James E. O'Hara
| James E. O'Hara | |
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| Member of the U.S. House of Representatives from North Carolina's 2nd district |
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In office March 4, 1883 – March 3, 1887 |
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| Preceded by | Orlando Hubbs |
| Succeeded by | Furnifold M. Simmons |
| Member of the North Carolina House of Representatives | |
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In office 1868–1869 |
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| Personal details | |
| Born |
February 26, 1844 New York City |
| Died | September 15, 1905 (aged 61) New Bern, North Carolina |
| Political party | Republican |
| Profession | Lawyer |
James Edward O'Hara (February 26, 1844 – September 15, 1905) was an American politician and attorney who in 1882, after Reconstruction, was the second African American to be elected to Congress from North Carolina. He was born in New York City to parents of mixed-race West Indian and Irish ancestry. As a young man, he traveled to the southern United States after the American Civil War with religious missionaries from the African Methodist Episcopal Zion Church, an independent black denomination, to help freedmen establish independent lives and new congregations. O'Hara decided to remain there and became active in politics, being elected as a Republican to local and state offices.
In 1871 O'Hara was the first man from North Carolina to get a law degree from Howard University, a historically black university. He returned to North Carolina where he passed the bar and started his practice. In 1882, O'Hara was elected as a Republican member of the United States House of Representatives from North Carolina's 2nd congressional district, where there was a black majority in population. He served two terms, from 1883 to 1887. After being defeated in the 1886 election, he retired from politics when his term ended, and returned to his law practice.
James O'Hara was born in New York City on February 26, 1844; his mother was West Indian, likely of mixed race; and his father was an Irish American merchant. Soon after James was born, his parents moved the family to the West Indies, where they lived into the 1850s before returning to New York.
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