Marion Orr is the author of the new book House of Diggs: The Rise and Fall of America's Most Consequential Black Congressman, Charles C. Diggs Jr. Orr's other books include Black Social Capital. He is the Frederick Lippitt Professor of Public Policy at Brown University.
Q: What inspired you to write a biography of Congressman Charles C. Diggs Jr. (1922-1998)?
A: I learned about Congressman Diggs when I was an undergraduate political science major at Savannah State University, a historically Black college in my hometown of Savannah, Georgia.
Professor Hanes Walton Jr. taught many of the political science courses at Savannah and Diggs came up in many of his lectures. Walton would also become my mentor and friend. He was the person who inspired me to become a political scientist.
For example, in Walton’s course on “Urban Government,” Diggs came up when Walton lectured about Washington, D.C., and explained how D.C., because it is the seat of the federal government, was different from other U.S. cities.
Walton explained how Congressman Diggs was the chief architect of the legislation that restored home rule to Washington, D.C.
When Walton taught “American Political Process” and lectured on the legislative branch, Diggs came up as the founder of the Congressional Black Caucus. In “African Politics,” a course examining African politics from the pre-colonial era to the movement for Black independence, Walton introduced us to Diggs as the leading American voice at the time challenging the apartheid regime in South Africa.
When I went to graduate school to study political science, I learned still more about Diggs’s contribution. When I discovered that no one had written a biography of Diggs, I was surprised. After I learned that Diggs had donated his congressional and personal papers to Howard University, I decided to write the first biography of Charles C. Diggs, Jr.
Q: How did you research the book, and what did you learn that especially surprised you?
A: I had a tremendous amount of material to work with. The primary data sources were the Charles C. Diggs, Jr. Papers and the Charles C. Diggs, Jr. South Africa Papers, archived at Howard University’s Moorland-Spingarn Research Center, which provided a lot of information about Diggs.
The collection comprises over 750 boxes and includes correspondences, speeches, constituent inquiries, personal, family and business papers for the House of Diggs Funeral Home and Diggs Enterprises.
Diggs was a prolific writer of letters, telegrams, and memoranda to U.S. presidents, cabinet secretaries, and agency heads. I gathered documents from the presidential library of every president who served when Diggs was a member of Congress -- Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter.
I also interviewed more than 30 of Diggs’s family members, friends, and professional acquaintances, and former members of Congress and staffers who worked with Diggs on Capitol Hill. I obtained Diggs’s FBI file.
I was surprised by how consequential Diggs was. I knew he was important. However, after completing the research I became convinced that he was not only important. Diggs was the most consequential Black person to ever serve in the US Congress.
In fact, Diggs was one of the most consequential members of Congress of any stripe or political party to ever serve. He would rank high on any listing of consequential members of the US Congress.
The other big surprise was found in Diggs’s FBI file. The FBI helped me identify the confidential informant who reported Diggs’s payroll violation to the Justice Department. This would eventually lead to Diggs’s indictment, conviction, and imprisonment. I was surprised to learn the identity of the informant. My book reveals the person.
Q: The author Tamara Payne said of the book, “House of Diggs details how Congressman Diggs’s dogged persistence and a strategically moderate approach to building coalitions changed the landscape of segregated America.” What do you think of that description?
A: Payne’s quote focuses on how Diggs operated within the Congress. Members of Congress often have a “style” or an “approach” as a legislator.
Diggs employed what I call a politics of strategic moderation, an approach aimed at helping Black Americans achieve political incorporation -- becoming members of the governing coalition that dominated national policymaking on civil rights.
It is important to be careful about the term “moderation.” Today’s politicians call themselves “moderate” to differentiate their positions from the extreme wing of their political parties.
Diggs was moderate in that he believed Blacks should actively work to achieve political incorporation into the Democratic Party, contribute to the party’s post-New Deal coalition, and advocate for change in government policy in civil rights and related areas in Congress. As a moderate, Diggs sought to recruit supporters across the political spectrum.
Q: How would you describe Diggs’s legacy today, and what do you think he would make of today's politics?
A: Sadly, Diggs is almost forgotten as a courageous civil rights leader and an influential member of Congress. However, his legacy is all around.
For example, in the 1950s Diggs played a central role in ending racial discrimination and segregation in the burgeoning commercial airline industry. Diggs also played a big role in forcing American airlines to hire Black pilots, engineers, and flight attendants. Diggs opened space in airport terminals and in-flight positions on airplane where Black Americans had previously not been allowed.
In other words, it is a legacy we don’t connect with Diggs. However, he played a consequential role in combating racial discrimination in the airline industry.
The framers of the U.S. Constitution designed Congress to be an institution of bargaining and compromise. Diggs would wonder what happened to that aspect of Congress.
Q: What are you working on now?
A: I am considering writing my second biography. I enjoyed writing House of Diggs. Writing a biography is a different kind of writing than I have been used to as an academic. It allows for more creativity.
Q: Anything else we should know?
A: House of Diggs is a corrective history. Historians and journalists have fashioned a narrow view of Black American leadership. Diggs is an American leader we should have never forgotten.
--Interview with Deborah Kalb
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