The Senator and the Socialite - The True Story of America's First Black Dynasty

“A cohesive picture of an extraordinary figure. . . . The issues raised by Bruce’s life and career resonate today, making Graham’s book not just a history but a revealing commentary on race and class, and on their inordinately powerful force in shaping our lives today.”—Chicago Tribune Spanning more than a century, Lawrence Otis’s illuminating biography is a fascinating look at race and class in America, witnessed through the life of Blanche Kelso Bruce—the head of America’s first black dynasty and the first black U.S. senator. Otis reveals how Bruce rose from slavery to achieve power and prestige in the aftermath of the Civil War. With his wife, the daughter of a prominent Philadelphia physician, he would break social and racial barriers—a legacy continued by their children until scandal destroyed the family’s wealth and stature. Filled with triumph and tragedy, Otis’s riveting book brings into focus an important yet little-known segment of our nation’s past. This is the true story of America's first black dynasty. The years after the Civil War represented an astonishing moment of opportunity for African-Americans. The rush to build a racially democratic society from the ruins of slavery is never more evident than in the personal history of Blanche Kelso Bruce and his heirs. Born a slave in 1841, Bruce became a local Mississippi sheriff, developed a growing Republican power base, amassed a real-estate fortune, and became the first black to serve a full Senate term. He married Josephine Willson, the daughter of a wealthy black Philadelphia doctor. Together they broke racial barriers as a socialite couple in 1880s Washington, D.C. By befriending President Ulysses S. Grant, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and a cadre of liberal black and white Republicans, Bruce spent six years in the U.S. Senate, then gained appointments under four presidents (Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, and McKinley), culminating with a top Treasury post, which placed his name on all U.S. currency. During Reconstruction, the Bruce family entertained lavishly in their two Washington town houses and acquired an 800-acre plantation, homes in four states, and a fortune that allowed their son and grandchildren to attend Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, beginning in 1896. The Senator's legacy would continue with his son, Roscoe, who became both a protg of Booker T. Washington and a superintendent of Washington, D.C.'s segregated schools. When the family moved to New York in the 1920s and formed an alliance with John D. Rockefeller Jr., the Bruces became an enviable force in Harlem society. Their public battle to get their grandson admitted into Harvard University's segregated dormitories elicited the support of people like W. E. B. Du Bois and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and broke brave new ground for blacks of their day. But in the end, the Bruce dynasty's wealth and stature would disappear when the Senator's grandson landed in prison following a sensational trial and his Radcliffe-educated granddaughter married a black Hollywood actor who passed for white. By drawing on Senate records, historic documents, and the personal letters of Senator Bruce, Josephine, their colleagues, friends, children, and grandchildren, author Lawrence Otis Graham weaves a riveting social history that spans 120 years. From Mississippi to Washington, D.C., to New York, The Senator and the Socialite provides a fascinating look into the history of race and class in America. This is the true story of America's first black dynasty. The years after the Civil War represented an astonishing moment of opportunity for African-Americans. The rush to build a racially democratic society from the ruins of slavery is never more evident than in the personal history of Blanche Kelso Bruce and his heirs. Born a slave in 1841, Bruce became a local Mississippi sheriff, developed a growing Republican power base, amassed a real-estate fortune, and became the first black to serve a full Senate term. He married Josephine Willson, the daughter of a wealthy black Philadelphia doctor. Together they broke racial barriers as a socialite couple in 1880s Washington, D.C. By befriending President Ulysses S. Grant, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and a cadre of liberal black and white Republicans, Bruce spent six years in the U.S. Senate, then gained appointments under four presidents (Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, and McKinley), culminating with a top Treasury post, which placed his name on all U.S. currency. During Reconstruction, the Bruce family entertained lavishly in their two Washington town houses and acquired an 800-acre plantation, homes in four states, and a fortune that allowed their son and grandchildren to attend Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, beginning in 1896. The Senator's legacy would continue with his son, Roscoe, who became both a protEgE of Booker T. Washington and a superintendent of Washington, D.C.'s segregated schools. When the family moved to New York in the 1920s and formed an alliance with John D. Rockefeller Jr., the Bruces became an enviable force in Harlem society. Their public battle to get their grandson admitted into Harvard University's segregated dormitories elicited the support of people like W.E.B. Du Bois and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and broke brave new ground for blacks of their day. But in the end, the Bruce dynasty's wealth and stature would disappear when the Senator's grandson landed in prison following a sensational trial and his Radcliffe-educated granddaughter married a black Hollywood actor who passed for white. By drawing on Senate records, historic documents, and the personal letters of Senator Bruce, Josephine, their colleagues, friends, children, and grandchildren, author Lawrence Otis Graham weaves a riveting social history that spans 120 years. From Mississippi to Washington, D.C., to New York, The Senator and the Socialite provides a fascinating look into the history of race and class in America This is the true story of America's first black dynasty. The years after the Civil War represented an astonishing moment of opportunity for African-Americans. The rush to build a racially democratic society from the ruins of slavery is never more evident than in the personal history of Blanche Kelso Bruce and his heirs.Born a slave in 1841, Bruce became a local Mississippi sheriff, developed a growing Republican power base, amassed a real-estate fortune, and became the first black to serve a full Senate term. He married Josephine Willson, the daughter of a wealthy black Philadelphia doctor. Together they broke racial barriers as a socialite couple in 1880s Washington, D.C.By befriending President Ulysses S. Grant, abolitionist Frederick Douglass, and a cadre of liberal black and white Republicans, Bruce spent six years in the U.S. Senate, then gained appointments under four presidents (Garfield, Arthur, Harrison, and McKinley), culminating with a top Treasury post, which placed his name on all U.S. currency.During Reconstruction, the Bruce family entertained lavishly in their two Washington town houses and acquired an 800-acre plantation, homes in four states, and a fortune that allowed their son and grandchildren to attend Phillips Exeter Academy and Harvard University, beginning in 1896.The Senator's legacy would continue with his son, Roscoe, who became both a protege of Booker T. Washington and a superintendent of Washington, D.C.'s segregated schools. When the family moved to New York in the 1920s and formed an alliance with John D. Rockefeller Jr., the Bruces became an enviable force in Harlem society. Their public battle to get their grandson admitted into Harvard University's segregated dormitories elicited the support of people like W. E. B. Du Bois and Franklin D. Roosevelt, and broke brave new ground for blacks of their day.But in the end, the Bruce dynasty's wealth and stature would disappear when the Senator's grandson landed in prison following a sensational trial and his Radcliffe-educated granddaughter married a black Hollywood actor who passed for white.By drawing on Senate records, historic documents, and the personal letters of Senator Bruce, Josephine, their colleagues, friends, children, and grandchildren, author Lawrence Otis Graham weaves a riveting social history that spans 120 years. From Mississippi to Washington, D.C., to New York, The Senator and the Socialite provides a fascinating look into the history of race and class in America. 1875: A Senator Is Sworn In And A Dynasty Begins -- 1841-1861: Blanche Bruce's Slave Family In Virginia And Missouri -- 1841-1860: The Free Aristocratic Family Of Josephine Wilson -- 1862-1870: Bruce Finds Kansas Freedom, Ohio Education, And Mississippi Reconstruction -- 1870-1874: Bruce Builds A Base Of Power In Mississippi And Is Elected To The U.s. Senate -- 1877-1878: A Senator And A Socialite Marry Despite Family And Class Conflicts -- 1878: A Black Dynasty Begins -- 1879-1880: A New Child And A New Redemption Congress -- 1880-1888: Bruce Leaves The Senate, Joins The Treasury Department, Then Enters Private Life -- 1889-1895: Bruce Persuades President Harrison To Give Him A Job And His Wife Gains Her Independence -- 1895-1898: The Senator Gets Appointed By President Mckinley As His Son Breaks Barriers At Phillips Exeter; The Senator Dies -- March 1898-june 1902: The Senator's Son Begins A Courtship At Harvard, And The Senator's Widow Carries Out A Legacy -- 1902: Roscoe Builds An Alliance With Booker T. Washington -- 1902: A Marriage Of The Second Generation, And Life In Tuskegee -- December 1903-1906: Roscoe And Clara Build The Next Generation -- 1906-1914: A Triumphant Return To Washington Life: The Bruce Family's Second Generation Emerges -- 1915-1922: Roscoe's Downfall In Washington -- 1923-1924: Roscoe Struggles With Harvard's President, His Family Finances, And His Children's Success -- 1925-1929: The Family Moves To Cambridge And New York, And Roscoe Builds An Alliance With John D. Rockefeller Jr. -- 1930-1939: The Third Generation Makes News, And The Senator's Grandson Goes To Prison -- 1940-1967: The Third Bruce Generation Erases A Proud History. Lawrence Otis Graham. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 431-435) And Index. The story of a slave-turned-US senator and an African American dynasty: “A compelling portrait of the Bruce family's rise, dynamics and downfall.” —The Washington Post Spanning more than a century, Lawrence Otis's illuminating biography is a fascinating look at race and class in the latter decades of nineteenth-century America, witnessed through the life of Blanche Kelso Bruce—United States senator from Mississippi and head of America's first black dynasty. Otis reveals how Bruce rose from slavery to achieve power and prestige in the aftermath of the Civil War. With his wife, the daughter of a prominent Philadelphia physician, he would break social and racial barriers—a legacy continued by their children until scandal destroyed the family's wealth and stature. Filled with triumph, tragedy, and the complexities and conflicts of the Reconstruction-era South, The Senator and the Socialite brings into focus an important yet little-known part of our nation's past.“Graham, whose Our Kind of People profiled the black upper class, recovers the history of a family that broke barriers in Washington and at Exeter and Harvard. At the same time, he offers a devastating view of the compromises it made.” —The New Yorker“A poignant tale of struggle, accomplishment and weakness.” —The Washington Post “Not just a history but a revealing commentary on race and class, and on their inordinately powerful force in shaping our lives today.” —Chicago Tribune Blanche Kelso Bruce was born a slave in 1841, yet, remarkably, amassed a real-estate fortune and became the first black man to serve a full term in the U.S. Senate. He married Josephine Willson—the daughter of a wealthy black Philadelphia doctor—and together they broke down racial barriers in 1880s Washington, D.C., numbering President Ulysses S. Grant among their influential friends. The Bruce family achieved a level of wealth and power unheard of for people of color in nineteenth-century America. Yet later generations would stray from the proud Bruce legacy, stumbling into scandal and tragedy. Drawing on Senate records, historical documents, and personal letters, author Lawrence Otis Graham weaves a riveting social history that offers a fascinating look at race, politics, and class in America. Follows the lives and fortunes of the Bruce family, from Blanche Kelso Bruce, who was born a slave in 1841 and became the first black person to serve a full term in the Senate, to the scandal that sent his grandson to prison Title from eBook title screen (viewed on July 31, 2006).