Kenan Research Center, Atlanta History Center, 130 West Paces Ferry Road, Atlanta, GA 30305
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Notes
Calvin Smyre was born on May 17, 1947 in Columbus, Georgia. He was the youngest member of the Georgia House of Representatives when he was elected to the 132nd district at the age of 26 in 1974, a post he still holds. He was active in the civil rights movement, representing African Americans’ political power and the rise of a younger generation of African American leadership. In 1987, Governor Joe Frank Harris appointed him as floor leader, making him the first African American leader of the House since Reconstruction.