Malcolm Claiborne

{{short description|U.S politician during the Reconstruction Era}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = | name = | honorific_suffix = | image = | image_upright = | image_size =  | alt = | caption = | state_house = Georgia | district = Burke County | term_start = 1868 | term_end = 1868 <br>Original 33 | predecessor = | successor = | birth_date = c. 1838 | birth_place = | death_date = {{Death date and age|1870|July|25|1838|||mf=y}} | death_place = | monuments = | other_names = | citizenship = | education = | alma_mater = | occupation = | agent =  | known_for = | spouse = | children = | parents = | party = Republican | allegiance = | branch = | service_years = | rank = | unit = }}

'''Malcolm Claiborne''' (c. 1838–July 25, 1870), sometimes spelled '''Claiborn''', was an elected representative in the Georgia Legislature. An African American, he along with 25 of 29 African Americans elected in Georgia in 1868 were denied seats by their white colleagues. After federal intervention, they were allowed to take office in 1870. Claiborne was shot and killed the same year in a dispute with the messenger sent by the Georgia House, Moses H. Bentley,<ref>{{cite news |title=Moses H. Bentley |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-abingdon-virginian-moses-bentley/130389354/ |work=The Abingdon Virginian |date=July 29, 1870}}</ref> who had been a black delegate to the Constitutional Convention,<ref>{{cite thesis|degree=Master of Arts|url=http://digitalcommons.auctr.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=3930&context=dissertations|title=The negro in the political reconstruction of Georgia, 1866-1872|publisher=Atlanta University Center - Robert W. Woodruff Library|author=Paul Laurence Sanford|page=63|date=August 1, 1947|accessdate=December 24, 2018}}</ref> in a heated dispute over the pay of House pages.<ref name="Drago1992">{{cite book|author=Edmund L. Drago|title=Black Politicians and Reconstruction in Georgia: A Splendid Failure|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JXL7t1rVltkC&pg=PA67|year=1992|publisher=University of Georgia Press|isbn=978-0-8203-1438-9|page=67}}</ref><ref name="foner">{{cite book |last1=Foner |first1=Eric |author1-link=Eric Foner |title=Freedom's Lawmakers: A Directory of Black Officeholders During Reconstruction |date=1993 |publisher=Oxford University Press |isbn=978-0-19-507406-2 |page=46 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=F2MYAAAAIAAJ}}</ref>

According to the ''Atlanta Historical Bulletin'', Claiborne was shot and killed on Marietta Street near Forsyth Street, after a heated argument where Claiborne accused Bentley of wrongly firing a Black page and replacing him with a White page.<ref>{{cite journal |title=Paupers, Pastors and Politicians |journal=The Atlanta Historical Bulletin |date=1976 |volume=20 |issue=2 |pages=55–56 |url=https://album.atlantahistorycenter.com/digital/collection/AHBull/id/21531}}</ref> A contemporary report from 1870 stated that Claiborne was killed in the capitol building. Bentley fired three shots at Claiborne, with one striking him in the chest, while the other shots missed. The article said the dispute was reportedly due to "opprobrious remarks" made by Claiborne towards Bentley in relation to Claiborne condemning Bentley for his actions which caused the arrest of Senator Wallace.<ref>{{cite news |title=The Colored Murder At Atlanta |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/new-york-daily-herald/130389878/ |work=New York Daily Herald |date=July 30, 1870 |page=6}}</ref>

Claiborne is believed to be buried at the Oakland Cemetery (Atlanta), although the exact location of his grave is unknown.<ref>{{cite book |last1=Davis |first1=Ren |last2=Davis |first2=Helen |title=Atlanta's Oakland Cemetery: An Illustrated History and Guide |date=2012 |publisher=University of Georgia Press |isbn=978-0-8203-4313-6 |page=158 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Ns7721QnpQMC&dq=Malcolm+Claiborne+1870+buried+at+the+Oakland+Cemetery+(Atlanta)&pg=PA158}}</ref> A bronze sculpture was placed at the Georgia state capitol to honor Claiborne and the other legislators who were expelled because of their color.<ref name="foner"/>

==References== {{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Claiborne, Malcolm}} Category:1830s births Category:1870 deaths Category:African-American state legislators in Georgia (U.S. state) Category:Original 33 Category:African-American politicians of the Reconstruction era Category:Members of the Georgia House of Representatives Category:19th-century members of the Georgia General Assembly