GEORGETOWN, S.C. (AP) - Lorna Rainey carries her great-grandfather’s legacy while working at the helm of a major talent management company, one of the few of such firms to be owned by an African-American woman.
She is a pioneer in a family known for being firsts.
For Georgetown and American history buffs, the name Rainey stands out for the political legend it is associated with. Yes, Lorna Rainey is the great-granddaughter of South Carolina’s Rep. Joseph Rainey, who in 1870 became the first African-American man to serve in the United States House of Representatives.
“I’m descended from greatness. I’m descended from a man who was determined and self-taught. And I feel like if he could make it then, there is no excuse for me to not be successful now,” Lorna said 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 wouldn’t fully affirm his right to vote and equal treatment under the law for nearly another century. As a representative he spoke out against white supremacists and intimidation, advocated for civil rights and promoted public education.
Lorna Rainey, who lives in New York, learned about her family’s history from her Aunt Olive, the daughter of Joseph. Contained in the family story was more information about who Joseph was during his lifetime, information not known by even scholars of the era.
“From the time I was 3 years old my Aunt Olive would take me onto her knee every time I saw her and tell me the stories of her dad and the things he accomplished and the things that he went through before and during the time he was in congress. I grew up with that knowledge,” Lorna said. “I always knew who I was and no matter what happened no one could take that from me.”
But for the longest time, Lorna said few people were interested in learning more about the one of the first Black politicians on the national level. She would sometimes reach out to historians to offer insight, but frequently never heard back. It was also hard to find information beyond a paragraph about him in books and online.
“That all began to change about 20 years ago,” she said. “We’ve had very courageous people in our nation’s history and due to skewed interest we have glorified people that we should not have glorified and we ignored the people we should have paid attention to.”
South Carolina’s congressional delegation wants to further honor Joseph by renaming the Georgetown Post Office on Charlotte Street in his honor. All members of South Carolina’s delegation to the House of Representatives, regardless of party, endorsed changing the name.
“I never heard of Rep. Rainey until I was in Congress and I saw a portrait of him in a stairway up to the House of Representatives,” said Rep. Tom Rice, R-7, who filed the resolution to rename the post office on Dec. 10. “I did more research on him and I was really proud of the fact that the first African-American representative in the history of our country came right here from our district.”
Over the last several years, as a national conversation has erupted over who is worthy of being honored in public memory, Joseph’s prominence has risen. A portrait of him now hangs in the halls of congress and a room in the capital is named after him, a park in Georgetown also bears his name, as does a historical marker in Bermuda and some museums have information about him so visitors can learn more.
But University of South Carolina history professor Bobby Donaldson said the amount of recognition Rainey gets doesn’t match his great contributions to this country’s history.
A key reason for this, Donaldson argued, is how Reconstruction in the South is often taught as a failed moment in history instead of a time where African-American leaders briefly gained political prominence before a backlash that would take decades to overcome.
Reconstruction was the period following the Civil War that technically lasted until 1876. New laws were imposed on the South in effort to reform the society that recently tolerated slavery.
There is a popular and pervasive myth in Southern culture that this period was a dark time, but it was actually a time of promise for Black residents.
“For 10 or 12 years, reconstruction worked. African-Americans were able to seek public office and represent the population. It was a powerful constituency,” said Brent Morris, a professor at USC Beaufort and director of the Institute for the Study of the Reconstruction Era. “Reconstruction wasn’t this dark period, it was a chance for America to make good on the ideals set forth in 1776.”
Even though Joseph was a member of Congress, many white southerners were opposed to his leadership. Attempts to discredit Joseph happened in 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 a target for attacks, a target for taunts and threats and he talked about it on the floors of congress,” Donaldson said.
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