Arthur W. Mitchell

Arthur W. Mitchell
File:Arthur W. Mitchell.jpg
Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 1st district
In office January 3, 1935 - January 3, 1943
Preceded by	Oscar S. De Priest
Succeeded by	William L. Dawson
Personal details
Born	(1883-12-22)December 22, 1883 near Lafayette, Alabama
Died	Petersburg, Virginia
Political party	Democratic
Profession	Lawyer Farmer

Arthur Wergs Mitchell (December 22, 1883 – May 9, 1968) was a U.S. Representative from Illinois. Mitchell was the first African American to be elected to the United States Congress as a Democrat.

Mitchell was born near Lafayette, Alabama. He left home at 14 to go to the Tuskegee Institute. He worked on a farm and as an office boy to Booker T. Washington while attending the Institute. Mitchell attended Columbia University briefly and qualified for the bar. He then moved to Chicago, Illinois and began to work for the Republican Party. Mitchell switched from the Republican Party to the Democratic Party in 1932 after finding that his views on issues aligned himself closer to the Democrats. He was a member of Phi Beta Sigma Fraternity and served as its 6th International President from 1926-1934.

Mitchell was elected to the House of Representatives in 1934, defeating African American congressman Oscar De Priest, who was a Republican. Mitchell introduced bills banning lynching and against discrimination. He filed a lawsuit against the Illinois Central and Rock Island Railroads after he was forced into a segregated train car just before it passed into Arkansas. Mitchell's suit was advanced to the U.S. Supreme Court as case Mitchell v. United States, which ruled that the railroad violated the Interstate Commerce Act. He voluntarily chose not to seek re-election in 1942. He moved to Virginia and became a farmer, working twelve acres (49,000 m²) of property. He died at his home in Petersburg, Virginia on May 9, 1968.

See also

• List of African-American firsts
• List of Phi Beta Sigma brothers

External Sources

• Arthur W. Mitchell at the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Further reading

United States House of Representatives
Preceded by Oscar S. De Priest	Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from Illinois's 1st congressional district 1935-1943	Succeeded by William L. Dawson