50 Years Ago This Week: The First Popularly Elected Black Senator

Milestone moments do not a year make. Often, it’s the smaller news stories that add up, gradually, to big history. With that in mind, in 2017 TIME History will revisit the entire year of 1967, week by week, as it was reported in the pages of TIME, to see how it all comes together. Catch up on last week’s installment here.

Week 7: Feb 17, 1967

In a cover story, TIME reported on a major address given by Sen.