Alfred Richardson (politician)

Alfred Richardson (1837?–1872) was a member of the Georgia Assembly in the U.S. State of Georgia, representing Clarke County. An African American, he entered government service after the U.S. Civil War during the Reconstruction era.[1] Richardson faced hostility, intimidation, and physical attacks representing Clarke County.[2][3] Richardson survived two shooting attacks by the Ku Klux Klan.[4] In 1872 Richardson testified to a congressional committee that it was not safe for him to go home so he was staying in Athens, Georgia, and that many other "Colored" people had been forced to flee their farms in fear. He also spoke about being attacked and shot at at his house by men in disguise and said that he had been threatened, told of many instances of whippings, and that fellow "Colored" people were told that they should vote for Democrats or not vote at all.[5]

Richardson and Madison Davis were elected to office for terms from 1868 to 1872. Richardson was forty years old and serving in the Georgia General Assembly in 1872 when he died of pneumonia.[6]

References
  1. Hester, Conoly (September 2, 2001). "Clarke's first black legislators set an inspiring example". Athens Banner-Herald. Retrieved 5 February 2018.
  2. "This Day in Athens: Dr. Al Hester to Discuss the "Enduring Legacy" of Madison Davis and Alfred Richardson". 2011-01-13.
  3. Hester, Albert L. (2010). Enduring Legacy: Clarke County, Georgia's Ex-Slave Legislators, Madison Davis and Alfred Richardson. Athens, Georgia: Green Berry Press. ISBN 978-0967302782.
  4. Conoly Hester Athens Online
  5. "I+have+heard+of+several+whipping+spells+out+there+by+the+Ku-Klux.+A+colored+man+came+to+Atlanta+a+day+or+two+before+I+left+there,+and+said+that+he+came+in+because+he+was+afraid."&source=gbs_navlinks_s Report ... Made to the Two Houses of Congress February 19, 1872: Georgia, United States. Congress. Joint Select Committee to Inquire into the Condition of Affairs in the Late Insurrectionary States, U.S. Government Printing Office, 1872
  6. Thumond, Michael L. (2001). "Two Lawmakers: from slave cabin to state legislature". A Story Untold: black men and women in Athens History (2 ed.). Athens, Georgia: The Green Berry Press. pp. 23–36. ISBN 9780967302768.

Further reading
  • Hester, Albert Lee (2010). Enduring Legacy: Clarke County Georgia's Ex-Slave Legislators Madison Davis and Alfred Richardson. Athens, GA: Green Berry Press. ISBN 9780967302782.


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