dr. magnus. >> thank you. i'm here to talk about john willis maynard. he is somewhat of a familiar na name for some. his main claim to fame was that he was the first african-american elected to the house of representatives but was denied a seat in 1869. i'm here to talk about his life, background and history up until this point because he was actually an accomplished individual who sat at the of a and international history. the american civil war right here in washington d.c. but shortly after the war he my greated to jamaica. the morant bay rebellion in 1865. both of these events were tied to the end of slavery and greater freedom and civil rights. so, he had a front-row seat to two intersecting events at a troubled time in u.s. history. we don't know too much about his early life other than he was be born in illinois. there was some thought, it was always the family history that he was the descendant of pierre menard the first lieutenant governor of illinois. he had a white grand father and a white grandmother. his parents were two free blacks from pr

dr. magnus specializes in the history of taxation and trade in the united states. he is the author of several scholarly works on 19th and 20th century tariff policy. long a civil war buff his attention turned to the in addition to writing, he's an academic program director the the institute for humane studies at georgetown university, has taught at american university and international trade at gmu. also in his biography is something i find fascinating. he's an avid scuba diver and plays underwater hockey. for the washington, d.c. and i love this name belt way bottom feeders. there is probably no end of applicants for that team. after dr. magness makes his presentation rodney ross will come to read a poem from john willis menard. rod is an old and dear friend a great proponent of history. he is very active in a number of organizations including the illinois state society which joins the capital historical society which sponsors today's event. after rod we will have our third speaker dr. matthew wasniewski. he is the historian of the united states house of represent