You Had to Ask; Who Was the First African American On Pittsburgh City Council?

Pittsburgh City Paper › August 05, 2009

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Summary

[Paul F. Jones] was elected to the state House in 1950 and stayed there four years. "As a legislator," historian George Swetnam observed in a history of Allegheny County, Jones "identified himself with a forward-looking program." But apparently, he was popular in Harrisburg anyway.

Not surprisingly, Pittsburgh's black paper, the Pittsburgh Courier, took special interest in this development. It printed the transcript of [Emanuel Schifano]'s remarks, in which he identified Jones as "a fellow soldier, a fellow lawyer, a fellow Democrat, a fellow citizen." Schifano apparently made no reference to Jones' race at all; as with many politicians of the day Jones was apparently being judged not by the color of his skin, but at least partly by the character of his support for Davey Lawrence. While lauding Jones' ample credentials, Schifano praised the "valiant effort [Jones] made to continue Pittsburgh's progress under Mayor Lawrence" in the previous election.

Sadly, though, that horizon got cloudier after Jones' death. As a Pittsburgh Press obituary noted, Jones "was the original sponsor of councilmanic legislation paving the way for the Hill slum-clearance program." Just after his death, the Courier quoted Jones gushing about the proposal, which he said would create "comfortable surroundings in the middle of park-like grounds with recreational facilities just around the corner." He also spoke highly of plans to develop East Liberty.