In 1920 , Alexander won election to the Assembly , on a twelve-person Republican slate in Essex County that also included the first two women elected to the New Jersey Legislature , Margaret B. Laird and Jennie C. Van Ness . In March 1921 , Alexander was appointed to serve as acting Speaker of the Assembly while Speaker George S. Hobart was attending a National Guard investigation . It marked the first time that an African American had acted in this capacity , though an African American would not be elected to the speakership until 1974 , when S. Howard Woodson was chosen for the position . He won re-election to the Assembly later in 1921 . Alexander was selected as alternate-at-large to the 1924 Republican National Convention . Four years later , the Republican State Committee selected him as one of seven delegates-at-large to the 1928 Republican National Convention
1928 Republican National Convention
1928 Republican National Convention
Walter G. Alexander