Speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives holds the oldest state-wide elected office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania [ [http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/VC/visitor_info/blue/house.htm Pennsylvania House of Representatives web site] ] . Since its first session under the Frame of Government in 1682, presided over by William Penn, over 130 House members have been elevated to the speaker's chair. The house cannot hold an official session in the absence of the speaker or his designated speaker pro tempore.

Speaker K. Leroy Irvis was the first African-American elected speaker of any state legislature in the United States since the Reconstruction era. Pennsylvania has never had a female speaker.

List of speakers of the Provincial Assembly

Speakers of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly (1682–1775) and the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (following the 1776 Constitution).

List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

References

*cite book
last =Schmedlen
first =Jeanne Hearn
title =Wisdom, Vision and Diplomacy: Speakers of the Pennsylvania House (A Biographical History of the Speakers of the Provincial Assembly and the House of Representatives, 1682-1998)
publisher =Pennsylvania House of Representatives
date =1998
location =Harrisburg, PA
id =ISBN 9-9667794-0-1
*cite web|url=http://www.dgs.state.pa.us/pamanual/lib/pamanual/vol_117/sec3_past.pdf#page=14|title=Speakers of the Provincial Assembly (1682-1790)|work=The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly)|publisher=Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications|accessdate=2007-03-01
*cite web|url=http://www.dgs.state.pa.us/pamanual/lib/pamanual/vol_117/sec3_past.pdf#page=15|title=Speakers of the House of Representatives since 1791|work=The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly)|publisher=Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications|accessdate=2007-03-01