Paul F. Jones (1909–1960) was the first African-American elected to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania's City Council in 1954. He also served in the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

. He was born in Kentucky in 1909, and moved to Pittsburgh at the age of 11. He graduated from Duquesne Law School and served in World War II. His first public service was in the

State House State may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Literature * ''State Magazine'', a monthly magazine published by the U.S. Department of State * ''The State'' (newspaper), a daily newspaper in Columbia, South Carolina, United States * ''Our S ...

, where he held one of

Allegheny County Allegheny County () is a County (United States), county in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. It is located in Southwestern Pennsylvania. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,250,578, making it the state's seco ...

's allotted at-large seats. He was Chair of the Urban Renewal Committee, which played a significant role in the redevelopment of the lower

Hill District The Hill District is a grouping of historically African American neighborhoods in the City of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. Beginning in the years leading up to World War I, "the Hill" was the cultural center of black life in the city and a major cent ...

. He was also active in the

NAACP The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) is a civil rights organization in the United States, formed in 1909 as an interracial endeavor to advance justice for African Americans by a group including W. E.&nb ...

, Urban League,

American Legion The American Legion, commonly known as the Legion, is a non-profit organization of U.S. war War is an intense armed conflict between states, governments, societies, or paramilitary groups such as mercenaries, insurgents, and militi ...

and

VFW The Veterans of Foreign Wars (VFW), formally the Veterans of Foreign Wars of the United States, is an organization of US war veterans, who, as United States Armed Forces, military service members fought in wars, Military campaign, campaigns, ...

. He died in office in July 1960.

References

External links

Pittsburghers of the Century
* Chris Potter in the Pittsburgh City Paper, 2005-09-14/2005-09-21 edition, page 15, "You Had To Ask". Pennsylvania city council members Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives African-American city council members in Pennsylvania African-American state legislators in Pennsylvania 1960 deaths 1909 births 20th-century American legislators 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century Pennsylvania politicians {{Pennsylvania-politician-stub