He was later elected to the position of Justice of
the Peace for Duval County, and he was re elected
for that. I believe he served two full terms. This
guy was a renaissance man, absolutely so impressive. He was
a poet too, Yes, a civil rights poet. I mean
his poet poetry had had a message for sure. And
in eighteen seventy nine he published a book called Lays

(18:38):
in Summer Land. And here's a here's an exertive one
um that was quoted in that Washington Post article referenced
earlier um of what avail is life? Why sigh and
fret when manly hopes are only born to fade? Although
declared a man a vassal yet by social caste, a
crime by heaven made. That's right. And I do want

(19:01):
to point out that Lays in Summer Lands, for anyone interested,
is available on Amazon or your book buying platform of choice.
It just well, I guess, in the grand scheme of things,
we can say. It recently got republished in two thousand
two editions, So do check it out if you are

(19:22):
a fan of history or a fan of poetry. Also,
I have to say he kept at it. He founded
Key West News, the Florida News. He's a newspaperman. This
later becomes known as the Southern Leader, and during this
time he takes a strong position against racial segregation and

(19:47):
becomes an advocate for oppressed people in the United States.
He founded a magazine, The National American. He eventually moved
up to Washington, d C. With his wife, who we
had met around the same time he was in Belize.
I believe it was in Jamaica. Yeah, his wife was Jamaican.
We didn't even mention he got locked up in Jamaica. Yea. Yeah,

(20:11):
he was actually detained as a political prisoner and deported
to the U. S. Which is what got him his
start in New Orleans because that's where they dumped him,
right right. He participate in the eighteen sixty five Moron's
Bay Rebellion in Jamaica. I can't believe we almost forgot that.
I know, and I know people hate we skip around,
but I thought that was an important one to drop
in there. People hate it. I don't know, Ben, I

(20:33):
really don't know. If you think you think we're in
good shape, we're in good standing with the peeps, well
a lot of Casey. What do you think is this
a relatively cogent conversation? Yeah? I think they always end
up feeling pretty pretty cogent by the end the case. Yeah,
and Casey on the case because he is when we
say he saved the show. Uh, it's not hyperbole. He uh,

(20:54):
you don't hear a lot of a little off mike
uh fart arounds that we do kind of trying to
get on track, and Casey smooths it all out like
butter and gives it, gives it to your ears. Although
I do suspect, my friend, I do strongly suspect that
you have been collecting our various auditory foibles and fumbles. Yeah,
they're all destined for the anti podcasts. We've already said

(21:16):
too much. No comment Casey on the Top Secret case
I also want to just give a little shout out
to Casey. Um. Casey participated in a film production with
another one of our um beloved superproducers, Paul Decan, who
works with us some stuff they don't want you to know.
And it's having a premiere at a local cool kind

(21:38):
of twin cinema theater called the Plaza. And it also
stars are beloved co worker and friend Annie Reese. And
did you know I played the bad guy? I have.
I know nothing. I was asked to play a part
and I couldn't do it, and Ramsey took my place.
But I don't know anything about what anybody else did
I'm really excited to go check it out. And Casey
did all the Casey did the cinematography and color color

(21:58):
correction and all of that stuff. I mean, really, it's
a it's a it's a Pegram Decondo production, you know, absolutely,
and it's called Annie in the City A N N
E Y. So keep a lookout for that, keep a lookout.
Be kind to to my cameo. I wasn't gonna say
anything because I'm in it, but I congratulations Casey. Yeah,

(22:21):
thanks guys, and uh yeah, I don't want to say
anything more because I don't want to spoil it before
the screening. But Ben's got quite their role. Awesome. Well,
I will be there. I will be there tonight. I
can't wait. I love seeing things that I know any
think about, especially when my friends are at So speaking
of things we knew nothing about, we have learned the

(22:41):
story of John Maynard and he passed away on October
nine three. He was only fifty five years old, so
much life in such a short span of time, and
originally he was buried at Graceland Cemetery in d C.
Graceland closed in eight four and his remains were moved
to wood Lawn cemetery where you can visit his grave

(23:04):
site today. Yeah, it's true, and he he certainly was
an important part of a legacy that had its ups
and downs. Because you know, we talked about from eighteen
sixty eight, twenty two black men were lected to Congress,
and that included two in the U. S. Senate. But
then unfortunately, because of those Jim Crow laws we talked about,
that number dropped considerably. UM And when Congress got back

(23:29):
in session on December five of eighteen eighty seven, it
had been the first time in twenty years that almost
no black members were seated. UM And and of course,
as we know, we've we've come a long way from that,
and it takes you know, one person to step up
and and start the process for you know, for us
to even get where we are today. So I think
this is a really important story, and we still have

(23:50):
so far to go as a nation, as a people,
as a species, you know what I mean. It's inspiring
when you think about this. We really can every single
one of us affect significant change. And so we hope
that you find the story of John Willis Menhard as
inspirational as we have. And since we are fortunate enough

(24:13):
to have some of Menhard's poetry available today. What do
you saying? Only wanna team up for a reading a
recitation of Goodbye Off for Kansas, Absolutely goodbye, bloody scenes
of long ago. Goodbye to cotton fields and hounds, from
you vile sources of my earthly woe. My freed and

(24:34):
leaping spirit bounds though free my work to me no
profit yields, And for my politics and mobbed no more.
Thank God, upon these bloody fields shall I be of
my labor robbed? Goodbye, Aunt Polly, Goodbye Uncle Ned. I
am off and shall not come back. This land is cursed.

(24:55):
We are in rags, half fed, bulldozed and killed by
yellow jack. Goodbye. I've sold my little cane and corn
and am off for the rivers banks. And when I
step on board tomorrow morn, I'll sing and give the
good Lord. Thanks nice, big thanks to super producer Casey

(25:15):
Pegram for always putting up with us and being on
the case. Thanks to Alex Williams who composed our theme,
Christopher Aciotis, who has been very clutch and the pinch
hitting lately because of travel and all that super helpful.
Thanks to Gabe Lousier and Ryan Barrish, our research associates.
Thanks to the fantastic work from Creole Magazine, The Washington Post.

(25:39):
Thanks to you, Mr Millard, and of course Noel. Thanks,
thanks for hanging out. Well, we've we've got. I have
to tell you we are getting very close to our
two episode. That is a fact that this is episode one.
We should bring in a cake or a cupcake or something.
We should do something cool. Agreed, Well, let's hang out

(26:00):
tonight before the movie premiere and we'll talk it through.
I'll see you next time Fox. For more podcasts from
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or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.