Joe Lang Kershaw, Sr. (June 27, 1911 – November 7, 1999) was an American politician, civics teacher, and a graduate of

Florida A&M University Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (FAMU), commonly known as Florida A&M, is a Public university, public Historically black colleges and universities, historically black land-grant university in Tallahassee, Florida, United States. ...

. Kershaw is the first

African-American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from any of the Black racial groups of Africa. ...

legislator in the state of

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

since the

reconstruction era The Reconstruction era was a period in History of the United States, US history that followed the American Civil War (1861-65) and was dominated by the legal, social, and political challenges of the Abolitionism in the United States, abol ...

Education

While attending

in the early 1930s, Kershaw worked part time at the Florida Capitol complex as a janitor. Sometimes after hours he would stand on the Speaker's podium and pretend he was addressing the

Florida House of Representatives The Florida House of Representatives is the lower house of the Florida Legislature, the State legislature (United States), state legislature of the U.S. state of Florida, the Florida Senate being the upper house. Article III, Section 1 of the C ...

. While attending

he became a lifelong member of the

Kappa Alpha Psi Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc. () is a List of African-American fraternities, historically African American Fraternities and sororities, fraternity. Since the fraternity's founding on January 5, 1911, at Indiana University Bloomington, it has n ...

fraternity. He graduated with a degree in history in 1935.

Career

After graduating, Kershaw taught civics at a Coral Gables junior high school in Dade County, renamed Miami-Dade County in 1997. In 1955 he earned his Master of Education degree from Florida A&M University. While living in Miami, he served on the Miami Economic Advisory Board, and was a member of the

Knights of Columbus The Knights of Columbus (K of C) is a global Catholic Church, Catholic Fraternal and service organizations, fraternal service order founded by Michael J. McGivney, Blessed Michael J. McGivney. Membership is limited to practicing Catholic men. ...

and the

Holy Name Society The Society of the Holy Name, formally known as the Confraternity of the Most Holy Name of God and Jesus, is a Roman Catholic confraternity of the laity and is one of several which are under the care of the Dominican Order. It is open to all C ...

. Kershaw was elected to the Florida House of Representatives in November 1968, to represent the Florida 99th district, which at the time covered mostly Dade County. Upon being elected, he became the first

legislator in the state of

since

Reconstruction Reconstruction may refer to: Politics, history, and sociology *Reconstruction (law), the transfer of a company's (or several companies') business to a new company *''Perestroika'' (Russian for "reconstruction"), a late 20th century Soviet Union ...

. Kershaw served as chairman of the Elections Committee and introduced legislation that lead to the formation of the Florida Human Rights Commission. In 1971, Kershaw maneuvered Florida Statute 241.477 through the legislature, which lead to the creation of the Black Archives at Florida A&M University. He was known in the Florida House of Representatives as "Cane Pole," due to his ongoing battle to exclude cane pole fishing from requiring a license. The requirement was finally abolished in 1976, allowing people to fish in their own county with a cane pole, a common practice among poor African American people in Florida. He served in the Florida House of Representatives for 14 years until 1982.

Death

He died of heart failure at a hospital in 1999.

Legacy

One of his legal assistants,

Arthenia Joyner Arthenia Joyner (born February 3, 1943) is an American politician, attorney, and civil rights activist from Florida. She served as a member of the Florida Senate for ten years, representing parts of the Tampa Bay Area from 2006 to 2016. She was ...

went on to her own career as a legislator later she graduated from Florida A&M University.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kershaw, Joe Lang 1911 births 1999 deaths Politicians from Miami Democratic Party members of the Florida House of Representatives People from Live Oak, Florida African-American state legislators in Florida 20th-century African-American politicians 20th-century members of the Florida Legislature