WHEREAS, The Honorable K. Leroy Irvis, Esquire, born in Saugerties, New York, was one of Pennsylvania’s most courageous and intelligent civil rights leaders of all time; and
WHEREAS, Irvis, a graduate of Pittsburgh University School of Law, was a noted prosecutor, poet, teacher and later elevated as trustee emeritus at the University of Pittsburgh ; and
WHEREAS, Irvis led groundbreaking demonstrations against discriminatory hiring and sales practices by downtown Pittsburgh department stores in 1947, and gained national attention when he sued an all white-males-only Moose lodge in the Harrisburg area for refusing to serve him a meal; and
WHEREAS, Irvis campaigned to improve conditions for blacks in politics, education, and business. He transcended geographic and political boundaries, thus drawing support and admiration from all of his colleagues; and
WHEREAS, Irvis was a Democrat representative for Allegheny County in the Pennsylvania House from 1959 to 1988, he became the first African American speaker of the House of Representatives in Pennsylvania and was elected to the dynamic position of speaker four times; and
WHEREAS, Irvis was the primary force behind legislation that made Pittsburgh University, The Pennsylvania State University, Temple University, and Lincoln University become recognized as state-related institutions; and
WHEREAS, Irvis created “Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency,” which provides millions of students and their families with the ability to realize their dream of a college education; and
WHEREAS, The office building in the Capitol Complex that houses legislative offices, Commonwealth Court, a reading room, and a University of Pittsburgh library are all named in his honor; and
WHEREAS, Friday, March 17, 2006 we mourned the passing of the nation’s first African American speaker of a State House since Reconstruction; now therefore, be it
RESOLVED, BY THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA, That we hereby honor the memory of the Honorable K. Leroy Irvis, Esquire.
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