Shirley M. Kitchen (born September 18, 1946) is an American politician from

Pennsylvania Pennsylvania, officially the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, is a U.S. state, state spanning the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic, Northeastern United States, Northeastern, Appalachian, and Great Lakes region, Great Lakes regions o ...

who served as a Democratic member of the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives The Pennsylvania House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Pennsylvania General Assembly, the legislature of the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. There are 203 members, elected for two-year terms from single member districts. It ...

for the 181st district from 1987 through 1988 and 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, stagger ...

for the 3rd District from 1996 to 2016. She is the second African-American woman to serve in the Pennsylvania Senate.

Early life and education

Kitchen was born in

Augusta, Georgia Augusta is a city on the central eastern border of the U.S. state of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. The city lies directly across the Savannah River from North Augusta, South Carolina at the head of its navigable portion. Augusta, the third mos ...

. She graduated from

Antioch University Antioch University is a private university with multiple campuses in the United States and online programs. It is the continuation of Antioch College, which was founded in 1852. Antioch College's first president was politician, abolitionist, and ...

in 1979 with a bachelor's degree in Human Services and attended

Temple University Temple University (Temple or TU) is a public university, public Commonwealth System of Higher Education, state-related research university in Philadelphia, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. It was founded in 1884 by the Baptist ministe ...

. She received certificates in Child Care, Behavior Modification and Economic Development from Temple.

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 The Philadelphia City Council is the legislative body of the city of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the United States. It is composed of 17 councilmembers: ten members elected by district and seven members elected at-large from throughou ...

from 1986 to 1987. She was elected to the

Pennsylvania House of Representatives, District 181 The 181st Pennsylvania House of Representatives District is located in Philadelphia and is represented by Malcolm Kenyatta. District profile The 181st Pennsylvania House of Representatives District is located in Philadelphia County. It also inc ...

in November 1987 and served through 1988. She was elected to the

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. 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. 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.

Ward leader

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

2015 Legislative Action

Throughout 2015, she worked in the following committees: * Public Health and Welfare * Agricultural and Rural Affairs * Transportation * Urban Affairs and Housing

References

External links

Senator Kitchen
official Caucus website
Pennsylvania State Senate - Shirley M. Kitchen
''official PA Senate website''
Project Vote Smart - Senator Shirley M. Kitchen (PA)
profile *''Follow the Money'' - Shirley M. Kitchen
200620042002
an
2000
campaign contributions {{DEFAULTSORT:Kitchen, Shirley M. 1946 births 20th-century American women politicians 21st-century American women politicians 21st-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly African-American state legislators in Pennsylvania 21st-century African-American women politicians 20th-century African-American women politicians Antioch University alumni Living people Members of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives Pennsylvania state senators Politicians from Augusta, Georgia Politicians from Philadelphia Temple University alumni Women state legislators in Pennsylvania 20th-century African-American politicians 21st-century African-American politicians 20th-century members of the Pennsylvania General Assembly