I "discovered" one of the politicians featured in this article, Josiah T. Walls, when I was researching the history of a neighborhood in Gainesville, FL in preparation--it turned out--for getting it listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Congressional Record has some of Wall's orations on such subjects as relations with Cuba and the need for rail and canal facilities across Florida. Eventually, we erected a plaque in his honor.
You should read the whole article in the Globe and the accompanying portrait of Walls and his associates is not to be missed.
The Orator
Meet the Obama of the 1870s
By Philip Dray
August 24, 2008
WITH BARACK OBAMA stepping into history this week as the first African-American nominated for president by a major party, much has been made of the arrival of a new generation of black leadership. Obama, Governor Deval Patrick, Newark Mayor Corey Booker - all have broken new ground as mainstream politicians who speak across racial lines, capable of garnering votes from black and white constituencies alike.
As a cohort, they are often weighed against an earlier generation of black leaders, those who came up in the civil rights movement of the 1960s. But a more revealing comparison might be to a more distant precursor: the black politicians voted into office in the 1860s and '70s, during Reconstruction.
In the wake of the Civil War, a wave of idealism offered its own "audacity of hope" to a nation weary of conflict. Then, as now, America was seeking to move beyond a prolonged period of acrimonious partisanship; today's arguments over affirmative action, racial bias in the justice system, financial scandals, and the influence of special interests wouldn't feel unfamiliar to voters of the time.
Josiah T. Walls served in the Army and was awarded land in Florida for his services. That grant was disputed by some people who'd been given grants from Spain, so a court settlement gave him land near Gainesville in exchange. Walls operated a large "truck farm" and, after his service in Congress, he held a position at the Agricultural College in Tallahassee. His only daughter is reported to have been unstable and to have died early. So, there are no descendants, as far as I could determine.
Since there was never much in the papers about the achievements of blacks, most information had to be gathered from census lists, property records and the occasional reporting of election results. Walls didn't get to serve all the terms he was elected to because the elections were contested in various ways.
Anyway, for almost a generation, the County of Alachua and the City of Gainesville benefited from the service and leadership of black men who were often referred to as carpet-baggers because they'd been educated up North and migrated to Florida to set up businesses, educational institutions, churches and local governments.
http://www.pleasantstreetneighborhoo...
When I first got to Gainesville, the neighborhood was referred to as 1644, its designation as an enumeration district for the census. The numerical designation made it easy for city planners to draw up plans for its "renewal" and the removal of long-time residents so the developers could move in. As you can see from the web site, those plans were stymied.
A friend and I took the pictures in the walking tour, mostly on a bright sunny Sunday morning. The most memorable thing about that day was a police van stopping and telling us we shouldn't be walking in that dangerous area.
A little conversation with the City Manager, Orville Powell, pretty much assured that never happened again.
Sadly, that City Manager was forced to resign because he refused to fire a black Assistant City Manager he'd brought in from North Carolina. The Assistant City Manager, Richard Knight, later went on to become City Manager in Dallas, Texas.
I'm not sure that most African Americans appreciate that the purpose of Affirmative Action was/is to "protect" people, who were inclined to do the right thing and judge people on the basis of their qualifications and achievements, from being retaliated against.
I would merely add to Phillip Dray's conclusion
While it may be a marker of how little has changed that an African-American politician can still become famous for eloquently speaking across racial lines, and a generation of black leaders can gain fame for appealing to more than just black voters, Obama’s story is also a marker of how different today’s America has become. Thanks in part to the efforts of Elliott and his contemporaries - and the civil rights leaders of the 20th century who revived their struggle and built on the laws they helped pass - a young man like Barack Obama could put down sound roots in the American establishment.
that there are many unsung heroes in the struggle to ensure that both the human and civil rights to which we are entitled are honored in the act. And we're far from done.