The K. Leroy Irvis Room is a first floor reading room that is also home to the archives of K. Leroy Irvis who was the first African American to serve as a speaker of the house in any state legislature in the United States since Reconstruction. Irvis represented Pittsburgh in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from 1958 to 1988. Included in the archives are Irvis' personal papers, legislative materials, campaign literature, photographs, and newspaper clippings.
The K. Leroy Irvis Room is a first-floor reading room that serves as a repository for the historical records of K. Leroy Irvis, who was a trailblazing politician who became the first African American to hold the position of speaker in any state legislature since Reconstruction. During his tenure from 1958 to 1988, Irvis represented Pittsburgh in the Pennsylvania House of Representatives and accumulated a wealth of documents, images, and other materials that are now preserved in the archives.