OSCAR DEPRIEST

On November 6, 1928, Oscar DePriest became the first African American to win a seat in the United States House of Representatives in the twentieth century. Before becoming a U.S. Representative, DePriest was the first African American to serve in the city council of Chicago, having been elected council member of the Second Ward in 1915. Other political positions Mr. DePriest held were those of Cook County Commissioner, Assistant Illinois Commerce Commissioner, and he was three times delegate to the Republican National Convention. Defeated for re-election to Congress in 1934, DePriest became a real estate broker and served one additional term in the Chicago City Council 1943-1947. He died in 1951.

EARL B. DICKERSON

Known as "the dean of Chicago's black lawyers," Earl B. Dickerson was also a Chicago council member. He helped organize the NAACP Legal Defense and Education Fund in 1939. Born in Mississippi, Dickerson moved to Chicago when he was 15. His mother bribed railroad porters to hide her son aboard a train to escape racial oppression in the South. A graduate of the University of Illinois in 1914, he taught for a year at Tuskegee University in Alabama. He completed a law degree at the University of Chicago Law School in 1920. He became the first general counsel of the Supreme Life Insurance Co. of America, one of the largest black-owned insurance companies. He later became the company's president and chairman of the board. In 1939, Dickerson ran against William L.Dawson for the 2nd Ward aldermanic seat and won. He served on the City Council from 1939-1943. In 1939, he represented the father of Chicago playwright Lorraine Hansberry in the case of Hansberry vs. Lee, successfully argued before the Supreme Court for an end to restrictive real-estate covenants. He died in 1986.

ANNA LANGFORD

In 1971, Anna Langford became the first woman elected to the Chicago City Council. Langford was educated at Roosevelt University. She earned a law degree in 1956 beginning an extensive career in civil rights and criminal law. She actively defended civil rights workers in the 1960's and prominently joined Dr. Martin Luther King's Chicago civil rights Marches. Langford was defeated for re-election in 1975, but returned to serve two additional terms in the Chicago City Council from 1983-1991.