P.B.S. Pinchback
Coverage of P.B.S. Pinchback in the Nexus archive.
- William G. Brown, Louisiana’s first black state education superintendent, helped reform a failing system
William G. Brown, Louisiana’s first Black superintendent of education, exposed severe financial mismanagement and poor records in the state public school system through an 1873 report. His subsequent call for reform resulted in improvements to school oversight, the construction of 213 schoolhouses, and the defense of desegregation. His achievements contributed a unique chapter to the educational history of Louisiana.
- Charles Nash, Louisiana’s first Black congressman to take his seat
Charles Edmund Nash became the first Black Louisiana congressman to take his seat in 1874, representing the 6th Congressional District. He defeated Joseph B. Moore and joined eight Black Members in the 44th Congress. Prior to his political career, Nash served as a soldier during the Civil War and worked as a bricklayer in New Orleans.