Guide to the James E. O'Hara Papers 1866-1970


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Table of Contents

• Descriptive Summary
• Information on Use
• Access
• Digital Images
• Citation
• Biographical Note
• Scope Note
• Related Resources
• Subject Headings
• INVENTORY

Descriptive Summary

Information on Use

Access

The collection is open for research.

Digital Images

Original documents, texts, and images represented by digital images linked to this finding aid are subject to U. S. copyright law. It is the user's sole responsibility to secure any necessary copyright permission to reproduce or publish documents, texts, and images from any holders of rights in the original materials.

The University of Chicago Library, in its capacity as owner of the physical property represented by the digital images linked to this finding aid, encourages the use of these materials for educational and scholarly purposes. Any reproduction or publication from these digital images requires that the following credit line be included: Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library.

The images presented here may include materials reflecting the attitudes, language, and stereotypes of an earlier time period. These materials are presented as historical resources in support of study and research. Inclusion of such materials does not constitute an endorsement of their content by the University of Chicago.

The University of Chicago Library appreciates hearing from anyone who may have information about any of the images in this collection.

Citation

When quoting material from this collection, the preferred citation is: O'Hara, James E. Papers, [Box #, Folder #], Hanna Holborn Gray Special Collections Research Center, University of Chicago Library

Biographical Note

James Edward O'Hara (February 26, 1844-September 15, 1905) was born in New York City, the illegitimate son of a West Indian woman and an Irish merchant named O'Hara. Little is known of his youth, much of which he apparently spent in the Danish West Indies. It is not clear when he returned to New York, but in 1862 he visited Union-occupied eastern North Carolina in the company of New York missionaries, and decided to stay permanently.

He taught in a school for freedmen, first in New Bern, then in Goldsboro. His political experience began with work as engrossing clerk to the constitutional convention of 1868 and to the legislature of 1868-69. About this time he moved to Halifax County, a cotton-growing area with a heavy African American population. In 1871 O'Hara spent about two years in Washington D.C. working as a $1200-a-year clerk in the Treasury Department, and also studying law at Howard University. In 1873 he was licensed to practice law in North Carolina.

The next year he unsuccessfully sought the Republican nomination for Congress in the second congressional district, but another African American, John A. Hyman, was chosen. O'Hara served four years (1874-1878) as chairman of the Halifax county board of commissioners and in 1875 he won a seat in the state constitutional convention. O'Hara was one of the Republican candidates for presidential elector in 1876, but he withdrew just before the election because of Republican fears that racial prejudice might reduce the party vote.

Two years later O'Hara won the congressional nomination, but was defeated in a three-way race by Republican internal division and fraudulent vote counting by election officials. His attempts to overturn the victory of Democrat William H. Kitchin in the state courts and in an election contest before the House of Representatives were fruitless.

From 1878 to 1882 he practiced law in the courts of eastern North Carolina and held no public office. His campaign for the congressional nomination in 1880 was a failure. He took an active role in the 1881 state prohibition election, gaining wide public exposure in a bipartisan "wet" coalition.

He was elected to Congress in 1882 after a bitter dispute with incumbent Republican Orlando Hubbs. Both men claimed to be the regular nominee, but Hubbs withdrew before Election Day and O'Hara won virtually without opposition.

O'Hara was re-nominated in 1884 and easily turned back a Democratic challenge from Frederick A. Woodard. By now an important state party leader, he was a delegate-at-large from North Carolina to the Republican national convention of 1884. Republican factionalism frustrated his attempt for a third term in 1886, when a rival African American candidate, Istael B. Abbott, so divided the party vote that Furnifold M. Simmons, Democrat, won the election.

During his tenure in Congress (1883-1887) O'Hara was recognized as a good representative of his district. He showed great concern about issues involving African Americans and their civil rights, perhaps because he was for a brief period the only African American Representative, and since at no time during his two terms were there more than one other African American Congressman. He gained brief national attention in December 1884 for an amendment he offered to the interstate commerce bill forbidding discrimination in interstate passenger travel by rail. In his second term, O'Hara was an active member of the committee on invalid pensions.

For a short time after his retirement from Congress, O'Hara published a newspaper called the Enfield Progress. (Only one issue has been preserved.) About 1890 he moved to New Bern, N. C., where he resumed the practice of law. In 1894 his son, Raphael, joined his father in the New Bern law practice. Although he did not again seek elective office, he retained an interest in Republican party affairs.

O'Hara was married twice, first to Ann Maria Harris on March 16, 1864, later to Elizabeth Eleanor Harris, July 14, 1869. He was a member of the Roman Catholic Church.

The University of Chicago Library received the James E. O'Hara Papers early in 1975, through the offices of Professor John Hope Franklin (John Mathews Manly Distinguished Service Professor in the Department of History), and Eric Anderson, a graduate student working with Professor Franklin. Professor Franklin had become aware of Representative O'Hara's papers over two decades earlier while doing research on Representative John Roy Lynch (Republican from Mississippi, served from 1873 to 1883). Apparently the bulk of the material from Representative O'Hara's Congressional and law offices has either been lost or discarded since that time. Vera Jean O'Hara Rivers, granddaughter of Representative O'Hara, gave what remained the collection to the University.

Scope Note

The James E. O'Hara Papers consist of miscellaneous materials that document the life and career of one of America's first African American Congressmen. There are several letters from family and from constituents in North Carolina. In addition, three folders are devoted to photographs of Representative O'Hara, his wife and son, and associates. An important and detailed resource for the study of the O'Hara family and the social history of the late nineteenth century South is the biographical sketch of Representative O'Hara and his family written by his granddaughter, Vera Jean O'Hara Rivers, and entitled "A Thespian Must Play His Role." Finally, the collection includes some ephemeral material, such as a handbill announcing the establishment of a Canadian newspaper for fugitive slaves, an autograph book and "Register of Documents sent" owned by James E. O'Hara, and a small twentieth century booklet of biographical sketches that includes a brief description of Representative O'Hara.

Related Resources

The following related resources are located in the Department of Special Collections:

http://www.lib.uchicago.edu/e/spcl/select.html

Subject Headings

• O'Hara, James E. (James Edward), 1844-1905
• Legislators -- United States
• African American legislators
• Photographs

INVENTORY