Activist Spotlight: Norris Wright Cuney
Norris Wright Cuney (1846-1898) was an African American politician and activist in Galveston, TX. Born into slavery, Cuney used his heritage and his position as a successful politician to inspire African American men to use the new voting rights they had achieved in 1870.
Cuney was the son of a slave and her wealthy politician master. Shorty after he was freed as a boy, he was sent to Pittsburgh, PA to begin his education. Just as he was to enter Oberlin College, the Civil War began, thus cutting short his educational career. His learning did not end, however. Cuney studied law independently, which would serve him well later. He made his way back to Galveston.
Cuney went on to become the First Sergeant-at-Arms of the Texas legislature (1870), a Galveston County School Director (1871), the head of the Galveston chapter of the Union League (1871), federal inspector of customs at the Port of Galveston (1872), secretary of the Republican State Executive Committee (1873), alderman of the 12th district on the Galveston City Council (1883), and US Collector of Customs at the Port of Galveston (1889).
Cuney used his position of influence to encourage African Americans to join the Republican party and to vote. In 1873, he presided over the Texas Convention of Black Leaders. He worked to get African Americans registered to vote, which led to an impressive 100,000 African American voters in Texas in the 1890s. People flocked to Cuney because he was an African American who not only overcame his slave origins, but was thriving in a society that was largely hostile to non-whites. His time in politics is today known as the "Cuney Era," and he is largely considered the most influential African
American leader in nineteenth-century Texas.
Sadly, the rise of the Jim Crow era meant that the voting rights of African American men were revoked in many Southern states, both in law and in practice. The achievements of activists like Cuney were destroyed, and would not be fully restored until the civil rights movement of the 1960s.
Sources:
Humanities Texas. (2016). Texas Originals: Norris Wright Cuney. Retrieved from http://www.humanitiestexas.org/programs/tx-originals/list/norris-wright-cuney
McDonald, A. (2007). Norris Wright Cuney. Texas Escapes. Retrieved from http://www.texasescapes.com/AllThingsHistorical/Norris-Wright-Cuney-AM704.htm
