Blanche Kelso Bruce was born into slavery in 1841 and became the first African American to serve a full term in the US Senate, as well as the first African American to preside over the Senate. I came upon his house quite by accident when I saw a fabulous old row on M Street NW from the Washington Convention Center windows. Some of the row still needs a bit of restoration, but his house, a landmark, was beautifully restored. (Please excuse my attempts to correct the severe distortion; you get the idea of how lovely the residence is, anyway!)