| is strong, and I am happy to carry the torch for those that came before me. Surprisingly, Wisconsin's first African-American representative took office over 100 years ago. In 1907, Lucien Palmer served in the Wisconsin Assembly as a Republican representing the 6th District, covering the 3rd, 4th, and 7th wards of the city of Milwaukee. Palmer, who was born in Tennessee, worked his way through college and held several positions in the business and public service industries before and after he was elected. After Lucien Palmer served, it would be nearly 40 years until another African-American legislator served in Wisconsin. Leroy Simmons, who happens to share my birthday, was the first African-American Democrat to serve in the Wisconsin Assembly, holding office from 1945 to 1951. It wasn't until 1973 that an African-American served in the State Senate, when Monroe Swan, a Democrat, began the first of his two terms as the State Senator for the 6th Senate District. In his time in the Senate, Monroe Swan was the chair of the Senate Committee on Governmental and Veterans Affairs and served on several other influential committees. Four years after Monroe Swan began his tenure in the Senate, the first female African-American legislator in Wisconsin History arrived on the scene, and when she did, she made quite an impact. Marcia Coggs joined the Assembly in 1977, eventually serving as the first African-American member of the Legislature's powerful Joint Finance Committee. Gary George was the second African-American member of the Senate, serving from 1981 to 2003. Senator George held the distinction of being the first and only African-American to chair the powerful Joint Committee on Finance, serving in that position for nine years. Gwen Moore is truly a pioneer. My "political mother," she was the first African-American woman to serve in the Wisconsin State Senate, and Wisconsin's first African-American to serve in the U.S. House of Representatives. I was sworn in as only the second African-American woman to ever serve in the Wisconsin State Senate in 2005 and I am one of only eight African-American members of the state legislature today. I am also the first African-American Chair of the Senate Committee on Judiciary and Corrections, and I am extremely proud to carry on the legacy of African-American leadership in Wisconsin. |
| Black History of the Wisconsin Legislature By State Senator Lena Taylor |
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| As we begin Black History month, I am reminded of the blessings that I have as an African-American woman serving as your State Senator. I am only the fifth African-American and the second African-American woman in Wisconsin history to be a State Senator. While the list of African-Americans that have served as legislators in Wisconsin is short, the legacy of leadership |
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