✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #03

 

✊🏾 BHM 2026 Notables by QCT | Post #03
Voices of the “Black Second” – Congressmen of Courage 🏛️🗳️📜

Meet two groundbreaking statesmen who brought North Carolina’s Black Reconstruction voice to Washington:

• John Adams Hyman (1840–1891)
  • Born enslaved in Warren County, NC; bought his freedom by 1865
  • Elected to NC Senate (1868, 1870), championed Black suffrage & public education
  • First Black U.S. Representative from NC (2nd District, 1875–77)
  • Denounced lynching & pushed for federal support of Southern schools
  • Passed at 51 after battling political retaliation & financial hardship

• James Edward O’Hara (1844–1905)
  • Born free in New Bern to Jamaican and Irish parents
  • Self-taught legal scholar; passed NC bar in 1873 amid racial exclusion
  • NC House (1883), then U.S. House (2nd District, 1883–87), succeeding Hyman
  • Advocated for the 1883 Civil Rights Bill & equal rail accommodations 🚂
  • Practiced law, taught, and passed away in London at 61

🎉 Walk in their footsteps this February during the
👉🏾 28^th Annual QCT Charlotte Pilgrimage Tour^sm 2026
🎟️ Reserve now at: charlottepilgrimagetour.com

#BHM2026 #BlackCharlotte #BlackSecond #JohnAdamsHyman #JamesEOHara #QCTHeritage #CongressionalTrailblazers #ReconstructionEra #CivilRightsHistory #CharlotteTours #HiddenHistory #BlackVoicesMatter #NCPolitics #LegacyLeadership

📚 Sources:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Adams_Hyman
https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/john-adams-hyman-1840-1891/
https://www.dncr.nc.gov/blog/2023/12/13/john-hyman-1840-1891-e-101
https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/james-edward-ohara-1844-1905/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_E._O%27Hara
https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/ohara-james-edward