The First VP of Color
HISTORY This Week
The HISTORY® Channel | Back Pocket Studios
4.5 • 4.2K Ratings
🗓️ 18 January 2021
⏱️ 22 minutes
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Summary
January 23, 1907. The Kansas legislature has convened to decide who will be the next US Senator from their state. The vote shakes out as everyone expected: front-runner Charles Curtis wins the seat. Curtis – a member of the Kaw Nation – has just become the first person of color elected to the Senate and will go on to rise even further as Vice President of the United States. This week, Kamala Harris follows Curtis as the second person of color to fill that seat. However, his legacy is a complicated one. How did Charles Curtis rise so high during an era that was arguably the height of American white supremacy? And what does his flawed political legacy tell us about the complexities of representation?
Special thank you to our guest, Brett Chapman.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | History this week, January 23, 1907. |
| 0:07.0 | I'm Sally Homes. |
| 0:11.0 | The Kansas State Legislature has convened for a noon time vote. |
| 0:16.0 | They're here to formally elect their next US Senator. |
| 0:21.0 | Later, the Topeka State Journal will report, quote, |
| 0:24.0 | it was probably about as formal, cut and dried in a fair |
| 0:27.0 | as could well be imagined. |
| 0:29.0 | 1907 newspaper speak for nothing to see here. |
| 0:34.0 | Senate elections are different at this time. |
| 0:36.0 | Senators aren't directly elected by the people. |
| 0:39.0 | That won't happen until the 17th Amendment gets ratified in 1913. |
| 0:44.0 | So the state legislature has their pick. |
| 0:46.0 | And as everyone expected, they pick a popular Kansas politician |
| 0:51.0 | named Charles Curtis. |
| 0:53.0 | Curtis gives little speech. |
| 0:55.0 | Then the newspaper says that he has a 30 minute hand shaking B. |
| 1:00.0 | Meaning, I guess he just shakes a lot of hands. |
| 1:02.0 | And then he heads off to Washington to join the Kansas delegation. |
| 1:06.0 | It's just as the newspaper said, cut and dried. |
| 1:10.0 | And yet, Charles Curtis' election is a milestone. |
| 1:14.0 | He's the first member of a Native American nation to be elected to the US Senate. |
| 1:19.0 | And in a few short years, he will rise even higher, |
... |
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