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RARE 1899 NC SENATE PHOTO COLLAGE - ONLY 1 BLACK MEMBER

A fascinating backdrop of racism & discrimination, as well as an epic battle of a Civil Rights leader is visually documented in this old photograph as follows:

Large (13 x 16”) cardboard mounted photographic collage containing portraits of 51 members of the North Carolina State Senate. The photograph measures 7.5 x 10” and shows consecutively numbered diamond-shaped bust photos of 50 Senators and the state Lieutenant Governor. The name of each member is printed on the cardboard mount, along with his party affiliation and the district & county he represents. Also printed on the cardboard mount at top is: “SENATE OF NORTH CAROLINA – SESSION OF 1899.” Printed at the bottom of the cardboard is “Photographed by C. P. Wharton 119 Fayetteville Street, Raleigh, NC.”

Members of the North Carolina General Assembly for the 1899-1900 session were elected in November 1898. The election saw the Democratic Party return to majority status in both houses, replacing the fusion of Republicans and Populists. After this election, Democrats dominated state politics for the next seventy-plus years, in part due to the 1899-1900 legislature disfranchising African Americans.

The racial history of NC that is documented in this photo is probably its most interesting aspect.

The lone black senator pictured in the lower right corner of the collage photograph is identified on the cardboard mount as “T. A.[sic] Fuller, Republican, 11th District, Warrenton, Warren County.” The man pictured, THOMAS O. FULLER, made sweeping contributions to African Americans through a variety of endeavors, ranging from teacher, to school principal, from state senator to religious leadership, and from entrepreneurship to writings. His work also spanned two states: North Carolina (where he was its first African American state senator) and Tennessee (where he became a college president). Early success as a NC school principal and pastor brought Fuller nomination for the State Senate. “Now living in Warrenton, he was in the midst of a political hotbed, a place where black Republicans had held various county offices and were in complete charge of county and district party machinery. Fuller won the election handily in 1898, representing the Eleventh District (Warren and Vance counties) and became the first African American in the State Senate and the only one until 1968. The Wilmington riot, in which many people died, followed the election. The state had gone Democratic while Republicans had won in Warren and Vance counties; this outcome provoked the cry of “White Supremacy” and “Negro Domination,” wrote Fuller in his memoir, Twenty Years in Public Life.” These events marked a dark chapter in the state’s political history. Fuller responded in “An Address to the Colored People of the Eleventh Senatorial District of North Carolina,” published in his memoir. He called for calm and assured blacks that the color of their skin could “never become legal barriers to the exercise of the right of franchise.”

“When the state assembly convened in January 1899, Fuller was the last senator to be seated, following that of all whites who were seated in alphabetical order [This act of racial discrimination is also DOCUMENTED IN THE PHOTOGRAPHIC COLLAGE WHERE FULLER IS PLACED LAST IN THE LOWER RIGHT CORNER OF THE PHOTO, AND OUT OF PROPER ALPHABETICAL ALIGNMENT]. His senate seat on the outside row next to the lobby positioned him to hear comments from those outside, including racist remarks. He witnessed another display of racism when the senate refused to appoint him to any committees. Nonetheless, Fuller persevered and was successful in the work that he did for the benefit of both white and black races.”

Condition of the photograph is quite good. Old wooden backing boards from the original frame in which the photograph was mounted, have discolored the BACK of the cardboard mount with the grain of the wood (see scan). The front of the piece is unstained.

A full list of the members in this session of the NC Senate include:

* President: Lieutenant Governor Charles A. Reynolds (R)
* President Pro Tempore: R. L. Smith or F. A. Whitaker (both D)
* District 1: George Cowper of Hertford; T. G. Skinner of Perquimans
* District 2: I. W. Miller of Pamlico; H. S. Ward of Washington
* District 3: W. E. Harris of Northampton
* District 4: Edward L. Travis of Halifax
* District 5: R. H. Speight of Edgecombe
* District 6: F. G. James of Pitt
* District 7: T. S. Collie Nash; R. A. P. Cooley of Nash
* District 8: James A. Bryan of Craven; John Q. Jackson of Lenoir
* District 9: Frank A. Daniels of Wayne; Isham F. Hill of Duplin
* District 10: W. J. Davis of Brunswick
* District 11: Thomas O. Fuller of Warren
* District 12: F. A. Whitaker of Wake (D)
* District 13: J. A. T. Jones of Johnston
* District 14: J. W. S. Robinson of Sampson; Frank P. Jones of Harnett
* District 15: Joseph A. Brown of Columbus; Stephen McIntyre of Robeson
* District 16: W. L. Williams of Cumberland
* District 17: Archibald A. Hicks of Granville
* District 18: Thomas M. Cheek of Orange; J. M. Satterfield of Caswell
* District 19: J. A. Goodwin of Chatham
* District 20: William Lindsay of Rockingham
* District 21: John N. Wilson of Guilford
* District 22: J. C. Black of Moore
* District 23: Thomas J. Jerome of Union; Charles Stanback of Montgomery
* District 24: R. L. Smith of Stanly (D)
* District 25: Frank I. Osborne of Mecklenburg
* District 26: Robert B. Glenn of Forsyth (D); John C. Thomas of Davidson
* District 27: James A. Butler of Iredell; Frank C. Hairston of Davie
* District 28: J. C. Newsom of Stokes
* District 29: H. T. Campbell of Alexander
* District 30: William C. Fields of Ashe
* District 31: W. L. Lambert of Mitchell; G. G. Eaves of McDowell
* District 32: M. H. Justice of Rutherford; Oscar F. Mason of Gaston
* District 33: William J. Cocke of Buncombe; Thomas J. Murray of Madison
* District 34: J. A. Franks of Swain
* District 35: Joel L. Crisp of Graham

Price= $695.00


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