Renaming the Penrose Recreation Center to the “Shirley M. Kitchen Recreation Center” to honor the life and legacy of Shirley Kitchen, a pioneering public servant and civic leader with an immeasurable impact on the greater North Philadelphia community.

THE COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PHILADELPHIA HEREBY ORDAINS:

SECTION 1. WHEREAS,

Shirley M. Kitchen, a longtime advocate for North Philadelphia and the second African American woman to serve in the Pennsylvania Senate, died on July 5, 2026, at the age of 79; and

WHEREAS,

Her service included work as a Philadelphia social worker and constituent-services director in John F. Street’s City Council office, as well as leadership of the 20th Ward and involvement in North Philadelphia community organizations; and

WHEREAS,

Kitchen represented the 181st Legislative District in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1987 to 1988 and the Third Senatorial District from 1996 until her retirement in 2016, bringing the concerns of Philadelphia neighborhoods to Harrisburg for two decades; and

WHEREAS,

As a legislator, including service as Democratic chair of the Senate Public Health and Welfare Committee, she advocated for access to health care, affordable housing, and the well-being of low-income residents, carrying the practical experience of social work into public policy; and

WHEREAS,

Her example of attentive constituent service and sustained neighborhood organizing leaves a lasting standard for those entrusted with public office; now, therefore, be it

SECTION 2. This Ordinance shall take effect immediately.

End