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ON THIS DAY IN HISTORY: John Willis Menard, the first Republican African-American elected to Congress February 17,1838 John Willis Menard, born a Free Black in Illinois, February 17th 1838. He attended an Ohio college open to African-American students. During the Civil War, he worked at a military hospital. Peace restored, Menard was customs inspector at New Orleans and editor of a newspaper, the Radical Standard. November 1868, the young Republican won election to a U.S. House of Representatives vacancy, but his opponent contested it based on Democrat vote fraud. With only a few days remaining in the term, Congress declined to seat either man. Later years, Menard resided in Florida. He edited newspapers, and during the Benjamin Harrison administration worked for census bureau https://grandoldpartisan.blogspot.com/