John Mercer Langston

John Mercer Langston (December 14, 1829 – November 15, 1897) was an African American abolitionist, attorney, educator, activist, diplomat, and politician. He was the founding dean of the law school at Howard University and helped create the department, During his tenure he was coauthor of the Civil Rights Act of 1875, the blueprint used for the Civil Rights Act of 1964. He was the first president of what is now Virginia State University, a historically black college. He was elected a U.S. representative from Virginia and wrote From the Virginia Plantation to the National Capitol; Or, the First and Only Negro Representative in Congress From the Old Dominion. (Wikipedia, 6.5.2026)