In the first and third weeks of the month of February 2024, I chose to shine the spotlight on African American women elected officials from Philadelphia, from the very first woman elected in PA to the State House to our most current success in Philadelphia’s 100th Mayor, Cherelle L. Parker.
Thirty-nine years after the assassination of O.V. Catto in Philadelphia, Harry W. Bass became the first Philadelphia African American man to become an elected official–he lived from November 4, 1866 – June 9, 1917. He was a lawyer and politician who became the first African American to serve in the Pennsylvania General Assembly, winning two consecutive terms in the state house in 1911 and 1913.
Bass was a native of West Chester, Pennsylvania, born on November 4, 1866. After attending local public schools, he earned a degree from Lincoln University in 1886, then studied law at Howard University before graduating from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1896.
As a law student, Bass lived in South Philadelphia and ran for the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the first time in 1896 while affiliated with the People’s Legislative Party (PLP) and lost. Bass contested the 1898 elections for state representative, again as a PLP candidate, and lost for a second time. Shortly after completing his degree in law, Bass represented an African American tenant who, in 1900, had been evicted from his Bryn Mawr residence by the Methodist Episcopal Church, a church of white parishioners.
Bass joined the Republican Party and served multiple terms as an elected representative of the Republican State Committee from Philadelphia. As a Republican backed by Boies Penrose, he won two consecutive terms in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives in 1911 and 1913, becoming the first African American member of the Pennsylvania General Assembly. He represented the sixth district of the House, which comprised the heavily African American Seventh Ward of Philadelphia. In 1911–1912, he was a member of a commission convened to organize celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the Emancipation Proclamation, and he was credited with helping the commission secure $20,000 in funding via appropriations.
After Harry Bass, the list grows, quite impressively, but yet is it good enough? I will not be able to fit all the names of every African American male elected official who has been an officer holder in our state; however, we’ll spotlight as many as we can.
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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 safety, and modernization of the penal code.
In 1972, after being denied accommodation by the Harrisburg, Pennsylvania-based Moose Lodge as the guest of a white member, Irvis was party to a case in the U.S. Supreme Court, Moose Lodge No. 107 v. Irvis, in which the Court upheld the right of the Moose Lodge to discriminate as a private club on the basis of race; the racial discrimination policy was ended by Moose International Inc. within a year of the Supreme Court ruling.[5]
In 1977, he was voted unanimously by the represenatives for the role of Speaker of the House.
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.
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And but, of course, no way could I write this column on Black Elected male officials from Philly or surrounding areas without including Philadelphia’s first African American Mayor.
Woodrow Wilson Goode Sr. was born August 19, 1938, and he is a former Mayor of Philadelphia and the first African American to hold that office. He served from 1984 to 1992, a period which included the controversial MOVE police action and house bombing in 1985. Goode was also a community activist, chair of the state Public Utility Commission, and managing director for the City of Philadelphia.
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David P. Richardson Jr. was born April 23, 1948 – August 18, 1995, and he is a former Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. A member of the Democratic Executive Committee’s 12th Ward, 2nd Division from 1977 to 1990, Richardson became leader of the Democratic Committee’s 59th Ward in 1991 and remained in that position until 1995. A Democrat, he was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for its 1973 term and served a total of twelve consecutive terms. During his tenure, he was appointed to the Pennsylvania Council on the Arts in 1981 and continued to serve in that capacity until 1995. Among those mentored by Richardson during his time in the House was Donna Reed Miller.
In addition, Richardson served as the honorable lieutenant colonel aide-de-camp to Alabama Governor George C. Wallace in 1984.
Richardson suffered a heart attack in 1995 and died in Philadelphia on August 18, 1995, while still a serving member of the Pennsylvania House.
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John Franklin Street was born October 15, 1943, and is a politician and lawyer who served as the 97th Mayor of the City of Philadelphia. He was first elected to a term beginning on January 3, 2000, and was re-elected to a second term beginning in 2004. He is a Democrat and became Mayor after having served 19 years in the Philadelphia City Council, including seven years as its President, before resigning as required under the Philadelphia City Charter in order to run for mayor. He followed Ed Rendell as mayor, assuming the post on January 3, 2000. Street was Philadelphia’s second black mayor.
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Philadelphia’s 3rd African American Mayor was Michael A. Nutter. Michael Anthony Nutter was born June 29, 1957, and is a politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he is also a former member of the Philadelphia City Council from the 4th district and had served as the 52nd Ward Democratic Leader until 1990. Nutter also served as the President of the United States Conference of Mayors from 2012 to 2013 and is a former member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Currently, he is the David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
Philadelphia’s 3rd African American Mayor was Michael A. Nutter. Michael Anthony Nutter was born June 29, 1957, and is a politician who served as the 98th Mayor of Philadelphia from 2008 to 2016. A member of the Democratic Party, he is also a former member of the Philadelphia City Council from the 4th district and had served as the 52nd Ward Democratic Leader until 1990. Nutter also served as the President of the United States Conference of Mayors from 2012 to 2013 and is a former member of the Homeland Security Advisory Council. Currently, he is the David N. Dinkins Professor of Professional Practice in Urban and Public Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University.
Starting in mid-March, every column I write will spotlight outstanding women making a difference in our city.
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