HJR385 Summary

• Commemorates the 150th anniversary of African Americans first voting and holding public office in Alabama, beginning in 1867

• Recognizes that African Americans first cast ballots on April 1, 1867, in a Tuscumbia mayoral election following the First Reconstruction Act passed by Congress in March 1867

• Documents that 88,243 African American men registered to vote between July 1 and August 20, 1867, with records held at the Alabama Department of Archives and History

• Notes that the 1867 constitutional convention included 18 African American delegates out of 100 total, marking the first meeting of black and white lawmakers in Alabama history

• The convention's resulting constitution established equal apportionment, created the office of lieutenant governor, guaranteed married women's property rights, and dedicated one-fifth of annual state revenue to public education