4536 S Martin Luther King Dr
Chicago, IL 60653, USA

Oscar Stanton De Priest House - National Register of Historic Places

Statement of Significance:

Oscar Stanton DePriest was the first black Congressman to be elected from a Northern state. He was born March 9, 1871 in Florence, Alabama but while he was still quite young his family moved to Kansas where DePriest attended normal school and worked in the Kansas wheat fields. In 1899 De Priest left Kansas and went to Chicago where he established himself as a contractor and painter, eventually securing contracts on city buildings. He was an active participant in the politics of the city and in 1904 he was elected a Cook County Commissioner. DePriest served in that capacity for two, two -year terms from 1904 to 1908 using his position to educate poor blacks regarding the welfare relief resources available to them in the Chicago area. Failure to win a third term to the position of County Commissioner returned him to the business world where he continued his contracting and painting business and began a very profitable real estate business that in time created a very sizeable private fortune for him.

In 1915 DePriest was elected as an alderman to the Chicago City Council from the Second Ward, reportedly the second wealthiest ward in the nation. His election was the first in which a black was chosen to serve in Chicago's city government, and during his term he concerned himself principally with finding jobs for blacks. His illustrious career as an alderman was marred in January, 1917 when DePriest was indicted by a Special Grand Jury along with several others for conspiracy to allow the operation of gambling houses and houses of prostitution and for the bribery of the silence of policemen in connection with these establishments. Defended by the renowned attorney Clarence Darrow, DePriest was acquitted of all charges against him and in time was able to use the entire affair to his advantage. He was seen as a black man who had beaten back his racist persecutors and had emerged as the courageous victor.

DePriest was elected to the position of Third Ward Committeemen in 1924, becomin one of the five most powerful politicians in Illinois' First Congressional District. When the incumbent Congressman Martin B. Madden died in 1928, just after he had successfully woo the primary, DePriest was selected by the five ward committeemen to replace Madden on the Republican ballot in the general election. He won and went on to be seated in the United States House of Representatives despite the disapproval and objections of southern Congressmen.

As the only black representative in Congress, DePriest assumed the role of a national spokesman for his race and he worked hard to have an impact on issues that were important to blacks. He urged that more equal distribution of government appropriations for educate ion so that black children would get a more equitable share of the education opportunities in this country. He also worked hard to secure a greater share of the federal budget for the federally funded Howard University. As a man who built his political effectiveness on his ability to bargain and to get things accomplished, DePriest was less bound by tradition and party loyalties than were most politicians, and he urged other blacks to be less concerned with party loyalty and more concerned about choosing the best man for the_ job whomever he was. The important thing, he often said, was the election of good men to powerful, public offices. Voting was an essential tool in getting things done and in seeing that one's interests were looked after. Along this line DePriest also proposed the formation of a lobby in the black community to keep watch over Congressional legislation that was relevant to black Americans.

In January, 1934, near the end of his sixth year in the Congress, DePriest attempted to desegregate a Capitol Hill dining room that was supposedly restricted only to Congressmen and their guests. Although members of the white public had been welcomed and served there, when De Priest's son Oscar, Jr. and his confidential secretary Morris Lewis attempted to gain access to the focility they were prohibited. It was soon disclosed that Congressman Lindsay Warren, chairman of the House Accounts committee, under whose authority the operation of the restaurant fell, had authorized the practice. Since the white public had never been prohibited from the restaurant, De Priest wanted the same privilege accorded to the black public. Therefore he presented a resolution to the House Rules Committee seeking an end to the discriminatory restaurant practice. Most Congressmen thought that it would die in committee but after thirty legislative days, DePriest presented a petition to the entire body to have the resolution placed on the House floor for discussion and voting. By the middle of April there were enough signatures on the petition to instigate such an action and on April 25th the restaurant issue was discussed in Congress. It was agreed that a five-man special committee would investigate the matter-- three would be Democrats chosen by the Speaker and two would be Republicans chosen by DePriest. The findings of the committee's investigation, completed in May, were revealed in two separately filed reports that were split along party lines. The majority report of the three Democrats stated that the House restaurant was not for the public and since a II members of the House had been served, Congressman Warren should continue to operate the restaurant facility for members and their guests. This report evaded DePriest's claim that all black citizens had been excluded from the restaurant while all whites were admitted. The minority report of the two Republicans recommended the recession of Congressman Warren's order, as there was indeed discrimination against blacks in the restaurant's serving practices. The report went on to state that not only had the chairman exceeded his authority in handing down such an order, but that he had violated the Fourteenth Amendment rights of blacks in denying them equal access to the facility. Nevertheless the majority report was accepted and the restaurant continued its practice of discrimination.

DePriest attempted to regain his Congressional seat for the fourth time in 1934 but lost it to another black, Arthur Mitchell, the first black Democrat elected to the U.S. Congress. Although he had lost his Congressional bid, DePriest remained active in politics in Chicago. From 1943 to 1947 he served as an alderman of the city's Third Ward. However, after a sharp dispute with the members of his party he withdrew from politics. DePriest returned to his real estate business and died in May 1951 in Chicago's Provident Hospital.

Oscar S. DePriest is of national historical significance because he was the first black person elected to the United States Congress from a northern state, serving from 1928 to 1935. In 1915 he was elected a city alderman of Chicago's Second Ward, becoming the first black person in Illinois' history to be elected to Chicago's city government. In 1943 until 1947 he again served as an alderman this time representing the Third Ward. DePriest was the first black person elected to Congress following George H. White's term which ended in 1901 and he symbolized the re-entry of black people into the national scene. He also served as a national spokesman for the black people of his day.

The building at 4536-4538 South Martin Luther King Drive in Chicago contains the apartment that Mr. DePriest resided in from the time of his purchase of the building in 1929 untiI his death in May 1951.