January 1872

John Roy Lynch, a formerly enslaved man from Natchez, Mississippi, was elected Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1872 at the age of 24, making him one of the youngest Speakers in the state's history. He subsequently won election to the U.S. House of Representatives, where he served three terms and became a prominent voice for Reconstruction policy.

John Roy Lynch, formerly enslaved and self-taught to read, was elected Speaker of the Mississippi House of Representatives in 1872 at age 24, the youngest Speaker in state history. The following year he was elected to the U.S. Congress, where he served three terms and delivered one of the key speeches for the Civil Rights Act of 1875. He later wrote The Facts of Reconstruction (1913).