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1st Latino member of Congress - Joseph Marion Hernandez
Joseph Marion Hernandez becomes the first Hispanic to serve in the U.S. Congress, as a delegate from the territory of Florida. -
1st African American Senator - Hiram Revels
Hiram Revels, a Republican from Mississippi, becomes the first African American Senator. He was elected for office by the Mississippi State Legislature. -
1st black U.S. Representative - Joseph Rainey
Joseph Rainey is elected to serve in the U.S. Congress by voters in South Carolina. -
1st African-American Governor - P.B.S. Pinchback
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback becomes the first black governor in the United States. He was the lieutenant governor in Louisiana, and he took office after the acting governor was impeached. -
2nd African American Senator - Blanche K. Bruce
Blanche K. Bruce is elected to the U.S. Senate by the Mississippi State Legislature. -
1st Hispanic U.S. Representative - Romualdo Pacheco
Californians vote Romualdo Pacheco into the U.S. House of Representatives. He becomes the second Hispanic to serve in the U.S. Congress. -
1st Congresswoman takes office - Jeannette Rankin
As a Republican from Montana, Jeannette Rankin becomes the first woman to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. -
1st Hispanic Governor - Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca
In New Mexico, Ezequiel Cabeza de Baca becomes the nation's first Hispanic governor. In 1912, he began serving as New Mexico's first lieutenant governor. -
1st female Senator - Rebecca Latimer Felton
Rebecca Latimer Felton was elected to fill a vacancy, and served for only 24 hours. She had been involved in Georgia politics for many years. -
1st woman to serve as governor - Nellie Tayloe Ross
Nellie Tayloe Ross, a Democrat, was elected governor of Wyoming in 1924. Her husband served as governor before his death in the fall of 1924. -
1st Hispanic Senator - Octaviano Larrazolo
Octaviano Larrazolo, a Republican from New Mexico, was elected in 1928 to fill a vacancy. He served six months before he fell ill and had to relinquish his seat. -
1st woman elected to Senate - Hattie Wyatt Caraway
Hattie Wyatt Caraway was appointed to serve in the Senate after her husband's death left a vacancy. A Democrat from Arkansas, she was elected by popular vote in 1932, and served until 1945. -
1st Hispanic Senator to serve a full term - Dennis Chavez
Dennis Chavez, a Democrat from New Mexico, becomes the first Hispanic Senator, after two terms as a Congressman. -
First publicly elected African American Senator
Edward Brooke, a Republican from Massachusetts, becomes the first African American elected to the Senate by popular vote. -
1st black female U.S. Representative - Shirley Chisholm
Shirley Chisholm, a Congresswoman from New York, becomes the first African American woman in Congress. -
1st openly gay male Congressman - Gerry Studds
Gerry Studds, a Democrat from Massachusetts, was elected to office in 1972. He revealed that he was gay in 1983, and was reelected to serve through 1997. -
1st Hispanic Congresswoman - Ros-Lehtinen
Republican Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, from the state of Florida, becomes the first Hispanic woman to serve in the U.S. Congress. -
1st openly gay U.S. Representative - Tammy Baldwin
Tammy Baldwin, a Democrat from Wisconsin, becomes the first non-incumbent, openly gay person to be elected to serve in the U.S. Congress. -
1st female black Senator - Carol Moseley Braun
Carol Moseley Braun, a Democrat from Illinois, becomes the first female African American elected to the U.S. Senate. -
5th African American Senator - President-Elect Barack Obama
President-elect Barack Obama is elected by voters in Illinois to serve in the U.S. Senate. -
1st African American President - Barack Obama
President-elect Barack Obama becomes the first African America to hold the highest office in the United States.