Pinchback, P. B. S. (1837-1921), was an American politician. In 1872, he became the first African American to serve as governor of a state of the United States. Pinchback, a Republican, had become lieutenant governor of Louisiana in 1871. He served as acting governor for six weeks in 1872 and 1873 following the impeachment of Governor Henry C. Warmoth.
Pinchback won election to the United States House of Representatives in 1872 and to the United States Senate in 1873. His opponents charged that laws had been violated in both of the elections. Both the House and the Senate denied Pinchback membership, though white Louisiana officials who were chosen by the same procedures were declared legally elected. From 1870 to 1881, Pinchback published a weekly newspaper, The (New Orleans) Louisianian.
Pinckney Benton Stewart Pinchback was born in Macon, Georgia, on May 10, 1837. His mother, a former slave, had been freed by his father, a wealthy white planter. Pinchback died on Dec. 21, 1921.
