Kirkland Leroy Irvis (December 27, 1919 – March 16, 2006) was a teacher, activist and politician based in Pennsylvania; he 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 had been the first African American to hold that position.) Irvis, a Democrat, represented Pittsburgh in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1958–1988. Early life Kirkland Leroy Irvis was born in 1919 in Saugerties, New York, son of Francis H. and Harriet Irvis. He attended local schools. He went to college, graduating summa cum laude in 1938 from the University of New York State Teachers College (now State University of New York at Albany) with a master's degree in education, the second black American to graduate from that college. During his degree, Irvis took classes with the folklorist Harold W Thompson, who praised Irvis for his collection of African American folklore. Irvis moved to Baltimore, Maryland, where he taught English and history in high schools until World War II. He was hired as a civilian flying instructor in the War Department. Pennsylvania career After World War II, Irvis moved to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. There he worked as the public relations secretary for the local chapter of the Urban League. While with the Urban League, he led a demonstration in 1947 against Jim Crow employment discrimination by Pittsburgh's department stores. This was the first demonstration of its kind in American history. Irvis became an entrepreneur for a time, managing a toy factory and a hot dog stand. In 1950, he left his businesses and pursued blue-collar work in steel mills and road construction, to earn money in order to go to law school. In 1954 he earned a law degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He worked as law clerk to Judge Anne X. Alpern, was hired as Pittsburgh city solicitor, and advanced to become the first black assistant district attorney of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania. He supplemented his income as a radio announcer for WILY. When his reputation had grown, he opened a private law practice downtown. Irvis entered politics and was elected as the state representative from Pittsburgh's Hill District, serving in the legislature for 15 straight terms. Rep. Irvis sponsored more than 1600 bills, and is most known for bills promoting civil rights, fair housing, education, public health, highway