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Dalip Singh Saund

(1899-1973) –U.S. Representative

Dalip Singh Saundserved in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1957-1963. He was the first Asian American, the first Indian American, the first Sikh American, and the first member of a non-Abrahamic faith to be elected to the United States Congress. In the 1940s, Saundhelped launch a successful effort to convince the U.S. Congress to pass the Luce-CellerAct of 1946, which granted naturalization rights to Indian immigrants (then sometimes referred to as “Hindus”). After becoming a citizen, Saundwas elected to a local judgeship in 1952 and then to the U.S. House in 1956. Saund campaigned to allow people of South Asian descent to become naturalized citizens and was a fierce supporter of the 1957 Civil Rights bill to protect the voting rights of African Americans.

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