GEORGETOWN, SC – Lorna Rainey carries her great-grandfather’s legacy while working at the helm of a large talent management company, one of the few companies owned by an African American woman.
She is a pioneer in a family known to be the first.
For fans of Georgetown and American history, the name Rainey stands out for its political legend. Yes, Lorna Rainey is the great-granddaughter of Congressman Joseph Rainey of South Carolina, who in 1870 became the first African American to serve in the United States House of Representatives.
“I have descended from greatness. I am a descendant of a man who was determined and self-taught. And I feel that if he could do that then, there is no excuse for me not to succeed now,” said Lorna of her ancestor’s memory.
Joseph, born in Georgetown in the 1830s, is the epitome of a political pioneer – a freed slave who served in the legislative branch of a government that would not fully assert his right to vote and equal treatment before the law for almost another century. As a representative, he spoke out against white supremacy and intimidation, defended civil rights and promoted public education.
Lorna Rainey, who lives in New York, learned about her family’s history from her aunt Olive, Joseph’s daughter. Contained in the family’s history was more information about who Joseph was during his life, information unknown even by scholars at the time.
“Since I was 3 years old, my Aunt Olive would put me on her lap every time I saw her and tell me her father’s stories and the things he accomplished and the things he went through before and during the time he was in the I grew up with this knowledge, “said Lorna. “I always knew who I was and no matter what, nobody could take that away from me.”
But for a long time, Lorna said that few people were interested in learning more about that of the first black politicians at the national level. She sometimes sought out historians to offer a view, but she often never received an answer. It was also difficult to find information beyond a paragraph about it in books and online.
“All of that started to change about 20 years ago,” she said. “We have had very brave people in our nation’s history and, due to the distorted interest, we glorify people we shouldn’t have glorified and ignore the people we should have been paying attention to.”
The South Carolina Congressional delegation wishes to pay tribute to Joseph even more, renaming the Georgetown Post Office on Charlotte Street in his honor. All members of the South Carolina delegation to the House of Representatives, regardless of the party, approved the name change.
“I never heard of Rep. Rainey until I was in Congress and I saw a portrait of him on a stairway to the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Tom Rice, R-7, who presented the resolution to rename the post office in December 10th. “I did more research on him and was very proud of the fact that the first African American representative in the history of our country came right here from our district.”
In recent years, as a national conversation broke out about who is worthy of being honored in public memory, Joseph’s prominence has increased. A portrait of him is now hanging in the halls of the congress and a room in the capital bears his name, a park in Georgetown also bears his name, as well as a historic landmark in Bermuda and some museums have information about him so that visitors can learn more.
But University of South Carolina history professor Bobby Donaldson said the amount of recognition Rainey gets does not match his major contributions to the history of this country.
The main reason for this, Donaldson argued, is how Reconstruction in the South is often taught as a failed time in history, rather than a time when African American leaders briefly gained political prominence before a reaction that would take decades to be resolved. overcome.
Reconstruction was the period after the Civil War that technically lasted until 1876. New laws were imposed on the South in an effort to reform the society that recently tolerated slavery.
There is a popular and widespread myth in southern culture that this period was a dark time, but it was actually a promising time for black residents.
“For 10 or 12 years, reconstruction worked. African Americans got a public office and represented the population. It was a powerful constituent,” said Brent Morris, professor at USC Beaufort and director of the Institute for the Study of the Age of Reconstruction. “Reconstruction was not this dark period, it was a chance for America to fulfill the ideals established in 1776.”
Although Joseph was a member of Congress, many white Southerners were opposed to his leadership. Attempts to discredit Joseph happened during his lifetime and in the early history books. Many of the people he represented hated him for the color of his skin.
“During his time, despite his power and influence, Joseph Rainey was the target of attacks, the target of insults and threats and talked about it in Congress,” said Donaldson.