Charles Sumner

Charles Sumner’s unswerving commitment to racial justice was the defining feature of his legislative career. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1851, he was an outspoken opponent of slavery. During the Civil War, Sumner lobbied tirelessly for emancipation and advocated opening the Union army to Black enlistment.

Allied with the Radical Republicans during Reconstruction, Sumner focused single mindedly on securing full civil rights for African Americans. To this end, he introduced the Civil Rights Act of 1870. The measure was designed to ensure unfettered access, regardless of race, to “all the public conveyances” (including railroads and steamships), accommodations, theaters, public schools, churches, cemeteries, and jury service. Felled by a heart attack in 1874, it was Sumner’s dying wish that his civil rights bill achieve passage. When it was finally enacted in 1875, however, the key provision for public school integration had been stripped away by opponents.