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.
He 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.
In 1954 he earned a law degree from University of Pittsburgh School of Law. He then worked in a series of prestigious government jobs, such as law clerk to Judge Anne X. Alpern and city solicitor, finally rising 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 served Pittsburgh's Hill District for 15 straight terms. Rep. Irvis sponsored over 1600 bills, and is most known for bills promoting civil rights, fair housing, education, public health, highway safety, and modernization of the penal code. In 1977 he ascended to the role of speaker of the house by a unanimous vote.
His most noted achievements include the passage of legislation creating the Pennsylvania Human Relations Commission, the Pennsylvania Higher Education Assistance Agency and Equal Opportunity Program, the state's community college system, the Minority Business Development Authority, and the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts. He is also largely responsible for the Pennsylvania House Ethics Committee, lobbyist registration, and the Legislative Audit Advisory Commission.
Read more about this topic: K. Leroy Irvis
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