Blanche K. Bruce House

Blanche K. Bruce was born in Virginia on March 1, 1841, to Polly Bruce, a domestic slave, and her master, Pettis Perkinson, a white Virginia planter.

Bruce was educated along with his legitimate half-brother and gained freedom by moving to Kansas at the outset of the Civil War.

During Reconstruction, Bruce purchased a Delta Plantation in northern Mississippi and became a wealthy landowner before getting into politics.

He was elected to various positions, including sheriff, tax collector, supervisor of education, and sergeant-at-arms for the Mississippi State Senate.

In 1874, he became only the second African-American elected to the U.S. Senate, and the only former enslaved person to serve in the upper house of Congress. Bruce advocated for integration of the U.S. Army and better policies surrounding caring for impoverished and recently freed people.

In 1880 he became the first African-American to win any votes for national office when he received eight votes for vice president at the Republican National Convention in Chicago.

Bruce was appointed recorder of deeds for the District of Columbia in 1890 and remained in that role until 1893. He was appointed Register of the Treasury once again in 1897 and served until his death the following year from complications related to diabetes.

The impressive, 4-story brick rowhouse with the mansard roof at 909 M St. NW was built in 1865 and served as Bruce’s home during his time in D.C. It remains one of the more stately homes in the Shaw neighborhood.