Joe Lang Kershaw, Sr. (June 27, 1911 – November 7, 1999) was an American politician, civics teacher, and a graduate of

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a public historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida. Founded in 1887, It is the third largest historically black university in the U ...

. Kershaw is the first

African-American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American ...

legislator in the state of

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

since the

reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in American history following the American Civil War (1861–1865) and lasting until approximately the Compromise of 1877. During Reconstruction, attempts were made to rebuild the country after the bloo ...

Education

While attending

in the early 1930s, Kershaw worked part time at the Florida Capitol complex as a janitor. Sometimes after hours he would stand on the Speaker's podium and pretend he was addressing the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the Constitution of Florida, adopted ...

. While attending

he became a lifelong member of the

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a historically African American fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911 at Indiana University Bloomington, the fraternity has never restricted membership on the basis of color, creed ...

fraternity. He graduated with a degree in history in 1935.

Career

After graduating, Kershaw taught civics at a Coral Gables junior high school in Dade County, renamed Miami-Dade County in 1997. In 1955 he earned his Master of Education degree from Florida A&M University. While living in Miami, he served on the Miami Economic Advisory Board, and was a member of the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney on March 29, 1882. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. It is led by Patrick E. Kelly, the order's 14th Supreme Knight. ...

and the

Holy Name Society The Society of the Holy Name, formally known as the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of God and Jesus, is a Roman Catholic confraternity of the laity and is one of several which are under the care of the Dominican Order. It is open to all C ...

. Kershaw was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in November 1968, to represent the Florida 99th district, which at the time covered mostly Dade County. Upon being elected, he became the first

legislator in the state of

since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *'' Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Unio ...

. Kershaw served as chairman of the Elections Committee and introduced legislation that lead to the formation of the Florida Human Rights Commission. In 1971, Kershaw maneuvered Florida Statute 241.477 through the legislature, which lead to the creation of the Black Archives at Florida A&M University. He was known in the Florida House of Representatives as "Cane Pole," due to his ongoing battle to exclude cane pole fishing from requiring a license. The requirement was finally abolished in 1976, allowing people to fish in their own county with a cane pole, a common practice among poor African American people in Florida. He served in the Florida House of Representatives for 14 years until 1982.

Death

He died of heart failure at a hospital in 1999.

Legacy

One of his legal assistants,

Arthenia Joyner Arthenia Joyner (born February 3, 1943) is an American politician, attorney, and civil rights activist from Florida. She served as a member of the Florida Senate for ten years, representing parts of the Tampa Bay Area from 2006 to 2016. She was ...

went on to her own career as a legislator later she graduated from Florida A&M University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kershaw, Joe Lang 1911 births 1999 deaths Politicians from Miami Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Live Oak, Florida African-American state legislators in Florida 20th-century American legislators 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century Florida politicians