Jimmy Carbonaro's Album: Wall Photos

Photo 3,033 of 16,271 in Wall Photos

The 21st POTUS was Chester Arthur; September 1881 to March 1885. He was a champion of civil rights in an age when very few were. In 1854, at age 25, Arthur argued successfully for the freedom of any slaves that their owners brought to New York.

Arthur also led the defense team for a black woman, Elizabeth Jennings Graham, who was not allowed to ride a NYC streetcar. The future president won the case, & NYC streetcars were desegregated, 100 years before Rosa Parks.

When the Republican became POTUS after the assassination of James A. Garfield, the Democrats were in firm control of the South & systematically denied black Americans their rights. But Pres. Arthur continued to stand for the equality of rights of all people before the law. He deplored the Democratic takeover of the South & worked with 3rd parties in the South to build a coalition that would dislodge the Democrats from power & end the denial of civil rights to black Americans.