Shirley Kitchen

Shirley M. Kitchen (born September 18, 1946) is an American politician from Pennsylvania who served as a Democratic member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives for the 181st district from 1987 through 1988 and the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 3rd District from 1996 to 2016. She is the second African-American woman to serve in the Pennsylvania Senate.[2]

Shirley M. Kitchen
Member of the Pennsylvania Senate
from the 3rd district
In office
November 18, 1996 (1996-11-18)[1] – November 30, 2016 (2016-11-30)
Preceded byRoxanne Jones
Succeeded bySharif Street
Member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
from the 181st district
In office
November 17, 1987 (1987-11-17) – November 30, 1988 (1988-11-30)
Preceded byAlphonso Deal
Succeeded byW. Curtis Thomas
Personal details
Born (1946-09-18) September 18, 1946
Augusta, Georgia
Political partyDemocratic
SpouseDivorced
ResidencePhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
Alma materTemple University, Antioch University

Early life and education

Kitchen was born in Augusta, Georgia. She graduated from Antioch University in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in Human Services and attended Temple University. She received certificates in Child Care, Behavior Modification and Economic Development from Temple.[3]

Career

She worked as a poll worker in the City of Philadelphia from 1970 to 1976, as a social worker for the County of Philadelphia and as the Director of Constituent Services for the Philadelphia City Council from 1986 to 1987.

She was elected to the Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 181 in November 1987 and served through 1988.[4] She was elected to the Pennsylvania State Senate for the 3rd district in November 1996 in a special election to succeed Roxanne Jones who died in office. She served until November 2016 when she retired from the Pennsylvania State Senate.[3] She was the second African-American woman to serve in the Pennsylvania State Senate and at the time of her retirement, was the only African-American woman member of the Senate.[2]

She worked as the Manager for the Management Information Systems Department of the Philadelphia Parking Authority from 1990 to 1992 and as Director of Constituent Services for the Philadelphia City Council from 1992 to 1996.[5]

Ward leader

Kitchen is the Ward Leader of the 20th Ward Democratic Executive Committee.[6]

2015 Legislative Action

Throughout 2015, she worked in the following committees:[7]

  • Public Health and Welfare
  • Agricultural and Rural Affairs
  • Transportation
  • Urban Affairs and Housing

References
  1. Cox, Harold (2004). "Pennsylvania Senate - 1995-1996" (PDF). Wilkes University Election Statistics Project. Wilkes University.
  2. Persinger, Ryanne. "Sen. Shirley Kitchen retires after more than 20 years in office". www.phillytrib.com. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  3. "Shirley M. Kitchen". www.legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved 28 January 2019.
  4. "Pennsylvania House of Representatives Shirley M. Kitchen Biography". www.legis.state.pa.us. Retrieved 1 February 2019.
  5. "Shirley Kitchen - Ballotpedia". Retrieved 2016-11-11.
  6. Committee of Seventy (2009-12-21). "2009 Citizen's Guide" (PDF). The Committee of Seventy, Philadelphia, PA 19103. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2009-04-19. Retrieved 2009-12-21.
  7. Center, Legislativate Data Processing. "Senator Shirley M. Kitchen". The official website for the Pennsylvania General Assembly. Retrieved 2016-11-11.
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