John R. Lynch #1420

Caption from poster__      John R. Lynch   They were faithful and true to you then; they are no less so today.  And yet they ask no special favors as a class; they ask no special protection as a race. They feel that they purchased their inheritance,  when upon the battlefields of this country they watered the tree of liberty with the precious blood that flowed from their loyal veins. They ask no favors, they desire; and must have; an equal chance in the race of life.   John R. Lynch ( former slave and member of the U.S. Congress) speaking in support of the Civil Rights Act of 1875.   John R. Lynch 1847 - 1939 Born a slave in Concordia Parish, LA., Lynch was freed during the American Civil War and settled in Natchez, MS. There he learned the photography business, attended night school, and in 1869 entered public life as justice of the peace for Natchez County. In November 1869, Lynch was elected to the Mississippi House of Representatives, and reelected in 1871. Although Blacks ne