‘Progress to Power: The Legacy of New York’s Black Legislators’ Highlights the First Black Elected Officials in the NYS Legislature and their Accomplishments
ALBANY – Office of General Services Commissioner Jeanette Moy today announced that the 2023 Black History Month exhibit in the New York State Capitol places a spotlight on the first Black elected officials to serve New York in the State Legislature, their legislative priorities, and accomplishments. The exhibit is located in the Governor’s Reception Room on the Capitol’s second floor and will run through the end of February.
“This year’s Black History Month Capitol exhibit recognizes the historic milestones and significant contributions that members of New York’s Black communities have made and continue to make while serving as New York State’s elected representatives,” Commissioner Moy said. “I encourage everyone to make a visit to the State Capitol this February to learn about and honor the legacy of some of our first Black elected officials.”
The exhibit begins with a look at the history of voting rights in the United States, the impact the passage of the 15th and 19th Amendments had, and the continuing efforts to disenfranchise Black voters once they had the legal right to vote.
Among “The Firsts” featured in the exhibit are:
- Edward A. Johnson, who made history as the first elected Black person in the New York State Legislature when he was voted into the Assembly in 1917.
- Bessie Allison Buchanan, who became the first Black woman elected to the Assembly in 1954.
- Julius A. Archibald, who began serving in 1953 as the first Black Senator in the New York State Senate.
- Constance Baker Motley, who became the first Black woman State Senator in New York before leaving to become the first female Manhattan Borough President, and later the first Black woman to be appointed a federal court judge in New York’s Southern District in 1966.
The exhibit also covers the origins of the New York State Legislature’s Black and Puerto Rican Caucus — renamed the New York State Black, Puerto Rican, Hispanic & Asian Legislative Caucus in 2005 — and some of its history-making members currently serving in office:
- Andrea Stewart-Cousins, the first woman and the first Black woman to serve as Senate Majority Leader.
- Carl E. Heastie, the first Black man to serve as Speaker of the New York State Assembly.
- Crystal D. Peoples-Stokes, the first woman and first Black person to serve as Assembly Majority Leader.
For more information, please visit empirestateplaza.ny.gov.
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