Francis Lewis Cardozo | |
|---|---|
 Portrait of Francis Lewis Cardozo c. 1870 | |
| 23rd Secretary of State of South Carolina | |
| In office 1868–1872 | |
| Governor | Robert Kingston Scott |
| Preceded by | Ellison Capers |
| Succeeded by | Henry E. Hayne |
| South Carolina Treasurer | |
| In office August 1, 1872 – May 1, 1877 | |
| Governor | Robert Kingston Scott Franklin J. Moses Jr. Daniel Henry Chamberlain Wade Hampton III |
| Preceded by | Niles G. Parker |
| Succeeded by | Sherob Luther Leaphart |
| Personal details | |
| Born | February 1, 1836 Charleston, South Carolina, U.S. |
| Died | July 22, 1903 (aged 67) |
| Political party | Republican |
| Spouse |
Catherine Romena Howell
(m. 1864) |
| Children | 7 |
| Relatives | Henry Weston Cardozo (brother) Thomas Whitmarsh Cardozo (brother) Eslanda Goode Robeson (granddaughter) Benjamin N. Cardozo (distant relative) |
| Alma mater | University of Glasgow |
| Profession | Clergyman, politician, educator |
Francis Lewis Cardozo (February 1, 1836 – July 22, 1903) was an American clergyman, politician, and educator. When elected in South Carolina as Secretary of State in 1868, he was the first African American to hold a statewide office in the United States.
Born free during the time of slavery in Charleston, South Carolina to a mother who was a free woman of color, and a Sephardic Jewish father, Francis Cardozo studied at University of Glasgow and later at seminary. He served as a minister in New Haven, Connecticut, before returning to South Carolina in 1865 with the American Missionary Association to establish schools for freedmen after the American Civil War.
After working in South Carolina during Reconstruction, Cardozo received an appointment in 1878 at the U.S. Department of Treasury in Washington, D.C. Later he served twelve years as principal of a major public high school, was an advocate for school integration and lived in the nation's capital for the rest of his life.