Paul McKinney (April 16, 1923 – June 28, 1995) was an American politician who served as a Democratic member of the

Pennsylvania State Senate The Pennsylvania State Senate is the upper house of the Pennsylvania General Assembly, the Pennsylvania state legislature. The State Senate meets in the State Capitol building in Harrisburg. Senators are elected for four year terms, staggered ev ...

for the

8th district 8 (eight) is the natural number following 7 and preceding 9. In mathematics 8 is: * a composite number, its proper divisors being , , and . It is twice 4 or four times 2. * a power of two, being 2 (two cubed), and is the first number of the ...

from 1975 to 1982.

Early life and education

McKinney was born in 1923 in Albany, Georgia. In 1941 he moved to Darby, Pennsylvania and served in the U.S. Merchant Marines during and after

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He moved to

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

in the late 1940s and attended Palmer Business College.

Business career

McKinney owned several business, his first being a restaurant and catering business with his wife Bessie. In the 1960s he owned and operated a television sales and repair shop. In 1966 he became one of Philadelphia's first African American

U.S. Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U. ...

independent contractors.

Political career

McKinney served as a Democratic Party Committeeman and Ward Chairman of West Philadelphia's 60th Ward for a number of years. In 1974 he was elected to the Pennsylvania Senate for the 8th district and served from 1975 to 1982.

Personal life

In 1949, he married Bessie Grayson and together had five daughters. One of his daughters, Diane McKinney-Whetstone, became an award-winning author and faculty member of the University of Pennsylvania's creative writing program.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:McKinney, Paul 1923 births 1995 deaths 20th-century American legislators African-American state legislators in Pennsylvania Democratic Party Pennsylvania state senators People from Albany, Georgia United States Merchant Mariners of World War II 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century Pennsylvania politicians