Norris Wright Cuney

Norris Wright Cuney, or simply Wright Cuney, was an American politician, businessman, union leader, and AfricanAmerican activist in Texas in the United States. Following the American Civil War, he became active in Galveston politics, serving as an alderman and a national Republican delegate. Appointed as United States Collector of Customs in 1889 in Galveston, Cuney had the highestranking appointed position of any African American in the late 19thcentury South. He was a member of the Union League and helped attract black voters to the Republican Party in the 1890s, more than 100,000 blacks were voting in Texas.

Cuney is regarded by many as the most important black leader in Texas in the 19th century and one of the most important in the United States. Of mixed race and majoritywhite ancestry, he was born into slavery. He was freed by his white planter father and sent north to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania for his education. The war interrupted his plans to attend Oberlin College, but he continued to learn all his life. Cuney became active in black fraternal organizations, and was elected by black Masons as the grand master of the Grand Lodge of Texas in 1875.

Source: Wikipedia