February 14 - George H. White (1852-1918)

Today we honor George H. White, who was a lawyer and a Republican African American Congressman from North Carolina’s Second Congressional District (1899-1901). "Facing overwhelming odds in the wake of the further disfranchisement of North Carolina blacks, he declined to run for re-election in 1900." White was part of the 56th Congress of the United States and was the last African American member of Congress since Reconstruction, and there wouldn't be another African American Congressperson until 28 years later in 1928. White would also be the last African American Congressman "elected from North Carolina until the 1990s".

White represents the last of the 22 African American men who, since 1870, "had served reconstructed southern states in Congress." While he was last; he certainly was not least, and there is no better way to celebrate Valentine's Day than to lift up and honor a man who so earnestly loved the law, his country, and his race.