K. Leroy Irvis

K. Leroy Irvis (December 27, 1919 – March 16, 2006) was the first African American to serve as a speaker of the house in any state legislature in the United States since Reconstruction. John Roy Lynch (1847–1939) of Mississippi was the first African American to hold that position. Mr. Irvis, a Democrat, represented Pittsburgh in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1958–1988.

Early life

Kirkland Leroy Irvis was born in Saugerties, New York, son of Francis H. and Harriet Irvis. He graduated summa cum laude from the University of New York State Teachers College in 1938 with a master's degree in education—only the second black American to graduate from the college. Irvis proceeded to teach English and history in Baltimore high schools until World War II, when he became a civilian flying instructor in the War Department.

Pennsylvania career

After World War II, he moved to Pittsburgh and began working as the public relations secretary for the local chapter of the Urban League. While with the Urban League, he led a demonstration against Jim Crow employment discrimination by Pittsburgh's department stores in 1947, the first demonstration of its kind in American history . It is likely that Mr. Irvis was blackballed from private-sector jobs for quite some time as a result.