List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives explained

Post:	Speaker
Body:	the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Incumbent:	Joanna McClinton
Style:	The Honorable
Appointer:	Elected by the Pennsylvania House of Representatives
Inaugural:	William Bingham

The speaker of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives holds the oldest statewide elected office in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.^[1] Since its first session under the Frame of Government in 1682, presided over by William Penn, over 130 House members have been elevated to the speaker's chair. The house cannot hold an official session in the absence of the speaker or their designated speaker pro tempore.

Speaker K. Leroy Irvis was the first African-American elected speaker of any state legislature in the United States since the Reconstruction era.

Current Speaker Joanna McClinton is the first female and first female African-American speaker.

List of speakers of the Pennsylvania Provincial Assembly (1682–1775)

Name	Date elected
unknown (probably Wynne or More, below)	1687/1688
	1682/1683
	1684
	1685/88
	1689
	1690/91
unknown	1691
	1692
	1693
	1694
	1695
	1696
	1697
	1698
	1699
	1700
	1703
	1705
	1706
	1710
	1712
	1713
	1714
	1715
	1716
	1717
	1718
	1719
	1720
	1721
	1722
	1723
	1724
	1725
	1729
	1733
	1734
	1739
John Wright	1745
	1745/1746
	1750
	1758
	1758
	1759
	1759
	1764
	1764
	1764
	1766
	1769
	1769
	1774
	1775

List of speakers of the General Assembly of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania (following the 1776 Constitution)

Name	Date elected
John Jacobs (under the 1776 Constitution)	1776
	1777
	1780
	1783
	1784
	1785
Gerardus Wynkoop II^[2]	1786 (four days)^[3]
	1788
William Bingham (under the 1790 constitution)	1790

List of speakers of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Name		County	Tenure	Notes
				1791
				1793
				1794
				1799
				1800
				1804
			1806–1807
				1807
				1808
				1809
				1810
				1812
		Robert Smith		1813	resigned February 14, 1813
		John St. Clair		1814
				1815
				1816
			1818
				1819
			1820
				1821
			1822
			1825
			1826
			1828
		Frederick Smith		1830
			1832
		James Findley		1833
				1833
		William Patterson		1834
				1835
			1836
				1837
		William Hopkins		1839
		William A. Crabb		1841
				1842
				1843
				1844
		Findley Patterson		1845
		Findley Patterson		1846
					1847
				1848
					1849
	John S. McCalmont		1850
			1851
		John S. Rhey		1852
		William P. Schell		1853
		E.B. Chase		1854
		Henry K. Strong		1855
			1856
				1857
		A.B. Longaker		1858
				1859
				1860
		Elisha W. Davis		1861
		William Kinsey	Bucks	1862
				1863
		Henry C. Johnson		1864
		Arthur G. Olmsted		1865
				1866
				1867
		Elisha W. Davis		1868
		John Clark		1869
		Butler B. Strang		1870
		James H. Webb		1871
		William Elliott		1872
		H. H. McCormick		1874
		Samuel D. Patterson		1875	^[4]
		E. Reed Myer		1877
				1879
		Benjamin L. Hewit		1881
		John E. Faunce		1883
				1885
		Henry K. Boyer		1887
		Henry K. Boyer		1889
		Caleb C. Thompson		1891
		Caleb C. Thompson		1893
		Henry F. Walton		1895
		Henry K. Boyer		1897	resigned January 17, 1898
				1899
		William T. Marshall		1901
		Henry F. Walton		1903
		Henry F. Walton		1905
				1907
		John F. Cox		1909
		John F. Cox		1911	died in office November 6, 1911
				1911
				1913
		Charles A. Ambler		1915	died August 29, 1940
				1917
		Robert S. Spangler		1919
		Robert S. Spangler		1921	unseated April 26, 1921
		Samuel A. Whitaker		1921	elected to fill unexpired term April 26, 1921
		C.J. Goodnough		1923
				1925
				1927	resigned to become a judge
		James H. McClure		1927	elected to fill an unexpired term
		Aaron B. Hess		1929
		C.J. Goodnough		1931
				1933–1935
				1935–1936	died in office March 14, 1936
		Roy E. Furman	Greene	1936–1939
		Ellwood J. Turner	Delaware	1939–1941
		Elmer Kilroy	Philadelphia	1941–1943
		Ira T. Fiss	Snyder	1943–1947
		Franklin H. Lichtenwalter	Lehigh	1947–1949
		Herbert P. Sorg	Elk	1949–1953
		Charles C. Smith	Philadelphia	1953–1955
		Hiram G. Andrews	Cambria	1955–1957
		W. Stuart Helm	Armstrong	1957–1959
		Hiram G. Andrews	Cambria	1959–1963
		W. Stuart Helm	Armstrong	1963–1965
		Robert K. Hamilton	Beaver	1965–1967
		Kenneth B. Lee	Sullivan	1967–1969
				1969–1971
				1971–1975
				1975–1977
				1977–1979	elected May 23, 1977
				1979–1981
				1981–1983
				1983–1987
				1987–1989	died in office December 26, 1989
				1990–1992
				1993 - 1994
				1995 - 2003	died in office March 29, 2003
				2003 - 2006	elected to fill unexpired term April 15, 2003
				2007 - 2008	Minority-party Speaker
				2009 - 2010
				2011 - 2015
				2015 - 2020	Resigned June 15, 2020
		Bryan Cutler	Lancaster	2020 - 2022
		Mark Rozzi	Berks	January - February 2023	Resigned ^[5]
		Joanna McClinton	Philadelphia	February 2023  - Present

See also

• List of Pennsylvania state legislatures

References

1. http://www.legis.state.pa.us/WU01/VC/visitor_info/blue/house.htm Pennsylvania House of Representatives web site
2. News: Philadelphia, December 27 . Freeman's Journal . 2 . 1786-12-27 .
3. Book: Hiltzheimer . Jacob . Parsons . Jacob Cox . Extracts from the diary of Jacob Hiltzheimer: of Philadelphia. 1765-1798 . Press of W. F. Fell & co. . 1893 .
4. Web site: Samuel D. Patterson . legis.state.pa.us . March 25, 2020.
5. Web site: Caruso . Stephen . 2023-02-28 . PA House Speaker Mark Rozzi steps down . 2023-02-28 . . en-us.

• Book: Schmedlen , Jeanne Hearn . Wisdom, Vision and Diplomacy: Speakers of the Pennsylvania House (A Biographical History of the Speakers of the Provincial Assembly and the House of Representatives, 1682-1998) . Pennsylvania House of Representatives . 1998 . Harrisburg, PA . 978-0-9667794-0-0 . 40553654.
• Web site: Speakers of the Provincial Assembly (1682-1790) (page 14/28). The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications. 2023-08-17.
• Web site: Speakers of the House of Representatives since 1791. The Pennsylvania Manual, Volume 117 (2005-2006 General Assembly). Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Bureau of Publications. 2007-03-01.